I rolled over, feeling a warm body against my own, my eyes fluttering open to see Alec sat up with his back to the headrest. He gave me a small smile before his gaze drifted back to the doorway. It slid open and several men entered, motioning for us to follow. Alec stood up first and helped me to my feet, then we were ushered into the corridor.

Two doors opposite us opened, another female now stood in front of me. I saw Alec give me a nod, and he walked into his own room, whilst the other made way for me. Once inside, the door slid shut, revealing a small bathroom. I stripped from my clothes and jumped straight into the running shower, not caring about the similarities to the ones at home as the soothing flow hit my skin.

I wasn’t given time to enjoy it, as the water shut off soon after, and I was handed a towel. The woman took my pile of clothes with disinterest and put them in a container as I dried, replacing them with a new set. One item I was not sure how to wear, so she absentmindedly helped me put it on, then I dressed further.

The new clothes fit better than what Alec had provided me, and I was soon in the corridor once more. The door slid open and he came out too, his attire changed, and he gave me a small smile. We were led a different way than before, eventually emerging into a large room with lots of desks and machines. I noticed Alec looking at everything he could, then to a window that overlooked the room.

I followed his gaze and saw a red light flare through the dark glass, but was moved over to a large desk in the centre of the room before I could make out any details. A man at the other end motioned for us to sit down, so we did, a pile of paper in front of us. “We’ve decided that if we want your help, we need to help you. Those documents have our research, or at least what we learnt so far. Please, take a look.”

I did as asked, but couldn’t make sense of the pictures without understanding the writing. Alec, however, was scanning over the papers, occasionally looking at a separate one, then going back to his reading. After a good five minutes, he threw them back to the desk and slid them across the top, sitting back with a smug grin on his face. “Well, I think I know what the problem is. You don’t have a fucking clue what you’re dealing with, and it’s making you scared.”

The smile that was slowly forming on the other man’s face changed to a frown, and he shook his head with a sigh. “I was hoping you would be a bit more cooperative, but it seems like we need to take other routes.” With a nod of his head the others lifted us from the chairs, Alec’s gaze locked to the man as we were taken through a set of double doors.

There were others in here, making the room far too cramped for us all. There was only one exit, so the guards left us, one of the ones in white waving me forward. I felt a small squeeze on my arm and turned to see Alec give me a nod, so moved over. “Lie down on here, please.” I did as asked, indicated to a strange device, made of a large ring and a bed. My arms and legs were strapped down, and a glance at Alec showed no reason for concern.

Then there was the sound of low humming and the bed slowly began to move, taking the others out of my sight as I entered the centre of the ring. My body began to tingle then, until I stopped and I felt a weird sensation all over me. Although I couldn’t see, I could still hear, and I almost giggled at what was said. “Sir, could you stand still please?”

“I just want to look. If I’m going in there, I wanna know what’s going on.”

“Very well, but please don’t interfere.” The strange feeling and humming intensified a moment later, causing me to gasp. It felt like tickling all over my skin. Then came the sound of a massive crash, followed by panic, and I heard the same voice. “What the fuc…” It was cut off halfway through, and the uncomfortable bed I was on moved once more, this time out.

“Hold on, you’ll be free in a minute.” Alec did just as he said, removing the straps and helping me back up. I looked to the floor to find the others incapacitated, no sign of the guards. “They’re alive, so don’t worry. Now we need to get out of here.” He moved the unconscious humans near the door and then grabbed a large red object, walking to the large ring. “Stay over there.”

I did as told, watching as he opened a few panels and used the cylinder to cover them in water. He then moved to a small white object, his fingers dancing over some buttons. The machine began to hum once more, but sparked as well this time, and Alec pulled me close, shielding my eyes. I wondered what was happening, but then I heard a loud bang followed by an alarm.

The doors swung open and the guards ran in, Alec then taking his chance and pulling me with him into the main room. It was now empty, but the files were still on the table. He grabbed them as we ran past, stopping only to pick a strange drawing up. Once we were out of the room and in an empty corridor, I saw it was a level map, which Alec was staring at intently. “What are you planning?”

“That was just a small electrical fire, they’ll have it under control. We need to do something that will force them to leave, giving us an escape route. Like here.” He tapped a part of the map, then began to walk away. I followed, and we were soon at a set of steps, but instead of going up he took us down. Once at the bottom, he gave a small chuckle as we entered the only room possible. “Yes, this will do nicely.”

“Alec, what is it?”

“Basically, the heart and lungs of this entire facility, so if we break things in here, we’ll kill the whole.” I didn’t have time to ask more as he grabbed an axe from the wall and lined it up along some thick metal lines. It wasn’t that strong however, as one swing broke them with a shower of sparks, the lights going off and then being replaced by red ones. One by one, Alec destroyed what he thought would help, until a rumble was felt beneath our feet. “Okay… maybe that was too much. Luna… run!”

