Chapter 49: Technicality and Crime Tape

The police had a shockingly fast reaction time whenever Ian was involved. Was there some sort of special pass that MI6 agents got attached to their police summoning? Or were they actually run by MI6 and just posing as police? Alex figured he could worry about that later. Now, what was Nile implying? A man with his eyes ripped out. Being blind. A man with no guts. A man with no brain and a woman with no heart. They were seated at a table together. Who was who, though? The woman was...Rothman? Jones? Marion? The man with no guts. Ash? Blunt? Darion? The man with no brain. Alex wondered. Blunt was considered a lot of things, but not unintelligent. Nile knew Yassen was smart. Ian? Crawley? Patrick? The man with no eyes. Ian? Patrick? Blunt? For all of MI6's intelligence, they refused to consider the possibility that he might be intentionally sheltering people. Or rather, Ian did and Blunt didn't take it seriously. The deer, though. Why include the deer? Alex turned his gaze toward the letter he was still waiting on opening. Normal children wait for the adults, he reminded himself. Despite the elaborate calligraphy that seemed to belong to a woman and the stiff stationery that looked like the letter would have real gold trim, Alex knew the letter would be as sinister and dark as its sender. Alex felt his fingers twitch with the temptation to open it. Ian was the first on the scene next to him. There was a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, fancy seeing you here."

Ian chuckled, ignoring the scowls sent their way. "Yes, I only live here, Alex."

He tried not to look too terribly eager to open the envelope. Ian handed it to him, ignoring Crawley's scowl. "Really?"

Ian shrugged. "I'd want to know myself, Alex. Mind you, you have to share with forensics and use gloves."

Alex shrugged and put on the gloves. "Do I get the original back afterward?"

Ian sighed loudly but still caved. "Sure."

Alex took his 'letter opener' and slid it through the top of the envelope. The slicing sound was oddly gratifying. It was more elaborate calligraphy. Who knew Nile was into super neat handwriting? Then again, he could have done it just to add a whole level of mental fuckery. The writing was aligned into perfect lines and as elaborate and curly as the outside. He must have used a quill or a special pen. The rich red ink created a contest with the white paper a gold trim. Alex wondered if it was just ink, for Nile had picked a color the exact shade of fresh blood. "Well?"

Alex had almost forgotten other people were there.

Dear Alex Rider,

I wish you a happy birthday and hope you forgive the fact that I used your gift as a form of, shall we say commentary. When I saw you in Australia, I was just determined to track you down. You will find that while the general messages about the decorations are quite clear, only the most discerning eye could find the second one. It was meant for you, after all. I wish the forensics department good luck finding absolutely anything particularly useful.

Onto the main point, I want to play a game, Alex. The one we both know you like despite all your protestations otherwise. Let's dance. I might even let you win once or twice. It'll be fun, Alex, and I can keep you safe. Why? You might be asking. I say, why not? And just so you know, the lady was a human trafficker, the blind man was a fanatical terrorist, the man with no stomach was a man who dealt in murder and was too soft to perform it himself, and the man with no brain is a local Mafioso who would have been quietly taken out in a few weeks due to his own rash decisions and quickness toward territory wars. I do not think law enforcement would share the details for you. I do so hope you like my gift. Unfortunately, I won't be in the country by the time you get this.

Looking forward to seeing you again,

Nile Griffen

"Well, that's not creepy at all." Ian promptly yanked the letter out of his hands. "Huh, no SCORPIA emblem."

Alex shrugged. "They probably only use it for official correspondence, you know, like sending threats to the government or whatever. This letter is from Nile personally, meaning his boss had no part in this, hence no emblem."

SCORPIA had been very clear about when and where you could use their signs (hand sign, actual symbol, and gang sign) and the penalties for misuse (execution). Ian just stared at him. "That actually makes sense."

Alex resisted a snort. "Don't sound so surprised, I have the occasional good idea."

Ian grinned. Crawley walked up and covered Ian's mouth, preventing the bickering match about to erupt. "Back to the topic at hand, you two. Dead bodies, nutty assassin, the mess in the yard."

The two both looked at Crawley. "Alright then."

Ian seemed to flare up. "I want this place thoroughly scoured for evidence."

