InsaneJournal

Jack was worried about Alex.  They’d spoken on the mobile several times, and even though Alex had denied anything was wrong, she knew better.  Alex was adept at fooling a lot of people – it was one of the things that made him so good at spying – but he couldn’t deceive Jack.

Jack supposed she could call Yassen; he’d given her his direct mobile number for her to call if there were ever an emergency, but she wasn’t sure that she wanted to bother him with this.  He’d told her he’d watch over Alex while she was in the States. If there were any trouble, Yassen would probably know before she did.

She’d hoped she’d done the right thing, trusting Yassen.  It was crazy, but when he’d told her about why he was so dedicated to Alex, it only made sense to do so.  She and Yassen were all that Alex had left now, and if it came down to it, Yassen would die to protect Alex – and so would she.

“Hon, is everything alright?  You seem upset.”

Jack was startled out of her thoughts by her mother’s question.  Jack had brought her mother’s lunch on a tray into her bedroom – chicken soup and some saltines, with apple juice to drink – and was sitting in a large chair, staring out the window as her mother ate.

“I’m sorry, Mom.  I’m okay. I was just thinking about Alex, how he’s doing over there without me.”

“I wish you could have convinced him to come over here with you.  No one should be alone at Christmas.”

“I know, Mom, but he didn’t want to miss any more school, and he wanted to spend the break catching up on his studies.”

“It’s too bad he’s been so sick.  I’m sure it’s difficult for him to keep up when he’s missed so much school.”

As a cover for the time spent away on assignments, Alex’s school had been told he was ill.  Jack had to wonder what the school thought Alex was sick with for him to be gone as much as he was!

“Here, you can take this away.  I’m so tired of all this bland food,” her mom complained. “And to think I have to go another month eating stuff like this!  It’s Christmas!  I want to have all those sinfully delicious treats that are only around this time of year – like that plum pudding you always made.  I loved receiving your packages of that every year.  You just don’t find something that good here in the States. You didn’t make it this year though, did you?”

“No,” Jack said sadly. “Alex wasn’t really in the mood for it.  We always made it together. You know, that’s part of the tradition, to stir it together and make a wish…” Jack looked at her mom, and with tears welling in her eyes added, “Alex always wished for his uncle to be able to be at home more, and now…”

Jack couldn’t continue. Although she’d never had any attraction to him, she missed Ian too.  He was a good man, and he’d loved Alex very much.  But she wasn’t sure Alex believed that now.  MI6 had warped Alex’s view of everything, including how he saw Ian.

“I’m sorry, hon. I know you’d rather be there, taking care of Alex right now, instead of having to wait on me hand and foot.”

“No, Mom.  If I weren’t needed more here, I’d have stayed with him.  But there’s a family friend watching over him.  I know he’s safe.”

Jack got up and took the tray from her mother, leaving the room quickly, so that her mother couldn’t see her cry.