Chapter 30: The Countdown

HI GUYS, I FORGOT I WAS SUPPOSED TO WARN YOU, BUT THERE WILL BE T-RATED (NO ACTUAL SEX SCENES) SLASH AND MAYBE HET FROM NOW ON INTERMIXED WITH THE STORY! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, THOROUGHLY!

Ian Rider was relieved that he got a couple weeks of leave the minute he got back from offing the Director of MI6 Black Ops. He could make the family reunion without the added stress of the job. Ian was curious about the hints Baxter kept dropping about Alex, though. Until Jones finally owned up the fact that Crawley and Alex had dealt with a home invasion. Then, he was pretty angry with his boss. "You should have told me!"

Jones raised an eyebrow. "Crawley had the situation thoroughly contained."

Ian continued griping. "And you let the Black Ops bastards tag along."

Jones sighed. "They really did have nothing better to do."

Ian hissed. "Whatever happened to all that extra paperwork they were having to do?"

Jones gave him a look that silenced him. "It was really the family pet that drew him."

Ian groaned. Fucking intra-agency politics. "Of course it was. I assume Alex told him Fenrir was off-limits."

Jones' lips twitched. "In so many words. He also rubbed the fact that he was better at training mutant hybrids with near sentience than an entire branch of Blacks Ops people."

Ian nearly face-palmed. Because that sure would have gone over well. "I also happen to agree with his assessment of the mismanagement of the program." Of course, she did. Jones was also probably happy to salt the already bitter feelings, too. To be fair, the agencies tolerated each other. The key word was tolerated. They were still fierce and bitter rivals. Ian decided it was time to go home. "I trust you don't want a debrief."

Jones snorted. "Of course not, Agent Rider, plausible deniability."

Ian shrugged. He was bone tired and the long-ass flight had not helped in the slightest. "Good night, Tulip."

Jones smiled faintly. "Good night, Ian."

Ian arrived home to a giant cluster of people in the living room. "Don't half of you have bedtimes?"

James was there for a sleepover. "It's a sleepover man, nobody cares."

Ian just chuckled. Tom added his two cents in. "Plus, it's Friday. Nobody goes to bed on time on Friday."

Alex just grinned. "Best give it up, Ian. Besides, you're just in time for the reruns of James Bond."

Ian just gave Alex the evil eye. Crawley was shaking with suppressed laughter. Treacherous bastard. He decided to go with a reply. "That show is so unrealistic."

Tom smirked. "Well, that's half the fun."

Ian sighed. He was too old for this. "Alright, don't stay up too late. I'm going to bed right now."

He was so not watching James Bond. Crawley follows him up. "You aren't injured, are you?"

Ian sighs. "No. I'm just not watching that travesty piece of so-called film art."

Crawley grinned. "Aww. Don't like the reminder?"

Ian snaps to fully awake. "Someone could have heard you."

Crawley rolled his eyes. "Don't be paranoid, Ian."

Ian sighed and continued up the stairs. He was tired. "So do you want to carpool?"

Ian smirks. "I have the week off."

And most of the summer afterward. He wasn't going to break the news until later, though. Crawley groans. "Lucky bastard." Unlike Ian, he didn't get absurd amounts of vacation or cool assignments that could count as both. "By the way, your batshit in-laws want to hold the reunion in a war zone."

Ian groaned. "Which shithole is it this time?"

Crawley gave him a resigned look. "Kabul, Afghanistan."

Ian wondered if Alex would get suspicious if his other relatives disappeared. Probably. "Wonderful." He was going to bed before Alex found another body or something else happened.

