Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of Kudos and BBC. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: CONTAINS MATURE CONTENT

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Lucas stirred, feeling Alexa's warm fingers against his skin. Opening his eyes, he watched as she traced the tattoo of Urizen on his belly, her finger following along the compass that Urizen was holding in his hand.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" He asked, a strained smile on his face as he reached for his watch from the bedside table. It was only three in the morning and he'd been trying to fall asleep for hours, dark dreams flitting in and out of his consciousness. It hadn't helped that Alexa had apparently not been able to sleep as well, absentmindedly tracing Lucas' tattoo.

But Lucas couldn't blame her as he couldn't sleep either. In a few hours, all their lives were going to change, and Lucas hated himself for being helpless to stop it from happening.

As Lucas watched her, he saw the wetness on her lashes glistening in the moonlight. Deep within his chest, Lucas felt a tightness build and he shifted on the bed so he could bring his arm over her and hold her. He wondered when he would get to hold her like this again, and for a brief moment, it felt as if they were both waiting for the world to end.

"Urizen?" She asked, her attention returning to the tattoo on Lucas' belly. "Is he creating his own world here?"

Lucas brought his other hand behind his head as he made himself more comfortable, nodding. "Blake created his own mythology and Urizen represents Man and reasoning. He's crafting his own universe, maybe doing it from the light and creating the darkness, who knows? It depends on who you're talking to."

"Is that what we're doing, Lucas?" Alexa asked. "Creating a new world for us, away from all this madness with Jools?"

"Don't even say his name," Lucas muttered as he pulled her closer, feeling her breasts press against his chest. "It will be over soon, Alexa. They're transferring him to prison today, but you and Liam will be long gone by then."

Alexa was quiet, the expression on her face distant. She continued to play with the tattoo on his belly, tracing the sun from which Urizen emerged to create the chasm below. "I wish I could write our own future, Lucas. Where we're all together."

They were both naked beneath the covers, their legs brushing against each other as they shifted positions. Her legs felt soft and warm against his own, her belly against his. "Are you ready for this, Alex?"

She shook her head, her eyes shining with tears but she wiped them away before they could get the chance to fall down her cheeks. "No one can ever be prepared for this, Lucas. But I'm afraid for Liam. He'll be crushed when he finds out you're not coming with us."

Lucas sighed. Alexa was right. Liam would be crushed, as Lucas himself had been feeling the past few days since he had made the decision to let them go without him. Not that Lucas had a choice, and even he had to admit that it was the only way. No one would ever let him leave, let alone Valentin, who wanted to ensure that Arkady's trade had not been in vain.

The tribunal had finally sentenced Jools to life in prison, and already, the surveillance and protection detail on Alexa had ceased. The real reason, of course, had to do with budgetary concerns. Harry had requested favors from all levels of the government to ensure that the protection and surveillance detail last as long as they did. But with Jools finally sentenced, there was simply no need to protect Alexa anymore, even if she were his daughter.

But Lucas and Harry knew that though no attempt had been made on Alexa's life during that time, it did not mean that no one had been watching her every move. They'd identified two of the men as former MI6 operatives who used to work for Jools.

What they feared the most was that both men were the same ones who had been filmed inside Mikhael's apartment building the day that his wife and child were both locked inside the apartment where they burned to death. They did Jools' dirty work then, and Lucas feared that they were about to do it again.

And so Alexa and Liam had to leave. There was no other choice now. Harry only wished he could have sent them away sooner. She's not safe in England any longer, Lucas, Harry had reminded Lucas the night before. The plane has been chartered and tomorrow has to be the day.

"I'll follow you as soon as I can," Lucas whispered. "I'll talk to Liam again tomorrow, before you leave."

"Did you at least give him an idea that you're not coming with us?"

Lucas did not say anything. What could he say to a boy who never knew his father for the first eight years of his life and finally meet him - only to lose his father again after six weeks of being reunited with him? I'm going to be away from you again, Liam. I'm sorry.

