Chapter 13: Cossack Returns

Most of the week passed fairly peacefully for the three in the Chelsea house. Alex was, however, very frustrated. If MI6 was doing something about their tails, they were acting very, very slowly. He was weighing the value of being completely anonymous against doing something to get them off of his back. Alex hated the feeling of being cornered that came with the tails. Crawley got a pass from Ian, but the other two were going down. Ian had told him later some of what was going on, but said to let other people handle it. Alex hated waiting on anything and it was already Saturday. He passed level testing with flying colors and graduated with his old rank of a first grade Dan, which he was very proud of. Ian and Jack had both congratulated him. Alex had already packed for the trip and checked his bag three times. They were going on a boat instead of a plane, so Alex got to keep his hidden knives. They never left his wrists, except when he showered nowadays. He decided to head out after he finished taking stock of his backpack again.

He decided that he was going to do something about those two now. It may be impulsive, but at the moment Alex didn't care. Besides, he could always cause an accident- looks like that SCORPIA training was coming in handy again, though this one would not be fatal. Alex walked down the street and made sure those two were following him. They were making the mistake of focusing on him and not his surroundings. It would be their last, at least when following him. Alex checked to make sure the cars were actually going the stated speed limit before implementing step two of his (admittedly last-minute) plan. He made sure to wait until the light had almost changed until he crossed and then he picked up a rock. Alex couldn't bite back the decidedly shit-eating grin on his face as he threw a rock at the two agents.

He had made sure to pick a time of day that they would be tired and irritable and he made sure to flip them off to add to the injury. Alex had also carefully picked the place and the most flimsy-looking large free-standing sign he could find. The two literally ran across the traffic as the light turned green. The blaring of the horns distracted them from the noise of the falling piece of wood that Alex had pushed over when they finished crossing. What Alex had failed to plan on, was the sign taking the rest of the stand and one of the chairs with it. The sign had actually been helping hold up the sun cover over the shop and when the plastic sheet fell, the metal poles and chair underneath it went with it. Oops. Alex winced as the chair hit one of them in the side and the poles clipped the other in the head. He was rather alarmed at the lack of noise the two made after that and after spotting one of their phones on the ground Alex hit the British emergency number and left the phone on the curb next to them, after he used a napkin to wipe the prints- he was not leaving evidence. While he strongly disliked them, they didn't deserve to die. Alex was not going to stick around and answer question for this. He made sure to take the quickest way home and breathed a sigh of relief when he got there. Alex was pretty sure he got away with it.

Crawley was surprised when he got an alert on his phone that two of his agents were in the hospital. He checked to see who it was and suppressed a groan when he saw it was Taylor and Brown. Honestly, he had been surprised when Rider had agreed not to be involved with those two. The man had better not have left prints or evidence- he was so not covering for him if he did. Crawley decided to visit the scene first, since those two jokers had gotten themselves concussed. When he saw the aftermath, he was grudgingly impressed. There were no CCTV cameras that covered this part of the street. The phone had no prints. The stand and sign were both top-heavy enough to have been blown over by a particularly strong breeze and there were no witnesses who saw anyone matching Rider's description anywhere near the stand. It was almost creepily perfect, like it could have been an actual accident. Crawley knew it wasn't though. At least Rider had the decency to call an ambulance or they would have bled out. He shuddered at the thought. The bosses had to be informed about the accident. This was going to be a joy. And everyone thought he was the 'accident' and 'persuasion' specialist. The truth was: he had nothing on John or Ian Rider.

He met up with Blunt and Jones fifteen minutes later. Jones was first. "What did you find?" Crawley was glad that she was to the point. "There was no evidence to suggest this was anything but a strong breeze ma'am." Jones wasn't letting him get off that easy. "But?" Crawley shrugged. "They were following Ian and his nephew. Some sort of professional jealousy issue." Jones let out a very long sigh. Crawley supposed it was because Ian had cut her and the boss out and 'handled' another situation himself. The man practically caused half of her paperwork by himself. Crawley decided to add in. "It could have been an accident, ma'am. There were no prints, no witnesses, and the sign was top-heavy and had a city citation for it." Crawley didn't believe it any more than they did. It wasn't like Ian would leave anything for any kind of investigation. The police had already ruled out foul play and declared it an accident. Jones had a wry smile on her face. "At least these two are alive. At this rate we might even convince Agent Rider to let us handle an investigation into his nephew's safety just before he retires." Crawley snorted and Blunt looked as expressionless as ever. "Good luck with that, ma'am." Crawley decided to exit with that. This was Jones' problem now.

