Right, here's the next one guys. It's a little intense and you'll get to see a little conflict between John and Ian. Enjoy!!

The flight back was a long one full of nothing but a thick silence. Every once in a while John would ask Ian or Helen if they were alright or Tobey would inform John their stats or how far they'd gotten and that was about it. Other than that everyone would be left to their own thoughts. Ian found himself sleeping in the passenger seat more than half the trip and John found himself staring out the window for the entire trip. Both brothers tired and weary from their ordeals.

They'd gone on like that for a long time before one of Tobey's wounds (from having to guard the chopper) acted up. They'd agreed to stop for a bit and while the medics in the back checked him, John and Ian would get some fresh air. They'd invited Helen as well, but she'd declined, saying she'd prefer to keep Tobey company while he got fixed up.

So after Tobey had landed them in a clearing, John and Ian decided to take a slow walk away from the chopper.

Though as they walked, Ian noticed his brother staring up into the distance absentmindedly.

"John?"

The older didn't respond.

"John!"

John suddenly jerked back into reality and turned to face his brother "Yes?"

"You completely zoned out there, what's wrong?"

"Nothing I-I just can't stop thinking about Alex I mean I can't believe he's actually gone…" John said slowly "It feels like days ago that I first showed up at his and Helen's doorstep!"

Ian didn't respond, he simply listened.

"And goddammit if I hadn't done that, Alex-Alex would have been alive right now!" John yelled angrily. "I feel terrible! I mean it's not like Helen's suffered enough already, now I have to go on and get her husband killed!"

Ian remained silent.

"What?" John looked down at him "You're not going to offer any comforting advice? No 'it's not your fault' or 'it's no use in blaming yourself for what you couldn't control'?"

"Are you going to listen?" Ian raised a brow at him.

"…I guess not" John muttered looking down at his feet. "You've lived with me for way too long."

"Yes, 18 years is quite a while, and let me tell you 18 years of John Rider is work!" Ian stated.

John snorted "You're talking, Mr. I'm-the-biggest-bloody-rebel-in-the-world?"

"Better a rebel than a stiff" Ian crossed his arms.

"Very funny" John narrowed his eyes.

"It is!"

And just as John was about to reply, he felt his phone vibrate. He quickly felt around for it before reaching into one of the pouches on his belt and pulling it out. He tapped a few buttons on the touch-screen.

"There's signal out here?" Ian muttered.

"Apparently" John shrugged before pressing the device to his ear. "Hello?"

Ian frowned as he heard the voice on the other end: "Hey! John, it's me, Ash."

John's face visibly lit up, deepening his brother's look of disproval. "Hey! Damn, is it good to hear from you, Ash. What's up?"

"Just checking in, I got a report that Ian was injured severely-is he alright?"

Ian turned away as John looked at him. "Yeah he's alright now."

"I also heard that there was a death some four hours back of an Alex Woodson…"

"…Yes."

"Alright, we looked up his file and he had a will that we'll be bringing out in a while. You're bringing his wife with you right?"

"Yes."

"Good"

"Hey listen…I need you to find someone for me"

"Alright, who?"

"I'll send you what I know later, but I need this person found at all costs alright?"

"Got it. Besides that, anything else you know about Alex Woodson?"

"No" John replied stiffly.

"Alright, well you sound like you're in no mood to talk about it so I'll just leave you alone there."

"You know me so well."

"Yes, well, that tends to happen when you're best friends"

John chuckled-Ian smirked.

"Hey, Ash, do me a favor?"

"Yeah?"

"Check up on Helen for me, alright? You know just make sure she and the baby are doing alright."

"Sure! I was just going to head over there to check up on them myself."

"I love how you say 'they'"

"Yes, Helen and your daughter."

"It's going to be a boy, Ash"

"No! It's going to be a girl"

"We've gone through this a million times, man. I am going to have a son if it's the last thing I do!"

"Sexist"

"Masochist"

"You know this would have just been settled if you would check!"

"Nope, Helen wants to wait till the baby is born"

"Which will be in less than a month and when it's a girl I am going to laugh"

"No, I'm going to laugh because it'll be a boy!"

"Alright, alright, whatever you say-but it will be a girl"

"Will not"

"Will too"

"Will not"

"Will too"

"Will not"

"Will too-"

"John" Ian said, unable to bear it any longer.

"Will not"

"Will too"

"John!" Ian yelled.

John finally looked down at his brother.

"I think I'm bleeding" Ian said platonically pointing to his leg.

"Alright, Ash I would love to go on about this all day but I have to run"

"Yeah sure. Girl-Bye." There was a click signaling the end of the call. John laughed as he put his phone away and turned to Ian. "Alright, what's wrong?"

"Nothing" Ian growled.

"Then why'd you-"

"Because I don't appreciate him ruining our time together!" Ian yelled.

"Oh come on, Ian" John groaned "We've been over this a thousand times-"

"And yet somehow you never seem to get it!"

"Ian, he doesn't mean you or me any harm-as a matter of fact he treats you like his own younger brother. I don't understand why you've got this thing against him!"

"Because he's not a good person John!"

