Ch 972 - The Cure

The morning after he had rescued Debbie yet again, Alex awoke in Yvonne's spare bedroom. He was groggy and sluggish with sleep, so it took him a moment to remember the events of the previous day. Although he had once again beaten Riley into submission, he had let Justin go, not wanting there to be even more bad blood between them. He rolled over and the blanket fell away. He pushed himself up and saw a short, skinny man curled up on the floor, hugging a pillow and snoring lightly. 

Who is that guy? Alex thought, alarmed.

Then, he remembered. That was Mark, the spy. Debbie had vouched for him when Alex had broken in to rescue her. It was thanks to Mark that Alex had been able to restore his wealth. By having SCOT hack into HALLE, he was able to transfer all of his assets back to his own accounts. The entire day had been a mess, and Alex was glad that it was finally over. Plus, they had a new ally! 

Alex got out of bed, careful not to disturb Mark, then took a shower and got dressed. Yvonne had a nice bathroom. It was clean and white with a glass steam shower that made Alex feel fresh and clean. 

When he got downstairs, he found Debbie wearing some of Yvonne's clothes. Just a pair of track pants and t-shirt, but Alex thought she looked nice all the same. She was sitting at the kitchen table, a mug of coffee in front of her. She smiled when he walked in the room, and his heart fluttered.

"Good morning," he said, taking the seat next to her. "How are you feeling?"

Debbie shrugged. "As good as can be expected," she said. "And yourself?"

Alex scratched his chin and made a serious face, prompting a giggle from Debbie. He chuckled, thankful that she was okay. 

"I suppose I'm good," he said. "Mark helped me get my money back. You were right - he's useful!"

"Told you he would be!" Debbie said, winking. She took a sip of her coffee, then looked up at Alex. "Look, Alex, I've been thinking."

"I don't know if I like the sound of that." Alex said.

"I was thinking about us," she said. "Do you think it's possible that we can just be friends for a little bit?" She shrank back a little, as though she was expecting him to lash out. 

Instead, Alex understood. With everything that had happened over the last few weeks, from his affair with Kylie, to Yvonne confessing that she loved Alex on live television, to Debbie being kidnapped on numerous occasions, everything was in a state of confusion. As much as their breakup hurt Alex, he was beginning to wonder if they needed it so that they could start fresh.  

"Depends on how little the little bit is," he said, raising an eyebrow. "A couple of days, months? A year?"

"However long we need?" she asked, clutching her coffee cup. Her hair, still unbrushed and kinky from sleep, hung about her face. "I know it must hurt you that I'm asking this, and it hurts me too, but I think it's good for us. I mean, I don't know how much I can trust you after, well, what happened. And I'm not sure how I feel about being a girlfriend when I've been playing damsel in distress lately."

"Debbie," Alex said, feeling relieved. "I feel the exact same way. I love you; I will always love you, but you're in constant danger when you're with me. I can't keep putting you through that."

Relief broke out across her face, and she covered her eyes with one hand. 

"I am so glad to hear you say that," she said.

Before Alex could say anything the front door opened, and he heard two male voices talking excitedly about something. They walked with heavy footsteps, as though they were carrying something heavy. He turned around in his seat to see Ken Stokes, with Louis trailing him. Both of them were carrying some heavy-looking filming equipment. 

Ken Stokes froze when he saw Alex and Debbie sitting at the table, and a wide smile broke out across his face. 

"Oh boy," he said, "just the people I wanted to see!"

He set down his equipment, and Louis followed suit, then they each took a seat around the table. 

"What's going on?" Debbie asked. 

"What's going on?" Ken said with mock surprise. He turned to Louis. "She's asking what's going on! Can you believe that?" He turned to Debbie. "I'm just messsing with you. Last night, Alex here gave me the footage I needed in order to make my martial arts documentary worthy of a Pulitzer Prize!"

"And how exactly did I do that?" Alex asked. 

Ken grabbed one of the cameras and hoisted it up onto the table. He patted it affectionately. 

"We were in the security office," Ken explained. "The head of security was a guy who owed me a couple favors. That's not important. He let me snip off a little footage from Alex's fight with Justin, and we're going to use it in a section all about using martial arts as a method of self-control!"

