Chapter 41, The Weird, the Preparation and the Oblivious

I'm sorry number

1) for the ABSURDELY long gap between updates, I've been so busy it's not funny...

2)For the poor quality of this chapter. Next will be better, I promise!

The only good thing I can say about this chapter is that Alex and Erin's relationship is finally set in stone, nice and clear. Alex is so cute when he's embarassed :D

Disclaimer: Mwoo haha,I think not baby puppy

There was an extremely awkward moment where Alex and Yassen just stared at each other. Finally, when Alex thought he'd have to do something to end the tension, Yassen stirred, shaking his head slowly.

"You are nothing if not fond of guesswork." The Russian said slowly, obviously still trying to hedge. Alex glared at him.

"I'm not wrong though am I?" Alex demanded, "Look me in the eyes and tell me I'm wrong!"

Yassen muttered something indistinct and in Russian under his breath. Alex crossed his arms across his chest angrily.

"What was that?!"

Yassen looked up sharply, eyes narrowed and dangerous.

"I said you're not wrong!" The Russian snapped, "And I suggest you don't talk down to me Alex! I've gone through too much shit to be patronized by a damned fifteen year old!"

Alex ignored the threat though; the sheer enormity of what he'd discovered hit him.

"Holy…!" Alex gaped, "You loved this woman…"

"Always the tone of surprise," Yassen sighed, "Anyone would think I'm a heartless monster."

Alex was still ignoring the Russian though.

"And she's…she's…Erin's Mother?!" He shook his head, "Fucking weird…"

Yassen looked half offended, half amused.

"Well, Erin had to have come from somewhere," The Russian pointed out dryly; "I didn't just come across her in a pet shop and decided to attach the label 'Erin' and bring her home."

Alex finally absorbed something that Yassen said.

"No, the idea of Erin having a Mother isn't odd," He said, "It's the idea of you having a wife or whatever…"

Yassen must not have looked impressed, because Alex quickly forged on, aware of the hole he was digging himself.

"I mean, she would have to be an unusual woman…" He trailed off, trying to gauge Yassen's reaction. The Russian suddenly looked despondent and Alex felt like he'd said something wrong.

"I suppose you could have called Arial unusual…" Yassen muttered, more to himself then out loud. Alex picked up on the past tense.

"W-what happened to her?" Alex asked warily, uncertain how the Russian would take the question. Yassen looked up and for the first time, Alex saw a real person in there, not an expressionless blank. There was anguish in the depths and Alex felt indecent witnessing it, like he should turn away.

"What happened?" Yassen repeated slowly, "My fault… She was taken and killed."

Alex started to ask why it was the Russian's fault, but then something Matthew had said came to mind.

'…Arial's well and truly alive and she's been suffering for every little thing that you and your Father have been doing…'

"Yassen," Alex started slowly, "The MI6 agent said that Arial isn't-"

The Russian cut in, shaking his as if to ward off the rest of the sentence.

"Alex listen to me, her death was…" Yassen trailed off for a moment, considering his words very carefully, "Was terrible, more terrible then anything I've ever gone through, but I coped with it. I reached a closure, and so did Erin, bringing this up now will ruin that for her, alright? I watched what happened to Erin after her Mother's death, and it wasn't a good thing to witness. If you make her go through that again…"

Yassen didn't need to finish, Alex knew that if he disobeyed this order, the Russian would find a way to make him pay dearly. On the other hand though, Alex felt in his gut that what Matthew had said was true. It was just one more problem to deal with.

"I'm glad you and Erin escaped injury though," Yassen said, obviously referring to the warehouse, changing the subject abruptly. "You managed to get everything I needed as well, an excellent piece of luck."

The Russian brandished the phone he'd been carrying. Alex noticed that there was what looked like a circuit board soldered on near the base and the very tip of a strand of wire protruding from the top of the receptor.

"When are you going to call them?" Alex asked, pushing Arial, his sore chest and everything else from mind. Yassen shrugged.

"No time like the present."

"Of course not…" Alex sighed wearily, "I guess I'm making the call?"

Yassen laughed humourlessly.

"Last time I checked, they liked you better."

Alex took the phone.

"You're sure that this can't be traced?"

Yassen just gave him a flat stare.

