A/N: I don't own Alex Rider or Wolf. But I do own Wolf's made up name.

This Idea of Love

"So honey now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
I'm thinking out loud
That maybe we found love right where we are."

Ed Sheeran, "Thinking Out Loud"

"You feel broken."

"How could I not?"

"You want to run away."

"Yes. I'd like to escape my past, but my past isn't something you can escape from."

"You think you can't possibly feel again."

"There's nothing left for me to feel."

Mrs. Jones sighed, plucking a peppermint out from a tray on her desk. She offered it to Alex, who shook her head. She studied the girl before her. Cool, glassy eyes. Dark pits of nothing. Long brown hair, dyed for a mission. Grace that could only come from years of experience.

"I want to work with you as a full-time agent, granted I get the same benefits as everyone else." That voice. So emotionless. It was to be expected. She'd just witnessed her last friend out of MI6 die.

Mrs. Jones nodded, "If that's what you want. I'll sign you up for a refresher course."

Alex stood, a sad smile on her face, "Thanks. Call me when you need me."

Tulip Jones watched as the girl swept out of the doorway. She frowned at her desk, tapping her fingers against the wood, a sign of immense worry. She stared at the phone situated on the top right corner of her desk. Frowning once more, she picked it up, dialing a number she had committed to memory.

Ring… ring…

"This is Sergeant Smith speaking."

Mrs. Jones smiled, "Hello, Sergeant. I have a request for you…"

A pause.

"Yes, ma'am?"

THIS*IDEA*OF*LOVE

"You're a girl."

Disbelief.

Alex wanted to laugh at the Sergeant, but she knew it wouldn't be a good idea. There was, after all, only so much a person could take.

"Yes, sir." She responded respectfully, wiping the amusement off her face. Gosh, if Tom was here…

Pain. Stop thinking about him.

"You're a girl that came here four years ago," the Sergeant muttered to himself, "survived SAS training, and pickpocketed me."

Alex couldn't help but grin at that. She hadn't been that sneaky back then, had she?

The Sergeant glared at her menacingly, "Cabin fourteen, Cub. In the month that you're here, you'll be required to speak to a psychologist."

Alex bit her tongue in order not to protest.

"However, given the circumstances of this unusual request from MI6," the Sergeant fixed her with another death-glare, "I have been forced to assign a soldier as your psychologist. One that knows exactly what you're going through and knows how to help."

She wanted to ask, 'how would anyone know what I've gone through?'

"I expect you to be fully cooperative. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir."

The Sergeant gave her a searching look before nodding, "K-Unit again. Dismissed."

Alex saluted and marched out of his office. She tossed the duffle bag with her spare clothes and gadgets over her shoulder, searching for cabin fourteen. She spotted four soldiers lounging on the steps to a very familiar looking cabin.

She sighed and made her way to the soldiers. Put on a façade, Rider.

"Mornin', men," the smile on her face was cold, "I hope you remember me."

THIS*IDEA*OF*LOVE

"How do you feel?"

Alex tossed her feet onto her cot, squirming into a comfortable position on top of her blankets, "You're bad at this."

"I'm not a damn psychologist," Wolf snarled, crossing his arms. He was sitting on the bunk next to her, scowling ferociously at the girl. It had been a hard first week with the seemingly bipolar spy, but the original members of K-Unit had made their amends. They were supposedly on good terms now.

Alex rolled her eyes and turned her head to look at him, "Then don't act like it."

Wolf sighed and ran a hand through his close cropped, black hair. He frowned at the girl, "Fine. Tell me what the hell is going on with you."

The girl nodded, turning her head to look back up at the ceiling, "Atta boy, Wolf."

Wolf glared at her for the statement. She gave him a sideways cheeky grin before turning serious again.

"I feel empty," she said, "like a bin."

"So you feel like rubbish." Wolf summed up.

Alex glared at the ceiling, "If that's what you want to hear."

"That's not something I want to hear, Cub." Wolf growled fiercely, "I'm here to help you, okay? I don't know how you feel unless you tell me. Then, we can relate."

She stared thoughtfully at the wooden planks making up the ceiling, "Why don't you tell me your experience, then?"

Wolf stared at her, taken aback. He imitated Alex by lying down too, grimacing at the memories, "Fine…" He sounded resigned.

Alex rolled over to her side to look at him.

