A/N: Sorry for mistakes, enjoy the chapter with Nate's pov in third person. More or less.

Chapter 5: Nate

Nate undid her straps but he wasn't stupid enough to leave her with the means to get away so he took complicated cuffs out of his duffle bag and secured her wrists and ankles. He lifted her up and slung her over his shoulder, and his duffle over the other. He yanked open the door and strode through, he got to the end of the corridor when one of his grunts spotted him.

"Sir, is there anything I can do?" Grunt 1 asked, his eyes on the unconscious woman.

Nate was still smiling when he said, "Just do your job and make sure we don't get any hiccups, I'd hate for you to lose your heads." Grunt 1 swallowed looking slightly bothered but nodded. So did Grunt 2 and Grunt 3.

He got to the end of the hallway and entered the elevator, humming the theme tune to 'Muffin the Mule' and tapping his foot.

He advanced through the brightly coloured lobby, flashing a charming smile at the woman at the front desk who was watching Nate come out of the lift, she cowering behind her chair as there was one of his grunts standing above her casually pointing a gun at her head.

"Time to go," Nate sang, walking through the doors at the very front, leaving the pathetic hotel.

Immediately, the grunt with the gun at the woman jumped into action and radioed to the other grunts that they were leaving.

Nate got to the car at the front where his forever loyal driver was standing at the ready.

"Francis, would it trouble you to pop open the boot, I have a girl here in need of going home," he said to his driver who did as he said.

A short drive later Nate had Francis park a few streets away and he had written a note that was attached to some string. He got out of the car motioned for the grunts in the larger car behind him to get out as well.

"You take this woman, unharmed, to that house we were talking about earlier. Clear?" Nate said as he lifted the trunk. "If she is hurt in any way at all whoever caused it will pay dearly. You," he pointed to Grunt 2, "Repeat back to me what I just said."

"No harming the woman at all, sir," Grunt 2 said.

"Yes! Good now go, I've got work to do," Nate said, "Go back to The Boat House when you're done and get me a written report on what happens by the end of today, understand?" He turned and got back into the car, "See ya soon, boys!"

He closed the door and told Francis, "To the House of Cards, Francis."

"Yes, sir," he replied and started driving.

Nate closed his eyes and dozed lightly, catching up on much needed rest. He was in safe hands with his driver, Francis would never go against him in anyway.

They arrived two hours later to an undisclosed location that only he and his trusted driver knew. Nate was woken up to Francis saying, "Boss, we're here."

Nate yawned and said, "Very good, Francis. Come inside with me, we have work to do."

Three hours later they had finished and were tired, "Come on, Francis, let's go to the diner, we need food in our bellies and I'm paying."

"Yes, sir," Francis said.

Twenty minutes later they parked on the opposite road of a popular food place and they got out of the car together and walked to the diner. There was a bell that signalled for their arrival and a waiter looked around to them.

Nate and Francis sat down at a booth across from the counter. They scanned the menus for a moment before the waiter came round.

"Good afternoon, what do you think you'll be having today?" the waiter asked. Nate eyed his name tag.

"Hi, Lorenzo. My friend here would like to get a healthy house salad with some fruit juice, to keep up the good stuff you know?" Nate ordered and the waiter nodded happily, "And I will have a strawberry milkshake and your largest portion of fries.

"Absolutely, sir. They will arrive in the next few minutes," Lorenzo nodded approvingly. The waiter walked away.

Nate looked to Francis who was staring blankly at the drinks section of the menu

"So, Franky, how is your little family doing?" he asked.

"They are doing fine, sir. Ida is in school and her mother is still working at the dry cleaners," Nate's driver said.

"Fantastic, here have a chippy," Nate said.

They finished their meal and Nate left some money on the table, they walked to the car and as soon as they got to close the door Nate said, "Wrist."

