Dory's Avengers (64 page)

‘Think about it for a minute, Al! You don't know London; I do. You're Unsponsored, which will only bring you grief from any Sponsored authorities you meet, especially as you don't exactly blend into the background. I can wield the influence of a Gold Sponsor card. I don't expect you to show me where the Unsponsored are hiding; I'm just trying to help you here…'

‘Why?' Alan asked, suspiciously. ‘What do you want in return?'

‘I suppose a good, hard shag is out of the question?' Faye replied, grinning. ‘Alan, I was joking,' she added hastily as Alan started to walk away in disgust. ‘I want to help because I feel slightly responsible for what happened to Dex…'

‘How?' asked Alan, still glaring at Faye.

‘Well, I was a little tactless. Stupid really, I didn't expect His Lordship to be the jealous type…'

‘Yes, I heard you kept talking about me,' snapped Alan. ‘For God's sake, Faye, get over it, will you! Show some respect for my relationship with Dex!'

‘I do respect it, Al. Really. That's why I want to help.'

Sighing, Alan finally agreed to accept Faye's offer of help, and ten minutes later they were gliding through the streets of London in her car. He soon realised that Faye was quite right; her standing in the Sponsorship Scheme afforded her privileges such as travelling in lanes set aside for the elite, and their progress was swift. Looking out of the car window as they crossed the river, Alan soon realised that he didn't actually have any more of a clue how to get back to the Unsponsored than Dex did.

‘Do you know the street name?' asked Faye, switching on her sat nav. Alan was silent; he knew all right, but wasn't about to tell a Sponsor.

‘Alan,' said Faye, exasperated. ‘Do you want to get back or not?' Still Alan was silent, until an idea struck him.

‘Faye, do you have Philip's number?'

‘Yes. Why…ah, you want to get Philip to come and fetch you.' Not even looking at Alan, Faye stopped the car and dialled Philip's number.

‘Hello, Philip. Are you with the Unsponsored? Alan's with me; he wants to get back, and clearly doesn't trust me. We're on…' Faye looked at the street sign and read the name out to Philip.

‘Yes, I'll stay with Alan until you get here. What's that? Oh, really? Good. Thank you, Philip.'

Ending the call, Faye put her mobile phone back in her bag and looked straight ahead.

‘What's good?' Alan asked, intrigued. ‘Faye?' he persisted when his companion didn't answer.

‘Faye, are you angry with me because I wouldn't tell you where the Unsponsored are…'

‘You make it sound like I only wanted to know so I could rush back and tell Lord William,' snapped Faye. ‘What hurts is that you still don't trust me after all I've done for you today. Do you realise how much shit I'm likely to be in with His Lordship?'

‘You've been utterly fab today, Faye sweetie,' said Alan, ‘but, seriously; can you imagine if I'd brought a Sponsor back to the Unsponsored HQ…?' Alan's voice trailed off as he realised that Faye was crying.

‘Alan,' she said, ‘I love you.'

‘Faye…'

‘Please don't say anything. I love you. I always have…'

‘Faye, you don't. You love a persona you've projected onto me, but it's not me. It can't be.'

‘It is you…'

‘It's not real, Faye! Why would you waste your life loving a man who's never going to return that love? I've always been honest with you about my sexuality. I've never led you on…'

‘That night we spent together…'

‘That night you knew was a one-off. You knew, Faye…'

‘So you regret it?'

‘How can I regret it when the light of my life was born as a result? I thank you from the bottom of my heart for our daughter, but I can never be what you want me to be. You know I'm gay; I always will be. Please respect that, Faye…'

‘What if Dex had never come into your life?'

‘Then possibly another man would have,' said Alan,
running his hand through his hair and grinning briefly as he found a diamante grip clinging to the back of his head. ‘But it would have been a man, not a woman…'

‘Here's Philip,' said Faye sadly, watching Philip park his Range Rover in front of her car. Relieved to get away from the tension in Faye's car, Alan thanked her for all she had done to help him.

‘I would give you a kiss,' he said before closing the car door, ‘but I don't think it would be appropriate considering the conversation we've just had…'

‘Goodbye, Alan; give my love to Matilda. Oh,
and
Dex, the lucky sod!'