Ian Rider was surprised to say the least when Tulip Jones knocked on the door at eight o'clock in the evening. They had finished dinner and packing hours ago and Alex had gotten back from his walk and went to do his evening workout in his room. She was breaking protocol by meeting him in his house, not that he minded overmuch. "What's up boss?" She didn't look particularly pleased with him. "Two of your coworkers had a run in with a sun cover/ sign this evening. They are currently in the emergency room with considerable blood loss and concussions. Sadly, neither has any memory of the event due to the injuries." Ian made a private note to take Alex out for celebratory ice cream. "That's a shame Mrs. Jones. Which ones were they?" He had known from Jones' expression that it was Taylor and Brown and she thought it was him. Ian could live with that, since there was no way he was turning Alex in. They both knew he was playing dumb. "Taylor and Brown, Mr. Rider." Jones was sounding particularly tart at this point. "I'm having everyone retake their online training for stalking and harassment protocol." Ian kept back a snort. In his opinion, that shit wasn't worth the computer storage for the timed PowerPoint. "I'll be sure to have it completed in time for next month's deadline, then." He would, but he wouldn't actually follow it anytime soon. "Goodnight, boss." Jones actually sighed. "Goodnight, Ian." Ian would have totally covered for Alex, even if he had stabbed those two. He was just glad there were no loose ends to cover up and that Alex had been smart enough to not leave evidence.

Ian decided to go upstairs and have a talk with his nephew. He knew he shouldn't be this amused at his nephew's role in their near demise, but it was kind of hilarious and he wanted the whole story. Plus, he wanted to make sure Alex had done enough planning. He made sure to knock before entering. Privacy was important for children, or so he had read. Personally, he was starting to think nosing in Alex's business was the best way to keep him from 'problem solving'. While it was entertaining and helpful, he didn't really like the idea of his nephew putting his freedom and life on the line for him. "Evening, Alex." Alex kept the smirk off of his face. "What's up, Ian?" Ian snorted. "Like you don't know, brat. I really should ground your ass for putting those two in the emergency room. What did you do?" Alex smirked. "Don't you want to know?" Ian was not giving up that easily. "Come on, I have to do all the paperwork and take the blame for all your antics, the least you can do is tell me the story." Ian actually didn't mind at all. Alex made life so much more interesting, especially recently. Alex decided to take pity on his guardian and tell him the story. He started with the plan he had made; home turf had its advantages. When he finished telling Ian about the thing collapsing on them, his uncle burst out laughing. Ian sobered somewhat at the part where he called the ambulance and left the phone without prints. "I feel like I would be irresponsible at this point if I didn't tell you that they are barely alive. Alex...be careful not to kill anyone unless you have to. It...changes you, even if you do it by accident." Ian brightened again. "At least they are off our backs now. Celebratory ice cream tomorrow after the boat." With that, Ian left the room. Alex wondered sometimes whether he was the adult in the relationship.

He went back to the pirated Russian books he had hidden when his uncle knocked. Alex had gotten them online and was now studying them. Thankfully, he had his own printer and computer. It wasn't so much that he didn't trust his uncle, but he wanted to keep his advanced studies to himself. At least he was old enough that Jack wouldn't check if the plants they had gotten were poisonous or hazardous in any way. She had been rather surprised at his new interest in pretty plants, but had totally gone along with it. Alex had planted them in the garden himself and made sure that they were relatively innocuous-looking. Ian probably wouldn't recognize them, but it was better safe than sorry and someone like Yassen would. Alex was also hiding a steadily growing number of IEDs around the house. Ian would recognize those, but the man would have to find them first. He still felt nervous leaving Jack by herself, but he was actually kind of excited to go on a trip to Spain with Ian. Alex had also been pleasantly surprised by Smithers package. He was kind of touched the man sent him all of his books and the games (which were awesome). Alex had beat them and sent back a rather enthusiastic review. He was trying to figure out how to make an anonymous encrypted email for MI6. The best idea he had so far involved emailing them the information for each case at an appropriate date, but he didn't want it tracked back to him.

