Thirteenth X Clara - Alternative

Chapter 1: Things That Go Bump In The Night

One thing he would definitely not miss..is working the damn night shift. 45 years working for the monarchy, 3 Kings and One Queen, and a very nice pension earned. Yes, Terrence Holland was finally going to retire, but he did still have until the weekend to complete his job, something he was keen to just get through. As he walked down the halls, making sure everything was as quiet as it should be, he could feel his knees acting up again. Every few steps just made it ache more and more.

"Terrence old boy, you really are getting far too old for this." He muttered to himself.

His mind came back to when he was a teenager and first arrived inside the palace, nervous as hell and shaking like he was in the cold. He could remember getting lost on his first day and not knowing where to go, and ran about trying to find his way. Before he could make another turn, he bumped into an older man. Being taught well by his parents, he helped him up and apologized. It was only when he really looked at the man that he realized who he bumped into: King George III. He could scarcely talk when he realized, almost instantly tearing up as he begged forgiveness for fear of losing his job immediately. The King watched him with a stern face, took a deep breath and then smirked.

"Surely, a boy of your stature could very well have given me a far greater wallop than that."

"So...you are not angry with me?" Terrence managed to eek out, perplexed at the King's jovial demeanor. But the older man just smiled at him.

"Not in the slightest. I have been on this throne for long enough to recognize exactly when someone has recently begun their role here in the palace, especially a younger lad like you. Do not worry, your secret is safe with me."

From that moment on, he never felt nervous again, and would thrive in his four decades there, becoming a respected and even somewhat beloved member of the staff. But that was not helping his knees stop aching. That armchair was really calling his name.

He was almost done with his check when he heard a thump towards the end of the hall. His old instincts kicked in as he carefully marched towards the source of the sound. Could be a mouse running into something, could be someone having a nightmare, but he had to make sure. He made his way to the room and listened intently to what was on the other side of the door. It was quiet, but he had to check and make sure of it. He eased the door open and peeked inside, only to see.... a young man and a young woman on the bed.... kissing. The duo quickly stopped once they noticed him and blushed deeply, almost shrinking back in the process.

"Christ above, what in the world are you two doing in here? Wait, do not answer that. First and foremost, whose room is this?"

The two looked sheepishly at one another before the girl raised her hand.

"My room, sir."

"And you are..."

"Stephanie Brown, sir." She said, moving a stray blonde hair from her face, her brown eyes staring nervously at him.

"Yes... your face does look somewhat familiar now.. and so does yours, boy. Name, now."

"Arthur, Arthur Baldwin, sir." The young man said through stutters.

"Well, Ms. Brown, Mr. Baldwin. I should not have to inform you of the strict prohibition of male and female members of staff fraternizing in each other's chambers at night."

"No sir. But..."

"But, what?"

Stephanie's eyes darted away from Terrence's steely gaze as she cleared her throat.

"It's just that, there was a hole in my wall, and I asked Arthur to come look at it for me. One thing led to another and, well..."

"No need to explain. I think I know what happened next."

He sighed.

"If you needed someone to inspect your wall, you should have come to me to do so."

"As you're here then, sir, can you do it?" Stephanie said, pointing to the wall on the left.

Another sigh from him.

"Fine...."

He headed over to the wall and began inspecting it. But for the life of him, he could find nothing wrong with it. His eyes weren't as good as they once were, but he could definitely tell that the wall was completely fine.

"I do not know what you saw, but that wall is..."

A swift blow to the temple stopped his words in his tracks, and he fell heavily to the floor, knocked out. Standing over him was Arthur, whose timid skin had shed to reveal an exterior of confidence, whose face contained a sick smile. Behind him was the commanding presence of Stephanie, a far cry from where they both just were.

"Don't know why we couldn't just have killed him." Arthur said.

"We need his brain active so we can gain knowledge of his routes and his job. You're going to need it when you take his place. You were one of the highest ranked graduates of the academy. You should know this."

The man's shoulders slumped.

"I do. I just didn't think we needed him for that. I could have figured it out myself."

She sighed as she turned towards him and looked at him with a small smile.

"I appreciate the confidence, but I also chose you for this mission because you can follow orders, and that's what I expect you to do. This is the mission of our lives, and I expect you to act like it. No working on the fly. When they're important, we take them into the lab and we extract the information. Ok, Alara?"

His head drooped down for a second, but then he rose back up with a greater sense of purpose.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Please, leave that for when we're around the others. It's Clary outside of that."

"Yes, Clary."

Alara then moved to collect the body, picking up the knocked out man, but as he did so, he saw Clary preening in a mirror, ruffling her hair and turning around to see her body, being pleased at the reflection given.

"I take it you're not switching bodies as well?"

"Nope. I'm rather fond of this body, though I do want to make some changes."

The reflection in the mirror slowly began to change, as the former Stephanie's face became thinner and her hair darker, brown to be specific. She shrank in height and her eyes turned into a blue/green hybrid.

"I really like it. What do you think?"

"It's ok." He said, nonchalantly.

"Ok? I thought it was good. Oh, and I'll be changing the name, of course. Call me.... Rebecca Silver..."