Chapter 3
Author's notes: Thank you to the reviewer who informed me that The Black Hand was an actual gang. I didn't know that. This group does not have any connection to them and any and all resemblances are pure coincidence. Thanks.
I also think that I need to give credit to Amitai this chapter. It wasn't intentional, but I think her Eagle has gotten loose. I found him wandering around in my story and haven't managed to evict him yet. I'll have to refrain from reading her fics while I'm writing this, incase he followed me home or something. :D
--
--
"There's been a sighting of Gregorovich," Ben said grimly.
"What?" Alex said with a yelp. "Where?"
Ben started the car and pulled out of the parking space. "Near your house. So we're going to my place. It's not too far from here, but hopefully it should be safe. Jack's packed a bag for you. You wont be able to go to school anymore, sorry." He looked apologetic.
Alex sighed. He was going to get behind again. "That's okay. It's not your fault."
"Yeah," Ben said quietly. "But I'm just grateful it was just a sighting. That's why we're moving so quickly. We didn't want to wait for an actual attack." He ran a hand through his hair. "I thought we'd have more time than this. I mean, he's been out there, all along. Why decide to attack now?" He shook his head. "Sorry, Alex. Don't listen to me."
"No, it's a good point," Alex said. He'd been thinking the same thing. After all, Yassen had been out there ever since Eagle Strike failed. Why would he pick now, just as Alex had been given protection, to come after him?
"Yeah, well, good point or not, it doesn't really help us." He brightened. "And speaking of help, we're getting some."
"Given the situation, I guess you're not talking about a maid and a chef, right?" Alex said wryly.
Ben's eyes sparkled with glee. "Not quite, but you're more than welcome to try treating them like it." He laughed. "No, it's an SAS team. Sent to protect a high ranking MI6 member under a death threat."
Alex closed his eyes and imagined the worst thing that he could think of. He opened them and looked at Ben. "Let me guess, it's your old unit, right?"
Ben looked stunned and turned to look at him. "How did you know?"
"Road!" Alex said, quite calmly for the circumstances. Ben turned back to the road and narrowly avoided tailgating the car in front of them as it slowed to turn. "And what do you mean, high ranking? Do they think it's you?"
Ben laughed, but looked slightly shocked. "No. Didn't you know? You pretty much outrank everyone short of Jones and Blunt."
Alex shook his head. "How can I? I'm not even, technically, a member of MI6."
"Well, no," Ben agreed. "You're not. But you have to have a ranking. It's the bureaucracy, you see. Reports have to be filed even if no one can read them. Top secret and all that. So, according to MI6 records, your uncle didn't actually die. He's still active and quite successful, as I hear it, although people call him Alex now." He spared a quick smile at Alex. "He was their best agent. And he was tipped to replace Jones or Blunt when they retired. So, technically, his ranking is your ranking."
Alex shook his head again and tried to come up with words for it. "That's … bizarre," he said finally. "Utterly bizarre."
Ben nodded ruefully. "I agree. But that's the way it is." He pulled over. "And here we are. The humble little flat that I call home and we're going to try and squish seven people into this week."
Alex winced at the reminder. "Oh, joy."
"Oh, and," Ben looked a little nervous. "they don't know, yet, exactly who we are. I mean, they were briefed but only in generic terms. MI6 agent and so forth."
Alex closed his eyes and tried to think of a way this could get worse. "And let me guess. You weren't able to tell them that you transferred to MI6."
He opened his eyes. Ben looked slightly freaked out. "Okay, quit it with the psychic thing. Seriously. And tell me who's been leaking my plans to you," he said.
Alex smiled sardonically.
--
--
Ben grinned as he opened the door. "Honey, we're home!" he called cheerfully.
Jack was there so quickly that she must have been waiting for them. "Alex," she said with relief. "You're all right."
"See," Ben said to her. "I said he'd be okay, didn't I? We're not going to let anything happen to him."
"You also said," Jack put in coldly. "That it was highly unlikely that anything would happen at all."
Ben winced. "Okay, you've got me there. How about we step inside, now? I have to brief K-unit. They'll get grumpy if I keep them waiting."
Alex took a moment to look around. The flat, as Ben had said, was humble. The wallpaper was faded and the carpet was a little threadbare, but it was clean and not too cramped. The front door led directly into a hallway. On his right he saw a kitchen, and they all turned left into the living room.
Seated, in various degrees of non-relaxation, were four people. Three of them Alex knew. Wolf, Snake and Eagle. The other members of the unit that Alex had trained with. The fourth man was a stranger to Alex, but he guessed that he was Fox's replacement in the unit.
As they entered, all four pairs of eyes snapped over to them. Three of them widened in shock. The fourth frowned.
"Cub? Fox?" Snake asked, looking at one then the other in confusion.
Fox held up a hand to stall questions. "You've been briefed, right? MI6 agent under death threat. That's Alex. Cub, I mean." He pushed Alex forward. Alex frowned at him. "I'm the MI6 agent responsible for his security. So you all answer to me, got it?"
They nodded. That was simple enough. Wolf spoke up. "Who's she?"
Fox looked put out by the question. It was Alex who answered. "My guardian." It wasn't strictly the truth, but it was close enough. He wasn't going to get into the complications of his situation with MI6.
But it was too much for the new guy. He stood up. "So you're trying to tell us, that a kid young enough to still need a guardian is the 'high ranking MI6 agent' that we were sent to protect?" he asked skeptically. "What kind of joke is this?"
