Chapter 83: Springing and Elapsing

Joe sighed as he opened the email for the bill for his intelligence. Really, he should have known better. At least the Senate had given them a budget this year. The little smiley face on the email made Joe's blood pressure rise. Maybe they could track the payment? That was probably too much hope. Joe let out a groan as read through the itemized sheet. It was written like a SCORPIA expense sheet.

Was M SCORPIA? That would be unusual but not unheard of. It wasn't like SCORPIA didn't have the resources. Plus, Joe was footing that bill, thank you very much. But why would they act against the board? Maybe they were privately sponsored by one or two members? The board's infighting was infamous, after all. Joe glared at his computer screen. "Bloody bastards. I'll gut them if it's true."

Joe picked up his phone. "Tamara?"

The woman picked up on the first ring. "Yes, Joe?"

Joe glared at the printed-out expense sheet. "M sent us our lovely bill. Try to get them paid at a reasonable time in the near future."

Tamara groaned over the phone. "I assume you want us to try to trace this."

Joe smiled. It was full of teeth. "You assume correctly."

Tamara let out a sigh. "I'll set it up for this afternoon."

Joe shook his head and went back to his musings. Joe now had some executive board members to accuse of treason. Brendan Chase was in the hospital. Intelligence had confirmed he'd nearly died about three times, which was a bit much for a fakeout. Doctor Three and Grendel had been suspiciously quiet for a while. Kroll was fucking nuts. Mikato was not very likely, considering who had been offed. Oh, well, Joe was sure that the analysts would come up with a bunch of theories.

He felt his headache return as the news turned on. Yay! Russia got another militarized ally. Especially one with experience fighting special forces and the CIA. So much fun! Maybe they could extend everyone's overtime into next year again. Then again, there had been other people who had been suspiciously quiet. Patrick. Wasn't Alex his grandson? Surely, he could bribe a few courts to gain custody of his obviously abandoned nephew? Joe felt his eye twitch. Then again, he couldn't really expect the man to shoot his grandson if said grandson decided to eat more territory. That whole family was a bunch of vicious little fuckers. Joe occasionally wondered if they weren't more trouble than they were worth.

Alex sighed as he went to his usual weekend at Dima's house. Professor Yermalov was never in a truly good mood but the man seemed especially waspish today. Alex blinked as he was whacked upside the head. "Oi! He said no visible injuries."

Yermalov, surprisingly, did not smack him again. His eyes did narrow, though. Alex glared right back. He wasn't actually a very young-looking teen. Yermalov seemed to stare right back at him. "Are we going to have some sort of fight?"

Yermalov rolled his eyes. "For a teen, you cause a lot of trouble."

Alex resisted the urge to fold his arms. "Says the guy teaching me how to get in more trouble."

Yermalov actually smirked at that. "Too right."

Yermalov flicked one of the curls that had begun to appear on his head. "Dude."

Yermalov withdrew his fingers as if stung. "Apologies. It has been a long week."

Alex gave him an innocent look and tried not to look too hopeful. "Did something get set on fire?"

Yermalov was not at all fooled by his look. "You could say that."

Alex huffed. "Anyway."

Yermalov looked thoroughly amused. "There, there, little arsonist, you'll get your chance to set some fires soon."

Alex gave him a very suspicious look. Yermalov whacked him lightly. "Ow."

The man glared. "Focus."

Alex sighed heavily. "You're awful."

Yermalov padded away from him to watch. "The word you're looking for is strict."

Alex resisted the urge to mutter under his breath. Yermalov actually did let him throw knives at targets at the end of the lesson. Alex supposed that it was the closest thing he would get to an apology from the man. Yermalov looked impressed by his ability to hit bullseyes. "I will set up something more challenging next time."

Alex felt an odd wave of fondness. "I'm sure."

The answering whack was nowhere near as hard as they usually were. Alex let out a sigh of relief as he exited the room for dinner. Dima met him outside. Alex headed straight for the showers and Dima padded slowly after him. "How was it?"

Alex began stripping as he went into the shower. "The usual."

Alex wasn't exactly shy after all of his experiences in the past life. Dima kept talking to him through the shower curtain. "Is he as bad as he seems?"

Alex thought it was rather sweet that Dima actually cared about his feelings. "Probably not as bad as you imagine, Dima."

Dima still seemed nervous as Alex got out of the shower and began drying off. "As long as you're sure."