Alex already had an alias in mind: Atropos. Personally, he thought it was a bit melodramatic, but it fit with what he wanted. Alex knew he was most likely cutting their life short, which was the most direct connotation of the name. Also, he liked the idea of being in control of his own fate and he figured that the female name might mislead them for a while. Also, taking the identity allowed him more freedom to his own life. At any rate he was physically ten and mentally sixteen, so he figured he had a right to be slightly melodramatic. The other options he had considered were just a little too obviously him or slightly grim. Artemis might be a giveaway, since his dad was Hunter and Thanatos was just a little too close to Death for his own personal comfort. He knew from some sort of police presentation that they gave at school that law enforcement considered aliases psychologically important. They were- for the killers police went after (and caught) - in Alex's world, they were disposable conveniences. Besides, he had a role to play for said emails. Since he had never actually made his own identities up before, he was taking his time on this one. Atropos would have to be solidified as a separate person in his mind before he wrote anything. Alex was thinking he would go with something that would appear as a middle-aged somewhat freelance French operative. With the right slang, it would not be terribly difficult to pull off, especially by email. He looked forward to the political and interagency turmoil he would cause in the investigation for each operation. Alex would, of course, involve the Americans, French, Russians, and Australians in every email, just for the political shit storm he knew it would cause. It was only fair, after all (or at least that would be what he put in every email).

A few hours of alternating Russian and coding textbooks and a headache later, Alex decided it was time to go to sleep. He made sure his window was dead bolted and the knives were in their spots under his mattress. They were easily accessible, though they wouldn't really help if someone extra deadly was after him. Besides, someone like Yassen or Nile wouldn't be dumb enough to let him reach for anything concealed. If someone sent one of those two after him, he knew he screwed up royally. At that cheerful thought, Alex decided to roll over and get some sleep.

Meanwhile…

Yassen Gregorovitch had just received his next assignment. It was in Spain. The assassin knew the country had lovely beaches and mountains, not that he would be caught dead on a beach. He didn't have anything against them personally, but professionally they were not very defensible and were easy to get sniped on. Fortunately, his target was at a mountain resort. Yassen would be flying in, probably snipe them and fly out. It should take no more than four or five days. The target was some politician who had gotten too many gang members arrested. The gang wanted a message sent and was willing to pay in the range of a couple million euros. Yassen was willing to take the shot. The job he had was very lucrative and he didn't mind killing people at all. He packed his non-distinctive clothing in his average suitcase. The weapon would be provided on-site. If all else failed, he could make a second attempt with his knife. The gang was not picky about how the politician was disposed of, so long as it got done. He briefly thought of Alex, who he planned to watch over on his vacation time. It was not like he had anything better to do and the SCORPIA doctor insisted he take quarterly breaks and that a two-week trek through the jungle watching Ian Rider and prowling for information didn't count. Yassen hadn't corrected the man's assumptions about what he'd been doing in the jungle. He didn't need anyone to tell him he was unhealthily obsessing over a dead man and his son.

Alex's boat ride over was uneventful. The sea was bright and sparkling like a multifaceted jewel. He was actually relaxing when they disembarked and checked into the hotel room. Ian was going to take him to Gibraltar. It was a bit of a stiff bike, but he heard from everyone in the tourist bureau that seeing the apes was worth it. They were staying in the mountains together. Alex saw that security had been ramped up because some Spanish politician was staying there. From what he heard from the harried staff, she was unpleasant and had gotten threats from a gang. The maid had been cheerfully cursing her in French. Something about her being picky about how the rooms were cleaned and how the husband and son were both sexist pigs. Alex made a mental note to avoid the whole family. With his snark and their attitude, he had a feeling the conversation might end up in a diplomatic incident. He went upstairs to leave his suitcase in the room. Ian met him downstairs and they went out to enjoy the warm weather together. They walked until it was early evening around the city. The restaurants wouldn't open for at least another hour, so they headed back to the hotel.