He grabbed my hand as we headed towards the stairs once more, an explosion in the room we had just occupied following after us. By the time we had ascended several levels I was exhausted, and a glance up showed many more to go. We were about to continue when I heard a groan, turning to see a man under a pile of filing cabinets. “Alec, we have to help him!”

“Why? They won’t help us, so why should we help them?” I stared at him in slight shock, even as there was another explosion a few floors below me. I could understand his reasons, especially the treatment he received, but there was no certainty this man was one of them.

“Please… show me the kindness inside of you once more.” He looked both up and down, then gave a sigh as he ran over to the other man. With a loud grunt the cabinets were lifted from him, Alec pulling him to the stairwell. “Thank you.” He lifted the other man over his shoulder in silence, then looked above us.

“We need to go. Now.” I gave him a nod and we began ascending once more, albeit at a slower pace because of his passenger. He was still front of me though, and I heard a shocked gasp as we reached the top. Where a door should have been was a large metal plate, with a small window in the middle. “Dammit, I should have thought about something like a fucking automatic fire door!”

I began to look for another way that prevented us from going back down, spotting a hatch in the wall. I opened it to find the bottom of a ladder, looking up to see it didn’t go that far. “Alec, what about this?” He came over and took a look, then gave me a nod, motioning me to start climbing. It took a few minutes, but I got there, pushing up another hatch at the top of the shaft. I climbed out into fairly fresh air, moving away as the other man was pushed through, groaning once more as he fell to the floor.

Alec followed a moment later, immediately over the man. I thought he was checking for injury, instead he stepped back with a couple of strange black objects in his hands, then looked around. Spotting a path he began to walk off, leaving me with a dilemma. This man clearly needed help, yet if I stayed… I may not get free again. “Wait…”

My eyes went wide as the man spoke, Alec turning and walking back. He crouched down and waved the black object in the air, then tapped the man’s leg with it. “I ask, you answer, understand?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I only have three questions. One, where are we? Two, how long do we have? And three, why?”

“Okay, we’re in London, you’ve got about twenty minutes, and I honestly have no idea, I just started here and was only doing as ordered. Here, take this.” He reached into his pocket and passed a set of keys over, a pained smile on his face. “I don’t know what’s special about her, but I know she doesn’t belong here. Get her home. In the glove box you’ll find a credit card, along with the pin. You can use that.” Alec stood up and gave him a nod, then walked over to me. He suddenly stopped and turned around.

“Where’s the car?”

“Follow that path, it’ll bring you right out next to it.” Before we could leave there was a strange cackle, followed by a disembodied voice.

“Seven-two, seven-two, check in.” The man reached into his jacket, pulling out another black object, lifting it to his face.

“Seven-two here. I’m out.”

“Good. Any sign of our guests at your location, Seven-two?” He looked between us a few times, and then spoke again.

“Negative, just me. I was lucky to get out.”

“Damn… they must still be inside, all other openings are accounted for. Okay, stay where you are, we’ll be there soon.”

“Roger that, Seven-two out.” He dropped the device with a sigh, and I slowly approached, the man looking up to me. I knelt down next to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. After a moment I pulled away, planting a quick kiss on his cheeks, causing them to redden.

“Thank you.” He just nodded as I stood back up, returning to Alec’s side. He cast one more glance at the man and then began down the path, both cautiously and quickly. It didn’t take us long to reach our destination, where I saw long lines of the machines from my first day here. I heard a beep and saw some lights flash, Alec giving a small chuckle.

“Leave it to the government to give their guards an XF. Get in, you’re in for a treat.” I moved to the opposite side as him and saw a handle, which opened the door for me. As soon as I sat down I knew what Alec meant, the seat being almost as comfortable as a cloud, and I was almost asleep when I heard a click to my side. “It’s okay, go ahead and get some rest. We’ll be away from here soon.”

There was a strange whine followed by the vehicle rumbling to life, Alec adjusting his seat. I did not know why, but we moved from the space we were in and out onto the main road, only stopping to allow large red vehicles with flashing blue lights to pass. I began to doze off, the scenery changing rapidly every time my eyes opened. I finally drifted off after the urban area gave way to fields.

I went from asleep to dozing, giving a light moan as someone shifted me. I rolled over in my seat to get away, and heard a small chuckle. It was followed by a solid thud which shook me awake a little more, and then a click on my side. My eyes fluttered open to reveal Alec leaning over me, undoing the restraint. “Mm, just five more minutes?”

