Author's Note: Despite appearances, I haven't abandoned this story (four years without an update? Ouch). I was, however, seriously distracted by a new fandom (Torchwood), which I technically belong to, but really don't. I write in it, but I don't belong to it. That's better. In any event, I've also started a new policy on all stories: if I have at least eight to ten pages, I'll go ahead and post it, rather than wait until the customary twelve to eighteen. While I can't promise I'll update faster, it'll make it easier for me to do so. In this chapter, we have Corliss Bramwell's arrival ... but not before she gets on the bad side of some Janus operatives. Bad move! Some revelations are made, and at last, everyone is on the same page. Look out, Custos!

Chapter Thirteen

For Family

The Janus operatives made their way down the long hallway to the examination room, which was a fancy name for their clinic. Most of them were already there, but there were a few stragglers, who wanted to check the perimeter. They heard the boss-man ... and the boss-lady ... long before they saw either of them. Not surprisingly, boss-man was rather strenuously protesting the need for an examination, and boss-lady was just as strenuously arguing in favor of it. Matthew shook his head. He really should have expected this. The other men were smirking or smiling, all looking relieved that their boss was well enough to argue about his care. Stubborn, he was. And when he argued that Juturna should get checked out as well, that drew even more laughter.

"Excuse me? Alec, I have fainted once in the last twenty-four hours, and that was the result of not eating or sleeping while Sassy was sick, and the arrival of MI6, or rather, their invasion. You, on the other hand, you've collapsed twice, gotten your butt kicked, and have been dealing with lost memories! And we won't discuss what Janus popping up does to your nervous system!" they heard Juturna exclaim in obvious frustration. Matthew listened with a half-smile to the growing argument between his bosses She was right, he knew she was right, but he also knew that the boss-man wouldn't give up until she was examined as well.

And that wasn't taking into account their doctor. That worthy lady stated, staving off the argument, "Actually, Rowanne, I think it would be a good idea to check you out, just to be safe. And Alec, I am going to examine you, so just behave. Like Rowanne said, you've had a lot of shocks in a short amount of time. You both have. Yes, Rowanne, you have as well. You've been protecting Alec all this time, and now that his former employers are here, there's no longer a need to protect him. You have shouldered so much on your own, but now you don't have to."

There was a long moment of silence, and then Rowanne said softly, "I can never stop protecting him, Kit. I simply can't. Besides, even if I could, there's still Sassy, Sabrina, the boys, Corliss arriving today ..." Matthew hissed under his breath. He turned to the nearest Janus operative, intending to issue an order to pick up Corliss Bramwell. However, it seemed the others were way ahead of him, for the soldier simply nodded without a word. Good. He could tell Juturna as soon as they got into the examining room that someone was being sent to pick her sister up. Rowanne said after several moments, "You might want to check out Sebastian, too, Kit. He's had a fair number of shocks today."

"I'm fine ... I haven't seen anything I haven't seen before. Although if you have an inoculation against annoying fellow agents, I'll take that," the wry answer had everyone in the other room laughing. Sebastian (one of the few MI6 agents whom the Janus operatives respected) added, "Seriously though, I'm not the one whose world has been up-ended. I'm fine. But thank you ... just out of curiosity, Mr. Trevelyan, does your wife ever stop worrying about other people long enough to take care of herself?"

By this time, the rest of the operatives were crowded into the examining room, just in time to hear Alec retort with more than a trace of amusement, "Not at all! Remember, double-oh six, she drove herself to exhaustion while taking care of our younger daughter, and barely ate during that time." Matthew grinned as Rowanne's dark eyes narrowed and she began searching around for something to throw at him. Dr. Katalin Nelson smiled and handed her a small pillow, which Rowanne promptly threw at her husband.

It was a sucker shot, really. Attached as he was to machines monitoring his heart rate and brain waves, Janus couldn't throw it back, much less throw it accurately. So, instead, Matthew grabbed the pillow before he could hand it off to someone else, because that was something he could do. The boss-man gave him a sulky look, but settled down. He stopped just short of folding his arms over his chest, but the sulky look remained on his face. Matthew shook his head, saying, "Play nice, you two. How are they, Doc?"

