"What's wrong?" She questioned, with a voice sharper than broken glass.

John gazed upon the face that had only held friendship for him on so many occasions. Comparing Ari to the woman in front of him had seemed unspeakable before. He truly had loved Ari. But now...

"It was her, Helen. She was-is-the head of it all. All these months we were tracking SCORPIA's rival organization, the producer of all those bombs, even the local neighborhood killer, and the answer was kissing me goodnight."

She back stepped. "You don't mean Arreis , do you?"

"Yes."

Guilt plagued the misty eyes as they shaded over. Helen suddenly looked weary and older than her years. John thought back to the feral nature that Ari had acquired on their last visit and shivered. He didn't want to see a mask of cruelty cover another innocent face in his life.

"...John...I am so sorry. I didn't know. I-I trusted her like a sister, I swear!"

"I know that you have nothing to do with this, Helen. But I do need your help. Do you still work at the hospital?"

"Absolutely, in fact I'm almost done with my medical license to become a doctor."

"Helen, I'm going to ask you to do something that isn't part of my government job, or even legal. But I believe it is the right thing to do and I will understand if you say, 'no'."

"I said I'll do anything for you John. After I sent a murderer to you-this...is only fair..."

"I need you to pretend like we never had this conversation. Then, look for her in a hospital."

Helen shrugged. "Is she sick?"

This was the hardest part. "Not exactly...I think she's pregnant, Helen."

She dropped the ink pen she had been holding and widened her small pupils. "Oh my God..."

"Yeah, that's what I'm still thinking..."

"You...want me to kidnap the baby, don't you?"

She wasn't taking it as well as he had expected. "I'm the father and better of the two parental options. It doesn't count as kidnapping."

"Then why aren't you telling MI6?"

His face flushed bright red. "Oh? Tell them that I became friendly and married a cold-blooded murderer and then had a baby with her?! They will never trust me again. The baby's life will be butchered by the media. And, what if she covered up her tracks, Helen? She might frame someone else-or me for her crimes and then take our baby and my life away forever. Do you get the picture now?"

"I'm sorry John... I didn't mean to treat you like a criminal. I'm just...nervous..."

"I'll protect you, I swear it. She'll never find out that I ever made contact with you. But she just tried to kill Yassen because I showed the faintest trace of care for him. There's no telling what she'll do with an infant."

Helen smiled then wrinkled her nose in perplexity. "Who is Yassen?"

His hands were clammy, but it wasn't cold. As he slowly debated on whether this was truly reality or not, another road passed him by. John trudged on down the strange city that he once knew.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yassen Gregorovich could honestly say that he was tired. The dwarf-like man in front of him had not been an easy egg to crack. But a little evasive persuasion had always worked out for him, and after a couple bloody noses and broken wrists, Barney had beenhappy to talk.

He tapped a foot on the cement ground and debated on whether to let the man go or not, as he was still holding him in a vice-grip.

After looking at the battered face of Barney, he released his hands and waited. Barney stood slowly, as if hardly daring to move. Yassen could see that the man's coat had flapped open. Barney still had his hand to his chest and blood was seeping through his fingers, staining the whole of the front of his shirt.

Quite frankly, Yassen didn't care or feel the least bit of remorse at display of violence. It had been provoked and he knew that no mercy would have been received from the dirty little sewer rat in front of him.

"If this information is also a lie, I will be back. If you try to leave; I will hunt you down. And don't underestimate my resources. Finding and killing you would be child's play."

The man was struggling to speak,"...I didn't lie...I told you everything I know..."

"Lucky for you," Yassen spat out and then leered at the small man one final time, simply to leave a forbidding memory.

Outside, it was warm, but not sunny. Cloudy, but no sign of rain. And Yassen seemed to have realize that there was something terribly wrong. He paid no heed to a distinct man leaning up against a weather ridden wall, between two buildings. He made a point to mind his own business. Literally.

It was the deep, stricken voice that caught him off guard.

"I murdered her..."

The sentence made Yassen turn impulsively to the source and he would have dropped his gun had he been holding it. Yassen never put any thought to whether God existed, but at this moment, he unquestionably believed in the devil. For only a demon of absolute venom could have retained the cruelty to display such an image. There in the clearest of forms...

Thinking of the scar on his neck, he suddenly felt a lurch and the slightest, but still visible, tinge of emotion ran through him. Sadness.

A concept he had forgotten long ago.

The snow was painted red with blood. A young boy stood, looking out at the toxic rubble left after the explosion. He closed his eyes and opened them, hoping it would go away. It didn't. His father was really dead. And with the poison now flowing through her veins, he was forced to watch his mother die a slow and agonizing death.

The solemn boy didn't shed a tear. Instead a glazed look came over him and in complete revulsion, he opened his mouth,

"Never again."

Yassen stood frozen for several minutes. He knew why the memory came up, but it still managed to surprise him. Then he abruptly realized that the fair haired man was staring back with...curiosity?

Yassen gradually felt very foolish at his own shock. The man was younger than him by a few years at least. It couldn't possibly have been the person he thought at first. His mind was creating obstacles and he accepted them without doubt. That would have to stop.

