Sorry for the late update... just couldn't get this one right. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it; I'm guessing quite a few of you are going to learn some things in this chapter that you never knew of France before.

I try to get all facts right, although some street names may be different/ in different places to where they really are because, well, I'm using Google Maps as a reference, as opposed to me actually being there and all.

Disclaimer: AR is not mine. But the plot is. Steel it, and you're gunna face the wrath of a woman.

Chapter 16

After searching and ridding the two men of their phones, James helped Alex moved them into the back of the van, Alex grabbing them under the arms, James lifting the legs.

Once done, Alex slammed the door shut, grabbed the bag from James, and led them away from the road and into the first back alleyway he could find.

Alleyways, Alex thought, are my new best friends.

They ran down as many back streets as they could, occasionally being forced into running on main roads when alleys were blocked.

After half an hour of running as quickly as they could, they both started to tire; they were both tired, after having very little sleep and being chased all day long, but Alex knew they couldn't stop yet.

When another blocked alley forced them onto the streets, Alex ignored the next alleyway they could have entered, and instead looked for familiar road names. After living and visiting France many times with his uncle, he knew many of the names off by heart, and knew exactly where they would lead to. He'd managed to direct James towards the Eiffel Tower so that they were always heading in one direction, but also because he knew those streets better than those away from the Tower.

However, he made sure that they skirted around the Tower, due to the fact that police and security guards were constantly patrolling the area, making sure that no one was there when they weren't supposed to be. Being such a high attraction to the public and to tourists, it was always better to be careful and monitor everyone than let a few people mess on, especially at night after closing hours.

The other reason he skirted around the Eiffel Tower was because to the north, there was a river. If he were to cross it without anyone seeing him and James, or without any cameras picking the boys up, they'd be safe. For all he knew, the bridge connecting the two sides of the river was being monitored to make sure they didn't escape. When the DGSE finally got wind of their escape, they would doubtlessly search the part of the country they were on for many hours first before searching the other side, believing that they hadn't gotten across if they hadn't seen them on the bridge. It might give them the chance to sleep for a couple of hours before they had to move again, so long as things went to plan.

Alex recognised the road sign "Avenue Elisée Reclus" and nudged James to go down it, now on familiar terms with the roads. He had to keep James close to him, as the street lights were blocked by a canopy of trees that lined the roads, making it hard to see very far ahead and he didn't want to lose his friend.

He grabbed onto James, signalling that he wanted them to walk, and started to heavily walk down the street, listening out for any noise to indicate a difference in properties of the ground underneath him as he stomped his feet.

After a hundred metres, he was about to grab James again and turn them around before he heard what he'd been listening in for: rather than the steady rhythm of trainer meeting stone, trainer instead met metal and made a hollow thumping sound.

Bingo

Stopping, he whispered James' name to grab the boys attention, and they crowded around the circular drain. Alex took his watch off, and gave it to James.

"Keep pressing this button," Alex whispered to the boy, pointing at the top left button on the watch that read 'light'. "And hold it over the drain so I can see, all right?"

James nodded, and they both crouched down. James was incredibly curious as to what Alex wanted with the lid of the drain, but when he guessed that Alex wanted them to go underground, he shivered in disgust.

"You don't expect us to go down there, do you?" He questioned.

"Do you have any better plans? We need to get out of here, and now, and we can't risk anyone seeing us!" Alex snapped at him. He didn't mean to take it out on James, but he was tired, hungry, angry at the situation, and just wanted to be free, with no one chasing after him.

"But... it's a drain! Haven't you ever seen those shows were they look at them 'n' that? They're filthy and full of rats with diseases!" James retorted, horrified.

"Just trust me, James. If we want to get out of here, we've got to go underground – it's the only way," Alex said, and changed the topic. "Give me the bag," he instructed.

James took it off his back and dropped it into Alex's waiting hands. He watched as his friend rummaged through it, before finding the zit cream. There wasn't much left, but all he needed was a little bit placed inside the lock to break it, making the metal hiss and give off steam. Thankfully, the noise it made was very quiet, and didn't attract the attention of those in the houses behind him.