"Behaving like children, as you've probably noticed," Kit retorted, glowering at first boss-man, then at boss-lady. It never failed to amuse the Janus operatives that their boss once commanded an army of terrorists ... but let his wife or his doctor glower at him, and he turned into a schoolboy, trying to get out of trouble. This axiom was proven once again, as he flushed and looked down at his hands. Conversely, Juturna tended to blow off Kit's annoyance as a general rule. She wasn't blowing it off right now, as such, but she also didn't look terribly impressed.

"If I was truly behaving as a child, Kit, I wouldn't be allowing you to run your tests, now would I?" Rowanne countered. When she didn't receive any argument on this from the doctor, she looked over at the operatives, asking, "My younger sister arrives today ... has anyone been sent to meet her?" Matthew nodded, and for the first time since their arrival, she smiled, saying, "Thanks. I should have sent someone earlier, but I got a little ... okay, very distracted. Call whoever is meeting her and let them know that if she gives him any lip, let me know, and I'll double his pay for the day."

"Well, they should be fine ... one was Murchison. He's liable to gag her and throw her over his shoulder," Matthew observed. Rowanne actually laughed, and Kit smirked, though the other women (the invaders from MI6) in the room looked appalled. Matthew asked, "You've never met Corliss Bramwell, have you?" The two women exchanged a wary look before acknowledging this, and Matthew continued, "You'll understand soon. She's as abrasive as Rowanne is soft-spoken. And yes, Rowanne generally is soft-spoken. Multiply Rowanne as you've seen her by one hundred, and you've got Corliss."

"She's Juturna's sister, but she's a bitch," opined Kit, "a self-centered, whiny little bitch. She's never been here, but I met her when Rowanne interviewed me in the Lower 48. She verbally attacked Sassy and Rowanne forced her to leave the room. This was before Alec regained consciousness, and Rowanne wasn't about to let anyone bully her little girl ... not even her youngest sister. Anyhow, she told her that until she could behave like a mature adult, she wasn't welcome here." She refrained from mentioning the fact that Rowanne actually punched her sister when she overheard what Corliss said to Sassy.

"And if she hurts either of my daughters again, I'll throw her into the ocean, never mind out of the room," Alec said grimly. All in the room noted Rowanne's reaction ... she didn't argue with him. Interesting. Very interesting. But Matthew understood. After everything both girls had been through during the last few days, Alec was wholly committed to protecting them both ... regardless of the consequences to himself. Moreover, Rowanne chose her ready-made family over her birth family repeatedly already ... she had no problem at all with doing it again.

ATATATATATATATAT

They were warned that Corliss Bramwell was difficult, by Juturna herself. If it was possible to be diplomatic and blunt, Lady Boss found that balance. What she was telling them indirectly was that her youngest sister was a raving bitch, and that if she gave them any trouble (Corliss, not Lady-Boss), they had carte blanche ... aside from clobbering her. That privilege, Lady Boss reserved for herself. Juturna didn't ask them much in the way of personal favors, so when she did ask, they were inclined to indulge her.

Twenty minutes after meeting her, Christian Murchison was wishing he could clout her. Though a rough young man, he never struck a woman, never really wanted to strike a woman. But this woman was testing his resolve. Right now, the only thing this woman had in her favor was that she was kind to Sabrina Trevelyan when the elder Janus princess lived with Lydia Bramwell in Arizona. Unfortunately for her, she was drunk when she encountered Sassy. Christian wasn't with Janus then, but even now, the story still circulated about Juturna clouting the bitch for attacking the littlest princess.

During the last hour, since they picked her up at the airport, it hadn't ended. Over the course of just five minutes, she insulted his boss, insulted her sister, insulted the entire Janus Group, as well as their allies in the Marines. Oh. Joy. She was one of those. However, when she started in on Sabrina and Sassy, at that point, he had had enough. Attacking the adults was one thing … attacking two young girls (especially their little princess) was something entirely different. Clouting her was out of the question, but there was more than one way to skin a cat … or to silence a loud-mouthed bitch.

