And so it continues. Wow, I just have to thank ALL my awesome reviewers and readers for sticking with me. Sorry about the wait, we had some issues with beta-ing this chapter, but we got it fixed. I hope ya'll had awesome Christmases, Kwanzaas, Hanukkahs, and New Years! And if you didn't… Well there is always next year!
Hope you like this chapter and a big shout out to my beta XxXmaximuM-RideRXxX!!!!
Oh and before I forget, The Englishman had pretty much forgotten his own name, so it'll switch between The Englishman and Ian just because he is trying to get used to his old name. Thanks!
"Ian!"
He reveled in his name coming from such a familiar and welcome face. His grin became impossibly bigger as he stared at the surprised Jack.
He felt truly happy for the second time. Of course nothing could compare to the rush of emotions that had attacked him when he had first realized he had escaped from that place... but this came close.
"I-It can't be you!" Jack exclaimed. The Englishman watched the emotions rove over her face. Fear, slight anger, disbelief, excitement, and a few other emotions he had forgotten over the months.
She waved her arms in the air, "You're dead!"
Ian grinned. "Yes, Jack. I'm an apparition. I have come to make your life miserable." He shook his head. "I would never do that to you Jack..."
Sarcasm! Ha had used sarcasm! The Englishman had thought it had gotten beaten out of him the fourth month in. He was going to miss those back teeth… Anyway, it was only a little bit of sarcasm. But it was enough for him.
Jack continued. "We went to your funeral! We packed up your clothes! Alex saw… Alex saw your car!"
Ian winced. Alex had seen his car, and therefore gotten into a bunch of trouble. And The Englishman had been powerless to stop it.
8:00 THAT MORNING
The Englishman stepped onto the lift, somewhat depressed. He had been woken up by a nightmare at three in the morning this morning. He went to visit his therapist, unable to go back to sleep, and because she had ordered him to see her whenever he had one. But the woman could be more devious than One-eye. She almost had no trouble breaking him.
All The Englishman knew was that he wanted out of there. He could only stand the spies and the lies for so long.
Ms. Jones entered behind him, as silent as a lamb. She settled in beside him, and he reached over to press the button for his desired floor. The door closed and slowly the lift started moving.
Ms. Jones shifted and it stopped.
Ian looked over at her. He was not alarmed, only interested.
"I have only 60 seconds to talk, so you need to listen Rider."
Ian nodded, serious. A small dose of familiar excitement coursed through him. As much as The Englishman hated the lying, the paperwork, the backstabbing, and the torture, he still had to admit he loved his job. If he really had been someone who worked at a normal bank, he probably would have blown his brains out years ago.
The Englishman ordered himself to the present. There was no time to lose his concentration.
"A lot of things can happen in eight months. He has gone." Jones stated vaguely.
He sighed and nodded. Blunt has gone mad with power is what she meant. He couldn't say he was surprised. Most of the MI6 heads became disillusioned with their power. It was just the natural order of things.
"He is listening in then?" The Englishman asked. Mad people become paranoid. If Blunt thought if anyone was even sneezing wrong, they would surely be killed.
Jones shook her head. "Right now Blunt sees and hears you pressing various buttons, and I'm telling you this keeps on happening lately. Nothing more nothing less. Thank our friend."
Smithers. He allowed himself a small smile. Ian had always liked Smithers.
"Anyway, Rider, I felt the need to inform you of your nephew before you went home."
The Englishman's stomach clenched. What had happened to his nephew?
"Blunt proceeded with the Stormbreaker mission despite your… disappearance."
The Englishman felt like his knees would give out. They couldn't… they couldn't have.
Jones noticed his expression but resumed talking. She only had 60 seconds after all. "Blunt took advantage of Alex, like a serial rapist takes advantage of a single, defenseless girl. Despite that disturbing metaphor, it's true. He's been on almost seven missions in nine months with little or no training, and definitely no weapons. It is a miracle he is alive. So you might want to be worried about his mental health before you go home."
Ian was too stunned to respond. This was his fault wasn't it?
Ms. Jones leaned over and slipped a contact box in his shaking hand without even looking at him. "Our friend downloaded Alex's unofficial and official file in those contacts. It has everything in there. Don't wear them in the building, the cameras can detect it. So long Ian, be careful."
He could only stare at the elevator door in shock. But he still had good sense to stick the box in his pocket. As soon as he did so, Ms. Jones resumed her former position, and pressed a button on her watch. The elevator started sliding downwards as if nothing had happened.
The Englishman-no- Ian returned his gaze to Jack who was still spluttering about how he should be dead.
