Since people were asking, yes Alex has been on all of the book missions and through the SAS training.

And for replies to anonymous reviewers:

to Mortal :( — The reason Alex has stayed as such is that, not only is Alex a gender neutral name, but it could be considered short for something (like Jack Starbright's name). Also, Alex was somewhat raised to be a tomboy and to play things as neutral when in tense situations because, unfortunately, males are listened to a little more when it comes to bellowing commands (not that teenagers are all that listened to either).

to flit— The story is AU in mostly minor ways, except the obvious big one of Alex having been born female instead of male.

02

Getting coffee was certainly an interesting affair, but all in all a success, in Alex's eyes anyway. There were no threats to the general masses; no random psychopaths wanting to change the world; heck, there wasn't even a long line to place their orders nor did they receive the wrong ones.

The most exciting thing that happened was that Neal managed to trip over his own feet (claimed that it was a dog that tripped him, even though they were inside and there weren't any – Alex figured that if he really did see one, the pooch was a hallucination) and one of his hands caught the edge of a tray as he fell, launching a dozen or so cupcakes halfway across the café. One had perfect aim and hit, frosting first, the television screen right in the center of the Prime Minister's forehead.

Alex wasn't certain whether she should laugh or try to spare her companion's feelings.

Laughing won. She only laughed harder when she saw the pout Neal tossed her way from where he was sitting amongst crumbs and sprinkles. There was a streak of chocolate frosting covering most of his left cheek and his hair made him look as if he had recently been out in snowfall considering the white cake crumbs.

Somewhat obviously, they got their coffees to go.

While they were walking, Neal tried to clean himself up but with only napkins, no mirror, and no water, he was having difficulties. He sighed softly, giving it up as a bad job, and glanced at Alex.

She looked content and relaxed, much more so than while on the subway at any rate. He was happy to have made her laugh, he just wished it wasn't through making such a fool of himself.

"Hey, Alex?" Neal started, gently catching her free arm. Once she was focused on him, he continued. "My flat isn't very far from here. Do you mind if we swing by so I can…"

"So you can stop looking like you were in a food fight?" she finished for him when he paused to consider how to phrase it. She smiled at his soft grimace and nod. "Sure. That's fine."

Neal grinned down at her then offered his arm with a gallant flourish. His efforts were received by a raised eyebrow followed by a soft laugh and a roll of brown eyes.

It was a matter of a few minutes' walk for them to reach his building.

"Sorry if it's a bit of a mess," Neal was saying as he led Alex up. "I can't remember how bad it was before I left and I didn't pay much attention when I got back the other day."

Alex looked at him. "Got back? Were you on holiday?" She was enjoying the somewhat novel experience of being treated as a regular teenager and didn't want to spoil it by asking what she really thought. Since she was focused on Neal, the sudden quick tensing and relaxing of his shoulders seemed much clearer to her. Of course, had she been a normal teen, she never would have noticed. Her lips twisted wryly at the thought.

"No. Business trip," was Neal's answer, his voice light.

Alex made a non-committal sound, choosing to drop it, her suspicions confirmed.

Business trip? Sure. But where most people would think he may have been a corporate employee, she knew he was referencing the SAS.

Neal opened the door to 8A with a gin before bowing her in.

Three locks, Alex noted. Seems paranoia is soldier's friend as well.

She rolled her eyes, lips quirking upwards, and stepped through the door. She glanced at the small entryway – completely plain with dark wood paneling, coat hooks on one wall and a small table against the other – then turned to Neal. "You're going to do that a lot, aren't you?"

He paused in locking the door to look at her blankly.

She shifted her weight to rest on one leg, smiling slightly when she caught the downward drift of his eyes. "The grand gestures, bowing, that stuff," she clarified as he turned away, blushing guiltily.

Neal shrugged, toeing off his shoes. "I think women should be pampered," he responded blithely.

Once Alex had removed her own shoes, she was shown into his living room. It wasn't large, but comfortable looking.

