Last time I checked, I was not getting paid for this, so no, I'm not Anthony Horowitz.
"Hold up. Say it again, but slowly." Eagle was flustered and confused, not to mention a little annoyed at Wolf's rushed words.
"Alex is Alex Rider, John Rider's son." Wolf spoke slowly, his eyes wide.
Snake's eyebrows went even higher on his forehead, while Fox just placed his face in his hands.
"John Rider? Like, THE John Rider? We're talking about the same John Rider here, right?" Any and all annoyance had just flown out the window; he was all shock now.
"What other John Rider do we know, Eagle?"
"John Rider, SAS legend, renowned MI6 spy, best track record since forever?" Eagle continued, not quite able to wrap his head around it.
"I don't think that's quite the case anymore." Wolf said quietly, leaning in.
"What do you mean?" Snake spoke slowly, not quite buying into it yet. He had problems not trusting people, but he hadn't always been like that.
"I don't know for certain, but I do know that there's rumors of a teen-aged terror running around the halls of MI6. His mission success surpasses everyone else's. He's never failed. Not even once. He's like a machine, no emotions, no mistakes, no conscience. He's ruthless."
Snake shook his head, face pale. "No. It can't be the same person. Cub was, is nothing like that. He's just a child."
Wolf leaned forward, pulling the passport out of his pocket. "Here. His picture, birth date, everything. It is the same kid."
Eagle yanked the booklet out of Wolf's hand, eyes swiftly scanning the page. An expletive fell softly from his lips, as tears welled up.
"What?" Snake asked, concern filling his features.
Eagle wordlessly handed Snake the passport, and dropped his face into his hands. Fox reached out, but pulled away at the last minute, when Eagle growled out, "Don't you dare touch me."
Snake breathed deeply, his hands starting to shake. "He's a bloody sixteen-year-old. Which means..."
"Which means he was barely fourteen when MI6 sent him to Brecon Beacons to train with us." Wolf finished quietly. He turned to Fox. "And you knew."
Fox flinched when the combined glares of the other three members were turned on him. "I didn't find out until later. And besides, I was told you met him again on a mission. Point Blank, was it?"
He'd shifted the tables. Wolf felt an anger rise up within him, a white-hot, pulsing fury.
Snake and Eagle regarded him with mixed expressions. Confusion, expectation, wariness, betrayal.
Ouch. That hurt.
"To be fair, I didn't know it was a mission at the time. I didn't know who he was. The school fit perfectly in his spoiled, rich kid vibe." Wolf stood up, unable to contain his irritation at Fox anymore. "You left our unit, our family, to join MI6, and for what? More money? Or was it to watch a kid, that you apparently had no idea was actually a teen-aged spy?"
Fox leapt to his feet, mouth twisted in a furious snarl, when Alex's soft voice stopped them.
"Please. Don't." He was slumped in the doorway, dark circles under his eyes. He looked utterly exhausted, but still his eyes were guarded and his body language closed off. "Don't fight right now. It's not improving anything and currently, the best thing we can do is wait for Falcon to come back. When he's finally here, then you can murder each other physically or verbally, I don't really care. So please. For my sanity as well as your own safety, stop trying to kill each other, because, God help me, I will not be held responsible for whatever happens if you continue with this."
Eagle sighed, and put his face in his hands. What had happened that it should come to this? A teenager, bossing around a SAS Unit that was supposed to be a family, but was instead operating like a group of egotistical, fresh recruits.
"I can't do this." He whispered to himself.
He really really couldn't. Ever since he'd joined the military something bad seemed to happen.
First it was Alex, during their training. Then Wolf lying to them about Alex's mission, which, granted, they hadn't found out about until now. Next was Fox's departure. Falcon showing up with his own secrets. Becoming a family again.
And now this. Alex. Fox. Falcon.
It was like a broken record.
Again.
And again.
What would come next?
******************************
Five days later they got the call from Mrs. Jones.
Falcon wasn't coming home.
Eight days later and Alex still refused to leave his room and eat. He wouldn't talk, and he jumped at the tiniest of sounds.
Ten days, and Snake found Eagle sobbing on the back porch at two in the morning.
Thirteen days, and Mrs. Jones called again. They hadn't found anything in their search. They were giving up. There was nothing to be done. He was to be presumed MIA/KIA until further notice. Oh, and they would be getting a new member by the end of the week.
That night Wolf drank far too much than was probably good for him.
But it was at the two week mark that everything changed.
******************************
It was three in the morning, when the doorbell rang. Snake groaned and shoved his head further into the pillow. Of course, that's when it hit him that it was three in the bloody morning and someone was at the door.
Stumbling out of bed, Snake hastily pulled on some clothes and grabbed his gun. In the darkness of the room, Wolf spoke softly.
"Should I come with?"
"No need. I've got it handled. Go back to sleep. I'll call if I need help." He answered in a whisper, opening the door softly.
Wolf said nothing, but Snake could practically feel the frustration radiating off of him.
Ever since Falcon's... disappearance, they'd been distant and cold, avoiding each other as much as possible, which was honestly very difficult to do, because the house was considerably smaller than they were used too. Still, there were errands to be ran, and they'd managed it as well as could be expected.
Reaching the front door, Snake could hear the rain pelting the side of the house, and he flung open the door, gun out and at the ready. There was no need. It was just a school boy with a backpack. His hair was dripping down his face and he looked absolutely miserable.
"Look. I have no idea who you are but I was told that Alex Rider lived here and I'm his best friend from school, who he probably never talks about because he's just like that, and has a hard time trusting people which probably stems from his weird and traumatic experiences with a certain bank in London that's not really a bank and is actually the headquarters of MI6, but if he really is here than you already know all this and I don't have to explain anything. Now, will you please let me in. It's bloody cold out here."
