It sure has been a while!

Venice, 2 days later

Alpha Force stood on the deck of a boat they had boarded three hours ago, the sun was setting over Venice now and the sky was a whirl of colours. The first few stars of the evening could be seen and there was an atmosphere around Venice that was care free and happy….on the boat the atmosphere was anything but. The only ones on holiday not smiling, but scanning the streets around them, taking in the weak points, finalising their plans. For the past two days they had been formulating a plan to perform their dreaded task, and in a few minutes all that would be put into action. Amber went to sit down next to Hex as he fiddled with a laptop Amnias had given him.

"All good?" She asked and passed him a drink, he didn't look at her; his eyes were fixated on the screen in front of him.

"Hmmm, what?" He said, finally looking at her. She smiled solemnly at him and nodded at the laptop.

"How's that working out for you?" She said and leant back in her chair to gaze at the sky. She felt Hex shuffle next to her, he put the laptop down and lay back too. She almost laughed when he did so; it had taken a while to gain his attention over his precious gadgets.

"Well, even though Amnias is pure evil, he's given us the best equipment." Hex tried his very hardest not to smile as he had been hoping to get his hands on this laptop for a while. Amber's hand brushed his and he held on to it. "You OK?" He asked her, sitting up in concern and looking at her face as she stared blankly at the stars.

"Just a bit," she sat up and leant towards Hex's ear, "worried about Alex." She nodded towards their friend who was stood by the railing of the boat; he'd been quiet all day and the first part of their mission had to be completed that evening. Amber didn't really need to say anymore, Hex knew what she meant; if Alex lost spirit they would all lose their way; it was Alex who'd managed to keep them together over the past few days. It was partly because the desire to see his daughter and wife safe and he was used to doing stuff like this so his knowledge of how to run these missions was reassuring. Hex looked at her and nodded before kissing her. "What was that for?" She asked when they broke apart, Hex shrugged.

"I love you." He said quietly and Amber smiled.

"Love you too." Li overheard Amber say and shivered; the evenings here were getting colder. She almost jumped as she felt someone place a jacket around her; Paulo put a hand on her shoulder and looked out into the distance.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked and Li laughed at him before shaking her head with a sick smile. She wasn't sure what Paulo was referring to; the mission, his past, their relationship, but she was sick of hearing anything from him.

"NO," she said loudly before lowering her voice, "I have nothing to say to you."

"Li-" She finally turned to him in annoyance.

"There are bigger things at stake here than whatever it is you have to say." She said desperately, not entirely sure why she was so upset. "It's not me you should be worried about," she nodded towards Alex and they both sighed. When Paulo said nothing she shrugged off his jacket and as he caught it she walked away to Alex.

"Hey," she said quietly and was worried as it took Alex a moment to respond. He ran a hand wearily through his hair and looked to her.

"Hey Li, what's up? You ready for tonight?" He asked and she put a hand on his shoulder; Alex had taken to talking to them about the mission rather than what was really on his mind.

"Are you OK?" She asked.

"I'm fine," he said although even he knew he didn't sound convincing. There was a moment of silence where the boat passed under a bridge and they were plunged into semi-darkness. "It's time to move." He said quietly and Li looked around for the others. They walked over to them and Alpha Force stood at stern of the boat.

"Hex did you take into account the pause at the bridge?" Alex asked.

"Yeah," Hex said and as he did Alpha took hold of the railing in front of them with one hand.

"It's a shame," Amber said as she smiled to a young boy on the street below them, "It's such a pretty boat." She whispered. They all took their drinks to their lips and paused as though silently praying for everything to go alright, before drinking the rest in one and throwing the glasses to the floor, the sound of breaking glass was the last thing that was heard before it happened.

The bridge behind them seemed to explode, it became engulfed in huge flames that tried to stretch out and touch the sky. Alpha felt the heat against their backs but chose not to look back at the chaos they had caused. The screaming of civilians reached Li's ears and she fought against the desire to cover her ears and block out the sound. She tried not to think something had gone wrong; that someone had been on the bridge or that others had been on the boat. No, Hex had made sure it was OK.

