Chapter 45: Combustion and Chicanery Part Two

AN: There is violence in the chapter, (including modified mustard gas) some of the imagery may be disturbing.

Marion caught him defrosting Magikarp the ice block after she got back from her morning outing with Fynn. "What is that?"

Alex shrugged. "Dunno, but Fenrir wouldn't let me leave it behind after digging it up."

The furball still looked pleased with himself. Marion stared at him. "Alex, honey, are you feeling alright?"

Alex sent a glare her way. No, he was not insane and neither was his baby. "Fenrir's stuff is normally useful."

Marion raised an eyebrow. "Really? What has he found so far?"

Alex shrugged. "A weapon and a dead body."

The bunker technically counted as a weapon, he supposed. Marion gave Fenrir a considering look. "He's not a husky mix, is he, dear?"

Alex shrugged. "Not really."

Marion touched the pony-sized dog. "So, when'd you get this puppy?"

Alex smiled at the memory. "It's been over a year."

Marion looked at the dog again. "Does he breathe fire?"

Alex snorted. "Not to the best of my knowledge, but he's given me a few surprises."

Marion looked between him and the dog and grabbed his left arm, right over the bracelet. "So, when did you get one of Death's hounds?"

Alex gave her a funny look. "He came from a British Black Ops facility."

Marion gave him a careful look. "I see. Be careful when you bargain with Death, he's got millennia of experience on you."

Why was it always Marion who figured stuff out? "Don't I know it."

Alex muttered under his breath. Welp, he was already trapped pretty darn well. Where was Aunt Crazy in the last life when he needed her? "Anyway, Happy Birthday!"

Alex opened the bag. "The new James Bond movie. Thank you."

Alex let one of his genuine smiles appear on his face. Marion smiled back at him. "I'm glad you like it. It was actually Fynn's idea."

Alex opened the box to see the shiny new disk inside. "We could invite him over if you wanted."

Marion sighed. "I was hoping it would just be the two of us tonight."

Alex shrugged. "Sure. Do I get popcorn?"

Marion grinned. "Of course. It wouldn't be a movie without it and grape soda."

Alex placed it carefully on the desk. "Why grape?"

Marion shrugged. "When we were younger, the only kind of soda we got was this one kind that only came in orange or grape. It was healthier. The grape was the better-tasting of the two, you see, so nobody ever got the orange."

Alex shrugged. He couldn't really talk. The only reason he'd had chips and soda this time around was that Tom went grocery shopping with Jack. "Grape it is."

Marion grinned. "Good, let's thaw the ice block now."

The ice block was melting at its own pace. What commenced was a lot of splashing and attempts to chip at the ice with makeshift chisels. Marion splashed his arm a bit as she attempted to get the ice block to break under the force of her blow. Alex flung water at her and it ended their current attempts to get the ice to melt faster. Marion, never one to just let things go, drenched him with nearly the entire contents of the sink. Alex turned on the sink and used the ice block to spray his aunt with a blast of water. Fenrir let out a woof and tackled his aunt with his (still muddy and wet) fur. Marion cursed underneath the giant furry mass. "Alex! Get that stupid fucking furball off of me!" Alex let out a squawk of indignation before his aunt's words actually registered and he burst out laughing. Marion was almost as reserved as Ian and the idea of her swearing was kind of hilarious. Fenrir sat fully on top of his aunt and Alex felt himself tearing up and gasping for breath. He didn't seem to be able to stop laughing long enough to order his dog to get off her. His baby just looked so smug and Marion looked so ticked. The woman glared at him. "You know, the insane asylum is just down the road."

Alex felt his chest beginning to ache as he regained control of himself. "Fenrir off."

Alex knew his voice was rather breathless. Marion was now covered in either very dirty water or very loose mud. Alex wasn't actually sure how it would classify. Fenrir was looking hopefully at him. "You can have some of my dinner, babe. You like butter, right?"

Marion snorted. "That thing eats better than most humans."

Alex grinned. "Yeah, and I like him better than most humans, so it works out doesn't it?"

