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Chapter 6

Eva was not happy. Aside from the lecture from Starbright, which she didn't entirely disagree, Anthony Sean Howell had arrived.

Ash and Vixen had never entirely got along. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something about the guy always made her feel nervous. But he was her fellow country man in a strange land, so she grit her teeth and stepped outside the hospital.

Ash was the only Secret Agent she'd met who smoked. The smell of tobacco was so carrying that contrary to James Bond, very few agents actually smoked.

"Hey," she said, forcing a tone of friendliness that she did not feel into her voice. "You know those things will kill you."

"Unless a bullet beats them to it." Ash responded, stubbing out. He stared at her for a moment, before asking.

"Is it really him?"

Vixen nodded.

"The DNA comparison was positive." She said. There was no point lying to him. He wouldn't be here if he didn't already know the answer.

"You should have told me." For the second time in an hour she was under attack. "I'm Alex's godfather, I've got the same rights-"
"and supposing it was another false alarm?" She demanded. "Do you know how many false leads we've chased down in the last two years?" she pushed on not giving him a chance to reply. "Technically I was following a hutch while helping the Russian intelligence services investigate a terrorist attack, something which I don't think I'm obliged to inform the Australian intelligent services of." The next words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. "Particularly not their non field agents."
Ash blanched as though she had actually hit him. She sighed.

"I'm sorry. That was out of line."
"Way out!" Ash said his face still grim as he lit another.

"It's just, you're the second person to yell at me about Alex in as many hours."
"Thought Blunt would be pleased you've found his agent."
"He's ecstatic" Vixen leant up against the wall, letting the exhaustion of the last few days wash over her. "Jack Starbright on the other hand."

Ash spat out his cigarette in surprise.
"Jack's here?" He demanded.

"Arrived last night." She remembered that Ian had told her that Ash and His housekeeper had had some kind of a relationship. "I'll give you her address."

Anything, said the voice in her head, to keep you away from Alex.

Yury drove in silence, his eyes never leaving the road. Jack, sitting next to him in the passenger seat felt uncomfortable.

He pulled up deliberately by an alley, causing the glove compartment to pop open. Jack stared in horror at the gun nestled so gently there.

"It is only the fact that I know you are upset that is keeping me from using it." Yury said, conversationally. He moved off, his eyes still remaining on the road.

"She's a great agent, Vixen." he said, without a change in his tone. "If you're government had any sense she'd be in Afghanistan or Iran, not rotting here." He turned left, down a dark street.

"She came here 3 years ago." He said his eyes still on the road. "Officially, it was a promotion; she's in charge of intelligence gathering for the British in Russia and liaises to our department." He shrugged. "In reality she was been moved out of their way."

"Why?" Jack asked, her curiosity our weighing her fear of the gun still resting on the open glove compartment door. She was convinced he planned to kill her.

"She threatened to tell some facts they didn't like."
"About Alex?"

"To Alex." Yury corrected. "She could have told him for example that MI6 has no power to kick you out of the country, Miss Starbright."
She froze, her heart pounding against her chest. He couldn't know.

"Or that they were not named his guardians under Ian's Will. Or even," Yury turned right this time. "How his father really died."

He followed the one way sign.

"She was a child agent herself, did you know that?" he asked rhetorically. "13 when she ran her sole mission, though as the child of two agents she'd been running missions for long before that." He laughed slightly to himself. "I've heard her refer to Helen, Alex's mother," he said by way of explanation. "As her first and only friend outside of the service." He nodded slightly sadly. "She'd do anything to protect him."
"She didn't do too gooder job!" Jack declared bitterly.

"Didn't she?" Yury asked, soundly vaguely amused. "The intelligence services gave up looking for Sarov nearly three months after the attempted explosion. She kept looking, until" he said gently. "Volk forced her to admit that the chances were slim." He shrugged. "If he hadn't she would have probably worked herself to death." He smiled gently. "He loves her, but her first and probably only love was Ian Rider." He pulled up in front of the restaurant that she had been delivered to earlier. "In short," he said, leaning over and closing the glove compartment. "Leave Vixen alone. She's your best chance of keeping him safe."

He opened the car door.

Volk walked over slowly, waiting until the taxi had pulled away before he spoke to Vixen.

"I have sent the Dhilds to a safe house and arrange for some one to locate Chekov." He said slowly, making sure that Ash was really out of earshot, before he spoke.

"That answered some questions."

Vixen nodded.

"Brainwashing. Repeat a version of events often enough, and the mind will accept it as the truth." She shook her head. "But there's no evidence that Sarov had the skills to do that."

"He had help." Volk said, sadly. He sighed. "We both know Andropov."
"The name's not in any reports, I asked a couple of agents I trust to run it up."
"It will appear in many reports, or at least his real name will." Noticing the confusion on Vixen's face he explained. "When I was interviewing Andropov, I saw a huge scar on his hand." He looked, seeing comprehension dawning in her face.

"Dr Andropov is Captain Voprodan."

TBC