Nodding to the younger man and flashing an apologetic look, he turned away and went on, becoming more irritated at his resurfaced mind than before he was shot.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

All he could think of was Helen's perfect angel smile and the fact that he would never see it again.

"I murdered her..." He said more to himself than anything.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone stop in their tracks and a head shot right in his direction, pinpointing John's position. He saw a red haired man with serious features and chiseled lips. He was wearing a simple pair of jeans and black coat. Though, with the warm weather, John couldn't imagine why.

The other man had halted with near inhuman impulse and stood frozen to the ground. John glanced at him and shot a questioning look. Suddenly, the older man came to and straightened himself up in minor embarrassment. He carefully upturned his head in John's direction, in an act of contrition. Then the man walked away.

From a distance, John saw the man shiver and touch his neck. The tip of a long gash was visible.

John inwardly swore and rubbed his temple in wrath. Of all the people in the entire bloody world; this was happening to him. His mind in the middle of a split decision, he kicked a nearby pebble and it landed on the far side of the other street.

The world may have seemed void a few minutes ago, but at the moment he felt his former instinct take hold.

John Rider did not believe in coincidences.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

His eyes stung and everything was dark. Alex realized that someone's hand was on his forehead. He opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was sharp, manicured nails. He jerked his head away. The woman was still there, looking at him with concern. Alex hated it.

"What...what did you say?"

She smiled patiently as if the question was expected. "I said I was your mother Alex."

Yeah, that's what I thought.

"My mother was Helen Rider."

He caught a spark of hate and envy coming from the woman now. Her eyes narrowed and she stood up abruptly.

"Oh? Is that what people have been telling you? Helen Rider?!-"Much to Alex's surprise and displeasure she started laughing," That little prick was never married to John and I can assure you that she is not your mother."

"Prove it," He spat out.

Her eyes were slits. "I could give you some medical records, but then, she probably stole those too. Of course, there's always DNA tests, Alex. But is that really what you want? I don't think it is. If I were you, I'd be wanting the truth."

Alex remained silent.

"Ah, so I'm correct. Well I suppose I should inform you that Helen and I used to be best friends. In fact it was she that introduced me to John. And, at first I liked him. John worked for important people and was far more...dangerous than other men. I never asked him about his work because I usually knew more about what he did that John realized. It didn't bother me that we worked for complete opposite motives. He didn't know, and of course, ignorance is bliss. But then he started to change. One day he would come home complaining about Alan Blunt and what he was forced to do, whom he had to get rid of to save his cover. I tried to lie to myself, but it came out just the same: John was growing tired of MI6 and starting to hate his job. It kept getting worse too. He ended up saving a student of his at SCORPIA and came to me, giving a heartfelt conversation on how he felt guilty teaching murder to someone-"

"Was it Yassen?"

She stared at Alex calculatingly and then nodded. "Yes. How do you know about Yassen?"

Alex debated on lying about it, but then he realized that at this point it didn't matter. "I encountered him several times."

She paused, as if in her own distant thoughts. "I tried to kill him once, you know. I began to suspect your father's change to have started from the guilt of deceiving Yassen. So I set up a bomb on a taxi at just the right time. Somehow it failed, whether by a leak in my command or not, I'll never know. But John couldn't find me that day and...he only then began to wonder who I really was. It makes no difference now. I have the means to kill Yassen now."

Alex seethed. "You're too late! I watched him die."

"Did you Alex?" She asked playfully and flashed him her pearly teeth. "I don't suppose he told you anything before he died..."

"He told me about my father and...SCORPIA..."

"And that was how you came to kill Rothman?"

Alex cringed. "I didn't kill her! It was an accident!"

"You have a lot of accidents, dear Alex, and a lot of people are left dead not far from where you are, I've noticed. But don't worry, I made have made a pact with SCORPIA in the past, but after I tried to destroy one of their best trainees, we turned separate ways. You did me a favor."

"How did you know that?"

She smiled, "I know a lot of things Alex. For one, I know that Yassen Gregorovich is alive. Two, he is inquiring about your disappearance, and three, oh, well I shouldn't spoil all the fun, should I?"

Alex felt his face heat up. "Liar!" He screamed.

"You can believe me or not Alex. But you will eventually have to accept me." Her gaze hardened and she spun around to leave. Halfway up the door, she paused, her heels ceasing to click against the cemented flooring.

"Maybe you should look closer next time you watch someone die, son. I made that mistake once and it now comes back to haunt me." Then she left, and the soldier man didn't bother to so much as glance at Alex as he closed the door and resumed his bored guarding position.

It took Alex exactly three minutes to understand what she meant.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Crawford unlocked the door in impatience. Why hadn't James answered his knocking?

He walked in to see James Hoskins fumbling with several thick books and a laptop. His typing was quick and hurried. Finally noticing the entrants, he turned around.

"You won't belie-...who's that?" He asked gesturing toward David, whom was still handcuffed and swaying uncomfortably to one side. He glared at James, but said nothing.

