Work Text:
Alex was angry. Fox was in the hospital. Alex had managed to threaten, er, convince, Crawley into telling him where Fox was. Crawley was shockingly malleable, now that Alex thought about it. That was unimportant for the moment, though. Fox looked surprised to see him. “Hello, Cub.”
Alex was feeling much fonder of the man now that he had taken a bullet for him and all. “Fox.”
Alex sat down in the hospital chair. It broke on him. Fox’s eyes widened at the stream of swears that exited Alex’s mouth. “Are you okay, Cub?”
Alex got up and looked at the man. “Bruh, you’re in bed with a new involuntary chest piercing and you’re asking if I’m okay?”
Fox reddened slightly. “I think Jones would murder me if her precious golden boy got bruises under my supervision.”
Alex rolled his eyes. “Uh, huh. One of us can walk unassisted and it’s not you.”
Fox flipped him off. “Wanker.”
Alex smirked. “Oh, but you love me anyway, Foxy.”
Fox’s eye twitched. “I thought you said you didn’t hear Eagle.”
Alex grinned. “I lied.”
Fox put his pillow over his face and groaned. Alex chuckled and dropped the chocolate he’d smuggled in. “Cheers, Fox.”
Fox tried to yell something at his back, but Alex was already beginning to focus on other things. Fox hadn’t deserved this. And he was the second person to take a bullet for Alex. His fingers found the scar on his chest involuntarily. Fox...Fox wasn’t so bad in the end. Plus, he’d been Alex’s favorite for the whole squad, in terms of how they’d treated him. There was burning anger at Ethan Brooke in his mind. Yes, let’s send a child into a human trafficking ring with a possible double agent. What could possibly go wrong? Alex had almost had his organs torn out of him for Winston Yu’s sick games. He was glad Ash was dead. The only thing he regretted is not causing the man to suffer longer. Then again, Yassen’s nasty strike would have had him in pain every day. He was struck by a sudden inspiration. Alex had been to Malagasto. He was a trained assassin. Ethan Brooke was going down no matter what it took. They had about a week before their plane tickets would expire. Alex had the perfect person to call. The phone was in his hand before he knew what happened. “Crawley?”
The man sounded almost afraid. “Yes, Agent Rider?”
Alex felt a smirk appear. “If I ask you to transport a coffin, no questions asked, to my house, would you do it?”
There was a long pause. It sounded like Crawley was muttering some unflattering things about the rest of his family. “Yes, fine, when and where is your damn coffin going to be?”
Alex blinked. “There’s a cemetery near here. Three days.”
He heard Crawley groan. “Is there a problem, John?”
Crawley swore in the background. “No, no problem at all, you walking organizational nightmare. Do you want anything else? Should I bring a pizza and some cola?”
Alex snorted. “Nah, it’ll be a little late for caffeine, Crawls.”
Crawley sighed into the phone this time. “What is this about, anyway?”
Alex rolled his eyes. “SCORPIA and revenge, Crawley.”
Crawley sighed. “You do know we’re finally raiding them and their little school, right?”
Alex scowled. “I don’t care. And, Crawley?”
Crawley grunted. “Yes?”
Alex made sure his voice tightened. “Nobody hears about this, understand?”
Crawley let out a sound that sounded like a moan. “Yes, Agent Rider.”
Alex hung up without replying.