Alex started getting dressed in his evening clothes. Dima held out his hand after Alex combed out his hair. Alex took it.

Jet smiled as she opened another message from the mysterious Professor Emerys. Gordon was, of course, making his usual noises as Jet opened another illegal plant sample. At least she had someone who sent her nice things. Unlike Gordon. Doctor Three was too busy hovering over his precious Alex Rider file to notice too much else at the moment. Jet was inordinately fond of Emrys. The package was tasteful. Jet pulled out some of the ingredients she used in her homemade soaps that had been carefully cut, dried, and preserved. There wasn't jewelry this time but there was a letter and some cut-proof gloves. Jet smiled softly as she pulled out the teas he'd slid in for her to try. The letter, as always, went last.

My Dearest Jet,

I hope my last gift didn't alarm you too much. While you are a lovely and intelligent woman, I doubted you would fall in love with me. The gifts were simply gifts in the spirit of friendship. I had hoped once to give that set to my future daughter, however, the only girls I ever had were all stillborn. I truly enjoy your correspondence in my advanced age. I rarely get many visitors who wish to discuss my field of study, aside from a few colleagues. The students generally take my class to travel abroad or for an easy grade (hah!).

I hope this package makes up for the scare I gave you with the last one. You did mention that you loved making soap with certain kinds of dried flowers. The gloves are, of course, to protect your delicate little hands. You mentioned several Thai teas you liked. I found a few over here with a similar flavor profile, though I realize some of them are incomparable. If you need more coffee, let me know. Lord knows that my colleagues have thieved my food often enough. I still have no idea who got my soft cheeses from France in '51.

I'll try to refrain from gifting you too many sets that I originally bought for my desired daughters, though, if I think something will match, it will be hard to resist the temptation. In a way, you might be the daughter I always wanted. At any rate, I hope the package and its contents set you at ease. I've selected the teas that I thought were the most soothing. The ingredients are listed on the box, just in case you have any allergies. I blended the box labeled "Moonlight" myself. Hopefully, it turned out alright.

With Love,

Emrys

P.S. Give the red-headed devil a kick from me.

Yassen felt his eye twitch as Nile walked into the room. He had waited until the last minute and Yassen dearly wished to strangle him at that moment. "Another change?"

Nile twitched. "Yes?"

The man looked very nervous. Good. "You know, we get one try at this before he's back in London and living in a glorified fortress with guards."

Nile flopped onto the couch. Yassen let him. He could always spray the couch down afterwards. Perhaps couch covers would be a worthy investment after all. "It's a family home."

Yassen rolled his eyes. "The walls are steel and concrete. The floor also has a meter of concrete underneath and the glass is bulletproofed and double layered."

Nile made a noise in the back of his throat. Yassen stalked over and the man immediately jumped up. "I'm trying. MI6 is keeping this wrapped up tight, though."

Yassen let out a sigh. "You can simply brute force it if you have to."

Nile slunk over to Yassen. "Yassssseeeen."

Yassen rolled his eyes. "You have the flight number."

Nile groaned. "Small mercies."

Yassen flicked the man. He looked tired and stressed. "Look on the bright side. There's no buildings for you to scale."

Nile flipped him off. "Fuck you."

Yassen smirked. Point scored. Nile was giving him the evil eye. "Would you like to meet me in the training rooms?"

Yassen knew that Nile wasn't fooled for a second by his innocent expression. "Absolutely, you fucking demon."

Yassen perked up. Beating up Nile was always fun. Nile grinned at him. Yassen tauntingly flicked his ear. "Finish your escape plan."

Nile huffed. "It would be easier if you came along. You can pass for daddy dearest. I can't."

Yassen's grin turned feral. "I'm sure you can get creative. After all, plenty of couples adopt."

Nile gave him a look of utter exasperation. "Are you secretly on the no-fly list or something?"

Yassen flicked him tauntingly. "No."

Nile shoved him. "Screw the training rooms, come at me right now."

Yassen was already dodging the sword as it was whipped from its scabbard. He blocked the second blade with his knives. Yassen stepped closer and swiped at Nile's face. The door was thrown open. Yassen put his knives behind his back and Nile kicked the swords under the couch just as Brendan Chase walked in. "Fighting again?"

He and Nile exchanged a glance. "Of course not, Mr. Chase. We're professionals."