The hotel staff looked somewhat frantic when they arrived there. The manager looked especially nervous. Alex decided to see what was up. He was fluent in Spanish. "What is going on?" Alex addressed the manager. "We are sorry, Mr. The woman demanded a floor change to your floor. We will have to ask you and your father to change rooms, since the entire floor must be cleared." Alex didn't correct the man. Ian was the closest thing to a dad that he had anyway. "Quite alright by me. She sounds 'difficult'." The man snorted and looked intensely relieved. Alex didn't think calling her a bitch in public would get him grounded, but it was better safe than skewered. "Here are your key cards. We took the liberty of moving your suitcases to the rooms. The maid should be done by now." Alex made sure to give the man a sort of half smile. "Thank you. Hope everything goes alright on your end." Alex could pass for a native speaker if he wanted to. Ian was looking at him oddly.

They both went up to their new rooms and made sure they were both bug-free before Ian spoke to him. "What?" Ian just smiled a little. "Your Spanish is awfully good." Alex just gave him a dry look. "We lived in Spain for ten months when I was six and I have been in Spanish classes ever since." Ian rolled his eyes. "No need to get sarcastic on me. That was a compliment." Alex bit back a snarky retort. Languages were one of the few skills he was proud of. He couldn't resist the jab after the next question his uncle asked. "How is your French going?" Ian should know better than to language with him. Alex replied in equally perfect French. "Better than your relationship with your coworkers." Ian snorted and switched to German. "That isn't saying much. I'm pretty sure if I was anyone else, I would so get fired." Alex put in one last jab. "Pretty sure, huh? The chance is 100%, Ian. I'd want to fire you to, if you stink bombed my office." Ian gave him a totally unbelievable innocent look. "That was funny." Alex switched back to English. "Only for us, Ian." Alex then broke into a grin. "Race you downstairs! The restaurants are open now." Alex took off. He didn't really care if he was acting like a little kid, right now he had people to dodge and a lobby to get to.

Ian stared in shock for a minute before he registered what Alex had said. Then, he was off. He may be a grown man, but a race was a race. Not to mention, he had a nephew to catch. Several people were giving him an amused looks as he went after Alex. They got to the lobby at almost the exact same time. Neither was particularly out of breath. The people in the lobby just shot them exasperated looks. Both of them were laughing as they walked out the door. Ian decided that they were going to have dinner at a seafood place he had spotted nearby. The catch would have been delivered yesterday, so the taste would be fine. There seemed to be plenty of locals and tourists in the mix, so he figured they wouldn't stick out too much. When he remembered earlier in the lobby, he felt slightly warm inside. Alex hadn't corrected the manager when he had called him Alex's dad. Maybe he was focusing too much in it, but he felt his heart melt a little. Not to mention he was proud of Alex, very, very proud. Ian knew he wasn't the best parent, but he figured Alex was turning out very well. He decided to focus back on his surroundings as Alex got them a table. It was not overly well-lit, but the room was very warm. The entire floor and walls were made of dark wood and the ceilings were held up by wooden beams. The tables and chairs had the same reddish- brown wood. The noise was a low rumble and easily tuned out, though you would have to shout over it to be heard. The two of them easily ordered their drinks and dishes in Spanish. They had been seated near a fireplace, so they were particularly warm.

Alex didn't really like crowded areas or restaurants all that much, but he enjoyed he grilled shrimp and lemonade. He understood that it was easier to fade into a crowd, but being in one made him paranoid that someone was watching. The feeling that he was being watched was almost overwhelming. When he saw a flash of a very familiar set of icy blue eyes he fought to keep his expression neutral. What were the odds that Yassen was here on vacation? Probably very low. He decided not to tell Ian. If the assassin had been after them, one of them would be choking on poison by now. Alex watched Yassen from the corner of his eye. There was nothing to mark him as anything but ordinary. He had dyed his hair a darker color and cut it slightly shorter. The clothing was relatively inexpensive and was on the darker end of the spectrum. The leather jacket set off the outfit nicely and if Alex didn't know it was Yassen, he would have assumed it was a normal tourist. There was no mistaking the icy cobalt eyes or the lithe, graceful walk. Alex didn't have to think too hard to figure out who the target was: there were only two worth shooting in the hotel. He was sure Yassen was here for the politician.