Marion shook her head. The boy and his 'totally not a hellhound'. Yeah, and she was a mouse. "I'm not sure whether I should be jealous or not."

Alex flashed her with a wide-eyed look that resembled a doe. Marion felt her inner resolve to be angry crumble despite herself. "Oh, but there's enough space in my heart for both of you."

Marion scowled at him but internally melted. "Sure, but the bed is another question."

Alex shrugged and got out the paper towels, only to have his arm grabbed by his aunt. "I will handle it."

Marion hated housework, but didn't feel like her newly twelve-year-old nephew should be doing it either. Alex gave her one of those warm sunny smiles. "Thank you. I'll wash the dog."

Marion felt herself smile despite having to clean up after what looked like a tsunami. Ah, children. Or perhaps it was just Alex that could somehow get one sink full of water over half of a decent-sized apartment. Nope, it was definitely children. Somehow she was definitely going to miss this when she had to give him back to Ian.

They were the entire way through the movie when Alex remembered his ice block from the furry mutt. Alex glanced at her with those sharp, sharp brown eyes. "Shouldn't we check on Magikarp the ice block?"

Marion glanced at him. "Why Magikarp?"

Alex grinned. "Because it'll have to go splash-splash a whole bunch before it turns into anything useful."

Marion just shook her head. "Boys."

Alex gave her a look. "I'll have you know that there are real live girls who love Pokémon just as much as I do."

Marion snorted. "Then tell them to turn in their popularity card, but then some of your friends seem to have already gone full out dork."

Alex glared at her. "No dissing my friends. You haven't even met them."

Marion rolled her eyes. "I think my files tell me everything I need to know."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "How do you have files on my friends?"

Marion smirked. "Well, Alex, dear. It's time for an economics lesson."

Alex gave her the evil eye. "Which MI6 people do I need to get fired?"

Marion grinned. "If I told you, I'd have to find new corruptible people. It's shockingly hard to do, I'll have you know. The government salaries for support staff...tsk, tsk. Even then, most of them are patriots."

Alex let out a long sigh and pinched his nose. "I'm going to ignore my issues with everybody in the family spying on each other for a moment and focus on the task at hand."

Marion found herself eagerly reaching for the chest. It wasn't like she wasn't curious. Alex whipped around. "Don't think this conversation is over, Marion."

Marion rolled her eyes. Yeah, they'd quit spying on him when they were dead. Marion continued reaching for the chest. Alex gave her the evil eye. Marion pouted. "Any chance you'll let me open it?"

Alex kept glaring. "It's my birthday."

Marion huffed. "Brat."

Alex shrugged. "Oh, but you love me anyway."

Alex was picking the lock to the chest with Fenrir watching smugly from the corner. Marion was literally breathing down his neck and practically quivering with anticipation. "Don't you get enough excitement with your job?" Marion huffed. "Do you know how often I normally get to open mysterious chests? The answer is: next to zero."

Alex grinned. Sucks to get stuck on routine missions. Alex wasn't a volunteer, so they saved the special ones just for him. "That explains a lot."

Marion swatted him. "Plus, we have a mandatory cool-off time between assignments." Alex was tempted to snort at the idea of his aunt actually following that rule. Blunt hadn't with him, to the best of his knowledge. Then again, for all he knew, the mandatory cool-off time could be three days. Alex shook his head. There were more pressing issues at hand. He wondered why Maddox didn't text him beforehand about this. Ah, the one weakness with relying on technology. You assumed that there were electronic records of everything.

-A

I don't know everything. Just everything with electronic records.

-M

Marion didn't say anything about his three phones, though Alex was sure she picked up on the fact. The lock finally opened. Or about his mysterious text that she didn't even try to read. "How did hacking my phones go, Auntie Dearest?"

Marion scowled. "Ian's was easy, but the other two were locked up tighter than-"

Alex cut her off. "And did we learn our lesson?"

Marion cursed under her breath. "Just open the damn box already. You've already gotten the lock."

Alex gave her a look. "Fine, I won't try to break your phones again."

