Waiting down at baggage claim with Tom, Alex watches as he struggles to fight the jet lag. His head keeps falling forward, only for him to jerk his head back when he realizes what's happened. Chuckling, Alex pats him on the back, waking him up even more.
"Come on, Tom. We just landed, try to stay awake until we get back to the house." He teases, earning a glare.
Not many people are by baggage claim, mainly because we were one of the first people to get off. There's a young couple standing together on one side, a mom and her toddler sitting on a bench, a man in a business suit, and a college student listening to music with headphones.
Although young spy had left the game, it seems the spy game hadn't left him.
He's snapped out of his stupor when a fresh wave of luggage makes its way over on the conveyor belt. Keeping an eye out for it, Alex finally spot theirs as the ones in the middle. Grabbing it before it can go down any further, he turns to Tom and tosses him his, startling him since he almost fell asleep again.
"Gah!" Tom exclaims, flailing his arms in an attempt to catch it. When he catches, he gives his friend a glare, ignoring Alex's uncontrollable laughter. "Not cool, Al!"
Struggling to calm down, Alex just shakes his head while holding his stomach. "Hahaha! I-I'm sorry! I just couldn't help it!"
Rolling his eyes, Tom drops the bag on the ground. "Alright, come on. Let's go, your uncle is waiting for us."
Agreeing, the two walk to the other side of the airport, going through security checkpoints along the way, even stopping to grab a pretzel for Tom. Apparently, the airplane food couldn't, and quote, "satisfy his teenage metabolism".
Chewing on his food Tom gestures up ahead to the airport entrance. "So, do you know what our guardian looks like?"
The ex-spy looks around at a couple of people waiting by the gate. "I met him and his unit at camp, they were the group I stayed with at the time." He walks back over to Tom. "We didn't really talk much, but he seemed-"
"Hey!" Tom yells, startling Alex enough to look over at him.
A man with a black cap and coat struggles to take Tom's luggage from him. Body shoving Tom over, the man makes a dash to the exit with his stuff. Without even thinking about, Alex immediately leaves his items with Tom and sprints after him. Shoving people out of the way as he exits the airport and onto the front steps, the man glances over his shoulder, his second mistake.
His first mistake was messing with an ex-spy and his brother.
Lunging forward, Alex tackles the man to the ground, pinning his arm behind his back as he straddles his sides. Pushing his face down with his other hand, Alex holds him in place despite his struggling. "Not the best idea now, was this?"
He hears someone coming up behind him, looking back Alex give a grin to Tom as he stumbles over to them with their luggage. Dropping the bag next the stolen one, he places his hands on his knees, gasping for breath. "Geeze, man. Ha....We're in America for barely an hour....and we already got mugged?" He struggles to yell.
By now they've gathered a crowd of people near the entrance. Looking around, Alex tries to find an officer when a familiar voice interrupts his. "Hey there, Cub. I see you're handling yourself well."
A smile breaking out, Alex lets out a chuckle. "Hey there, Eagle." Seeing some officers coming his way, Alex gets up and hands the man off to them. "And I see that your country is ready to welcome us." He says before turning around towards his old friend.
Rolling his eyes, Eagle gives him a pat on the back. "Not everyone has time to drink tea." Turning to Tom who's recovered from his sprinting, he nods and holds a hand out to him. "Nice to meet you, you must be Tom. I'm Eagle, but you two should probably get used to calling me Charlie in public."
Eagle, er...Charlie, changed a bit from the last time Alex saw him. Instead of a buzz cut he's sporting a shaggy hair style. Body build still big and intimidating, but instead of maintaining a threatening demeanor he's relaxed more. Showing more of his childlike hyper self. So....basically a man child in uniform.
Nodding, Tom shakes his hand as Alex grabs his luggage from him. "Nice to meet you too, sir."
Raising an eyebrow, Eagle gestures a thumb at Tom. "I like your friend here, knows how to be polite. Unlike some children I know." He teases with a grin.
"Right." Alex scoffs. "Well this child," he emphasizes, pointing my thumb at himself, "can still beat your ass."
A childish pout earns a snicker from Tom. "No need to be such a meany, Cubby." Grinning at Tom, Eagle wraps an arm around him while gesturing to Alex. "Did he ever tell you how he fell on his face in combat practice?"
Groaning, Alex throws his hands up in the air in frustration. "That was one time! Besides, you were the one who stole Wolf's morning coffee."
Flushing in embarrassment, Eagle grabs their luggages. "W-we should probably start heading back." He shudders while walking towards the parking lot, whispering to himself quietly. "I do not want to relive that ever again."
