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Cal wanders into the dimly lit study and sinks gratefully into one of Dr Zond's innumerable comfy chairs. It has been a long day, particularly considering that it started in Cairo and he spent most of the night inside one of the weirdest pyramids he has ever seen. He's shattered, but too keyed up to sleep just yet. He hasn't really had time to process everything that's gone on, particularly not those creepy priests, and Cal knows that until he has sorted the day into some kind of order he'll never get any shut-eye.
"Hard day?"
Cal prises open eyes that have somehow slipped closed to see Nikko sitting quietly in the corner, a book open in his lap. He looks about as tired as Cal feels, and Cal can't help smiling as he nods.
"Jet lag," he says. "A thirty hour day on top of too little sleep does wonders for my sunny disposition."
Nikko smiles back tiredly, an expression that Cal refuses point blank to label as 'cute'. "I heard you had a fun time out there, going all Tomb Raider on us."
"Do I look like Lara Croft?"
Nikko pauses for a moment with a bemused smile on his lips, and Cal berates himself for wishing that Nikko did think that he, ahem, stacks up well in comparison with Lara. "Indiana Jones, then?" Nikko ventures.
Cal grins back. "More sort of not, really. The pyramid was weird but surprisingly free of death traps. All of the hassle was in Cairo, getting set up."
"Yeah, imagine Vincent recommending a daytime soap addict."
They laugh, then Cal shrugs. "Worked in our favour, though. I mean, that has to be the first guy whose undying gratitude I've bought with a satellite dish."
"Ah, I have taught you well, grasshopper." Cal blinks at that. Nikko is right, though; it was an entirely Nikko way of going round a recalcitrant person. He doesn't know whether to be proud or annoyed of the fact that he seems to be picking up Nikko's habits.
"I hear you had some pretty James Bond moments yourself," he says, changing the subject to avoid the praise that is beginning to become embarrassing.
It's Nikko's turn to squirm a little. "Yeah, well, if you don't care about the cool gadgets or not being English, maybe a bit. It wasn't like it was that hard. Sneaking around with another kid was a lot like all the times I've sneaked out of school."
"Sneaking out of school doesn't get you shot if you're caught."
Nikko nods, though he doesn't seem to regard Cal's point as all that serious. Evidently he has other failings on his mind. "Taking refuge in the church wasn't the brightest idea I've ever had, though."
Cal shudders. The priests had been scary, single-minded in their pursuit of the boy. Cal isn't sure whether they answer to Dorna or not, but they're certainly ruthless enough. "At least you got out while you could."
"Yeah. I guess you have taught me well, too."
"Huh?"
"Juliet palmed my Russian lesson off on you, remember?"
Cal remembers. That had been one of the few times when the two of them had nearly come to blows. Nikko is constitutionally incapable of being taught anything he doesn't actually want to know, and Cal doesn't take being ignored at all well. The resulting shouting match had kept the others amused for days, all the more so because it took place in at least three different languages.
"You learned enough from that to understand what was going on?"
Nikko grins. "I wanted to know what you'd called me, and as it turned out 'bastard devil-child' were exactly the words I needed. Who'd have guessed?" He chuckles, then turns serious. "I don't understand them," he says. "Alexi's just a kid, all he wanted was to be with his mother. They couldn't let him be, they're so stuck on this stupid prophecy of theirs that they're still after him now. What kind of people try to kill a little boy?"
"Desperate people," Cal says quietly. "Or bastards. I'm leaning towards the latter at the moment."
"Dorna?"
"Maybe. Your dad implied it heavily, and they didn't deny it."
Nikko sits silently for a moment. "At least Alexi got away," he says finally. "They won't find him now."
Cal nods, then hesitates before speaking. "You did good, you know."
Nikko's eyes widen. "Praise from you? Wow. I'll try not to let it go to my head."
The words might be sarcastic, but the tone and the smile behind them are just plain teasing. Cal grins back. "I just tell it like I see it, bro."
Nikko's smile slips, eventually being replaced by a rueful grin. Evidently he got Cal's implication the he rarely deserves praise. "Thanks. I think." He hesitates, then adds, "You too."
"Me? I was just doing my..." The rest of Cal's sentence trails off into a massive yawn. "Man, I need my beauty sleep," he says, getting slowly to his feet. Funnily enough, chatting with Nikko has calmed his mind enough that sleep is a possibility. Unlike normal; at which thought he pauses and looks expectantly at Nikko.
Nikko looks back, puzzled.
"If you missed a straight line like that," Cal tells him, "you need your beauty sleep too. C'mon Mr Bond, bed."
Nikko prises himself out of his seat, grinning again as he follows Cal out of the study. "I didn't know you cared, Indy."
Cal is almost tired enough to let a too-rapid, unconvincing denial that he wants Nikko anywhere near his bed pass his lips.