Chase eyed them both very skeptically. "I see. Well, then, you'll be happy to know that SCORPIA approved the protocol entitled 'custody plan number two.' The quarters will simply have the dividing wall knocked out."

Nile groaned audibly and Yassen barely resisted the same. His molars might need work after this. "Thank you, Mr. Chase."

He elbowed Nile, who hastily repeated after him. The both let out a sigh of relief as Chase exited the room. Yassen glanced hopefully at Nile. "The roof?"

The other man's teeth flashed white against his skin. "Yes."

Herod Sayle had been found dead in his home of a heart attack. Stress, the doctors said. Poison, Ian said. Then again, it wasn't the first time that he'd taken out a prominent British citizen. Crawley was hovering like an overlarge bat. "Are you sure you're okay, Ian?"

Ian gave him a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Sure, sure."

Crawley had even caved on paperwork faster than normal. Ian felt the man settle next to him on the couch. "You've been quiet this last week."

Ian leaned into the man. "Yeah, this whole thing was fucked up."

Crawley put an arm around him. "I mean, this guy went full Bond villain. Killing all the schoolchildren in London. What the hell was wrong with him?!"

Ian grinned as Crawley held his hand and kept the other arm around him. "I knew we should have just paid SCORPIA for it, budget be damned."

Ian gave a half shrug. "Oh, well. It's done."

Crawley's arm tightened around him. Ian pressed his cheek against the other man's. "Bad Ian. Actually talk about your feelings."

Ian grinned. "I love you."

Crawley sighed. "Ian, you unromantic dope."

Ian laughed for the first time since he'd poisoned Sayle. Crawley gave him a light smile. Ian let the man hold him for a bit more. "Do you want to get hitched?"

Crawley's look let him know that he was in trouble. "Ian, I am going to pretend I didn't hear that. And then, you are going to go out, buy me a watch in place of an engagement ring, take me out to a fancy restaurant as a date, and propose while kneeling with cute little glasses of champagne and cake at the end of dinner. Got it?"

Ian gave Crawley his most charming smile. "Yes, dear."

Crawley stroked his hair. "Good Ian."

The man muttered under his breath. "It's a good job you're attractive."

Ian preened hopefully. Crawley rolled his eyes. Ian grinned. Looks like they were back to normal.

Alex made it past his fourteenth birthday without much of anything happening. It was nice to have a normal, if extravagant, party for once. Sarov was shooting him thoroughly amused looks at some of the presents he got. Who in the hell thought getting him hard liquor was a great idea? Alex had gotten about eight separate bottles of it.

The tea he could at least drink on his own and he actually did like chocolate. Ivanov senior had not seemed amused at the gift that Dima had picked out. Something, something, chocolate being for women. Alex felt like he was just jealous that Alex had gotten the nice stuff.

People had flat out gotten him a few hideously expensive items as well. He really did not want to know the price of some of those tie clips and cufflinks. Alex was fairly certain that the giant sparkly watch was encrusted with actual gems. Mandy had gotten him a snake.

Sarov had choked when Alex had opened the gift to find a terrarium with a live animal in it. Alex let out a sigh of relief once the entire thing was done and he could strip out of his suit.

"You know, you have a room."

Alex cheerfully dropped the outer part of the suit on the floor and pulled on a more comfortable outfit he'd stuck under the magazine stack on a side table. "That would require extra steps in the suit."

Sarov rolled his eyes and let it go. Alex thought he'd been good by wearing the stupid thing on his birthday. Yermalov had actually given him throwing stars. Alex was eyeing the box hopefully. Sarov gave him an amused look. "I would recommend sending the jewelry to your costume department if you don't plan on wearing them soon."

Alex sighed. "I figured as much. I'll handle the thank you notes before bed."

Sarov glanced at the snake tank. "You will be keeping that in your room."

Alex grinned. Sarov lightly whacked him before he could say anything. Alex slinked upstairs and sent Lance a quick text. Fenrir was eyeing the cage as Alex set the tank down on one of his shelves. "Do I even have import laws?"

Fenrir let out a cough that sounded like a laugh. Alex sent another text to Lance. That sounded like someone else's problem. Sarov knocked on his door. "Everything going okay with your new scaly friend?"

Alex did his best not to laugh. "She's not even venomous."

Sarov's eye twitched. Alex sighed. "It's spring, she'll mostly just be sleeping until about a month before I leave. What's your deal, anyway?"

Sarov let out a long sigh. "I lost a lot of men to venomous snakes in Afghanistan, I'll have you know."

