Alex didn't know where Fox went, but at the moment, he was content where he sat: in his house with loose indoor clothing watching television reruns of his childhood. He remembered watching the same episodes years ago with Tom, and it was last minute control that stopped him from ringing Tom up. Maybe not today.

"How's the lung?" asked Snake as Eagle cheerfully plopped down beside Alex, hands reaching for the remote only for the spy to snatch it away.

"Breathing."

"And the leg?" Snake arched an eyebrow.

"Attached."

"Head?"

"Annoyed."

Eagle chuckled, "Looks all healed to me. Hey, have you seen Fox? Haven't seen him since morning."

"Yeah," Alex replied, leaning back in the sofa. "Ben said he had some things to deal with. I think he's at HQ."

"What for?"

"Not sure."

Just then, the doorbell rang. Once. They paused, giving each other a glance. Twice. Wolf got up from the sofa with a grunt of irritation and went to open the door. The wall between the living room and the front porch blocked Alex's vision, and it only seconds later when the visitors strolled in did he know who it was.

"Hey, Travis!" Alex's eyes lit up in pleasant surprise. "Whatcha doing here?"

The father came in behind him. "We just wanted to drop by and say thank you."

"Oh, no need for that," said Alex as he got up with a wince. "It's my job."

Eagle snorted quietly, earning a quick glare from Snake. Cole gave Alex a quick smile before turning to Wolf and the others. "Hey, um, can I have a quick word with you guys?"

Alex took it that K-Unit had some prior dealings with Cole while Travis and he were gone. At Wolf's quick nod, Alex turned to Travis. "Hey, wanna go for a quick spin?"

Before Travis could say anything, Cole grimaced in objection. "Maybe not so soon."

"Dad, I'll be fine."

"...Alright. Fine. But absolutely nothing extreme." That was definitely aimed at Alex who nodded with an encouraging smile.

"Of course," said Alex, ignoring Wolf and Snake's pointed glares. He probably wasn't too fit for driving at the moment, but he was going to go crazy if all he could do for the next few weeks was sitting and eating. Well, Alex would make sure that he took it slow.

Despite everything he had done for MI6, Mrs. Jones had refused to give him one of their sleek black cars with tinted windows. She said that it costed money. Well, what didn't? He was still driving his old car, but at least it had served him good over the years of bumpy emotional roads.

"Anywhere you wanna go in particular?" asked Alex as he pulled out of the garage. "Or we can just drive around the neighborhood. I can show you my neighbors' weird cats."

"That sounds good."

So Alex took the straight road down the street. As long as he kept straight, he would be able to find his way back. Hopefully. But really, there weren't many things to see—although there were a lot of things to discuss apparently. Travis always surprised him with the number of tangential thoughts he had.

"So you are police."

"Not exactly," Alex humphed, keeping an eye on the road. Not that he could tell Travis he had been working for MI6 for the past six years. "I'm more of a, uh, part-timer."

"You sure?"

"Pretty sure I know what I do," said Alex dryly before adding, "mostly" in case his sarcasm had gone undetected.

"It's just, I don't, I…" Travis sighed as his stumbles took him nowhere. "I need to know if I can trust you with something."

"If it's something illegal, don't worry. I'm the personification of illegal." Travis smiled at that but it was tense. Frowning slightly, Alex took note of it. The kid looked torn. Deciding that he had no reason to be untrustworthy to the kid, Alex said. "I promise you can trust me."

"Okay." A bit too quick, but the relief behind it was evident. "Okay," he said again.

"Sounds serious," Alex noted quietly.

Travis was silent for a long moment, hands fidgeting in his laps and throat constricting ever-so-slightly to betray his nervousness. Must be something big, Alex thought as his eyes slid back to the road ahead and watched the cars began moving again as the light turned green all too sudden.

"I think I know why they, um, took us."

Alex glanced at him, interested. Fox hadn't disclosed much besides it being rather personal. "Fox, my friend, said it was a personal vendetta against your father." He let the silence filled the humming of the engine and waited for Travis to pick it up again.

"My dad," Travis started. "He's a good person. I know he is. He's always there for me." The kid smiled slightly and almost meekly. "It's just, it's been hard for both of us ever since my mom died."

Alex paused, hands faltering slightly at the steering wheel. "I'm sorry."

