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Ducked behind a nondescript wooden crate, Ian Rider tried to remind himself of why exactly he liked his job. It seemed to him that this damn job always led to him trying not to get shot in some abandoned warehouse in the middle of nowhere, missing some important milestone in Alex’s life.
This time it was an old flour warehouse just outside Lyon, and he was missing Alex’s Year 3 pantomime of Beauty and the Beast, in which Alex is playing a fork. Ian had wanted to be there, he had even bought tickets, but Blunt, the absolute bastard, had called him out for a last minute mission.
He had been tasked with locating and obtaining a computer drive with confidential information that only the British government was meant to know from some corrupt millionaire. The theft was meant to happen at the millionaire’s company Christmas lunch party. And, fuck, was Ian sick of the same mission, over and over again. And who the hell throws a Christmas party at 3 in the afternoon? He had gone in expecting it to go how it usually went, with something going slightly wrong due to some misinformation and him thinking on his feet to still complete the mission with his life. It usually wasn’t too hard, with him taking only a slight detour from the plan.
Surprisingly, it had seemed to be going exactly the opposite of that. All because fucking Blunt had left out of the mission file and briefing that this millionaire had a whole army of security for the party, instead of his usual 2 bodyguards. Ian had felt something slightly off about this mission, but he hadn’t expected it to be something so big and life threatening to him.
Ian popped his head over the crate and tried his best to accurately shoot at one of the 3 men that were currently shooting at him. One of them drops to the ground with a cry of pain. Seemingly called by this, another 3 men appeared through the large doors intended for lorry deliveries.
This wasn’t Ian’s first rodeo, but that doesn’t make taking down multiple hostiles at once any easier the more he does it. He tried looking for another exit, but there was no way out that he could see. He managed to get another goon in the chest, but he’s outnumbered and his chances are getting slimmer as the millionaire’s men grow closer and his ammunition gets scarcer.
There were more shots, and the sounds of bodies falling made their way to Ian. He stuck his head out from behind the crate and watched one of the henchmen take a shot at the walkways a few floors over their heads. The shots from above stop momentarily and Ian felt panic grow in his chest. He knew who this mysterious shooter was, and he hoped more than anything that he’s alright.
His heart restarted when another of the thugs is shot, and he was kicked into action, shooting the last one in their dominant arm, hoping he could bring them in for questioning to appease Blunt for how the mission had gone. Leaving the sole survivor on the ground in pain, he made his way quickly up to the walkway, searching for the familiar form.
Yassen was leaning against the railing, his duffle bag full of weapons slung over his shoulder. Ian ran up and started checking the Russian over for injuries, finding a growing patch of blood in his side.
“It is alright, Rider, I get shot at very often.”
This was the complete wrong thing to say to try to calm Ian’s anxiety. This mistake was apparently evident, judging by the slight upturn of Yassen’s lips as Ian glared at him. “You are coming back to my hotel with me, and you are going to let me patch you up before we go home.”
Yassen let himself be led back down to Ian’s car, only glancing at the wreckage their fight had left. He sat patiently in the passenger seat while Ian called someone for clean up and update them on the situation. He then returned and started driving, not saying a word, deliberately not looking at his lover.
Even though it was silent in the car, Ian slipped his fingers into Yassen’s, trying to keep himself grounded. Yassen squeezed his hand to let him know that he was alright and there with him.
When they had returned to the hotel, Ian sat Yassen down on the counter next to the bathroom sink, while he fetched the first aid kit. He watched Yassen pull his jacket and turtleneck off. Yas inspected it for a moment before throwing it aside. “I like that shirt. It was my colour.”
Ian rolled his eyes fondly at the statement. There was a row of slightly healed cuts on the Russian’s chest, stretching across his lower ribs. The spy stilled, eyebrows furrowed as he looked at it. Yassen realised where his lover was looking and his face turned sheepish. “When did you get that?”
Yassen mumbled something under his breath and Ian gave him a pointed look. He hung his head slightly but clarified. “I was in the garden showing Alex how to disarm someone and the neighbour's cat attacked me because I accidentally stepped on it’s tail.”
