Flashback- Shattered

-Flashback- two years ago-

Alex could not understand what was going on with Cassie lately, she was distant from him, hard to reach and when they did talk, she kept things brief. Today was Cassie's twenty-first birthday and she did not want to spend it with Alex, though she had thanked him for the card and gift he had given her. Alex sighed as he sat up in his bed rubbing sleep from his eyes as his Uncle Kano came in to check on him asking

"Eh, Alex yah ok kiddo?"

"Not really Uncle."

"Yah wanna talk bout it?"

Alex sighed and said

"No. I'll be fine."

"Yah sure? Yah know yah can talk to me? Ight?"

"Yes, Uncle I know."

"Hard out mate. Now have a good day mate."

Kano said warmly as Alex got up made his bed and got cleaned up and dressed for the day. Alex knew he was on protection detail upstairs in the nightclub later this evening. As much as Alex loved music, the loud music played there bugged his ears. He could hear fine it just hurt. That is why he tried to not overstimulate his ears beforehand so that the pain would be held off much longer.

Protection detail was subtly different from being a bouncer and a security guard because they catered to the public as well as their own fellow criminal element. Alex was a gentleman and protected the young women who entered the club and didn't feel safe leaving the building alone or were too drunk to drive home. Alex often called a cab, paying out of his own pocket. Many a father would show up the next day to personally thank the young man for ensuring their little girls got home safe and sound. Alex took pride in his work as many of those women went on to great careers and the young Black Dragon soon had friends in both high and low places.

Alex shook that from his mind as he relaxed with some textbooks on military history and strategy. It was a strange fascination of his along with weapons history, but Kano did not mind passing the odd book along to Alex as it sharpened his mind. Alex was also quite a genius when it came to Cartography, the art of drawing maps, as his eidetic memory served to ensure a location was well mapped as well as the best route through the area. Speaking of the best route, Alex's phone buzzed as his favorite song Nightmare Night by Mic the Microphone and Glaze, two brony singers in the My Little Pony Fandom, blared out reminding the young man he was due into work in fifteen minutes. He set his books aside and pulled on his uniform shirt and name badge and headed up to the nightclub where he had ten minutes to spare. His manager Fred was on tonight and smiled at his fellow co-worker and fellow Black Dragon. While Alex did outrank Fred by a long shot as a named and marked member of the Black Dragons to Fred's grunt status, Alex still let the grunt have his role as manager while on shift. Fred's green eyes lit up seeing Alex. He said

"Eh my man. How are you, Alex? Been a while."

Alex nodded. Fred had been on medical leave due to a fire about a year ago, then went on personal leave to assist his wife after she gave birth to their triplet boys. Alex had not seen his manager since he had been "Hired" close to two years ago.

"I have been good Fred. How's your leg, your wife, and your boys?"

"That's good. My leg is fine most days unless bad weather is a-coming. My wife is very well despite dealing with three one-year old's crawling and gumming, thank you for asking about Rose, she will be touched to hear you asked about her. The boys are being holy terrors but what child is not like that, at one."

Fred said fondly before asking Alex

"How are things with you and Ms. Cage?"

"I am unsure. She's been distant lately and I am worried I did something wrong."

Fred looked worried before he said

"Come talk to me after shift, we will get to the bottom of this."

"Yes, boss."

Alex said as they got to work. From five at night until close to ten things were smooth, that was until one of the wait staff, Jeremy, approached Alex and said

"Table Two, we have a code alpha."

Alex froze, he hated hearing code Alpha. Code Alpha here in the club meant two young ladies with no ride, one or both possibly drunk, and feeling uncomfortable calling for a ride home. Alex looked at the waiter and asked

"What is the Sitrep, on the Code Alpha?"

"Two young ladies, been in here since five. One is drunk off her ass. The other is sober but very scared and uncomfortable calling for a cab or a ride home. One is a blonde Caucasian, the other is a brunette African American, both twenty-one."

Alex froze as he peered out towards table two, and sure enough there sat Cassie Cage, drunk off her ass, and Jacqui Briggs sober but looking around scared. Alex looked to Jeremy and said

"Thank-You Jeremy. Boss, got a Code…Valhalla."

The staff in this back area froze. Code Valhalla was reserved for dangerous situations pertaining to friends and family. Fred nodded and said

"I'll punch you out Alex, just go. She needs you."

"Yes, boss."

Alex, grabbing his duster and putting it on, he quickly stalked over to table two calming his demeanor as to not scare Jacqui. She looked up once she noticed him staring

"Alex?! You work here?!"

"Yeah. So, what's up?"

Jacqui sighed and said

"Alex, your arrival is a mixed blessing. Do you know why Cassie has been so distant?"

"I thought I did something wrong."

Jacqui had a look of pity and said

"I wish it were so simple…no, her dad finally caught on to who you are and forbade Cassie from seeing you."