Crawley wanted to cry every time Alex “asked” him for assistance or Jones needed him to write “just one more file before we send him to training on how to write them”. Crawley had to try pretty hard not to snort at this point. They’d pulled the same bullshit with Ian for fifteen years . Crawley wasn’t going to hold his breath on this one, especially given the number of English classes Alex had missed by this point. He was running pretty thin on random murder excuses. Would anyone notice if he started recycling Ian excuses? Probably not, but he wasn’t going to risk it with those bitchy motherfuckers in Internal Affairs. There was no way in hell all of those deaths were accidents. “He ran into my snowmobile.” Well, shouldn’t you be dead then, Alex? Alex had said something about jumping off before said collision, but Crawley was deeply suspicious. He was shocked Jones even pretended to buy “Winston Yu’s bones all shattered due to a shockwave and brittle bone disease”. I mean, really, this woman went to Cambridge. Also, Alex just happened to be alone in a room with his squadmate, an MI6 traitor who caused his parents’ death, and a man who tried to kill him and his enemies “just happened” to die then or very soon after. Riiight, sure Alex, whatever you say Alex. Did Alex have any idea how hard writing that plausibly sounded? No, of course not. How was he going to BS this? Prisoner transport? Paying and meeting a fake informant? Crawley sighed and decided to get through his long night of hideously misleading paperwork. It was going to be so much fun. Not. Had he mentioned how much fucking work this was? What had he even gotten involved in the shitshow called the Rider family again , anyway? You would think he would know better, between John and Ian. But, noooo. He just had to look into Alex’s eyes and get all sentimental. Goddamn it, he was a fucking sucker. Crawley heard his phone ring. Oh, goody, it was Jones. “Yes?”
The woman’s voice came out slightly tartly. “Is everything arranged?”
Crawley sighed. “Yes, of course. Agent Rider gave me his verbal report. The details will be on your desk tomorrow.”
Jones seemed to be in the mood to complain. “The nerve of them! They didn’t even bloody ask us before they borrowed our agent!” Crawley rolled his eyes and made yapping motions with his hands. Jones continued. “Brooke and his sheer fucking audacity! And he brought Howell into this! Imagine what he did to Alex’s opinion of us!”
Crawley was fairly certain Alex’s opinion of MI6 could not have gotten lower and that Alex was dealing with offshoots of SCORPIA behind Jones’ back, but was not about to say anything or get in the middle of that little shit show. This was what happened when you didn’t pay your agents and they were murdering sociopathic little terds. Crawley sighed and placed his half of the call on mute so she wouldn’t hear him filling out paperwork while she ranted. He didn’t have time for any of this bullshit.
Alex had another, riskier phone call to make. He hadn’t exactly reached out to Doctor Three, but he felt the man was his best bet at not being shot on site. There was also the very slim chance MI6 might catch him, but Alex doubted it, especially after that little Howell debacle. Ding. Dong. Time to pay for your mistakes. Alex punched the number into his phone with slightly more force than necessary. “Hello?”
It was Gordon who picked up the phone. Alex inhaled. “One, your number is up. They’re coming for you now that they have evidence. Two, tell Henry I want to meet him.”
Alex held his breath. “Alex?”
Alex sighed. “Run. All of you need to run.”
Gordon inhaled. “I understand. Are you sure about this?”
Alex sighed. “I wouldn’t call if I wasn’t.”
Henry was a codename for Doctor Three. It probably had something to do with one of his codenames, but Alex always thought of Henry the Eighth. Alex was sure the man wasn’t above beheading people. Gordon sighed and then hung up on him. Alex didn’t take it personally. He’d dropped a bomb on that lot. Plus, it was standard procedure. Alex hoped that all the teachers got out. He liked them. Besides, he fucking wished MI6 would go after, oh, the board, maybe? Sure, target the middlemen. That’ll fix your problem. Not. Also, even Yermalov was more charming than most of them. Alex sighed as he walked back to his temporary housing. Jack would be waiting.
