Series 9: The Alternative - Chapter Two

[BravoNine]

NOTE: Thanks for everyone’s encouraging comments! I’m glad you guys really like this! I hope this story gives Lucas the rightful ending he deserved!

Also, a special treat for all my fellow Spooks-lovers, here is my version of the Spooks Series 9 opening made just for this fanfic. Characters include the Series 9 cast as well as Tom Quinn and Patryk Donovan. There will be updated versions as the story continues.

Spooks Series 9: The Alternative Opening Titles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlIhXoJh9vk

CAST:
Peter Firth --- Harry Pearce
Richard Armitage --- Lucas North
Nicola Walker --- Ruth Evershed
Matthew MacFadyen --- Tom Quinn
Max Brown --- Dimitri Levendis
Sophia Myles --- Beth Bailey

And introducing Max Thieriot as Patryk Donovan

Series 9: The Alternative – Chapter Two

The shadowy figure finally stepped into the light to reveal a man that Harry Pearce remembered all too well and didn't think he would see again, his old Section Chief, Tom Quinn.

“We need to talk.”

Harry Pearce wasn’t a man who could be easily startled, but seeing his old section chief again after so long was rather unexpected. But before he could react, another voice joined in.

“You know, for an age-old spook, I expected better security than this.”

Harry turned behind him to find a young man with piercing blue eyes, dark blond hair, and dressed in jeans, dark blue t-shirt, black leather jacket, and wearing dog tags, leaning against the doorway and looking at him with amusement in the young man’s eyes.

It took a second for Harry’s memory to recognize the boy, but those blue eyes had been a dead give-away.

“PJ Donovan, if I assume correctly?”

The boy rolled his eyes and muttered, “Oh wonderful, that nickname just had to get stuck…” Shaking his head, the young man straightened and pushed off from the doorway, “Patryk please.”

“All grown up I see.”

“Well, puberty tends to do that to ya.” Patryk chuckled.

And grown up he was. Harry had not seen the young son of Jacob Donovan for nearly 5 years since at the elder Donovan’s funeral service. The boy was no longer the small 13 year old child who gave a tearful eulogy for his father and tried his best to comfort his pregnant mother. No, this young man before his eyes had a confident aura and bright eyes that held wisdom beyond his years.

“Patryk, can you give Harry and me a moment alone?”

If Tom hadn’t spoken, Harry would have almost forgotten that he had been in the room. Harry caught a look pass between Tom and Patryk before the young man sighed and nodded.

“No problem…” Patryk said as he turned around and called over his shoulder as he made to leave the room, “I’ll just go find some kitchen knives to amuse myself with.”

As young Patryk left the room, only Harry and Tom remained present.

Within seconds, Tom rounded on Harry, closing into his personal space, bright eyes blazing with hidden anger, “How could you never tell me he was back?”

To Harry’s credit, he didn’t flinch at Tom’s outburst, and it didn’t take a genius to figure whom Tom was referring to.

“Tom, I couldn’t…I was trying to protect him….” Harry tried to calmly explain before being cut off.

“From who? Me? Patryk?” Tom looked at Harry with an incredulous expression, “What did you think we were gonna do? Tell the whole world? Hurt him? For God’s sake Harry, he’s my friend!”

“Tom, you know that I couldn’t…”

“Don’t give me any of that security crap, Harry!” Tom spat out in anger, “You of all people know what I had gone through after Lucas was taken! You of all people saw how much it broke Patryk! You couldn’t give either of us the decency to just let us know that he’s okay?”

Harry sighed in heavily, “Tom, you’d left the service, I couldn’t just tell you.”

“That’s bull, Harry, and you know it.” Tom’s voice had taken on a bitter tone, “Every night I go to sleep, I replay those moments in my head. Every night I watch them drag him away, I hear his voice screaming at me to get out. And every night I imagine the horrors they do to him….” Tom paused for a second as his voice broke, emotions trying break free, “You didn’t think for just one second that I needed to know?”

There was nothing Harry knew he could say that would appease Tom’s hurtful feelings. He had made a choice when Lucas returned to make sure that very few would know of his return to the Grid. Other than those within the government and the agency, and maybe the CIA and FSB, Harry had tried as best as he could to deflect any attempts to find Lucas. He had set up networks and contingencies trying to protect Lucas’s well-being. He had made that choice knowing that there were others on the outside that may want to know, but he couldn’t afford everyone in the world easily finding Lucas. He had let Lucas down once in Moscow, he couldn’t do it again.

