I spent like three hours researching their jobs/universities and then it hit me…who the hell is going to check that what I'm saying is right?! Who cares if New York University has a Modern Languages Department?! I think the "professional authoriness" inside of me came out…what a waste of time!
"Come on," Alex started and grabbed his and Lily's drinks, "let's go to the living room, we can catch up there." Everyone mumbled an "ok" and were reminded of Alex's authority he had; an unspoken leader that they had forgotten about. They grabbed their drinks and followed him out of the kitchen, into a dimly lit hallway and to the living room. Glancing around they saw no pictures of Alex and his family, they must be on holiday here, so where did they live? "Alright, who goes first?" Alex sat down and they all followed suit.
"I will!" Li said, suddenly full of energy now that they were together again, "well," she took a breath, wondering where to start. "When we all left to start again separately I went to The School of Biological Science to study Environmental sciences, left there three years later and now I work as a botanist for the Botanical Society of America. I'm placed in London, live in an apartment overlooking the Thames…" she thought about what more to say, "oh and I'm not married…no kids." She concluded with a shrug and everyone nodded, they looked to Paulo who was sat on the couch next to her.
"Oh," he sat forwards, not particularly embarrassed by his position in life in comparison to the others. "When we all separated I went back home, but soon people came knocking, wanting me to work for them." He sighed and shook his head, "I hated not being my own person; not setting my own work. So I left home, became a backstreet doctor for people and machines. Now I roam the Arizona desert doing odd jobs." He shrugged and sat back, they all could assume he had no children or a partner. Amber sat forwards.
"I went back home too." She said, "did a degree in Modern languages and Literature at New York University," she smiled to herself for a moment and paused. "I stayed there for three years and met Hex when I left." Alex was surprised by this; so Amber and Hex had ended up together but Li and Paulo hadn't, strange, he would've expected it to be the other way around. "We lived together for about seven months before he got posted in Boston and I applied for a job as a Professor there." She shook her head, signalling there was nothing left to say, she turned to Hex who took a moment to realise it was his turn to speak. He put his drink down on the table in front of him and leant forwards and for a moment it looked like he was debating what he should tell his friends.
"I never went to university either," he nodded at Paulo, "I went straight into work because a company called Cogito-"
"That's Latin for think." Amber said quietly, almost to herself.
"I was in Devon for a while, working in a small part of the company but soon they realised my talents were beyond what was needed there." He grinned and everyone was slightly surprised that Hex wasn't as modest as he used to be. "Got posted in New York, met Amber and we both moved to Boston as I got promoted there." He paused and thought for a moment, "yeah, that's my six years in thirty seconds," they all laughed. Now everyone looked over to Alex who also took a minute before saying anything.
"I joined the 21 SAS Regiment when I was 19," everyone smiled; that was what Alex had always wanted to do. "My squadron, A, was situated in Regent's Park and so that's where I lived. I met Lily again, after three years of not seeing her, in Regent's Park College of Oxford university. She was studying there and as soon as we started dating again I was asked to take on a job for MI5 as a Junior Special Operations Executive. I couldn't believe it," everyone laughed as they could hear in his voice that still, after all these years, he couldn't believe it. He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassed way, "I was the youngest guy there and after another two years I became Head of Special Operations. Lily and I got married six months into that job and Eva was born two months after I got transferred to MI6." He took a deep breath and looked around at them all. They all wanted to ask him what had happened in his operation that had made him get transferred but they felt he would have told them. "How the heck did you guys find me?" He asked and looked to Hex, the only one he expected was able to find them, but Hex pointed at Paulo.
"When we all split up we agreed to keep the key rings Hex gave us." Paulo shrugged, "I just checked the tracer."
"Those things still work?" Alex said, impressed, everyone nodded and looked round as Lily came into the room and sat down next to Alex, she looked exhausted after fifteen minutes of getting Eva to sleep.
"So what brings you all here?" She asked and it was Li who answered.
"We've actually come to ask you something Alex." She said because his attention wasn't on her, he was thinking about something else, his intense blue eyes snapped to her after she spoke.
"Oh?" He said and leant forwards. So Li explained the proposition Brian Adams had for them, explaining what she had been doing over the past few days and what Brian Adams had said to her along the way. "So we're going on a mission that we have no information about?" Alex asked and everyone nodded.
"Well," Li said, trying to make it sound a little more appealing, "he said, well he didn't really say-"
"You're not making it sound any better." Amber rolled her eyes at Li who took a breath to get over stuttering before she continued.