He murmured to his partner, "Pull over." He was rewarded with a bright smile. Evidently, his friend not only figured out what he was planning to do, but was looking forward to it. Not that this was a huge surprise. His brothers-in-arms tended to know what each other was thinking at any given time. The car was pulled off to the side, and Christian got out of the car, rounding to the backseat. As soon as the car stopped, Corliss Bramwell was screeching like a banshee, demanding to know what the hell they thought they were doing ... she wanted to see her sister and she wanted to see her sister right now! Really? The same sister she was insulting only moments earlier? That sister? This would make this even more of a pleasure for Christian.

His partner twisted in the front seat and grabbed her shoulders, and Christian nodded his approval. With her restrained, he tied her feet together ... no point in letting her kick him. Next was a gag for her mouth ... ah, blessed silence! Finally he nodded to his partner Gideon, who released the bitch's shoulders. Not surprisingly, the little harpy tried to lunge for his eyes, but Christian was more than ready for her. He grabbed her wrists and spun her around, driving her face first into the cushion. Ten seconds after that, her wrists were bound together as well, and from the front seat, Gideon observed, "Too bad we couldn't hogtie her. Buckle her in, and we'll get going again."

Christian bobbed his head agreeably, happily ignoring the fury blazing from the chit's eyes. He buckled her in, patting her head at the same time, saying, "I've never struck a woman, but I would have made an exception for you, luv. However, Lady Boss told me to restrain you by any means necessary, aside from clouting you one. She wants that pleasure for herself. After meeting you and seeing what a selfish, foul-mouthed bitch you really are, I can see why. And we tend to give Lady Boss what she asks for it, when she asks. She's not an entitled bitch like you." The girl's eyes blazed once again, but Christian ignored her.

Instead, he patted her on the head one last time, eased himself out of the car, and slammed the rear passenger door. Gideon was grinning broadly at him, observing, "Shut her up and kept your promise to Lady Boss ... nicely done! You didn't even spank her, and I don't think Lady Boss would have minded if you did that." Christian shrugged as he buckled himself up once more. Gideon checked the road and pulled out once more, now enjoying the blessed sounds of silence ... well, aside from Corliss Bramwell trying to cry out through the gag. Trying and failing.

"I didn't want to run the risk. 'Sides, after what she's said about Lady Boss and the little princesses, I thought Janus might prefer to have that option himself. Not that I think he would," Christian admitted. He just didn't see Janus wanting to soil his hands like that. Lady Boss, on the other hand? She was capable of just about anything, and said on more than one occasion that she had no issues with choosing Janus and the little princesses over the family she was born with.

"Nah. I don't think he cares enough about her to spank her. Janus is a bit old fashioned like that. He thinks you should only spank women you care about. Not that he'd ever do that to Lady Boss, but it's the principle of the thing," Gideon observed. Christian just snorted and relaxed in his seat. The next time Lady Boss saw fit to warn him about a female she knew, he would listen. Oh, he heard the stories, of course, but until he actually met Corliss Bramwell ... Well. If anything, maybe Lady Boss was just a little too nice. But that actually made sense, even as ruthless as she could be. After all, she was a self-absorbed bitch, but she was still Rowanne's little sister. And even if you didn't want it to, it still counted for something.

However, he wasn't really interested in anything to do with Corliss Bramwell. Instead, he focused on the next issue. And that, of course, was MI6. He asked his partner, "Do you know anything about the boss man's past? We know a little, but I'm more worried about these nasty-arsed bastards who are gunning for him now. Not MI6, but the ones who messed with his memories and set this whole mess into motion, although I'm not real fond of MI6, either."