Alex's amusement immediately vanished. "Sorry. I didn't know."

Sarov shrugged. "It is okay to enjoy snakes as pets, though I will likely not understand it. Now, the dog on the other hand."

Alex sighed. "Keep your grubby mitts off of my baby."

Sarov let out a laugh. "I wouldn't dream of getting between you two."

Alex grinned. Fenrir let out a yip and then threw the collar and leash at both of them. "Time to walk the dog."

Sarov refrained from laughing until after Alex got his coat on.

Tulip took a deep breath. Things were quiet, too quiet. There had been no explosions, upheavals, new governments, or scandals that rocked the intelligence world. Aside from the fact that the other child assassin facilities were being raided or quietly shut down. Tulip was still fairly certain they would be safe. They were not shutting down those facilities. Tulip sighed as she opened yet another warning from Alex's government. It was technically the head of counterintelligence, but everyone knew who the teeth behind the government was. Crawley and Ian were both vehemently disagreeing with her stance.

Tulip sighed as she reviewed her options for deputy head of MI6. One of them was clearly the nepotism pick. One of them was a fairly experienced analyst. The final one was a new transfer from MI5. Tulip didn't personally know any of them. She suspected that Blunt's mysterious death had not worked in her favor. Technically, she had to interview all of them. Tulip was not looking forward to her current lunch meeting. Crawley was shooting her amused glances as their first applicant breezed in about ten minutes late. "Good afternoon."

The man beamed at her. "You must be Mrs. Jones and Mr. Crawley. I've heard so much about you! All good of course."

Tulip was wondering if the man breathed while he talked. "Well, have a seat and order, Mr. Brigham."

The man plopped down and ordered himself an entire bottle of port and the steak and kidney pie. Crawley gave her a faintly alarmed look. Tulip shrugged. The man's family wasn't exactly known for their sobriety. "So, uh, what does this job involve exactly?"

Tulip was very, very tempted to facepalm. "It's a very hands-on job role that requires people skills, information processing, and a good deal of on-the-job training in your case, Mr. Brigham."

The man downed his third glass of port without batting an eye. "Eh, you can call me Samuel."

Tulip pursed her lips. "Very well, Samuel."

Crawley held out his hand. "John."

The man beamed. "Right, well, do you want to hear about my old racing days?"

Tulip had decided against the post by the second glass of port. "Why not?"

Crawley's shoulders shook ever so slightly. Tulip kicked him under the table. They did still need to get through this interview without leaving a bad impression. Samuel proceeded to tell them about his many, many horses. Tulip was just getting to part about the trouble with mating Lord Thorpington the Third with a mare when she decided that she'd had enough. "Oh, look at the time, Samuel. Too bad. We'll let you know about the job after we interview the other candidates."

The man nodded. "Yeah, I'd best be going as well."

The three of them quickly exited the restaurant. Crawley exchanged a look with her as she got into the driver's seat and shut the door. "Bloody hell, Tulip, you could have warned me."

Tulip burst out laughing. "I'm sure- gasp - he would have let you share the port if you asked."

Crawley rolled his eyes. "I want scotch for Christmas."

Tulip recovered. "I'm sure Ian will buy it for you if you ask nicely."

They were both going to be recovering in their offices after that little affair.

Alexei Sarov would be sad to see his ward go. Unfortunately, there were no legal ways to keep him. After stepping back into politics, it wouldn't do to be marred by a 'technically not a kidnapping.' Alex was sitting at the window writing out some practice problems for his math final. Fenrir was at his side and chewing one of the many, many toys that Sarov had gotten for the giant fluffy mutt. Sarov walked over and ran a hand through Fenrir's fur. The dog shot him a hopeful look. "Another walk? You've been outside three times today."

He really should have known better. The dog had returned with his leash and collar by the end of his sentence. A whine from the dog pierced the air. Alex looked up. "Now you've done it."

Sarov just gave him an amused look as he slid the collar on Fenrir and hitched the leash. "Looks like we're going out for walk number four."

Sarov figured that the dog enjoyed the cooler weather. England was a ghastly temperature at the moment. Fenrir let out a happy yip as Sarov took him around the house and property a few times before letting him off the leash. "Don't go off the property."

Fenrir yipped and took off. Sarov went back inside. He stepped back over to Alex and ran his hand through the boy's hair. Alex looked up from the sheet. "Is something the matter?"