"Alright, alright," Alex muttered, demon dialling the number, "Just asking."

Yassen nodded.

"Make sure it's on speaker phone."

There was none of the awkwardness of the last call; Alex knew exactly what he was going to say this time.

"Mrs Jones?"

"Alex! We wondered when we'd hear from you again." The MI6 woman was trying to sound friendly, but Alex was seeing Jack's death over and over again in his mind. He felt a black fury churn in his gut.

"Don't bother with that crap," He growled, "I'm not putting up with it. I'm just calling to say that whatever it is that you need, we'll do it."

"Alex, you don't know how good-"

"But," Alex interrupted, "We do it our way, understand? You let us out of the country and make sure that we're not bothered in Spain either."

Mrs. Jones' voice was cold.

"I don't know if I have the authority to ensure that your conditions are met."

"Then we don't have a deal, do we?" Alex asked pleasantly, "Goodbye Mrs. Jones."

Then, just before Alex pressed end call, Mrs. Jones gave in.

"No no, wait! Alex, are you there?!"

Alex smiled grimly at Yassen and put the phone back to his ear.

"I'm sorry, have you changed your mind then?" Alex asked, still sounding polite. "I hope so for a lot of people's sakes."

Mrs. Jones sounded angry, but the woman knew she was backed into a corner.

"Alright!" She cried, "You win, you do whatever it takes! There won't be any MI6 or any other interference. We won't tell our counterparts in Spain that you're coming, so provided you keep a low profile, you shouldn't be bothered there either."

Alex's smile was genuine this time.

"Excellent, you're making the right decision here."

Mrs. Jones wasn't through though.

"There's a catch though," she said warily, "a necessary one."

Alex frowned at the phone.

"Necessary?" He repeated dangerously, "I don't take catches into consideration if the deal is going to work…"

Mrs. Jones sounded a little desperate.

"No, it's strictly necessary! You and Erin don't have passports or visas do you?"

Alex narrowed his eyes.

"How would you know that?" He asked suspiciously.

"Both of you left your documentation in Poland. We seized them and never gave them back."

Alex cursed under his breath. They could get new passports, but that would take a lot of time. Even if Yassen got them fake documentation, it would still be a time consuming process.

"So what are you trying to offer here?" Alex asked wearily.

"We can arrange for someone to meet you and return-"

"Absolutely not." Alex cut in, "No meetings, I don't particularly feel like being doublecrossed."

Mrs. Jones voice was layered in fake offence.

"Doublecrossed?" She repeated, sounding politely puzzled, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Alex's expression was icy as he spoke into the phone.

"Tell me Mrs. Jones," He said slowly, "Have you found Matthew McWilliams yet?"

There was a pause as Mrs. Jones considered what her reply would be.

"You know his name? How?"

Alex glanced at the small, laminated card on a nearby counter.

"We took his driver's licence from his body."

Mrs. Jones seemed momentarily stunned.

"His…"

"-Body, that's right," Alex finished for her, "Consider it a warning against messing around with us. It's the first and final warning."

There was another pause and when Mrs. Jones spoke again, she sounded sad. It was almost believable. Almost, but not quite. Her words were too measured, too rehearsed.

"Alex, this isn't you! I know you felt like you had to stop Yassen from being harmed in Poland, but he's a dangerous man! Staying with him has turned you-"

"-Into exactly what staying with MI6 would have done. It's just a faster process, and I have the added bonus of having someone who actually cares whether I live or die taking care of me."

"On your own head may that be." Mrs. Jones hissed, "We'll leave you and Erin's passports at the airport for you to fly to Madrid in three days."

The line went dead as Mrs. Jones hung up and Alex did likewise, shaking his head and feeling tired as he put the phone down.

Yassen was watching him closely and Alex was too tired to take the scrutiny with any sort of grace.

"What?" He demanded.

Yassen shook his head slowly, an unreadable expression on his face.

"I'm not much better then MI6 really." The Russian said, sounding almost angry. Alex bit his bottom lip; he realized that Yassen had taken what he'd said to Mrs. Jones the wrong way.