The next morning, Ian decided it was time for Alex's assessment/practice. He began with Pashto. "Good morning, Alex." To his credit, Alex didn't even miss a beat before responding. Alex mentally groaned at the fact that he knew he wasn't going to be able to speak English with Ian until after the family reunion. At least he had Jack and Tom, who couldn't speak Pashto or Dari. He was pretty sure Crawley would go along with whatever Ian wanted. Plus, he had a bunker to finish restoring before he went on his 'trip'. Alex had decided on activating whatever was on the computer/flash drives before leaving. He was curious. Besides, Alex had a sinking suspicion that he might need whatever was on it. The rewiring had taken forever, but he was nearly done with it and redoing the walls. He discovered the base had a system to keep rats away when the computer was turned on. It really was incredible. Alex hadn't been able to figure out where it was getting power from, either. If it was the city power supply, someone else would have found it by now (he was sure that thing drained power like crazy). Maybe it had its own? If so, it wasn't visible. What he needed was his own personal electrical engineer. While he was dreaming, he could go to a medical doctor who wouldn't ask questions, a software programmer, and his own personal tactical team. Plus, if anyone were to actually stay there, they would need food. And vitamin D supplements. Not to mention they might ask questions. Ian was definitely not going to be hearing about his new base. Alex had decided this was a case of finders keepers. Besides, it didn't look like the government much cared what happened to it. He'd also removed the posters. And burned them.

Several hours later, Alex sighed as he fixed the last of the new wiring. Alex didn't want to risk breaking anything, so he made it as identical as possible. James had to go home at about noon and he'd decided to walk Fenrir. His wolf was now running around the base exploring. Alex was going to miss the place when he had to go to the family reunion. So far, the wolf hadn't broken anything, so Alex was pretty okay with him exploring. He decided it was time to activate the computer as he replaced the last panel in front of the last spot with former wire damage. He made his way back to the computer and looked for the spot where he could plug the drives in. Sure enough, there was a removable panel (if you had a screwdriver) that looked about the right size. Alex hesitated for a few seconds before plugging all of them into the computer. He felt a shiver of anticipation as it downloaded the contents of the drives. At first, it seemed the computer froze, but then a message appeared.

Active Secondary Programming? Y/N

Alex hit yes. There was a new message. He vaguely wondered if following the instructions of a paranoid doctor with years of bitterness towards the intelligence agencies was a good idea. Oh well, too late now.

- Activating program…

Notice: Activating program will override the existing programming. Continue? Y/N

Alex hit yes. Let it not be said that he couldn't make up his mind. Besides, worst comes to worse, he could explode the base and the computer with it. Although, he wasn't actually sure if this was connected to the current internet or not.

Welcome to MADDOX! The first Massive Analysis Data Deconstruction into dOcX form system!

Accessing the current ethernet…

Notice: Initial analysis will take a period of 25 days: 22 hours: 33 minutes: 25 seconds due to data abundance.

Continue? Y/N

Alex hit yes. Well, it wasn't as short or long as he was expecting. He wondered what the computer would do in his absence, though. Probably update. He refrained from remarking wryly that someone really wanted to name the computer system. Was it AI or just a gigantic processor? Either way, it really was kind of awesome that someone made this ages before the public found out. He decided to set the computer into the clearly labeled and still there 'holiday mode' until he got back. Alex wasn't sure what it did, but it was always better to follow instructions when it came to picky electronic devices. The program seemed to keep working with it on. Alex decides to leave the computer be and go exploring. There was still a whole level of offices and training rooms he hadn't checked beyond looking for damage. Alex decided to go to the library first. He figured if it was full of books, it would at least tell him something. He pressed his hand at the (rather bulky and older) handprint scanner. It let him in. Alex swung the door open and turned on the lights. They had the decency to use the Dewey decimal system as far as Alex could tell. The fiction section was also in alphabetical order. Then again, he figured a group of scientists would definitely care about upkeep more than his former classmates. Alex checked the drawers. The library still used the system with cards. Was it worth it to computerize it? When Alex moved towards the back of the library, it started getting weirder. He hadn't noticed it at first, but there was a section in the back not visible from the front of the library. It was covered by a single black silk curtain. He delicately pulled it back. At first, it just appeared to be made of slightly rougher manuscripts, but Alex realized that they were research books. The handwritten results there for everyone to see. Some of it didn't even look like real science. He supposed he could read up later. Against his better judgment, he grabbed one that was about storing memories outside the brain and one about improvements to first aid.

Alex headed back at his usual time after locking up. He needed better security at his base. That could wait, though. Especially since he hadn't told anyone that it existed. Ian shot him a quizzical look when he got home almost four hours after 'walking Fenrir'. "One would think you are avoiding me."