“You can rest inside. Come on.” I took in our surroundings as I was pulled out, seeing a residential area. Alec shut the door and motioned me to follow, walking down some steps and to the second house. As soon as the door was opened I heard two dogs begin barking, a small smile playing at my face. Back in Equestria, being a dog owner was the sign of a good pony, and I briefly wondered if the same held true here. “Mum? Dad? You home?”

So it was his home, a place where he trusted to be safe, and I trusted him. The door to the outside was closed and an inner one open, two small white blurs launching themselves at us. One took a sniff of my legs and then ran away, returning a moment later with a ball in his mouth and his tail wagging. The other just stood on his hind legs, licking at my hand. “Alec? You’re home ear… oh, hello, who’s this?”

I looked up from the dog to see a woman smiling at me, and I could see the resemblance, even if she was much shorter than him . Alec just shook his head and moved deeper into the house, waving me in, leading me into a sitting room and pointed to a couch, the smaller dog jumping into my lap a moment later. “Harvey, get down!” He did as told, walking over to Alec and jumping up at him instead. “Mum, I’ve got some interesting things to tell you, but I can’t tell you everything.”

Before the conversation could start once more, another man entered the room, glanced at me and then smirked at Alec. He took to one of the chairs as Alec’s mother sat in the other, Alec sitting next to me. The dog with the ball came over and passed it to him, then was sent away once it was thrown, bringing it back. “So, what news have you got for your mother and I?”

Alec gave a small sigh, leaning forward as he glanced at me. “I’m no longer doing my further training.” A look of anger flashed across his parents’ faces, but it disappeared as soon as he continued. “I’ve got a new assignment, much better. I’m doing some high up work for the government, and my first job is escort duty.”

“Escort for the government? Aren’t you a little… under equipped for that?” In response to the question, Alec reach into his jacket and pulled out the black object, placing it in his lap. His parents shared a semi-knowing look between them, glanced at me, then over to their son. “Where did you get that?”

“Issued to me. Now look, I don’t mean to sound rude, but we’ve just had a long drive to get here. We’re only staying the night, then we’ll be going from there.”

“Oh… okay then. Guess you won’t be home for Christmas then.” It was more of a statement from his mother, rather than a question, but she looked slightly upset as she stood and walked to a doorway at the other end of the room. “You’re just in time, dinner is almost ready.”

“Uh, mum? Don’t suppose it’s a vegetarian dish, is it?”

“You, give up meat? Don’t make me laugh.”

“Not for me.” Her grin faltered slightly, before she gave a nod and entered the room, leaving just us and his father. He kept glancing over at me, and to be honest, it was making me uncomfortable. Alec noticed too, cocking his head. “Something wrong?”

“No, not really. It’s just surprising that you’re on your own for the first escort duty. There’s usually someone keeping an eye on you.” He stood from his chair and started to set the table, whilst Alec relaxed. After what he had been through the past two days because of me, he deserved time to rest. I wondered what he would tell them when I had returned home.

A few minutes later we were sat around the dinner table, a plate of warm food in front of each of us. The conversation was minimal as we ate, Alec’s father asking questions about his new duties, to which the reply was ‘classified’ most of the time. After the meal I was taken upstairs, where Alec proceeded to take the measurements of my body, although for what purpose I did not know.

He then showed me to the bathroom, where he placed a towel for me and turned the shower on, leaving me in peace. The flow was much better than the one from the morning, and I just let myself be soothed by it. After what felt like a few seconds there was a knock on the door, which I heard open slightly. “Luna, are you okay? You’ve been in there for ten minu… ATKINS!” Before I could react, the dog with the ball jumped into the shower with me, his tail wagging as he looked up at me.

Alec came in and grabbed him,.wrapping a towel around the animal. His gaze then turned to me and he slowly looked over my body, his cheeks beginning to redden. He swallowed nervously and then turned away, closing the door as he left once more. I let out a small giggle at his flustered state, reaching for a bottle of soap. Soon I had washed myself, stepping from the flow and drying off.

Deciding to tease him a little, I held the towel in one hand and peeked out the door, hearing movement in one of the rooms. Making sure the coast was clear, I moved over and found Alec putting fresh sheets on the bed, causing him to turn as I cleared my throat. “Pray tell, where shall I put this?” Instead of answering, his eyes just focused on my chest, and he was blushing once more,

He slowly walked over and passed me a robe, tearing his gaze away as he took the towel and placed it over the white thing next to the wall. “Radiator’s fine. Bed’s made, you can rest properly.” I gave him a nod and climbed under the blankets, glancing over my shoulder at him. He moved to a chair in the corner and sat down, once more setting the black object into his lap.

“Alec, what is that?”

“A pistol. We may need it at some point.”

“Will you not rest?”