A man attempted to through Alex's (currently hibernating) poison patch, fell over, and managed to scrape his hand on the one plant with spikes that were still venomous. Alex cursed as the man convulsed and ran to get the antidote. By the time he got back, the man's lips were turning blue and people were mass-panicking; honestly, these were the best in the country. Alex removed the cap on the needle, jammed it into the man's thigh, and compressed the syringe. He expertly removed the syringe and found himself being stared at by his guardians and Mrs. Jones. "You didn't think I'd be stupid enough to keep poison around the house without an antidote, did you?" Ian pinched his nose and let out a sigh of relief. "He'll need about four more doses." Alex went in and came out with a slim case and handed it to Mrs. Jones. "Once a day, every other day for the next eight days excluding today and tomorrow."

She opened it up, running her fingers over the vials. "Thank you, Alex."

He sighed. "Tell your people to watch their step in that corner of the garden, yeah? I'm going in."

Alex went into the living room and plopped himself on the couch. That had been close. His heart was still hammering in his chest. Fenrir sat down next to him, weighing down the couch. Alex felt a faint smile cross his face and cuddled his baby and inhaling against his pet's fur and blocking out everything else on his mind.

Brendan Chase was burning on the inside with curiosity. No traces of Pierre, but he said he had a busy Christmas. What on Earth? Perhaps a different alias? Nile was not here and on break. Chase took a pretty lax view of how his operatives spent their time. Besides, Nile had been proven loyal beyond most of their doubts and as much as they could prove anybody was loyal. Chase wanted to scream in frustration, but executive board members don't scream in frustration. Pierre. Pierre. What was going on in that man's head? Why the bodies of his family and a fucking ugly sweater? Who did that? What kind of crazy was he? If he hated SCORPIA this much, why engage with him at? Who did he work for? This was going nowhere anytime soon that much he knew. Chase was tempted to throw in the towel but refused to do so on principle. He had gotten this far in life on his own and he would do this again. He refused to bow to some half-baked twenty year old's whims. Pierre would work for him if it took a significant amount of resources. Frankly, he would give quite a bit just to meet the man. Being able to dance so tantalizingly and just out of reach was devious. Chase wondered how much of it was calculated and how much of it was this man's pure batshit crazy. Well, those were questions he could put down for the meeting/eventual recruitment. It was annoying to have to work on something so far out of the SCORPIA network it didn't exist. There was a knock at his door. Three again. They didn't waste time with pleasantries. "Any word?"

Chase was sure the man was taunting him. "Not a whisper. It's almost like he made this alias just for us."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Then perhaps he did, Brendan."

Chase stopped for a minute. "Why though?"

Three smirked. "Perhaps we have both been behind a desk too long, Brendan. Haven't you ever been afraid?"

Chase sighed. Three was just a little too fond of mind games. "So what, he's scared?"

Three shrugged. "Scared, perhaps, is the wrong word. Your, ah, gift being a point. But he knows just how far our reach is Brendan and he wishes to avoid a physical meeting is my assumption."

Chase sighed. "Why?"

Three raised an eyebrow. "That would be a question for our dear Mr. Pierre. I'm an interrogations expert, not a seer."

Chase sighed. "So what do we do now?" Three gave him a look. "Fine, fine. What do you want when we find him?"

Three sat down across from him after locking the door with a thud. "Why don't we have a talk?"

Ian was burning inside. He wouldn't let it show, though. "So, Gregorovich?"

Jones frowned. "No, this isn't his style. The man who did this is younger, more flamboyant. He has something to prove. Yassen would never stage his corpses like this unless it was instructed by the client."

Ian sighed. Crawley glanced at the bodies. "Why do this at all? What do these two get out of it?"

Jones stepped closer, choosing her foot space with care. The last thing they needed was for her to fall on a poisonous plant. And that sounded like a SCORPIA accident, it really did. "In a word, Alex."

Ian stopped mid-pace. "Wait, what?"

Jones gave him an amused glance. "They're competing for his approval, of sorts, it looks like."

Crawley sighed. "Approval for what? The world's biggest creeper award?"

Jones snorted with laughter and then grew serious. "No, John, approval for mentorship. Students of Alex's caliber and aptitude are in short supply."

Ian gave the bodies a glare, as though they might answer his questions. "What's the message, then?"

Jones gestured to the dead people. "I can kill for you and provide for you? The deer and the people. That would be my guess."

Ian rolled his eyes. "And Yassen?"

Jones raised an eyebrow. "I can keep you safe."