Alex rolled his eyes. It was Dari this time. "Not avoiding. Besides, the 'dog' needs his walks, you know. What else could I possibly be doing?"

Ian raised an eyebrow. "Making mayhem. Finding mutants. Antagonizing government agents. Meeting foreign officials. Any of those ring a bell?"

Alex huffed defensively. "I don't antagonize the government. They antagonize me."

Ian's unamused look said it all. Jack looked irritated when she came home to the two of them bickering in a foreign language. "Can you two please switch to a language I can kind of understand?"

Tom grinned. "Preferably English, since I'm failing Spanish."

Alex groaned. "Really, Tom? You're in the beginner's class."

Tom rolled his eyes. "Not all of us lived in Spain."

Alex sighed. "I'll work with you on it. How much extra credit do you need to pass?"

Ian frowned. "It really isn't-"

Jack promptly stomped on his foot and apologized. Ian followed her into the kitchen. "Really?"

Jack rolled her eyes. "Don't be discouraging. Honestly, Spanish is hard for some people."

Ian sighed. The world must have its collective IQ being lowered or something. "Sorry."

Jack snorted. "No you're not, but Alex gets pretty huffy when anyone besides him insults his friends, so just think before you open your mouth." Ian sighed. His life was so much simpler when it was just the three of them.

Ian sighed and called Alex up to his office. "You responded to the letter, right?"

Alex sighed. "Yes, Ian."

Ian shrugged. "You are doing better than I expected. Besides, this is only for the trip. I'll try to take you somewhere nice afterward."

Alex groaned. "Yes, Ian, should I bring my weapons?"

Ian snorted. "Hell no, the customs officials are paranoid as fuck. Besides, our relatives have their own sets."

Alex grinned. "Whatever happened to be prepared?"

Ian snorted. "Only if being prepared doesn't get you a nice probe up your ass."

Alex sighed. He didn't like leaving his handy knives and guns behind. Not to mention his wolf was going to lengthen the packing process. Alex walked out before Ian dismissed him. "You would tell me if something was going on right?"

Alex hated lying to his uncle. "Yes, Ian." Sure enough, the minute he got his suitcase down the 'dog' started being a huge distraction. Fenrir had gotten clever enough to unpack his clothes while Alex tried to put them in the suitcase. "Damn it, dog." Ian was grinning in the doorway. "Shut up, Ian."

Ian smirked. "I didn't say anything, Alex."

Alex rolled his eyes and gave his dog a light push that had no effect. "But you want to."

Ian just walked off snorting. A few minutes later, he came back with a slender package and a backpack. He handed it to Alex. "Smithers sends his regards. Plus, you needed a few things I grabbed you from the store. This is your emergency bag."

Alex takes the supplies. He has faith in Ian's ability to pack a survival pack. Considering the man was the one who taught him to pack one and all. "Thank you, Ian." Ian walked off.

Alex swore and sent a text to Yassen. He wasn't really sure how to convince the man that the family reunion would end well. The man was paranoid about warzones (with good reason, but still). He wondered if he wasn't about to be kidnapped. This was going to end well. Now he just had to keep repeating himself until he believed it. Alex wondered if he wasn't slowing going insane from the drama.

- C

We are going to Kabul for the family reunion.

-A

Yassen sat up when he got the text from Alex. Really?! His new nominee for 'most irresponsible guardian' was now Ian Rider. He was disciplined enough not to swear or have any other outward reaction, but that didn't mean he wasn't imagining Ian Rider in a chokehold. There were worse guardians, he supposed, but honestly, Ian Rider's danger sense for children seemed to be non-existent. That and the fact that Tulip Jones was taking far too much of an interest in Alex's life was alarming.

-A

I had better get daily texts as proof of life. Otherwise, a lot of people in an Afghani shithole are going to go 'missing' for Rhea's interrogation training.

-C

Alex sighed. He wasn't sure how his proportional reaction speech was going to be received so he refrained from giving it. No, Yassen, you can't murder a whole bunch of people because my text comes in a little late. Yeah, that would end well. Still, even Ian was less intense. Though not by much. Alex was pretty sure some people had gone 'missing' when they tried to kidnap him or were what Ian considered a risk to his health.

-C

You and everybody else. Don't you have a job? And a trainee?