‘When we find him…'

‘He's already found, Al. That's what I referred to as good while I was speaking to Philip. A group of Unsponsored had just brought him into your network HQ.'

Max was a fast worker. He was so good at producing a newsletter at top speed that one was ready to be distributed on the streets of the capital and around the country by the next morning. Carrying news of Dory's Avengers' arrival in London, it also told of Dex's release by His Lordship and the pending investigation Charlie Rollins had promised into Dex's imprisonment. Dex hadn't yet got round to sharing any details of his time as Lord William's captive. Following his passionate reunion with a highly emotional Alan, the two of them had vanished into a more private area of the Unsponsored HQ and weren't seen again until the following morning.

Every day leading up to the Games, the Unsponsored took to the streets to spread their message of freedom and tolerance. The Unsponsored always conducted themselves with dignity, despite the constant allegations by Sponsored reporters of violence and vandalism. Any violence came from the Sponsored authorities, a lot of whom didn't have
the intelligence to negotiate with anything other than fists and weapons. Dory's Avengers soon became actively involved in the demonstrations against Sponsored oppression. Some had worried a little for the safety of Izzy out on the streets, but the fear was unfounded. The London Unsponsored weren't going to let anything bad happen to their saint now she'd finally returned to them; so, whether she liked it or not, Izzy constantly found herself protected by the people around her. As visitors started to arrive from all over the world for the opening ceremony of the Games, the Unsponsored were still very much in evidence on the streets of the capital, and, despite Lord William's attempts to have the Unsponsored crushed, their numbers continued to grow every day. Visitors watching the British news repeatedly saw peaceful protesters being violently dispersed by Sponsored authorities, and some of them began to wonder at what point Britain had lost sight of the concept of free speech.

In Unsponsored HQ talk increasingly centred around the Games, and Louis became more and more nervous as the opening ceremony approached. Repeatedly, he sought the reassurance of his mentor.

‘Am I really good enough, Gideon?' he asked time after time. ‘Am I going to make a laughing stock of the Unsponsored?'

‘You know the answer to that, Louis,' Gideon would reply each time with uncharacteristic patience. ‘You're better by far than those poor, stifled, Sponsored gymnasts.'

Since the exodus from The White Lion Inn, Lord William had withdrawn all his people from Applethwaite and ordered them to return to London. Therefore, Philip had no problem liberating Louis's essential equipment from Gideon's studio and having it transported to London. Delighted to have a chance to train once more, Louis and Gideon spent their days going through routine after routine
in their pursuit of the perfect ten. Since the other Unsponsored were out on the streets of the city a lot of the time, Gideon usually coached Louis in a deserted HQ, but occasionally Abi or Theo would stop by to watch.

‘Louis, that was amazing,' said Theo a couple of days before the opening ceremony of the Games, watching wide-eyed as his friend completed a seemingly impossible routine on the parallel bars and landed with perfect balance.

‘That's the one,' agreed Gideon. ‘Perform like that, Louis, and no one will be able to deny you a place in the finals.'

‘That's all very well,' said Louis dubiously, ‘but is anyone really going to watch?' Gideon was silent, not wanting to give voice to the thought but believing deep down that Louis was right. It made Gideon so sad, but the likelihood was that Louis's talent would never be displayed to the Olympic judges and the world. Who was going to persuade the Olympic officials that an Unsponsored, unqualified gymnast should be allowed to compete? It turned out, though, that Gideon and Louis were wrong. Help came, just in time, from a most unexpected source.

Louis loved the evenings, when his friends returned to the HQ and swapped news of their day out on the streets of the capital city. Confined to the redundant industrial buildings all day, Louis enjoyed hearing tales of his friends' encounters with the media, the Unsponsored from other areas and also the Sponsored. More and more Sponsored were becoming disillusioned with their stifled lives as they finally recognised that there was a viable alternative. Snuggling up with Abi on a huge cushion, Matilda and Theo always by their side, Louis found himself relaxing after his intense training as his friends told their news. Max wrote like a demon while everyone talked, determined to keep a detailed chronicle of events running up to the Games.

‘The Sponsors are on their knees,' he would say from time to time, beaming at the assembled company. ‘I'd love to be a fly on the wall of His Lordshit's office these days.'