"I didn't mean that you were doing the same thing as MI6," Alex sighed wearily, wishing he could just take a shower and then sleep, "Because you're not, I've had every chance to say no to all of this, it was my choice to stay. If it had of been MI6, I wouldn't have had that choice. I still have to do things that I never would have wanted to though. That's what I meant when I said that I was turning into the exact same thing as what I would've if I'd stayed with MI6."

Yassen seemed to think about what Alex said.

"I'd like to be able to say that you don't have to do things you don't want to, that you don't have to do things that Erin or I do, but I don't think that's a viable option anymore." The Russian said, almost regretfully, "It's gotten to the point where it's kill or be killed. I need to know whether or not you can cope with that?"

Alex didn't hesitate in replying, he'd known the answer for awhile now. It was a painful answer, but the truthful one never the less.

"I won't take any joy in it, and I won't be immune to it the way you are, but if I have to kill someone…" Alex paused and seemed to draw on some deep buried strength, "But if I have to kill, I'll do it. I won't choke or freeze up, I'll do it."

Yassen gave a slow nod.

"That should be enough. Go have a shower and then get some sleep, the next couple of days are going to be busy."

Alex smiled thankfully and half limped away. Yassen watched him go, deep in thought.

'Immune…He thinks I'm immune?'

Alex was exhausted; he didn't know how he managed to get the shower on without either burning or freezing himself.

As it was, he was sure that the warm, soothing water was going to lull him to sleep. Only the thought of how embarrassing it would be if someone had to come wake him up in the shower prevented him from simply dozing off.

Yawning widely (and then spluttering like a turkey in the rain when his mouth filled with water), Alex managed to wash himself before stumbling out of the shower. Five minutes later, warmly dressed, he walked into the bedroom he was sleeping in.

Erin was sitting cross legged on one of the beds. She looked up from the book she was reading and raised a brow when Alex collapsed wearily on the twin bed next to hers.

"You didn't knock." Erin said good humouredly, "How rude."

Alex rolled onto his side and stared at the blonde girl.

"We're over our little freak-out then?"

Erin scowled.

"I was right up until then." She growled, "I have to talk to you about that."

Alex buried his face in his pillow. It masked the sound of his groan.

"Can't the important, meaningful conversations wait until I've had at least 10 hours sleep?"

Erin looked annoyed.

"No, because chances are I won't remember or I'll be too nervous." She said with an air of stretching patience, "I'll be quick, alright?"

Alex managed to sit up; although his aching body did it's best to protest.

"Alright, shoot."

Erin bit her bottom lip, and then begun.

"Look, I know I acted like a complete and utter-"

"-Maniac who probably is a danger to all that is sane?" Alex finished. Erin glared at him.

"I was going to say bitch actually." Erin muttered, "But I suppose you're right too."

Alex looked smug and Erin crossed her arms across her chest.

"Can I finish please?" She asked frostily. Alex grinned.

"By all means, continue," He said pleasantly, "This is actually quite a breakthrough for you."

Erin struggled against the urge to hit Alex for a minute. Then, she took a deep breath in and went on.

"The thing is, you stumbled on something that I'd been hiding for a long time-"

"-Your Mother?" Alex cut in. Erin shot him a look, obviously irritated at being interrupted.

"Yes," She said warily, "How'd you know? Did Father tell you?"

Alex shrugged.

"He wasn't going to, but I figured it out. To be honest, it was sort of obvious. I'm just embarrassed I didn't figure it out before."

Erin nodded grimly.

"Well, the thing is, I don't like people knowing because it's hard for me, alright?" She paused and Alex felt bad for her. "Talking about her doesn't bring her back, and it just hurts to know that and still hear people mentioning her anyway. That's why I was so angry, because I was coping fine and then Matthew brought it up and then you started asking questions…"

Alex felt awkward.

"Sorry, if I had of known…" He trailed off, not quite sure how to finish. Erin shrugged.

"Well, that's just it, you didn't know." She said reasonably, "So that made my behaviour all the more repugnant. I was well and truly pissed off at you when I had absolutely no right to be. I'm truly sorry for that, I can't believe I actually went after you like that."

Alex smiled faintly.

"You're not half bad when you're concentrating on being nice," He said teasingly, "And I accept your apology. As for your little stunt with the knife...Well, I'm not bleeding to death right now, so I figure that's forgivable as well."