-A

Cossack raised an eyebrow. Oh well, at least Alex had agreed. His hours were flexible. Besides, terrorists did actually pay well for mercenaries acting in their stead. Rhea would totally back him up if it involved Alex. That and he was technically wealthy enough to retire comfortably. He figured he would just wait until he was actually too old to do his job before retiring. Thirty-five was about the limit for an assassin. Any longer and your reflexes started dulling. Slower reflexes got you killed. Painfully, in most cases.

-A

My hours are flexible. Besides, you need a better guardian.

-C

Alex sighed. He knew on some level that Ian was probably not the best guardian, but seriously… At any rate, Alex wasn't going to report him. Ian wasn't that bad. Plus, he highly doubted anyone else could and would cover for him. Smithers or Crawley maybe? Alex may respect Yassen's skill, but he knew the man would be a lot less flexible about Alex's extracurricular activities than Ian was. Ian didn't mind or was just repressing what he didn't really want to know. Besides, Alex knew that any attention from SCORPIA was too much attention from SCORPIA.

-C

Ian isn't that bad. Besides, my current other options aren't that great. I have to finish packing; the dog likes to unpack my bags.

-A

Yassen sighed. There really wasn't much he could do that wouldn't draw more attention to Alex. At any rate, he was going with his usual proof of life approach. Kidnapping him would start a manhunt and there would be questions from his (well, he was on his own side, technically) allies was probably the best word. Not to mention about half of the board still had anger management issues when it came to the whole debacle with MI6 and John Rider. Then again, most of them had anger management issues anyway. Not that he would ever say it to their faces. Back to the conversation at hand…

-A

The wolf has more sense than the both of you combined! Don't get shot. Don't go to the police without a bribe. And whatever you do, DO NOT blow anything up. They are not nice to terrorists there.

-C

Alex was trying not to send the snarky reply Cossack's mothering was almost demanding. He felt a warm sort of glow in his chest. The man was not that bad. Then again, he had sent Alex a severed head… Yeah, Alex was probably not the sanest person in the whole world, but severed heads still had a gag reflex for him. Besides that, he enjoyed having someone to talk to that was slightly more morally flexible than Ian. And Yassen let him burn down houses and took his crazy-ass and slightly sarcastic suggestions. Alex wasn't sure what he'd do if he ended up having to pick between them, but he'd make sure it never happened.

-C

Alright. You know, you aren't half bad at the training thing when it comes down to it.

-A

Cossack rolled his eyes. He was not going to reply to that. Besides, Alex's distraction tactic was amateur at best. Oh well, he assumed Alex could actually do better if he tried to be annoying or attention-grabbing. On second thought, Cossack wasn't sure if he wanted to be near Alex if he actually tried to be distracting. It would probably work a little too well. There would also be some sort of fiery explosion involved. No, he was not paranoid about Alex's bomb-building habit. As for being more patient when it came to Alex and Rhea, well, children were supposed to make mistakes and learn. Besides, if he had to bet on one of those versus the average SCORPIA operative, Cossack would put money on them. Mostly because the average SCORPIA operative tended to be mild to severely overconfident in their skills and relied on the reputation of the organization to keep them safe. At any rate, he had things he actually needed to get back to…

-A

Goodnight Alex. And I only have the patience to train underage students. Adults are a waste of my time.

-C

Alex sighed and snapped his phone shut. At least the computer was running and he'd have a surprise waiting for him when he got back. He wondered why they had to pack so early, but he figured that Ian just didn't want to leave it for the last minute. Plus, it was time to open Smithers' present. It was a set of small handheld games with explanations attached. Awesome. There was one smoke bomb, one scanner, and one x-ray device. The game boy had been one of his favorites. He placed it in his backpack. Wait a minute… Afghanistan had restricted airspace, so how the hell were they going to get there? Alex supposed he'd find out soon. There had better not be long hikes through warzones involved. Alex was going to be pissed off if there was. Why couldn't it have been a nice place, like Spain? Spain was nice this time of year if a bit warm. He pets his (now sulky) 'dog'. Fenrir was lurking like an overgrown raincloud. Alex pets his wolf's thick, fluffy, dark grey fur. The yellow eyes blinked at him and he huffed and plopped himself onto Alex's bed. Alex sighed. "You forgive me, right furball?" Alex was treated to a lick that displaced almost every follicle of his hair. He rolled his eyes. "Don't be petty Fenrir. Besides, I'll be back soon."

