Keysmith [NOT FANFICTION] ✓completed

Coincidence

LEX first got the impression that Levi wanted a favour from him when the kid didn't go straight to him room after he got home from school, opting instead to linger in the living room, shifting his balance from his left foot to his right.

"Yes?" Lex enquired somewhat sharply, and Levi jumped slightly.

"Uh, nothing!" he said quickly -- too quickly -- as he averted his gaze, "nothing, really."

Lex rolled his eyes, but pretended to believe him.

"If you say so. By the way, your football training with Joey this Friday's been cancelled, the British Reporters Sunday Standard is going on a work trip to someplace."

"What a coincidence!" Levi exclaimed, "we have a school trip on Friday! And they're actually still looking for parents that would like come with as supervision... but I guess if you have a trip too, you can't come."

Lex raised one eyebrow.

"Was that why you were lingering here like a nervous puppy?"

"I was not--" Levi cut off his sentence when he realized that the simile was actually spot on, and huffed indignantly.

"Was it though?" Lex asked, a smirk appearing on his face.

Levi let out a long sigh of annoyance.

"Yes, yes it was."

There was a momentary silence, and then Lex spoke up.

"Well, as a matter of fact, I'm not going with the others on the work trip, because they won't be needing a technician. So theoretically speaking, I could come."

Levi's eyes lit up.

"Really?"

"I said theoretically."

"Just answer the question for once, Lex!"

Lex rolled his eyes.

"Fine, I'll come. But don't make me regret it."

-

THE FOLLOWING FRIDAY...

I regret everything.

Lex was sitting in the front of an ancient Mercedes, with five kids squeezed into the backseat.

They'd all introduced themselves before they'd gotten into the dusty excuse for a car, but Lex was already having trouble identifying them. Levi was at way back, sitting in between the twins -- James and Niel? Something like that, anyway -- and then there were Tim and Luke, in the middle row.

At that moment the driver clambered into the car -- he was the twins' father, a tall man with black hair and bright green eyes, which both of his sons had clearly inherited from him.

"Right, everyone ready to go?" he enquired cheerfully, and there was a chorus of "yes!"es from the back of the car.

The Mercedes spluttered as he turned the key, and for half a second Lex was sure it was going to give up and shut down, but then the car gave a last protesting wheeze and sprang to life.

"I don't believe we've met," the twins' father began, keeping his eyes on the road as he addressed Lex.

"I don't think so," Lex replied, "the name's Lex Lestrade."

"Well what a spectacular coincidence!" the man laughed, "my name's Lexon White!"

Lex turned in his seat to face Lexon.

"You're joking, right?" he asked, and Lexon shook his head.

"I'm serious! Wow, that's crazy. I had no idea Lex was such a common name -- a while back, I was actually arrested because they thought I was Lex London. Can you believe that? They took me with to the police station, and they did the whole DNA-comparison and everything. I didn't protest, because I knew I wasn't Lex London, obviously, but it was still pretty weird. Shows how normal the name and its variations are."

This was the part where rookies messed up -- they froze up at their real name, started stuttering or just generally acting weird, which wouldn't seem out of place until it was later suspected who they really were.

But Lex London was no rookie.

"That's crazy," he remarked, "are they allowed to do that? I'm glad it's never happened to me before, it sounds like an awful lot of trouble."

"It wasn't too bad, I guess," Lexon shrugged, "I mean, if you have a fear of needles it won't be the best day of your life, but luckily for me I was having a bit of a boring day to begin with, so it was decent entertainment."

"Plus, we got a tour of the police station!" one of the twins piped up from the back of the car, and Lexon let out a hearty laugh.

"Yes, that was the highlight of the week for the twins, and it more than made up for all the hassle for me."

Lex smiled, watching as the trees at the side of the road flashed by.

"Well, I'm glad to see that they're making an effort to catch that guy, it's not safe to leave people like him on the loose. Who knows what kind of schemes he can get up to in the time that they spend searching for him!"

"Yes, I suppose that's for the best," Lexon nodded in agreement, "although I heard that Lex London specifically specializes in thievery, so he shouldn't be a direct danger, more of a nuisance."

Heists, not thievery, Lex mentally corrected him, but he was wise enough to keep it to himself.

"Still, Highcrest will be a safer place when criminals like him are safely behind bars," Lex claimed.

He glanced at the rearview mirror to check on Levi, only to see the kid staring at him in utter disbelief. Lex frowned, and Levi seemed to snap out of his trance-like state, starting an animated conversation with the twin to his right instead.

This is why I work alone, Lex thought to himself, but he shoved the thought inside, turning his attention back to Lexon instead.

"So, where exactly are we going?" Lex enquired.

"Someplace in Glasgow," Lexon answered with a shrug, "I'm just following Matilda, she knows the way."

He gestured to a bright purple car in front of them, and Lex nodded slowly.

"Well, a car that... colourful should be pretty hard to lose," he chuckled to himself.

Ironically, that's exactly what they managed to do.