For some reason, he had a very hard time believing her. Alex opened the box. It was an interesting set of items. First were wool sweaters, but when Alex made to pick them up he nearly dropped them in surprise. They were softer than anything (including silk) that he'd ever felt. "What are these made of?"

Marion ran her hand across the two jackets. "This is qiviut."

Alex gave her a look. "Bless you."

Marion rolled her eyes. "It's a rare type of wool, moron."

Alex sighed. "Oh, sorry, between the fifteen languages, engineering projects, and plotting against nutters who want to take over the world, I must have forgotten to brush up on obscure knitting knowledge."

Marion rolled her eyes. "It's very warm. It'll be helpful if we go with our original plan of piggybacking the helicopter. The height plus the air will make it way below freezing."

Alex laid out the jackets. "They seem a little small for adults."

Marion gave them a considering look. "Inuits, if they even made these, are typically smaller than the average person, anyway. Plus, the stitches are made to be able to stretch without too much trouble. Notice the ribbing?"

Alex ran his hands over the fabric but was still trying to get over how soft it was. "Not really, but I'm glad one of us does."

Marion shrugged. "Who do you think it belonged to?"

Alex shrugged. "No idea, but did I tell you how much of a believer in finders keepers I am?"

Marion chuckled as she ran her hands covetously over the sweater. "You can have it after we get finished."

Marion did an internal squee of joy. What woman didn't like soft fluffy sweaters? Alex pulled out what he was pretty sure were pieces of a rifle. "Is that an M1 Garand?"

Marion looked at him. "Yes, it looks like it was modified, though."

Marion carefully ran her hands over the different parts. "I'll have to test it, but it looks like they wanted a different sight on it. It'll save me the trouble of finding a decent rifle, too."

Alex looked at little mournfully at it. "It's a good gun."

Marion looked amused. "You had best stick to handguns, dear. This could break your collarbone if we aren't careful."

Alex gave it a longing look as he took out the plastic-wrapped and bagged ammunition that was still dry and looked like it could be used. "Can I at least shoot it after you test it?"

Marion's eyes were glittering with suppressed laughter. "I suppose one time, under supervision, wouldn't hurt."

Alex grinned. "If we have ammunition left over after we take down the compound."

Alex huffed. "Darn responsible adults."

The last items in the chest were a bit smaller. There were several pens that seemed a bit off in the weight department. Alex forked the over to Marion. "Ah, these are older models. The white one explodes. The blue one is a tactical pen. The red one is a poison dart."

Alex stared. "Any idea if it still works?"

Marion shrugged. "They all should. These were sometimes stocked up for years."

Alex figured he could make his own if it came down to it. "I will be testing those, as well."

Alex touched the pens. "How do you test them without using them?"

Marion flicked open the exploding one. Alex saw the triggering mechanism was a tiny switch that lit up green. "The older ones had a bit more built in. This one should be good to go."

Alex gave her it back. "Why would a bunch of old American weapons be in the mountains?"

Marion fished out the last item; it was a small unassuming leather pouch. "Probably has to do with whatever's in here."

Alex opened it. It looked like a bunch of small rocks. "What are these?"

Marion looked at them. "Uncut diamonds, if I'm not mistaken."

Alex thought they looked a bit like gravel. "They don't seem very sparkly."

Marion rolled her eyes. "Yes, dear, that's what the cutting and the polishing does."

Alex sighed. "So what do you think happened?"

Marion smiled. "What do we know about cut diamonds?"

Alex thought back to the lessons he'd once had. "Easy to recognize for any jeweler and the more valuable ones are usually registered and examined by multiple people, so they can be traced."

Marion gave him a significant look. "So, someone got paid, but they didn't want it traced." Marion decided to give him another clue. "And where do most diamonds come from?"

Alex shrugged. "Africa. Blood diamonds?"

Marion shrugged. "Most likely. Anyone who is willing to pay or receive pay in uncut diamonds is not likely to care where they came from."

Alex sighed. "Do you think we should try to find the owner?"

Marion shrugged. "Not really, they don't want to be traced, remember?"

Alex shrugged. "Alright, then."