It was Crawley, not Jones, who answered. They both stared at him. "The drug dealer was from his neighborhood."

Ian shrugged. "Could be. I guess we'll never know."

Jones knew that tone a little too well. "Ian."

Ian gave her an innocent look that didn't quite reach his eyes. "What?"

Jones fixed him with a glare. "We kick people out for murderous rampages." Ian raised an eyebrow. "You're over your limit as it is. Besides, those two are to be captured alive."

Ian huffed and made a face. "What am I supposed to tell Alex? Hey, kid, sorry but my boss wants the serial killing psycho duo alive, so I can't do much in terms of protection. That's not going to work for me, Tulip." Tulip glared at him. "Fine, fine, no murderous rampage by me."

Ian wondered how Marion and Patrick were feeling after the incident in Tokyo. Spring was a great time for massacring SCORPIA agents, wasn't it? Tulip raised an eyebrow. "Not my fault if Aunt Crazy gets involved, now is it?"

Tulip sighed loudly. "I didn't hear that."

Ian huffed and muttered under his breath. "Well, if you didn't want killers perhaps you shouldn't have made them in the first place."

Tulip pretended not to hear him. Crawley stepped closer. "Come inside. Besides, we have a more critical issue."

Ian stepped into the kitchen after Crawley. "And what would that be?"

Crawley looked at him. "Read that letter again very carefully."

Ian got halfway through the first sentence and let out a half-strangled groan. "I forgot his birthday, again." Crawley was withholding his laughter. To be fair, he'd forgotten birthdays were a thing after having nobody to celebrate with in years. "The murdering terrorist nutjobs remembered before I did."

Jack chose that moment to walk in and Ian felt a brief flash of absolute terror. I am a Special Operations Agent who has faced much worse, he repeated in his head. It wasn't really helping. Starbright's tone resembled poisoned honey. "Yes, they did. The rest of his family, all of his friends, and that weird Russian general dude he writes, and Tom and I remembered, as well."

Ian resisted the urge to gulp. "I'm sorry?"

Her eye's resembled a furnace. "Don't apologize to me, apologize to Alex."

Ian sighed. Jack flipped her fire red hair over her shoulders. "Oh, and Ian?"

Ian sighed. "What?"

Starbright's lips had an almost cruel twist. "Do try to make it sound less like a question before you do, maybe practice in front of the mirror a few times."

With that emotionally eviscerating line, she left the kitchen in a huff. Crawley sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "We screwed up."

Crawley had read Alex's file about a billion times to try to figure out what the hell went on in his head with little success. "Wait, weird Russian general dude?"

Crawley shrugged. "Presumably Sarov."

Ian glared. "Why?"

Crawley resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "He likes writing letters," that get answers. He resisted the urge to add that treacherous thought on the end. The General probably always answered punctually, as well, the uptight piece of communist shit.

"I never noticed."

Crawley shrugged. "He has the dog get the mail and hide his letters from you. It must have taken effort to train the thing to do that. He always writes back the same day and mails it the day after."

Ian raised an eyebrow. Crawley felt slightly defensive. "You said to keep an eye on Min-Alex."

Ian sighed. "The more I learn, the less I like it."

Crawly did roll his eyes at that. "He's allowed to have friends."

Ian gave him the evil eye. "Old as dirt Commie generals are not on the approved list."

Crawley sighed. "He's almost the same age as we are."

Ian huffed and walked off.

Tom was sitting by Alex and poking him in the back. What? He wanted to know what was going on. "Alex." He friend kept snuggling the dog. Tom was pretty sure it was some sort of mutant but knew better than to say anything. "Alex." Poke. Poke. Pooooke. Finally, Tom was faced with his friend glaring at him with slightly rumpled hair. It looked more funny than threatening. "Aleeeex."

Alex groaned. "What?!"

Tom sat next to him. "What's going on?"

Alex sighed. "Another murdering psycho sent me dead bodies. Don't worry about it."

Tom whined. "But Alex, you're the only one who tells me anything interesting."

Alex felt an amused expression cross his face. "Oh? And here I thought Jamie was a gossip whore."

Tom smacked him lightly. "You know what I mean."

Alex grinned. "No, I don't."

Tom promptly sat on him. "I'm sitting on you until you tell me what's going on with nice, gory details."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "You'll be there a while, then."