"He insinuated that it would be just like the things we used to do." Everyone seemed to ease as they heard this although the other four members of Alpha force were waiting for Alex's consent. They sat in silence for at least two minutes, just listening to the ticking of a large grandfather clock that stood in the corner. "Well?" Li asked him as she couldn't take the silence for much longer.
"When do I have to give an answer?" Alex asked back and Li shrugged.
"When I get the phone call," she glanced at the clock, "which will probably be in the morning." He nodded at her and stood up.
"Well then I'll let you know in the morning, but right now I'm guessing you guys are exhausted," everyone nodded and Amber tried to hide the fact that she was yawning but to no avail. "Come on, I'll show you to your rooms, get unpacked, get sleep and Eva will probably wake you up for breakfast." They all smiled as they lined up behind him. Everyone except Lily.
When Alex entered his room five minutes later he glanced around for Lily and was surprised to not find her there. He'd noticed her stony silence at the end of their conversation before and so decided that it was time he should talk to her. He shut the door to his room and was about to walk to the kitchen when he saw Lily entering it. Paulo came out of his room at the end of the hallway and chatted to her in Spanish as Alex walked over to them, he heard Paulo laugh.
"Paulo, don't flirt with my wife." Alex said sternly and Paulo looked shocked.
"How did you know I was flirting?" Paulo asked.
"Because she only ever smiles at me like that." Alex grinned as his friend patted him on the shoulder and pushed him into the kitchen after Lily. Alex brushed hair away from his eyes, shut the kitchen door and appraised Lily who was reading something. He could tell from the way she did not acknowledge him that she wanted him to speak first.
"The mission," he started, waiting to see her reaction. There was none so he carried on, "sounds good-"
"You're not seriously considering it are you?" She sounded shocked and looked up from whatever it was she was reading. For a moment Alex was speechless.
"Ya what?" Was all that came out of his mouth; they stared at each other until Lily pouted in a way he recognised. He sighed and ran a hand wearily through his hair and looked back at her.
"Don't look at me like that." Lily said loudly. Outside the kitchen door Amber, who was walking innocently back to her and Hex's room, heard Lily's raised voice, looked around slyly and put her ear to the door.
"Amber!" She heard and whipped around, it was just Li so she went back to listening in, "you can't eavesdrop!"
"Why don't you just say what you want to say?" They heard Alex's voice loud and clear through the door.
"It's not really eavesdropping if we can't hear them anyway is it?" Amber pouted at Li.
"Nope," Paulo walked past Li and joined Amber at the door who smiled at Paulo. "This takes you back a bit doesn't it; listening in on their conversation all those years ago," he said dreamily.
"Keep your voice down, you'll wake everyone up!" Lily said and the three outside the door frowned.
"Those two don't seem like the type to fight," Hex said as he came up to them all and was looking with concern at the door.
"They're not fighting," Li said, giving up completely now as she joined them at the door, "they're just talking…loudly." Back inside the kitchen Alex had put his hands up at Lily as though signalling surrender. She sighed and put her hand on her hips.
"What was the reason for coming on this holiday?" She said scathingly and Alex sighed.
"To get away from work, to spend time with you and Eva," he said in a monotone voice but immediately regretted it for Lily didn't look angry anymore, she just looked upset. She turned away from him.
"Alex, all those years ago when you were with Alpha, I waited. For years. Years." She closed her eyes as she remembered the pain of waiting.
"I warned you-" Alex stopped as he noticed Lily's hand pass over her face, either she'd brushed a straying strand of hair or a tear away.
"Yeah you did." She turned back to him and he wished she hadn't, he didn't want to see the hurt there. "And yet I waited until we could be together," she laughed quietly to herself, "we were kids back then, I didn't mind coming second." She looked him in the eye but he found he couldn't face her and so looked away, "but right now Eva should be first. She's almost two and you've seen her for about six months of her life-"
"That's an exaggeration!" He desperately tried to redeem himself but it wasn't working; everything Lily was saying was true.
"She loves you," Lily walked forwards and wrapped her arms around him, he returned the embrace, "I love you. But you're hardly ever around; as soon as Alpha was over it was work," she mumbled into his shirt. "The people you love most in the world are in this house, I just can't tell who they are," she moved away from him. Outside the door everyone looked at the floor ashamedly.
"Alex was always such a family guy," Hex said, remembering how close he was to his father, "I never thought he'd put work first."
"Or us first," Li whispered and the others nodded.
