Chapter 15:

"Ok guys, Mr. Byrne asked me to show…you…," Shulsky stopped mid-sentence as realized that the two he was talking to were fast asleep on the couch. Ben had simply leaned his head back, but Alex had decided to lay down and use Ben's lap as a pillow. All in all, it was a very cute sight.

Unsure of whether he should wake them or not, Shulsky went in search of Joe Byrne. \

He found Mr. Byrne in the café, getting himself some coffee.

"Hey, Mr. Byrne?" he asked tentatively.

"Yes, Ed?"

"Umm…I have a question."

"Yes?"

"Well, Alex and Mr. Daniels are currently fast asleep on the couch in the room you showed them to. Should I wake them up and have them move, or should I just let them sleep?"

"They're asleep? Well, that shouldn't surprise me. After all, they were falling asleep in my office. But still, I've got to see this."

The two left the café and continued to where Alex and Ben were. It truly was a cute sight. Both had such peaceful expressions on their faces. It was like they were unknown to the world of espionage and murder. It looked like they were on their own little Cloud 9.

Byrne stood there for a moment, thinking about how this was how Alex's life was supposed to be. No danger, no manipulation, no killings. Just a normal teenage boy, sleeping in a world where he had a guardian looking after him. Alex should've been thinking about universities, cars and girls at this point in his life. Not where his next mission would take him, or how long he would be in the hospital afterwards, or even if the next mission he went on would be his last.

Joe Byrne shook his head, realizing that Ed Shulsky was still waiting for an answer.

"Just let them be. We'll just right them a note stating that we didn't want to disturb them and that if they want to continue sleeping in a more comfortable place, it's right down the hall; room 308. Do you think you can find paper and write that down?" Joe replied.

"No need to. I have some in my back pocket," came the reply.

Except, it wasn't from Ed. It came from the other side of the room. Both men turned and looked at the occupants on the couch and studied them.

Alex still looked as peaceful as ever, as did Ben.

Ed looked to Joe, trying to figure out if the head man knew which one had spoken.

"Seriously guys? You can't even figure out that we're not asleep? We're spies for crying out loud. Isn't a spies number one rule: be able to wake up at the slightest bit of noise?"

"Alex?" Joe questioned.

"Ding ding ding! We have a winner!"

Ben snorted, "And they call themselves trained spies! And yet, they can't tell the difference between a sleeping man, and an awake man!"

"You're both awake?" Ed asked.

"If I wasn't awake, then how could I be having this conversation with you?" Ben asked.

"I must say, that's impressive," Joe Byrne cut in. "I can't name one CIA agent off of the top of my head who's be able to wake up at a slight bit of noise while trying to sleep off jet-lag."

"Well, now you know two agents, one of which has worked with yours on a few missions. Does that count?" Alex asked, sitting upright.

"How'd you do it?" Shulsky asked, curious.

"It's called having a superior who doesn't care about you at all, and doesn't even show any emotion when an agent dies," Ben responded.

"Plus, having a superior who shoves new agents into the deep end with barely any instruction and one that refuses to send in back-up when it's called," Alex added ruefully, thinking about all of his missions where he was left to get out by himself.

"Yup," Ben agreed. "Being thrown in the deep end and being left to your own vises helps you quickly learn the need for things such as waking up because of noise even when one has jet-lag."

"Well, while Blunt's methods are highly unorthodox, and I would never use them, they sure do seem to be effective. Going back to what we came in here to tell you, if you guys want to sleep longer, room 308 is available for you two," Joe stated.

"Thanks," Alex replied, stifling a yawn. "I think I might just go and get a little bit more sleep. Just because we can wake up really easily does not mean that we don't need our sleep."

"I agree," Ben stated, and the two followed the CIA men out of the room and down the hall to room 308. Ben and Alex collapsed onto the beds, and were asleep before Shulsky even closed the door.

Shuslky silently closed the door and turned to Joe Byrne. "A kid should not have reflexes like that. It's just wrong for him to be able to wake up that quickly. And if what they say about Mr. Blunt is right, that kid doesn't have anyone looking out for him."

"I agree," Mr. Byrne replied. "But you're wrong on one account. Alex does have someone looking out for him. Ben Daniels there. Those two are some of the best in the business, and I think that even Blunt's scared of them-scared of what they'd do if either one died on a mission, especially if the other one wasn't there."

"Well, I think that Mr. Blunt should be scared! That kid's like a freaken ninja!"

"Yes…but they were right about him not caring much for his agent's well-being. I don't think the kid ever got to talk to anyone after what happened in Cairo….speaking of which, can you make sure to show them to my office when they wake up? I need to know something about what happened there…"

Ed was curious as to what exactly happened in Cairo, but knew that it was most likely classified, and Ed would not get anything out of the head of CIA.

Ed had heard rumors, of course, that something weird had happened involving a well-known terrorist organization, traps, and clones. But none of that had ever been confirmed. Lewinsky had been there, but refused to talk about it. Something major had gone down over there, and it seemed as though Alex had been in the middle of it. And if Mr. Blunt was as uncaring as everyone said, what had exactly happened to Alex after he returned to England?

The world of espionage was too cloak-and-daggerish for anyone to fully understand.

Ed realized this, but he did not realize just how many unseen forces were working at this time, trying to bring around the two MI6 agents' demise.