“Once you’re asleep, yes.” I gave him a nod and rolled over, letting my eyes close. Even though I had slept on the journey here, I was still exhausted, and the meal and shower made my body want further rest. I heard Alec give a small chuckle before there were two small impacts on the bed, followed by something furry worming its way under the blanket. I lifted it up to see the two dogs pressed against my legs, then let the blanket drop over us. It seemed I had two extra guards that night.

I was awoken suddenly the next morning by the two dogs leaping from where they lay to the floor, running out of the room. Rolling over, I saw Alec was not in the room, his place on the chair now occupied by a pile of clothes. Thanks to the woman that helped me dress the previous day I had no trouble dressing, and was soon downstairs.

Alec was alone, pouring over the documents we had acquired from what seemed like a research facility. He didn’t notice my presence until my stomach decided to tell me it wanted food, and I sat down opposite him with a sheepish smile. He gave a small chuckle and slid a plate over, one topped with toast, of which I fell upon with eagerness.

“We need to leave the country.” I stopped eating and looked up at him, waiting for him to continue. “They’ve already been to the places here where the anomalies are. There’s a few in Europe, but we’ve got to get there first. For now, finish your meal, I’ll go pack.”

He stood up and left the room, sliding a map towards me. I looked it over to see one section circled, the others with crosses through them. Not knowing how far it was, I had no idea how long it would take to get there, but it seemed that was the only way to find a solution for now. I remembered his mother mentioning him coming home for something, and knew she was upset at that, so left the table and made my way up to the room in which I had stayed the night. “Alec, I can go on my own. You can stay and live your life as you should.”

“No. I got you into this mess, and I’m going to help you out of it.” He had already put my things into a large bag, and was busy emptying a wardrobe out. His bag was half full, and another pile of clothes was thrown in. “It wouldn’t feel right, leaving you alone in a world you know nothing about.”

“Are you sure?”

“I would have dumped you out of the car on the way here if I wasn’t. Let’s pack the car.” Both bags were now packed, and he slipped one on his shoulder then picked the other one up. He moved past me and made his way out of the house, looking around as he walked to the vehicle. The rear hatch was opened, the bags placed inside, and Alec motioned me to get in.

As I did so, I saw his parents returning with the dogs from wherever they had been, and he waved them over. I wasn’t privy to the conversation, but his mother gave him a tight embrace, his father nodding. With that he got into the vehicle, made it rumble once more, and then started it moving. Soon we were once more on a wide road, hardly any traffic with us. “Alec, I’m sorry to take you from your family.”

“Don’t be, they understand. Open the glove box and look for the credit card, we’re going to need it.” I did as asked, looking for the document. Whilst searching, I came across a sheet of paper with writing on it, accompanied by a picture of me. “What you got there?” I passed it over and he glanced over it, then handed it back to me with a chuckle. “Well, that just made our mission much easier.”

I looked over to the passenger seat, where Luna was dozing once more. There wasn’t much else for her to do whilst we were travelling, so I just left her to it. If it was going to be the same as last night, she wouldn’t wake when we stopped. This was a good thing as we rolled into Dover, and I pulled into a space outside the customs office.

Grabbing the sheet of paper and my passport, I entered through the door and stood in front of reception, a rather disinterested officer glancing up at me. This was a gamble, as I hadn’t even purchased any tickets, so I slid the sheet over to him. His eyes went a little wide, before he looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “Sorry, haven’t seen her.”

“I’m not looking for her, I know where she is. In fact, I’m moving her out of the country. We need passage to France.”

“I’ll need two forms of ID for verification.” I slid over both my passport and military ID card, which he took and scrutinised. He started typing into his computer, glancing back and forth between my documents.

“Do you not see the ‘Top Secret’ marking?”

“Yes, I do.”

“And what are you putting into your computer?”

“Oh… good point.” I watched as he cancelled the process and closed the program, then picked up the phone. It was a few tense moments as nothing happened, and then he spoke again. “Yeah, it’s Rich up at Customs. I got a special package coming down, black XF. Is there room on the next ferry? There is, okay, I’ll send them down, thanks.” He put the phone back then passed me my stuff back. “You’ve got five minutes before the ramp goes up.”

I gave him a nod and ran out of the office, jumping into the car. I pulled out of the parking space pretty violently, jolting Luna awake. “Sorry, but we’ve got to move.” Slamming into first, the tyres screeched as they fought for grip. They eventually found purchase and we shot forward, heading towards the only ferry in the dock.

The workers were all stood around and looking in our direction as we approached, but I shot past them and hit the brakes at the last minute, only just stopping behind the car in front. I took a few deep breaths before turning the engine off, signalling to Luna that we could get out of the car once the ship doors were closed. “We’ve got an hour and a half. Come, let’s go get something to eat.”

Author's Note

For those of you that don't know cars, this is what they're using.

Nice of 'Seven-two' to let them take it, right?

Hmm... wonder if he'll be making another appearance?