Freedom 16

Shaan and Trent stepped off Trent's sea plane and onto the dock of a nearby island to where they had dropped Henry and Alex only a week beforehand. Trent and Shaan were met by the head of the infamous Dicky's security team. A man who went exclusively by the name of Michaels, and nothing else. "Shaan Srivastava and Trent Dalton, I assume. Identification?" He held out his hand for their ID's and they handed them over.

After a small interval, Michaels returned and allowed them access to the main house. Each man with a shoulder duffle bag on their shoulder were taken to a small sitting room inside the house. Once they were alone, Leo's cousin 'Dicky' made his presence known. "Welcome to my home away from home, Gentlemen. Can I get you anything?"

"Just the Prince and First son, please Sir." Shaan requested coolly. He really didn't like this situation. Something about it seemed off. Perhaps it was the unknown of the Dicky character, or perhaps it was that it was so far removed from their original plan.

"As you wish." Dicky said and picked up the telephone, before speaking softly into the end of it. Whomever he was speaking with must have reassured him they were on their way, because before he had hung up, Henry and Alex were at the doorway, being escorted in. Both men were dressed casually. Henry in chino shorts and lilac button down while Alex was in denim shorts, and a fitted black tee. Both men in matching sandals and Shaan wondered if they'd had a chance to gather their belongings before having to leave.

"Henry." Shaan greeted him and was surprised when his young charged hugged him tightly. Clearly, Henry had been feeling out of sorts, but he just hugged Henry back tighter and quietly promised him with a squeeze that he was ok now. Pulling back, he looked over at Alex and held his arm out for Alex. "Mr. Claremont-Diaz, let me look at you."

"Hi Shaan." Alex said smiling with all of the false bravado he could muster. Shaan was surprised by Alex's bravado, he could see right through the First Son and that wasn't something that could easily be done. Alex hugged him tight, much like Henry did. Shaan looked over the shorter man's shoulder at Henry, Henry just touched Alex's back. Shaan felt Alex's knees buckle slightly, before Alex was pulling back from him. "Great to see you, Shaan."

Dicky had briefed the CIA and the Secret Service of what they had found and Shaan had been briefed by Zahra. When he released Alex, he could see Alex immediately cling back to Henry's side. He noted that as unusual but said nothing on his discovery. "Thank you for your hospitality, Dicky. But we really must be going." Henry said warmly, shaking Leo's cousin's hand. Alex followed suit, before Shaan and Trent did the same. Shaan and Trent were surprised by Henry's words but followed his lead. He obviously had good reason.

Together, Shaan and Trent, alongside Henry and Alex, headed back out to the sea plane. Once the four of them were alone on the plane. "Home please?" Alex asked Henry, looking up at him with what Shaan could only think of as small, hurt eyes.

"Of course, my Love." Henry smiled reassuringly at Alex. It was his turn to be the brave one now. It was only when Shaan noticed that Henry and Alex had all of their belongings that he had sent them off with, did he realise - something was really wrong with Alex.

Last night, Alex had all but fallen apart, after learning what Dicky's security team had found and Henry had been the one to hold it together for them both. Henry never thought he would ever see the day when Alex Claremont-Diaz would become a shell of his former, vibrant being. Something about this entire thing had triggered Alex and instead of his usual fight response, he was in flight mode and that scared Henry.

Selfishly, Henry drew strength from Alex's fears. For so long, Alex had been the brave one in their relationship, drawing strength from henry to fight for what was right. Henry had been brave, accepting Arthur's help to run. To get him and Alex away from his grandmother. Knowing that even in death, his father had had his back, helped Henry stand up taller. Helped Henry let Alex lean on him for a change.

As the flight made their way back to the mainland of Greece to change planes, Shaan sent Zahra message. It was only fair she has a heads up of the battle they will be facing upon their return.

This time it was to a larger private plane than the one that they had taken from London to Athens. It was Pez's concorde, with his pilots, too. These were men that Henry trusted. Shaan had vetted these men for him, long before his first jet ride with Pez, all those years ago. More importantly, in Alex's fragile, yet still deteriorating mental state, Alex trusted these men.

That managed to lull the First Son, into his first restful sleep since the night they discovered that they had company on the island. It didn't take much more than Shaan's encouraging words and Henry was out like a light too.