Snake stood there, completely confused and bewildered.
"Alex does live here right?"
Snake nodded, slowly lowering the gun. The stranger certainly didn't look like a threat.
The kid stuck a hand out.
"The names Harris. Tom Harris." He grinned. "Alex hates it when I introduce myself like that. Says that James Bond is ridiculous because spying is never that easy and I mean, he would know, right?"
"What?" Snake finally managed to say.
Tom went white as a sheet. "Oh man. You didn't know? Alex is so going to kill me for this." He looked absolutely terrified. "OK, so, Alex is like this super teen spy who works for MI6, by the way, this is like a national secret so don't tell anyone, but it's also not a national secret because he's been loaned out to the CIA and other secret services and it's really not right but I'm getting off track here, anyway-" His sentence broke off into a yelp as Snake grabbed the kid's backpack and dragged him inside, shutting the door against the wind and the rain. His clothes were damp and sticking to his skin, but nothing compared to the puddle quickly gathering under the boy in front of him.
"How did you know that Alex was here?" He asked, shoving the teen up against the wall.
"I'm surprisingly good at hacking the internet. MI6's database wasn't really that much different. Kind of a disappointment, to be honest. Don't worry. I'm the only one who knows. I think."Snake cursed under his breath. "It's too bloody early for any of this."
"Tom?" came a soft voice from the stairs.
Snake whirled around, letting go of the boy in front of him, to stare at the one stepping into the
light.
******************************
Alex looked...different.
Smaller.
Thinner.
His eyes were cloudy; the spark that should have been there was long gone.
"Hey man." Tom said softly, dropping his bag, as Alex rushed toward him, wrapping his arms around the dripping teenager.
Tom gently ran his fingertips over the knobs on Alex's spine, feeling the dips in-between Alex's protruding ribs, sheltering the shallow breaths that made that chest rise and fall, and tightened his hold on his best friend.
"I heard about Jack." Tom whispered. Alex stiffened. "I'm so sorry." What else was there to say?
Alex released Tom and stepped back, rubbing his hands over his face, wiping away the stray tears that had leaked out. "I don't want to talk about it right now."
Tom nodded. In his peripheral vision, the soldier who let him in flipped on a light switch and finally Tom could see the full extent of Alex's physical change.
His hair was blonde on top; time in the sun obviously. Maybe from his last mission? Was that where he and Jack had gone on "vacation"? Was it really a vacation? Did Jack die because someone was targeting Alex? Was the soldier here to protect Alex? Were there any others?
There were dark circles under Alex's eyes. Obviously not sleeping. Was it nightmares? Or something else?
The clothes he had on, already designed to fit loosely, hung off him. He'd lost a lot of weight.
What was going on?
Or more importantly, was Alex still in danger?
"Alex, who is this?" A shadow by the stairs asked, his voice echoing in the quiet house. When had everyone stopped talking?
"It's none of your business. " Alex shot back, bitterness lacing his words.
"On the contrary, Alex, I believe that as your babysitter," The man spat the word out with a sneer, "it is my right to know everything about everyone who comes into this house, especially if they come without my permission or foreknowledge."
Tom watched apprehensively as Alex clenched his teeth and gritted his jaw, before turning to reply. Alex had never been one to lose his temper quickly, but the more Tom saw of this Alex, the more he was convinced that he didn't know the teen-aged spy as well as he had thought.
"I don't even know your real name, Wolf, or Snake's, or your team-mate that MI6 has just given up for dead, which, by the way, that entire situation reeks of SCORPIA, so what makes you think I'll trust you with his private information, let alone his name," Alex pointed to Tom, "when it seems you can't even protect those already under your command?"
Tom's eyes widened. That was a low blow, even if he didn't completely understand the situation.
Alex went on, but in a quieter voice, his voice shaky. "He was the only one that actually showed that he cared, and you just-" His voice broke, and he turned aside, wrapping his arms around himself. "From the moment I met you at Brecon Beacons, to when you realized I was your new project, you have treated me like I'm a child. You have belittled me, ignored me, lied to me. There was that one time when you rescued me from Dr. Grief and when you sent me that note in the hospital and I thought, 'Maybe he's changed. Maybe he actually cares.' And that meant a whole lot to me because there's not many people who treat me like they care. I'm just an asset in their eyes, Wolf. And you know what? I'm done. I'm done with all of this. I don't even know why I'm telling you all of this, because it's not going to change anything, so screw you."
Alex walked toward the stairs, brushing past Wolf, who reached out and grabbed Alex's forearm.
Alex jerked back, Wolf releasing his arm in order to not injure the teen.
"Don't touch me." He growled, his brown eyes on fire.
"I'm not done with you yet, kid." Wolf said harshly, reaching out to grab Alex again.
The boy twisted away, before replying. "But I am. Goodnight, Wolf." He sneered, before sauntering away, up the stairs, Tom left behind.
Okay then.
Wow, this is like so late, I won't stop you if you guys try and get payback. Like... there are no words for how terrible I've been with updating. First we had school, then my mom got Covid, so I had to be a replacement mom to the rest of my family, then I got Covid, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas, oh and somewhere in there was a major writing blocker called One Direction... so yeah, I wrote myself into a corner and only just last week, figured it out and started writing again.
Anyway, feel free to vote or comment, because it's like fuel on my fire.
Peace out,
AgentAlexxRider101
"Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for in You do I trust; cause me to know the way in which I should work, for I lift my soul up to You." - Psalm 143:8