Alex sighed and went under the covers next to his giant wolf. Snuggling his pet was definitely a favorite activity. Jack walked in and rolled her eyes. "Good luck."

Alex grinned. "Thanks, Jack. I hope this goes well." Alex rolled over and got a face full of grey fur. A yellow eye cracked open and a rumbly noise went through Fenrir's throat. Alex was asleep before he registered the door closing.

Ian sighed as he looked at the travel arrangements. It was going to be a 'fun' trip. He was already angry with the darling in-laws and he had even gotten to the goddamn fucking reunion yet. Crawley came into his room. "Need help with the travel arrangements?"

Ian resisted a smile. "Have I told you how much I appreciate your work lately?"

Crawley just smirked and grabbed the laptop. "Fork it over and you're welcome." This was more his arena than Ian's, anyway. It certainly wasn't Mrs. Jones who ordered all of the travel arrangements. Not that she didn't do work, but her specialty was more in the analysis arena. Crawley was the facilitator. Most people would call him the closest thing the intelligence world had to a fixer and they would be right. Traveling into an air restricted area wasn't as hard as most people believed. Mainly because security was focused more on preventing people from leaving than going in. Nobody sane actually wanted to go to a war zone. Crawley would give Ian backup options just in case shit hit the fan on the way out. Honestly, he was with Ian on this one. What kind of insane fucks actually wanted the family reunion in a war zone? A few hours later, with Ian occasionally reading over his shoulder, he was done. "All done. You have three backup getaway options just in case they start closing up travel again."

Crawley snapped open his briefcase and continued. "If you get caught in a bombing, your best bet is to head for a country that is on decent terms with us. And, for the love of God, use the transponder if something happens and you need backup."

He placed it in Ian's hand with more force than strictly necessary. Ian gave him a fond smile. "Thank you, Crawley."

Crawley rolled his eyes. "We can use our given names outside of work. I mean, we even live together now."

Crawley should have known it was a bad idea. "Oh, but then the office might think we're getting too familiar."

Crawley rolled his eyes. They were both past thirty for Christ's sake. "Ian, how old are you again?"

Ian grinned. Crawley wondered if he'd ever learned to keep his mouth shut around the man. "Why? Are you interested, Crawley?"

Crawley whacked Ian upside the head. "I really should just keep my mouth shut around you."

Ian smirked. "But these things go so much better with everyone's mouth open. No wonder you haven't had a date in ages."

Crawley wondered sometimes where the man had picked up his especially filthy sense of humor. "As I recall, neither have you, unless it involved a mission."

Ian just kept on smirking. "Aw, have you been keeping track. I mean, it's kind of flattering in a stalker-y way."

Crawley groaned. "Shut up Ian, before I start threatening you with paperwork."

Ian grinned like a Cheshire cat. "Why, are you thinking of bending me over a-"

Crawley cut him off with a glare. "If you even think of finishing that, you'll be up to your nose in paperwork."

He did not want the mental image. It was bad enough they were sitting on another bed together. Ian pouted. "Fine."

Crawley wondered if the man was actually flirting or if he was just being his usual self. "You being distracting aside. Are you alright?" Ian would never want him, right? He was boring and forgettable.

Ian sighed. Flirting with Crawley was just way too much fun. Even if the man would probably never take him seriously. Which was good, because he didn't want their friendship ruined. Crawley would probably just want some nice boring housewife who didn't cause any trouble, right? Yeah, definitely. "Fine, Crawley. You worry too much."

Crawley rolled his eyes. "No, I don't. It's more that nobody else worries at all."

Ian snapped the computer shut and placed it on his desk before taking off his outer clothing and body armor and stretching out on the bed. "It's fine, Crawley, really. I wasn't feeling terribly merciful after I caught him with underage hookers trafficked by the local cartel. Way underage. The pervert."

