CHAPTER 7- In Motion.
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Alex closed his eyes against the pain that flared in his back. He lay, gasping, on the gym mat he had bought. He knew he should bounce back up, but he couldn't. He needed just a moment to get his breath back. This was the fifth time Yassen had knocked him down in a row.
"Get up, Alex," Yassen ordered calmly.
Alex shook his head. "I need a minute."
"MI6 is going to have agents swarming over you in seconds. No one is going to give you a time out," Yassen hissed harshly.
Alex growled at him, but dutifully pushed himself back up. He shook out his limbs and took up another fighting stance. He still hadn't been able to land a hit on the other man, but at least it was taking longer and longer to knock him down.
They'd been at this for four days now, each more intense than the last. Alex was determined to learn everything Yassen could teach in such a short time. This had included several forms of fighting, bomb mechanics, poison methods, and target practice.
Two days ago, Yassen had given him the name and location of the man who had held Jack's contract. The assassin had been here, in Moscow, preparing for the Summit as most of SCORPIA's top agents were. Alex had slipped out over the balcony during the night, and returned within the hour. Jack's killer was dead. Smithers had been right. There was no satisfaction in it, no great sense of accomplishment that he had gone up against one of SCORPIA's best and come out without a scratch. It had been a job that needed to be done, a single bullet fired, and it was now complete.
Yassen had known, of course, and the two had made love rather roughly afterwards. But he hadn't mentioned a word about it. SCORPIA must have known it would happen before they ever gave Yassen the information. Apparently, having Alex turn on MI6 was worth the price of one operative.
He was saved by door bell ringing. Confused, Alex opened the door only an inch, surprised to see Gieve's face. "Hello Gieve." He was suddenly conscious of being half naked and wearing only track pants.
"Your dinner was delivered downstairs, Alex. I thought I would bring it up for you."
Alex grinned. Check up on him, more like. He hadn't left the Flat since Mutt had left four days ago. "Actually, Gieve, I need a favour."
"Anything!"
Alex reached to the table behind him and grabbed his wallet. He took out the MI6 debit card and handed it through the door. "I'm trusting you here, Gieve. Tomorrow morning I need you to run to the bank and take out fifty thousand dollars. Can you do that?"
"Of course, Alex, but why wouldn't you just go yourself?" Gieve asked curiously.
Alex affected a sheepish grin. "I'm, um, entertaining."
Gieve nodded happily. "A strapping young man like yourself, I've no doubt. I'll bring the money by around nine thirty. I take it your- entertainment?- will be leaving tomorrow?"
"Yes. I've got something pretty big coming up and I can't afford the distraction," Alex responded instantly. "I'll see you tomorrow Gieve."
He closed the door to find Yassen lounging against the bar, a bottle of water in one hand. "You know he didn't ask for a pin," he pointed out.
Alex shrugged, and grabbed a bottle for himself as he placed the bag of dinner on the bar. "Doesn't tell us anything we didn't already know. Where were we?"
"You were being beaten up by a man almost twice your age. I was trying to show you how to stay alive," Yassen growled, an arm thrown Alex's waist pulling him closer. He grabbed Alex's lips in a rough kiss, biting sharply on his bottom lip. Alex responded by nipping him back, but then sighed.
"Alive isn't the goal, Yassen," he reminded gently. The past few days had been a wonder to him. He'd never been in a relationship before, and most certainly hadn't known what to expect from another man. What he had found was that a relationship was simply that, a partnership. Gestures of affection or interest didn't much change between the genders, merely between the sort of people involved. He'd been surprised to find Yassen was a deeply affectionate man, but also refused to take it easy on him in his training.
It seemed almost cruel to have to remind the man of that. He got the feeling Yassen wasn't accustomed to such an open relationship either, where both men knew what the other did. There were no secrets between them, no need for them. Both had found something in each other that they probably couldn't find anywhere else. But Alex knew that both had a destiny outside this Flat. He had his mission with MI6, and Yassen would have to continue with SCORPIA.
He felt Yassen's arms tighten around him, and looked up to see the man staring at him with an intensity he hadn't seen before, a flicker of emotion the man didn't bother to hide. "Neither is suicide."
Alex closed his eyes and laid his head on the man's chest, absorbing the warmth coming from the skin under his cheek. He didn't answer. He couldn't. He knew what the likely outcome was, and for now, he was content to take whatever small happiness he could. He sighed, and then pushed himself away.
"Well, then, we'd better get training."
Yassen shook his head. "We're done with that for today. The only way you're going to succeed is to go in shooting. We need to work on your targeting skills."
Alex growled. "We did that yesterday, and I was one hundred percent bang on every time."
"Yes, but you were slow on the reload. Whatever your goals are, you need to stay alive long enough to make it to Blunt's office."
"After supper. I'm starved."
They ate quietly for a moment, before Yassen asked, "What are you going to do about Gieve?"
Alex shrugged. "The Summit is a week away. Tomorrow is going to be my last withdrawal. I'll be leaving tomorrow afternoon."
"How are you planning on leaving the country?"
Alex swallowed his mouthful and grinned. He took out the cell phone Smithers had given him and flipped it open, pressing the speed dial. Holding it up to his ear, he waited.
"Allo?"