When Yassen spotted John Rider's son, he did his best not to stare. What were the odds that he and his uncle were actually on vacation? Probably low, though they may not know it. He was familiar enough with intelligence services to know that a suggested holiday was usually anything but. Ian Rider seemed oblivious to his presence, but he noticed Alex was shooting occasional glances his way. It seemed he hadn't informed his guardian, then. How...interesting. Even if this was attributed to him, he doubted it would be made public. It wasn't like he wasn't already on the terror watch list already. He wondered what had given him away. Yassen had already scoped the area out and would take the shot the next day. Alex or no Alex, he had a job to do. The price for failure was death.

Alex knew sending a note to an assassin was a bad idea, but he had already been caught staring. It couldn't get that much worst. The feeling of being watched was not helped by the fact that the assassin had left shortly after they did and was currently in the same hotel lobby. There had been another security scare and nobody got to go to their rooms until the building had been searched. He figured it wouldn't help keep her alive anyway and felt a stab of annoyance at the absurd amount of precautions being taken. Alex would bet money that Yassen was carrying all of his weapons and he had his knives on him. He knew a for a fact that Ian did as well. At least this gave him the excuse he needed to talk to the maid in French. "Can you give this to the gentleman in the leather jacket? I think he dropped it earlier." It was a note he had written to Yassen. "Certainly. I will take it up to his room." Alex smiled and thanked her. Ian was in the other corner talking to the hotel manager to see what had prompted the search. His uncle had not noticed the exchange and a quick glance around the lobby let Alex know that the other customer were more concerned with getting to their rooms than what he was talking to the maid about. Yassen raised a single eyebrow in his direction before going back to whatever small talk he was making with a Japanese couple. Alex could tell from the way he was standing that Yassen was about as comfortable as he was in crowds. At least he wasn't old enough to get mistaken as the man's date. Wasn't that a creepy thought? He decided to leave the assassin to whatever small talk hell he had gotten himself into and decided to "see the garden". Since they were searching from top to bottom, Alex was fairly sure they were done with his floor. The drainpipes would support his weight just fine. The door swung shut behind him and he took a moment to make sure nobody was watching. Once he saw the coast was clear, Alex began to scale the drainpipe that was conveniently covered in tons of vines. The leaves of the plant felt really squishy, but the vine was woody and rough. Thankfully, there were no thorns on it. It was a short three-story climb back to his room. When Alex checked himself over, he realized he was now lightly soaked and had leaves all over him. He really, really didn't like crowds of grumpy people. Also, the window lock sucked and he should wire it shut. He decided to shower and change before anyone had a chance to knock.

An hour into studying his secret Russian textbook later, he heard knocking on his door. Alex carefully hid it under the mattress. "Come in." A slightly worried looking Ian walked in. "Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you?" Alex felt a stab of guilt. He had kind of forgotten about his uncle. "Not really. I assumed you would assume that I went up to the rooms after everyone got sent up." Ian sighed. "How did you get in, by the way?" Alex couldn't see anything wrong with his plan. "Well, the crowd was really noisy, so I walked outside and climbed up the drainage pipe." Ian looked shocked. "We're three stories up and you don't have climbing gear." Alex just shrugged. "There were vines and stuff." Ian just gave him the don't be an idiot look. "Really, so it was safe?" Alex figured it was comparatively safe to the MI6's idea of holiday, but didn't say so. "For me. It probably wouldn't take your weight." Ian just kept giving him the stare. "Nobody was watching and I figured I could make it." Ian had started glaring. "Fine, I shouldn't have climbed an insecure line. It won't happen again, excluding emergencies, and I should have stayed in the lobby." Ian looked faintly satisfied. "Better, Alex, and you could have been spotted." Alex knew for a fact everyone would have be gawking around the lobby or focused on their dinner, but he decided not to say anything. Ian sighed. "Good night, Alex." Alex shut the door behind him and locked. The textbook came out again and he went back to formal Russian greetings for another hour before he went to sleep.