“I did what I thought was best.” Harry knew the younger man would have a hard time understanding being left out of the loop, “I had to protect him, just like with you and Zoe. Just like I can’t let anyone easily know where you are or where Zoe is, I can’t let people know so easily about Lucas. It’s for everyone’s good that it stays a secret.”

“Oh you sure kept that secret well, I gotta give you points for that.” Tom snorted bitterly, “Every day I try to find news of Lucas, there were a few times that his name popped up, but they only led me around in circles that eventually I just gave up. You know how Patryk had to find out? Lucas showing up at his house out of the blue. If Patryk hadn’t called me, if Lucas hadn’t shown up, I never would have known that he’s finally free.”

“He showed up at Patryk’s home?” That caught Harry’s attention, Lucas knew better than to go off into unknown territory, as much as the Donovans were old friends. It was still dangerous to security. “Why?”

“He was scared…”

Heads turned as young Patryk had returned to the room.

“Scared?” There were many things that Harry knew Lucas may be, but scared was hardly one of them.

“Freaked out, terrified…” Patryk’s tone was serious, the humor he had displayed earlier was gone, “He told Tom and me that there were gaps in his memory, things that he couldn’t control, how he framed a fellow agent, how he raced to Malcolm’s house in a fit of rage that he couldn’t understand, that he remembers this man named Vaughn giving him a briefcase, something about a bombing in Dakar, a girl named Maya, Vaughn telling him to find Albany, and that he let that White House cryptographer die in his arms.”

A dreadful sinking feeling ran through Harry, red flags going up in alarms, “Oh god…” He breathed out as his hands went to cover his face. Ruth had been right about this after all.

“He had Patryk enact Protocol Charlie Theta.” Tom spoke up.

Harry looked up in surprise, “The Triangle protocol? Why? You, Lucas, and Jacob Donovan hadn’t run that since 1999.”

“Clearly something’s wrong that he can’t trust anyone else to help. Or else why would he go to Patryk knowing the danger.”

“Where is Lucas now?” Harry was already formulating plans in his head, he had to contain the situation.

“Tom and I dropped him off at one of my Dad’s old safe houses on the way here. He’s with my bodyguard Sebastian.”

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Lucas North lay on the bed at the Donovan safe house, shaking, exhausted, and afraid to go to sleep because he knew the nightmares would come. Something had been wrong with him for a while now, he had began to notice ever since Vaughn showed up. It was like something inside of him is trying to break out and it scares him. He had been trying to keep quiet, trying to fix it on his own, but today everything had blown up in his face that he couldn’t deny it anymore. He had let an innocent girl die simply because she had spoken the words ‘Albany’, he had felt rage against dear old Malcolm. Something was definitely wrong, he couldn’t ignore it anymore. And in fear of any leaks within Section D, he had gone off to a very old friend. Little Patryk Donovan.

He could trust Patryk, he could trust the old school protocol that had been put in place in case any of them needed to go off the grid. It was their unique distress call, and Patryk served as the base.

Lucas had to admit that he had been surprised to see Tom Quinn walk through the door after Patryk had made the call. Harry had told him that Tom had took early retirement and Lucas knew his file had been sealed for protection purposes, so Lucas wasn’t sure his old friend would answer the call. But once they had laid eyes on each other again, it was just like old times.

And as he sat in Patryk’s house coming up with a plan with Patryk and Tom, it felt just like the old days, the days before Moscow, the days before his life had been shot to hell.

He knew Tom and Patryk had gone off to contact Harry, but a part of Lucas feared that Harry would hate him for what he had done, that Harry would see it as betrayal. But at this point, he didn’t have a lot of options, coming clean to Harry may be his only way out.

With that thought in mind, Lucas willed himself to go to sleep. And soon he had drifted off into a calm rest, a calm rest that was soon interrupted by an incessant voice that wouldn’t leave him alone.

‘Find Albany. Must find Albany for Maya’s sake. No time to delay, have to find Albany.’

Blue eyes suddenly opened once more, but these were not the blue eyes that once held compassion and care, these eyes were cold and menacing.