Francis was did as he was told, he twisted round and stretched out his arm obediently. Nate pushed his sleeve up and peeled off the band-aid there. He willed his fangs to appear and then sank his top canines directly into the vein, he drank half a pint before he was full. He abruptly yanked out his fangs and pulled out the the cloth in his suit jacket to wipe his lip clean. Francis, meanwhile, had gotten a bandage and wrapped it on tight.

"Thank you very much, Francis," Nate said.

"No problem, sir," he replied.

"Now go to The Boat House, I need to see how the grunts and the new recruits are coming along, I hope none of them have been a disappointment," Nate said.

On the way they made a stop at a pharmacy and then the liquor store, they were running low on medical supplies and alcohol. Most importantly, the alcohol, especially scotch, there was a severe lack of scotch and other whiskeys in the car. Because that's normal. To have a constant stream of alcohol in a car. Well, in Nate's car anyway, he shared on occasion with Francis or rare guests, so that made up for it.

When they finally got to The Boat House, they found half a dozen of the new recruits running laps around the front building. One of Nate's grunts were shouting orders at them and make them run faster and harder, eventually one of the recruits fell. He tripped and landed on the hard ground grazing his knees.

Nate gracefully got out of the car and positively slithered into the fallen recruit's path, after shooting a withering look towards the grunt supervising them, who was shouting for the recruit to get, it shutting him up instantly. The boy pulled himself up to face the boss.

"What's your name kid?" Nate asked.

"Uh, Craig, sir," the boy answered.

"Well, Craig, why don't you go and join the other little boys and girls," Nate said. Craig left and Nate motioned for Francis to follow him into the main building. Nate walked past the grunt that was with the recruits but not before smacking the grunt round the back of the head and then kept on walking. The grunt winced but didn't cry out, Francis was fighting off a grin as he followed his boss.

"Stupid idiot. Right, Francis?" Nate said shaking his head.

"Yes, sir," he said, trying to keep a straight face.

Nate looked thoughtful as he said, "I'm going to have to get a real trainer for the kids if I want them to learn anything. Those grunts are just melting their will to nothing."

"Very good, sir. Would you like me to suitable candidates?" Francis questioned, now more serious.

"yes, if you would, old sport," Nate smiled to himself, "Have a list ready by tomorrow so I can judge who would be best. Interviews start next week." Nate dismissed Francis to his office.

Nate scanned around the room looking for Grunt 1 from earlier, he spotted him at a table across the wide space.

"Ah, Grunt 1! How did the drop-off go?" Nate asked cheerfully.

"It's, uh, Baxter, sir," Grunt 1 said trying to correct his name, but Nate turned from having a breezy glint to a hard glare in seconds so Grunt 1 quickly said, "It went well, sir. No problems at all."

"Good to hear, Baxter," his boss was smiling again but Grunt 1 cringed inwardly, "Now where's that report?"

Baxter, Grunt 1, picked it up from his desk and handed it over to him in one fast motion.

"Groovy," Nate said and walked off to his own office with the file in hand. He close the door and sat down with his red pen at the ready. He sighed and began to put in capital letters and correct spellings. He supposed he should get a teacher for the grunts but that would have just been a waste of resources.

Nate put on Sinatra on his record player and had been listening to that for half an hour before there was a knock at his door.

"Come in," he said.

Francis twisted open the handle and peered in, "I've got a list ready, about 8 people."

"Already? It's been less than an hour," Nate said surprised

Francis shrugged, "The war ended and people are in need for work. I called some people up and most say they can do the interviews in two days, sir."

"Okay, good. Go confirm and then inform me when it's done, no need to knock," Nate resumed the boring paperwork.

The next day passed without many problems, Nate got to assess the recruits. He approved what he saw, they were resilient and hard workers, they would do very well in the future.