"It's been a while. Car crash." Travis shrugged it away as if it held no importance. The kid wasn't a good liar, but Alex wasn't a good counselor either. "It was dark, and snowing really hard. We'd been driving for a while, trying to find a place to spend the night but there's just stretches of roads everywhere."

Alex didn't need to hear the rest to know what happened.

"We, um, we were coming around the bend and the car just started skidding on the road, and I remember dad trying to pull us back to the right lane. Then there were just lights. And we were jerked forward. Mom was in the passenger seat. She, just, she didn't…" Travis cleared his throat, his hands clutching each other desperately trying to calm his nerves. "She didn't make it, and dad, he took it really hard."

And you? Alex wanted to ask but, in the end, all he did was a quick glance at the speedometer. Steady. "How long ago was that?"

"A long time," was all Travis said. "My dad gave up his job and decided to open hotel chains and inns. He said,"—a pause—" he said it would help people. He built a lot of them in cities as well as near highway exits. He believed that mom died because there just wasn't enough hotels built in places that needed them the most."

"Do you think they helped?"

"I don't know. I hope so."

"Your mom would've been proud of you two." That came out dumber than he had anticipated, and his cheeks, for a moment, flushed in mild embarrassment.

Travis, however, didn't notice. "Would she?" There was doubt in his voice, and Alex turned in surprise.

"...Why wouldn't she?"

"Because I don't know if I can trust my dad anymore."

The car was a rumbling silence for a while as Alex quietly glanced at Travis out of his peripheral vision. "Why not?"

"Promise you won't tell anybody else until I know more?" Travis asked.

"You have my word," Alex said earnestly.

"A few months back," the kid began slowly. "My dad was working later than usual one night, so I took a cab and went to his office to find him. He wasn't there. I tried looking for his assistant, but she wasn't there either. I remember that it was strange because usually, she stays until dad leaves."

Alex perked in interest.

"You need to know that," Travis swallowed with a shake of his head. "My dad was an honest man and the best father anyone can ever ask for. After mom's death, he just isn't himself. I can't blame him for what he did because he is not himself."

"Go on."

They took a right turn. The road led to the park Alex and Tom had spent so much of their childhood in. Travis might like it. He was just like what Alex had been.

Travis gave him a lingering glance. "I went to the lobby, and the receptionist told me that my dad had just left. His car was outside and I saw him get into it. I tried calling him, but he didn't hear me. So I got into the next cab and had it follow him. I thought he was going home, but instead, he stopped at this construction site a few blocks down."

"What was he doing there?"

"I watched him climb down one of the drains."

Alex arched an eyebrow in unmasked surprise.

"I got out of the cab, and I followed him. It was dark, I remember, but I can hear his footsteps splashing in the sewage water. I followed him all the way to the end. He knew where he was going, and I nearly lost him after a few turns."

"Why did you follow him?" Alex asked curiously with just a hint of amusement.

"He's been drinking lately back then. I was afraid he was gonna…do something stupid. I was worried, you know."

Alex nodded, letting Travis continue his recount.

"He stopped at the end of this tunnel and climbed up a ladder. It's one way up. I didn't want him to see me, so I waited. He came back down after a while, less than a few minutes, and walked back the way he came. I climbed up the ladder to check it out. I thought he was just hiding alcohol stashes here, or some sort of secluded house. I really don't blame him for wanting some alone time. I'm not an easy child."

"Nobody is, Travis."

The kid managed a quick grimace. "Yeah, well, that was the least of my worry. I found his assistant up there, in that same shack we were held in, hands tied behind her back, and gagged. She was on the floor, and when I walked in, she looked really scared. She looked like she saw a monster."

"His assistant?" Alex frowned, slowing the car down to pull into the parking lot. "Why is she there? Did your father—?"

"I don't know!" Travis interrupted him before he could finish the question. "I don't know what he did, or what he didn't do. All I know is what she told me, okay? She said he was going to kill her, that he's gonna come back tomorrow."

"She said that about your father?"

"I didn't believe her, but I trust her. She's like a big sister to me. I know I can always trust her. So I believed her and I cut her loose. Then we ran. Flagged down a cab and we went to her apartment. I wanted to know what was really happening and I wanted her to stay until I could figure it out, but she didn't want to stay here because she was afraid of my dad."

"Why?"

"She didn't want to talk." Travis turned suddenly in his seat when the engine of the car had long rumbled to a rest. "The next day, my dad came home distraught and I just knew that it was because of her. Because she wasn't there. He was angry. Really angry. So when he went to work the next day, I went to Kacey's apartment—"

"Kacey. That's her name?"