Sarov shook his head. "I'm going to miss you and the dog."

Alex grinned. "Mostly the dog, huh?"

Sarov gave the child a slight look. "Mostly you."

Alex sighed. "I'm going to miss you too."

He rose from the chair and pulled Sarov into a hug. Sarov blinked and returned it. They were both silent for a few minutes as the moment sunk in. He replied barely above a whisper. "You are always welcome back."

Alex nodded. They broke apart after a few minutes. Alex glanced at him. They were both fairly awkward about these things. "It's been nice here."

Sarov nodded and left him to do his math. There wasn't much more that needed to be said. And the boy's uncanny resemblance to his first son had never hurt more. Sarov wondered if now was an appropriate time to break open one of his hundreds of bottles of liquor. He almost never drank and they simply kept piling up year after year.

Alex stepped out of his last final with a big sigh of relief. His relief was immediately tempered at the sight of Brendan Chase. Oh, great. Just what he needed. The man did look rather pale. "Australia eat your tan?"

Brendan grinned. "You know, those drop bears are pretty deadly. I was lucky to escape with my life."

The man coughed. "Anyway, do you know when Amanda gets out?"

Alex gave him a very suspicious look. "You know, I'm starting to think you two are having an affair."

Brendan choked and then had another coughing fit. "I like people my own age, thanks."

Alex huffed. "Uh huh."

Brendan scowled. "Justin was right."

Alex sighed and began walking to his usual after school cafe where he waited with his friends. Brendan, not taking the hint, followed him. Alex sat down and ordered his usual tea and waited. Brendan sighed as he got hot chocolate. "You know, I got poisoned recently."

Alex gave him a look. "I know."

Brendan pouted. "Taking all the fun out of my reveals, aren't you?"

Alex grinned. "Knowing things I shouldn't is my specialty."

Brendan let out an exasperated sigh. "We know."

Alex took a sip of his tea. "So, where's Nile?"

Brendan huffed out a laugh and then coughed. "You certainly like your shinies."

Alex rolled his eyes. "It's the kleptomaniac inside of me."

Brendan stirred his hot chocolate. "As you probably know, Professor Yermalov has been giving us a personality assessment."

Alex gave the man a very flat look. "I'm fourteen, not stupid."

Brendan nodded. "Fair enough."

Alex made an impatient motion. "Did I pass?"

Brendan barked a laugh. And then coughed for several minutes. "Well, yes. The problem is your, ahem, unique status."

Alex drank some more of his tea. "You mean the whole leader of another country thing."

Brendan stirred his hot chocolate and took a tentative sip. "Yes, that."

Alex gave him an innocent look. "We can always do a contract negotiation."

Brendan started laughing again. "I'm sure you'd like that, you little fucking shark. I saw the one that you and Major Yu did. I'm tempted to have you and Three go at it just for the entertainment value alone."

Alex crossed his arms. "There's no need to be sadistic."

Brendan gave him a look. "Oh, really?"

Alex shrugged. "I'm not that bad. Besides, the contract is very profitable for you lot. You have absolutely no right to complain."

Brendan just gave him a flat look. "We don't normally offer our elite operatives as incentives, you realize."

Alex waved him off. "It's SCORPIA, everything is for sale. Is there a point you're getting to?"

Brendan glared over his hot chocolate. "You're a little shit, you know that, right?"

Alex beamed. "Thank you."

Brendan likely would have said more but Mandy and Dima walked in at that moment. Dima looked puzzled but sat down next to him. Mandy beamed at Brendan. "Brendan!"

The man immediately turned on the charm. "Hello, Amanda. I'm so sorry we fell out of touch but I've been ill."

Alex nearly choked on his tea at the sudden personality switch. Dima was giving them both concerned looks as he got some sort of yogurt drink. Alex sat back and watched the two of them talk like old friends as Dima held his hand under the table. Alex gave the hand a squeeze. Dima gave him a you are explaining this later look.

Brendan conveniently vanished right before the adults showed up, proving to Alex that the man damn well knew their schedules. Dima also seemed to have picked up on that as he ditched the last of his drink. Mandy was still waxing poetic. Dima waved as his father briskly walked towards the car. Alec leaned back into the seat as Sarov poked him. "How did it go?"

Alex gave him a very grumpy look. "Well."

Sarov gave him an amused look as he started to drift off in his seat.