Alex knew the hardest part of this would be a tranquilizer and getting Brooke to meet him. The second part shouldn’t be too hard. The man would probably meet him in Howell’s old house for more information on Howell’s treachery. Alex almost snorted. This would be too easy. Ash hadn’t even been all that subtle. Alex knew that maybe he was judging people too hard, but he was in no mood for being nice. Brooke’s mistake had almost gotten him killed. Plus, he’d figured out Ash was a traitor after one fucking mission. Albeit, it had turned out to be a fairly critical one. Alex walked into the night. There were several places he could check for these sorts of materials before trying his luck with the local drug dealer. Ash had a house and Alex would eat his shoes if the man hadn’t kept some sort of escape kit on hand. It was a SCORPIA policy. Unlike MI6 policy, people tended to follow them, mostly due to the high mortality rate of those who broke too many rules. Alex paused to glance around for people before going to the place. Alex was going to get as much as he could from the man’s house. If ASIS had people on the place, Alex figured it would only add to his story that he’d found something they missed. Alex paused before opening the door. He was surprised that he hadn’t needed any of the B&E tools he’d brought with him, but, oh, well. Alex closed the door behind him. ASIS seemed to have removed all the personal effects, but there was still furniture, paintings, and a few other places he could search that they might have missed. Alex almost rolled his eyes as he unscrewed the dining room table legs and found something in all of them. Oh, come on. This was such a basic bitch hiding spot. If Alex was feeling nice, he might mail ASIS the files and a note if he made it to eighteen. Alex proceeded to case and put together the house. Oh, for fuck’s sake. Alex found two full files behind a giant painting. What a bunch of losers. Overall, Alex found nearly twenty complete files around the house. It seemed to be about half personnel files and half everything else. Alex stuck all of them in his backpack. Now to find the kit. Alex glanced around. There was a glass sliding leading to a porch and a grill. Alex paused. Grill? Ash couldn’t eat most different kinds of meat that would go on that thing. Alex opened the glass door, careful not to make a sound. Alex slid the rusty thing open. Sure enough, sitting on the never-used grill rack, there was a box. He went back inside before opening it up. Alex found a bunch of tranquilizer pens, a passport with a fake name, several tens of thousands of Australian dollars, a gun and extra clip, and several vials of poison that were neatly labeled. Alex was surprised to find that amount of money but wasn’t going to question it. He left the gun but took everything else. As far as he was concerned, Ash owed him for the whole “betrayed my parents to their death” and the whole “tried to betray me to my death” deals. Alex decided to search the bedroom. It had a small disguise kit from Malagasto. Alex smiled slightly before slipping the kit into his bag. Alex also found a locket inside the disguise kit. There was a picture inside. Alex recognized a much younger Ian, Ash, his dad, his mother. They looked so happy in the picture. Alex felt a pang before slipping the heavy locket around his neck. It was only then that he realized that Ian had never shown him pictures of his mum or dad. Alex sighed and rose. There was no point in dwelling on the past.
Luring Ethan Brooke to Howell’s old house had been hilariously easy. Brooke hadn’t even brought more than one guard. Alex sighed and resigned himself to using the extra tranquilizers to off her in the most painless way possible. “Alex.”
Alex blinked. “Yes. Right.” Alex stepped toward the man, brushing up against his assistant. The pens had been surprisingly easy to swap the tranquilizers for the poison. The assistant would drop dead in about ten minutes, give or take. “I got the idea from something Yu said before he died.”
Brooke arched a brow. “Oh?”
Alex shrugged. “Well, he did the usual villain rant. But there was something off, so I came back here to search the place.”
Alex was looking for an opening to touch the man. Brooke shrugged. “So, what did you find?”
Alex whipped out five files and moved towards Brooke. Alex made sure to accidentally trip and give the man a papercut while hitting him with the tranquilizer pen. Alex grunted. “Sorry, Mr. Brooke. Growth spurt, you know.”
The man chuckled. Alex was going to take full advantage of the fact that the man was blind. His assistant had about six more minutes. “It happens, Alex.”
Alex shrugged. “Right, I found some of your people’s files in the house. Yu mentioned that some of Ash’s previous coworkers had died.”
Brooke sighed. “I guess you think we’re a bunch of fools, huh?”
Alex sighed. “Maybe a little bit. I mean, how many of your agents have to die before you get suspicious?”
Brooke arched a brow. “You have to understand, Ash was very careful up until recently. His partners’ and fellow agents’ deaths were well within our averages. There wasn’t any reason to be suspicious.”
