Another filler type chapter. I promise the next one will take place at the school and have Tsuna and his guardians/friends in it.
The next morning Alex forced himself out of bed at five. Still half asleep he got dressed, stumbled downstairs, and made his way outside, only stopping to grab a bottle of water and his trainers. It was still dark but here was a hint of rose in the Eastern sky. He stretched and looked around, taking his bearings.
Ever since he was little Alex had run every morning with his uncle, Ian. It had kept him fit and built up his endurance. When he had started to play football, and added a series of press ups, chin ups and sit ups, his morning routine became even more beneficial. It wasn't until this year, when he'd been forcibly conscripted into MI6, had he realized the true value of his training regime. If he hadn't been fit, he would have been dead. Running had saved his life more times than he cared to count. So he ran, every morning.
This morning, however, running served another purpose. He wanted to get another view of the city, not from the view of a tourist spy but as a person. Jogging would allow him to tour the city without interrupting its flow. He wanted to see the people and learn their ways, but more importantly he wanted to learn his way around Namimori. He wanted to be able to find his way no matter what. Know your surroundings. Alex intended to know it back to front. It took him an hour to run the city, finishing with a quick run through of the safe house Walker had shown them earlier.
Cammie came downstairs as he was completing his exercise regime. "Do you do this every morning?" She asked after he'd finished. If she'd expected him to be surprised at her presence she was disappointed. He didn't even look at her as he walked into the kitchen and refilled his water bottle.
"Yeah, I do," he said after taking a long drink. "You?"
She shrugged. "I was given some exercises to do while I'm here. At home we have P&E so we don't worry about personal training."
"PE?" Alex asked scornfully. "The only exercise you get is in gym class?"
The girl shook her head. "It's not PE. It's P and E. It stands for Protection and Enforcement. It's a couple hours a day where we learn various ways to protect ourselves and those around us." She retrieved the milk from the fridge as Alex fetched cereal and bowls.
"What's it like?" Alex asked after a few bites of cereal. "Going to a spy school?"
She had to think for a while before answering. What was it like? "I'm not sure I can explain it very well. I've never really known anything else. Even before I started at the school my dad was, well..." She stopped and bit her lip, afraid she'd said too much. She'd already made the decision not to tell Alex everything. She wasn't going to explain about her dad before she'd even told him her name. When he simply raised that eyebrow in question though she felt safe to continue. "Anyway. The school is, I don't know, it's safe. We have the tightest security, the best teachers, but it's more than that. Every day I'm surrounded by my sisters, and I know that no matter what happens they've got my back, just like I've got theirs. And it's not just at the school. All around the world there are alumni from the Academy who are dedicated to the protection of every girl who has attended. Even now, here, I know that if I call, at least one of the best spies in the world will come."
Alex shook his head, his mouth full of cornflakes.
"What?" asked Cammie, curious about what was going on behind those impassive eyes.
"Nothing." The words were mumbled, his mouth still full.
"No. What is it?" The more Alex refused to answer the more curiosity gnawed at Cammie.
"It's just," he turned to look at her and she was surprised to see anger in his eyes, "you seem to have a lot of faith in a group of people you've never met."
If she hadn't been sitting at the table Cammie probably would have taken a step back. Why was he so angry? "I don't have to meet them. They're my sisters. I know them."
"But how do you know them?" He practically growled, pushing himself back violently from the table. Milk sloshed from the carton and Alex's water bottle toppled over, soaking everything. Alex payed no attention. "How do you know you can trust them? Because they're alumni from your school? Because you're all sisters? That doesn't matter. Family doesn't mean anything. Not really. Not when it matters."
Cammie stared at him, wide eyed, as he paced around Walker's small kitchen, pulling at his sandy hair. Alex had always struck her as a very self-contained person. A little snarky, with some obviously buried problems, but not the type to lose it over a simple description of her school.
"You don't know!" he yelled, rounding on her, an accusing finger in her face. "You don't know anything. You think because you've gone to a special school and run a few simulations that you understand, but you don't. Have you ever seen someone die? Have you?" He eyes were wild, pain-filled, and Cammie felt this was maybe the first time he had ever spoken about it, whatever it was. She was sacred, but couldn't bring herself to run away. "Have you ever watched the life slip from someone's eyes and known that it was your fault?" Cammie could only mutely shake her head. "Because I have. And you will, if you stay in this line of work. And your sisters," he sneered the word, "won't protect you from that. They won't save you from seeing your friends killed. Sometimes they'll be the ones doing the killing. Sometimes they'll claim it's for your own good, to protect you. But sometimes, they won't. Sometimes they'll have different motives. Money, blackmail, jealousy, separate loyalties. It won't matter. You'll be betrayed. By people who claim to be your family. You can count on that."
The pain in his voice and eyes was deep, raw, and Cammie realized that he was speaking from experience. Someone he had cared about, had considered family, had betrayed him, probably recently. Once again she wished her friends were there, preferably Macey, who knew all about disappointing family. Or maybe Bex, who wouldn't have let herself get into this position in the first place. But they weren't. They were hundreds of miles away, in Virginia, and she was here, alone with a boy who seemed on the verge of mental collapse. She couldn't help but wonder if MI6 had known about the betrayal. Surely they wouldn't let an agent with this much emotional baggage go into the field if they had known about it. It was suicide.
Not knowing what to do, but realizing she had to do something, she finally stood up and wrapped her arms around his waist, knowing that sometimes, when you're hurting, the thing you want most is someone to hold you. He stiffened at the contact, but didn't pull away. Taking encouragement she hugged him tighter and whispered, "There are different types of family, Adam. Real family won't betray you, or purposefully let you become endangered. Real family has your back, no matter what."
Alex pulled away and stared dully at Cammie, his brown eyes losing their fire. Instead they looked hollow and dead. His voice sounded the same as he said, "There's no such thing as that kind of family."
He turned on his heal and strode upstairs, presumably to get ready for the day. Cammie just stood there, looking after him, and she jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up into the deep, wise eyes of Mr. Walker. Reaching down he brushed a tear from her cheek. Funny, she hadn't even realized she'd been crying.
"Give him time," he said, his soft voice kind. "He's had a hard life, in ways we can't even imagine. We just need to give him time and some space."
"Do you know?" Cammie's voice was hushed and small. "Do you know what happened to him? Who betrayed him?"
The old man shook his head. "No, I don't. It's not my place to pry into his past. Neither is it yours. Let him alone, he'll let you know if he's ready to talk about it. And go get ready for school. You've got a big day ahead of you."
I want to appologize for the OOC behavior in this chapter (and Cammie's OOC-ness in general. I've decided I just cannot naturally write that girl). I figured, working with another teen agent, one who really has a kind of nieve look on loyalty and the spying business (at least compared to his own) would tip Alex over the edge, and for once he's not trying to hide how bad things are. He wants Cammie to realize how dangerous things can get. It's the perfect place for him to get things off his chest.