Theo shuddered, remembering his own horrific experiences as a human on the wall of His Lordship's office. Feeling Theo tense, Matilda let her hands wander over his body and it wasn't long before he relaxed again.

‘Do you reckon we should go out on the streets tomorrow,' she asked, ‘being as it's the opening ceremony of the Games?'

‘I don't see why not,' replied Max. ‘After all, we're only exercising our right to free speech. It's the Sponsors who cause all the trouble.'

‘I'm just worried that the Sponsored media will twist it round to make us look like the bad guys, though,' Matilda persisted. ‘You know how economical they are with the truth.'

‘We are getting more and more coverage from the foreign media over for the Games,' said Max. ‘Obviously they're not restricted by Sponsorship…'

‘But the point is, Moronis Maximus, essentially they're over for the Games, not to give
us
publicity. I'm worried that, while the unrestricted crews are covering the opening ceremony, the Sponsors will take advantage of the opportunity to make it look as though we're trying to sabotage the Games.'

‘Point taken, Matty. I think we should go out, but maybe only a few of us and just to distribute newsletters. Any sign of Sponsored grief, we leg it back here.'

‘Agreed,' said Matilda. ‘The last thing we want is to get on the wrong side of the Olympic authorities, and jeopardise any chance Louis and Gideon have…'

‘Where is Gideon, by the way?' asked Louis, suddenly realising he hadn't seen his mentor all evening.

‘He went out with Adam and Philip,' replied Jenny absently, distracted by the task of plaiting ribbons into Alan's hair.

‘Why didn't you tell me earlier, Jen?'

‘I've been busy, silly Louis,' replied the child, ‘making Alan look pretty.'

‘Well, you've succeeded,' said Matilda, grinning at her dad. ‘It's not like Gideon to sneak off without telling anyone. Do you know what it's all about, Sarah?'

‘No, Matty love,' said Sarah, trying not to feel put out that Gideon hadn't even told her that he was going out for the evening. ‘I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, though. Adam and Philip are hardly likely to lead him into danger…'

‘…And they didn't,' said Gideon, wheeling himself over to the group, an extremely self-satisfied look on his face.

‘Where have you been?' grumbled Louis. ‘It's the night before the Games begin and you're gallivanting off God knows where…'

‘I don't think you need me to hold your hand, Louis,' said Gideon, still smiling smugly as he kissed Sarah. ‘Not when you've got Abi to do the job.'

‘Don't change the subject, Gideon! Where have you been?'

‘I've been to see a man; well, a few men actually, about an Unsponsored gymnast,' replied Gideon, now positively smirking at Louis. ‘Cinderella, you
shall
go to the ball.'

‘Will you stop talking in riddles and tell me where you've been?' snapped Louis, his irritation growing relative to Gideon's smugness.

‘No.'

‘He's been talking to my parents,' said Adam, joining the group with Philip, ‘and some people from the Olympics…'

‘Adam! I wanted it to be a surprise.'

‘Shut up, GID!' said Louis, finally succeeding in wiping the smug grin off Gideon's face. ‘Go on, Ads.'

‘Well,' began Adam as everyone turned to look at him, ‘you know Rose is staying with my mum and dad at the moment?' Everyone nodded. It had been decided that it
would be better for Rosanna not to live in the Unsponsored HQ; it was upsetting far too many of the Unsponsored who just couldn't forget the Lady Bitch of the past, not to mention the fact that Rosanna and Theo couldn't spend more than a few minutes in each other's company without fighting. When Rosanna, being Rosanna, had a few choice words to say about the lack of luxuries in the HQ, Adam hastily arranged for her to stay with his parents, much to the relief of the Unsponsored.

‘When I took Rose back to Mum and Dad's,' continued Adam, ‘I was hardly going to turn round and leave straight away. I know they're both Sponsors, but they're still my parents and I've missed them. Don't worry,' he added, ‘I didn't give anything away about HQ or our plans. It was Dad who was giving stuff away to me, actually; stuff about Louis.'

Louis looked startled, and Gideon began smirking again.

‘Dad told his side of the story, from the moment that His Lordshit decided all those months ago to include Louis in the Games. Mum and Dad are far more in touch with the real world than His Lordshit…'