Alex sighed. “Was the apartment not enough of a hint?”
Brooke blinked. “What about it?”
Alex sighed. “The furniture was mahogany.”
Brooke sighed. “Look, Alex, I’m sorry we didn’t quite see it before, but you can rest assured there will be a full investigation.”
A look at the assistant told Alex she was about to cry out. Alex silently rose and covered her mouth with one hand. Pinning her into stillness with the other. Alex retorted. “I would certainly hope so, Mr. Brooke.”
The woman’s heart was pounding almost as hard as his own. “I also found an escape box in his grill. You lot did know that he couldn’t eat grilled food, right?”
Brooke sighed. Alex knew he was being a rude fuck. The woman’s heart was beginning to slow. “Alex.”
Alex huffed. “Sorry, I was nearly torn apart and sold for spare organs, you know.”
Alex lowered the unconscious and soon to be dead woman to the ground and moved slowly and silently towards Brooke. “I do have a question, Alex.”
Alex moved directly behind the man. “Oh?”
Brooke sighed. “Where did Ms. Pines go?”
Alex jammed the second tranquilizer pen into the man’s neck. “Well, you see. Brooke. She’s dead and you're coming with me.”
The man was already out. Alex sighed and put a bag over his head. Best not to have Crawley ask him loads of questions. A few shoves into his trunk later, and Brooke was secured. He’d rigged the trunk to not open on its own from the inside. Just in case. Alex had also decided to burn Ash’s old house down. Some accelerant and a lighter late had the house crackling merrily in short order. Alex cheerfully hummed as he drove to the graveyard to meet up with his coffin and Crawley.
Alex got back to his house a few hours before his coffin. Alex knew that Jack always took super long showers and a nap after they traveled. That left him with plenty of time to switch Ethan Brooke from a coffin to Ian’s car. Incidentally, he did know how to drive, he just couldn’t do it legally. Crawley rang the doorbell like a good, polite British man. Alex threw open the door. Crawley glared at him. “I hate you sometimes, you know.”
Alex grinned and did a playful hair flip. “Now, now, that means you love me sometimes.”
Crawley put his face in his hands and groaned. “Where do you want your godforsaken coffin?”
Alex grinned. “The garage will do nicely.”
Crawley sighed. “You could have bloody warned me it was live cargo.”
Alex grinned. “Blunt could have bloody warned me about my dad being in SCORPIA, but where would be the fun in that?”
Crawley muttered something about power plays not being sexy on people under thirty. “You did keep him alive and sedated, right?”
Crawley glared at Alex. “Yes, of course, we’re not incompetent. Unlike the Australians.”
Alex grinned. “Good. Good.”
Crawley sighed. “We also fed him intravenously.”
Alex shrugged. “That’s good.”
Crawley hovered. “Are you going to tell me who this is?”
Alex walked up to Crawley and slung an arm around his neck. “Now, now. That’s asking for trouble, Crawls.”
Crawley blanched. “Right, doesn’t matter. Never mind.”
Alex grinned. “There’s the Crawley I know and love.”
Crawley muttered something about eerie resemblances. “What are you going to do with him?”
Alex sighed. “What do you think, Crawley?”
Crawley seemed to turn even paler. Alex gently patted the man. “Don’t worry, Ian left me his entire collection of books on disembowelment. There won’t be any evidence. Or sobbing people on the news.”
Crawley sighed. “Right, right. If you do have any problems, let me know. It’s better to cover it up before it hits the news, yeah?”
Alex grinned. “Crawls, do I seem like the kind of man who leaves evidence or people behind?”
Crawley eyed him. “Well, no.”
Alex spread his arms. “Exactly, now shoo. I have SCORPIA things to do.”
Crawley turned to leave. “Is there any chance you’ll bring the bosses in?”
Alex gave the man a look. “Crawley, Crawley, Crawley. After what they did? After what they didn’t do? Would you?”
