Declassified

Declassified Part 21 Don't Fall for Her

      "Max, do you want to sub in?" Alex asked, coming to the sidelines. "I can watch the kids."
      Max nodded, noticing that his brother winced as he picked up Maya. "You okay?"
     "Yeah." Alex grinned, flipping his niece upside down. "We tackled Andy."

      Max raised his eyebrows and looked to the field where Dan was celebrating and Andy was wiping mud off of his face. "You and Dan together?"
      "And Berg." Alex admitted. "Andy's almost impossible to take down."
      Max laughed. "No kidding. Thalia's going to kill you though." He predicted, smiling.

      "I won't tell her. No harm done." Alex shook his head. He looked at Max. "You told her I was playing, didn't you?"
      Max laughed again as he started jogging towards the field. "It was nice knowing you, little brother." He teased.

      "Are you in trouble?" Maya asked Alex seriously as he carried her over to the swings.
      "Not as much trouble as your daddy is going to be." Alex joked, setting her on one of the swings. "One on one while Maya swings?" Alex asked Peter as he gave his niece a push.
      Peter nodded and grabbed his basketball as they headed to the court.

      "Someone's been practicing." Alex observed, smiling as his nephew dodged past him.
      "Leo cries a lot." Peter answered as he sunk a basket. He shrugged, turning back to his uncle, and Alex understood his meaning.
      "I bet it's a lot quieter on the basketball court." He said sympathetically, dribbling the ball.

      Peter nodded and snagged the ball, going in for a layup and missing.
      "Maybe you can come stay over at my house sometimes." Alex said thoughtfully after they'd played for a while. "We have a spare room, and I bet your Uncle Andy would like it if you stayed over sometimes, especially when I'm out of the country."

      The ten year old gave him a serious look, holding the ball at his waist. "Uncle Alex, why do you always get hurt when you go to Russia?"

      "I don't always get hurt." Alex protested, frowning. But he could tell from the look on his nephew's face that he wasn't convinced. The family had always been vague about his job around the kids, but now that Peter was getting older, apparently he'd noticed the pattern. "This is just between you and me, right Peter?" His nephew nodded, and Alex frowned, trying to figure out how to explain his job to the kid. "What do you think I do?"

      Peter hesitated. "Are you an assassin?" He asked, shifting the ball from one side to the other.
      Alex laughed. "No, I'm not an assassin." He paused. "There are people out there who want to do bad things. My job is to get information to stop them."
      "And they hurt you?" Peter asked.

      "Sometimes I hurt myself by getting into dangerous situations." Alex told him, not wanting him to worry. "One time, for example, I had to climb a tree to hear things through a window, and I fell out of the tree." That part was true. No need to mention the gunmen coming after me.
      Peter thought about that for a moment. "Are you a good guy or a bad guy?"

      "What do you think?" Alex asked.
      "A good guy." Peter said firmly and Alex nodded.
      "I think so." Alex agreed, grabbing the ball and tossing it towards the basket. "I want to help people. And you can help me by making sure Uncle Andy is okay while I'm away."

      Peter nodded, looking happy. "Do you think that would be all right?" He asked, looking out to the field where his dad was throwing one arm around Andy's broad shoulders. "Uncle Andy would be okay with that?"

      Alex nodded, knowing he would be. As challenging as Andy found it to be around children, he was getting better with Peter now that the kid was getting older. "Of course. And maybe Uncle Dan could come too." He said, tossing his nephew the ball.