"I don't want to force him into coming," Paulo stated and the others agreed even though, deep in the back of their mind the thought of Lily having no right to force him out of it wasn't right either. They dismissed the thought. Inside the kitchen Alex had moved forwards, put his hands on Lily's hips and bent down to her ear.
"I love you." he whispered, "but you can't make me choose-"
"I'm not making you," she whispered back, "I'm just asking you. If you want to go that's fine." He was surprised when she said this and she noticed, she pushed him away slightly to look at him. "I know you miss it, who am I to deny you another chance at what you loved doing?" She took a deep breath, "but you don't know how long you're going for, what if we don't see you for weeks?" He was about to answer when she beat him to it, "then I suppose it'll be like normal." He kissed her neck.
"Did I ever tell you what I thought the first time I met you?" He whispered to her and she rolled her eyes; knowing exactly what he was doing. "You were so quiet and wonderful, I never thought you'd catch my heart the way you did." He moved his hands to her neck and made her look at him, "then came the sadness of waiting, making me feel like I couldn't risk it, but you reeled me in, in the sweetest way." Lily smiled mischievously and shoved his hands away from her neck with a sickened smile, "wha-"
"I can't believe you!" She said and shook her head in disbelief. "You can't do that!"
"Do what?" Alex said and, as he had always been, was confused by the way women's minds worked.
"You can't bribe me with sex!" She folded her arms and there was a moment of silence where everyone outside the room held their breath.
"It's worked before." Alex said quietly. But it was loud enough for those outside to hear it; Li's eyes widened, Amber gasped in Lily's offence, Hex found it difficult not to smirk and Paulo, shrugging all veils of modesty laughed as silently as he could. Li and Amber rounded on him.
"I can't believe guys think they can get away with that!" Amber whispered and Hex raised an eyebrow.
"You've never exactly complained." He said to her, she gasped as Paulo laughed harder and even Li found it hard not to start laughing.
"I am sort of impressed by Alex's intelligence though," Li said fairly, "I mean, it's usually the girls that try that one-"
"And you would know this because you've tried?" Paulo asked, suddenly serious.
"Yeah but," Amber said, "this is Alex. I'd never have expected that from him." Everyone nodded.
"Hang on a second," Hex said slowly, "Li did you just insinuate that the male species is inferior when it comes to intelligence?" Everyone looked round at Li but she was saved from answering when they heard Lily speak again.
"That wasn't funny." She said, "that was just slightly degrading." Her voice became quiet as she said this and Alex bit his lip.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't want to argue. I don't want to upset you and Eva, I don't want to upset Alpha either." He said, the conflicting emotions inside of him rising up until he really had no idea what to do. Lily walked over to the door, unknowing that the four guests outside ran back to their rooms at the sound of her oncoming footsteps.
"Make up your mind," she knew it was little help but she didn't want to force him into a decision. "I won't hold anything against you, whatever your decision is," she saw the saddened look on his face and walked back to him, "you think Eva and I will stop loving you or something, it's not the end of the world." She seemed to remember something, "although if we lost you that would be pretty devastating."
"You won't lose me," he assured her and she shrugged.
"I've been losing this battle for a long time." She seemed to say to herself, "come to bed when you're ready," she walked away from him. As she opened the door she turned to him, "this could be our last night together for a long while," she winked and for some reason Alex blushed which always made her laugh. He went out of the kitchen a few minutes later, his mind made up, he knew what he was going to…he had walked past his daughters room and saw her sleeping. He retraced his footsteps and walked in, her room was next to theirs, bathed in a soft pink light that came from her butterfly nightlight. He knelt down next to her bed and brushed a long brown curl off her face, watched the slow riding and falling of her chest as she breathed. For the millionth time in his life Alex marvelled at how small she was, her hands, which he took in his own, were tiny. He hardly knew her and yet all the feelings of love, protection, pride that should be in any parent was woven inside of him. But Eva hardly knew him, he was never around for her, he sighed and kissed her forehead before leaving the room. On his way to his room again he stopped for he had heard Amber shriek something and wanted to see if she was OK.
"What was it you said?" He heard her say, "I never complain?" He heard her laugh, "well let's see how much complaining you do when you don't get any for a while." She said triumphantly, the colour in Alex's cheeks rose and he walked away hurriedly as he heard Hex stuttering a response:
"I, hey, now you just wait, let's not get hasty!" His friend said but Alex had a feeling Amber had won that one.
Where did all this adult talk come from? It scares me slightly, I've never really been too into the AmberxHex thing so that was quite new :P
Reviews are appreciated! And look- Paulo is always Paulo, no changing to Pedro this time mate!