Pay it Forward - Part 5 (8/?) Rated PG
AN: Glanced over by 'With the What Now' and my friend 'Karieauthoress' (thanks ladies!), any mistakes left are mine (ALL MiNE...mwhahahaha..). Er, anyway, as usual if you see anything glaring, or even niggling, let me know. :D
Title: Pay it Forward
By Marns AKA Bumpkin
Rated PG
Gen
(Wordcount: 2,325)
Part 5:
Yassen was tired. Down to the bone exhausted and drained to the last erg of energy. It was around five in the morning and it was nearly all he could do to steer his sleek BMW into his regular kerbside parking spot in front of the house he and Ian shared. He was finally home; thankfully he shut the motor off. He sighed and just sat for a moment as the large performance engine ticked loudly in the predawn quiet as it cooled down, staring out at the glow of the false dawn on the horizon while he tried to muster the wherewithal to actually get out of the car and go to the house proper.
It had been a rough three weeks, especially since he was supposed to have been home two of those weeks ago. Good thing that Ian hadn't been scheduled for anything, or things could have gotten rather sticky. The balancing act he and Ian were doing while taking care of Alex and dealing with their rather unpredictable respective jobs - well, he didn't know about Ian, but it sure sometimes made him wish for a net.
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Yassen got a strange feeling of something skittering up his spine - like something was walking over his grave. He gave himself a shake. Dammit, the absolute last thing I need to do is to start feeling omens or portents, Yassen thought darkly.
He shook the feeling off as best he could and started to get out of his car, only delaying long enough to get his baggage and gear together in order to take it all inside with him. As he was doing this his well-trained ears picked up the sound of another vehicle approaching. Yassen slowed and then paused in the process of gathering his belongings as he tensed. He listened carefully and analyzed from the sound what kind of car it might be. It didn't take him long to identify what it was and so he relaxed, as much as he ever did when not in the house, and finished getting his things together. As far as he could tell, the approaching car was just an average hack, probably dropping off a fare in the area. He idly wondered who, other than him or Ian, would be getting home at this rather ungodly hour in the morning. Most would just be stirring to start their day he would think. Then, as if to answer his curiosity, the taxi stopped in front of the house and Ian, looking just as exhausted as Yassen felt, got out.
Yassen stared. Myriad thoughts spun through his mind, all centered on one very precocious seven year old and the trouble he could both get into and cause when they turned their backs for even a second, never mind having a week or two to wreak his havoc in depending on how badly he and Ian had mixed their signals and missed each other. All the horrors he could imagine flipped through his mind as only one word slipped out. "Ian?"
Hearing his name, the man spun on the spot and seeing the evidence of Yassen just returning from his own assignment, just stared himself. Yassen could see all the horrifying images he had just thought of go through the other man's mind in Ian's eyes as the realization dawned on him as well of just how bad this could be.
"Oh good Lord, if neither you nor I were here," Ian started and Yassen finished dryly, "we're in trouble."
Ian could only nod in agreement with Yassen's rather succinct summation of their situation. It was with great trepidation that they gathered their collective belongings together and entered the house. The two men had no idea of what they were going to find. Knowing Alex the two were sure whatever they found wasn't going to be pretty. Sure, Alex was a pretty self-sufficient kid thanks to how they had raised him, but that didn't make him capable of looking after himself, and the house, for any extended length of time. Let alone for however long he'd have had to cope when the two of them had gotten their signals mixed so disastrously. Plus they had to keep Alex's reaction in mind, when Alex was mad at them (and both of the men knew he would be in this particular situation) he tended to retaliate - so that meant 'booby traps', and if Alex had the time he could have set up some real doozies, especially if he'd got some help from Tom.
So it was with caution that the two men moved into the house proper, pausing briefly to deposit their things at the base of the stairs. That done, they crept further in to see what they might be facing. Needless to say, they didn't expect to find the red headed virago who had been house-sitting next door (and occasionally baby-sitting for them since getting that job) ensconced on their couch and nothing else, though her being there could account for the lack of what they were expecting.
"Jack?" Ian said aloud in his surprise at her being there, which woke the person in question.
"Wha?" Jack said while sitting up and looking around groggily. "Who's there?"