Professor Yermalov walked into his living room to the sight of both Brendan Chase and Doctor Three sitting in his living room. "Can I help you?"

This was unorthodox to say the least. Typically, he would be coming to them for any kind of report. "Come in, sit down."

Well that wasn't alarming at all. So much fun. "We hope you're ready to transfer back to Malagasto."

Yermalov gave them a dry look. "I happen to be enjoying Moscow, however, I'm sure I can make the adjustment."

Brendan sighed. "Your impression of Alex?"

Yermalov sighed. "Young. He stands up for himself, though."

Three paused. "Interesting."

That was never a good sign. "I assume the other preparations have been made for his time at Malagasto."

Three and Brendan exchanged a look. "Yes."

Yermalov leaned against the frame of his doorway. "And the point of this little exercise?"

It was Three that spoke this time. "There has been a considerable amount of trouble in collecting an accurate psychological profile with regards to Alex."

Yermalov crossed his arms. "Then wouldn't Steiner have been the better choice?"

Three sighed. "Typically, yes. However, considering his last two psychological health professionals absconded with him, we thought it best not to chance it."

Yermalov resisted the urge to comment that Steiner was fairly useless in his opinion anyway. The board was well aware of his opinion of the man. Brendan let out a sigh. "He did say he wanted to negotiate a contract."

Yermalov felt a spark of amusement. "I'm sure he did."

Brendan muttered under his breath. "Fluffy little scam artist."

Yermalov resisted the urge to snort. "Someone should give the poor boy conditioner for his curls. I doubt the dry air is doing him any favors."

Brendan rolled his eyes. "We'll have Jet do that."

Yermalov sighed. Jet was going to be so happy. Not. Or maybe she enjoyed that sort of thing, you never knew. Brendan leaned back into his couch and frowned at the lack of give. Yermalov was a fan of firm furniture. It built character. "Is there something in particular you wanted to ask?"

Brendan let out a sigh. "Are we going to suffer any major scandal? End up on the news? Get blown sky-high?"

Yermalov rolled his eyes. "Treat him well and he'll do likewise."

Brendan made a noise in the back of his throat that sounded like a squirrel getting run over. "Gordon will be delighted at his pyrotechnic abilities."

Brendan muttered something unflattering about Gordon's sexual preferences under his breath. Yermalov declined to comment further. Alcoholic though he may be, the man could set some incredibly cruel traps up if he was feeling particularly vengeful. "My full report is with the good doctor."

Brendan rolled his eyes. "Alright, we look forward to it."

Yermalov assumed that he was dismissed.

Rhea scowled at the message that she had just received. This was not what she had signed up for. Killing people? Yes. Playing happy assassin family? No. Plus, they were making her live with Nile. The man had a reputation and it was not a good one. Between the parties and the dragging people in for the night while living near other people, nobody wanted him as a housemate. At least Yassen would be there to mediate. Maybe she'd get lucky and he'd threaten Nile into submission.

Alex was also going to be there. The board had to know that was an incentive in and of itself. Yassen tended to report to them. Sure, he was her mentor but he was also a professional. It would be noted in her file that she would likely refuse to kill him. She'd sort of watched all of his press releases for strategic purposes. Okay, so maybe she'd re-watched them a few times. Alex was going to be there. Rhea tossed her phone against the wall. Shit. She humphed and sent a text to The Countess.

I want to be pretty now.

At least she wouldn't act smug about it. Rhea had mostly ignored the lessons on how to look good. She could kill people much easier in steel-toed boots and pants. And they were more comfortable. Now, though. Alex's sprightly face came on the television. Rhea had heard the rumors about Justin, of course. Perhaps she could angle herself into a nice, cushy governmental position. It must be nice not to have to deal with the board.

Alex's contract with Winston Yu had been handed over to Brendan Chase upon the man's death. He had also reclaimed the good majority of territory that the man's Snakehead had once covered. Rhea honestly thought that Justin had gotten the better end of the deal. Traded to someone much nicer for lower import tariffs or something.

Alex seemed much more laid back in comparison to the rest of them. Honestly, reading through contracts was fairly boring. The Countess had come to greet her straight off her plane flight.

"Ah, well, let's see what we have to work with."

Rhea sighed. The Countess started pulling out perfume samples and makeup. "Alex has strong views on the makeup industry."

The Countess snorted. "I'll bet he doesn't notice the difference when you wear it, honey."