The image of the world renowned assassin trying to fight a cat made a smile grow on Ian’s face. He adored having Yassen with him, eternally thankful that they had met in Rome that night years ago. Now he was parenting his kid with the love of his life, and they get to have domestic moments like early morning coffees and getting scratched by the neighbour’s feral cat. That reminded Ian of where Yassen should be at that moment.
“Why are you here and not watching Alex get ready to dance on stage dressed as cutlery?”
“Because Alan Blunt decided he wanted to die by my hand.”
Ian paused in cleaning Yassen’s wound. “What the hell do you mean by that?”
Yassen’s face darkened. “He knew about the extra security that your target had and did not tell you. He wanted you to die tonight.”
Ian sucked in a deep breath at the thought. He knew that Blunt wasn’t the best man, but now he wanted Ian dead? What lengths would he go to to keep Ian quiet?
Yassen took his lover's hands in his. “Please, my darling, let me do something to get rid of that man. I will not stand for how he is putting you in danger. ”
“You can’t just kill my boss, Yas.”
“I can if he is corrupt and doing many bad things behind everyone’s backs. Also, he tried to kill you tonight, and I have killed people before for even threatening to harm you.”
Ian was silent. He knew exactly what Yassen was referring to when he brought up Blunt’s dark dealings. He also knew that with Blunt out of the way, his selfish ambitions and bad leadership would be gone too, and the department would do better for themselves and for the nation. He also would feel better knowing that he was more likely to be able to go home to his family after a mission, rather than to a morgue.
“We would be safer with him gone. Alex would be safer. You’d be able to make it to more school events, and be at home to hear about Alex’s day.”
Ian rested his forehead on Yassen’s collarbone and sighed pointedly. Yassen untensed minutely, knowing he had won the argument.
“This is manipulation. You are using your knowledge of my weaknesses against me.”
Yassen huffed a laugh and ran his fingers through Ian’s hair. “Do you mean the knowledge that I have acquired over the many years of me being in love with you?”
“That is the knowledge I speak of, yes.”
“What other knowledge do you have about me?”
Yassen broke into a smile. “Well, my heart, I know that you are a very good parent to Alex and that I am very much in love with you.’
“I love you too, but I know for a fact that you also just didn’t want to sit next to Tammy Anderson’s mother at the show.”
Yassen pulled Ian into him, his lover’s head under his chin. “Hush now, my sweet. We do not need to speak of such a fearful woman. Let us have our peace.”
They made it home before Alex, making sure to stop and buy a bunch of flowers to give him for his outstanding performance. He saw them when he entered the house, and ran flying towards them, pulling them in for a big hug.
“How did it go, my little ray of sunshine?”
“It was so cool Uncle Yas! We did so well and I remembered all of the songs! Tammy forgot her line and started crying, which was sad, so I gave her a hug after we got off of the stage.”
Yassen and Ian shared a look, Yassen’s smug and Ian’s amused. “I’m sorry we couldn’t make it, Alex. Something incredibly important at work came up, but things like that won’t happen anymore. We’ll definitely be there to see you next time.”
“I don’t mind that you didn’t make it to this ‘cause I’m not very good at acting. I do like when you’re home and we can do cool things like go swimming or do fun puzzles. Can I have a hot chocolate now?”
Alex pulled his uncles into the kitchen after saying good night to Jack, and sat at the counter while Ian started to make his drink. Yassen leant on the counter and faced Alex.
“You know that your uncle and I love you to the moon and back, yes?”
Alex groaned. “You always tell me this. I’m 8 now, I’m too old for that.”
Yassen chuckled, nudging his partner as he put down a mug in front of each of them. “Do you hear that, my darling, our baby is too old to be told we love him? Can you believe this tragedy? I am hurt, I am burned by this rejection of my love.”
“Oh dear. Alex, don’t drink that too quickly. It’s still hot.”
When they were done with their drinks, Alex is sent off to bed. As soon as Alex ran upstairs, Ian turned to Yassen. “You get out the files and when I finish reading Alex his story we are going to plan how to kill Alan Blunt.”
Yassen smiled softly. “You truly are a man after my own heart.”