A/N Load of dialogue throughout this chapter- in fact almost the whole thing is dialogue- but it is sort of necessary to get a feel for the characters and set up for the rest of the fic. Next chapter should be a bit more interesting with some action. Yeah!

Checkout the Challenges section in the Alpha Force forums. There's a lot of old challenges and be-nice-to-nerds recently proposed another challenge. The challenges are really great and there's a lot of variety for a lot of genres.

Chapter Three: Little Lies

The next three days followed the same dull, monotonous pattern. I'd get up early, have breakfast, wash, get changed, drive to Green's Goods and work there until five in the afternoon. After my shift I'd head home and occupy myself with meaningless tasks like refolding all the serviettes in my cupboard or counting the grains of salt left in the salt shaker. The one highlight of those three days was on Wednesday, around lunchtime when an old lady came into the store and insisted that she had ordered something from us.

'No, ma'am, I'm really sorry but-'

'But? But? Are you a goat?!'

'No, ma'am, however I'm afraid to say that we haven't any orders under your name.'

'Youth of today! So disrespectful! Where's the manager? I want to speak to the manager!'

'He's on a lunch break, however-'

'Lunch break? What is he doing having lunch at this time of day?'

'It's only two-'

'If it goes past noon and you haven't eaten you should wait for dinner!'

Turned out she was in the wrong store. But apart from that verbal battle with a pensioner, by Thursday afternoon I was on the verge of dieing from boredom.

It was quarter to five and part of me was counting down the minutes until I could leave work while another part of me was dreading heading home to watch the grass grow. I was crouched down behind the counter, sweeping up the broken glass I'd knocked off the counter when the little bell attached to the door of the shop tinkled happily. I figured that whoever had just walked in would get what they need to get, come to the counter to pay for it and then discover me down here. No need to call out.

I was surprised when I heard the ting of the bell on my desk. Shoving the dustpan, brush and glass under the counter, I popped up and nearly fell back down again.

'Jasper!' I gasped, staring at his bruised face. 'What happened?'

Jasper bit his lip. 'When do you knock off?'

'Any minute now. Actually, I can come now if you want; Daniel's in the back so he can take over. Just give me a moment to tell him and grab my bag.'

I spun around, pushed the bead curtain aside impatiently, grabbed my bag from the bench in the back room, hollered, 'Bye, Daniel!' and swept out into the front again.

'Ready?' I asked, coming around the side of the desk. Jasper's face looked terrible: his right eye was only half open with a spectacular display of black and purple surrounding it; there was a neat row of stitches above his left eyebrow and his bottom lip was swollen.

'Yep.' Despite the swollen lip and obviously painful bruising, Jasper was having no trouble talking. 'I need to talk to you.'

As I followed Jasper out of the store, I fought down the surge of panic. This was bad. Really bad.

'Hop in.' Jasper gestured to his car, saw my glance to my own transport and added, 'I'll drop you back here when we're done.'

I climbed into Jasper's car, wondering if what I was doing was a bad idea. I looked sideways out my window and saw Paulo's car pulling out of its parking space. So I wasn't completely alone then. While Paulo's presence gave me some peace of mind, I knew if Jasper was about to kill me, there was nothing Paulo would be able to do. Call me pessimistic, but a potential death sentence hanging over my head tended have that reaction.

We drove for about fifteen minutes, arriving in some long-forgotten park. Jasper parked and got out. I followed along as he walked quickly to a picnic table under a tree and sat down. As I sat on the bench across from him I asked, 'What is it?'

Jasper took a deep, shuddering breath and looked at his hands, refusing to meet my eye. This was a totally different Jasper to the one I'd met at the Triumph and had dinner with. What on earth could have happened over three and a half days to change his demeanour so drastically?

'What?' I repeated.

'I have to give you a choice, Annie. But before you make your decision, listen to what I have to say. You probably won't like it, but I don't want to lie to you any more, not when it's your life you're gambling with.

'My "business" isn't exactly legit. We deal in drug smuggling and distribution, human trafficking and terrorism. Over the past year, things had been going downhill; our two main centres in Australia were destroyed, three of our members in India were arrested and are now rotting in jail and our main supplier for cocaine has mysteriously disappeared. Yeah, things were going sour.

'But then I was given a chance. My boss was cutting his losses and running while he still could. I'm not sure what he did in other places, but here, in London, he divided it up and gave a patch to each of us- me and two others. We were told not to infringe on each other's area and to continue our business in our own patch. Our boss gave us some names and some money and then we were left to our own devices.

