sectioneightentertainment | Strasbourg [Chapter One] (Reply)

Author's Note : Another story set before Alex and Neal saw each other again in "Home Invasion". First attempt to write an action caper story. Constructive criticisms are welcome, just please don't be too harsh. The fifth installment of "The Hunter Chronicles" series. [Originally posted in Fanfiction.Net last 04-Jan-2011]

Disclaimer : I don't own any of the original characters. That honor belongs to Jeff Eastin, White Collar writers and USA Network.

Summary : Alex gets distracted and a lot of things go wrong as the crew takes a job in France as a favour for a person from Aretha's past. Follows "Thieves".

CHAPTER ONE

STRASBOURG, FRANCE

Alex struggled to see through the thick smoke as she tried to find her way out of the room that was now engulfed in flames. She stopped in her tracks. Without warning, the sound of a single gunshot rang in the air. As she felt some of the bullet's impact on her left collar bone, Alex's body slammed against the wall, her head hitting hard against the concrete. Her body slumped to the floor. As she fought to stay conscious, she heard two male voices talking in French.

"Elle est morte. Allons-y!" ["She's dead. Let's go!"] the first voice said. Alain Dupuis, she recognized that voice.

"Non, nous avons besoin obtenir l'ordinateur portable!" ["No, we need to get the laptop!"] the other voice said. That would be Gilles Dupuis, Alain's equally crooked older brother.

"Juste que le feu détruire ! Nous avons besoin de sortir d'ici, maintenant !" ["Just let the fire destroy it! We need to get out of here, now!"] the younger Dupuis yelled.

Alex heard them leave in a hurry. She tried to use her earpiece to call her team for help, but it wasn't working. She looked at the com link transceiver clipped on her jacket and saw that it was busted.

"Aretha!" she called before she lost consciousness.

FLASHBACK TO THE WEEK BEFORE, BACK IN BUDAPEST...

Alex and Nicholas are now back in her son's room at the manor. They just came home from spending most of the the day at the park and a little shopping. Their little adventure outside of Vadzel was a bit tiring for little Nicholas, who is currently fast asleep in his crib. Alex tucked him in and gave him a kiss. She then proceeded to put away the things she had bought for Nicholas earlier. She didn't really know why she bought all of those when she knew that Nicholas still have a lot of clothes he hasn't worn yet. She noticed that there were still unused stuff in the baby closet, mostly gifts from friends that Nicholas' got on his birthday just a few months ago. She had only opened and used the gifts that came from close friends and family, and put everything else away.

Alex remembered that day well. Nicholas' first birthday. Alex thought that it was just going to be a small party, with only the people in the manor attending. She didn't know that Aretha, who seemed to live to surprise people, had paid for all the expenses so that Hale and his family could visit them and spend the holidays at the manor. Alex was more than delighted. So far, her Christmases in Hungary have been the most memorable, with the year when Nicholas was born as her top favourite. This past one was by far one of the happiest, since it was Nicholas' birthday and she had her family and friends with her for the holidays.

If only Caffrey were here, then everything would've been perfect. she thought.

She shifted her gaze back to the beautiful child sleeping in the room. She wanted so much for Nicholas to have normal family life, both loved by his mother and his father. But then again, there aren't a lot about her's and Neal's lives that were considered as normal. Last time she'd heard, the jury was about ready to give a verdict regarding Neal's case. Alex remained optimistic, but there was this persistent feeling of queasiness in the pit of her stomach. Her gut was telling her that something was about to go very wrong.

Alex went to find Aretha after she left Nicholas' room. She wanted to know if there had been any new jobs for them to do. The past several weeks without a single case have been like a vacation for all of them. It was a welcomed period of rest for the whole crew. They all did their own thing. Asher kept busy by playing his online role-playing games. Zeke cleaned all of his guns and rearranged the munitions section of their lair. Alex spent most of her time with Nicholas. As for Aretha, well, no one really knew how Aretha spent her downtime. But that was then, and now would be a good time to come back to work. Zeke was already bored of doing nothing after the first week of vacation. He decided that Alex should learn archery, which was fun for her at first. Then, Zeke decided that Alex would also benefit with some jungle survival training.