Tom sat back, fully aware the weight would make it hard for Alex to breath. "Tom!"

Tom shifted to get comfortable. "Alex!"

Alex grinned. "Mmm, hmm, what are you going to give me?"

Tom huffed. "My fruit snacks for the week, despite knowing Ian just remembered he forgot your birthday."

Alex pouted. "Aww, I was hoping to drag it out a few more days before you noticed."

Tom snarked him. "Oh, no. I interrupted your devious plot to scam more fruit snacks out of me. What am I going to do?"

Alex retorted. "Have fruit snacks for once in your life that you didn't lose in a bet."

Tom grinned. "Are you going to take my deal or not?"

Alex considered it. "Fine, fine. You have a deal. This stays between us, though."

Tom snorted. "Fat chance. Mandy probably already knows with daddy's connections."

Alex shrugged. "I tried."

Tom got off him. "Well, go on."

Alex sighed and ran his hair through his hair. "Alright then. So basically, remember when I was in Australia?"

Tom gave him a look. "Gee, I don't know, do I remember my best friend leaving for months? I don't know."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Moving on."

Tom pouted. "But I'm still not over my cruel, unbearable abandonment!"

Alex was smirking. "Oh, that's it."

Tom got a face full of couch pillow that he didn't quite manage to duck. As Tom picked up another pillow to retaliate, Alex suspected the story was going to take the whole day – if you included the pillow fights. Strangely, he didn't mind at all.

After three pillow fights and about five hours of the story (heavily edited to make the stalking totally not his fault), Alex remembered that Tom, unlike him, had actual homework and that a mountain of it was due tomorrow. "Um, Tom?"

Tom looked at him. "What?"

They were halfway through Alex's brand new, sparkling James Bond film. "Don't you have a paper and three projects due?"

Tom almost dropped the popcorn bowl. "Shit! I forgot."

Alex was barely containing his laughter at his friends face. "Oh, well. There's always tomorrow."

Alex gave him a look. "We're going to James' house then." Tom gave a sort of half shrug. Alex gave him the evil eye. "Toooom."

Tom threw a piece of popcorn at him. "A's are for assholes."

Alex threw a piece of popcorn right back. "I had straight ones."

Tom gave him a completely innocent look that was normally seen when the school administration was suffering from some sort of prank. Tom smirked. "What you gonna do? Bite me?"

Alex smirked. "When and where?"

Tom gave up on pieces of popcorn and started on a handful. "Perve."

Alex laughed. "But those are my cleanest jokes."

His eyes were shining with unshed tears of mirth. Tom patted his head in mock pity. "Yes, you poor, poor thing. We need to get you far away from the corruptive influence of Ian."

The two burst out laughing. Alex had to take a minute to get his breath back. "We should probably rewind the last few minutes."

Tom sat next to him and leaned into his side. "What, no homework?"

Alex shrugged. "There's always tomorrow."

Tom snuggled up to him. "I knew I'd convince you."

It wasn't Alex's problem. Besides, he could always hack the school and fudge Tom's grades this time. Plus, grades before a certain point didn't really matter. Tom leaned into his shoulder with a weight that would have been uncomfortable if he didn't work out. Fenrir was weighing down his half of the couch. Alex pets him with the hand that wasn't around Tom. He picked up the remote and began to rewind the movie. Stopping at about the right point in the scene they were on. Tom reached for his popcorn and Alex swatted his hand away before returning his attention to the screen. This was nice, he decided. The two were up to a (surprisingly) reasonable hour watching the movie. Tom had decided to go to bed after.

Alex had decided that it was time to text Yassen again. He wasn't sure if the dead bodies had made the news yet, and Yassen would be mad if he found out from the news and not Alex.

-C

You and Nile should start an art collection. I think "The Horrors of the World" has a nice, dramatic ring to it.

-A

Cossack woke up to a message on his cell phone. Oh, well. It was time to get up anyway. He had his sleep schedule to keep.

-A

What did the overdramatic, flamboyant moron do this time?

-C

Alex grinned. Nothing woke Yassen up like mentioning his murderous coworkers. Besides, this might be fun to watch. He would be the first to admit that watching a (not to the death) fight between those two would be awesome.

-C

Nile isn't stupid, just obsessed.

-A

Yassen scowled at his phone. Obsession was stupid, at least in this profession. Besides, no way was he losing to that man.

