A/N: Ok... excuses excuses. I really can't do that right now. My reasons are in Perfectly Normally, I'm just going to say I'm really, really, really sorry. Here's the chapter. The next one won't be nearly as long as I already have eight chapters written. In fact, I've had this written for ages so I'm not sure why it's taken so long... so I'm even more sorry.
DISCLAIMER: Nothing belongs to me. It all belongs to Anthony Horowitz.
***
Chuckling slightly, Alex bent down and scooped up the seven year old.
"Hey, kiddo. Kind of late for you to be up, isn't it?"
It was as well. It was already dark; he guessed it was about midnight.
"I was thirsty," pouted David.
Alex laughed, taking in his honorary nephew's appearance. He was wearing a pair of pyjamas with... dinosaurs... on motorbikes printed on them. He rolled his eyes and wondered briefly whether it was David's or Amethyst's choice. He guessed David's. Amethyst hated motorbikes.
Inevitably, his eyes were drawn down to the kid's feet.
"And it didn't occur to you that getting a pair of shoes before running out here?" he teased.
David looked down and bit his lip. "Oops."
Alex laughed. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up and back to bed, ok?"
***
Alex smiled as David yawned and snuggled down under the duvet, already fast asleep. Alex picked up the book beside his bed and looked at it. He had been reading it to David last time he had been home. From the looks of it, David had been reading it himself since he left. Alex smiled and tousled the sleeping boy's head.
"Sweet dreams, tyke," he whispered.
***
The next morning, Alex was woken by sunshine streaming through the windows. For a moment, he was disorientated, then he smiled and sank back into the pillows. It was good to be home.
He heard the shower turn off down the hall, the noise not noticeable until it stopped.
He pushed himself out of bed and walked to the door, just in time to see Amethyst disappear back into her bedroom.
"I guess that means the bathroom is free then," he muttered and headed down the corridor.
It wasn't. Standing in the doorway, his arms crossed over his bare chest, was Yassen.
"So you're home then," said Yassen, warmly, for him at least. Alex nodded.
His eyes flickered over the older man, taking in the towel wrapped around his waist and the smug smile on his lips.
"You know, I don't think I want to know," he muttered, pushing past Yassen into the bathroom.
Yassen laughed before following Amethyst back into their room.
***
Twenty minutes later Alex was downstairs, freshly showered and shaved and dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. It was a relief to get out of military clothes.
Cautiously he pushed open the door to the kitchen. David was sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal while Amethyst had her back to him.
"Yassen? Is that you? You always move so silently. Couldn't you at least try to make some noise, it's really creepy!" she teased.
"It's not Yassen," smiled Alex.
Amethyst froze and turned around.
"Alex?!" she exclaimed, delightedly, catching him in a smothering hug. "When did you get back?"
"Last night," smiled Alex, squeezing her until she began to struggle for air. Laughing, he let her go. Over the last two years, Amethyst had changed completely from how she had been. Finally out of danger and intrigue, she had relaxed. She was a year younger than Jack would have been, having had David aged twenty, but when Alex had first met her she had seemed bone weary, and far older than her years.
Amethyst gave him one last hug before sweeping across the kitchen to clear David's now-empty bowl from the table.
"Hurry up and get your bag, or you'll be late for school," she scolded him.
"Aw, but Alex-!" he protested.
"I don't care that Alex is back!" said Amethyst. "You still have to go to school!"
David pouted.
"How about I take you there, kid?" suggested Alex with a sly wink.
David grinned and hurried out of the room.
Amethyst rounded on Alex. "On that thing?" she exclaimed. "You have got to be kidding me!"
Alex grinned as she gestured wildly in the direction of the garage where his pride and joy resided. A 1098s Ducati motorbike. Alex loved it. Amethyst thought it was a death trap. David was desperate for rides on it. It was a severe point of contention in the usually peaceful family.
"Oh, come on, Thys!" said Alex, pouting. "It's not like I'm going to crash!"
Yassen gave off a brief laugh from the door behind Alex. He crossed to Amethyst and wrapped a possessive arm around her waist. "Come on, babe. Let Alex take him."
He leaned closer and whispered something in Amethyst's ear. Amethyst blushed.
"Ok, ok. You can take him," she said, smiling slightly. "It's not like I can say no know, is it? He's already waiting for you!"
Alex laughed and left the kitchen to find David.
***
For a few days, Alex did nothing but lounge around the house, reading and relaxing, playing with David and helping Amethyst, but on the fourth day, Yassen dropped a quarterstaff in front of him.
"Come on," he said, his face emotionless unless you knew him, but Alex could read the glint of the challenge in his eyes and the tense of a would-be smirk around his mouth.
Privately, he wondered how he had ever thought the assassin emotionless. He was human; he had the same emotions as everyone else, it was simply harder to read them.
Grinning, Alex picked up the pole and stood.
"Are you ready to be beaten?" he asked with a smirk.
"Impudent whelp," growled Yassen, pointing Alex towards the back garden.
Alex laughed and started forward.
***
The fortnight passed quickly in a blur of training with Yassen; the ex-assassin insisted that just because they had officially left the espionage business did not mean they should let themselves get out of shape. After all, who knew when an old enemy might discover that they still lived? But he was not constantly training. Amethyst refused to let the two of them remain "closeted away" constantly, and both men frequently found themselves employed around the house or land cleaning or mending fences or running around trying to keep David and the friends he invited over under control.
Often dawn found Alex and Yassen sneaking out to find somewhere away from housework and Amethyst's well intentioned bullying. Of course they always made it up to her in the evening by cooking and cleaning and generally leaving her to relax.
In other words, life carried on as normal. And if David was kept closer to home, or if Alex flinched at loud noises, or if they couldn't even boil a kettle until it went dark, it did not affect them so much. They were well out of the towns, with little sign of the war, except for the just-in-case bomb shelter Alex and Yassen had built in the back garden. It was a holiday for Alex, a chance to relax and remember exactly what he was fighting for.
But the weeks past too fast for Alex's liking, and all too soon he found himself back in the trenches, with David's laughter replaced by the unceasing shells exploding overhead.
***
A/N: Please review! I know I'm hopeless on updating, but it might encourage me!