Yassen shared a rather speaking look with Ian as they silently warred on who would answer. Yassen lost and so he was the one to answer her not awake yet question as he dryly said, "Yassen and Ian. You know, the two men who live here."
"Ah, yes." Jack said; a little more awake now, "the two 'grown' men who asked me to watch their kid for an hour… two weeks ago." She didn't sound too happy about it and neither Yassen nor Ian could blame her - Alex was a handful at the best of times. And with it seeming like he had been forgotten about due to their respective work would only have made things worse. Again the two men shared another speaking look, this time hoping to prod the other into taking on and calming their unexpected houseguest. Ian conceded this time and stepped forward to do the honours.
"Yes, well, we're terribly sorry about the inconvenience, and of course immensely grateful that you stayed goes without saying. It seems we got our wires crossed somewhere and, unfortunately you ended up bearing the brunt of it." Ian said apologetically.
"Hrumph." Jack grumpily growled and then with narrowed eyes focused in on her 'hosts' she said, "Brunt of it is right. You know, your boy, Alex, can be a right nightmare when he is teed off, and honestly I couldn't blame him for it. I can't even begin to imagine how I would have acted if my parents had gotten too busy to remember me, the way you both did for the last two weeks."
Ian protested, "We didn't forget about him! We just got our wires a little crossed, like I said before." Sadly, his words got a lot weaker at the end there and Jack didn't look the least bit understanding of his voiced excuse, let alone mollified. Yassen decided to see if he could make things any better.
"Nothing like this has ever happened before; we've always managed to juggle our very demanding 'work-related' required travelling alongside our taking care of Alex. This truly was an aberration, one that could have been disastrous without your very gracious presence and involvement. Plus, I urge you to consider that when Ian obviously engaged you to look after Alex two weeks ago, though it was only supposed to be for an hour, it was because he wanted to make sure Alex wasn't being left on his own while he waited for me to get home. Ian had no way of knowing that I wasn't going to be able to make it on time."
Jack grumbled some more but it was evident that she had to concede with that, though it was equally evident that she didn't want to. They did have a point after all as she had been hired to watch Alex until Yassen had returned. They just didn't expect how messed up things had gotten somewhere along the line. It did bring up something rather important to their attention though, something Ian and he had been talking on and off about for a while - especially with the unfortunately flexible nature of their work - the need for someone who would be there at all times, like a live-in nanny or housekeeper. One who would be there for Alex, even when they couldn't be - or, heaven forefend, when something like the very mess they were in at the very moment might occur again.
His thoughts were abruptly derailed as Ian abandoned his caution and strode further into the room to collapse in his favourite chair. He groaned as his body relaxed in the comfortable and familiar seat. Then, in a raspy voice, he said, "Listen, I know and totally agree that we have more to discuss, but I am completely and utterly knackered."
Yassen felt himself sway where he stood as he concurred, "As am I." He hadn't become as successful in his chosen field as he was by not knowing his own limits. Centering his attention on Jack, Yassen asked, "Perhaps we can prevail upon you to keeping watch over Alex for at least a few more hours while Ian and I get some much needed rest. We can continue this conversation when we wake and possibly-" he paused for a barely imperceptible moment as his gaze shifted over to meet Ian's to see if he had followed his thought processes and agreed. Ian's tired eyes showed he had, and did. Yassen smoothly returned his attention to Jack and focusing in on her resumed speaking, "- we could discuss if you, as you are already familiar to Alex and ourselves, are amenable to the idea that you might want to make your presence here a more permanent arrangement."
Jack blinked. "What?" She hadn't been awake long and her still sleep muddled eyes showed the confusion she was feeling as she tried to parse what Yassen had said. "Uhh…"
Ian came to her rescue. "You watch Alex while Yassen and I sleep and then we'll talk when we are all awake, hopefully with tea."
"Oh. Okay, yeah - that sounds like a plan." Jack said. "Though for me it'll be coffee rather than tea as I don't get what you Brits see in that 'tea' crap."