Erin looked a little embarrassed.

"Thanks."

Alex suddenly had a thought.

"Are you still pissed off at me?" He asked lightly, "Because if you are, I might just start carrying a taser for protection or maybe a baton-"

The rest of his words were cut off by the pillow that Erin sent flying at him.

"No I'm not pissed off anymore, just relieved," She laughed, "And that's not funny about self-protection! I'm not that bad…"

Alex stared flatly at her.

"You know what?" Erin muttered, "I'm suddenly very tired."

Alex smirked as Erin turned over onto her side. He flicked the lamp off.

Then, there was a voice in the dark.

"Alex?"

"Yes?"

"Can I have my pillow back?"

Alex wasn't sure what woke him the next morning. The clock read 9am, so he figured it was habit that caused him to wake up despite his resolution to sleep in as late as possible.

Not one to lie in bed wasting time, Alex rolled out of bed and shambled into the main area of the apartment, yawning and wondering how much coffee it was going to take to get him feeling like he was able to function properly.

What he didn't expect was to walk maybe five steps into the living room and then have something heavy suddenly fly at him. Instinctively, Alex reached out to catch it. He managed to grab it from the air successfully, but the agony that suddenly flared into life in his chest when the strain of the object registered caused him to drop it promptly. It crashed to the wooden floor loudly.

Feeling almost winded, Alex slumped against the wall rubbing his chest and breathing in and out weakly.

Yassen stood in front of him, shaking his head.

"Of course, it would have to be your idea to throw things at me when I'm barely awake." Alex muttered, wincing at how much just that sentence cost him.

"I warned you that I was going to potentially put you through PT." Yassen said reasonably, picking up what he'd thrown at Alex. It turned out to be a small dumbbell, probably from a set of free weights.

"Yes, but that hurt, a lot!" Alex growled, "And you could have waited until I'd at least managed to wake up properly."

Yassen didn't look bothered by Alex's annoyance.

"Things are going to be hard from here on," The Russian said calmly, "It's going to be very dangerous and I need to know what sort of shape you're in. That just tested your reflexes and how effective what little PT you had was."

Interested in spite of himself, Alex stood up properly.

"And?"

Yassen shrugged.

"Your reflexes are fine, but I expected that. You don't survive madmen, the Chinese Triads and Scorpia if your reflexes aren't up to the challenge. It's your reaction once you'd caught the weight that bothered me, you said it caused you pain?"

Alex nodded reluctantly.

"Yes, my chest suddenly hurt badly. It was like I was just out of surgery again; it was too much strain to hold onto the weight."

Yassen thought about it for a minute.

"You're not really that badly off, I'd say that your near exhaustion was the main culprit."

Alex guessed that made sense.

"It isn't always this bad."

"After an injury of that magnitude, I'd say that you need to take even better care of yourself then normal; regular exercise and a lot less stress. You've gotten the exercise, I've no doubt about that, but from what I know, you haven't had the chance to relax, have you?"

Alex laughed shortly.

"Between being shot at and struggling to pass all my classes? Not really."

Yassen looked thoughtful.

"Well, I can't do much, but I can suggest that you set yourself a set of stretches and exercises for each day. Beyond that, I'd just suggest that you don't push yourself past what you think you can handle; there's always a chance of relapse with these sorts of injuries."

Alex noticed Erin smirking at him from behind Yassen's back. The Russian followed Alex's line of sight and caught sight of his daughter.

"You're next."

Erin's face fell; she had always been uncomfortable with people's attention on her.

"I've been feeling fine." She insisted, "Absolutely fine!"

Yassen wasn't convinced.

"Are you wearing anything underneath that jacket?"

Erin nodded sullenly.

"A tank top."

Yassen nodded.

"Take your jacket off, I want to see what your wound is like."

Erin did so, wincing.

MI6 had attended to her efficiently whilst she and Alex had been captured by them, but it still wasn't pretty.

The actual wound was covered by gauze, but Alex could see what looked like the worst bruising he'd ever seen extending from beneath the edges of the gauze. Yassen looked pensive.

"I presume it still hurts," He said, "I'm going to have a closer look."

