1a/n: ok, i haven't ever uploaded on b4, so scuse me if it goes totally "hey i'm a SCREWBALL, and won't let you have paragraphs!". also i'd appreciate reveiws on this, coz it's a draft english homework story, and i *know*it's , *constuctive* criticism welcome!
Julian loaded the gun and pressed his body against the cold, hard wall, listening to the soft sounds of snow crunching underfoot as his target made his way towards the hulking white building that housed the counterfeits. He tried to breathe through his nose so the mist that the warmth of his breath created in the near-freezing temperatures of this foreign nation wouldn't reveal his presence. He'd had that sort of subtle reaction burned into him from his hard 15 years on the job, filled with near-death experiences and scenes that would make a lesser man crumble long ago.
As the target - Julian stopped thinking of them as men as soon as he'd had their dossier memorized - entered within a 10meter radius of the building, Julian made his move and fired once, with a silencer. It wasn't a bullet, but a tranquilizer shot - this was a live capture, they needed him for information. No-one was around to see the body crumple and fall, then Julian easily lift it over his shoulder and call out to the other men hiding behind that bush, in that tower, above that awning, to come and help him.
They moved the man to the waiting van and silently cheered as the snowfall they had needed to cover their tracks came in an unexpected bout of accuracy from the weather channel. Julian had thought it was a subtle hint at the demise of the craft when they started using the weather channel as a source of vital strategic planning.
They drove only 30 minutes in the unassuming beaten-up van, nothing special about it, wouldn't notice it unless you were looking for it. Even then your eyes might glance over it. It was the same for all four - innocent - men who graced the interior. Most had a set of generic features. None knew the others' last names. James, or Serpent, had middle- blue eyes, dirty blonde hair, beige coloured skin. Easy to change, easy to forget. Ben, or Bear, had close-cut dark brown hair, green eyes and a generic 3 day growth. Bill, or Spider, had black hair, brown eyes and very pale skin. He worked a lot in England, France, basically white Europe.
Then there was Julian, the Fox , or occasionally "mother hen" for his tendency to take care of his unit - no man had died under Julian's leadership. He was made of black hair, blue eyes, tan skin. Unassuming usually, but Julian was the only one with a distinctive feature on his entire body, and that would be the tattoo on his left hand, between the thumb and forefinger. It simply read "Apollo". None of the guys knew why he had it, what it was about or when he'd had it done. Julian could never tell anyone it was the name of the son he'd seen but twice in the last year, appearing unannounced at the kid's high school as it let out, looking like one of the parents who still came to pick up their kids. They'd gotten the tattoos the last time he'd seen Apollo - Julian had the one on his hand, Apollo had one on his back (so he could hide it from his mother) that read "Dad". Recently Apollo was writing in the rare letters they could pass to one another that he really needed to see him more often, he wanted to live away from his mother, who'd moved an insanely easily-aggravated man into the house. . . Julian was seriously considering quitting the job and caring for him just on that want.
His thoughts came back to the present, though, as they pulled up at the makeshift HQ in this town, a large civilian house. The four men got out and following pre-briefed instructions, two acted intoxicated and stumbled inside while the others took the target in, propping him up between their shoulders so to the passer-by and people on the street it would simply look as if he was their overly inebriated friend who needed to be helped in - not the counterfeit legend who needed to be interrogated.
The men made it inside and checked in with the only other member of their agency in the country, Lena, affectionately called The Bird. She gave them two small messages from the official HQ, and then asked them if they'd had a nice time. It was a weird question - it was a mission, how could they have a nice time? - but they always asked it every time, always answered the same way. "Oh the best, tigers and lions and bears, oh my!" and then Ben would come out with the predictable "You're talking about me again!".
It was almost absurdly soothing to find security in that simple phrase. It showed to him that maybe there were some things that never changed. But now was not the time to be musing, the counterfeiter - who called himself Ice - was waking. Julain followed the rest of the group through to the basement-cum-cell they'd arranged specifically for "Ice".