Cossack, also known as Yassen Gregorovitch, had opened the note immediately upon entering his room. The assassin had not known what to expect. He had seen Alex pass the note to the maid, but did not think it was for him. Unlike that uncle of his, he also had paid attention to where the blond trouble magnet went. Seriously, at this point he was calling the man's parenting abilities next to nonexistent. Was don't climb drainpipes, you might break your neck really beyond Rider's ability to communicate? Yassen decided to read the note before he decided to break someone's neck out of sheer irritation. The contact he had met today had been about as subtle as a dropped brick and had drawn police attention on his way out. Yassen could barely hold back a smirk as he read the note.

-C

You might try some contacts to go with that hair dye and the walk, while nice, is a "dead" giveaway.

-A

Really, Alex? Death puns for an assassin. He had heard the two often enough to know them by name. Passing notes seemed so...juvenile. At least he knew how he'd been spotted. He was going to take the shot tomorrow, when the target had her breakfast in the outside garden. If Alex wanted to pass notes, two could play that game. He wrote one out for Alex to get tomorrow. Yassen figured he could live with Alex knowing just how accurately he shot a sniper rifle. He carefully rehearsed his part in the exchange before he went to bed.

Ian Rider could not shake the feeling that something was going to happen. He felt tired as he felt the last traces of his panic earlier dissolve. Nothing could describe the icy feeling that had burned through his chest at the thought of losing Alex. While his nephew taking risks was nothing new, the casual disregard for his own safety was new and alarming. Alex would never have climbed a drainpipe three stories or at Ian didn't think he would have. His nephew was hiding something. Alex had been tense all evening and didn't normally forget to tell him where he was going. Ian was starting to feel the urge to search his nephew, although he already knew that he wasn't going to act on it. Alex was also way better at languages than he remembered, but that could be because he had left him alone for months. The guilt was beginning to eat at him. He turned over again before deciding to check out the window. The lock really was terrible on that thing. Ian made a mental note to stop by the hardware store and get something to wire his and Alex's window shut.

He stared outside, wondering what could have possibly triggers his instincts. Years ago, he had been on a mission and had been sitting in a cafe. There had been a single gunshot and someone completely unrelated had died. Later, they had discovered that there was an inheritance dispute and someone had hired a gunman to shoot the rest of the people. It was a depressing memory. Ian decided to make some coffee because there was no way he would be able to sleep. The chair was patterned in the light, but in the dark it seemed like a dark gray. Everything in the room was shades of grey. The moonlight seeped in through the window. He settled down to watch in the darkness. Midnight had been hours ago, and even the city was quiet. The robe was fixed around his waist. What was really hours, but seemed like minutes, the first grey of the sun rising broke through the sky. Ian decided to officially get up now. Alex would go on his morning run in half an hour and he wanted to run with him.

When Alex walked out of his room and found Ian in the hall waiting for him, he was actually surprised. Normally, Ian wouldn't be up for another few hours. Actually, his uncle looked like he had pulled an all-nighter. Alex felt a stab of sympathy- he had done many himself both before and after Egypt. He decided not to broach the subject. The day after one of those was always a bitch. The route Alex had decided on was fairly safe and through reasonably nice neighborhoods. Alex always enjoyed running, especially when it wasn't for his life. The missions hadn't been able to ruin that, at least. He was trying not to focus on the fact that Yassen Gregorovitch was in the hotel and probably going to kill someone today. The SCORPIA planning had been particularly systematic when it came to timetables. You got one scope-out day and one shooting day, for the ones they wanted to succeed anyway. Alex didn't feel at all guilty for the (probably illegal) textbooks he had taken from Razim's palace. They had been annotated by a few of the teachers. Besides, he actually learned more on the island than he ever did with MI6. Rothman had set him up to fail- he knew that now. Frankly, her grudge made her pathetic. If she hadn't deliberately set him up to die, he may have actually stayed. SCORPIA would say that MI6 needed desperate upgrades to asset management, and Alex wholeheartedly agreed. Not that he wanted to kill people, but he had almost enjoyed his time at SCORPIA's school for menaces to society. It was better than SAS training. Alex finished his circuit and made a mental note to vary his run times. Habit gets you killed.