Travis nodded. "She's already packed her stuff and we went to the train station. I sent her off."

"How did your dad take it?"

"I didn't tell him. I didn't talk to him at all about it. He cut back on drinking after a while and got a new assistant as if nothing happened. I'd like to think he forgot about Kacey completely, but I got a call from her a few weeks later, saying that my dad had tried to contact her by calling her old phone number a few times. She was scared."

"Do you think your dad still wants her…dead?"

"I don't know," Travis admitted quietly. "My dad isn't himself, that's all I know. I think he just wants somebody like mom in his life. I have no right to judge him, but he tried to kill Kacey because she didn't want to have…have…" The kid felt uncomfortable with the word he was about to say, but Alex watched with fascination as a flicker of anger ignited his next few words. "He tried to kill Kacey when she wouldn't have sex with him. And that's not okay. That's just so wrong in so many ways."

"But you didn't confront him about it."

"I don't know how he would react. He's not the dad I know anymore, but I can't judge him for wanting mom back. I want her back too. I should've seen his actions sooner…I guess he never did get over mom."

Alex hummed gently, sensing the afterthoughts still waiting to be said.

"He still loves me, and that's why I haven't told anyone, anyone but you. I don't want him behind bars because he's a good person. He just has dark secrets. Everyone has secrets. I can't bring myself to see him in a completely different light just because I know what he's hiding."

"You're a good person, Travis."

"Am I? What kind of person is afraid of their own father? What kind of person defends a murderer?"

"Your dad hasn't killed anyone to your knowledge yet," Alex shook his head, reaching over to settle a calming hand on Travis's shoulder like Fox had done so many times. "Your dad is not a murderer until he's proven guilty."

"He would've killed Kacey if I hadn't found her first. What if he's killed before?"

Alex thought of his own father. John Rider, father and family man. All a facade. Or was it? Was it John the spy cradling Alex when he was younger or was it John the father? Couldn't he be both?

"He's still your father and he still loves you. I think that's the most important thing you can ever hold onto."

"Why are you defending him?"

"I don't know. He loves you and that's the only thing I'd ever ask of someone. I suppose I want to believe that everybody's innately good." Alex laughed almost mirthlessly. "But why are you? Why are you defending him if you truly believe a murderer is all he is?"

"No, he's not just a murderer. He's my dad." Short, simple as that. "And he's all I got."

After paying Jack, the man who had shot Alex, a quick visit, Fox, and André had been trying to track Kacey down. They needed her side of the story if they wanted any concrete evidence of what Cole had done—what he had tried to do to her like he had done to his late assistants. She had cleared out her apartment a few months back and took a train to a different city. There were no new addresses but there was, instead, credit card statements. They could narrow it down, perhaps, and wait for her to show up.

"Thank you for what you're doing," André muttered softly beneath his breath as the officers hauled him up and locked his wrists together again.

André had tried to kill the kids, and no matter how good his reasons were, he was still going to jail. André had already prepared himself for the inevitable and Fox could only hope that by finding Kacey and throwing the man responsible for the girls' murder, it would somehow soften the blows on André.

"People like him should never have been given so much power."

"Don't let him get away," said André, turning back from the door. "Please."

"I won't," he said sincerely. "I promise."

For the first time, the man smiled slightly. Then he was escorted out of Fox's vision and down the hallway. Fox watched him go. André deserved it for what he had tried to do, but then, he had only been trying to fight fire with fire.

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

Fox drove back to Alex's house as soon as he packed up all the files Smithers had given him. Wolf had texted him that Cole was at the house, wanting to talk about what had happened in the headquarter regarding their discussion about the murder. The businessman probably wanted to give them baskets of excuses, Fox thought as his jaw clenched in frustration.

Alex's car wasn't in its usual parking spot was the first thing he noticed when he pulled up by the curb and got out. Strange. Did K-Unit take the kid for a quick drive? God helps him if Alex decided to take the car out himself for a spin. His leg wasn't completely healed, who knew what might happen.

He rung the doorbell and Eagle opened it for him. Cole and the rest were in the kitchen, judging by the sounds of the conversation slowly dying out.

"What did I miss?" muttered Fox as he took off his coat and hung it by the hooks. "And where's Alex?"

"Cub took Travis out for a quick drive, and you missed nothing but excuses."

"Alex took Travis out for a spin?" Fox frowned. "Why?"