That's where Alex drew the line. No way! I don't do jungles! Alex had been avoiding Zeke and had been staying as far away as possible from the lair since then. Yup, it was definitely time to get back to work!

Edina had mentioned earlier that Aretha had a female visitor in her study. So she made her way to the Aretha's office, hoping to meet this woman. She peeked through the glass on the door of the office. She saw Aretha and the visitor having what seemed to be a pleasant conversation. Alex caught glimpse of the visitor, but not enough to see her face. Then Aretha saw Alex snooping so she excused herself and stepped outside of the office.

"What do you think you're doing?" Aretha asked her.

"Well, Edina told me you have a visitor. Just curious as to who she is!" Alex replied.

"I'll explain later!" Aretha told her.

"You will explain now! Come on! Who is she? Your best friend? Your secret sister, perhaps? Your lesbian lover?" Alex wiggled her eyebrows at Aretha when she mentioned the last part.

"You watch way too much telly, Alex!" Aretha replied. She continued, "If you must know, she was my mentor. Come on in. I'll introduce you." They both went inside the office.

Alex saw the woman inside the office. A strikingly beautiful woman in her mid 40's. She was slightly taller than Alex, had long, straight, black hair, stunning golden brown, round shaped eyes and lovely full lips. She looked like she belonged in a billboard endorsing a beauty product.

Aretha spoke first. "Alexandra Hunter, I would like to introduce you to my oldest friend, Miss Valerie Vega. Valerie Vega, I would like you to meet my associate and good friend, Miss Alexandra Hunter." she said.

Valerie held out her hand to shake Alex's and with a Spanish accent said "Pleased to meet you, Miss Hunter. Aretha had spoke highly of you in our conversation."

Alex shook her hand. "The pleasure is all mine, Miss Vega. It's not very often that I get to meet any of Aretha's close friends." she replied.

Alex had enjoyed hearing Aretha and Valerie's tales of how they met and became good friends. Valerie regaled Alex with stories of how she had plucked Aretha from obscurity, to which Aretha objected.

"Oi! I was never obscure!" she said.

Alex noticed the deep bond of friendship and trust between the two. And she didn't feel jealous at all. It was comforting to know that Aretha wasn't all alone in life before she had met Alex. Alex listened to more of Valerie's tales of how she had made sure that Aretha had mastered everything she taught her before she had decided that it's time for her to retire from the life of crime. There was a glint of sadness mixed with joy as she told Alex their story. It all seemed so nice, but Valerie's tone implied that she was leaving something out. Alex got curious.

Alex began to ask questions. "So, that's it then? You came here just to reminisce and wax nostalgic over your past adventures?" she said, trying very hard not to sound rude.

Valerie looked at Aretha. "You warned me that she was good." she said with a smile.

Aretha nodded and then turned her attention to Alex. "Valerie is here to give us an assignment, Alex." she explained.

Alex was confused. "An assignment? What do you mean?" she asked.

It was Valerie who answered. "You see Alex, I said that I retired from the life of crime. I didn't stay fully retired from the game. Look, I'm sure that Aretha's told you of the cases she worked on for various covert international government agencies. Let's just say that I work for one of those agencies." She looked at Alex and tried to gage her reaction.

"You're a spy?" Alex asked her.

Valerie shook her her. "No. Not quite. I work for the UNSC." she said.

"You mean the United Nations Security Council? That UNSC?" Alex asked.

"Yes, that UNSC. I am what you would call a 'power broker'. One of the few that the UN have working in Western Europe." Valerie began to explain.

"Wait, what exactly is a 'power broker'?" Alex asked again.