Ian looked affronted and Yassen laughed at his expression. Ian muttered while he hauled himself back to his feet, "Heathens, the both of you." He kept muttering as he followed Yassen from the room, but since it had faded into unintelligible mumblings Yassen didn't bother trying to understand. Jack giggled at the two of them and with a little wave to send them off flopped back to her prone position, obviously hoping to catch a bit more sleep before having to deal with Alex. Yassen didn't blame her.
Chivvying Ian up the stairs, Yassen hoped Jack would agree to working for them. There was no doubt that he didn't want to think about what they had so narrowly missed this time actually happening sometime in the future, but that wasn't all. Yassen was nothing if not practical and so he also couldn't help thinking that her being an American would be beneficial to Alex and Tom and their training. They would see how even countries that spoke the same language could be foreign to each other. Plus there were the other things she could teach them, skills that had been listed in the dossier he and Ian had compiled on her before they even thought of asking her to watch Alex the first time.
Yes, Yassen thought with satisfaction, this is turning out to be a win/win/win situation all around. Jack would get her visa extended and a place to live while she continued in her schooling, Alex and Tom would learn a lot from just being around her, and he and Ian got peace of mind. Additionally, as a bonus if they worded the contract right, they would be able to push off some of the domestic duties off onto her. Yassen grinned at the thought. Lemons to lemonade indeed. To think we might get all this because of a narrowly missed disaster, the irony is boggling.
Then as he dropped Ian off at his room and continued to his own he was thinking, the only question is - 'how much do we tell her'? They had to tell her something; his concerns about hiring a housekeeper or secretary were still very valid. Hiding what they were teaching Alex and Tom wouldn't be possible, not in the long term. Never mind making it impossible to ask her to add to it with her own skills if they were to try. No, they had to tell her something - but what? And how? Wait, perhaps that's it, Yassen thought as an idea hit him, they could tell her a lot, a portion of the truth even, if they slanted it right. If they did it right, it would also be the perfect way to ask her to teach them what she could as well.
He reached his door and after entering, placed his various cases down on his bed. He began to sort through and put his more deadly and questionable 'gear' away automatically, ignoring the clothes to deal with later, as he thought about how they should share the information. He had some ideas, but nothing concrete, by the time he had tucked the last of his arsenal away and so he just tucked it to the back of his mind as he got ready for bed. He and Ian could talk it over later was the last thing he thought before succumbing to sleep.
Title: Pay it Forward
By Marns AKA Bumpkin
Rated PG
Gen
(Wordcount: 2,325)
Part 5:
Yassen was tired. Down to the bone exhausted and drained to the last erg of energy. It was around five in the morning and it was nearly all he could do to steer his sleek BMW into his regular kerbside parking spot in front of the house he and Ian shared. He was finally home; thankfully he shut the motor off. He sighed and just sat for a moment as the large performance engine ticked loudly in the predawn quiet as it cooled down, staring out at the glow of the false dawn on the horizon while he tried to muster the wherewithal to actually get out of the car and go to the house proper.
It had been a rough three weeks, especially since he was supposed to have been home two of those weeks ago. Good thing that Ian hadn't been scheduled for anything, or things could have gotten rather sticky. The balancing act he and Ian were doing while taking care of Alex and dealing with their rather unpredictable respective jobs - well, he didn't know about Ian, but it sure sometimes made him wish for a net.
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Yassen got a strange feeling of something skittering up his spine - like something was walking over his grave. He gave himself a shake. Dammit, the absolute last thing I need to do is to start feeling omens or portents, Yassen thought darkly.
He shook the feeling off as best he could and started to get out of his car, only delaying long enough to get his baggage and gear together in order to take it all inside with him. As he was doing this his well-trained ears picked up the sound of another vehicle approaching. Yassen slowed and then paused in the process of gathering his belongings as he tensed. He listened carefully and analyzed from the sound what kind of car it might be. It didn't take him long to identify what it was and so he relaxed, as much as he ever did when not in the house, and finished getting his things together. As far as he could tell, the approaching car was just an average hack, probably dropping off a fare in the area. He idly wondered who, other than him or Ian, would be getting home at this rather ungodly hour in the morning. Most would just be stirring to start their day he would think. Then, as if to answer his curiosity, the taxi stopped in front of the house and Ian, looking just as exhausted as Yassen felt, got out.