He laughed. "Jack, Jack. It's truly me and I'm alive. I don't really want you to apologize about packing up my stuff. You thought I was dead, I get that. But now I'm back." He smiled and cocked his brow at the red-head. "Anyway, am I welcome back, or should I find another place to sleep?"
Tears sprang up in Jack's eyes and he watched as she valiantly fought to hold them back. "It's really you," she whispered.
The-Ian opened his mouth to answer, but Jack threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He stood there, shocked, and pushed down his instincts that were telling him that he was being attacked. He wasn't and this was just a hug. But he had gone without normal human contact for so long.
He should have been happy that Jack believed him. But he wasn't. He was scared. Alarms were ringing in his head, telling him that this woman was going to hurt him. She wasn't. So The Englishman stood stock still, determined not to punch her and run away.
Jack was unaware of this, and buried her face in his shoulder. Her own shoulders shook with silent sobs.
"Of course, of course… of course you can stay. B-but Alex… They used Alex… He's different… A-and it scares me Ian…."
He nodded stiffly. "I know Jack. I'm sorry."
She nodded into his shoulder and sniffed.
The Englishman clenched his teeth and closed his eyes, bracing himself. Then he reached up to awkwardly pat her on the back. So many emotions were coursing through him. Remorse. Grief. Anger. Surprise. Fear. Dread. It would have been hard to keep a handle on them all. But he was a professional. Professionals brushed away their emotions and sometimes examined them later.
He let Jack hug him for a few more seconds. She needed the comfort, the support. Then as gently as he could, he detangled himself from her. He needed to report back, get his stuff, and look over Alex's file.
"Listen, Jack," he started softly, "I need to go and get my stuff. I'll be back before Alex comes back from school. We'll talk, okay?"
She sniffed. "You promise you'll come back? You promise this isn't just a dream?"
"I promise Jack." Oh man, oh man, what happened in the last few months? What happened to make strong Jack so weary, so sad? Ian almost didn't want to find out.
"Really?"
He winced. "Jack look at me." She did. "Jack, I let you and Alex down once. I left you once. Never again."
She nodded and sniffed once more, gathering herself. The Englishman didn't want to leave her like this. He would never forgive himself. But she blinked the tears out of her eyes and straightened, looking him in the eye proudly.
"Yes, you will come back, Ian. If you don't I'll dig up your grave, pound your bones into dust and curse you for all eternity for messing with my emotions."
He grinned a little. There was the Jack he remembered. "I'm coming back." He nodded, smiled at her, then turned on his heel and left.
Ian sat on a bench in the park he had spotted earlier. He was situated between a tree and a lively football game. Another tree loomed overhead. It was a small bit of cover, but it was enough.
He summoned a deep breath and pulled the contacts out of his pocket. He took one of them out and examined it. The contact looked normal size, and clear, except they had a slight green tint to them. He shrugged.
Smithers created the gadgets, Ian used them, and he needed to trust that they wouldn't make him blind. End of story.
But that didn't stop the Englishman from feeling a wee bit paranoid as he slipped them into his eyes. As expected they reacted violently and he squeezed them shut as tears sprang up into his eyes.
Then the discomfort dissipated and he dared to slowly open his eyes. His vision was blurry. He blinked a few more times and it passed.
Glowing green letters popped out of thin air.
The Englishman jumped back. The letters followed him. He moved his head to the side. The letters moved to the side. He blinked. They were still there!
He started hyperventilating, remembering the night when he had almost lost his mind. When the colors swirled and people who were dead talked to him...
Ian let out a breath. He wasn't going mad again. It was the contacts! He narrowed his eyes slightly as he tried to focus on the letters.
HELLO OLD CHAP. GLAD YOU'RE NOT DEAD. BLINK ONCE TO SCROLL DOWN.
He blinked once.
GOOD LAD. NOW THESE ARE A PROTOTYPE, SO IF THEY GLITCH UP, IT'S NOT REALLY MY FAULT.
Ian blinked once and chuckled. That didn't help quell his fears about him going blind. In fact, these contacts were kind of straining to the eyes. It was also hard to control his blinks too.
But this was fun, he had to admit that.
BLINK TWICE TO SCROLL BACK UP. CLOSE EYES FOR FIVE SECONDS TO TURN OFF.
Blink.
MISSIONS ARE IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER. KEEP IN MIND SUBJECT HAS NEVER BEEN
Blink, blink.
He swore as he accidentally scrolled back up.
Blink… Blink.