The zit cream burned through the metal, and after allowing for a brief cool down, Alex put his fingers inside of the now broken lock and pulled. He didn't get it far off the ground because he had a poor grip on it, and the thing was heavy, but James took initiative and put his own fingers beneath the gap Alex had managed to get and lifted it. Alex moved his fingers to the rim of the drain, momentarily leaving James to lift it by himself, before he helped roll it to the side a little, slowly and carefully letting it drop to the ground.

"You'll have to go first," Alex said to James.

"What! Why?" James almost squeaked, terrified of what might be down there, despite Alex's reassurances that he'd be fine and it was the only way to escape.

"Because I'm gunna have to move the lid back over here," he said. "Now put your feet over the hole, and look for the metal rungs. When you find them, climb down and don't stop until you feel solid ground, alright?"

"Yeah, got it," James mumbled, and followed Alex's directions.

As soon as his head had disappeared, Alex began to push the drain's lid enough so that it was part-way over the drain, before swinging down the rungs a bit himself and pulling the final bit over. It rang out slightly as the lid slid into place, and Alex paused though knew there was no backing out of it now.

"Hey!" came a shout below him; James. "There's light down here!" The boy said, shocked.

Alex smiled; of course there was light. Anyone who'd stayed home ill knows there's nothing on the television but chat shows. He didn't find Jeremy Kyle very amusing to watch – if people had the slightest of problems, they'd be on there screaming and shouting and raving, before being asked by the host why the male hadn't "put something on the end of it". He said it in pretty much every show.

Alex had plenty of worse problems, but he didn't advertise them on national television. So instead, he'd watched QI on Dave, and learnt an interesting fact. France had sewer systems that matched the streets above it. They even had regular tours, apparently, which was why the lights were on, and you could even get from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre without seeing anybody if you went underground. These tours would mean that the sewers would be clean, so it was perfect for the boys to hide out in for a while before they were forced above ground. So long as they didn't actually run into any tours, of course.

Because he knew how the streets where linked above ground, and below, it was easy to know where to head to. However, even if he'd only known the street names, the sewer system had the road names on the walls, too.

So, in essence, he could go anywhere in Paris underground, and not see anybody. They could vanish on the Avenue they were on, and end up at a café on Boulevard Saint-Germaine over an hours walk away without anyone noticing. If that's where Alex wanted to head, anyway.

"Of course it is, James." Alex replied as they both got to the bottom of the sewer, refering to the boys surprise at the light. "I told you to trust me, didn't I?"

"So you did," James said, still surprised. He looked around before asking the question Alex had been waiting for. "Where are we going now?"

"North, down there," he pointed to a tunnel that was partly shadowed – the next light was fairly fair away, although the light was still bright enough to illuminate the tunnel.

He started walking in that direction, and James followed along next to him.

For half an hour James followed Alex, and soon came to the part where they would be walking under a river. Alex didn't divulge this information to James as he didn't want to scare the boy anymore than he was already.

When James questioned him on the noise the water made as it flowed overhead, Alex simply said it was a busy main road, and that it was just traffic, nothing to worry about.

James didn't think of the late hour, and how most people would be in bed, trusting Alex. After Alex figured they were just about below the Louvre, he stopped in a darker part of the the sewer and sat down, motioning to James to follow suit.

When he did, he told his friend, "we'll sleep here for now, alright?" At James' tired nod, he continued, "but we need to move in a couple of hours, but I'll make sure we get some more stops in before we move back to ground level." He quieted, getting himself ready to sleep – laying on his side as opposed to sitting, bringing his knees to his chest for warmth. He remembered at the last moment to set an alarm on his watch for a couple of hours time so he'd wake up.

He was just drifting off when James spoke, his words slurred slightly, "what 'bout if I need the toilet?" he queried.

It brought Alex out of his stupor.

"Um, just go back from where we came from. In the water, not on the side, either." He said.

James made a muffled 'mm' sound, and before long both boys were asleep.

…

They managed to get their two hours worth of sleep undisturbed, and Alex had quite a time in trying to get James to wake up properly. The boy just loved his sleep, Alex mused. In the end, he'd threatened to throw the boy in the sewer itself if he didn't get up, and whilst it didn't get the boy to fully wake up, it sure got him standing and muttering 'I'm awake, I'm awake, okay?' repeatedly.

They moved off shortly after, and Alex silently wished he'd had the forethought to buy more food and drink before hand – the rushing sewage water rushing by made his throat sore just thinking about it, and that just brought on the thought of food, making his stomach ache in complaint of not being fed.