"Cole didn't want them to hear what he had to say about the murders, I suppose." Eagle sounded slightly angered, and Fox didn't blame him. "He said all André wanted was to blame him for a murder he didn't commit. Did you find anything against Cole? Tell me you did."

"I talked to Jack and André," Fox nodded. "Their stories definitely connect. There was apparently a third—"

"Wolf and Snake probably want to hear more about that as well," Eagle cut him off softly as they eased their way into the kitchen. "We'll fill you in later after Cole's gone."

"Alright."

"Ah, Fox, was it?" The businessman said in greeting as the ex-spy walked in.

"Cole," he replied curtly with a quick smile in acknowledgment. "How's Travis?"

"Better. He went for air with your man. His name's Alex, isn't it? I owe him big time what he did."

"I'm sure he appreciates the sentiment."

"Well, I have a meeting scheduled in a couple of hours. I must get back to my office. Can you call your man and have him bring my son back here?"

"Definitely." Fox did the honor of ringing Alex.

The spy picked up after the third ring, a little longer than Fox preferred but at least he answered. "Fox?"

"Yeah. You should come back now. Mr. Cole needs to leave for his meeting soon."

"Okay. We're on our way. Should be there in…a few minutes."

"Good."

True to his words, Alex and Travis walked into the house minutes later. Fox didn't miss the quick squeeze on the shoulder Alex gave Travis, a look of understanding passed between the spy and the kid. What happened in the short time Fox was gone?

"You okay, Trav?" Cole asked with a smile as he saw his son. "Let's go. I'll drop you off at home."

"Sounds good."

The businessman gave each one of them one final glance, shook hands with Alex, and left. On his way out, Alex gave Travis his own nod, a sort of understanding passed between them. Fox would ask Alex about that later.

The front door closed, and then the grumbles began.

"Can't believe those crap Cole tried to sell us," Eagle said darkly. "Said he had no idea why his assistant died."

Alex frowned, a bit confused. Right, Fox hadn't exactly filled him in on what happened. "André, the man who tried to bury you, had a personal vendetta against Cole because Cole had sexually assaulted and killed his fiance a few months back."

If he had been looking for surprise and disgust in the spy's face, Fox was disappointed when Alex said, "Oh."

"You don't sound surprised." If anything, Alex sounded saddened. Strange, for normally Alex was more empathetic and sympathetic than the rest of them.

"I don't?"

Fox hesitated, frowning. "Do you know something we don't?"

"Don't think so," the spy shrugged. "Please continue."

"...Right." Fox and Wolf exchanged a concerned glance. "Well, um, Caroline, that's Andre's fiance's name. She's not the first assistant that died suspiciously while working for him. Almost a year ago, there was another one. Jack's sister."

"Who's Jack—Wait, the man who nearly killed Cub and Travis the first time 'round?"

"Yeah him."

"That bastard."

"Jack only wanted revenge," Fox understood Wolf's anger, but it was inevitable that he understood Jack's as well. "Jack's sister, Jess, was working for Cole at the time. Her death was ruled as a suicide, days after she told Jack that Cole sexually assaulted her and that she wanted to file a report against him."

"You're saying Cole killed her because he didn't want it getting out?"

Fox nodded, watching Alex's brows knitting in an apprehensive frown. "The same thing happened with Caroline as well. She was found dead in an abandoned shack above a section of the city's underground sewage system. Caroline told André about what Cole tried to do to her and she even told Cole that she was not going to let it slide."

"So he killed her as well."

"And there was absolutely no evidence pointing fingers at Cole?" asked Wolf.

"Nothing. He cleaned up after himself. Besides, Cole plays a big part in funding the police. Even if the cops weren't corrupted, they still had no reason to distrust a wealthy and kind businessman like him."

"So we have nothing against him?"

Snake shook his head. "If we want him thrown in jail and never see the daylight ever again, we need solid evidence."

"There's a third victim," Fox said. "Kacey."

At this, none of them missed the startling turn of the head from Alex. All eyes fell onto the spy and Fox asked. "What's wrong? Do you know something about Kacey?"

"...No."

"Why are you lying?" A bit harsh, but Wolf conveyed the point across.

Alex's eyes flickered to Wolf in a snap and narrowed dangerously. "Don't start on me, Wolf."

"Did Travis say something to you?" Fox asked, prying the two away. "Alex, if he said anything important, we need to know. It'd help to put Cole behind bars, where he'd never hurt anybody else again."