"Go." Alex said and even though it was quiet they all heard it. Paulo, Li and Amber climbed over the railing and jumped off the boat, falling into the cold, murky waters, while Alex and Hex ran to the other side, as close to the fire as they dared get and jumped onto the street. Luckily things were going as they intended; people were being evacuated from the area around the bank. It was a huge, beautiful building built in the Renaissance, 450 people worked there and hopefully they were being evacuated too. This part of Venice is famous for its tunnelling, narrow streets, which lent Alpha cover as Hex and Alex rant through the streets. They were dressed in dark coloured clothes which meant they practically melted into the shadows and went around unnoticed. They needed to get to the back of the bank and this proved easier than they imagined; they had been planning on having to dodge through the streets but they could stroll at ease to the place.

"We getting there any time soon?" Alex whispered impatiently and Hex checked his palmtop, a map of the city shown by a mess of coloured lines.

"We're…" he waited for them to run a few more meters, "here." He almost bumped into Alex who had already, without consulting Hex, begun to work on the door. Hex broke open a control box near the door and began to wire up his palmtop to it, he was hoping he could get into their system and shut down the alarm system and CCTV. If only Alex and Hex had taken the opportunity to glance behind them.

"Ok, ready?" Paulo asked Amber who nodded vigorously making it hard for Li to secure the camera to her head. "In and out in thirty-five minutes," he muttered and let out a low whistle.

"I can handle it," Amber said confidently and seemed to realise something, "this is going to be just like the training they made me do!" She hissed but she'd been good at that so this should be easy. She hoped.

"Alright girl," Li said looking her in the eye, "don't mess this up." Amber hooked up her microphone and flashed a smile at them both.

"It's Hex I'm worried about." She muttered and lowered herself back into the water. Li and Paulo watched her swim away before she became engulfed by the darkness, as they walked away they jumped behind a building at the sight of headlights and the sound of an approaching car. Paulo pushed Li into a small alcove to hide and when he entered they found they were squashed together. There were a few moments of terror as they heard the sound of a police siren and they stared intently into each others eyes, breathing heavily, desperately trying not to be found. If they were found Amber would be stranded in the waters. The siren became quieter, the flash of the headlights dimmer and the sound of the engine slowly disappeared. Paulo looked to Li and smiled in a that-was-a-close-one way but was shocked to find Li was not laughing but tears had entered her eyes and her breathing was still fast. Perhaps she was in shock?

"Li, it's Ok," Paulo said and put a hand to her face, "I'll give you some space," he said but Li took a hold of his shirt and pulled him close, shaking her head as she did so. "Li, what's the-"

"I did," it was difficult to make out the words for she had begun to sob, Paulo was so shocked by this sudden change in mood that he had no idea what to do or say, "something." She said quickly but tears were spilling fast.

"Li-"

"Listen!" She almost shouted, "I'm sorry," she said and fell into his arms, "I'm so sorry." She whispered again, Paulo put his arms around her and held her tight.

"What's there to be sorry about; I deserve to be treated like crap-"

"No you don't!" Li shouted and hit his chest; "I should be the one…" she dissolved into tears again but after a few minutes she forced herself to calm down and moved away from him. She tried to look him in the eye but couldn't so looked to the floor. "When Amnias was spilling secrets," she said quickly, "he didn't say mine-"

"Li, you don't have to explain yourself to me-"

"But it was yours too!" She muttered and slid down the wall. Paulo, as best as he could in the small space, knelt next to her,

"What was mine?" He asked and she shook her head, her bottom lip shook and she began to cry again.

"I couldn't…didn't have a choice…you weren't there!" She muttered incoherently.

"Li!" Paulo said urgently, finally distressed about the clear anguish Li was feeling. He grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at him. "What was mine?" He whispered again. Li stared at a spot behind him and he could see the battle going on behind her eyes, a secret she'd kept for years wasn't being hidden anymore. She looked Paulo in the eye and it almost hurt him as much as she was hurting, to see that she was about to break. Li's lips quivered again before her head slumped forwards into her hands.

"Baby." She whispered.

Oh dear, not too nice an ending to a chapter eh?

Not much action either, there will be some next chapter, and gun play, 'cause we like guns right guys?

OH IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK.

Missed writing for Alpha. Wait. Why the hell am I writing so much at the end of a chapter? It's you lot who should be writing reviews XD

See you next chapter!