Three hours after waking up, Alex surmised that they had walked over five miles, and could no longer recognise the street names.

Deciding that they were fairly safe if they were to go above ground as his watch told him that it was a little after four in the morning, he found the next rungs and told James they were to leave the safety of the sewers to look for food.

When Alex was eight, the street in London that he lived on – used to live on, now, he supposed – had had to go under major repairs when a burst pipe underground had burst. His street had smelled for weeks afterwards, but Alex remembered that it stunk worse when the sewage workers had opened the drain. They ended up having to shut the lid after they had stepped down it, and the thing had automatically locked closed as a safety precaution in case the workers accidentally left it open. The two workers were the only ones working on the drain, and Alex had worried that they wouldn't be able to get themselves out of there until an hour or so later when they pushed the lid open and stepped out of the hole in the ground. When Alex had remarked this at the kitchen table later that evening, his uncle had told him that all sewers can be unlocked from underneath by a simple switch in case such things happened – that a worker got trapped underneath the city by mistake. It meant they could easily let themselves out, and the council and employers not be sued by families of the man who was trapped underground.

Alex found, to his relief, that this system was put into practice in France, too, as he switched the lock mechanism that allowed him to push the lid up.

The street was dark, and it took him a moment after he left the sewers for his eyes to adjust in the lack of light. James stepped out after him, and after ripping part of his strap off the bag and placing it on the side of the drain, they both moved the lid of the drain back to seal it shut. The strap of the bag would mean it wouldn't shut all the way, though, and it would be allow them to be able to get back down there without having to break another lock.

"So where are we going now?" James asked Alex.

"Twenty-four hour petrol station," Alex replied. It was a risk – no doubt there'd be cameras in the petrol station, but they were more likely to find one of those open at four in the morning than a store. Maybe if they found a McDonald's, but they wouldn't have as much products than a petrol station would.

They found one quickly enough, the green and white fifteen metre tall advertising stand beckoning them towards it from many streets away.

Slipping inside the doors, they got no more than a cursory look from the server behind the till before he looked back down at whatever magazine he was reading.

"Split up – get enough food for a couple of days, and make sure it won't go off for at least a week, too. Oh, and try to get something with quite a bit of sugar in it, too." Alex said to James, before moving away from him towards a sandwich stand close to the doors.

He'd just started to look at what the petrol station offered when a car pulled into the petrol station. Alex gave a quick look through the window, seeing a beat up old Vauxhall car, and decided that it wasn't any trouble for him – no way would any agent from any country drive such an old car like this thing. Most probably just a civilian on a late night journey home after a long day at work.

He turned back to the selection of sandwiches, picking up a cheese and tomato one as the doors opened, the civilian stepping into the store. Straightening up, he was about to move forward to look at the crisps when the barrel of a gun was placed at the back of his neck, and a shout rang out just behind him.

"Donnez-moi l'argent dans la caisse, ou le garçon meurt!"

I wasn't originally going to put this gun scene in here, but I realised that if I didn't, then all the next chapter would be was Alex and James going back into the sewers... and after that, just escaping. I doubt you're all reading this to just see Alex get away with no trouble at all, now are you?

Now, back to the man with the gun – is he just a civilian? Is he an undercover French agent who miraculously spotted Alex and thought this is his chance to show the bosses how good he is? Or is it someone else... well, you'll just have to see.

Okay, so, some things to clear up: QI is a British question show starring Stephen Fry, who asks a load of questions that you think you know the answer too, but are actually wrong, and can be on any subject. (For instance, the freezing point of water isn't actually 0 degrees, but below that, etc) Of course, the panel who answer the questions are all famous comedians, so it's not just a question and answer show, but more a funny fact show. I'd suggest you watch some clips on YouTube, because the show really is very funny.

The sewer system really DOES match the roads above it in Paris.

"donnez-moi l'argent dans la caisse, ou le garçon meurt!" means 'give me the money in the till, or the boy dies!' in French... or at least according to Google Translate it does. My apologies to anyone who speaks French if I'm damaging the language. I've never learnt any more than J'doire (sp?) and that much loved yet dirty song "Voulez-vous vous chez avec moi"

Hmm... and that's about it. See you next chapter!

Oh, and review, please ;)