"I once had the choice to either save a friend or to save a town." Wolf said shortly, running another hand through his short hair, "I chose the town."

Short, sweet, and simple.

"Was your friend SAS?" Alex asked, her curiosity undisguised, "Or a civilian?"

Wolf didn't answer for so long that Alex thought he'd fallen asleep. She sat up, as if to check on him. He sighed again, finally answering, "Civilian. She wasn't supposed to be there at all."

Alex swung her feet onto the ground, looking at him with- what was it?

Wolf met her eyes. There wasn't any sympathy in those big, brown eyes of hers. Just plain comprehension. She understood him.

"I was on holiday with my friend in Italy when it happened," she started, her eyes boring into Wolf's own, "I noticed something strange."

Wolf didn't move a single millimeter.

"My best mate, Tom," she swallowed hard, "followed me, even though I told him not to. He got captured."

The SAS soldier felt cold chills travel up his spine.

"It was supposed to be me!" Alex's hands gripped the blankets on her cot, "They tortured him in front of me, and I couldn't give any information. I tried to feed them the wrong information, but they just knew."

Wolf slowly sat up as Alex turned away from him.

"They kept us for a month." Venom dripped from her words, "And they didn't lay a single finger on me."

Wolf could detect the layer if emotion underneath the anger. He stood, hesitating as he crossed the couple steps that separated the two of them. He sat, warily, by her side. A muffled sob was what made him decide on pulling the girl into a hug.

It was just one time, dammit! He was not going soft.

THIS*IDEA*OF*LOVE

Three years later…

Alex wasn't sure how they'd progressed this far. It had started with a simple, comforting gesture. But the two of them had fit so perfectly, like two puzzle pieces. They just understood each other.

If she were still a fourteen year old girl, she would have been outraged. She, dating a man seven years older than her? And to top all of that off, she lov- liked the man who'd been her bully.

"What's wrong?"

Alex turned to look appreciatively at her on and off boyfriend. They'd both just returned for yet another refresher course at Brecon Beacons. She was still wearing her military fatigues.

Wolf (AKA Terence Reyes) grinned at her, his dog tags flashing in the light against his bare chest. She rolled her eyes, "Nothing's wrong. Do you think we could go outside for a bit?"

He grunted in amusement and made his way over to her, "You've got first-class assassins after you. Again. Do you really want to hang around outside?"

"Yes," Alex answered him with a 'duh' sort of tone.

Wolf paused, compiling a list of pros and cons, "Fair enough. Let's go."

Alex grinned and reached down to pluck a shirt out of Wolf's discarded duffle bag. She tossed it to him and unlocked the back door, which lead to their backyard.

It was just past sunset. The stars were in the sky, prominent against the black background: a thousand stars twinkling above.

Alex heard Wolf approaching from behind her. She leaned back into him as he wrapped his arms loosely around her waist. They were quiet for a long minute, swaying with the breeze.

"You're leaving again, aren't you?" Wolf's voice was low and husky in her ear.

Alex sighed, turning around and placing her hands on his chest. She could feel his previously steady heartbeat speed up as she stared into his shadowed face regretfully, "Yeah."

"How long this time?" He sighed, his breath snatched away from the breeze that had picked up.

Alex let her arms travel around Wolf's neck, "Let's not worry about that."

"But-"

She grinned cheekily at him, sure that he could still see it, even though it was growing steadily darker. Wolf changed his mind at that, "Don't dignify that with a response."

Alex laughed (a sound that Wolf liked very much), and pulled away, "Come on, Wolf-boy. We've still got thirteen hours until I've got to go!"

Wolf's lips twitched into a smile, "Laser quest and pizza?" He knew it was a dumb question. It was their favorite activity together.

"Don't try to be cute." Alex poked him in the chest, "What else?"

Yep, Wolf mused to himself as he watched her prance into the house, we found love right where we are.

A/N: Um... yeah. I just wanted to do a bit of an experiment on the content of my stories. This is literally the first ever romance/sappy thing I've written...

I actually found this very uncomfortable to write. Why? Well, I have never, ever, ever, ever actually experienced any of this. #foreveralone (Did the hashtag show up?)

Please tell me how I did. And I'm totally waiting for some criticism. I need criticism. I'll just keep putting these awkward things into stories... AH I FEEL SO EMBARRASSED RIGHT NOW

Thanks guys! Reviews are appreciated!

-Alice