Sharing a look with Tom, the two teens laugh and follow him. Finally getting to Eagle's police cruiser, Alex in the front and Tom in the back, the three make their way into town. As they pass by moving scenery, Alex looks quite bored out the window.
'Nothing but green, green...Oh! More green.... Yay....'
"So," Eagle breaks the comfortable silence, "how was the flight? Everything okay?"
Nodding in confirmation, Alex continues to look out the window. "Yeah, there was an interesting little confrontation with Tom and another passenger though when we were waiting-"
"Hey!" He interrupts, moving up in his seat to grab onto the caged divider. "Being asked if you're pregnant or not shouldn't be a bad a thing! It's an honest question."
Turning around in his own seat, Alex gives him a grin while flicking his nose through the grate. "Yeah, but only when the person is actually pregnant." Pausing, he shakes his head and laughs. "And a woman!"
Eagle lets out a burst of laughter. "How did you not know it was a man?"
Rolling his eyes, Tom just settles back in his seat while checking his nails. "Hey, he was a very attractive man."
"Just so you two are aware, I only have one spare bedroom so you two will have to share it." Eagle informs, not looking away from the road.
"That's fine, we're plenty used to it. Is anyone expecting us?" Alex turns to Charlie.
"No, I wanted to make sure we were debriefed before letting anyone know. The only people that know you two are here are some school officials and a few deputies of mine at the police department." He explains, but his face becomes hardened. "But there might be some trouble with the Cullen Clan. MI6 has been on the Clan's case for while due to their suspicious activities, especially with them consistently getting indirectly involved with police work. They're good people, but I don't want you two to gain attention from them."
'Hmm...They could be a problem.'
"What does the school know about us?" Alex asks.
"All they know is that you're my nephew from England, Cub, and Tommy boy is a close friend of yours that ran into some domestic issues. I told them some time ago and they seem eager to meet you two. Mainly because this town is crazy driven for gossip." Shaking his head, Charlies pulls into the driveway of their new home. "I honestly don't know why I stay here, it's a good thing they have good food."
After parking the car, Tom and Alex get out and share a look when they see how big the house is. "Dibs on the window side!" The two shout in unison, earning a glare from the other. "No fair!"
Chuckling, Eagle shakes his head while helping them get the bags out of the trunk. "The beds are on opposite sides of the room, both twins. Although," He slams the trunk closed, grinning while handing them their bags. "one of them has a mini fridge and the other has a desk with a pretty new computer, something I don't use that often since I have a laptop. So, you two have to choose."
The two teens share a look, both clearly understanding what needed to be done. "Race you!" They yell, sprinting their way inside. Alex was not sure why they started racing for it since they both knew that Tom would want the mini fridge and Alex the desk with the computer. But they did. In the end both getting the side they wanted, all while hearing Eagle's laughter from downstairs.
While Eagle makes dinner downstairs, the two unpack what little items they brought over. Since they wanted to start anew in America, they only packed a few items from their homes.
Alex plops himself down on his bed while looking at their new room. There's a medium sized window on the opposite wall from the door with a long white desk underneath it. On the right side is a computer and chair for Alex, while the left side has a mini fridge against the wall and a chair for Tom. Twin sized beds face the desk from the opposite wall, two separate nightstands dividing them. Because the room doesn't have space for a dresser, they split the closet next to the door in half.
Besides their luggage, books on the desks and what few pictures taped to the wall, it's bare. Eagle told them that they would go out the next day to get some sheets, storage bins and anything else they want to decorate our room with. But honestly, to Alex it already felt like home.
"Hey, Al. You sure you have enough room on your side?" Tom asks as he finishes up hanging the last of his clothes. "I got some more room if you want."
Alex waves his hand. "Naw, it's fine. I'll just put my winter clothes in my luggage and leave it under my bed. Change it as the seasons go."
"That's smart..." Tom muses before closing the closet doors. "I guess we're officially done unpacking then, do you mind if I leave my laptop plugged in on the desk? We should really buy an extension strip."
"Go for it, just know I'm storing some food in that mini fridge later." Alex teases, thinking about the amount of food they can keep inside.
"Ha! That just gives me more reason to restock it." He says as he plugs his laptop in.
"Boys!" Eagle yells from downstairs. "Dinner!"
Tom flashes Alex a grin and sprints for the door. "Loser has to give up their share of dessert!"
Jumping out of bed, Alex chases after him as fast as he can down the stairs. But he inevitably loses since Tom had the head start. Slightly out of breath, Alex take a seat at the dinner table and glares at him.
