Maybe Rules Are There For A Reason

Betaed by wonderful AmberLily34567

Alex was quietly cursing his bad luck and his inability to ignore the matters that do not concern him, sticking his nose everywhere it doesn't belong instead, as he sat across the police officer that was giving him a lecture about speed driving and the dangers it possessed for all involved. Disregarding the fact that he was trying to stop the bank robbers that had successfully robbed five banks in the last month and therefore helping the police in apprehending them, the officer focused solely on the speeding and how it was one of the most dangerous examples of why people aren't allowed to drive a car without a licence. Alex just wanted to point out that he had several driving licenses all under different names when his self-preservation instincts finally kicked in as he remembered that he was on holidays and didn't want MI6 to enter the mess which would undoubtedly happen as soon as he mentioned anything connected to them or his mission. And considering the fact that he was finally enjoying a well-deserved break after a mission it was imperial that he remained quiet in hopes of getting off lightly in light of the robberies that were currently the police's biggest concern.

He tiredly reflected on the events that brought him to the station. If only he learned to stay out of trouble and mind his own business…

Flashback

Alex was slowly sipping his coffee and enjoying one of the rare moments of calm. Sadly he was seated in a cafe that was overlooking a bank. And then, when he saw the commotion across the street, with bank robbers, screaming, several police cars in hot pursuit of the robbers he did the only thing he could think of. Let the police do their job? Oh, no, it would be too easy, too logical action for a random bystander to do. No, he had to go and play hero again. Completely ignoring the lingering pain from the bullet he was hit with a few weeks ago he threw money for his order on the table and ran towards the line of parked cars, chose one of the taxies, pulled the driver out and speeded out of the parking lot and after the robbers (that were already being chased by cops).

He was steadily nearing them when cars suddenly turned back and started speeding towards him. He barely avoided a severe collision and hurried after them with renewed efforts. The chase escalated, they soon left the urban area and were driving between some meadows when the robbers started shooting at him again and the cops finally caught up with them once again. They were signalling him to stop as they had already (as he discovered later) blocked the road and would be able to catch the robbers without him interfering. Long story short, they managed to stop both him as well as the robbers and he ended up sitting in a very uncomfortable chair being told off by an officer that must have been few years his junior. It was humiliating. Thankfully he caught himself in time to prevent any revelations that would result in even more trouble for him, and, inevitably, tons of paperwork.

It was truly sad that paperwork was the only thing to break him out of him doing-before-thinking mode. Oh well. He guessed there must have been something to that self-preservation thing that everyone tried to inform him about after his reckless stunts he did regularly on his missions. He quietly left out the breath he was keeping and once again focused on the lecture to get his mind off the impending doom that were his co-workers finding out about his last stunt.

The officer was still ranting about the same thing (the danger of speeding), but he slowly started incorporating other factors, such as him playing a hero, what was he thinking playing a spy (it took all Alex's self-restraint to not snort loudly at those words) and how there's always someone thinking themselves above the law in belief that police cannot do anything by themselves (here Alex quietly admitted to himself that the officer had a point, especially in the light of his recent actions). He pretended to be listening attentively, nodding and humming at all correct places (at least at the places he thought appropriate, he might have nodded off a few times but he tried to pay attention), when the officer finally stopped to take a breath Alex was once again on the verge of falling asleep. Therefore it came as an even greater surprise when the officer took the look around and, having made sure there were no more witnesses (the other police officer walking around), smirked at him.

''Would it kill you to at least pretend to pay attention, Agent Rider?'' he asked with the note of annoyance in his voice.

Alex almost fell out of his chair. ''What? How do you know my real name?''

The officer just rolled his eyes. ''I was one of the members of your support team a few months back in Paris. I was relocated here to catch the robbers and I had a perfect plan to deal with them when suddenly you turned up and almost messed everything up. For that alone, you deserved being detained here and forced to listen to the lecture. It was more or less just to pacify the rest of the station that doesn't know about my agent status. I couldn't have just let you go after the mess you created, don't you agree?''

Alex smiled back, chastised. ''Well, I guess I deserved that.''

They sat there in silence for a few minutes when Alex spoke again. ''Does it mean it will stay between the two of us? No need to inform my bosses… or other agents, actually,'' he asked hopefully.

The agent just grinned. ''I would love to agree, but the fact remains that you almost ruined my operation and I cannot let that go unpunished despite your good intentions… And as I know a fine wouldn't mean anything to you I decided that having people know about your stunt might just do the trick… And it might even have the effect of making you care a bit more about a little thing called self-preservation. I was told it's highly revered in our circles.''

Alex face-dropped. ''Ben put you up to this, didn't he?''

The agent just grinned. ''I don't admit anything, might you, but I might have had a meeting with agent Daniels two weeks ago. I won't disclose the matter of our discussion but it should definitely ring some bells when your 'friend' gives you a suggestion about a peaceful holiday destination after you have beaten him in a prank war. Just something to take into consideration.'' He smirked. ''He even asked for footage of your reaction to hearing this.''

Alex just sank deeper into his chair. ''I don't really have a choice in the matter, do I?'' he asked.

''No.''

Alex cursed again, this time out loud when he realised that Ben getting a footage meant it would be seen by the whole K-Unit. He just groaned. Damn his inability to mind his own business. He swore to himself that he would start working on his self-preservation instinct immediately. After surviving all the mocking awaiting him back home. He let his head hit the table in front of him. Just his luck.