[ENTRY] The Proposition

[Aria]

The Proposition

Running through the bustling London market, he pushes past early morning shoppers. Merchants' shouts reverberate around the square, their offers ringing in his ears as he runs faster. The Russians are closing in; he sprints for all he is worth, knowing the commotion behind him is doubling as his Russian pursuers push the same path through the crowd. He runs down an alley and hides in an alcove, pulling his phone from his pocket. Young, healthy lungs are racked as he tries to draw breath and wipes the blood from the mobile's screen. He dials.

"Tom? It's Lucas, get me out of here NOW!".

“Lucas, Malcolm and Colin are triangulating your position now and CO19 are on their way, but their ETA is at least 4 minutes. You’ll have to find somewhere to hide”.

With an angry sigh, he closes his phone. Hide, where to hide? Over his harsh and laboured breathing, the alcove is quiet, but he knows that won’t be the case for much longer. In the corner of the alleyway he sees a side door that is partially open. Warily he makes his way towards it, all the while keeping his eyes and ears open for the men who have been pursuing him.

As he steps into the small and dark room and closes the door quietly behind him, he thinks wryly that dying in this room would be just the right way to prove to Harry that he can be trusted. Ever since he started dating and then marrying Elizaveta, he’s felt a strain in his previously good relationship with Harry. Sure, Elizaveta is Russian, but she’s come through vetting and as he’s told Harry “you can’t help who you fall in love with”. The look on Harry’s face at that observation still makes him wince, weeks later.

Suddenly, he can hear shouts and banging. They’ve found him. God alone knows who they are and what he’s done to make them suspicious of him. He had been enjoying an off day. Elizaveta was visiting her parents and wouldn’t be back till Tuesday at the earliest and work at MI5 was so slow that he and Tom had been discussing the possibility of redundancies in the service now that the cold war was over and lasting peace in Northern Ireland a real possibility. He had been planning his day, when two men he had never seen before had walked up to him and asked him if he was Lucas North? Not many people knew his real name and they certainly would never include the two men standing in front of him, especially as the one who had spoken had a definite Russian accent. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valour, he had made a run for it, and now they’d found him.

Damning himself for not carrying a weapon, he looks around the small room. His eyes have adjusted to the gloom and he can make out that it is a store room of some kind. There are a few old barrels and other caskets. He picks up an old piece of wood, testing its strength. He won’t go gently into that good night. He crouches down behind some of the barrels and caskets and waits. After what seems like an eternity the door of the store room creaks slowly open and he can hear a whispered conversation.

“You go in and check if the room is clear”.” This is the Russian, speaking to his partner. The second man walks into the room slowly with his hands up in the air. What he says is amazing.

“Lucas North, if you’re in here, we don’t mean you any harm. We just want to put a proposition to you. We are not armed, repeat, we are not armed”.

The man speaks with an American accent. Despite his training and extensive reading, he has never come across such a situation. What do a Russian and an American want with him? In the background he can hear the wailing of police cars and he breathes slightly easier. Not long now.

“We’ve been watching you for some time now, Lucas and we think that you are ready to join our organisation. You are an intelligent and resourceful man who would enjoy the honour and privilege of defending our planet.”

He inwardly snorts, as if he would turn traitor because of such poor rhetoric. The men hold another whispered conversation as the police sirens become louder.

“Your colleagues are closing in on us, Lucas and we cannot be found talking to you. If you join us you could do great things, things that MI5 could never hope to achieve. We will contact you again soon.”

In the alley he can hear voices. He makes out Tom’s voice and is almost overwhelmed by the relief which goes through him.

As he is opening the store room door, his eyes happen upon a small, white calling card. He can just make out the writing -we will contact you soon. Turning it over he is surprised to read embossed on the card,

M.I.B - Men in Black.

[fanofChristine]

I enjoyed this, especially how you explained why his relationship with Harry was strained. Also, nice ending!

One thing that I found faulty though was that the men who have been watching him "for some time now" had to ask his name. )

[Lukyan Lyubof]

The ending brough a huge smile to my face!
Liked the explanation for the tension between Harry and Lucas

[HellsBells]

Just loved the ending, that was just brilliant. Interesting thought about how Harry felt about Elizaveta.

[Tea Lady]

Nice to read that Lucas had found some happiness. Was Harry jealous?
A good read. I enjoyed this one.

[Aria]

Thanks for the positive comments, guys. Like HellsBells, this is the first piece of creative writing I've done since leaving school. (I don't think doing my accounts, counts as creative writing )

Re: Harry: he isn't jealous as such because he fancies Elizaveta or anything. But he is maybe slightly jealous that Lucas has found someone and is happy. Also Elizaveta is Russian, the traditional enemy pre-series 1. I have a mental image of Harry being slightly bitter around then - his wife has re-married and he never sees his children and then Lucas, with the happiness of a man in love, reminds him of what is missing in his life. Possibly I am overthinking it

[Jhokur]

Definitely like the twist ending - Well done Aria!

[picard1109]

Very good!

[redlyn]

I thoroughly enjoyed the idea of Tom and Lucas working together and the twist of the ending made me smile. Nice job. I'd love to read more of Lucas pre-Russia.