Alex watched with a detached sort of interest that bordered on faint nausea as Yassen gently peeled the gauze back. Erin winced and let a slight hiss escape through clenched teeth.

The bullet hole was very round and smaller then Alex expected. However, the bruising became darker and redder was it came to closer to the wound. Alex couldn't help but cringe slightly at the raw, tender look to the flesh inside the bullet hole itself.

"Well, it's not infected," Yassen told Erin, "But it's going to be very painful for awhile longer."

Erin looked somewhat relieved.

"I've seen what happens when a bullet wound gets infected," she explained to Alex as Yassen replaced the gauze over the wound, "I was sick I think."

Yassen snorted.

"You think?" He repeated, "You refused to eat for two days straight."

Alex raised a brow and glanced at Erin.

"You're not prone to overreacting at all then?"

Erin wrinkled her nose.

"I couldn't help it, every time I even looked at food, my stomach felt horrible."

Alex gave a noncommittal sort of grunt in response and tried to push the sight of the wound from mind.

"We're leaving in three days Erin," Yassen said. The Russian sounded like he was trying to gauge his daughter's reaction.

Erin didn't look particularly happy, but she hid it fairly well in a quick shrug. Alex noticed the tightness in her eyes.

"Ok, what's happening with the passports?" She asked.

Yassen looked up from where he was watching the news.

"Alex?"

"They're being left for us at the airport; Mrs. Jones and I had a little chat." Alex explained distractedly, trying to find the coffee.

"In the plastic tub by the toaster," Yassen told him, somehow answering Alex's unspoken question, "And there's a spoon in the tub already."

Alex nodded his thanks and upon discovering the tub, spooned at least four spoonfuls of the coffee into his mug.

"What happens when we go to Madrid?" Erin asked, breaking the sudden silence that had enveloped the apartment.

"We deal with Liberty." Yassen replied, sounding distant. He was watching a story that seemed to be about the American president being accused of corruption.

"As simple as that?" Erin didn't sound impressed.

"As simple as that." Yassen agreed dryly, "Do you really think I have every single thing planned out at this stage?"

Erin shrugged.

"It'd be nice to know you have something planned."

"Like not getting killed the instant we land in Spain." Alex chimed in, drinking his coffee with more gusto then what was strictly required.

Yassen sighed.

"We check ourselves into a hotel where an acquaintance of mine is staying. They give us new identities because Liberty all but controls Madrid at present, they'll find us straight away if we go by our real names. Once we're disguised, we'll do a recon of the Liberty HQ and decide on a further course of action from there. Are you satisfied now?"

Alex considered it for a moment.

"Alright," he said, "But I have a few questions."

Yassen laughed shortly.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"Firstly, who's your contact?" Alex asked, "Liberty didn't turn out to be trustworthy, so how do you know that this guy is?"

"She," Yassen said pointedly, "Is extremely reliable. I'd trust her with my life. I trusted her with Erin's for a couple of years."

Erin perked up suddenly.

"We're going to see Claudia?" She asked excitedly.

Yassen nodded and Alex noticed a small smile hidden in his expression.

"Yes, I thought you might like to see her again. Besides, she's in Madrid at the moment on an assignment. She told me she'd be finished by tomorrow at the very latest and would have no problem meeting with us."

"Who's Claudia?" Alex asked, feeling like his questions were piling into a mountain he'd never get through.

"Claudia is an old friend of mine who took care of Erin for about two years." Yassen said, sounding slightly stiff, like it was a matter that he was treading carefully around. Alex could hear the catch in the Russian's voice that suggested that Yassen was editing the full story to why Erin went and lived with Claudia in the first place. "I think that Erin much preferred living with Claudia then me."

Erin nodded happily in a teasing manner.

"Oh yes, with Claudia there was no curfew, no chores-"

"Because Claudia's house-staff did everything for you." Yassen muttered sourly, obviously not impressed.

"-No rules!" Erin reminisced, ignoring the interruption, "You wouldn't believe the things I did when I lived with Claudia!"

Yassen laughed dryly.

"I think I would believe it. Why'd you and Ricardo break up?"

Erin froze.

"How do you know about my ex-boyfr….?" She stopped suddenly, biting off the end of the word. Erin glanced at Alex for a second before her attention zoomed in on her Father.