"Not really," Gideon admitted quietly, with a backward glance. Christian nodded. That was true for most of them … they knew more about Juturna than they did about Janus. They could respect that … all of them could … but it made him harder to protect. Especially if Christian's suspicions about Lady Boss were correct, and he was pretty sure they were. Gideon added, "I already talked to the Yanks, and they're in as well. No one's coming near Juturna and the princesses." In the back, silence fell abruptly and Christian smiled to himself. Good. Gave her something to think about, Gideon did. 'Bout time something did.

ATATATATATATAT

"Alec, we need to talk."

With his release and Rowanne's from the clinic (as well as the Janus operatives returning to work … he really needed to talk to them about that, even though he knew they were as worried about Rowanne as he was), his wife returned to what she was doing before his confrontation with James and Janus' subsequent push to the surface. Alec was on the point of returning to watch his two daughters in the swimming pool when Kit stopped him, looking concerned. And that, along with the use of his given name, told him that he needed to listen to whatever Kit had to say. Seeing that she had his undivided attention, Kit went on, "I've already spoken to Rowanne, and told her what I'm about to tell you. It's not official, I need more time for that, but she gave me permission to tell you … since she needs to process this herself and given the circumstances of our uninvited guests."

Alec stiffened, mentally preparing himself for everything that Kit could tell him. Something was wrong with his wife … was she dying? Alec's blood ran cold at that thought. She had fainted a few nights earlier, and that wasn't like her … not when this wasn't the first time she went without sleep and real food for any length of time. He was prepared for anything … or preparing himself for anything … except what Kit actually said. Her small hand curled around his and she said softly, "Alec … Rowanne is pregnant." She … she was pregnant? She wasn't dying? The pieces slotted into place as he processed his doctor's words. His wife was pregnant. That was why she fainted.

He repeated almost dumbly, "She's pregnant? She's going to have a baby?" Kit nodded, her dark eyes never leaving his face as if gauging his reaction. How did she think he would react? Never mind that, it wasn't important. What was important was that his Rowanne was pregnant, that she was going to have a baby … his beautiful Juturna was going to make him a father again, and Alec himself felt dizzy at the revelation. Never far from the surface, Janus was whispering to him, warning what he would do anyone who harmed their Juturna or their child. And for once, Alec welcomed it, because now he understood Janus' resentment of Juturna. He didn't hate her, not really. He feared her … and now, he feared for her.

"She's about eight weeks along, if my calculations are correct. I don't need details about your sex life, so please spare me your thoughts on the conception date. She's still at a prime age for childbearing, so you don't have anything to worry about there. But Alec … if MI6 found you, then it's only a matter of time before the people who created Janus follow. Some hard decisions need to be made, not about this child, but about an alliance. I think you agree that Rowanne, the baby, and the girls will never be safe so long as those bastards are around," Kit observed. Alec understood immediately what she was saying, as well as what she wasn't.

He smirked at her a bit, asking softly, "And what of your Hippocratic Oath, Doctor? You do realize what will come next, and you did promise to do no harm." Kit rolled her eyes and swatted his elbow, and Alec continued more seriously, "I should give Rowanne more time to process this, shouldn't I? I will confess that right now, I want to wrap her in cotton, and I don't think she'll let me do that." At that, Kit did smile, dark eyes reflecting their usual mischief.

"Don't you have a meeting to get to, Janus?" Kit asked. Again, the dark twin whispered in his mind but this time, rather than fighting it, Alec listened. He was in control right now, Janus wasn't even trying to take over, but he wanted to be heard. And so, Alec listened. What Janus wanted him to do was the same thing Alec knew he had to do. He knew what it cost his dark twin to suggest such a thing. Janus sulked at him, especially after Alec noted that. But he kissed Kit's forehead, thanking her for telling him this, and then set out on his new mission.

And as he walked, he thought about the news once again. A child. He and Rowanne would have another child. Alec swallowed hard, thinking about what that meant. He missed all of Rowanne's pregnancy with Sassy. Missed seeing her grow big with his child, missed holding his daughter for the first time. But … he was receiving a second chance, and God knew he didn't deserve it. The knowledge was enough to send him to his knees, but he couldn't afford that. He had to remain standing, if he wanted to protect his wife and children. All three of them. Was Rowanne carrying a son or a daughter? Alec realized he didn't care.