Marion began getting out the rest of their gear. Night vision goggle for the outside. Light body armor for both of them that would go under the winter gear. Weapons. Detachable climbing gear. "Time for a stakeout."

Alex mentally groaned. This was going to be freezing and boring.

Marion Beckett had been in the snowy trees for hours. They were watching the guards from the trees. Alex had said there were twenty-five. On the ground outside, it was two shifts of ten. The roof seemed to have both poor visibility for those on it and five guards. Luckily, the rifle had the range to take them out. Barely, but she was a crack shot who'd grown up on that gun. It was one of the few reasons she was going to risk attempting the shots. That and the M1 was the sniper version with a better sight and a few meters of added accuracy. Whoever modified it had known what they were doing. Marion was tempted to take out the guards now but knew it was better to wait until the day they invaded. Alex had modified the plan, but now it would need a good deal of accurate timing. This was going to be interesting. Then, she would find out what Alex meant by 'maniacs who wanted to take over the world'. Maniacs. Plural. There were more like this Grief if that was even his real name. Marion would stand behind him for all of the threats. Alex clearly didn't trust Ian with this. Not that she could blame him. The poor misguided man might actually want to take live prisoners. In a compound where they were thoroughly outnumbered. Pssh. Ian was in intelligence for a reason. The man made for a terrible assassin. Always asking questions and second-guessing himself. At any rate, Marion planned to go on all of these little outings, child custody laws aside. Ian would have arrested her already if he ever seriously intended to. This was more than just politics for England or she would not have been as easy to sway. Greif was planning on mucking with the world and the rest of the important countries. Well, that, and she had more personal reasons to want to do this. But mostly, she trusted Alex and wanted to make sure he didn't do this alone. And he was stubborn enough to do it, as well, despite the personal risk involved with single-handedly taking on a compound. Marion was absolutely still in the tree next to her nephew. Alex was tensing and untensing his muscles next to her. He wasn't nearly as patient as she was. Then again, at twelve, he really shouldn't be. Marion felt her lips twitch. She remembered being that impatient once. It was something you had to be trained out of. Marion resisted the urge to fluff her nephew's hair. It was nice to have Alex nearby, even if he was fighting the urge to squirm.

Alex Rider was glad when their fifty-thousand-hour surveillance in the snow was done. Even with the winter gear keeping the rest of him warm, it still felt like his face was getting frozen off. Marion was making more hot chocolate. Hers was the best when she made it from scratch. Alex would have been tempted to drink it straight out of the pot, but, alas, it would burn his lips. Fenrir was perched near him. They would have to do it all in about an hour. Two days until G-day. Alex was really not looking forward to the shit-storm that awaited him back home. Marion plopped herself down on the couch. "Now, Alex, tell me about all these other threats you know about."

His aunt looked dangerous, actually dangerous, for a moment. "Um."

Not his proudest moment, but what were you supposed to do when the professional assassin aunt you had to see for family reunions was threatening you? It was definitely not covered in those mixed family brochures Edward had given him. Marion was perched on the couch. "Spill. Now."

Alex sighed. "It's easier if I just send you the files. Maddox?"

-A

It can be done. Are you sure you want to include her?

-M

-M

I'm planning to give her the 'for certain' files. We can always adjust the other later. Are you okay with including her?

-A

-A

Nice of you to ask. It will be done.

-M

-M

Well, you are sentient and therefore count as a person.

-A

-A

Nice of you to notice.

-M

Alex snapped the phone shut. "Check your work email."

Marion arched a brow at him. "It's supposed to be secret."

Alex snorted. "We're related remember."

Marion chuckled. "Oh, yes, we are."

Alex shook his head. Ian would have been way pissier. Marion began rifling through the files and Alex felt like he was physically in pain. "Ooo, you have multi-billionaires, SCORPIA board members, a few players, and a politician. Naughty, aren't we?"

Marion seemed a little too happy. It was at that moment Alex remembered he'd marked a certain few members of the intelligence and criminal communities that he hadn't met in that file distinction. Oops. "Don't start planning the murderous rampage yet, Auntie."

