Forever Fighting | ✔️ | [previously Espionage: double-cross]

Chapter 28

Alex was really irritated, exasperated, irked, all of the above.

The reason for her current feelings? Well, there were a few.

To begin with, guards had recently been stationed outside the computer room, as if the agency had been aware of her plan to 'attack' again. She had even tried to find any other rooms with a similar purpose instead, avoiding the problem altogether by combing through blueprints of the buildings from the archives for any sign of another. Every time she came close to finding something, every time she could taste success, everything was swept away, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Someone knew what she was up to and was making sure that she had no chance of getting what she wanted.

The other vexing problem was Mark. He'd lost the arrogance and in his previous self's stead was a chirpy boy who was now a little too like Ava for Alex's liking. Rather than burst into her life in a bid to make it miserable, Mark had decided to kill her with kindness and even outside of their sessions, he made sure that he was never too far away. He was like a puppy - clingy and needy.

She should have been thankful for the company, what with the divide between Ava and herself, but she couldn't help but feel that something wasn't right. The way Mark was acting wasn't right. His sudden transformation made no sense to her and that made her cautious. 

As much as she wanted to get away, tell him to go back to the shadows from whence he came and leave her alone forever more, he had given her the information she needed and this had left her indebted to him. They made a deal and Alex wasn't one to go back on her word.

So she put up with him, every day for an hour and a half, excluding Saturday's. Alex had decided it was best to do their tutoring in the library, even though she would have to suffer the lingering glances that dogged them. After all, the material she needed to teach Mark was there and under the guise of finding some textbooks, she could slip into the archives unnoticed in the gloom. 

Each day went by similarly, the simplicity of normality was something Alex had come to relish. It was a break from the lying, hiding and avoiding Julie who happened to be turning up everywhere (another cause of the throbbing headache that plagued her constantly).

As soon as lessons were over, Alex would meet Mark in one of the quieter areas of the library, between the history and mathematics aisles where few ever ventured. 

They always started with coding, as simple as you could get really, before moving on to networks and then, if Mark hadn't spent the whole session asking irrelevant questions, forms of malware attack. He had been explicit that they only really needed to go over hacking since Mark didn't really want to have a, and his words here, 'nerdy partner slowing me down'.

That elicited a slap to the back of the head from Alex who resented the fact that 'nerds' were unfit for the field, to which she used herself as an example to oppose his statement. 

He couldn't really argue with that.

While Alex may have looked forward to tutoring as relief from dodging the people on the outside, she did think many times that maybe she should just suffer the world when the inside turned out to maddening. 

Mark wasn't dumb, he had some brain cells in working condition but lacked focus. One moment they would be discussing the downsides of trojan horses and the next he would be starting a debate on the most important position in football, not that Alex ever participated in the insane conversations. More often than not, she would find Mark watching her movements as she worked on her project rather than focussing on the many, many exercises Alex would set. Whenever she took a break, Mark was there with a random question with enough relevance that Alex couldn't dismiss it. 

It was as annoying as it was amusing.

Yet she was beginning to spend more time with Mark than anyone else, hating herself for laughing at the odd stupid comment when she should be keeping her distance and remembering why she was suspicious to begin with. 

"Are you okay?"

Alex looked up from the book on codes she was reading. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you've been spending time in my presence without complaining, that's why. It's out of character."

"I have my reasons."

She looked down and hoped he would take that as a signal that the conversation was over.

Those few working brain cells in his possession didn't get the hint.

He smirked at her. "Aw, are you finally learning to like me?"

Alex's head snapped up so quickly she heard a crack. "No."

"Uh huh." She really didn't like the teasing tone in his voice, they weren't close enough for that.

"No."

"Mmm hmm."

Alex didn't really know why it was annoying her so much, whether it was because she didn't like that he thought she no longer minded his company or the fact she did. It went against her every instinct but being along after getting used to being social had hit her harder than expected. Weeks later Ava hadn't made any effort, most likely not wanting to be put in the positing where she had to lie to her. 

"Trust me, I really don't."

Mark smiled then leaned forward in his seat opposite her. 

"You sure?" It was a library but he was talking much quieter than usual, voice low.

"I think I would know."

Alex buried her head back in her book, something Mark pulled away moments later. 

"Not even a little?"

Alex knew he wasn't going to give up until she said something else. "Maybe a little, like a tiny bit, the size of an atom."

He grinned the, leaning in towards her ear. She could feel his breath and shivered involuntarily, uncomfortable at their close proximity. 

"Oh, I'll take it."

Alex stood up suddenly, not liking the look in his eye. "That should be all for today. I'll see you tomorrow." Then she walked out of the room quickly, speeding past a group walking through the double doors and head first into another person.

"Oof, dammnit, sorry about that." Then she looked up and froze.

"Don't worry about it."

Alex wanted to move, she really did, but instead she found herself trapped by a cool, maroon gaze.

"I, need to go."

Julie looked at her a little longer, scanning her face with so much scrutiny it felt like she was peering into Alex's very soul. "If you say so." Her words were slow and languid. "Just remember, I have eyes everywhere." Julie walked away then, leaving Alex with an uneasy sense of foreboding.

If that wasn't a threat she didn't know what was.