"How can you tell!?"

"I feel it-inside!"

"He's my best friend Ian-"

"Yeah, I know; you spend more than half your life with him!"

"I give you a considerable about of my time as well"

"Why don't you go home and ask Helen how many times I've had this conversation with her. How many times I've told her you continually neglect me to spend infinite amounts of time with Ash!"

"I-"

"I mean it's not even that! You can give him all the bloody time in the world but the fact that you tell him everything-you even tell him things I don't find out till much later-that is what bothers me!" Ian screamed looking John dead in the eyes "I don't trust him, and neither should you!" he took a deep ragged breath "And in our world, trust isn't 'Oh shit he's gonna steal my lawnmower' in our world trust is fucking 'oh shit he might steal my fucking life'! And god forbid you tell him something you shouldn't…" Ian trailed off, unable to say the rest.

John turned away from his brother. He ran a hand through his hairs in a frustrated manner. "I'm not sure which one of you to trust anymore."

Ian's jaw fell open the slightest bit "You don't trust me? I'm your brother-"

"And Ash is my closest friend. I trust what he tells me."

"So he's been telling you, you can't trust me?" Ian said in disbelief.

"You don't need to know what he's been telling me."

"I can't believe you!" Ian shouted at his brother's back "I can't believe you're doing this! I am your brother!"

"Dad's brother bombed his car, you know!" John shouted, turning back to face Ian, rage now burning in his features "Dad's own god damned brother set a bomb in his car and killed not only him but mum too!"

"That-that was his half brother…" Ian trailed off, his voice a great deal softer "But I-I'm your flesh and blood…I could never do that to you…" a look of helplessness suddenly came of his face. He couldn't honestly be…dare he say it…loosing his brother? "U-uncle Ryan is dad's biological brother and even though he didn't like dad very much, he did come to the memorial service, right? He did fly in to see you when you were in that coma, right?"

John sighed "Ryan turned our world down. He said no when granddad told him to join MI6. He isn't like me or you. He doesn't count as much as Terry did. Terry was more of a brother to dad, they were closer, and they knew each other better. And then Terry killed him. So you tell me who to trust, Ian."

"Jesus, John, why are you making this so difficult?" Ian's voice rose slightly.

"Because I might have reason to suspect you" John said very stiffly, his jaw rippling as soon as the words came out of his mouth.

Ian's jaw fell open, his eyes widened and for a second his mind froze over. "John…" he trailed off, unable to think of anything else to say. He took a breath or two in an attempt to calm himself, but when he failed, he forced his voice still and said "Well, I'm sorry you feel that way." His eyes suddenly became a cold steely color and his expression hardened into a fusion of anger and sorrow. But at the moment mostly anger. And with one last glance at his brother, Ian turned and walked away, back towards the chopper

"Ian, hold on!" John turned and called after a while. But Ian, who was already a good distance away didn't respond. "Ian-"

"Fuck off, John!"

Well that certainly shut John up. He stood there for a while longer, wondering what had just happened. He and Ian had, had disagreements about Ash before, but it had never been this serious. For one, Ian had never screamed at him like that before. But John just couldn't understand why Ian felt so strongly against Ash. Everything about that man seemed so pure and good. And what the hell had convinced him to tell Ian he's suspected? Just because MI6 has been having a few leaks didn't automatically mean the youngest most vulnerable person in the agency was the spy. John shook his head and decided to go talk to Ian before he did something stupid.

John had learned over the course of several years, that when teenagers such as Ian were emotionally distraught, things tended to go very awry-one way or the other.

He headed back to the chopper, but as he approached it, found his brother nowhere to be seen.

Helen was seated in the back, the doors on either side of the chopper wide open to let some air in and Tobey was out back, a few medics tending to him. He didn't look like he was dying, so John took it, it was alright to stop worrying about his god brother.

"Helen!" he called up to the older woman as soon as he came close enough to the chopper. "Have you seen Ian?"

"Yes" Helen said bitterly "He stopped by here, told me that if you came looking for him to ask you why you don't just 'call and ask Ash' and then stormed off that way" she said pointing to the direction opposite the way John had just walked down.

John sighed and lifted himself up into the chopper and sat across from Helen. "What am I going to do with him?"

"Who is this Ash person, John?" Helen asked carefully.

"My best friend" John answered softly.

"And…"

"And Ian doesn't trust him-says there's something wrong about him-but I don't get it because Ash has helped me to no end and he's proven himself trustworthy."

"And why aren't you sure that you should trust Ian-your own brother?"

"You heard that?"

Helen's eyebrows shot up "I'm sure even Alex heard you two going at it"

John sighed and ran a hand through his hair "But Ash is right. Ian's a hormonal teenager that doesn't even know what he wants yet! He's still not sure where his loyalties lie, he's emotionally unstable and he can be bought very easily-"

"John Rider, how can you say that?" Helen narrowed her eyes "He's your brother!"

"Yes but-"

"No buts, how can you say that about him? Instead of thinking he can be bought why can't he be innocent?"

John snorted "Ian's killed more men than the years you and I have been alive put together-and he's only 18. He is the farthest thing from innocent."