"Sit down, Hawk," Wolf growled. With the tone of voice he used, Alex wasn't surprised when the guy, Hawk, sat down. Wolf was the undisputed leader of the unit.
"You guys know about this?" Hawk asked, a tad more reasonably. He looked at the others.
Eagle nodded. "We've worked with him a few times." He turned to Fox. "I guess that's why we're the ones here?"
"Well," Fox said. "Yes and no. You're here because I asked for you. They didn't say no because you already know about him." He shrugged. "It was a pain in the ass trying to arrange security while they kept telling me I couldn't let anyone know that Alex worked for us. Or that he existed at all."
"And it has nothing at all to do with the fact that we're your team?" Snake asked wryly.
Fox grinned. "Well, maybe. I couldn't just tell you I transferred to MI6. It's frowned upon."
"I thought it was suspicious," Eagle said. "After all your yakking about wanting to be SAS and then you leave inside of a year?" He rolled his eyes.
Hawk tried to get the briefing back on track. "So what are we doing for security?"
Fox frowned. "Yes, well. There's been a change in plans, which is why we're here. Gregorovich was spotted nearby, so Alex was moved with all possible speed. That means; security is now watching this place, watching Alex and making sure Gregorovich doesn't get him."
Snake leaned forward in interest. "What does Gregorovich want with Cub? Are we watching out for Scorpia, or just Gregorovich?"
Fox frowned again. "Just Gregorovich at this stage. As for what he wants… well, that's undetermined."
"Undetermined?" Eagle said in disbelief. "So you don't know if he's aiming to kill or aiming to capture or, hell, just sit down over tea and biscuits and have a little chat?"
"It's unlikely to be the third one," Fox said dryly. "We can rule that one out."
"Yes," Alex agreed. "He drinks coffee not tea." They looked at him, not quite sure if he was joking. Alex shrugged.
--
--
Dark was approaching when Tulip Jones made an unscheduled stop at Alan Blunt's office. She was unsurprised to find him still there, despite the hour. Neither of them left before everything was complete. She sat opposite him. He looked up from his work and set his pen down.
"When are you going to talk to Alex?" Mrs. Jones asked. Too much time had passed since they had decided to bring him in. The delay made her anxious. Time was of the essence.
Alan Blunt met her eyes squarely. They were emotionless and grey behind his glasses. "I already have. He was more than happy to provide a distraction."
"Really," Mrs. Jones said flatly. Her expression was totally empty, yet her anger was visible. "Why wasn't I there?"
Blunt looked at her coolly. "You have more than enough work at the moment. It was not important enough to bother you with."
Mrs. Jones pressed her lips tightly together. They went white. "I see." She stood calmly, smoothed her skirt down, and left.
--
--
Alex was flicking through his school books that evening at the table when Eagle snuck up behind him. Alex had already decided that Eagle was the most irritating member of K-unit. Granted, he didn't have a lot of competition, given that Wolf would rather gnaw his arm off than start a conversation, Hawk had been business-like ever since the security arrangements had been made and Snake seemed to prefer quiet solitude, but he was still fairly annoying.
"Were you serious? About him wanting to have a chat?" Eagle asked. Alex didn't jump, because he had been aware that someone was behind him.
"Aren't you supposed to be on duty?" Alex shot back without turning around.
"No," Eagle replied, sliding into the seat opposite him. "Doesn't he want to kill you?"
Alex looked at him. He shrugged. "Well, even if he did come here wanting a chat, he'd end up wanting to kill me."
"I wouldn't call your company that bad," Eagle said, startled. "You could do with a bit more, y'know, enthusiasm, but I suppose its understandable given the circumstance." He paused a beat. "Why?"
Alex shrugged, seeing that Eagle really wasn't about to go away. "I'd tell him the truth. And then he'd probably be angry."
"Truth about what?" Eagle asked quickly, seizing this new information.
"I'm not sure I'm allowed to tell you."
Eagle looked put out. "And yet you'll tell the guy who'll try and kill you about it?"
Alex shrugged.
"How well do you know him, anyway?" Eagle continued, trying a new tack when it became obvious that Alex wasn't going to answer. "Because I was expecting 'oh, yeah, I saw him when he was trying to shoot me' not 'he drinks coffee not tea'."
Alex glared at Eagle simply for bringing up the thing that he had been working very hard to avoid thinking about. He didn't want to talk about Yassen. Simply because he didn't know what he would say. What was there to say? He killed my uncle. He saved my life. He idolized my father. I wanted to kill him. Now…
Did he want to kill Yassen now? Not really. He didn't want to kill anyone. But that didn't mean he had been sad at the thought that the assassin was dead. Oh, he had wished that Yassen was there to give less cryptic clues, to give answers, but he hadn't regretted his death.
(Maybe he had wished that the last thing the man had done wasn't try to save his life. Because that had made him feel guilty. Almost.)
"We met," he said distantly, at last. "A few times."
Eagle didn't look happy with that answer, but Alex couldn't have cared less. He wasn't going to answer anymore questions. Resolutely, he turned back to his books and ignored the other man.
--
--
Once again, thanks to everyone who reviewed. I'm glad everyone is enjoying this so far. If you have any comments or suggestions or queries about this fic, please leave a review or send a message to me and I'll do my best to answer it.