"You kept tabs on me?!" She gaped, "No!"

Yassen nodded blithely, obviously enjoying his daughter's horrified disbelief.

"Yes," He nodded, "I did. I'm your father; I wasn't going to pretend you didn't exist."

Erin looked devastated.

"The drag racing holidays?"

"One of the competitors who beat you was a Scorpia contact of mine."

Erin tried again.

"The Mexico City turf wars I fought in?"

"Knew about them too Erin."

"The drunken bonfire parties in the Copper Canyon Region where I got stoned beyond belief?" Erin implored.

Yassen's face went cold.

"The what?" He demanded through suddenly clenched teeth.

Erin quickly shook her head.

"Nothing." She seemed a little satisfied by the fact there was at least one thing she had secret from Yassen.

Yassen seemed either too furious to reply or just indifferent.

Alex stood rooted to where he stood, mouth open in shock. Erin glanced at him.

"Oh come on Alex," She laughed, "You can't seriously think I'd be a goodie two shoes who's idea of fun is a nature documentary?"

Alex shook his head.

"Not that…the other part."

Erin looked blank.

"What other part?" Then, her expression cleared only to make way for a pale, pink blush. "Oh," She groaned, "Ricardo?"

Yassen laughed wryly and shook his head.

"This is one conversation I do not need to be involved in," He said in amusement, "I'm going to have another word with Claudia."

Waiting until Yassen was out of earshot, Alex rounded on Erin.

"Who's Ricardo?!" He demanded.

Erin glared at him through narrowed eyes.

"Why are you asking?"

Alex backed off quickly, coughing awkwardly.

"No reason," he muttered, trying to ignore the stab of jealousy he felt, "Just asking."

Erin smirked.

"Like hell you are. You're jealous because of my ex-boyfriend!"

Alex only just bit back a childish 'am not'.

"No, I'm not," He said slowly, "I was just asking."

Erin's expression became serious and oddly uncertain at the same time.

"Alex, please don't lie, you are jealous."

Alex half shrugged and swallowed dryly.

"Okay, maybe I am a little. Can you blame me?" Alex was surprised by how hard the words were. He'd faced down homicidal maniacs, dodged bullets and saved the world and he couldn't even say what he really wanted to a girl his own age!

Erin fidgeted awkwardly.

"It depends," She said nervously, "On what your…interest in me is."

Alex inwardly groaned, Erin was going to extract the truth from him, bit by gut wrenching bit. He figured getting it out all at once might be best.

"Alright," he sighed, "I get it. Erin, at the risk of either sounding clichéd or getting slapped by you, I want to be your boyfriend. Does that work for you?"

Erin raised a brow in quizzical amusement.

"Yes?"

Alex released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Thank God," He said, "I couldn't have gone through that again."

Erin laughed.

"You know," she said, half giggling, "You were already my boyfriend."

Alex felt like throttling her.

"I was…?" He struggled to find the words, "Oh."

Erin grinned evilly and leaned forward to kiss Alex.

"For a teenage spy, you're surprisingly oblivious."

Alex blinked in surprise and managed to kiss Erin back.

"I am?"

Erin nodded sagely.

"You should have guessed from earlier on. If you weren't my boyfriend, I would have cracked your ribs for putting your arm around me and going all possessive in front of those idiots at the takeout place."

Alex wasn't sure what to say to that. Erin laughed again at his expression.

"Alex Oblivious Rider." She cackled.

Alex winced a little. He really hoped he didn't live up to the nickname in Madrid, when the stakes were slightly higher.

Wince I know, I know. Crapola. Still, the next chappie will have their trip to Madrid and the meeting with Claudia.

1)Trust me, there is NO romance involving Claudia and any of the main characters. As you'll see Claudia is not what you call the 'relationship' type. That said, should Claudia have a place in the story, or should she appear briefly before being forgotten?

2)K Unit are about to added to the mix. What would you like to see from our favourite SAS unit? Specifics according to each individual (What you want from Snake, what you want from Wolf etc.).

3)If you're interested in creating Alex and Erin's false identites (that they'll be using in Madrid), give me some details and I'll see what I can do :)

Anyway, love, hugs, and sometimes drugs, thanks for reading!

TTFN from vampassassin