Marion refocused. Alex wondered exactly how many metaphorical screws were loose in his aunt's head. "Oh, I wouldn't go without you."

Alex snorted. Ah, Marion. She was almost the total reverse of Ian sometimes. His uncle would have insisted that he stay behind while he took care of the problem. "The files aren't complete, mind you."

Marion flipped through one of them. "Oh, they're more complete than some of the official ones I've gotten. Meh, It'll go fine."

Alex hoped the same held true for their little Grief expedition. He took a deep breath. Two days.

The two days seemed to pass by with a nervous blur. Alex was almost too stiff in the tree he'd chosen between Marion and the compound. The helicopter would land with him on it. Marion would take out the guards and follow him up since the run was less than a mile. Alex would take out the helicopter pilot after he checked in, but before Marion shot the rest of the guards. Then, they would enter together through whatever opening was opened for the cargo. Alex felt tense. The clock on his wrist told him the helicopter should be here any moment. His grip on the device he was going to used tightened. Alex here the helicopter before he actually saw it. Then, it was overhead. Alex raised his wrist up and shot the hook out, just as the helicopter was about to pass him. You didn't shoot straight up, even he knew that. If you missed, you got hit on the head. The hook managed to land in just the right spot. Alex was glad for the automatic retraction of the device (it was similar to Smithers) because he wasn't sure he had the physical strength to climb up to the helicopter and hold on. The rope was barely better than the line he'd used from Smithers. It still bit into his side. Alex felt a breeze blast him and tried to grip the rope in a way that would not have him drag the helicopter off its flight path. It sort of worked, but Alex the rope seemed to bite into his gloves. His swears were muffled by the wind. When Alex finally got to the actual underbelly of the helicopter, it was about to land. Alex let out a few more swears and got into a horizontal position that would make sure he didn't touch the ground or get between the landing gear and the ground. He was glad that he was wearing something on his face, as he was freezing just from the wind, even with the gear. His arms and legs were shaking by the time the engine cut out. Hopefully, any variation in the flight path caused by him was written off as wind. Alex took slow quiet breaths as he eased himself down to the ground of the landing platform. He heard the pilot calling his landing in as confirmed. Alex removed his glove and grabbed his dart pen. Alex silently slunk out from under the helicopter and fired the pen into the man's bare neck. The effect was almost instantaneous. He started seizing and foaming at the mouth. Alex was pretty sure it was Cyanide. He refrained from gagging. A bullet was more merciful, but at least this was quick. The guy was a mercenary, after all. The man probably didn't know what was going on. The cracks of the shots rang out almost simultaneously. Five men fell to the ground. Alex watched below as a few tried to see where the shots had come from. Marion got eight more almost too easily. The other two had taken cover and seemed to figure out where she was enough to take aim. Not on his watch. Alex felt exposed as he drew his firearm. He could just barely make the shots from the roof. Alex squeezed the trigger twice and downed them both. He let out a breath. Sixteen down, twelve to go.

Marion was there nearly a minute later. "Slacking on that conditioning, are we? It isn't even a half kilometer."

Marion huffed as she climbed up to the roof. "Shut it, you. I was running uphill through several feet of snow."

Alex grinned. "Come on then."

Alex went up to the propped open door. Psssh. They must have gotten tighter on the security before he got there. Maybe Grief got more paranoid as time went on? Alex shrugged and opened the door with his left while holding his handgun in his right. It paid to be careful. Alex hadn't been able to figure out if this area would be guarded or not, but no way was he going without a gun. Marion was almost directly behind him. The door swung open with a bang. The guards inside froze at the sight of him. He and Marion made short work of the five in the room. Alex sighed. He must really look young for them to freeze up like that. That was seven including Grief and Stellenbosch (and Baxter, if he was even around). Alex moved into the place, keeping his tread utterly silent. "Marion, I forgot about the clones in the body count."

Marion scowled. "They're kids."

She glared. "Brainwashed to the point of being unsalvageable and I did. We are killing them now, end of discussion."

Alex let out a long sigh. "I can't shoot kids, Marion, even if they are evil."

Marion sighed. "I will take care of them, you will evacuate the rich ones out of the cells, yes?"