"I don't mean innocent that way, John" Helen said seriously "I mean like when a little boy grows up idolizing Superman, believing with his mind, heart and soul that there can be nothing wrong with or evil about this person that he idolizes and respects so very dearly. Innocent in that sense, except instead of worshipping Superman, like normal kids, Ian idolizes you."

John's saw fell open a bit.

"Ian trusts you with his life. That boy has so much blind faith in you-and for him to hear that you don't trust him…" Helen looked John in the eyes "It must have hurt. A lot."

John remained silent.

"He's only 18, John, he's seen things people twice his age will never see. And you just added accused of being a spy by own brother to that list" Helen said softly "He's just a child, don't make him grow up any faster than he has to and for god's sake don't force him to do things you'll both regret."

John looked down "This still doesn't shake my faith in Ash…"

"Blood is thicker than water, John. Think about it."

"Alright, we're good to go" came Tobey's voice as he approached the open door at John's side "Any idea where my bro is?"

John simply shook his head.

Tobey sighed as he pulled a small walkie-talkie from his belt and brought it to his mouth.

"Evans to Rider, come in, Evans to Rider" he called into the device. His voice echoed from John's own walkie-talkie and Tobey suddenly realized the man sitting in front of him was a Rider as well and brought the walkie back to his mouth "Evans to Rider, Ian" he corrected "Evans to Rider, Ian, come in."

He waited and after a while a reply came from the other end "Rider, Ian to Evans, copy."

"Ian, where are you?"

"Out."

"Geez I know that, but can you come back, we're ready to take off."

"I'll be there in a minute. Rider out."

And true to his word, within exactly 60 seconds, Ian had climbed into the chopper. He purposely avoided his brother's gaze, despite sitting next to him. He slammed the door on his side shut with much more force than necessary, seeing the other was already closed.

"Alright, we are clear for take-off. John, are we all good back there?" Tobey called as he flipped a few switches.

"Yeah…" John said quietly.

"Good" Tobey said "We should be home in about three hours or so."

And that was the last word anyone spoke till they were in the air. It was then that the thick silence and heavy tension between himself and Ian began to bother John. He thought several times of just coming out with it and trying to set things straight but backed away just as many times. And finally, after having gone over it about a million and one times in his head, John turned to his brother.

"Hey…"

Ian looked away from the window at his brother-though anywhere but his eyes. John noticed how Ian's own darker grey eyes were a bit red and puffy.

"You alright?" he said lamely. Course he's not alright, he looks like he's been crying up a bloody ocean, you dumbass…

"More or less" Ian muttered, his voice a little hoarse.

"Ian, listen I hope you know I didn't mean that stuff I said back there-" John decided to just come out with it "I could never really distrust you-you're-you're-who are you?"

The corners of Ian's lips twitched upward. He hesitated a bit before he looked up into his brother's eyes and answered "Your baby brother…"

"Right and I love you as much as…"

"The world, the heavens and beyond" Ian finished. "I know…but sometimes I'm not so sure you know…"

John froze for a moment. He wasn't really sure how to answer that one.

"I do now…" he managed after a while. "And I'm sorry about you know…all that stuff…I-you're my brother, I shouldn't have said all that…"

Ian turned to the window again in an attempt to hide an overwhelming surge of tears.

"Hey, come on" John said, pulling his brother away from the window and into a hug. Ian wasted no time to return the embrace and burry his face into his brother's chest. John put an arm around the younger and looked up at Helen, then smiled as she lipsed "Superman."

After about ten minutes or so, Ian was fast asleep under his brother's arm, worn out from the days events. And eventually, both John and Helen found themselves observing him in his care free slumber.

"It's the only time he looks so…calm…so peaceful" John said breaking the silence. "It's good to see him like this. Without nightmare or anything-he has nightmares a lot. It's something I don't think he'll ever grow out of, these nightmares."

"So young and yet so old" Helen sighed.

John nodded "And he's so sensitive. I mean he comes off as this psychopathic teenager that MI6 has twisted into killing and such but inside he's so soft and sensitive, sometimes I'm afraid if I let him out of my sight he'll break."

"Scott was like that. So strong on the outside, but inside…" Helen said.

John became silent at the mention of the youngest Woodson.

"He's not dead" Helen stated softly "I know he's not. He's out there somewhere…I just wish I knew where…."

John simply sighed, looking down. And after a while, after Helen had dropped the topic and returned to looking out the window, John pulled out his phone and tapped the screen.

Menu

Messages

Create Message

To: Ash

Need you to find someone for me. I have some limited info, but it should be enough. Plus I've got a blood sample of the father that I'll send you via scanner through the phone. Anyway, here's what I've got:

Brother: James Woodson-He was a soldier, deceased but I'm sure you can find something based on his file. Father: Alex Woodson. Mother: Helen Woodson.

His name, Scott Woodson.

Well, that was it, hope you guys liked it =] I love to see a little bit of angst followed by mush =D What's you think though because I don't really like Ash and I loved bashing him so...yeah XD

Anywho I've already got the next one written up so it'll be up by tomorrow or the day after =]

Review!!!