It was almost enough to make Julian slap the idiot when he woke up crying. "What kind of wuss is this? " hissed James, annoyed at the display of emotion. Bill nodded and rolled his eyes before hitting Ice up the back of the head, not hard enough to hurt, just enough to shut him up.
"You've got things we want, Ice," Julian said it like it was a swear word, stressing it. He knew eventually it'd start to freak out the target, and he was hoping for at least a little bit of fear. It made types like Ice spit things out faster and less violently.
"I don't, i sw-wear, I'm inn-"He started to stutter out, but Ben cut him off, speaking with a smooth authority.
"Yes. You do, and you're being quite unimpressive about it too. For the head of an evil corporation, you're pretty...weak, I think the word would be. The sooner you tell us, the less years you'll get on your sentence, Ice." "Tell us. Who're you working for, Ice? Who's your boss?We're US!" Bill was really starting to scare him with his demanding tone, Julian could see "Ice"'s pulse through his skin, racing. He knew the effect would be ten-fold, because the tranquilizer made one's eyes go bleary for at least an hour. Ice couldn't see anything except blobs. For all he knew, Bill had a gun pointed at him.
Ice gulped.
"I-I-I-I ...I'm working for..."suddenly the scared face he was pulling changed dramatically into a sneer and he said in a completly different voice "myself. Goodnight, boys..."before letting off a gas. The whole world shifted and refocused, smoked up, twirled around in a sick parody of a dream, and finally...went black. *****
THREE WEEKS LATER
"He's coming around, wait, no, get Dr. Augustus," a voice hissed somewhere in the vicinity of his right side. Another hissed on his left.
"Oh god,what a thing to wake up to..."
Julain opened his eyes fully and saw white. Everything, white, cold, sterile, not herecan'tbehereohgodohgod THE GAS.
"Ben!James!Bill!Where are they?"he yelled out at Lena, the voice to his right. He hadn't even bothered looking to his left.
" Julian... they didn't make it...Bill got the direct hit of it, he was nearest, and James and Ben were...well...they didn't make it. You were in a coma for three weeks, you managed to cover your mouth and nose as you passed out... I was knocked out for a day. Your son came here..." at this last bit of shocking overloaded information Julian turned to his left, the direction where Lena's eyes were looking, to see Apollo standing over him, shuffling his feet and looking slightly embarrassed.
"Hey,Dad..." he said, half smiling. Julian looked shocked but was cut off from a barrage of a million questions, starting with "How did you find me?" by the doctor they'd called in, who looked suspiciously cheery in the horribly white hospital ward, where the sickening medical smells permeating his very being. "It's Julian then!Well, you're awake, excellent, we'll just run a few vitals tests, if you'll just look upwards for me..."The doctor tested the mechanically functioning Julian for half an hour before pronouning him almost entirely healthy. Then the interrogation didn't have to start, Apollo explained himself.
"Mum's boyfriend threatened me with a gun. I left. I followed the return adress on your letter to a post office in the same city. I asked the one guy there if he'd seen anyone with your description, and he gave me your address. Pretty small town. He knows almost every single person." Julian rubbed at his forehead. He'd never had to cope with THIS much after waking from a coma. He turned to Lena, who was still looking solemn.
"Apollo saved our lives, Jules."Julian nodded, still silent.
"They're really gone? " he croaked out. Lena nodded, two tears rolling down her face. Julian looked resolutely at the sheets, as if they held an answer to a burning question.
"I'd like to be alone for an hour or so,"he said softly. Lena quietly guided Apollo through the doors and left Julian to cry for perhaps the second time ever in his life. ***
"So, we've gotten the plane tickets for all of us...we'll be posing as a family, luckily Apollo looks so much like you..."she shuffled a few papers around in her hands, looking around the hotel room absently.
"He is my son, Lena."Julian said almost proudly.