Yassen stared. Myriad thoughts spun through his mind, all centered on one very precocious seven year old and the trouble he could both get into and cause when they turned their backs for even a second, never mind having a week or two to wreak his havoc in depending on how badly he and Ian had mixed their signals and missed each other. All the horrors he could imagine flipped through his mind as only one word slipped out. "Ian?"
Hearing his name, the man spun on the spot and seeing the evidence of Yassen just returning from his own assignment, just stared himself. Yassen could see all the horrifying images he had just thought of go through the other man's mind in Ian's eyes as the realization dawned on him as well of just how bad this could be.
"Oh good Lord, if neither you nor I were here," Ian started and Yassen finished dryly, "we're in trouble."
Ian could only nod in agreement with Yassen's rather succinct summation of their situation. It was with great trepidation that they gathered their collective belongings together and entered the house. The two men had no idea of what they were going to find. Knowing Alex the two were sure whatever they found wasn't going to be pretty. Sure, Alex was a pretty self-sufficient kid thanks to how they had raised him, but that didn't make him capable of looking after himself, and the house, for any extended length of time. Let alone for however long he'd have had to cope when the two of them had gotten their signals mixed so disastrously. Plus they had to keep Alex's reaction in mind, when Alex was mad at them (and both of the men knew he would be in this particular situation) he tended to retaliate - so that meant 'booby traps', and if Alex had the time he could have set up some real doozies, especially if he'd got some help from Tom.
So it was with caution that the two men moved into the house proper, pausing briefly to deposit their things at the base of the stairs. That done, they crept further in to see what they might be facing. Needless to say, they didn't expect to find the red headed virago who had been house-sitting next door (and occasionally baby-sitting for them since getting that job) ensconced on their couch and nothing else, though her being there could account for the lack of what they were expecting.
"Jack?" Ian said aloud in his surprise at her being there, which woke the person in question.
"Wha?" Jack said while sitting up and looking around groggily. "Who's there?"
Yassen shared a rather speaking look with Ian as they silently warred on who would answer. Yassen lost and so he was the one to answer her not awake yet question as he dryly said, "Yassen and Ian. You know, the two men who live here."
"Ah, yes." Jack said; a little more awake now, "the two 'grown' men who asked me to watch their kid for an hour… two weeks ago." She didn't sound too happy about it and neither Yassen nor Ian could blame her - Alex was a handful at the best of times. And with it seeming like he had been forgotten about due to their respective work would only have made things worse. Again the two men shared another speaking look, this time hoping to prod the other into taking on and calming their unexpected houseguest. Ian conceded this time and stepped forward to do the honours.
"Yes, well, we're terribly sorry about the inconvenience, and of course immensely grateful that you stayed goes without saying. It seems we got our wires crossed somewhere and, unfortunately you ended up bearing the brunt of it." Ian said apologetically.
"Hrumph." Jack grumpily growled and then with narrowed eyes focused in on her 'hosts' she said, "Brunt of it is right. You know, your boy, Alex, can be a right nightmare when he is teed off, and honestly I couldn't blame him for it. I can't even begin to imagine how I would have acted if my parents had gotten too busy to remember me, the way you both did for the last two weeks."
Ian protested, "We didn't forget about him! We just got our wires a little crossed, like I said before." Sadly, his words got a lot weaker at the end there and Jack didn't look the least bit understanding of his voiced excuse, let alone mollified. Yassen decided to see if he could make things any better.
"Nothing like this has ever happened before; we've always managed to juggle our very demanding 'work-related' required travelling alongside our taking care of Alex. This truly was an aberration, one that could have been disastrous without your very gracious presence and involvement. Plus, I urge you to consider that when Ian obviously engaged you to look after Alex two weeks ago, though it was only supposed to be for an hour, it was because he wanted to make sure Alex wasn't being left on his own while he waited for me to get home. Ian had no way of knowing that I wasn't going to be able to make it on time."