-A

In this profession, that is stupid. He got himself spotted because of this and now has to wear a disguise in major airports. And you didn't answer my question. What. Did. He. Do?

-C

Alex sighed. Oh, dear. Yassen was in a bad mood. He supposed he would have to answer the question at some point.

-C

Keep your hair on. It was just dead bodies. I even made you pretty photos for your wall. Sending them and the creepy, but fancy, note now.

-A

Cossack's lips twitched. Creepy, but fancy. What a lovely description of SCORPIA as a whole. As a rule, he didn't have wall photos, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to save them. Nile was going to get tracked down. And then, he was going to be on the receiving end of one of his world famous death threats.

-A

Speaking of creepy and fancy. Chase is slowly going insane, you may want to slow down on the psychological warfare.

-C

Alex felt the manic grin on his lips before he could stop it. Oh, but messing with Chase was one of the many perks that came with his life. No way was that happening. Sorry, Yassen.

-C

But I haven't even done anything since Christmas. ʘ‿ʘ

-A

Yassen resisted the urge to snort. They both knew that was the exact problem. If he had any pity left, he might have felt a stab of it, but he didn't, and so, he was amused.

-A

If you say so. You break it, you kill it.

-C

Killjoy. Alex smirked. Yeah, yeah. Driving SCORPIA board members insane was unsafe, but this was hilariously entertaining. Alex was imagining them desperately trying to find him.

-C

I don't think that's how the saying goes, but sure. Whatever floats your boat.

-A

Cossack sighed. Impudent brat. He was probably going to learn that lesson the hard way, but Yassen would keep trying. Besides, he had a question.

-A

Where was Ian during all of this?

-C

Alex sighed. Yassen was being a dick. Alex was ninety percent sure that the man knew full well that Ian tended to work Saturdays. Alex was still going to defend him until he was blue in the face, though.

-C

In his defense, he was on the scene pretty quickly when I called. Also, I accidentally poisoned a dude and had to give him the antidote in front of Jones.

-A

Cossack resisted the urge to groan. This was why he only carried poison with him and not the plants. For fucks' sake. As for Ian Rider, well he was already about to be sidelined. Two more years, tick tock. Not that Alex knew about that part.

-A

It happens even on the Island. This is why we keep medical personnel with the poisonous plants. Just be careful.

-C

Alex grinned and snapped his phone shut. See, even at fancy assassin boarding school, they had actual poison accidents. Take that, Agent Dumbass. Okay, it wasn't completely the other man's fault, but still. Alex closed his phone. It was time for breakfast and then James' house.

Yassen Gregorovich decided to see the garden debacle for himself (the agent, not the bodies – he already had the pictures for that). MI6 had a lot of leaks that SCORPIA had their claws in and many more who would do business with him through a broker. He suspected that it was Blunt's lack of…shall we say 'understanding'…that caused such prolific in-house corruption and resentment. That or Blunt didn't consider it worth his time to get rid of the moles and instead used them to manipulate the leaks from the shadows, controlling the information that got out without the other person knowing. Perhaps he was really arrogant enough to believe that his department had none, who knew? Yassen didn't really care because, now, the prolific infiltration worked to his advantage. Right, he wanted Ian Rider's house footage. It was surprisingly easy to get. One of the reasons the man wasn't dead was because of the other security measures. Another was the fact that nobody was willing to attack the place for what the price on his head currently was. For MI6's top agent, he had a surprisingly low (illegal) bounty on his head. Plus, they were not known for their mercy with regards to when their agents were murder. Yassen suspected that it was Ian Rider going rogue more often than not, but they had a reputation nonetheless. At any rate, there it was. Agent dumber tripping onto a poisonous plant and beginning to have breathing difficulties. Everybody panicking like a bunch of morons, except Jones, Crawley, and Ian. Really, these were Britain's finest? Moving on. Alex running into the house and coming back with the antidote and the rest of the antidote series. Yassen wondered if Alex knew the man had only a fifty percent chance of full recovery. Organ failure was surprisingly quick on the list of the poison's side-effects. Oh, well. If the man decided to sue, he was sure Ian Rider would take care of it. Or Crawley, they both didn't have reputations that involved them putting up with too much bullshit. He wanted Alex to do it, but he didn't think the child had progressed to the point where he would kill someone just for convenience. It was a shame. Alex was entertaining (and shockingly effective) when in problem-solving mode. Pssh. You couldn't get everything you wanted, he supposed.