Fifteen minutes later, they sat down for breakfast with a great view of the veranda with the politician and her family. After watching the husband harass the waiter and the politician berate her, Alex felt most of his sympathy for them die. Actually, he was kind of hoping Yassen would hurry up, since he couldn't draw his breakfast out much longer. Suddenly, a shot rang out and Alex ducked under the table on instinct. A second and a third sprayed more gore across the now red window. Alex felt only slightly nauseous. After the room was silent for a few seconds, the screams began to ring out. Ian was next to him, low to the ground underneath the table. Alex decided that since Cossack was done shooting, he would finish his breakfast. Ian waited a moment and sat back at the table with him. The rest of the restaurant was in pandemonium. People were screaming, crying, and Alex heard a few puking into potted plants. He had seen more gruesome deaths. One of the women saw them and stared. "What is wrong with you? How can you eat?" Alex ignored her. She was probably in shock and he couldn't care less what strangers thought of him. After a few minutes, the police got there and shut the place down officially.

Alex was sincerely wishing the police would hurry up and get to them, though he didn't think they would catch Yassen. The man was considered one of the best, if not the best in the world. The rage he had felt towards the man had long been extinguished and he was ambiguous towards what had taken its place. Alex was surprisingly unafraid; even though it was a distinct possibility he could easily have been shot number four. Privately, he could appreciate the skill it took to hit the targets over the distance shot. He noticed Ian was also observing the gunshots from his side of the window. Alex guessed Cossack had used hollow points to make extra sure his targets didn't live. The scene really was a mess, but Alex was wondering why they were even bothering with people on the ground. "Ian, why are they interviewing in everyone here? Those are sniper shots." Ian wondered when Alex had gotten morbid. "Standard procedure. Also, they know this was a professional hit, so they will probably not catch anyone." Alex felt a piece of paper in his pocket that hadn't been there before. Perhaps he had been distracted after all. The police were now heading in their direction. Alex knew then he wouldn't be giving anyone a clue in. One, it would get them killed. Two, he knew what it was like to be at the tender mercy of MI6 and he didn't want Cossack in their hands. Alex actually felt a grudging respect for the man that was threatening to become an attachment. He fingered the paper.

The questions were short and quick. No, they hadn't seen or heard anything before the shots. They were here on vacation. The police officer was still eyeing them curiously, but let them go. Ian was puzzled by Alex's complete lack of surprise or any other reaction. Did he know? Ian was going to find out exactly what his nephew was hiding. Alex knew that expression on his uncle's face and excused himself to the restroom. Thankfully, it was a single person restroom and the door had a lock. There wasn't much time.

-A

Playing games already, Alex? Tsk, tsk. Whatever will your uncle say when he finds out? We both know you haven't told him. You have probably been told about me and you should know that the man who calls himself ASH isn't safe for you. Any police and agents sent after me will, of course, be shot, but you knew that already. Stay in school and DON'T climb anymore drainpipes. I knew the truth about your father, most likely before SCORPIA. Do yourself a favor and don't follow in his footsteps.

-C

Alex couldn't help the smile on his face and he knew that he should destroy the note, but couldn't bring himself to do it. He supposed he must have inherited his dad's soft spot for a Russian assassin. Alex actually used the restroom before he left. Ian was now probably going to be breathing down his neck.

The minute they got upstairs, Ian closed the door and thoroughly checked for bugs. "You knew, somehow, what was going to happen." It was part question and part accusation. Alex had forgotten Ian was actually a patriot sometimes. "I knew there was a distinct possibility that she would die, yes. Did I know the time and place? No." Ian just looked at him. "Who?" Alex wasn't sure he could actually get the answer out. He was torn between the man who saved his life and the man who had raised him. It hurt, more than he thought possible. Ian was still looking at him expectantly. Alex just couldn't choke the words out. "Alex, it's ok." Ian's tone was now softer. Alex still couldn't say anything. "I'm sorry." He really was. "Cossack's here." Ian started. "What?!" Alex sighed. "Yassen took the shot, Ian. He's gone." Ian just gave him a look. "And you didn't tell me the minute you spotted him because…." Alex found the carpet fascinating. He fingered the note that felt like it was burning a hole in his pocket. "You would have gotten shot if he thought you recognized him. Plus, I have issues with 'enhanced interrogation techniques' used by the police." Particularly with waterboarding, but he couldn't tell Ian that. Ian wondered how you were supposed to convince your ten-year-old that torture and death was sometimes necessary. "You told Jones the truth, then. You sacrificed them for me." Alex was not at all ashamed of that part. "Yes, I did, I suppose." His tone was icier than he had intended. Ian felt like he was failing somehow. "It's supposed to be the other way around." Alex finally found the ability to meet his uncle's eyes. "I don't care." Alex really didn't. He was done with sacrificing the people he cared about for complete strangers. Ian knew it was a lost cause right now. "Can I see the note now?" Alex didn't see why not.

