Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me and I make no money with it.

Summary: The men stopped short and stared at Alex. The teen couldn't have said who was more surprised.

Author's Notes: Alex just can't seem to catch a break.

Date: Jan. 1st - 4 pm, between Blood and Fortitude (Timeline: http :/ shiruy. livejournal. com/ 3602. html)

Edited: 16.12.10

19. Grey

It was almost comical how completely caught off guard they were when it happened.

Hours after he'd taken his shower he had been half-awake, watching Yassen through lidded eyes and thinking about getting something to drink, when the door opened and two men in dark grey suits entered the room. "Mihailov, the boss says you can't-"

The men stopped short and stared at Alex. The teen couldn't have said who was more surprised.

In the split second it took him to sit up, Yassen stood up, moved closer to the door and took out his gun. Likewise, the two had their weapons drawn and pointed at the Russian.

Everyone froze.

"Mihailov," the taller of the two inclined his head in Alex's direction. "Care to explain?"

Yassen didn't react, though the young spy noticed his foot inching across the floor. Unfortunately, the man still in the doorway noticed too and barked, "Don't move!"

Then his gun swung around to point at the teen. "Neither of you!"

Alex froze with his foot half-way to the floor.

The stand-off lasted another few seconds, then the taller man who had reacted first nudged his partner. "Call the others up. Tell them we found the brat and surveillance was right. Mihailov's a traitor." The man left.

Alex had a sinking feeling in his gut. They were going to die, weren't they? Why wasn't Yassen doing anything? The teen knew how incredibly fast the Russian could be.

The first man circled into the room and swung his gun around to point at Alex, but he addressed Yassen. "Drop your gun or he's dead. We don't need him alive that badly."

For a moment Alex wanted to flat out laugh. They thought they could use him as leverage against Yassen? It would have been hilarious if it didn't also mean that he was dead. He tensed to at least attempt to throw himself to the side.

Then Yassen dropped his weapon.

Alex gaped. What the hell was the man doing? He- what - why?

But he didn't have much more time to think about it because at that moment the second goon came back with two others following him. In short order they had the Russian's hands bound behind his back with a belt and a gun to his head. Alex kept hoping to wake up, his hands clenching and unclenching in helpless anger.

"Up with you." The first man had come over to the bed and was waving the gun at the teen.

Alex gritted his teeth and got up, moving slowly to appear non-threatening and because his pounding head wouldn't let him go any faster anyway. At least he had kept his jeans on when he'd gone back to bed or he'd find himself in his underwear in front of these people now. As soon as he was on his feet he was seized by the arm and tugged forward, making him stumble. He tensed up and glared when the man grabbed his chin and forced him to look up.

The bastard whistled. "He looks completely drugged up. You keeping your boytoy on the good stuff, Mihailov, huh?" He rubbed his fingertips over the teen's flushed cheeks without letting go.

Alex threw his head back to break the man's grip on him and outright glowered, a snappy comeback at the tip of his tongue, but a warning look from Yassen made him keep his mouth shut.

"Bring Mihailov down first. I'll follow with the boy in five minutes. Mihailov," he turned to address Yassen. "You try anything, the boy is dead."

The Russian remained perfectly calm and unruffled, only answering with a simple nod before compliantly letting himself be manhandled from the room. He really hoped that the assassin had some kind of plan or the teen would be seriously pissed off at him for making him stay quiet.

The only remaining man kept his gun pointed at Alex's face, though certainly not his eyes. "Man, Mihailov sure is pretty rough with you. You like your men rough, boy?" he asked with a dirty leer.

The teen scowled and instinctively crossed his arms against that sleazy gaze. He neither liked the insinuations nor the way that guy was staring at him. "Can I put a shirt on before we leave?"

For a moment the man actually seemed to want to say no, but pity or simple common sense won out and he nodded. Though he did add the warning, "One wrong move and I shoot you."

Alex gritted his teeth and quickly looked around, locating Yassen's bag still next to the little table. It took him more effort than it should have to bend down and pick up what looked like a black shirt from the bag, and then the guy first made him shake out the shirt and then show his hands, to make sure he wasn't hiding anything. He hated having to do whatever the man said, but even so it was still more comfortable than that full body search Nile had put him through once. He did not appreciate having to undress in front of somebody and then being pretty much searched and touched all over without the slightest hint of personal space. That had been... yuck.

Finally though he was allowed to put on the shirt and the five minutes seemed to be up too. The man stepped behind him and twisted his arm behind his back, making Alex bite back a scream as the guy had a firm grip on his hurt wrist. Still, it was probably better than if he'd twisted his hurt shoulder like that.

The man's voice was uncomfortably close to his ear as he ordered, "Off we go, boy."