"Yes. Anyway, we'll need to leave in about ten hours, ok?"she said dismissivly. Julain nodded and looked over at Apollo.
"Is that good with you?"he asked. He knew it would be, but he liked to include the teen.
Apollo nodded and walked over to where the other two were standing, a nervous look on his face."When we get there...even if Mum looks for me...you won't make me go back?"He looked earnestly up at Julian, who shook his head.
"No, no way. I'm quitting for you. Desk job and all that...they're setting me up at a newspaper, as a film 'll be fun,that was always my second choice." "Big difference between International Spy and Film Critic." "I was always a man of extremes."Apollo laughed, but Lena suddenly cut them off with a call on her mobile, which could only be HQ . She made a few agreeing sounds and then hung up.
"They've caught your guy, Jules."
"The boss?"
"Yeps. Now you can go back with that off your shoulders too."
"But what about all his ...associates?"
"Most are mindless drones, in it in the first place for pure brawn."
"But..."
"They'll take care of 't worry, you'll be safe."
"You know that's not going to reassure me."
"No, of course not, you're a bloody ex-spy. All of you are just paranoid..."
"We have reason!"Julian protested.
"Well, go pack your bags anyway, you've only got 9 and a half hours. "
"Oh my, how will I cope?"The sarcasm dripped off his slapped his arm.
"I had to do that." *** Gunfire sounded out, he could hear a man scream, windows were breaking, smashing, cutting him, he couldn't see, then suddenly there was a man, he had a gun, it was on him, no, no it wasn't him, it was his son, oh god, why, no, what?Now his son was holding the gun, it was on the man, no, he couldn't kill him, it'd scar him...he's pulled the trigger, no, oh god, he had blood all over him..."DAD!Daaaaaaaad!"
Julian woke up sweating and panting,staring around the interior of the plane suspiciously, as if he was expecting an he found was one little girl staring at him over her seat and Apollo shaking him awake. "Dad, dad!"he repeated. Julain turned to look at him and wondered why he was so upset as the dream slowly slipped, tickling the edges of his conciousness but not quite making it out.
"You were saying things in your sleep. Plus we're about to land."Apollo shook his head and thanked him, still slightly shaken but not knowing why. He shook it off and smiled at his son, then laughed at the sleeping Lena, who had her mouth open and a particularly attractive amount of drool forming on the pillow.
No-one seemed to notice the man up the back of the plane. His deep almost black eyes and dark black hair gave his entire face a dodgy, nasty look. His black clothing seemed suspicious. The fact that he was holding a gun was even moreso.
When he was attacked by a trio of cold eyed male blondes, every even half-asleep person took notice. He was held down, and they stabbed him viciously, within minutes the poor man was spitting up blood. His gun , which he had tried to hide as he walked up to confront them, was laying under the nearest seat-Apollos.
Two of the blondes walked into the captain's cabin while one remained behind and kept watch on the passengers.
"Welcome to the honour of being the first sacrifices to our cause,to our god, Urksta and for our final redemption,"the blonde said, no trace of humour, sarcasm or even anger in his voice. He said it smoothly, authoritatively, eerily. It seemed surreal, as if this was a film.
A child about halfway through the cabin started crying and while the mother desperatly tried to calm it, the man strode down angrily to them. "Can you not keep that thing QUIET?" He asked agressivly, as if giving an order. The mother gulped, nodded, clutched her child protectively. It chose the worst moment possible to resume it's tears and wails. The cold hearted man ripped it from it's mothers arms and proceeded to literally kill a baby. Every single passenger struggled to contain the urge to throw up , cry, or attack the man. Julian covertly whispered to Apollo what he needed.
"Head between your knees. Look like you're about to be sick. Pick up the gun under the seat. Pass it to me."
Apollo nodded with a wide eyed terror, and did exactly as he was told. Fortunatly there were about 6 other people on board doing exactly the same action, so the blonde overlooked it and instead mocked the ex-mother. "You, you are crying?Weak. It was an infant. Would you have preferred yourself?"he said it all with a condescending sneer, more frightening than any tone anger could have provoked. His calmness showed confidence.