No, Lucas couldn't do that. "I'll talk to him tomorrow," he said, wanting nothing more than to change the subject to something lighter. "For now, let's talk about us."

The mood between changed between them, and they smiled, as if some secret only they shared suddenly surfaced. Lucas grasped her hand, the lines she was tracing with her finger sending a tingle up and down his spine. He held up her hand, spreading her fingers with his own till he saw the sparkle of the diamond on her ring finger.

Ever since Lucas took her back to Trevor Square two days ago, Alexa had never been happier. She wished she could live within that moment forever, of her and Lucas standing in the middle of Liam's bedroom where Lucas then knelt on one knee before her.

"If word of this gets out of this room," Lucas smiled then, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "My reputation will be ruined."

He had asked her to marry him then, and Alexa, with tears streaming down her face, said yes. They didn't know what was going to happen next but what mattered was that they were going to be together, even if it meant that they'd have to wait awhile for that to happen.

Lucas hadn't planned for things to happen the way they did. He hadn't planned on asking her at all, not till after he drove up to Cumbria two days before he finished painting the flat to visit his parents for the first time since his imprisonment.

To say that Jeremy and Dorothy North were surprised to see him had been an understatement. He arrived at their house late at night, waking up his father who had fallen asleep on his chair in the study, the Bible open upon his chest. His mother had been sitting in the living room knitting a throw for a friend's grand daughter.

They had many questions to ask Lucas, but refrained apart from the usual pleasantries of how he was feeling, and whether he was still working as a security consultant in London.

But when they asked him how Alexa and Liam were doing, he stared at them in surprise. It was then that they told him that Alexa had come to them when Liam was only two years old, asking them if they would take care of Liam if anything happened to her.

"She said that her doctors claimed she'd had a breakdown and they had to put Liam in foster care," his mother said, taking a framed picture from the mantelpiece and handing it to Lucas. "It devastated her and she sought us out, so that Liam would get to know the family he had left, and know that he wasn't alone."

"Did she tell you where I was?" Lucas asked, his voice suddenly hoarse.

"No, and we didn't ask. You would have told told us eventually," his father said. "But all we had to do was look at Liam, and we knew he was yours, Lucas. Of course we said yes. We could have kept him with us forever if we could."

"Is everything alright, Lucas?" Dorothy asked, watching Lucas nod. "Did you now that we had to move away for some time a few months ago? They said that there was a gas leak in the house but the neighbors said that the gas company didn't even come in to do a single thing."

"Just a precaution," Lucas said as he looked at the photograph, seeing Alexa and Liam, then a baby in her arms. And next to her were his parents. Lucas saw the hollowness in Alexa's eyes, as if demons were plaguing her every move. It must have been during the time that Jools had her institutionalized at Bedlam for five days, he thought, anger rising inside him.

Jools. He had caused Alexa - her family - so much pain. And now he was doing it again even from behind bars.

"I want to marry her," Lucas suddenly blurted out then, not realizing what he'd said till after the words left his mouth. I want to protect them was what he really wanted to say, but it didn't matter now. Lucas still meant what he had said.

His mother rushed out of the room only to return with something for him. She placed it in the palm of his hand, closing his fingers over it.

"Your father gave this to me when he proposed," she whispered as Lucas watched his father's face light up. "It belonged to your grandmother."

"Mother, I can't," Lucas said, shaking his head but she pushed his hand towards his chest, smiling.

"It's yours to give now," his mother said.

And as the small diamond glistened in the moonlight, Lucas rubbed his fingers around the band, relieved to discover that it fit Alexa's finger perfectly. He felt good having done what he did, just as it felt good to see his parents again, sleeping in his own bed, the same bed he slept in since he was a teen-ager. It was the same bed that his parents told him Alexa and Liam slept in when they'd talked her into staying the night each time they had come to visit.

"There's us now," he said, kissing Alexa's hair as he drew her closer. "Even if we have to be away from each other for a time, there'll always be us. But we have to trust each other."

"Are you saying we don't?"