'After I secured some loyal followers, I started in drug dealing again. It was the easiest and least messy operation. Unfortunately the other two guys I share London with also picked to focus on drug imports and exports. Our clients move between us, sometimes buying from one of them, sometimes buying from me, sometimes buying from one of them again. There's always been tension and hostility between the three of us, but it's suddenly got worse.

'My rivals have joined together, pooling their areas, clients, money, resources... Everything. They're twice as strong, twice as confident, twice as dangerous and they want my patch.

'The call I got on Sunday night was from one of my followers. He'd seen my rivals sniffing around one of my dropping points and thought they were going to snatch the drugs, money or both.' Jasper paused for a split second and I realised how much attention I'd been paying to him. A light drizzle had started to fall and I hadn't even noticed it. 'Well. I showed up with a few heavies and things got a bit nasty. Not to say we were beaten to a pulp, though; think this is bad' –he pointed to his face and grinned- 'you should see the other guy.'

'I don't really see what this has to do with me and "gambling with my own life".'

'It's happened before and it sure as heck is going to happen again. These guys I'm up against don't fight fair. They have a problem with someone, they don't go and sort it out with that someone. Other people get involved, people who are close to that someone.' I must have still looked confused because he added, 'You should have a talk to my sister.'

We sat in silence for a minute or two, watching the rain fall and people hurrying about, silently kicking themselves for forgetting the wet weather gear. During those couple of minutes, I mentally thanked Harry for coming up with my criminal background.

It was time to play my ace.

'Look, Jasper. I appreciate the concern but really, it's not necessary.'

'I don't think you realise how dangerous this could get,' Jasper said in a strained voice.

'Ok.' I put my hands flat down on the table. 'You told me some things about you, I need to tell you some things about me.

'My mom was a detective in the police force. She was given an undercover assignment: to infiltrate a drug dealing group. It was going to be a long time that she'd have to be undercover for, but everyone said she could handle it.

'My dad was second in charge of that drug group. They fell for each other and when mom heard that the drug dealers were all going to be arrested, she did the inexcusable. She told dad and they left the state together.

'Maybe the criminal past would have ended there, but they were short of cash and I came along. Dad moved into a mixture of small drug deals and armed robbery. Mom helped whenever she could and on more than one occasion I was taken along as a pretend hostage.

'This went on for years and years. By the time I was six, I'd been involved in more criminal activities than your average prisoner. I'd seen my dad kill over a dozen people in that time and I didn't know any different. I was brought up to fear the law, to hate it.

'Both my parents decided I need a normal life from then on. It wasn't right to deprive me of an education. I was sent to a private boarding school for the start of grade one; all the fees were paid for using stolen or drug money. Everything was great until I was in my tenth year there.

'Mom suddenly turned up one night and terminated my enrolment. I hadn't seen her for so long that I didn't ask questions, didn't care why. She told me that we were leaving the country, that we had to start a new life somewhere. We ended up in Kent, but moved on after a few months. That was the pattern for the next year of my life. Settle somewhere then have to move on. Settle somewhere then have to move on.

'When I was 16 we returned to the States. Mom wanted me back at school, but I refused. I wanted to help them.' My voice dropped to a whisper. I had no trouble faking the pain of losing both your parents. 'The deal went bad and we were taken captive. I made it out alive, just, but my parents didn't.

'For the next six years, I flitted around, living on the streets or in cheap accommodation. I was in constant fear about being tracked down by the people who had killed my parents.

'When I finally scraped together enough money, I moved here.' Halfway through my little monologue, I'd looked down at my hands, afraid that my face would give something away. Now I looked up to find Jasper staring at me.

'What?' I asked anxiously.

Standing up, Jasper motioned with his hand that I should follow him. We walked back to the car and only when we were sitting inside did Jasper ask.

'So you still want to keep seeing me? The fact you might be killed to get to me isn't a worry?'

I borrowed Harry's serious face for a moment and said, 'Yes, I still want to keep seeing you and no, the danger isn't a worry.' This was it, the big moment of truth. 'Actually, I want to help.'

Unfortunately Jasper was driving when I said this. He crashed the brake down and the car screamed, jerking to a halt. Once he got it moving again, he looked at me in disbelief.

'Please tell me you didn't just say what I thought you said.'

