Inescapable History, Inescapable Fates

Las Victorias Inadvertidas

Henry read Jane Austin before bed to try to cool his mind and escape to sleep. He usually failed. Alex read his law book before bed and drank red bull to try to stay up. He usually succeeded. Henry was still tossing and turning when he heard Alex leave their dorm. He had left the door propped open, a sliver of light painting Alex's unused bed golden. Henry stared at that sliver of light until his eyes crossed. Eventually, he pulled himself out of bed in resignation. He wasn't sleeping tonight regardless, might as well do some spying. Alex had left his key on his desk and Henry grabbed it on his way out.

Tracking Alex was easy. Either he hadn't been trained in leave no trace, or he wasn't trying to be discreet. Once out of the dorms, his scuff marks on the grass lawn were trackable for someone who had been trained. And then Henry heard gunshots. The shooting range.

Pez's words rang in Henry's ears, He certainly knows his way around a Glock. Henry padded through the worn grass in socks and pajamas. Alex saw him approach but ignored him and fired off another round of shots, virtually decapitating the target.

"What ever did that target do to offend you?" Henry asked. Alex now turned to glower at him. "You umm... left your key." Henry held it out to Alex, Alex ignored the key and turned to fire off a few more shots,

"I left the door propped."

"That's not allowed."

Alex rolled his eyes, "Fucking Boy Scout," He shot the target's kneecaps, "have you ever broken a rule?"

"I-" I'm not who you think I am, Henry thought. "Quite a few actually. You'll have to sign NDAs tomorrow because of that... and other activities."

"NDAs? Shit." Alex put down the gun and looked at him. "Your family's that important?"

"Less that my family is "that" important and more that the British press is brutal," Henry said. Then he added, because Alex was going to find out anyway, "Also I'm gay. And we don't know if the coverage would be good or bad-"

"-But you don't want to be the center of a national conversation about politics, sexuality, and the military?" Alex said sarcastically.

"Not until I'm out of Sandhurst at least." Henry said lightly, "Are you ok having a gay-"

"Is that even a thing people are still worried about?" Alex said incredulously.

Henry released a breath he didn't know he was holding. One more person in the world knew and was ok with it. "Didn't Texas only legalize gay marriage like three years ago?"

"That... is a true fact about Texas, unfortunately," Alex said, hesitantly. Like he was really sorry his state was behind on gay rights. "Irion county still won't issue marriage licenses, but we're hoping they'll elect a new county clerk and that will change "

We. Henry mulled the word. We as in Texans or people in Irion county or queer Texans? He felt his heart fluttering for absolutely no reason. Because even if Alex was gay, he was still possibly a spy and way too good for Henry to even try with regardless.

"Are you-" Henry hesitated. He didn't want to say the last word, but Alex stared at him dumbly so he had to, "-gay?"

"Oh. No. I'm straight," Alex said easily, "I just follow politics."

"Oh..." Henry felt his heart sink. It didn't matter anyway. This was good. This would keep him out of trouble. Not that he wanted to get into trouble with this precocious American boy who was born in Belize and might be committing treason. No trouble for Henry. Not with Alex at least.

"Wait, how did you know I was from Texas?" Alex asked.

Henry blinked at him for a few moments. "The accent." He explained, finally.

"Oh, yeah, I went to boarding school on the east coast so my accent switches back and forth."

"Bless your heart." Henry tried in a wanky cowboy voice.

"Jesus Christ." Alex laughed, which Henry assumed meant his accent was very bad. "Cheerio. Imma go to the loo and have tea with the queen," Alex tried in a squeaky imitation of the Brits. They both broke into laughter.

"What are you doing out here?" Henry asked finally, motioning to the shooting range.

Alex picked up the gun and fiddled with it. "Couldn't sleep."

"You never sleep." Henry said. He didn't mean for his voice to come out like he cared so much.

"Neither do you." Alex shot back. Then he said, "Is this what we do now? Sit in the dark and talk about our lives and shit." He fired three shots into the target's groin and Henry nearly jumped out of his own skin.

"Christ, can you not." He took a breath. Pez's voice was in his head again. He certainly knows his way around a glock and a target's groin. Alex was glaring at him again and Henry didn't know if they had gotten anywhere or not. "Sorry... I'll go."

He was ten steps away, walking faster, before Alex shouted,

"Wait. Take a few shots." He held the gun out to Henry. Henry realized it was not a Glock or standard-issue military. Alex had brought his own gun onto school property.

"You are not supposed to have this here."

"The school's guns are locked up." Henry looked at Alex incredulously. Alex shrugged. "It's a Texas thing."

"Are you insane? And you're out here shooting it! People can hear." Henry was whisper shouting, suddenly afraid to talk in his regular voice, like the gunshots weren't louder.

"They can't. I went inside to get a drink today while people were shooting. They can't hear anything." Henry's mouth was wide open. Was this a crazy Americans thing, or a spy thing, or-. Alex was waving the gun in front of him, "Take the shot, center target. They say you're the best shot at Sandhurst. I want to know I'm better."

Henry looked at the target. It had a bullseye in the center, even though they were supposed to aim for the head or heart. Henry should just walk away. Of course the school locked up the guns. Why hadn't he thought of that in the first place? He should just walk away. He took the gun. He needed to put it down and walk away. Bang. Bullseye. Henry couldn't even remember pulling the trigger, but he had. Alex grabbed the gun and matched his shot almost perfectly. Henry silently took the gun back and hit the bullseye again. Alex matched it. Henry took the gun and as he pulled the trigger Alex shouted "miss," apparently sick of playing fair. Henry hit the target anyway.

When Alex took his shot, Henry clapped loudly. Two could play. Alex laughed but still hit the mark. His laugh was so carefree and beautiful, all Henry wanted was to make him do it again. He should have walked away.

"What's your favorite movie?" Alex asked while Henry took his next shot. Henry made the shot before answering,

"Return of the Jedi," When it was Alex's turn to shoot, Henry asked, "What's your favorite book?"

Alex hit the bullseye perfectly. "My sister was more into reading, but probably las victorias inadvertidas," Spanish, of course. Henry needed to learn the language to get anywhere with Alex.

Henry took the gun. As he squeezed the trigger Alex suddenly said, "The Jedi's Return sucks,"

Henry looked at him in outraged surprise and missed by half an inch. He shook his head. "You are the worst," Alex threw his head back, laughing like a banshee. Henry started laughing too.

Eventually, Alex recovered himself. "Ok, you can go now." Henry handed the gun back. "I have a permit, by the way. So the gun is legal."

"Not on campus." Henry said, then shook his head, "Just keep it out of sight." The words were a promise. I'll keep your secret. To what end?

Henry took one last look at the target before walking away. When he was in elementary school, his dad took him to the M15 headquarters to practice shooting at an official range every day after school. When he was in high school, he had won one shooting competition after another, easily crushing hobby hunters. Alex was right, Henry was the best shot in Sandhurst; Henry thought he might be the best shot in all of England. Until now.

They hadn't taught Alex to spy, but they certainly taught him to shoot.