"I said no such thing. But what if I won't be able to get to you sooner?" Lucas asked, frowning. He didn't know how long Valentin would expect him to stay in London and remain a double agent as part of the agreement Lucas had made with Arkady, although a part of him wanted nothing more than to work in MI5. "Would you really wait for me, Alexa?"

Alexa began to trace a trail down Lucas' chest, tracing Urizen again, remembering how, for eight years, the foolish young girl in her had hoped that he would come back even when she did not know whether he was alive or dead.

"Do you have to ask?" Alexa whispered, her hand traveling lower down his belly till Lucas grabbed hold of her wrist, holding it in place over the tattoo of Urizen's compass. Her hand had drifted a little too low for Lucas not to notice how his body was responding. He'd been fighting it for too long and he realized he was holding his breath.

Heat flushed through his face. Lucas felt himself hardening and he watched Alexa move so that she straddled him, the feel of sex against him, hot and warm. He brought his hands to her waist, wanting to feel her and hold her forever.

Alexa leaned forward to kiss him, her tongue parting his lips gently. Her tongue grazed his teeth, teasing his tongue as she ground her hips against him playfully. Lucas felt her hair cascade over him as she continued to kiss him, sucking on his lower lip. She reached down between them to hold him, hot and hard in her hand and stroke him, even as he felt himself parting her nether lips.

"So what are we going to do now? Sleep?" Alexa asked playfully as she drew away from him, a sly smile on her lips.

"Do you have to ask?" Lucas said and he kissed her deeply, capturing her tongue between his lips. Alexa moaned, her hips bucking above him but Lucas held her in place as he shifted his hips and thrust himself into her, feeling her body tense as she took all of him inside of her. Her protest was drowned in his kiss, her fingers entwined in his hair and neck, pulling him closer.

Alexa gasped as Lucas let go of her mouth, moving downwards to graze the skin of her neck, making her shiver in anticipation as he moved her hips in tune with his thrusts. She felt him deep inside of her, exciting her and driving her into a frenzy of sensations that threatened to push her beyond the brink too soon.

Lucas sucked on her breast as she continued to ride him, shutting her eyes as he nibbled on a nipple and making her cry out his name as the delirious mixture of pain and pleasure drove her ever forward towards the edge. Sweat gathered along the small of her back, her movements causing her tattoo of Kali to seem like it danced in the light of the moon every time she moved her body in time with each thrust of Lucas' hips.

The sensations engulfing Lucas seemed to vibrate through the core of his being and he grabbed hold of her hips, keeping her still over him. "Stop," Lucas whispered, his voice hoarse and Alexa stared at him, confused.

"What?" She gasped, as she struggled to catch her breath, her heart beating like a drum inside her chest. For a moment, Alexa had lost herself in the emotions that had overcome her. His eyes seemed to search inside her, boring a hole through her and Alexa felt her chest tighten at what she saw. It was a yearning that needed to be filled in so little time that was left between them.

It was all they had now.

Lucas pulled her back down towards him, kissing her, their contact all lips, mouth and tongues meeting in an urgency that now consumed them. Lucas brought one hand behind her neck and his other hand along one hip, keeping himself inside of her as he shifted position, bringing himself to be on top of her.

This time Lucas wanted to be in control of her again, to be the one to consume her with every ounce of power he had left. His mouth left her lips to kiss the skin behind her ear as he continued to make love to her, feeling her nails rake along the skin of his back as he tasted her skin, smell the scent of her hair, and know her body like no one else ever did. Lucas knew what made Alexa buck her hips in wild abandon, her body writhing beneath him as he held her down with his body, hearing her call out his name again and again. Thrusting in and out of her, Lucas felt his own release coming even as hers came in waves, her body shuddering beneath him as her orgasm took her again and again.

And as his own release claimed him, Lucas wanted wanted nothing more than to have that moment last forever, where he could simply hold her and own her just as she had claimed him for herself. They clung to each other, their mouths seeking the other in wild abandon, tasting, sucking, biting. And when his release finally came, Lucas trembled as he felt the final spasms of his orgasm dissipate, leaving him weak and spent in her arms.