'If what you think I said is I want to help with your business, then yes, I said what you thought I said.'

Jasper blew out a great gust of air. 'Seriously?'

'Seriously,' I agreed.

There was a pause and I wondered if I'd pushed my luck. I had known Jasper since last Saturday night and here I was, asking to be a part of the family business. I fully expected him to say no, reach under his seat, pull out a gun and shoot me without even swerving, so his answer really knocked me for six.

'Alright. You can help, but small deals only and any whiff of danger and you're out.' He seemed to be thinking because a minute later he added, 'Have a talk to Georgia, my sister, first and then let me know if you still want to be a part of this.'

I instantly liked Georgia. She was a happy, bubbly person that you couldn't help but feel at ease around. But boy could she talk. Never could you say, Any famous last words? to Georgia because you'd both have died of old age by the time she'd finished.

Jasper summoned her into the kitchen and when she came out she was carrying a tray with two cups, a pot of tea and a little jug of milk. She set the tray down on the coffee table in front and sat down across from me.

'Jasper said I'm to have a little talk with you.' Georgia poured me a cup of tea and passed it across. I took it and wrapped my fingers around it. 'You want to help out with the business, yeah?'

I nodded.

'And he said alright, but to talk to me first?'

I nodded again, then thought of a question. 'Georgia, why did he say yes so quickly? I've only known him since Saturday, not even a week.'

'Ah. This is part of the sad tale I have to tell you. Jasper isn't a bad person, Annie. He is kind and caring and he doesn't want people to get hurt unnecessarily. I tell him time, after time, after time not to drag his girlfriends into the business, but he always ends up coming clean. He always wants to put a choice out, that way he won't feel as guilty if something happens. You're the first to not immediately break it off and go running to the police. I think that shocked him a bit; he would have been so relieved at your reaction- or lack of one- that he'd have agreed to anything.'

Georgia sipped her tea and looked at me. 'I'm glad you didn't run off, Annie. I know we're going to be good friends.'

Smiling back, I said, 'I hope so.'

Setting down her mug, Georgia clapped her hands together once and said, 'To business. Jasper wants me to tell you a little story that I swear is completely true. He's very fond of you, Annie, and he's actually quite excited that you want to help out instead of running to the cops so he's not trying to get me to frighten you, but he does want you to be completely certain of your decision.

'Our childhood was very similar to yours, or so I believe after what Jasper briefly told me. Our dad was a drug dealer, but mom wasn't a cop, she was the sister of one of dad's mules. One thing led to another and after just a few months they got married. The business was going good when Jasper was born and dad took some time off, leaving another guy in charge. They went travelling for two years and I was born soon after they returned home. We lived in a lovely house outside the city and everything was perfect. The business slumped for about a year when Jasper was eight and I was six, but it picked up again just as my little sister Charlotte was born. Dad called us his lucky charms because everything went right when each of us were born.'

Georgia pulled a tissue from the box in front of her and dabbed at her eyes. I sensed the sad part of the story coming up.

'Five years later everything went wrong. We woke up one morning to hear mum screaming her head off. She'd gone in to wake Charlotte up and found her dead in her bed. Her-' Georgia faltered, tears starting to slide down her cheeks. 'Her throat had been cut and there was blood everywhere. Jasper and I were really scared, we couldn't think of who'd want to do that to our sweet little sister. She was five, five. Dad knew though. He phoned the police but, like Jasper does now, Dad had several officers on his payroll.'

I tucked that little piece of information away for later reference. That must be the reason why Jasper had never been convicted or even arrested for anything- murder, drug dealing, human trafficking, terrorism, heck, he probably wouldn't even get a parking ticket.

Georgia continued: 'The horrible thing is the people who killed Charlotte will never be made to pay for what they did. In an investigation, any investigation, titbits of information about the victim's family will always come up so Dad's officers made sure it was investigated in a very slapdash method.

'Mum was never the same but what happened next was the final straw. Dad was blinded by the need to get revenge. He went on a killing rampage and shot six of his rival dealers. The cops arrested him; that was one thing his officers couldn't stop. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, but he barely made it through the first month. No one knows what happened- murder, suicide, accident- but he was dead in his cell one morning.

'I don't really blame Mum for acting the way she did. She'd just lost her five year old daughter in one of the most horrific, gruesome ways imaginable and then her husband dies as well. She was left with no job, no way to earn any money, and two kids. Just two months after Dad died, she took an overdose of sleeping pills. Jasper was 13 and I was 11.