It wasn't important to him. Trevelyan wasn't really his last name, so he didn't care about that. This was his child. His child and Rowanne's, and that was all that mattered. He missed his chance to be a father to Sabrina, and missed too much of Sassy's life to date. For his children, for his wife, he would do whatever he had to do. Kit was right. So long as those monsters were still around, his family would never be safe.

He lightly rapped on the door, behind which the other half of this retreated. After just a few seconds, it opened to reveal Natalya, who murmured, "Mr. Trevelyan. Please, come in." He thanked her with a smile, knowing that she would likely never feel comfortable with him … and understanding it. M and Bond looked up, exchanging a glance that Alec picked up on immediately. Natalya took a seat in one of the chairs, looking up at him curiously. They were all still recovering from the confrontation between James and Alec, and later James and Janus, including Alec himself, but this had to be done, and it had to be done.

"I want to make an alliance with you," he said quietly as William and Sebastian joined them. The younger 006 blinked in astonishment, and Alec went on, "I'm not returning to MI6. But I just learned that my Rowanne is pregnant, and so long as Orlov's minions remain, she won't be safe. My children won't be safe. And I can't have that." A glance at the MI6 agents told him that neither M nor Natalya looked surprised. Actually, come to that, neither did William or Sebastian. In fact, the old man looked like he just heard he was about to be a grandfather again. Which, now that he thought about, he was.

"Done," M answered quietly and Alec returned his attention to the current head of MI6. She nodded and repeated, "Done. I suspected that your wife was pregnant, and realized that we drew your past tormentors to your door. So long as they remain at large, you're in danger. Your entire family is in danger. We left you alone once, Alec Trevelyan … I don't believe in making the same mistake twice." For once, Janus was shocked into silence, which would have made Alec smile … but he was too relieved.

"We won't leave you, son. Not ever," William affirmed. He knew that William was speaking for himself on this last, and he smiled at his surrogate father. His eyes went next to Sebastian, who was nodding slowly, his young face reflecting only determination. He was another 006, which made them brothers. Alec always wanted a younger brother, and really, he couldn't have asked for a better one than Sebastian. It was Sebastian who put the pieces together, after all. Their fates became intertwined on the night the fourteen year old boy accompanied his father on a drive that changed both of their lives. Alec was done reacting. He was being proactive now, and it started here.

But the greatest surprise was yet to come. Another voice said quietly, "We're all in." Startled, Alec looked to his right, where James Bond sat in a chair, bare-chested and badly bruised. The older man offered a sheepish grin to both him and Charles Robinson, saying, "I never did know when to quit. But all of us … we're not leave, Alec. We're doing what we should have done, eighteen years old." His oldest friend pushed himself to his feet, swatting at Robinson when he tried to assist him to his feet. Alec exchanged a look with the other operative, and the two men rolled their eyes in unison.

"I need to speak to my people … need to let them know that from here on out, MI6 are allies, not opponents. I don't know if they'll ever trust you, but I know most of them like both Sebastian and William. That's a start," Alec answered. Janus was once more sulking, but now Alec paid him no mind, because he was in control. Janus was right. He created Janus to survive … that meant he controlled Janus. And so long as he remembered that, Janus was no threat to those he loved most. That, of course, made Janus sulk even more. Alec didn't care.

"For England, then, Alec?" James asked, holding out a hand. Alec thought about that, and then shook his head. James' face fell and his hand started to fall with it, but Alec grasped the other man's hand. Janus crowed at the surprise on 007's face … really, he could be such a child at times! Then again, he was growing accustomed to that. Alec heard both Natalya and Sebastian snicker, saw the glare James sent their way.

"Not for England, James … for family," was Alec's response. James needed only a split second to process that before nodding. His grip on Alec's hand firmed. Alec might never get his best friend and older brother back … but for now, they were allies. For Rowanne, for the baby, for Sassy and Sabrina … for family.

TBC