The day of the interviews finally arrived and Francis had set up them up in a rent-out office in the middle of the city that they usually used for situations like these, where they would need to meet people in a public location in case of anything going wrong. . Francis had the potential teachers for the recruits seated in the waiting room. He had one of the grunts watching on as he went to pick up Nate from The Boat House, Francis was practically Nate's second-in-command and he held his title very seriously, he was loyal to Nate beyond measure, not because of what he was but because of what nate had done for him in the past and the many years they had worked beside each other. His boss was lenient and gave him days off work whenever he needed them, usually time to spend with his daughter.

Nate arrived at the rented office around mid-day with a set of questions and a determination to not kill anyone on the spot, he wasn't having a very happy day as some of the grunts in Ireland had a major screw up he would have to deal with after the interviews.

He impatiently ran up the stairs and then through the waiting room, ignoring all the candidates, and slammed the door to the office. He sat down and poured himself a glass of water and then yelled, "Francis, send the first one in."

A candidate opened the door and walked in, Nate didn't like him at all from this first impression. He was dressed inappropriately, his too shy attitude was off-putting and he just stood there in the middle of the room in front of Nate.

"Sit down," Nate requested, not wanting to prolong the meeting. Nate questioned him for a while but soon came to the conclusion that he was completely not right for the job. The next man was much the same, too intimidated by the prospect of the occupation.

However the third man showed a bit more promise. The third man was named Blair Gilbert and he walked in through the door confidently and answered all the questions, far better than the rest.

Interviews continued until late evening and the people it came down two were Gilbert and a woman called Ida Bennet, she had served in the war as a special agent and now that the war was over, both of these candidates were suitable choices and that their records showed they would both be perfect for the job.

At the end of the day, after Nate had given and received contact information from the two who would then meet up with him and the recruits later. He was in the car when he said to Francis, "You did well today, Francis. There were a few flimsy picks on the list but I've been able to sort through them."

"Thank you, sir," he replied.

"Yes, now head back to The Boat House. I need to see if the grunts have had any mistakes for the novice tasks I left. I'm too tired to deal with them," Nate said, eager to get to bed for some sleep.

Soon they arrived and Nate discovered the recruits safe and sound in their rooms, he liked to check on them himself. The kids were ranging between their late teens and mid-twenties, they were in need of discipline and a home which he provided. He was good to them, when no one wanted them he gave them a purpose and friends to support them. It was much like what that couple did, Lexi and Silas, he spat in his mind. What Nate did for the recruits was far better than anything they did, and what he did for they boys and girls helped them more than they every would.

Then he went to check on the grunts that were sitting around a table playing cards and had a bottle of cheap whisky to keep them company.

"Everything in order, boys?" Nate asked walking by.

"Yes, sir," Grunt 3 said.

Nate looked satisfied as he said, "Good, lock up and then go to bed."

Nate went to his room in The Boat House and got ready for bed, too worn out from the day. His room was on the top floor of the building and very secure from all possible entrances and exits, it was also decorated to his liking. The Boat House was one of his oldest locations and one of the safest, which was why he had his recruits stay and live here, there was very little chance in an invasion or a take over.

It was at 3 am in the morning when Francis launched himself into his room.

"Sir, wake up! Something's happened," Francis said frantically, puffing. Worry was coming off him in waves, for the incident and for interrupting his boss' sleep. Francis and everyone at The Boat House were under strict orders to never wake the boss up unless there was a severe emergency, which there was now but that didn't make him less afraid of his boss' wrath.

"What is it?" Nate growled, "This better be important."

"One of the kids," Francis referred to the recruits as Nate normally did to try to calm him a shade, "They've had an asthma attack and they aren't coping. She needs to get to the hospital or something."

Nate leapt out of bed and grabbed his shoes. He was following Francis in second and he lead them to one of the rooms for the recruits, as soon as he got there he could clearly see the girl, Andrea, suffering. She was one of the earliest recruits and Nate knew her well, he found her in an empty apartment struggling to live by herself.

"Andy!" Nate dropped to his knees and put her into a seated position, "Come on."