Crawley exhaled. “I guess not.”
Then, he left Alex alone with his coffin.
Doctor Three was punctual, as always. He hadn’t been late for a meeting in his entire life, let alone an interesting one. His security team had heavily objected to the meeting, but he knew that Alex Rider kept any and all promises he made. Alex had said they would be safe enough, so he’d decided on the four guards he trusted not to report to his fellow board members. Alex was surprised that Three came to a shady parking lot meeting in the middle of the night himself, but wasn’t about to complain. “Evening, Doc.” The man looked at him expectantly. “Right. I want immunity.”
The man sighed. “I cannot guarantee anything regarding my colleagues.”
Alex kept his tone respectful. Barely. “Not from the Board, from you.”
The man’s gaze sharpened. “Why me?”
At least he was no longer wasting time on the “harmless old man” act. Harmless, his ass. “I consider you the greatest threat of all of them.”
Three looked almost...flattered. “And what are you planning on giving me in return?”
Alex grinned. “Ethan Brooke.”
The man froze for half a second. “Really, now?”
Alex grinned and went towards his car. “Try not to have a heart attack, Doc.” The man’s eyes narrowed. Alex opened the trunk and unceremoniously dumped an unconscious Ethan Brooke on the ground. “Yes, really. He’s got a slight concussion, but not much else.”
The man had a second of genuine shock on his face. “Done.”
Alex shrugged. “Okay, cool.”
He got back in his car and drove off. Three had rarely been surprised like this. Then again, you never really knew with Alex. He’d even forgive Alex’s crack about heart attacks. The audacity . The daring . Three had his assistants hauling a still unconscious Ethan Broke to his car. He was going to enjoy this. Most others would have tried to negotiate with Kurst. Alex had the sense to know the man would likely hold enough of a grudge to shoot him on site. Three waited until he safely entered the car with his assistants before allowing himself a small laugh. He would like another meeting with Alex soon. Brooke had angered him to the point of being dumped on any enemy’s doorstep. Three wasn’t entirely sure he believed Alex's mission reports about all those reports being accidents. He privately hoped that Kurst managed to do something stupid enough to get on Alex’s radar. People tended not to last very long after that. He was not entirely sure he believed those intelligence reports that “every bone in Yu’s body was broken due to his disease and the shockwave from an explosion”. Especially not after Alex’s “all broken up” joke in a previous dinner. Then again, he had a special new subject to experiment on and a school for assassination to relocate. Gordon had taken a bit to cave on who his source was for that well-timed little tip. It was, in fact, the reason he’d agreed to this little side trip. He turned toward his somewhat petrified assistants. “Not a word. Not a word to anyone. Nothing about Brooke until I’m ready to reveal my information. Not a single word about dear, sweet Alex without my direct verbal permission. Understood?” There were silent nods all around. “Good.”
Alex got home with a small sigh of relief. There was a lot to handle. He was glad he’d foisted off all the hard work of his revenge on Doctor Three. He didn’t enjoy the actual physical act of torturing people and had been relieved when there was “sadly” no live demonstration during his time at Malagasto. Jack was waiting for him. “Alex.”
Alex grinned. “Jack.”
Jack glared at him. “What were you doing out at this time of the night?”
Alex sighed. “I was meeting up with a biology teacher to see if he was a good fit.”
Jack raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
Alex blinked. “Really. He does evenings and odd hours. Do you want to see the internet ad?”
Jack sighed. “I believe you, but I wish you had left a note.”
Alex awkwardly brushed his hair out of his eyes. “Sorry, Jack. I thought you’d be sleeping until morning.”
Jack sighed. “Why are you driving in London without a license?”
Alex looked away from her. The lying did hurt. “I just...didn’t want to be a pain in the ass. I know all this can’t be easy for you.”
Jack burst into tears. “Oh, Alex.”
Alex was pulled into a hug. “Jack?”
