Clean Up

 What if - Lucas North story, relating to Season 9 (the John Bateman affair)

I do not own the characters of the story. They all belong to Kudos/BBC.

Prologue

Three days ago his recreated life as Lucas North seemed to collapse like a house of cards. John Bateman was back in the form of a long forgotten face from his past, Vaughn, and a suitcase full of stuff from his former life as John.

Vaughn had been his mate in Dakar, fifteen years ago. In Dakar he had jeopardized his life as John Bateman when he had made the biggest mistake of his life. Afterwards everything had changed. And now all his painful fears and suppressed memories were back. Vaughn knew the whole truth and had tried to blackmail him.

For three days he had lived in a trance, but now enough was enough. He had to make a decision. What should he do? The question was: who I am? Am I John Bateman, or am I Lucas North? Suddenly it was clear what he had to do. There was somebody who could make the decision for him: Harry! He had to talk to Harry.

Chapter I

He called Harry. It was already evening and he hoped Harry would have time to see him.

“Harry, it’s Lucas. I’m in trouble. Can we talk?” asked Lucas.

Harry replied promptly, “Certainly, Lucas. Give me thirty minutes, and I’ll come round to your flat.”

“Thanks Harry,” said Lucas, relieved, and hung up.

The next half an hour was a trial for him. The longest thirty minutes of his life, it seemed. Restlessly he paced through the flat. He had been very careful in his choice of furnishing, so that nothing personal would compromise him. It was s sterile, unemotional place, not comforting , but rather practial. For example his bookshelf contained only common bestsellers like John le Carré and Tom Clancy. The only concession to his own personality were the few reprints of William Blake paintings on his walls. There were no photographs or personal letters in his belongings. Fear gripped his whole being. Was all this trouble for nothing? Was Harry willing to help him, or had he to run as far back as in Dakar. His hands were shaking as he washed his face in the bathroom. He was not sure he could flee, but he was sure he could not go to prison again. Hundred thoughts were running through his mind. He was utterly confused. Finally Harry arrived, and he had also brought a good bottle of whisky.

Harry said, “So, Lucas, I guess we need something to drink. Tell me, what is going on?”

“Harry, you know I have given the last fifteen years of my life for the service. I was loyal to Queen and country. I endured eight years in a Russian prison, eight years of torture and I did not compromise the security of this country. All because I knew I deserved it,” answered Lucas as calmly as possible.

“Lucas, nobody deserve that,” interrupted Harry in disgust.

“Yes, I did. Harry, let me explain. Before I entered the service, I did a horrible thing and tried to redeem myself afterwards,” contradicted Lucas quietly.

After a short pause Harry begged Lucas to continue, “Go on, Lucas.”

Hesitantly Lucas begun with his tale, “I wasn’t born as Lucas North.” He sighed deeply, before he started anew. “My real name is John Bateman. At the university I fell in with a bad crowd, and soon I was involved in a drug smuggling. Of course it went wrong. I ended up stranded in Dakar without money, without a passport. To earn the money to come back home I worked in the casino. There I met Lucas North. Lucas was the only other Brit working there, and we became mates. A man who went by the name of Vaughn Edwards was a regular customer in the casino. One day Vaughn made me an offer to work for him. I delivered packages for him and earned a lot of money. The last job I did for him was to bring a suitcase in the British Embassy. A bomb. Seventeen victims resulted from my actions. Afterwards I had to escape. I knew that Lucas North was already in the acceptance process for MI-5. The only missing step was the face-to-face interview. Unfortunately for him his appearance resembled mine. We could have been brothers. I killed him, took his passport and entered the service. Now, fifteen years later Vaughn Edwards is back. He’s blackmailing me to get a file codenamed Albany,” ended Lucas facing the floor. He did not have the courage to look Harry in the face.