Julian praised his son silently as he was handed the gun easily. One good shot was all he needed. He slid down under the seats, squeezing tightly to fit his entire body, controlling his breathing and movements so as to be as quiet as he he turned his head in his new quaters, he cocked the gun and saw the blonde turn to face his direction. Perfect, it gave him an easier target.
He fired once and saw it hit the man's throat, his face contorting with pain and regret for a fleeting second before he people finally gave in and were throwing up,the nausea from being so terrified and disgusted. At the sound of the gun on of the remaining brutes shot out of the cockpit and raced over to where his comrade lay. Julian shot him coldly, and got an absurd, mad thrill when he collapsed on top of his fallen friend. He didn't feel guilty about it- spy work had had them blurring the lines from day one. He'd only cried the first time he'd killed a man.
Now the third man came running, as incompetent as the last one, charging like a bull. It was almost a feeling of routine as Julian this time got his forehead, then climbed out from under the seat.
The passengers didn't cheer, didn't move, didn't cry, it was a case of mass-shock. One of the attendents came out of the cockpit looking like there'd been a skirmish-he was sporting,among other things, a black eye and a small cut on his cheek, and seemed to be limping.
"Is there...doctor...on board..."he gasped out roughly. Julian watched as one of the men from the back stood up shakily and looked away from the bodies he had to step over, grimacing and covering his mouth. They left entered the cockpit and it was only then that Julian noticed the plane had been lurching violently as the captain and obviously been trying to keep it straight while the attackers were virtually on his back.
Slowly the passengers started to regain the use of their bodies. Several were crying. The mother hadn't stopped. One man got up and spat on the pile of bodies, rage spreading across his face as he kicked one of them in the side. For the first time Julian looked at looked...disgusted.
"Apollo?Are you ok?" he asked softly, patting his hand. Apollo looked at him , shocked, and gasped something unintelligable. Julian hugged him and Lena spoke to him almost calmly- she'd already seen several intances like these, and knew how to cover her emotions, but Julian knew that underneath she was shaking like a stood up and pointed to the man who'd been dressed in black, then wandered over to him, pulling out a nametag.
"One of ours, "she said to Julian. "It was a... Giovanni." Julian nodded and answered.
"I know. I worked with him for a month in Peru."He turned to look at his son, who was looking slightly calmer and was now staring at his hands.
"Dad?"he said, sounding slightly lost.
"Yes?"
"Thankgod you're quitting." ****** Months later the story was still occasionally being brought up in the news, of course not mentioning Julain's name until all memebers of the cult that had tried to seize control of the plane were tracked down. Apprently they'd made camp in Germany and were a distortion of neo-Nazism and some other "prophetic writings" one of their members had apprently provided and provided often. It was later discovered this "member" was being forced LSD. The German government was "working tirelessly to remove them from the country".
Julian and Apollo lived in New York, blending in well among the millions of anonymous faces. Occasionally Lena, who had taken a liking to Apollo and already was great friends with Julian, would come and visit. She always shrugged off the long journey from Base to New York, saying scince she was one of the minions who didn't know precisely where it was anyway, it didn't matter, did it? Julian's work went well, he settled into "real life" better than he expected. Apollo was doing well at school and had made lots of friends before a week was up.
Of course it wasn't all perfect for them.
Once while walking home from school, Apollo was kidnapped and held by the same cult who were aboard the plane. Julian was eternally grateful that Lena had been staying that time, of course it was a planned coincidence from the agency to protect him, and Lena was ale to call in 5 members to break the group up and get Apollo back within 8 hours.
Julian caught himself "going all spy" as Apollo put it, one time in Central Park, and thought to himself extremly cheesily:
"I guess you can take the boy out of spying, but you can't take the spy out the boy."