Rhea was sat down and had a bunch of color swatches held up to her skin. The Countess seemed to know what she was doing. "You'll look good in cool colors."

That was a relief. Rhea wasn't really a huge fan of yellow, red, or orange for clothing anyway. "I am still not sure it will make a difference."

The Countess gave her a soft smile. "You'll feel better for trying either way."

Rhea nodded. Yassen swept into the room without knocking and was promptly scolded by The Countess. "You should really knock, Yassen."

Yassen looked amused. "Well, I didn't want to miss my first apprentice in a dress."

Rhea narrowed her eyes. "I can still poison your morning coffee."

The Countess hit them both with her fan. "Behave."

Rhea continued glaring at Yassen. The man was smirking in the corner. "No dress for me, but the second you hear Alex is coming-"

Rhea gave him the stink eye. "Shut up, Yassen."

The man sat on the couch and continued to watch The Countess do her fitting. She just wanted to show Alex that she was doing well now. That was all. SCORPIA had an extensive clothes closet. Mostly dresses that had only been worn once or not at all. Some were purchased in bulk by certain board members for staff to keep up with the previous fashion seasons. Not to mention, in the spirit of waste-not, want-not, Julia Rothman's dresses were probably lying around somewhere. Rhea was thankful that The Countess had the skill not to accidentally stick her with pins.

Justin nearly passed out from relief when the message came in that he was to stay at his current assignment until further notice. He preferred staying around here. At least here he was relatively safe from the whims of the board. And, you know, he wouldn't get traded for fucking lowered tariffs. Plus, he had actual mentorship from Lance and whatever the hell was going on with Allen and he was actually starting to enjoy this posting. There was nice breakfast, nice coffee, no lunatics with a fetish for the British Isles, and the bombings had mostly quit after they crushed the CIA forces underfoot. All in all, it was a pretty sweet long term assignment. Lance flopped down next to him. "How's the report coming?"

Justin rolled his eyes. "CIA plants, SCORPIA plants, one MI6 plant, and a few minor intelligence agencies thrown in for a little bit of variety."

Justin wasn't sure why they bothered. That hadn't let a single one in yet. Justin assumed they'd be getting around to it at some point. That was what the torture was for. Doctor Three's lessons had to be good for something, right? Lance snorted. "Naturally. Ditch all the CIA."

Justin looked at him. "Really?"

Lance shrugged. "We'll be doing that for the next ten years. Too much risk of sabotage and the like. Plus, the sour grapes are still pretty strong. It's been less than a year since we curb stomped them and their public reputation."

Justin shrugged and got out his 'application denied' stamp. "How come counterintelligence doesn't do this?"

Lance's eyes danced. "Who do you think got those reports? Also, they applied to our department, so we deny them. Makes the fiscal paperwork easier."

Justin pinched the bridge of his nose. Lance patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. You've got time. Besides, it's not like the board gets to ask for you back for at least another seven years."

Justin rolled his eyes. "They're not happy about the contract."

Lance grinned. "The sign of a successful negotiation!"

Justin inhaled. "Do you really not worry about anything?"

Lance leaned against his couch. "Not really."

Justin wished he was that confident. Lance ruffled his hair. "Eh, you're like twenty. You'll see."

Justin leaned back into his chair. "What about the rest of them?"

Lance grinned. "We'll need to talk to counterintelligence. A few of them might slip past us as a treat."

Justin laughed. "You're the worst."

Lance shrugged. "They'll start getting twitchy if there's no information besides what the Russians provide. It's better if we head them off."

Justin pinched the bridge of his nose. "In other words, politics, politics, and more politics."

Lance grinned. "Now you're getting the picture."

Justin occasionally wished that he had been able to turn down assignments.

Alex stepped into the airport with no small amount of trepidation. Sarov had said his goodbyes in private and was now gently guiding him through the airport. The vying eyes of the press were stalking him and Alexei. Alex internally sighed at the long flight ahead of him. Airports were probably his least favorite part of travel. At least all of the kids from the program were seated together in first class. Mandy had switched with someone else to be sitting next to Alex for the whole flight. He appreciated that. Mandy gave him a soft grin. "I'm looking forward to seeing Nigel again."

Alex felt something niggling him. It was as though he had forgotten something important. The air hostess served the drinks. Alex had been put off coke after having it drugged one too many times. He settled for tomato juice. For some reason, it tasted really good only on airplanes. Mandy suddenly looked more than slightly teasing. "Looking forward to seeing Tom again?"