As if like a robot, Lucas got up from bed and got dressed. One bodyguard stood between his way and freedom. It shouldn’t be hard to escape. As he carefully made it outside without noise, blue eyes found the figure of the bodyguard. Sneaking up behind the dark-suited man, he swiftly dispatched the man by snapping his neck. The bodyguard dropped to the ground before he could react.

A smirk came over the once gentle face of Lucas North, and he stepped over the body without a thought.

Freedom, Albany, Maya, those are the most important thing he needs to worry about now.

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“Call your guard.” Harry turned to Patryk, “We’ll have to bring Lucas to the Grid as quickly as we can to contain this if we want to have any chance of helping him. Albany is a state secret, if he’s after it, nothing good can come out of this.”

Patryk looked at him briefly in surprise before he nodded and immediately dialed for his guard Sebastian, but when no one picked up, a frown came over Patryk’s face, “Damn it, he’s not answering.”

Grave looks came across both Tom Quinn and Harry Pearce’s faces, neither of them needed to be explained just what that could mean.

“Lucas may already be lost to us…” Harry paced around in his living room, “We need a plan, if he’s already on the move then we need to be on the Grid to track him.”

Grabbing his suit jacket and his cell phone, Harry Pearce put a hand on young Patryk’s shoulder as he turned his attention on the young man, “I need you to go back to the safe house, find out what’s wrong, and contact Lucas as fast as you can. You need to be out there sticking close to him. You are not a threat to him, and as of right now, that makes you easily trustworthy than any of us. Use your connection with him. Stay close. You’ll need to go dark, no contact to us. He’ll be sure to watch so you’ll have to be genuine. You’re on your own in this…”

“Harry, I don’t think that’s…”

“It’s fine Tom.” Patryk looked to Tom in assurance before turning back to Harry, determination written all over his face, “I can do this.”

“Good.” Harry patted the young man’s shoulder in support before looking to Tom. “Where’s the rest of the family? Are they safe?”

“Christine’s got the kids and Patryk’s mother and sister. They should be out of the country by now. She knows what to do.”

Harry was glad that at least there were less people to worry about protecting, “You and I will go back onto the Grid and track him as if he is an enemy agent. The information Lucas told you two will stay between the three of us and Malcolm once I contact him to be back on the Grid as well. If Lucas enacted Charlie Theta, then we don’t know who could be watching, so we can’t tell the others, the less they know the better in case anything goes wrong.”

Tom nodded in agreement as the three moved out of Harry Pearce’s residence and gathered outside in front of two cars, one belonging to Harry, and the other belonging to Patryk.

Tom ruffled Patryk’s hair affectionately, “Be careful, okay?”

“I’m a big boy now, Tom, stop worrying.” Patryk smiled as he clapped Tom on the shoulder.

Tom smiled back in return before the two headed off into different cars, but before Patryk could get into his car, another voice stopped him.

“Good luck Patryk.” Harry called to the young man. It was strange that Harry Pearce, a man who trusted very few people in his life and very few uses or tolerance for Americans, was now placing the fate of Queen and Country in the hands of an 18 year old American boy. Maybe things were really going worse than he thought.

Harry watched as Patryk Donovan gave him a haphazard one finger salute before getting into his car and drive away.

There was no going back now. The plan was in motion, and Harry Pearce can only hope that it will all turn out okay in the end, but long years in this business had taught him to know better, nothing is ever that easy.

[Aria]

Yes!! I've been looking forward to reading more. Love the re-emergence of Tom and the introduction of Patryk. Tom's anger and anguish over Lucas's capture by the Russians is heartbreaking. Hope you update soon.

[Belle]

Oh, I can't wait to read more, to find out what happend to Lucas that makes him do things so out of character, love the way you brought back Tom aswell! I also hope you update soon!

[HellsBells]

Great writing, BravoNine, really cleverly done. Poor Lucas is still in trouble. It is great that Tom is back, can't wait to find out how this ends. Loved the video of your opening credits.

[AnnMarie]

Great job BravoNine! I love the "one-finger salute" ,I know which finger I'd be using! Can't wait to read more...very clever!

[KitKat385]

Enjoyed your opening credits - combined with what you've revealed to us in the fic, you've given us a really nice picture of Patryk! Like how you've tweaked season 9 to set up this interesting plot with Lucas, and the re-emergence of Tom is great.

Can't wait for the next chapter, and you might want to hurry typing it up....otherwise I might turn to using Patryk's kitchen knives for entertainment