The "kids" were still gathering their stuff together, preparing to depart for the lake house, while Leo, Ellen and Oscar spoke about the last-minute logistics of moving them to the Lake House. Zahra let herself into the Residence and waited until the right moment to interject herself into the conversation. "Shaan has the boys, they just departed Athens and will have a stopover for refuel in Germany and will fly on to Austin, directly."

"That's a relief." Ellen let out a breath she didn't even realise she had been holding on to. "Not that your cousin isn't great, Hun. But someone wanted to hurt my baby, and possibly Henry too. They got too close for comfort."

"I agree, El." Leo said. "I am glad the boys are safe. Even if it's a bit longer until we see them again, as long as the kids are safe." On the two occasions Leo had met the young Prince of England, he and the younger royal had hit it off both times.

"I'll have Alex and Henry video call you as soon as we get the secure communication line open." Oscar promised, rubbing his ex-wife's arm in comfort.

"Go, take the kids and get out of here, Oscar." Ellen used a chastising voice to dismiss her ex-husband, but Oscar and Leo knew there was warmth behind her words.

That was the thing about Ellen May Claremont that very few people knew about her. Ellen was a pro at covering her true feelings with a thin veil of innuendo or bravado, sometimes downright coldness. However, because of this facade, this mask of bravado she put on to the world, there were many people who referred to her as cold, or icy. Many, especially the old, rich, white men in politics who had both insinuate or infer that because she was a woman, a wife and a mother, she did not belong in politics. And she loved proving every single one of them wrong on a weekly, sometimes daily basis.

The apple didn't fall far from the tree when it came to her son. Her prodigy, Alexander Claremont-Diaz. He had the politics bug too. But then again, so did Oscar Diaz. So when it came to Alex, he was super invested in politics. But in the seven and a half months that he and Henry had been seeing one another, Alex had been pulling away from politics. Surprisingly, ALex had made that decision on his own and he hadn't really discussed it at length with Henry. It also had little to do with his relationship with Henry, and everything to do with the state of his parents relationship and how President Claremont and Senator Diaz treated their children.

Henry woke first, about six hours from when he had fallen asleep, shortly after Alex had. Alex was still sleeping and Henry was grateful for that. "Henry?" Shaan asked in a whisper, looking up from his book and seeing that Henry was awake. "I take it Alex is still asleep?"

"He needs it." Henry answered, as he managed to disentangle himself from Alex's grasp and make his way from the bed to the sofa in the suite of the plane.

"Tea?" Shaan offered, closing his book and tending to make a pot for Henry. Returning with a small pot of tea and a cup, Henry offered him a grateful smile. "I do not wish to overstep, but is Mr. Claremont-Diaz, ok? He seems ...panicky."

"That's an apt word." Henry replied softly, taking a sip of tea made perfectly. "Something about this whole incident has triggered Alex's anxiety. I am hoping that Oscar will have some answers when we land, or at least be able to help. I'm worried that Alex needs more helo than I am able to give him."

"Perhaps he has a therapist he usually speaks to?" Shaan suggested. He too, could see the difference in Alex from when they left London to now, in the space of a week. "I am sure that Zahra ..."

"He doesn't and before you ask, he was dealing with the isolation there, rather well." Henry hastily explained. "We both were. This is something else entirely. He was fine, until he spotted that light on in the caretaker's cottage. He stayed calm and kept me calm and level-headed. It was not until we were safe on the helicopter that Alex let his panic take over."

"Allow me to loop Senator Diaz in and perhaps, just in case. I'll have Zahra be ready with a White House approved therapist." Shaan offered. "And Henry, I know you're doing ok. But I would like you to lead by example here and show Alex there's nothing to be afraid of. Speak to the therapist as well. Of course, we will pay for the billables you use, we do not expect the American taxpayer to foot that bill."

"It was the strangest thing," Henry began in a soft voice, looking over at Alex in the bed. He was still soundly sleeping and that was to be expected. "Alex held it together perfectly. He was keeping me completely calm, and he was his usual normal, chaotic self. He didn't start to panic until he knew we were safe."

"Still protecting you, as always." Shaan smiled reassuringly at him. "The fight instinct is strong in Alex."