"A 'power broker' is a person that the UNSC hires to ensure that the balance of power is maintained between the countries who are members of the Union. Basically, we make sure that one nation doesn't harbor any form of harmful technological devices or weapons of mass destruction that is not sanction by the United Nations." Valerie explained to her.

Alex wanted to ask more questions but decided to just let Valerie speak.

"About a month ago, the UNSC had confiscated the operating system for a microwave laser from the Chinese government. Two weeks ago, the laptop containing the operating system was stolen from what we thought was a secured location. We've recently heard word from our contacts that the Chinese Defense Ministry had hired thieves to steal the laptop back from the Council." Valerie took a deep breathe and continued. "If this operating system makes it back to China, they will have the technology to build a directed energy weapon that can be fired at any aimed direction without any need for any projectile. China could fire at any of their enemies and we won't know it until it hits. Now, do you understand why we want it back?" she asked them.

Alex and Aretha both nodded. This would mean chaos for all the nations not allied with China.

After a brief pause, Alex spoke. "Do you have any information as to who had stolen the laptop?" she asked.

Valerie nodded. "Yes, we do. Thieves named Gilles and Alain Dupuis. They are brothers, from France. Last time we heard, they took the laptop back to France with them. They are currently back in Strasbourg awaiting instructions as to when they will make the exchange with the Chinese." Valerie replied.

Alex shook her head. "I know them. The Dupuis brothers. I had a nasty encounter with them years ago back in Ukraine." Alex said. She saw Aretha raised an eyebrow. She ignored Aretha's questioning looks and continued. "These two like to play rough. Not too smart though. But whatever they lack in brains, they more than make up for in brawns. This could get ugly." Alex said in a serious tone.

"We've handled ugly situations before!" Aretha answered.

Aretha then reassured Valerie that they, to the best of their abilities, will recover the stolen laptop. Valerie told them to contact her office for anything they will require for the 'Strasbourg operation'. It will be provided for them, no questons asked. With that, she said goodbye to both Alex and Aretha and left.

Aretha looked at the silent Alex and asked, "So, how is it that you know the Dupuis brothers? I don't remember doing a job involving them in the past."

Alex sighed. "It was a job I did from my friend Mozzie." she replied vaguely. She turned the tables on Aretha. "If I may ask, how is it that you're fine with the fact that you and Valerie now play on opposite sides?" Alex asked her.

"I don't see it like that. Val and I have a deeper history together. Everything that I am now, I owe to her. I know that even if she had left the life of crime behind, our friendship still remains. And I trust that she won't betray me, same way she trust me not to double cross her." Aretha said with a smile. "Now, how about we go back to the lair and brief the boys about our latest job? Time to get back to work!" Aretha said as she winked at Alex.

Just then, Alex's cell phone rang. "Uhm, you go ahead, Aretha. I'll catch up with you in a bit. I need to take this call." Alex said. She waited until Aretha was gone before she answered the phone. What she heard from the other line was the news she had been dreading for quite some time now.

~END OF CHAPTER ONE~

Footnotes :

*Thought I'd do something different and write a cliffhanger beginning.

*Fans know that Alex Hunter had only been arrested once in France. (WC s01 e11 – Home Invasion) This is my version of that story.

*Strasbourg is the capital city of the Alsace region of north-eastern France.

*Valerie Vega is Aretha's mentor and old friend, which is who Aretha is now to Alex. Valerie taught Aretha everything she knew, Aretha is teaching Alex what she'd learned from Valerie. Like one generation passing on the torch, so to speak, onto the next generation, and so on. Also, a bit of foreshadowing. Valerie had gone legit and yet Aretha had remained friends with her. Same as in the future, when Neal eventually went FED and yet Alex and Mozzie are still friends with him.

*I don't really know much about laser technology. What I know about lasers, I've learned from watching sci-fi tv programmes and films.

***Many thanks for taking time to read this chapter. Stay tuned to find out what happens next!***