"I should only be a few minutes, so make yourself at home." Neal started down the hall but stopped dead next to a table. He snatched up a few things that Alex couldn't make out, threw them into a room, then slipped through a second door, water running shortly after.

She shook her head, turning to study the room a little better. There was a couch sat directly in front of a decent sized television and an armchair across from the doorway, a reading light next to it.

The entire room was in a state of messy disarray, but it leant a feeling of being well-lived in rather than of sloppiness.

What really caught Alex's eye though, were the picture frames scattered throughout. Most of them contained pictures of people that must have been his family, but there were a couple in which she recognized everyone. These were each of K-unit.

One was obviously from a fishing trip, though none were looking at the camera. Snake was looking upward, smiling slightly with an 'I can't believe my friends' sort of expression. Ben – Fox – was clinging to the bed of a pick-up, laughing so hard his eyes were streaming. In the background, Neal – Eagle – was also laughing, but he was also running away from Wolf who was completely drenched and wielding a flashlight in one hand, a fish in the other.

The second had all four in combat fatigues, assault rifles slung across their chests. They looked a little tired and wary, but somehow content, either leaning against crumbling walls or one another. Judging by the background, they were somewhere in the middle east.

The last photo, however, was the one that surprised Alex. It was rather obviously a candid what with the distance and the openness in the men's expressions. They were wearing simple fatigues and had no weapons, standing in the open and conversing. They were also ignoring the fifth person in the photo: a light haired boy who was looking in the opposite direction of the men, his eyes tired and weary and worried. This picture was of the entire K-unit near the end of their training. This one had Alex – Cub – in it.

Why did he leave me in the photo? I'm far enough that it wouldn't affect the rest of it.

Frowning softly in thought, Alex sat on the couch to wait for Neal. She glanced up when she heard the door down the hall open and saw Neal slip into the other room to get a shirt. She blinked upon seeing a horizontal scar that crossed his abs and again frowned, biting her tongue to prevent blurting out a question.

To distract herself, Alex stood and moved over to the TV to look at Neal's collection of DVDs. After a little, the sense of being watched overcame her and she glanced into the screen's reflection. Seeing no one, she turned, stepping back with a half-stifled gasp and hastily quashed attack reflexes.

Neal smiled from where he stood about a foot away. Considering that he didn't look wary or defensive, Alex figured that he either hadn't seen her looking at his photographs nor had he noticed her looking when he had crossed the hallway or he didn't care. Since he had three locks on the outside of his door, Alex was fairly certain it was the former.

She returned his smile, somewhat hesitant in her confusion. Actually, the way he was smiling was beginning to creep her out, but before she could say anything, he spoke.

"You said you'd go out with me again."

Alex blinked, furrowing her eyebrows in bewilderment.

Neal stepped a little closer. "You asked if I was going to do it a lot. That implies that we'll be going out more than once," he explained.

Alex stared at him for a moment before realization clubbed her over the head. There goes my mouth, running off without me again. At least I'm not in the hands of some psycho this time.

She opened her mouth to say something, but the words died on her tongue when Neal gently slipped a hand under her chin and made her look up at him. Whatever she had been thinking of saying was forgotten as his lips met hers in a chaste kiss.

Surprised brown eyes stared up at the soldier when he pulled away. Alex didn't move until Neal began to lean in for a second kiss, looking down and placing a hand on his chest.

"Don't you think this is a little fast?" she whispered.

There was a small huff of laughter and an arm snaked around her waist. "Yeah, I guess so… Honestly, I'm surprised myself," Neal answered softly, his breath brushing her ear.

They simply stood that way, content in their embrace, for several minutes; Neal happy to hold a body that wasn't cooling, wasn't family and Alex unwilling to give up the feeling of safety his arms around her leant.

They broke apart only when the doorbell rang. Four times.

While Neal answered the door, Alex peered around the corner to better hear who it was. Her eyes widened slightly when she heard a voice she hadn't heard in some time. She agreed with Neal's statement whole-heartedly, though she was silent.

"Oh shit."