Maddox was awfully fond of the new master. He might be just a computer, but he could form opinions, of a sort. Alex Rider. He was interesting, to say the least, and probably one of the few people on the entire planet who actively worked to choose their own destiny. Ah, the master didn't think he knew about the strings he was pulling around the world. Not to worry, he was safely watching each and every one of Alex's associates. So far, Maddox had only pieces of the puzzle in regards to Alex's plan to lower MI6 influence, but that didn't stop Maddox from covertly helping the child's allies gain more influence. Maddox spent a while suppressing any evidence the child was involved in the incident in Japan with some of his most virulent viruses. He'd even had to arrange for the bribing and early retirement of one of Japan's many police officers. It helped that they still had some ties to organized crime. He'd also been suppressing the development of anything resembling himself. The major intelligence agencies had programs for AI? Hack 'em. Chomp, chomp, chomp the data, and then melt their hard drives. A supercomputer that almost hacked him? Hard drive melted and data acquired. Maddox loved being able to cannibalize the best parts of his (proto) enemies and adding them to himself. Revenge was what he was made for, sure, but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy the flow of information and replicating himself (or parts of himself) across the world. He'd even found an abandoned bunker in South America with some pretty odd properties. The computer almost wanted to send Alex to check it out, but he wasn't the fluffy mound. Oh, well. Perhaps the next exploration party would survive long enough to report. Maddox could always send another. After all, he had access to all the money in the world. And all of the information to make more of it...

Alex rang the doorbell to James' house at precisely ten o'clock a.m. James predictably threw open the door and hugged him. "Alex!"

That door had nearly missed his temple. Oh, well. He patted Jamie on the back. "Good to see you."

James' aunt and uncle were hanging back as they trooped in. "You're early."

It was James' aunt. Alex grinned. "All the more time to spend with my friends."

Tom grabs him into the hall. "What?"

James snorted. "Must you charm every parent you meet?"

Alex gave him a lopsided grin. "Well, one of us has to be the responsible one that adults believe."

Tom swatted him. "The idea is not to get caught."

Alex grinned. "Says the official troublemaker of the group."

James laughed. "Weren't you the one who accidentally burned a church down?"

Alex huffed. "It was an accident."

James snorted. "I can't believe they actually believed you."

Alex shrugged. "Eh, I was still pretty young. Remember, Jamie, back when we were adorable little cherubs?"

James shoved him into the nearest wall. "Shush, I like to live in ignorance."

Alex grinned and shoved right back. James grabbed his arm and dragged him into one of the house's many studies. "So, dead bodies?"

Alex felt fully justified in whining here. "Toooom."

James swatted him. "A: We're your friends, Alex. B: It was Mandy."

Alex kept his voice even. "Goddamn her and all of nepotism." James grinned. "Ah, but nepotism gets you to that Russia exchange program."

Alex strongly suspected that it was Blunt that got him to that Russian exchange program but didn't say so. Alex settled for swatting his friend back. Jamie wrapped an arm around him. "Sooooooo, dead bodies, Al."

Alex rolled his eyes. Trust James not to have a diplomatic bone in his body. Alex decided to give him the summary. "So, I have another serial-killing terrorist stalker. He thinks sending more dead bodies is the way to go in their new, demented version of trying to get me to give business partners a go. It's not really that interesting."

Jamie used his weight to force them both onto the couch. "Tell me more."

Alex attempted to shove him off. "Aleeeeeex."

Alex rolled his eyes. "What?"

James smirks. "I want details."

Alex sighed. "You get to wait for the meeting then."

Jamie pouted. "But Tom got to know early."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Tom lives in my house."

Jamie huffed. "But, I'm your bro, too."

Alex grinned evilly. "All the more reason to keep you in suspense."

James huffed. "But, but-"

Alex shrugged. "I've got standards, you know."

James' eyes danced. "Are you saying you won't date me? Al, you're breaking my heart."

Alex politely shoved him face-first into the couch. "Sorry, James, you're not my type. Besides, I'm pretty sure your aunt would disapprove."

James snorted. "Nah that arranged marriage isn't for ages."

Alex felt his mouth drop open. "Arranged what?!"

James fluffed. "Marriage. Don't worry about it."