With Francis next to him, Nate was able to get Andy's condition into her more normal way. After an hour, she and the rest of the girls in the room were settled and quiet.

"Good job, Francis," Nate said, he was even more tired now.

"You too, sir," he said, just as exhausted.

"Right. I'm saying this now, we can leave whatever that needs to be done for the afternoon because I'm going back to bed and so are the rest of the kids so, Francis, go stick a note on the door of their rooms telling them they have the morning free and then go to sleep," Nate said already walking back to his room.

A few hours later, in the boys room, one of them woke up to another shaking his shoulder.

"Hey, wake up. Why hasn't Baxter come thundering in here yet? It's probably past 9 o'clock," Samuel asked.

The room mate he was trying to wake shrugged tiredly and turned his face back into his pillow.

"Urgh, get up before we have to do extra press-ups," Samuel said, "Edwin!"

Edwin groaned, "Fine."

The next few days passed without any trouble and then the day came for the two candidates to finally come to The Boat House.

It was early in the morning when Nate said, "Francis, I need you to go collect Blair Gilbert and Ida Clarke, bring them here, I've already called them. No need to answer their questions, I will when they arrive."

"Yes, sir," Francis left and let Nate get back to work, he was just going through the paperwork to solidify their two roles as the kids' trainers and tutors.

Soon enough Francis brought back the two, Nate was being his melodramatic self and was standing by a window on the second floor of the building and looked down to the driveway to see them step out of the car and look around. Nate flew down the stairs to the front and stood ready to greet his guests. Francis opened the door and gestured for them to enter.

"Welcome to the Boat House, this is part one of my many safe houses around the country. I hope you will be staying on with us because if not then it's too late to change your minds, if you do then don't worry. You'll be on the next flight to soviets," Nate said radiantly, absolutely meaning what he said, it wouldn't be the first time he had done something like that, some people really did annoy him.

"Uh, yeah. Sure, mate," Gilbert said.

"I have a few rules, one, you address me as 'sir' and show respect to me as I will show you. Second, never go to the top floor of any of my buildings or you die, lastly, the novices are the most important people here after me and Francis. Understand?" Nate was explaining.

Gilbert and Clarke stood slightly awkwardly in the foyer as Nate was talking, which he ignored. Nate then lead them to the back half of the bottom floor where the area was mainly reserved for the the recruits and a general workout space.

"Craig, Andy," Nate called. They looked to them and so did most of the others, "Come over here."

The pair left their activities and walked across the mats.

"Craig, Andy, I would like you to meet Blair Gilbert and Ida Clarke," Nate introduced. The children and trainers nodded back to each other politely, "Okay, kiddos, go take them to the rest of your buddies and let them integrate."

He let them settle for an hour as he went to check on the handful of grunts at The Boat House, they were working on a minor task.

"Grunt 3, how are you all managing?" Nate inquired.

Grunt 3 turned to face him, he knew he was 'Grunt 3' and responded to it but he didn't necessarily like it, his real name was Alec Parker and he would rather be referred to as that but he didn't want to upset his boss.

"Good, sir," Grunt 3.

Nate nodded and walked back to his office, when the hour was up he went to see how the recruits and the trainers were doing downstairs. He arrived to see the kids working hard and the trainers standing at the sidelines looking on and muttering to each other disapprovingly.

He walked over to them and said, "So I see you agree with me that the children aren't learning anything from him," he motioned his head towards Grunt 4 who was doing an awful job at teaching them.

Trying to be polite Clarke said, "Well, I wouldn't say that but they could do with some changes in their regime and they could probably benefit from some other exercises."

Gilbert looked a lot like he wanted to say something but he kept quiet.

The children finished up a few minutes later at around noon and they went to the kitchen area which was down stairs. Nate joined them and then left for his office to work. He walked and and sat down happy, the two he chose to look after the children were getting along nicely and the day had been more successful than the past week.

Nate was part way through his work when he felt an explosion that rattled the building.