'As we were now orphans, we were shipped off to an orphanage. I was moved almost straight away into a foster home but Jasper stayed in that hellhole for two years. Maybe I would have turned into a proper little girly girl, but no matter how nice my foster parents were, I hated them. I hated them for trying to replace my parents; I hated them for telling me everything was ok when it wasn't; I hated them for taking me away from Jasper. Jasper was finally given a placement with a middle aged couple- Vivian and Glenn, I think- that Jasper doted on.

'When Jasper was 16, a year after he was first put with Vivian and Glenn, he ended up running into Colin, an old friend of Dad's- he was actually the one who ran everything when Mum, Dad and Jasper went on holiday before I was born. Colin recognised Jasper and offered him a job. Jasper refused at first, but something happened at school- he's never told me what- and he ended up taking the job. That continued up until last year when Colin bailed out and divided up London.

'I entered six years back. I was almost eighteen and my foster parents kept dropping hints that I was old enough to leave, make my own way in the world, etc. I managed to track Jasper down and moved in with him. I got involved with the business and ended up in a relationship with one of Jasper's mates. I fell pregnant with twins and Sam wanted nothing more to do with me. Turned out he was married. I didn't care though; I had my two beautiful girls and everything was perfect. For two years everything was perfect.

'Like Charlotte, our rivals used Jacqueline and Rosemarie to get to me and Jasper. Like Charlotte, they broke in while we were sleeping and... well. I was an utter mess for the next six months, but then I met Chris. I have no idea why but we just sort of... clicked. Like you and Jasper I suppose.

'Cut a long story short, I fell pregnant again, with Roxanne, and Chris and I got engaged. Roxy was born six months ago and two months after that Chris and I were out at the pub when-' Georgia stopped again, her face pinched with pain.

'It's ok,' I murmured. 'You don't have to tell me any of this. We can change topics if you want. We can talk about' –I looked around for inspiration- 'the timber industry.'

'No, no, no. I- I need to tell you this.' She gave a huge sigh. 'It was Jasper's rivals again. There's always tension, there's always attacks, there's always revenge. Always have been, always will be. They "borrowed" me and Chris for a "little chat" and we were taken down to some industrial shed by the river. Chris died there to save me. He died to save me and our daughter.'

The box of tissues on the coffee table was almost empty and Georgia had tears streaming down her cheeks, but her voice was steady and neutral. That was something I didn't get. I tended to keep my emotions to myself but if I did ever let my guard down I went all out: tears, screaming, hysterics, etc. Whatever the situation called for. I was never half and half.

The situation called for an appropriate comment from me and all I could think of at such short notice was, 'I'm so sorry. Here I was complaining about my life. I've been living in Beverley Hills compared to you.'

Sniffing, Georgia gave a tiny smile. 'You're the first of Jasper's girlfriends I've met. I'm glad I have though. We're going to get along just fine.'

A baby started crying and Georgia departed with a, 'Roxy's awake! I'll be back in a mo.'

Roxy was the cutest little thing. She gurgled happily from the floor, strangling a toy zebra with enthusiasm. Georgia plonked her in my lap and smiled.

'Well. Whadda ya know?'

'What?'

'Roxy usually chucks a fit whenever I hand her over to anyone else. She even does it with Jasper. I can't go out anywhere without her because she won't settle, no matter who watches her. I might have to get you to baby-sit for me.'

I bounced Roxy on my knee and she squealed. 'Sure. Any time.'

On the outside I was happy and carefree, but inside I was churning. One thing about working with MI5 that I'd never get used to was the absolute guilt of having to pretend to have such a tragic life. Sure, my parents had been murdered by an evil man with no morals and too much time on his hands, but I had suffered nothing like Georgia and Jasper had, or any of the refugees that were in the Australian centres. But I was also thinking about my mission and my targets. Why did they trust me so much? Was I being set up? Did they know I was with the Secret Service and were just toying with me before shooting me in the head and burying my body in an unmarked grave? Or were Georgia and Jasper just nice people who were caught up in a bad business? Did they normally trust people as quickly and with as much information that they trusted me with? I supposed it didn't matter- the fact that I knew so much about them would please Harry by itself- but it still disturbed me. Why did they have to make things so hard for me? Why couldn't they just by horrible, blood-thirsty people who hadn't gone through so much? Why couldn't I hate them?