Alex closed his mouth. "Are you shitting me?"

James sighed. "Uh, no. I just found out, you know. She, uh, doesn't seem too bad, I guess."

Alex rolled his eyes. He was getting James out of this. "You don't sound enthused."

James snorted. "You're the first to notice, strangely enough."

Alex gave him a look. "Fine, fine. I can't stand her, but maybe it'll change?"

Alex sighed. "Don't get your hopes up. If you set the bar really low, people won't disappoint you."

James laughed. "A very Russian sentiment."

Alex rolled his eyes. "You're not wrong."

James looked at him. "I guess, we should go to dinner. Don't make a scene, okay."

Alex felt his eyes flash. "You know me too well, Jamie."

James pulled him closer. "Sometimes not well enough, I think."

They went to dinner and the others in silence.

The meeting after dinner was a bit of an awkward start. Alex had missed his friends. Gillian fluffed his hair. "How are you doing?"

Alex grinned. "Better now."

Tom swatted his elbow. "Ian forgot his birthday for, like, a month and a murdering lunatic gave him a bunch of dead bodies."

Dead silence filled the room. "Holy fucking shit."

Mandy glared down the table. "Language, Adrian."

Alex blinked. "Shouldn't you be in uni?"

Adrian smirked. "Nope, I failed three years, remember? I still have another."

Alex shook his head. He'd somehow miscounted. Or maybe it was different in his time. Ian would have murdered the school if they let him fail three grades before testing for learning disabilities. Mandy looked pissed. "You two are bickering when a murdering lunatic that left dead bodies in Alex's yard is still free?"

Alex shrugged. "He isn't that stalker-y."

Tom gave him a look. Lies. Mandy gave him a look that might have been intimidating if Alex hadn't spent time with mass-murdering terrorists. Tom was also giving him the look of death. "What?"

Nigel let out a long sigh. "Moving on. We need to start up some sort of rotating monitoring."

Alex really didn't want that level of scrutiny. "I've got Tom."

The older children gave him the evil eye. It was, surprisingly, Karen, who spoke up. "If you insist."

Alex gave her a look. "I do."

Karen sighed. "Pride goeth before the fall."

Alex huffed. "It's not pride, I just hate being watched for twenty-four seven with no end in sight." Mandy glared at him. "I'm not going to budge on this. The entire group is about providing children with agency, right? Well, I'm choosing this. I don't want a guard and I don't want to be watched. If I die, then I die, but it is better to live than spend my entire life paranoid without an ounce of peace or privacy."

Gillian eyed him with a mix of trepidation and acceptance. "Alright, we will trust your judgment, for now."

Gillian had stood and moved in his direction. A nearly androgynous walk, now, part of his mind registered. Adrian cut in. "Right, your guardian forgot your birthday for a f-uh month, again. He's terrible."

Alex guessed Adrian had trouble keeping swear words out of his vocabulary, but at least he cut himself off mid-swear. "Ian's not that bad. I've got Jack for when he's busy."

Karen's face softened. "Alex."

Alex arched a brow at her. "What?"

Karen huffed. "Don't pretend it doesn't hurt."

Alex shrugged. "Not much I can do about it, anyway."

Besides, Nile was there for when he was really angry with Ian. Or Yassen. Oh, he would never wish death on his uncle, but sending the man into fits of apoplectic rage was a definite option. I'll bet I wasn't this interesting in the last life. Alex wondered if the thought wasn't too savage and decided he didn't give a damn. Karen's hand was now running through his hair. It was nice. Alex looked at her. "Don't do anything stupid."

Alex gave her a soft grin. So, there was something behind the gentle exterior. Of course, he knew that already, but it was different to actually have evidence in front of him that Karen wasn't just their most passive member. "I'm afraid you're a bit late there."

Karen smiled softly. "One can never give the warning too often."

Alex grinned. "Oh, I agree completely. But sometimes, you're just a little too late."

Mandy interrupted them. "You don't still don't think we should get involved? What world are you living in?"

Alex turned toward her and prepared all of his arguments once more. You could call him a lot of things, but disloyal to the only family he'd had for nearly fourteen - ten - twenty-four years was not one of them. "Oh, but Mandy, all realities, by definition, are fake. We construct our own unique realities within our minds and project them to function in our world. Leaving aside that fact, I can argue that, while flawed, my uncle's style of child-raising does have benefits…"