Alex felt the relief blooming in his chest. "Alright."

They moved further into the compound. Into the floor that held only the rest of the guards and Grief and Stellenbosch. Alex removed his face mask. It was starting to get hot and it obstructed his peripheral vision. Marion copied. They each took a side of the door before blowing it off its hinges and firing at anything that moved before the smoke so much as cleared. The rest of the guards were down. Grief and Stellenbosch came out looking just as comical as before in their pajamas. Alex felt no hesitation and he and Marion both shot them at the same time. It felt almost anticlimactic. They dropped to the floor with about four holes each in their chest. Alex gave Marion his spare gun and ammunition. "The clones are on the next floor, yes?"

Alex shrugged. The first surgery would not yet have healed. "Yes."

Marion moved toward the elevator. "Wait."

Marion raised an eyebrow. "Take the stairs. I'm not sure if it's trapped or not."

Marion gave him a fond look before hitting the fire escape and pulling one of the guard's snow masks on. Alex decided to go down the chimney again. He would fit. Then, he put his facemask back on. It wouldn't do to leave people with a description, even if (or especially if) they were rich kids.

Marion Beckett made it to the fire escape just as a few boys were cautiously emerging from their rooms. They looked at her suspiciously but accepted her wearing the mask. "Who are you?"

Marion made a split second decision. "A new guard. Your father ordered a few more after an unsuccessful attack on the compound."

Another one with eerily similar body language and appearance emerged. "So what's the word?"

Marion let her accent shine through a bit. "Your father has called a family meeting to be held in your living room with all of you. You are to wait there."

All sixteen of the boys emerged and followed her to the living area. Marion turned to leave. "Where are you going?"

One of the younger ones. "Out. I am not privy to your family business, obviously. Your father shall be with you momentarily."

The boy's lips twitched as she left. The room had no windows, one vent, and one door. It was perfect. She locked the door behind her and grabbed a chair from one of the rooms. It was a good thing that she always carried the equipment to gas just over one room. It was dead useful, even if it was considered a war crime. She pried open the vent, detached the other end, and rolled all of her poison grenades out the other end before replacing the vent. It was not a nice kind of gas and was actually related to the mustard gas used in the First World War. This had been modified to be fatal in no more than four minutes, however. It also burned right through the skin, nearly skipping the blister stage. She heard their screams as they breathed in the gas and quite literally partially melted both inside and out. Marion timed it to be eight minutes, just to be sure. She made the executive decision not to mention to Alex exactly how they died. It might offend his delicate sensibilities or something. Marion glanced at the area once more. It was run entirely on gas. Time for a good old-fashioned gas leak. Marion glanced at a nearby rug. Kindling for the fireplace. It was pretty hideous anyway. Marion felt her phone buzz. She picked up. It was Alex. "What's the ETA? I got the kids on the roof."

Marion sighed. "No more than five minutes. You have matches, right?"

If Alex's pyro ass didn't have matches, she'd eat her shoes. "Yeah, why?"

Marion huffed. "I'll explain when I get there."

Now all she had to do was get to the boiler room and play with some pipes. She'd already deposited the rug into the fireplace.

Alex had made his way down the ash-encrusted chimney without much trouble. Did anyone ever clean that thing? Alex wasn't sure he wanted the answer to that. Alex wondered how Marion was faring. The key to the cells was sitting on the desk. Apparently, the guards were a lot sloppier this time around. Alex was glad since otherwise, he'd have to search the dead bodies and slide down that disgusting chimney again. He grabbed the key and made his way to the last cell. To his surprise, there was more than one boy in there. Perhaps Grief had only implemented his only one person protocol in the last stage? Maybe he needed four at once to make a convincing school? Not that he followed his only one rule in the end anyway. Either way, these four would be saved. The others would never be touched by the man's odious plot in the first place. In the adjacent cell, there was the surgeon. Alex stared at the man who was clearly playing the victim. He was shaking almost uncontrollably. "Tell me, how much did they pay you for the surgeries? To look the other way when these boys, these children, died?"