Louis piped up, "How cool is that?"

Alex thought it sounded very cool, but he wasn't sure that it was a documentary he would want to watch. 

"Sounds great," Alex said. 

His watch beeped. He looked down to see SCOT's impatient computer-generated face. 

"Sorry to interrupt, Alex," he said, "but there's the matter of your house to see!"

"Damn!" Alex said. He looked up at the others. "Sorry, got to go sort some things out. Catch you all later?"

Alex departed, ready to get back to life as it had been.

Later, Alex returned to his house in the woods, having paid all the outstanding bills that had accrued in the few days since he had had everything taken from him. He stood in the living room, admiring the work Ken Stokes had put into it. At last, he was home. 

That evening, after he had settled back in and had fallen asleep in his own bed, Alex awoke with a start. His heart pounded in his chest as he stared at the ceiling. Something was not quite right. The ceiling was the wrong height, the walls were the wrong color, and his bed felt too comfortable. After a few moments of settling back in, his heartrate climbed down.

I'm home, he thought. I'm in my house in the woods, and I'm as safe as I possibly can be.

The thought should have relaxed him, but it didn't. He had come to learn in the last few days that he was never truly alone. Even if he locked himself in his room with all the windows shut and the curtains drawn tight, he would never be truly on his own. There was someone watching him from somewhere. And, in the middle of the woods, there were ample places to hide.

Somebody's watching me right now, he realized as he sat up in bed. The covers shifted, and he slid them off. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and walked to his bedroom window. He pressed his face up against it, looking outside. His bedroom faced the front yard. All he could see out there was darkness, but against that darkness, he saw a silhouette among the trees.

He blinked a few times and unlatched the window, sliding it open. As he poked his head out the window, the silhouette disappeared into the shadows. Alex stayed there for a long time, trying to figure out what he had seen, and if it had been real.

Am I seeing things? he wondered. It's been a stressful few days. Maybe I just need to get back to bed and forget about it until the morning.

***

Mark felt a little bit bad about hanging out in the woods outside of Alex's house. It was almost a habit, by this point. He should really have been back at Yvonne's house, hiding out. However, he couldn't keep what he had been doing a secret for long. He knew he would have to come clean eventually, so he made the mistake of telling Yvonne the truth. Like he had with Alex, he told her that he could be an asset. That had not gone over well, and she had kicked him out of her house.

That was quite possibly the stupidest thing I've ever done, Mark thought as he leaned back in a tree outside Alex's house. He looked over at the dark mass. It seemed at once inviting and unwelcoming. Mark shuddered as a cold breeze blew by.

He was sleepy, but he didn't want to fall asleep. He wanted to go up to Alex's door, knock, and hopefully be welcomed in. But Mark was too embarrassed to do that. Yvonne had shouted and screamed at him, calling him all kinds of names, before finally telling him to leave. Not that Mark could blame her.

Sighing, he checked his phone. He no longer had a work email address, so Lincoln's termination email had come through to his personal account.

Mark Summers, we regret to inform you that due to recent events, we must terminate employment with immediate effect. Due to the nature of said employment, please keep all information confidential. Your records will be cleared from our system within twenty-four hours. Please do not contact us in the future. Should any further opportunities of this nature arise, we will consider your for future employment. We wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.

The email was signed off by the HR manager. She had been a nice lady, always bringing cookies to the office. Mark sighed. He was going to miss her. On the upside, he was now a free agent.

A free agent with a target on his head, he realized.

That was another reason why Mark had come to Alex, hoping to seek refuge. Lincoln Ambrose wouldn't want one of his best spies possibly spreading his secrets all over the United States. There was, undoubtedly, an assassin on Mark's heels. Alex had SCOT, an artificial intelligence which doubled as a security program. Mark thought that was awesome, and more than a bit terrifying. So far, he hadn't triggered SCOT's sensors.

Mark waited in that tree all night, just trying to gather up the courage to go in. By the time the sky paled to dawn, he realized that he might never have the guts. Sighing dejectedly, he took one last look at the house, then swung down from the branch and retreated into the woods.