"I think he needs some more sleep. A lot more than he has already had. He also needs to eat." Henry spoke out loud to himself, more than to Shaan.

"How about you wake Mr. Claremont-Diaz, and I will organize some food for the two of you. There is still another twelve hours of this flight. Perhaps after you've eaten, and you've had something warm a drink, he would be amenable to another nap."

"Alex won't sleep like this again." Henry sighed. "He is as bad as me with sleep. But I won't argue with you about finding us some dinner."

"After dinner, I shall leave the two of you alone in here." Shaan smirked, dropping Henry a huge clue. "I am sure you could think of something to make Mr. Claremont-Diaz sleep soundly. Sleeping soundly seems like the best course of action for Mr. Claremont-Diaz, right now."

Henry raised his eyebrows at Shaan's dry suggestion. Surely his equerry wasn't suggesting that he bed his boyfriend into slumberland on his best friend's private jet? He wasn't sure that Pez would ever forgive either of them. No, that's not true. Pez would be all for it. But if Percy ever found out, he'd be so smug that Henry would never hear the end of it.

On her drive back from Hamer Hall with Martha in tow, Catherine was pleased with herself. She had managed to get Martha to safety, without too much of an argument. It was just as Sara had said it would be. She just hoped that Sara had managed to score her an appointment with the PM, as promised.

When they returned, Sara was waiting for them on the steps to the entrance of her apartment at Kensington. "Martha, this is my dear friend and new equerry, Sara Bankston. If you need anything and you cannot find me, please don't hesitate to ask Sara."

"Thank you." Martha said softly, her tone grateful. "Any chance I could see Bea or Henry while I am here? I feel I owe them both a rather large apology."

"No, I removed Beatrice from the palace for her own safety." Catherine said softly. It was a whisper and Martha caught the undertones of her voice. Her mother in-law didn't even want their own staff to know what was going on.

"I think it's such a lovely day," Sara interjected with her barely disguised mirth. "Perhaps a turnabout the gardens would be lovely."

The three of them turned and headed out to the lavender garden, by the conservatory, leaving the footmen to deal with Martha's luggage. The further into the gardens they went, the more she could see the stress falling away from her mother in-law's shoulders. Sara, she also seemed to become more relaxed. Martha had seen it for herself in the few times she had spent with Beatrice and Henry, but to see it in the older royal generation. It proved Martha's theory that it was the royal residence that was a large source of tension for them all.

"As I said," Catherine turned to look at Martha, offering her a seat on the garden bench beside her. "I sent Beatrice away, for her safety after I discovered what Pip had done to her. Searching her quarters, and Henry's in hope of catching her in a lie. He grabbed at her, left some small bruising on her arm." Martha shook her head in disbelief. Her husband had been physical with his sister and had hurt her, that was not him. Not the man she had fallen in love with.

"I can barely believe Pip would resort to violence, and with his own sister." Martha said in disbelief. "Last year when his friend Peter wanted to court his sister, Philip was livid, he expressly forbade his friend from approaching Beatrice. He ended his friendship over Peter's designs on his sister."

"I believe that the majority of his negative behaviour has been ordered by my mother." Catherine sighed sadly. "You and I both know that Philip would not hurt Beatrice or Henry, intentionally. However, there is more. Henry was missing before that. It seems that my mother ordered Henry to end things with his boyfriend and as such he did. I do not know how it came to be that he then left, but he did."

"And no one saw him?!" Martha asked incredulously. "Not one single staff member saw Henry leave the palace. Doesn't that strike you as odd?"

"He left a letter for Bea." Catherine whispered and blinked back a couple of her tears that had begun to form. "All he wanted was his freedom."

"So, what's the plan?" Martha asked, clapping her hands together and standing up, excitedly. "How are we setting Henry free, keeping Beatrice safe, getting Pip back and overthrowing the Queen of England?"

"This has the potential to ruin everything you have." Sara advised her cautiously. "You don't have to do anything. Catherine and I are happy to be the only people who take the fall, if our plan fails."

"But I am in too." Martha argued. "I want my husband back and I really want to throw the Queen of England off her bloody throne and preferably into the Thames."

"Goody." Catherine said excitedly, clapping her hands together. "Come on, let's go. It's time to overthrow the Queen."