"Well," Alex snapped. "If it's something you need to know, I'll tell you."

Something was clearly bothering the spy very much. "You sound like you don't want Cole to be put behind bars."

Alex was silent for a long while, but K-Unit had long ago learned that the uneasy silence was the preamble to the truth they wanted to know. They just had to wait it out.

Then Alex finally relented with a sigh. "Have you ever consider what Cole is?"

"Besides a murderer?"

"He's a father, Fox. He's Travis's father."

Ah. So that's what was bothering Alex, Fox thought. "It hurts, I know. But this is what's right. This is justice and the system of laws doing their rightful job."

"What Travis needs is not justice. He's still young, what he needs is his father right next to him. Not in a cell, not dead, and certainly not branded as a murderer."

Fox understood him and he understood where it was coming from. He hardened his jaw nevertheless. "Is that you talking, or Travis?"

"What's the difference?"

"You feel a connection with Travis, don't you? You never got a chance with your own dad, and you didn't want Travis to go through the same thing. It sounds like you're imposing your own thoughts on the kid—"

"Oh screw you, Ben." Alex abruptly stood up. His chair skidded back in a loud screech. "Screw you."

"Alex sit back down or I swear to God I'll do something I regret."

"Fox!" Snake exclaimed, displeased by the turn of event.

Alex remained standing, hands clenched in a fist.

"Don't test me, Alex," Fox said quietly, warning the young spy his imprudence.

Alex sat. Slowly.

All of a sudden, Fox regretted his tone. He did what needed to be done, not what should have been done. But the damage was dealt. Alex was tensed and looked like he was about to jump and run out of the house at moment's notice. Fox wouldn't be surprised if that was the first time Alex did after they finished their conversation or when Fox's hold on him receded—whichever came first.

"Everything you've done for Travis is more than admirable. You're trying to do what you think is the best for him, aren't you?"

Alex remained silent.

"You're right when you said Travis is still young. He still has a while till he grows up and until then, what he needs is a loving stable family, not a murderer as a father. We'll find him a better home, I promise you."

"I'm not gonna help you turn him into a foster child," said Alex.

"That's not what I'm saying."

Then what are you saying? Alex's eyes asked, but he held his tongue. "Cole loves his son. That's all that matters."

"That's not how the law works, Alex. Love isn't an excuse."

"Well," Alex said slowly, eyes calculating. "You need evidence, don't you, to prove that Cole's guilty. Count me out, because I'm not going to tell you anything."

"If you don't tell us what we need to know, anybody Cole kills in the future will potentially be your fault." Fox hated the way Alex flinched.

"Then so be it." Then Alex stood and walked out the door before Fox could stop him.

"Alex!"

Fox shook his head, pulling Wolf back from chasing the spy down. Let him be, he thought. Alex was hurting because he had gotten too close to Travis. Fox thought he knew how much Alex didn't want to be a spy, but apparently, he didn't. Alex didn't want anybody else to go through what he had gone through. He didn't want Travis to grow up like him, without a family and believing he was too broken to be fixed.

Fox understood, he really did, but everything he had said had been utterly wrong. It hadn't turned out the way Fox wanted. But truth be told, he didn't have a solution to the problem Alex presented.

Fox had been diving too deep into Cole's corruption that he had forgotten his good sides. Cole was a father, and heaven knew the world needed more of those that loved their child like Cole loved his son. But there was no way that he could let Cole get away with what he had done.

If only he knew why.

Everybody wants something.

What was it that Cole wanted out of killing his assistants? He didn't want his fling with them to taint his name. Cole had done it three times now. After the first, he should've known that he was doing it wrong. Yet he kept doing it as if the same procedure could bring different endings.

"What happened to Cole's wife?" Fox asked Eagle.

"She died 9 years ago. Car crash." The sharpshooter paused. "You think it has something to do with her?"

"Maybe," he muttered. "Maybe."

With Alex in the way, Fox was afraid to make his moves. He didn't want to hurt Alex. He hated it. But it was inevitable. Let the kid cool down, then Fox would try again. If Alex refused for a second time, Fox would go ask Travis.

Alex was right. Travis was still young. He was too easily influenced by things like love and attachments. That was what brought Alex down. Travis needed to learn that some things just…were not worth fighting for.

But Alex would die to have his father back.

Fox looked away. He certainly hoped he was on the right side.