Crawley was doing his absolute best not to notice or appreciate his coworker in pretty skimpy and nearly skintight clothing. He was over thirty and had self-control. He was over thirty and had self-control. Crawley would just have to mentally repeat it until he believed it. Ian closed his eyes and somehow managed to pull off looking attractive while smelling faintly of gunfire. Crawley imagined he'd had to exit the country quickly. Crawley mentally whacked himself for enjoying the view and nearly leaning in. "Do you want to talk to someone about that?"

Ian opened one eye and snorted. "Uh, no. Just talking to you and trying to erase the mental images is just fine. Besides, we both know Jones is going to read that psych report."

Crawley smiled faintly. "You aren't supposed to know that. Have you been rifling through her inbox again?"

Ian began peeling off his undershirt and Crawley began to wonder which deity he'd royally offended in the past life because this was slow and painful torture. Ian gave him that smirk he both dreaded and loved. "Nope. It's what I would do."

Crawley sighed and forced it not to turn into a moan or a whimper when Ian finished taking off his undershirt. "You are definitely paranoid."

Ian smirked again. "But I'm right."

Crawley took one last look at Ian's chest before fixing his eyes on Ian's face. "I'm, uh, going to go now."

Ian brushed past him to go towards the shower. "Sweet dreams, John." The words were practically blown onto his neck. Fuck's sake. He was leaving before he did something he'd regret later.

Ian smirked as he went towards the shower. He did rather enjoy having that effect on Crawley. Too bad it was because the dude wasn't used to nudity. Ian figured the sooner Crawley got used to him shirtless the better. He wasn't a nudist per say, but he did occasionally like to wander around without his shirt in his part of the house. Besides, it was a relief if you had burns on your back or wore heavy body armor on a torturously long flight. Ian hadn't really gotten the chance to change. At least he hadn't been covered in blood, but that had been very hard on his back. Starbright had learned to always knock before entering pretty early on. He usually had shirts around the house (folded and put away, he wasn't a slob). Ian sighed. It was actually much easier to have Crawley here and probably nicer to Crawley, too. After all, it made watching Alex much easier on the guy. Plus, now he didn't have to go to the office to convince Crawley to help him with his travel plans. Or anything else. Besides, Ian really did enjoy having someone around who threatened him with paperwork and told him to knock it off. Turning people into masses of stuttering drool had lost its appeal when he was about twenty-three. But then he'd discovered pranking. It was awesome. Personally, he always thought the world was more fun while you ruffled feathers. Ian decided to sleep after his shower. He was actually tired. That night, he slept like the dead.

John Crawley groaned and once more tried to rid his mind of thoughts of his nearly nude long-time coworker and friend. Sweet dreams, John. Ian was not helping him out here. The man insisted on flirting and stripping in front of him. The mischievous brown eyes and minimally scarred, well-defined chest were not helping him concentrate on his late-night paperwork either. Why, Crawley, are you thinking of bending me over a desk? Crawley firmly shut down on the mental image that was creating. What was he doing again? Oh yeah, interdepartmental finances. Why do you ask? Well, Crawley had a sinking suspicion that this was Jones' passive-aggressive way of telling him to own up to their non-existent sexual relationship. If it was up to him, there would totally be one. Sadly, he didn't think Ian would say yes. For all he knew, Ian was completely straight. At any rate, angsting was not getting his paperwork done. Neither was wanting what he couldn't have. Crawley groaned as he realized he had about three more hours' worth of this mess to put up with. He wasn't even in the finance department. He wondered if he could get Ian to prank Jones for him. Probably, but then he'd have to do the paperwork for that too. Plus, Jones would totally know it was the two of them. No one else dared prank the bosses and with good reason. Both could be really nasty if you got on their bad side. Unfortunately, that didn't stop Ian or Rider mini. It made for a great private laugh, though. Blunt's enemies had a tendency to go to prison or end up in a mental institution. Both the bosses were a fan of blackmail. A few hours later, Crawley decided to go to sleep. At least that was done. Maybe he could finally do something fun on the weekend. Preferably with Ian. He fell asleep before he could cut that line of thought off.