"Smithers!"
"Alex! What's wrong?"
Alex put an edge on his voice. "Jones was wrong! The Summit isn't being held here, it's being held in London! What am I supposed to do?"
"Calm down, dear boy. How do you know the information was falsified?" Smithers asked, though Alex could hear a tinge of panic in his voice.
"How secure is this line?" Alex asked hesitantly.
"Oh, yes, good point, my lad. I'll speak with Mrs. Jones immediately, but I suspect you should be prepared to return to London immediately," Smithers replied.
"I have something I have to finish up, first, but I'll be ready by tomorrow afternoon," Alex confirmed, flipping the phone shut.
Yassen opened his mouth, but Alex held up his hand, his fingers splayed. He lowered each finger as he counted. "two- one," he said, and the phone rang again. Yassen smiled and shook his head.
"Smithers, is that you?" Alex asked.
"No, Alex, it's Mrs. Jones. There will be a ticket waiting for you to board the flight to London. It leaves at three pm tomorrow. Will you be ready?"
"Yes, Mrs. Jones."
The line went dead, and Alex flipped the phone shut again. He grinned. "As easy as that."
"You seem to have it well in hand. I have just one question. Why have you had me teaching you how to make bombs?" Yassen inquired. A part of him knew the answer, but he wanted to hear from his lovers mouth.
"This will get me into Blunt's Office for an immediate debriefing. But taking out Blunt and Jones isn't enough. All of MI6 has to fall. I've got a computer virus ready to download from my cell phone that should wipe out any information stored on me. The last detail to look after was to destroy the building, and everyone in it," Alex answered.
"You won't make it out in time. As soon as you've dealt with the two heads, there will be agents all over you. But then, you never planned to make it out, did you?" Yassen asked, as the whole of Alex's plan fell into place. He sat back. "And your friend, Smithers?"
Alex sighed. "Casualty of war, I'm afraid. As are the innocents who will be standing outside the bank."
Yassen nodded. Not for the first time, he realized how cold Alex had become. "And yourself, as well?"
"This was always the plan, Yassen. I just didn't have the skills to pull it off until you gave them to me. And no, I never intended to get out. My mission was to see MI6 wiped off the face of the earth. Once that's done, I have no life to return to. I'd spend the rest of my life on the run as a fugitive, or end up scooped up and working for someone like SCORPIA." Alex sighed. "I'm sorry, Yassen, but I'm tired. I just want it all to be over."
Yassen nodded. "Well then, if this is the last night we have together, let's make it memorable, shall we?"
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Alex looked up at the Royal and General Bank, his duffle bag in hand. Yesterday it had been full of cash, but Alex had opened an account and stored it there, along with instructions on what to do with it should he fail to reappear in sixty days. Today it was full of normal clothes, and wires.
He felt dressed for his mood today. He had dressed in black jeans, a black t-shirt and a knee length Armani cotton trench coat to ward off the chill of the winter. He had donned black loafers that had a solid grip on the bottoms. For the ice, presumably. The last accessory to all this was a pair of mirrored wrap around sun glasses that would give him a thermal view from one of his previous missions.
"For you, Jack," Alex said out loud, activating the three guns. He sighed and walked into the bank. He flashed his ID card and kept walking, knowing the receptionist recognized him. He continued on to the elevator, dropping a piece of what looked like chewed up gum in the planter beside it. It was in fact, a piece of C4 with the detonator invisible in the dirt. Yassen had plenty of handy things around his own Flat in Moscow and had happily shared them.
He took the elevator all the day down, and turned left, heading for Smithers workshop which had been squirreled away under the main offices. He planted his little balls of C4 over every surface he came into contact with.
Entering the man's workshop, he carefully attached a larger brick of C4 to the doorpost, out of view, then he smiled. "Hello, Smithers."
The jolly man looked up at him and grinned. "Alex, dear boy! I was hoping you'd find a way to sneak down to see me before they got their hands on you."
Alex grinned. "I needed a moment to see a friendly face, first." He picked up what looked to be a watch but was actually a small bomb. "Is this workshop bomb proof or something? Is that how you get away with playing with this?"
Smithers chuckled as he took the watch back from Alex. "Actually, it's quite silly, really. For all the high tech surveillance, there isn't a lot of security features on the bank itself. If a bomb were to go off in here, it would bring down the entire building, especially since one of the rooms here is loaded with various gases. No, there's a room down the hall that is bomb proof where they let me do my testing. It won't take on any big, mind you, but it's safe enough for the kinds of things I come up with."
Alex laughed easily. "So what kind of explosion will this give you, then?"
"We're going to be testing it in half an hour to find out that very thing. I am hoping for a larger one than usual. Some of the agents have been complaining about the fact that all my explosions can do is blow a keyhole," Smithers frowned.
"Don't let them get to you, Smithers. Your gadgets have saved my life more than once. Well, I expect I should go up and take my lickings," Alex sighed. He leaned over, planting two more balls under the work bench.
"Don't let them get to you, old chap, it's not your fault their information was wrong. It does happen on occasion. The important thing is that you caught it in time and can fix it," Smithers reassured.
Alex smiled. "Thank you, Smithers. You've been a good friend to me."
With that, he turned and left.
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