When Henry gave him the watch after the Bouchard operation in Paris, it was half a joke and half because Henry’s hopeless heart latched onto the slim chance to keep an eye on him, at least from a distance. After their text exchange, he’d expected Alex to leave it behind, or disable the tracker, or at the very least not wear it, but as far as he can tell, Alex had done none of those things.
(Or, when CIA Agent Alex Claremont-Diaz—regular pain in Henry’s arse and also possibly love of his life—is in trouble, Henry takes it upon himself to go after him, raising all kinds of uncomfortable questions about the true nature of their relationship.)
(Also requested by @firenati0n. I feel like there were two obvious options for this one: post-leaks in canon, or post-rescue mission of some kind. You can probably guess which one I chose. 😂 read all the hug ficlets)
Firstprince, 16: The “it’s okay, I’m here” hug.
Add’l note: This is more or less a tiny sequel to So Close to Something Better Left Unknown. You don’t have to have read the fic to read this ficlet, but it does contain minor spoilers for the very end of said fic.
It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.
When Henry gave him the watch, it was half a joke and half because Henry’s in love with him and his hopeless heart latched onto the slim chance to keep an eye on him, at least from a distance. He’d expected Alex to leave it behind, or disable the tracker, or at the very least not wear it, but as far as he can tell, Alex had done none of those things. The tracker bops around the globe, giving Henry far too much information on CIA missions merely through its location. Not that Henry would ever pass on that information to his own agency, or anyone else for that matter.
That Alex trusted him not to, to keep his secrets… Well, it means a lot.
He assumed that at some point his own work would bring him within striking distance of Alex again, and he’d make use of the tracker to find him and… oh, hell, he doesn’t know. Say hello? It sounds absurd for a spy, but it’s pretty much all he could hope for. But before that happens, the tracker gets stuck for a week in a remote part of Guatemala, and Henry starts to get worried. Maybe Alex just lost the watch, or abandoned it for some reason. That’s the most reasonable explanation. Even so, Henry quietly requests recent satellite images of that area and zooms all the way in on the watch’s coordinates.
It’s a high-security compound of some sort. Not good.
“There you are, love. Did you forget you were supposed to wait for me?” Henry fucking Fox says smoothly, smiling at him like it’s expected. Like they planned this. Like Alex should have known that MI6 would show up and blow up his operation—ok, given the number of times this particular MI6 agent has stuck his prissy nose in Alex’s business, maybe he should have—
Henry glances over to the bouncer as he adjusts his cufflinks. “He’s with me.”
(Working a mission with MI6 agent Henry Fox is already Alex’s idea of a disaster, but when things go sideways and Henry gets dosed with a dangerous drug, things get more complicated than he ever could have imagined.)
20k, E. Spy-related peril, mission fic, fuck or die. Second chapter posting Sunday!