"Long story. How is John doing?" Crawford asked.

James shifted in his seat and stood up. "He woke up-"

Crawford's widened in disbelief.

"-and left."

"...what?"

"I tried to stop him, but you weren't here, and he didn't believe anything I told him! I called you, but you didn't pick up."

Crawford nearly slammed David into a wall. "Damn. Do you know where he went?"

"I don't know. He seemed disoriented."

"I need to take care of this before someone sees him or questions why I was running around near the abandoned metro. Help me tie him up." He thrust David forward and James offered his chair. Crawford unlocked the handcuffs and reattached them so that they fit around the chair's spine.

"Did you see where Yassen Gregorovich went?" Crawford drilled him.

David shrugged."No."

"Did he mention why he was there?"

"No. Why would he?"

"Whom else did you meet down there?"

"You and him. That was it. I don't know what you people are talking about, let me go."

"So you can go kill someone on the street?"

The bronze haired man seethed at Crawford. "Gregorovich has killed more in one lifetime than I could have with a hundred. You want him alive?"

"...I...think he might have some answers I'm looking for. You only want revenge. I need to speak with Yassen alive."

"And what makes you think he would tell you anything?!" David asked, dripping with venom.

"Calm down", Crawford replied. "I'm willing to take a chance because some things are more important to me than the revenge of others."

James was nearly hugging a wall on the far side, listening. "Did you tell MI6 about him?"

"Do you really want them to start asking questions?"

"Isn't it illegal to keep him here withou-"

"To hell with MI6, James! They don't care about John or Alex. They only want to be in control. Well now I'm taking control of things, without them."

James flinched at the outburst, but didn't bother to object. What did he know about the affairs of a secret agent?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The building was scarred and torn, he observed when approaching the abandoned soap factory. It seemed a little too obvious in Yassen's opinion, but he wasn't here to judge. He lifted a hand to the rusted doorknob and pulled. It shuttered then gave away. Yassen frowned. Too easy.

He fingered the side of his belt to reassure himself that his gun was still at present, then he observed the condemned building. Just as he suspected, it was about ready to fall apart. No human would have stayed safely under it's roof.

He had been cheated twice.

Yassen motioned to leave, but heard a voice.

"Hello Mr. Gregorovich."

He blinked twice and then realized that a gray clothed figure was quietly sitting on an old furnace in the corner. The man was hard to make out in terms of age, but he had dark hair and relaxed posture.

"I've been waiting for you."

Naturally, Yassen adjusted himself in attack position, ready to pull out his gun at any possible second. "Is that so?"

"Are you looking for Alex?"

Not wanting to put himself in an emotionally awkward position, Yassen ignored the question. "Who are you?" He asked.

"Oh, I am so sorry. My name is Turner. My friends call me..." He shrugged. "Actually, they call me Turner too. Though I don't seem to have very many friends these days..."

"They didn't all die mysterious deaths, did they?" Yassen questioned, in an unnaturally light tone.

The other man glanced up at the ceiling and back, at ease. "Yes actually. A fair few of them anyway. But I guess you understand that, Mr. Gregorovich."

"Where is Alex?" Yassen asked, deadly in tone.

The man didn't bother tallying. "Probably somewhere near the foothills of the mountains to the north. Even I don't know the exact location. I just follow the orders given."

"And Alex is definitely there?"

"He was taken there. He nearly escaped, which amused the guard who told me. He has not been taken away and I have asked where he is being held-it is a small facility. That is the only reason you are here, is it not?"

"My reasons are none of your concern. Did you lead me here?"

Turner half smiled. "Yeah, sorry about that. She figured you'd be onto us after you found out about Alex. I paid McHiggins to help me out. But he went off plan when the American came to see him," Noting the furious expression on Yassen, he continued, "Don't bother with going back to kill him. We've already taken care of it."

"Then what do you want from me?"

"Someone wants to talk to you."

Yassen stepped dangerously close to the man and spoke, "Not unless I get something out of it."

Turner nodded his head understanding, "She won't let Alex go, if that's what you want."

"I want to talk to him."

"...Fine." Turner held out his hand and they shook on it, but Yassen didn't have any intention of fulfilling his bargain if the need arose, and it was doubtful that the other man did either.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sorry it took me so long to update :O I was busy rereading Brisingr a hundred times and crying over the fact that it'll be another two year wait for the next installment. But you guys understand that, right?

Wow, over a hundred reviews :) Thank you! I didn't know that that many people would like this story.

I apologize if my geographical settings for Britain is wrong. I get my knowledge of UK geography from my good friends mapquest and Young Bond adventure books XD

If anyone is interested in joining my Yassen Community staff, please let me know. I've missed a lot of good Yassen stories when I get busy, so help is needed.

Huh. Imdb says that Point Blanc is out in 08' when it isn't due till 09' :( They really need to check up on their sources.

If anyone knows of pictures for Crawford, James, or Helen, please let me know. And the picture with Sierra/Ari is from how Joh remembers her. Picture her older and eviler(haha)at this present time.

I don't know what you think unless you tell me-review!