Crawley groaned as he woke up. Well, he was officially not going to be able to look Ian in the eyes for the next week. Especially after that dream. It had just been getting to the good part when his alarm went off, too. Oh, well. It was time to get up. He usually worked on Saturdays. Then Jones would make him take Sunday off. Something about not having a life. Crawley didn't much mind. MI6 had pretty much been his life. That and his social life outside the bank was pretty much non-existent. He ran his hands through his hair before getting dressed in his usual non-descript suit and tie. Appearances needed to be maintained after all. John was surprised nobody in the house besides Alex had figured out his and Ian's secret, but then again, they weren't the type to ask questions. Starbright and Harris senior seemed to know when to keep their mouths shut and the kids besides Alex were normal kids. Alex on the other hand… Ian had done a good job hiding the kid's important skills from even him. Actually, it was probably a good thing. Knowledge of instinctive firing was an unofficial, but very real, death sentence in most countries with an intelligence service. The instinctive firing was used only by assassins and taught only by terrorists. Or so the higher-ups told the agents. He personally had his doubts about that, but it was a long story. Crawley should report both him and Ian, but… He wasn't going to. There was too much here he didn't understand. Plus, the kid was eleven and even his cold, dead conscience lurched at the thought of what could happen to him. Blunt wouldn't care. Jones would be upset, but she wouldn't go against the man.

Ian Rider got up with his usual grace. He knew Crawley wanted an actual talk. Ian was pretty sure that it had been Alex, not Crawley, who took down the intruder. He kind of owed the man an explanation. Ian just hadn't wanted to deal with it last night and plus, teasing the man was one of his few consistent joys in life. That and Alex. Of course the brat watched James Bond just to irritate the living shit out of him, but he still liked his nephew. Ian decided to get dressed. Apparently, nobody appreciated his mild exhibitionist streak. He really didn't want Starbright to blow a fuse or quit. He had spent ages looking for just the right person to take care of Alex. They had gone through about five housekeepers before her and, well, they didn't really work out. He sighed as he pulled on his clothes. It was never anything less than business casual off-mission. Ian had a strong aversion to casual since a rather terrible series of undercover operations he'd done with a few different street gangs. He was never wearing jeans again after that last fiasco. Plus, dressing formally warded off some of the more inappropriate advances of certain individuals (cough, his co-workers, cough). He put on his watch and strolled down the stairs to eat breakfast. Crawley was already there, sipping coffee. "You could take the day off, you know."

Crawley tried not to focus on the fact that Ian looked unfairly attractive in that suit. He tried to cut that line of thought off. Crawley allowed a wry twist of his mouth. "Ah, but then the world might end, you see."

Ian snorted and grabbed the coffee Crawley made him. Alex entered the kitchen. "Dude, who works on a Saturday?"

Ian choked back a snort. Crawley's eye twitched. "I do, so if you and distracting are done, I'm going to work." Crawley actually wasn't that pissed, but he needed an excuse to leave before Ian caught him staring.

Ian sighed. He'd try to convince Crawley to loosen up after they lived through the family reunion. They were living together now. Maybe Alex could help? He didn't think Crawley was that mad, but that was probably his cue to leave. The man had a sixth sense for when Riders plotted anything that involved him. Alex was probably going to debate him out of boring paperwork, so he left. Ian gave Alex a look. "No scaring off Crawley. We're going to ease him into the world of irresponsible fun-loving maniacs, got it?"

Alex smirked. "Yes, Ian. Are you sure you aren't going to be easing him into anything else?"

Alex couldn't resist the jab. He was mentally seventeen, ok? Ian spat into his coffee cup. "Alex!"

Alex just started laughing at his uncle's expression. "Consider that revenge for the incest joke." Alex sauntered off before Ian could regain his snarkiness enough for a comeback. Ian turned ever so slightly pink as he heard Alex's chuckles. Jack walked in to see his gobsmacked expression. "Trouble in paradise?"

Ian quickly regained his usual reserve. "He made his first sex joke to me."

Jack rolled her eyes. "I blame you for that one."

Ian sighed and let her take his empty coffee cup. "Really, Ian, he is about that age."

Ian shrugged. "I suppose." He resisted the urge to sigh when Starbright's cough sounded suspiciously like 'incest joke'. Yeah, he was going to blame John's genes for this one. No chance in hell it was his fault.