Ian felt more and more nauseous with every word he read and reread. When he figured out Alex was hiding a note, he had expected something more threatening. The note sounded almost playful. It didn't help that Alex eventually admitted that he had written one to the assassin first. Apparently, he had wanted to gauge the man's reaction to him. Ian had been wondering about Alex's sanity at the moment. What the hell was going on with those two? He knew he had to call the bank. "Why would he even reply to you? What did you write?" Alex sighed and told him exactly what he wrote minus the walk. Alex had actually deliberately picked a non-aggressive tone with the man. No sense in aggravating the assassin. Ian just looked at him. Really, Alex? Death puns to an assassin. At any rate, he knew how to call for emergencies and this definitely qualified. The number and code was memorized before his very first mission. "Hi, this is Royal and General Bank. I need to speak with the manager about my account." Ian was put in directly to Jones. "Yes?" "The Spanish politician sharing our hotel was just assassinated." Jones wondered why he was calling. "And?" Ian was glad she was straight to the point. "It was Cossack." He heard a sharp intake of breath over the phone. "How do you know?" Ian really didn't want to submit his nephew for questioning. "He left Alex a note. I don't know why." Jones actually sounded concerned. "Is Alex alright?" Ian sighed. "Fine, but very reluctant to answer any questions on the subject." Jones decided to make an executive decision. "He'll be gone by now. We'll debrief you when you get back. Alex can stay out of it for now." Ian breathed a sigh of relief when he cut the phone connection.

Alex was relieved he wouldn't have to go in. On the other hand, he would have Ian in overprotective spy mode for the rest of the trip. Ian seemed to be settling in for lecture mode. "Alex, that man is very, very dangerous. The next time you see Yassen Gregorovitch, you need to tell me." Alex didn't tell him that he was more afraid for the assassin than of him. He didn't have the heart to tell Ian that he trusted Yassen to look out for him more than the bank. "It won't happen again." Alex would have a better poker face next time. "I feel like I should stay with you for the rest of the day, Alex." That was the Ian he knew. Alex didn't like the idea of keeping secrets from Ian, but he liked the idea of Cossack in the hand of Blunt even less. God only knew what the man would do to him. Ian had decided to get one of the hotel movies on demand. They both sat on the couch, with Alex leaning on the man. The adrenaline rush had gone and he was sleepy. It was nice to have an excuse to hug the newly solid and alive relative of his, to. Having Ian back was just as nice as having Jack back. The man was also really comforting, when he wanted to be. Alex had even started wearing the man's cologne off-mission to remember the way he smelled. He would probably fall asleep before the end of the movie- he had seen it before.

Ian knew he was being paranoid, but was determined not to let Alex leave his sight for the next few weeks. He ran his fingers through his nephew's hair. Alex looked a lot less tense when he was asleep. He really was adorable. Ian had been worried about Alex going into shock after seeing three people get their heads blown to smithereens. After the day they had, Ian felt justified in taking a break from their planned agenda. He and Alex would be heading out tomorrow. Ian was actually wondering how his nephew had gotten anti-law enforcement. Surely, he knew that terrorists needed to be stopped. Maybe it was just the torture he was uncomfortable with? It wasn't exactly an uncommon belief. Ian was totally keeping an eye on Alex for the week of school after he got back. He had already gotten Smithers to agree to help bug the place. Unlike the two agents Alex had landed in the hospital, he actually knew how to conduct illegal surveillance without being caught. Ian was also deciding on whether or not he should take Alex with him for assignments like he used to. There was school to consider. Well, they had the rest of vacation to look forward to. Ian personally hoped there was no drama for the rest of their trip.