The man started shaking. Cowardly piece of shit. The question was, of course, rhetorical. The man started blubbering incoherently. "Please don't kill me. I won't tell anyone, I-"

Alex felt a flash of fury. There was no way the man would keep silent. The papers would, of course, pay millions for the story. Plus, a good few organizations would as well. The families would pay to keep this quiet as well. "You won't tell anyone, hmm? Not the papers? We both know money is what drives you. You won't pull a little blackmail deal? I doubt it. No, best to end you here."

Alex's voice was velvet, even as he was getting himself back under control. Alex released the safety on his gun. "I wonder, have you ever done a single deed that makes you worth saving?"

He fired three times, just to make sure the odious doctor, who he found out had SCORPIA connections from Maddox, was dead. The boys stared at him, fear radiating off every pore. Alex unlocked the cell. "Time to go back to your families, kids."

One of the boys spoke up. "But, we've done stuff."

Alex snorted. "Arson and shoplifting? Fuck off, wannabe, and take this as a lesson to get your life on track. You don't want to end up like gutless the dead-o here. Now, come on. This is the last call for people who don't want to hike down the mountain in their nightclothes."

The boys followed him out and up the stairs onto the platform. They seemed relieved at the sight of the helicopter. "Who's going to fly it?"

Alex shrugged. "Hang on a moment."

He'd made sure to mix slang and use no accent on his English the entire time. He called Marion.

The boys were shivering. One raised his hand. "Um, aren't you a bit short for army stuff?"

Alex sighed loudly. "The government is an equal opportunity employer and endeavors not to be heightist in hiring decisions."

It was the first thing that popped into his head. Hey, it sounded official. That seemed to open the floodgates. "Who are you?"

Alex did his best to answer. "Classified."

Alex felt a tinge of annoyance, but couldn't blame them. "How old are you?"

His eye was going to twitch any minute now. "Classified."

Would the questions end? "How do our parents pay you, then?"

At least Jones had taught him the standard answer for this one. "I'm not allowed to accept payment outside of my government pay on the official pay scale."

That seemed to stop them in their tracks. "Really?"

Alex sighed. "Yes, damn it. No decent government allows that sort of thing. It leads to corruption, particularly in the cases of urgency classification of missions."

Would Marion hurry the fuck up? He was tired and cold and doing his best Wolf impression. Wolf would be proud. Maybe. If he thought about it and didn't punch Alex for suggesting that they were in anyway similar. "Oh."

He wasn't sure which one of them said it. Alex moved to the copter. "Less wind in here."

Marion chose that moment to appear. Alex got up. "Stick a lit match down the chimney while I start the copter."

Alex was too tired to even question it. "Yes, ma'am."

Marion had changed back to her original face covering. It was fortunate. The helicopter was starting up. Alex had not exactly been surprised to learn his aunt could fly one. In fact, he'd been a touch envious. Alex struck the match, dropped it down the chimney, and ran back to the helicopter just in case. He made sure to duck the spinning blades. They could easily decapitate a man. They were only a few dozen meters away when Alex heard the all too familiar sound of a building going up in flames. Alex stared at his aunt. "Really? I mean, we already eliminated everyone there."

Marion grinned. "The architecture was a blight on the mountainside anyway."

Alex pictured the atrociously ugly building. "Too true."

Marion landed the helicopter back at the platform it was meant to go on. Grief had owned both, so it simplified things immensely. Alex and Marion pointed the boys to the police station that was less than five minutes' walk away and vanished before the boys turned around (to the untrained eye, at least). Alex walked home with Marion. It took about ten minutes longer than it normally did. Alex was about to pass out. Fenrir was on their bed. Marion had to help him out of his gear. Alex was so tired, it didn't even register with him until he was already down to his normal clothing. He just went to bed with his dog and Marion joined him after showering first. They were both out in seconds.

Alex and Marion had assumed that the families would keep it completely quiet. They had assumed wrong. Marion had already emailed her boss, as Alex insisted she took sole credit for the entire thing. His argument that he didn't want a target on his back had worked like a charm. Marion had cooked breakfast and was pouring him orange juice when a story appeared on TV. "Billionaire Boys Rescued from Academy of Terror…"

Alex could practically hear the capitals. They even did short, candid interviews. "I've never been more amazed by a people in my life. I mean, they might be a midgets, but, man, they were badass."