Alex grinned. "Well, I've certainly sent him enough useless postcards."

Neither of them mentioned the fact that he'd taught Tom to contact him over the dark web and that Tom illustrated his vampire comics. It was an airplane where anybody could be listening, after all. Mandy nudged him. "Well, they weren't completely useless." Alex paused. "Oh?"

Mandy rolled her eyes. "It gave him some reassurance that you cared. Plus, you always chose the cute ones."

Alex shook his head. Ah, he did miss Tom and Jack. Fenrir was not happy about being on the plane. Alex suspected that he would be less happy in the cargo hold. People were shooting looks them as Alex started feeding Fenrir the glue-like meat they had served him. Fenrir let out a noise. "Yes, I know it's not deer entrails but I can't bring those on a plane flight."

Mandy rolled her eyes. "How much meat does he even eat?"

Alex grinned. "Oh, only about 32 kilos a week."

Mandy gaped at him. "No wonder General Sarov let you hunt wild game so often."

Alex ruffled his dog's fur. "Yeah, he's a bit of a beast."

Fenrir gave him a bratty little sigh. "I fed you before the flight."

Fenrir made another noise of complaint. "Never eaten a day in your life, I see."

Mandy was giggling. "I see why you keep him around. A very quiet, relaxing pet. Only four hours of walks a day and the finest organ meat."

Alex flushed. "Oh, shut up."

Mandy started full-on laughing. Alex felt his legs going numb from the dog sitting on them for so long. Mandy was still laughing intermittently by the end of dinner. Fenrir shifted in his and Alex's seats. A giant fluff ball started floating down the aisle. Alex prayed that the air hostess didn't decide to murder him purely for his dog's shedding. Fenrir's winter coat was apparently still coming off. Mandy saw the floating fuzz balls and choked on her tea. Alex glared. "Not a word. Not a single word."

She started laughing again. Alex sat back and hugged his baby.

Crawley was in the car waiting for Alex's plane to arrive. The flight was on time, so far. They had decided not to use a full security compliment, just because there was a chance that Alex would freak. Crawley did not want to handle another international incident, thank you very much. Plus, the dog was designed for killing groups of people, like, say, security teams. Crawley sighed as he drummed his fingers against the dash.

They had decided to leave Ian behind with Jack and Tom, just because it was a big enough target as it was. Alex tended to travel like a normal person. Crawley rolled his eyes as he picked up the fourth phone call from the house. "Is he there yet?"

Crawley resisted the urge to bring up several old adages. "No. And you calling isn't going to make him magically pop into the terminal, you realize."

Ian's impatient huff told Crawley that he was not helping. "Jooooohn."

Crawley rolled his eyes. "Yes, Ian?"

Ian sounded suspiciously hopeful. "There are other things we could-"

Crawley cut him off. "IAN!"

Crawley could feel Ian's pout through the phone. "You're no fun."

Crawley sighed. "This is why Tulip never lets you go anywhere nice."

Ian laughed on the other end of the phone. "Diplomatic functions are boring."

Crawley rolled his eyes. "Heaven forbid you have to actually act like an adult for eight solid hours."

Ian sputtered on the other end of the phone. "I'm not that bad?"

Crawley smirked and used his most innocent tone. "How is that paperwork backlog going?"

Ian grumbled on the other end of the phone. Crawley was fairly certain there were a few curses in German thrown in for good measure. "I'm only three weeks behind!"

Crawley felt his blood pressure beginning to rise. "IAN RIDER, I SWEAR TO GOD-"

Ian cut him off. "Now, now, you're on speakerphone, since we're being child-friendly."

Crawley felt a vein beginning to pulse. "You're doing that paperwork the second-"

Ian sounded smug. Bastard. "I have the week off! My baby nephew is coming home. Surely you saw the leave notice?"

Crawley would dearly love to be choking Ian at the moment. "Now listen here, you little shit-"

Jack joined in. "Language."

Crawley glared at the phone. "You know damn well that Tom knows more swear words than the rest of us combined."

Jack began to reply but Crawley heard a crunch and felt his head hit the dash. "Crawley? Crawley? Are you-"

The words lost meaning as his vision swam in front of him.

Author's Note: This is a time lapse chapter, in case you couldn't tell. The next chapter will have Alex's new living arrangements. What might be coming next? ;)