...TO A HOSPITAL FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME. THESE FILES ARE OFFICIAL, AND ALSO PRODUCTS…
Blink.
…OF MY OWN INVESTIGATION. MS. JONES HAS ALSO ADDED OBSERVATIONS OF HER OWN…
Blink.
AND OBSERVATIONS OF THE AGENTS SENT PERIODICALLY TO WATCH HIM AS WELL.
Ian took a deep breath. And so it begins…
Ben Daniels was bent over his paperwork in deep concentration when his mobile rang. He absently reached for it with his bad arm, and succeeded in knocking it to the floor. The annoying piece of plastic buzzed over and over. He cursed under his breath.
Ben flexed his arm, trying it out. It was still a little stiff, but it was usable. He leaned down hurriedly, to try and catch the caller.
But as soon as the phone was picked up off the floor, it stopped ringing. He growled and returned to his work.
Stupid phones.
His office phone started ringing. The exasperated man sighed and picked up the phone angrily.
"Hello?" After a pause he scolded himself. He was going to get himself binned with an attitude like that.
"Is he there?"
Ben's anger returned. "I thought I told you never to call me again!" He paused and berated himself. He had just made all the alarms go off with the people who listened in on the phone taps and he knew it…
The voice on the other side laughed. "We both know you aren't being serious."
"This phone is for work, not for personal time, that's all." He tried to cover up reason for growing suspicion with a stupid excuse.
The person on the other end grunted. "I could care less. Where is our fellow Englishman?"
Ben sighed. "Call me on my mobile."
"I did, Daniels."
"Then do it again! ... Sir."
The line went dead. A few seconds later, Daniels mobile ran again.
"He left," Ben answered.
"No hello?"
"Left his morning. He's at a park right now. Two agents are following him. Company policy."
"Good policy. And what exactly is he doing?"
"He's sitting on a bench."
"What?"
"I said: he's sitting on a bench."
"Why?"
Ben sighed. "How should I know? Now I have to work. I told you not to call me about this again. Good-bye." He hung up and returned to his work.
Two floors up, an Alan Blunt put down his own phone after listening in on the conversation. That Daniels was a funny new agent, he'd give him that.
So Rider was just sitting? That wasn't like him. The man was a man of action, he could hardly sit still. But he had changed.
Blunt resolved to keep an even closer eye on the man. No one knew how much the man had changed.
Blunt was unaware at the time he would unearth something dangerous. Something that would probably kill most parties involved. No matter, the paranoid man returned to his work, oblivious as a paranoid man could be
It had always been known that Alex would be taken with Ian in the Stormbreaker mission. In fact, Ian himself had planned it. If he hadn't planned it, Blunt would have. And Blunt couldn't care less if Alex died or not.
So Ian had set it up. The map, the wetsuit, and even the underwater cord. Ian would set it up, and Alex and him would have gone and busted Sayle together. Of course Alex wouldn't have known he was working for MI6. Ian had an airtight excuse and everything.
He had forgotten the excuse by now…
Anyway, Blunt had been extremely power hungry then too. He wouldn't listen to Ian begging for his nephew to be spared. Blunt could test the child's skills when he was eighteen, not at fourteen.
Alan threatened to tell the child everything. To tell him that he had been trained all this time. To tell him that all Ian was doing was training a spy.
The head of MI6 would have convinced Alex that his uncle didn't love him. Ian was sure about that.
So all The Englishman could do was plan to be right there with Alex. They would have done all that together. But instead John's son had almost been killed by an oversized jellyfish.
Ian half sobbed with grief. He hadn't been there for his nephew. He had failed. When The Englishman was being tortured, he had always believed that Blunt would put his experiment on hold. He believed that Alex would stay safe.
This hope was one of the only things that kept him going.
The MI6 agent had only gotten half-way through Alex's "Eagle Strike" mission and already he was emotionally overwhelmed for Alex. He had spent all of Alex's life vowing that he would protect the child. Now Alex was practically an agent himself.
He realized two things at once. One: He could see that Blunt was going mad and he needed to be taken out. Two: At this rate, Alex was going to die before he was fifteen and a half.
Okay, so I have to admit, this might not me the confrontation you guys have been waiting for, so I apologize. But it just builds up the suspense doesn't it? (Grins) But no, seriously you WILL see Alex in the next chapter. Hey, it might even be in his point of view… But only if you guys review and say you want it. (Yes, I know, I'm shameful.)
So if you guys loved it, hated it, have any questions, comments, concerns, please don't be afraid to click that… green button I think.
(I miss my purple button…)