Afterwards, as they lay holding each other as the sky began to lighten, Lucas found himself whispering, even as Alexa finally fell asleep in his arms, "Everything will be alright."

It had to, Lucas thought as he welcomed the sleep that finally came.

>>><<<

Jools was seated behind the bare desk, his hands in hand-cuffs between his knees. He was flanked by two men who now stepped aside as Harry stepped into the cell. Jools brought his hands upon the table and watched Harry, his chin held high, still defiant.

"Won't you sit down, Harry?" Jools asked with a mocking smile on his lips.

Harry remained standing, crossing his arms in front of his chest. It was eight thirty in the morning and Harry was supposed to pick up Alexa and Liam and drive them to the airport. Instead, here he was with Jools Siviter, the last man Harry ever wanted to see. "They said you wanted to see me?"

"Yes," Jools replied. "Let's say that I asked you here so we could talk one last time before they sent me to join Sir Jocelyn Myers. You remember him, don't you?"

Sir Joceylyn Myers was Ros' father, sentenced to twenty years in prison for his part in a coup that had been organized by one of Jools' successors in MI6, Michael Collingwood. It would be three years since the day that Ros last saw her father as a free man.

"You brought this all upon yourself, Jools," Harry said. "Your betrayal has tainted your organization for a long time to come."

"Ah, but it's not as if it's the first time, is it?" Jools scoffed. "Collingwood was a traitor, too, but he took the cowardly way out, didn't he? Hanging himself with his belt before he could stand before the Tribunal."

Harry did not say anything.

"The tribunal heard nothing for me, Harry. Not a word of guilt on my part, " Jools continued. "So as far as some of my own men are concerned, and even others of my rank in various organizations, I'm innocent. Everything the tribunal based my sentencing on is because of the document Alexa brought back to the country. I wonder - did she pay them off? Did she sleep with every single one of them to get them to believe the fiction in that document?"

"Don't you dare besmirch her name again, Jools. Everything in that document was substantiated and proven," Harry said. "Don't pretend it didn't happen. Your treachery killed many good operatives - and civilians as well."

"Part of the course, Harry," Jools countered coolly. "Don't tell me that you never lost a civilian throughout the course of your illustrious career. I seem to recall Minerva George as an unwitting beneficiary in your hunt for justice so don't look so glum, Harry. It happens to all of us. It even happens to our own."

At this, Harry frowned, watching Jools' face carefully. It was an unspoken rule among them to leave family out of affairs such as this, although it was not exactly a rule to be followed by everyone. Hence the four-week protection detail around Alexa, Harry thought, for he knew he could not count on Jools to play fair. For the man never did.

"Why did you call me down here, Jools? I have more important things to take care of."

"Of course, I understand that you're a busy man, Harry," Jools said. "Isn't today when Alexa leaves England for the sunny shores of Chile? Is the plane all chartered and ready to go?"

Harry's face hardened, but he did not want to give Jools the benefit of a single expression. "I don't know what you're talking about, Jools," he said, glancing towards the door to motion to the guards that he was done. "You're wasting my time."

Jools smiled. "Sir Harry Pearce, ever the arrogant fool that you are. You're just like me, really. Too arrogant for your own good and too focused on your cause - no matter the cost. Even it means that a lovely girl and her son die in the process."

Harry frowned.

"You see, I just heard the news I've been waiting for for weeks, Harry," Jools said slowly, his voice bearing a menacing quality to it. "I always suspected it to be so, but Nathaniel was so convincing that night that for a second there, I actually believed him when he said that Alexa was your daughter."

Harry stared at Jools, his heart beating rapidly as he processed Jools' words.

"I would have left her alone, Harry, knowing she was yours. After all, to some degree, I am still a gentleman," Jools continued. "But you just couldn't let that one rest, could you, Harry? You had to find out the truth even if it were simply to prove to yourself that you never betrayed your best friend. Even when everyone knows that you did."

"Jools --"

"But you did betray