Journey - REVISED EDITION

Escape Plan

"It would make sense. I wonder...I wonder if Mrs. Jones knew about this, and specifically chose you and the other team for this. Maybe she figured that Alex would have a fighting chance if all of us stood behind him."

"I don't know... We just need to get ready to leave and figure out what we're going to do."

Wolf nodded, appearing deep in thought. "Call the others. We need to discuss this."

Lion stood a little hesitantly, watching the faces of the others as they took in the news.

"So, we're...defecting." Cheetah frowned.

"Not exactly. From what it sounds like, MI6 can no longer be trusted. We're defecting, but with the permission of those who matter. We're not just protecting Alex-which that was what they told us to do originally, and we'll do that, even if it means going against them-but we're also completing a mission they were ordered to abandon, and we're finding out what exactly MI6 has to hide." Wolf said, leaning forward and looking each man square in the eyes.

"Where are we going to go?" Lion asked, his voice small. He was just the slightest bit nervous; it was his first deployment and he'd never really seen any action.

Bear smiled at him gently from across the room. Lion had only met them seven months ago, when they'd lost a team-mate to promotion and he'd been sent as a replacement. "I have a friend who might be able to help. He's rich and owes me a few favors. I'll call him up, and see if he can send a private jet to somewhere outside Paris, and then fly us somewhere far away, a safe-house maybe."

"How will you call him, if all the phones are being tracked by MI6?" Panther asked, raising an eyebrow. Lion didn't really know what to make of him. He seemed so intimidating, and although his features were beautiful enough to cut stone, there was a certain danger and coldness in them that warned Lion to never get on the agent's bad side.

Bear flushed. "Not all the phones are."

Fennec looked up at Bear from where he was sitting at his feet. "You kept it?!"

Bear nodded, before meeting Wolf's eyes. "I kept my personal phone from before SAS; couldn't get rid of it. It's got some personal information on it that I couldn't just throw away. Neither MI6 nor SAS have any knowledge of its existence."

"How do we know that MI6 doesn't already know your friend and be able to track exactly where we're going?" Snake brought up.

"They don't. My friend is very good at keeping under the radar. He's had lots of practice over the years, and besides, any record of him I wiped from the system years ago."

Wolf raised an eyebrow, before nodding and Bear went off by himself, presumably to call his friend. "Now. Packing. The car isn't going to be big enough to fit all nine of us, so we need to be limited in what we bring. A back-pack each is all I can allow and they'll have to be carried on your lap. Clothes aren't necessary. Those can be bought new, wherever we end up. Weapons, personal items, non-perishable food, travel documents, and special gadgets that aren't traceable, those are necessities. Anything else, all MI6 or SAS issued phones, must be destroyed. Only wear civilian clothes; whatever you wear will be what you have for the trip. Our insider in MI6 will hack the security cameras so that we won't be seen, but take no chances and avoid surveillance as much as possible. Fake IDs and passports will be provided with the getaway car; Panther and I will handle those. We will be traveling in separate cars on the Eurostar to avoid suspicion. Fennec? I'll expect you to relate all of this to your teammate."

Fennec nodded, and Lion watched the shorter man's sharp eyes follow Wolf's every move, almost as if internally documenting everything.

"I've made a separate back-up story for each group. Group One, that's going to be Alex, Panther and Fennec. You two have some crap to work out, but make sure you keep an eye on Alex. He's our main priority. Your cover story is you're traveling to visit relatives in France for a week. You're brothers, Alex isn't doing well, and you're hoping the countryside will be better for his health. Group two, that's my unit, Bear, Cheetah and Lion. Our cover story is that Bear is getting married, and this is one last lads-getaway before he's tied down. Any questions?"