"You had a head start." Alex whines.
"What can I say? All's fair in love and food." Tom teases as he begins putting a portion of the spaghetti from the bowl and onto his plate.
"It's true, Alex. Everything is understandable if it's in the name of food." Eagle nods sagely as he serves the sausages from the pan and onto their plates.
Rolling his eyes, Alex accepts the serving spoon from Tom and shoves some pasta onto his own plate. "I'm living with crazy people."
Once everyone is situated and eating, Eagle breaks the silence.
"Since we won't be going into town until tomorrow we might as well use this time to get you two used to living here. Like I said earlier, I think it would be best if you two call me Charlie in public. At home I don't mind if you call me Eagle though." He gestures to a cabinet by the window. "It's a pretty safe town, but just in case, I have three guns stored in there with bullets. Just load them up and they'll work fine."
Looking up, Alex raises an eyebrow at him. "You do know that Tom doesn't know how to use a gun?"
Shrugging, Eagle reaches across the table and ruffles Tom's hair, earning himself a yelp. "Well, we'll just have to go to the shooting range either this weekend or next."
"Oh sure, being taught how to shoot by a guy who steals a crazy man's coffee and a kid who slept with his childhood blanket until seven. Real safe." Tom mumbles, yelping when both Eagle and Alex slap his head. He rubs the back of his head with a pout. "Hey! Watch the hair!"
Rolling his eyes, Alex turn to Eagle. "In my file it said that we should be suspicious about the Cullens and the Blacks."
"Yeah, I guess you two should." Shoveling another forkful of pasta into his mouth, Charlies gets out of his seat to a nearby table by the window. Rifling through the drawers, he finally comes back while holding two pictures. "This is the Cullen family," he points to the left photo, "and this is the Black family" he points to the right photo.
The two teens pause to examine the photos as Eagle continues eating. The Cullens look amazingly young, almost too hard to tell who the parents are. In the other photo, the Blacks have a hardier look.
Looking up, Alex gestures to the two photos. "What's their story?"
Eagle points to the Cullens first. "They haven't really done anything to cause alarm, but they have consistently evaded MI6's radar for a while. Your former bosses weren't able to gather any information on them besides their names and occupations. Everything else, nada. I've met them a few times and they're good people."
"Their father is a doctor," he points at a handsome blonde standing in the middle with his arm around a lovely young woman, "while his wife stays home. They weren't able to have any kids of their own, so the kids they have are just ones they took in. Even though they're sibling through adoption, all of them but one, are currently dating each other." He gestures to the rest of the people in the picture.
Confused, Tom scrunches his nose. "Wait, hold on. Let's go back to the whole incest thing. Isn't that, like, illegal though?"
"You would think, but apparently since they aren't related by blood, it's perfectly fine." Eagle explains with a shrug. "No one in town really seems to care, if I'm honest."
They turn their attention to the other picture. "This family, on the other hand, don't live near here. They live a couple towns over, but they're known to have a feud with the Cullens. I'm not sure why, but it's apparently a deep seeded kind of feud. None of them are siblings, basically cousins or in laws. They're a close-knit family, I've actually met a few of them a couple of times when I had to get my car fixed. It got dinged up and they're mechanical geniuses that sometimes do a few jobs for the police station."
Charlie points to the man seated in the wheelchair towards the front. "I met Billy, Jacob's dad," he points out the kid next to him, "when he worked on my car personally, good guy. His son is trustworthy, maybe a little careless, but he's got a good life ahead of him."
The teens absorb the new information as they finish eating dinner and help Eagle clean up. Placing the dishes in the dishwasher, Eagle glances at the clock. "It's getting pretty late, I'm gonna head to bed. Since it's Friday we'll head into town tomorrow around 9, get your school supplies, anything you need for your room, and just have you two get over the jet lag. If you guys want, we can go to the shooting range either tomorrow evening or on Sunday."
Agreeing, the teens make their way upstairs as Eagle locks up the house downstairs. Grabbing some blankets from the closet, the two say goodnight to Eagle before heading to their room. Because of the jet lag, Tom immediately crashes in bed with the blanket barely covering him.
Alex tries to sleep, but it's proving to be too difficult. As he lays in bed and stares at the ceiling, the shadows of the trees outside the window sways across the walls. It's silent in the house, a little too silent for comfort. Rolling over onto his side, Alex reaches for his phone and headphones before plugging them in. Putting on quiet music, he lays on his back again and covers his eyes with his arm.
'Home sweet home...'