Marion muted the television. Her eyes sparkled. Marion was technically short for a man, so it would probably pass any kind of initial tests. "You'd think they would keep it quiet."

Marion snorted. "Free publicity, plus, now their boys get some decently good press instead of shoplifting and shenanigans. They can also play a reformed by a life-changing experience angle too."

Alex sighed. "You think the kids'll get help, though?"

They had given the children some (heavily redacted) files to give to their parents. Marion snorted. "Of course, they don't want their precious children scarred for life."

The news went right into the ruins of the school and the fact that there were clones involved and not even the youngest clones were spared. Alex rolled their eyes as they discussed which of the more 'savagery-prone' intelligence agencies could be responsible. True, he couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger, but he resented the fact that news people who had probably never had to actively deal with a real threat (with the exception of that one dude who'd served in Vietnam), let alone kill people, were calling one of his family a savage. He'd like to see how they would hold up against SCORPIA and then maybe they could talk. Blithering idiots. At least nobody had brought up how the young clones had - wait a minute. Unspeakable crimes against brainwashed children? Yes, Alex was the one guilty of taunting and shooting Dr. Greedy in front of them, but they were still alive. "Marion, what did you do?"

Marion blinked innocently. "Just a bit leftover from my stint breaking up a chemical weapons ring."

Alex sighed. "Marion."

Marion looked defensive and surprisingly vulnerable. "I'm sorry you had to do that."

Marion had almost expected him to slap her. It's probably what Patrick would have done. And she had ruthlessly killed children, which was pretty much one of Alex's two whole pet peeves. Marion knew her job was pretty much thankless and expected to hear about it from her boss and Alex. She could almost hear his bitching now. Her boss was about as bad as Blunt in the employee treatment department. You could have spared them for imprisonment. Yeah, me and what army, sir? You didn't have to blow up the building. She wondered if he ever had gone outside his desk somedays. Perhaps he had simply forgotten what it was like. Or maybe he just didn't care. The man was abdominal at people skills. Do you have any idea what this does to us politically if anybody gets evidence it was us? No, that was his problem. She just investigated, assassinated, and took orders that she stretched to the limit. Politics were one of the few things she had no patience for. Besides, there had been lives on the line. Marion returned to the present. She was nearly emotionless about the whole thing, but it still kind of twisted something in her chest, even if they were evil clones. Alex was gently rubbing her arm. "Are you okay?"

Marion refused to cry. It did no good and regrets were for the weak. Besides, being comforted by her twelve-year-old nephew was not exactly high on her list or good parenting tactics. I fact, she was pretty sure it was on a list of bad parenting techniques somewhere. "Yes, fine dear."

Alex didn't look as though he believed her. "Marion."

She sighed. "Alex."

The stupid fluffy mutt made him look even cuter, his eyes wide with concern for her. "Don't worry about me, Alex. It's a parent's job to worry about the children."

Alex was so close. "But-"

Marion lightly brushed her fingers over his lips. "But nothing. That is the way of things. That is the role of things. Anything else is a perversion of the mind against nature. I'm not saying you can't worry about us, but it is not and should not be your primary role in life."

Alex huffed. "Okay. Can we hug now?"

Marion laughed. He really was delightful. Ian Rider didn't know what he was missing or slowly destroying. Oh, well. More for her. "Oh, Alex, we can always hug."

Alex hugged her and she didn't even mind when the furry rat joined in. Definitely a sign of insanity. Strangely, she didn't really care that much. Even if her clothes were going to be covered in 'dog' hair.

1. Inuits are typically about 5'4" tall and the height varies very little within the community. Alex would be at or around five feet tall and Marion would be around 5'6" (decently tall, but Alex is just past her shoulder at this point - the books tell us his father was decently tall, so there is no reason he wouldn't be). The point being, the sweaters would probably fit both of them.