Title: Prince Kevin Alex was uncomfortable, his ankle free of the ice-pack but still throbbing. Tylenol had taken the edge off the pain, but he was still finding deep sleep evaded him, and he was tired by mid-afternoon. Around three, he�d given up his part in the discussion. �Look, somehow our enemies are working out our next move before we are. We just need to work out how. I�m gonna have a rest. Maybe a sleep will help me think of something.� Walter smiled. �Okay. We�ll wake you in an hour or so. In the meantime, Fox, please ask the Gunmen to come over and sweep the house again. Maybe there�s a bug they missed last time round.� Fox got up, the strain of not knowing where the bug was showing in his movement and voice. �Yeah.� ************* Responding to the slight pressure and itchy sensation, Alex opened his eyes and blinked several times. There was a mouse sitting in the middle of his chest. An eerily familiar white mouse. �Hi. I�m Kevin. Well, it�s Prince Kevin actually, but�� An eerily familiar *talking* white mouse. The mouse continued. �You helped me out the other day, and I wondered if there was anything I could do in return.� �What kind of thing?� Alex asked cautiously. �Well, I majored in Destructive Mastication in College. But I�m also�� �Destructive what?� Alex frowned. �Er�chewing things.� Kevin admitted, his tiny cheeks flushing slightly. He had been taking an architecture course, but he had failed to get the required pass grade in his practical, when a freak tide of soapy water had washed away his effort at nest-building under a car. In view of his position, his father had convinced the Principal to transfer his eldest son onto a slightly less demanding course. For the future leader of his people, failure was not an option. �Hey, look, just cos I released you�� �Your friends wanted to kill me.� Alex nodded, sitting up slowly so as not to dislodge Kevin. �Yeah, but Walter didn�t mean it. You had been doing quite a bit of�destructive�whatever in the kitchen.� Kevin�s head dropped. �I know. I�m sorry. I wanted to bring my mother back something nice. It was her birthday the day you caught me and your cupboards have much nicer things than your neighbor�s. Although he doesn�t chase us.� �Us?� Alex said warily. �My brother sometimes comes with me. Although I�m the oldest, if something happens to me, he�ll be King one day.� �King?� Alex queried. �Yeah.� Kevin looked vaguely uncomfortable discussing the subject. �One day.� �That�s nice.� Alex said encouragingly. �Not really.� Kevin said. �Overpopulation, the increase in pest control services, lack of suitable habitat, people threatening to shoot us. It�s becoming more difficult to survive out there.� Alex found himself sympathising with Kevin�s plight. Then he remembered his earlier conversation. �There is something you can do. Somewhere in the house there�s a bug�� �Ladybug?� Kevin said. A mid-afternoon snack might be coming up. �No.� Alex struggled to think how to explain the concept of an electronic surveillance device to a mouse. �Um, it�s a small thing which listens to what you say and you don�t know you�re being overheard until it�s too late.� �Oh, like my kid sister.� Kevin nodded understandingly. �Kinda. Anyway, this thing�s probably as small as you, maybe smaller, probably black with a wire or two sticking out. It�s hidden and we can�t find it. The Gunmen�never mind. Can you have a look around?� Kevin nodded. �Sure. I�ll get Mike and Dave to help.� �Who are they?� �My brothers.� �O-kay.� Alex nodded, wondering if he was either dead or in the grip of some terrible mental breakdown. He had just asked a talking mouse for help finding a Consortium bug hidden somewhere in their house. Kevin hopped off his chest and climbed off the bed. �I�ll come and tell you if we find anything.� Alex leaned down, looking at the mouse as it moved to the door. �Thanks.� Walter opened the bedroom door at that moment. �Alex, who were you talking to?� Alex looked across. �No-one. I was just thinking aloud.� �Okay. You get any sleep?� �Some. I think.� Alex said, still confused. ************* Alex put the lid back on the garbage can and turned to walk back into the house. �I think we found your bug.� Alex looked around, finally working out that the small, high-pitched voice was coming from near his feet. �Kevin?� �Yeah.� Alex looked down, then crouched down. Three mice surrounded what Alex immediately identified as a bug. Probably *the* bug. �Where was it?� One of the other mice sniggered. �Kevin missed it. It was under your bed.� Alex sighed. The one place the Gunmen hadn�t been allowed to set up their various bits of equipment. Their bedroom. �And it was the only one you found?� �Yeah. It�s the only one. How you could�ve missed it Kev�� Kevin glared at his younger brother. �I didn�t go under the bed, I just went on it.� �Yeah but still, it was giving off a magnetic field which made my whiskers practically curl up. Maybe you should have taken �How to find something when it�s right under my nose� in College instead of�� �Hey, I chewed through the wire. You didn�t even�� �Guys!� Alex interrupted, straightening up. �Thanks. Hold on.� He lifted the lid off the garbage can and made a small hole in the bag he�d just dumped in it. �Here.� He remembered that the last thing he�d put in the bag was a not-quite fresh pack of ciabatta rolls. He pulled one out and tore it into pieces. �Wish your mom �Happy Birthday� from me, okay. And, um, thanks again.� �Wow, Italian food. Thanks.� Kevin picked up the piece of bread, ate a little, then scampered off. �Anytime.� Alex called, his hand closing around the bug. Walter and Fox stood on the doorstep, watching Alex intently. �Alex, who are you talking to?� Walter called. �No-one. And I�ve found the bug.� Alex walked back into the house. �Where?� Fox demanded, examining the small device resting on Alex�s open palm. �In the garbage.� �You went through the garbage?� Walter said, his voice a mixture of horror and disbelief.� �Nah. It poked through the bag when I went to put the lid on the trash can.� �Wow!� Fox said. �That�s how they knew everything. We spend ages in here each night.� Walter nodded, relieved the bug had been found. �Good thing it wasn�t in the bedroom, or they�d have more than just what we�re having to dinner to listen to.� Fox giggled. Alex, Walter noticed, did not. �Alex, the Gunmen didn�t find anything. Let�s hope this is the only one.� �It is.� Alex said confidently. �How do you know?� Fox challenged. �I have my sources.� Alex said, smiling enigmatically. Fox snorted and went into the living room. �How are you feeling Alex?� Walter said, still concerned Alex wasn�t himself. �I�m fine Walter. Really.� Alex smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way. Distracted as much by Fox�s unconscious hip-swaying walk as Alex�s sparkling eyes when he smiled, Walter lost the thread of what he had been saying. �Did you put the lid tightly on the garbage? If there are mice around, we don�t want them getting in the trash.� Alex nodded. �Yeah Walter. I made sure.� End Home Send me feedback about this fic Hosted by www.Geocities.ws