Jack continued sobbing. “You’re not a pain in the ass and I’m happy to drive you to any tutoring you might want.”
Alex awkwardly patted her on the back. “I mean, the guy MI6 sends is fine, but I’m looking for someone with a little more...I dunno.”
Jack seemed to be calming down. “You’re such a teenage boy. And it’s okay if you think he’s boring.”
Alex chuckled. “Maybe a little bit. I don’t think anyone but you can make English definitions interesting. Even then, you’d have to break out the antlers.”
Jack laughed a little bit and swatted him. “You said you wouldn’t bring that up!”
Alex grinned. “Now, Jack, even you think it’s funny now.”
They continued bickering as Jack made them hot chocolate so they would eventually drift off the bed.
Alex froze as he was called back by the office at his school. He’d only been at school for two hours. Oh, come on. It was not exactly what he was expecting. Doctor Three was standing in his principal’s office. “Er, hello, Doc.”
The principal looked nervous. “Uh, this is Doctor Henry Yu. He says you two have some sort of lunch appointment.”
Alex looked at Doctor Three but knew better than to do or say anything. “Oh, yeah! I completely forgot.”
The principal looked at Alex. “Why is he showing up to our school?”
Alex sighed. “He’s a private practice psychiatrist, sir.”
The principal blinked. “Oh. Oh.”
Three looked at the man. “You can understand why I was concerned when Alex didn’t show up for our appointment, given his reckless tendencies. I thought he might have escalated into suicidal ideation. I would be devastated at the death of such a promising young man.” Alex opened his mouth and closed it before flushing. Doctor Three turned towards Alex. “Now, now. There’s no shame in getting help.”
Alex was doing best not to stare in abject horror. The principal cleared his throat. “Right. Uh, Right. I’m going to dismiss you for the rest of the day.”
Alex didn’t say anything as the principal awkwardly signed him out and sent him on his way. As soon as Alex got out of the building, he looked at the Doctor. “Suicidal tendencies?”
The man looked at Alex. “Private practice psychiatrist?”
Alex glared. “I wanted to get out of school, not have a bunch of surprise visits from a social worker.”
Alex would swear that this was Three’s equivalent of a smirk. “Perhaps they’ll catch Alan Blunt’s shameless abuse of a child.”
The man held the door of a very shiny car open to him. “Doubtful. Ian never got in any trouble with the law, no matter how many people from social services got called.”
Three stepped in after him. “What did you want, anyway? I’m sure you have better things to do than kidnapping me for lunch.”
Three looked at him. “I wished to clear up some lingering questions.”
Alex gave the man a quizzical look. He would swear Three was doing this just to unsettle the ever-loving shit out of him. Also, wasn’t his time in hours measured in millions of dollars? “Uh, huh. I hope you’re not taking us anywhere too fancy. I’m still in my uniform.”
Three looked at him. “No matter, we’re dining in my house. Well, one of them. In the unlikely event the staff does say anything untoward, they’ll be taken care of.”
Alex resisted a shudder. “Right.”
The lunch was, unsurprisingly, still ridiculously nice compared with the school lunch. Alex just resigned himself to semi-formal dining. There was no reason to piss off Three this early into their new truce. The appetizer seemed to be some sort of clams. “I had them imported from Russia.”
Alex tried them. They were perfectly cooked. “So, you took on Yu’s snakehead.”
Alex was surprised to be served wine with the appetizer. Alex eyed Three suspiciously while drinking enough of the wine to be polite about it. “Nasty piece of work, that.”
The Doctor paused. “Howell?”
Alex huffed. “My partner shot him!”
Three took a small bite. “Kasper?”
Alex was a little defensive. “It was self-defense!”
Alex paused to finish the appetizer. “Also, little blood globes went everywhere. Space is weird.”
Three lightly placed his silverware on his plate. “The organ farm?”
Alex took a deep breath. This was almost like being back on the island with Gordon. Except he couldn’t swear. “Oh, thank god, I thought I was the only one calling it that. Um...It was kind of an accident.”