Jack grumbled some more but it was evident that she had to concede with that, though it was equally evident that she didn't want to. They did have a point after all as she had been hired to watch Alex until Yassen had returned. They just didn't expect how messed up things had gotten somewhere along the line. It did bring up something rather important to their attention though, something Ian and he had been talking on and off about for a while - especially with the unfortunately flexible nature of their work - the need for someone who would be there at all times, like a live-in nanny or housekeeper. One who would be there for Alex, even when they couldn't be - or, heaven forefend, when something like the very mess they were in at the very moment might occur again.
His thoughts were abruptly derailed as Ian abandoned his caution and strode further into the room to collapse in his favourite chair. He groaned as his body relaxed in the comfortable and familiar seat. Then, in a raspy voice, he said, "Listen, I know and totally agree that we have more to discuss, but I am completely and utterly knackered."
Yassen felt himself sway where he stood as he concurred, "As am I." He hadn't become as successful in his chosen field as he was by not knowing his own limits. Centering his attention on Jack, Yassen asked, "Perhaps we can prevail upon you to keeping watch over Alex for at least a few more hours while Ian and I get some much needed rest. We can continue this conversation when we wake and possibly-" he paused for a barely imperceptible moment as his gaze shifted over to meet Ian's to see if he had followed his thought processes and agreed. Ian's tired eyes showed he had, and did. Yassen smoothly returned his attention to Jack and focusing in on her resumed speaking, "- we could discuss if you, as you are already familiar to Alex and ourselves, are amenable to the idea that you might want to make your presence here a more permanent arrangement."
Jack blinked. "What?" She hadn't been awake long and her still sleep muddled eyes showed the confusion she was feeling as she tried to parse what Yassen had said. "Uhh…"
Ian came to her rescue. "You watch Alex while Yassen and I sleep and then we'll talk when we are all awake, hopefully with tea."
"Oh. Okay, yeah - that sounds like a plan." Jack said. "Though for me it'll be coffee rather than tea as I don't get what you Brits see in that 'tea' crap."
Ian looked affronted and Yassen laughed at his expression. Ian muttered while he hauled himself back to his feet, "Heathens, the both of you." He kept muttering as he followed Yassen from the room, but since it had faded into unintelligible mumblings Yassen didn't bother trying to understand. Jack giggled at the two of them and with a little wave to send them off flopped back to her prone position, obviously hoping to catch a bit more sleep before having to deal with Alex. Yassen didn't blame her.
Chivvying Ian up the stairs, Yassen hoped Jack would agree to working for them. There was no doubt that he didn't want to think about what they had so narrowly missed this time actually happening sometime in the future, but that wasn't all. Yassen was nothing if not practical and so he also couldn't help thinking that her being an American would be beneficial to Alex and Tom and their training. They would see how even countries that spoke the same language could be foreign to each other. Plus there were the other things she could teach them, skills that had been listed in the dossier he and Ian had compiled on her before they even thought of asking her to watch Alex the first time.
Yes, Yassen thought with satisfaction, this is turning out to be a win/win/win situation all around. Jack would get her visa extended and a place to live while she continued in her schooling, Alex and Tom would learn a lot from just being around her, and he and Ian got peace of mind. Additionally, as a bonus if they worded the contract right, they would be able to push off some of the domestic duties off onto her. Yassen grinned at the thought. Lemons to lemonade indeed. To think we might get all this because of a narrowly missed disaster, the irony is boggling.
Then as he dropped Ian off at his room and continued to his own he was thinking, the only question is - 'how much do we tell her'? They had to tell her something; his concerns about hiring a housekeeper or secretary were still very valid. Hiding what they were teaching Alex and Tom wouldn't be possible, not in the long term. Never mind making it impossible to ask her to add to it with her own skills if they were to try. No, they had to tell her something - but what? And how? Wait, perhaps that's it, Yassen thought as an idea hit him, they could tell her a lot, a portion of the truth even, if they slanted it right. If they did it right, it would also be the perfect way to ask her to teach them what she could as well.
He reached his door and after entering, placed his various cases down on his bed. He began to sort through and put his more deadly and questionable 'gear' away automatically, ignoring the clothes to deal with later, as he thought about how they should share the information. He had some ideas, but nothing concrete, by the time he had tucked the last of his arsenal away and so he just tucked it to the back of his mind as he got ready for bed. He and Ian could talk it over later was the last thing he thought before succumbing to sleep.