Three looked very skeptical. Alex honestly had to admit it sounded a bit dodgy. Three paused as the second course was served and waited until the staff had exited before continuing. “The fighting arena?”
Alex huffed. “They had shoddy construction! Thailand barely has building codes.”
Three blinked. Alex looked at his main course. It was poached salmon. “Who even writes your files?”
Alex shrugged and cut into the fish. “I assume it’s Crawley?”
Three paused again. “How do you like Mr. Crawley?”
Alex shrugged. “He’s a discreet man. Gets the job done. Doesn’t question things. I kind of like him.”
Three nodded. “It’s a pity he insists on being loyal to MI6.”
They both ate in silence for a bit. “Incidentally, why did you tip Gordon off?”
Alex finished his salmon off. “I have my reasons.”
Three looked at him. “Ethan Brooke?”
Alex glared. “I think he knew about Ash and set me up to die to prove it.”
Three blinked. “That was my assessment as well.”
Alex sighed. “Why not Alan Blunt?”
Alex paused while the wait staff took their dishes. “He didn’t intend for me to die. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I know he doesn’t care, but at least he didn’t actively want me dead for his purposes.”
The dessert course came out. “Waldorf pudding. You’ll like it.”
It came with a disgustingly sweet red. Alex was glad to have the water. “Fair enough.”
They finished their dessert. “If you ever do wish to stay here, you are welcome. This isn’t my primary residence, however.”
Alex could practically hear the strings attached. “Thank you.”
After their dessert dishes were concluded, the man sighed. “I suppose this concludes our lunch. I’ll have my driver drop you off at your house.”
Alex knew better than to protest. SCORPIA was a lot better at politely insisting on things than MI6.
Doctor Three had another meeting later in the evening. “Gordon.”
The man padded in. “So, uh, how did lunch go?”
Three paused. “Alex was as enigmatic as ever. No surprises there.”
Gordon grinned. “He has all the best excuses.”
Three eyed Gordon as he sat down. “How was drinks with Crawley?”
Gordon snorted. “Same old Crawley. He didn’t want to say too much about Alex. Not really a shocker, though. At this rate, I think he’s terrified of anyone in that family on principle.”
Three paused. “What does he think of Alex?”
Gordon sighed. “He’s bloody terrified of the kid.”
Three paused. “I get the impression Alex rather likes Crawley.”
Gordon shrugged. “Crawley is thinking long-term. What about when Alex stops liking Crawley?”
Three sighed. “See if we can’t leverage that somehow.”
Gordon nodded. “Have you decided on a new location?”
The man tapped his desk. “All in good time.”
Gordon sighed. “Are you trying to recruit Alex or not?”
Three looked at Gordon. “I doubt he could return as a full member of SCORPIA while Kurst still lives.”
Gordon sighed. “Bloody Mr. Kurst and his grudges.”
Three paused. Gordon knew if he was less valuable, he wouldn’t have gotten away with that comment. “I’m hoping he finds it in his heart to forgive Alex.”
Gordon muttered under his breath. “You’re hoping Alex down him, more like.”
Three gave Gordon a look. “Take care in your next words.”
Gordon looked at the man. “Okay.”
Three sighed. “Alex will be a bit complicated.”
Gordon shrugged. “Whose side is he on?”
Three looked amused at Gordon’s question. “Bold of you to assume he has any side but his own.”
Gordon paused. “Fair enough.”
Gordon got up but turned back towards Three. “How is it going with Brooke?”
Three’s smile was more teeth than joy. “Splendidly.”
Gordon shuddered slightly. “Do me and Alex a favor and give him a slow death.”
Three looked at the man. “Awfully fond of Alex, aren’t you?”
Gordon walked towards the door and opened it. “So are you, sir. Whether you admit it or not.”
Three smiled softly as Gordon closed the door. Gordon wasn’t exactly wrong.