OK, I hope you enjoy, I know this is a popular story line but *shrug* I thought I would do my own spin. Enjoy (I hope)
Also consider this story disclaimed. If I was Anthony Horowitz Yassen Gregorovich would still most definitely be ALIVE!
Warning: Only I have read this through, any issues with grammar or spelling or if I am talking complete nonsense. Any willing beta is welcome.
A blonde boy lay still in his cell in Northern Russia, he was barely breathing and every inch of him was covered in some wound of some form. His breath came in short gasps as he took stock of his situation. Whenever he breathed in there was six sharp jolts of pain indicating broken ribs, the cuts on his back were deep but treated so they wouldn't go septic, the only imminent dangers were that one of his ribs would puncture a lung or that one day his captors would go too far and kill him.
There was a groan from the neighbouring cell,
"My neck kills." The boy heard a mutter, he rolled his eyes and found that aggravated his headache even more,
"It is also really, really cold, at least you got some sleep Wolf." Came a scornful reply, "Kid here didn't from the amount he wriggled."
The boy knew who three of the five in the other cell were, there was Wolf, Eagle and Snake who were in the SAS, k unit, the fourth was their fourth member, Cheetah whom Alex had completed SAS selection with, and the fifth was a teenager, the boy couldn't be sure if his code name was Kid, for a baby goat, or that was a fond nickname. The blonde boy knew that k unit loved their nicknames, having spent two weeks in hell as double 0 nothing.
The blonde boy to the SAS team was Cub, to everyone else he was Alex Rider, to MI6 he was Agent Rider, to his school he was druggie Rider. Not that the other cell knew that. They didn't know who he was. Alex Rider had no intention of them finding out either.
"You think he is awake?" Alex heard Cheetah whisper,
"You think he is alive?" Wolf replied bluntly.
"I hope so." Kid whispered,
"Hey its OK Robin." Alex heard shuffling and guessed the teen was being hugged, Alex resisted the urge to snort at the thought, they hadn't shown him any kindness when he was with them, he distracted himself from the pain with the knowledge that the teens name was not Kid but Robin. Robin was the main reason Alex had not given up on life long ago. They had both been told that when Alex died Robin would be next.
Ben Daniels paced his office in the house in Chelsea he shared with Alex Rider, he had just returned from a mission to find that his best friend and adoptive brother was still missing. Now the incompetence of the newbie teen had not only gotten Alex into trouble but the newbie and K unit as well. Ben cursed and went over the facts in his head again.
Seven months ago Ben and Alex had gone on a mission together to follow and make sure the new teen was good at what he did. The teen, Chris Butler, had made a huge mistake and Alex had stepped him without Ben's knowledge and saved him, Ben had been under the impression Alex was still safe and followed his orders to keep Chris safe. Alex never came back to the meeting point.
A week ago Chris had been on another mission with K unit. He had screwed up royally resulting in them all being drugged and kidnapped, supposedly by the same people who had Alex. Jones wasn't letting Ben search for him thinking it would be improper as he was emotionally involved. Ben had cursed her at that. A teenager was being tortured by one of the lead criminal organisations, Zeke, and he wasn't supposed to be emotionally involved.
That had resulted in Ben going on a simple bodyguard mission to Mexico. Ben had been shot and had spent time in hospital then with the SAS on a refreshers course. K unit had left and Ben had been sent on another mission, the one he had just returned from. His phone rang and he jumped.
"Daniels." His voice was curt.
"Fox, I have news on Cub." His old commanding officers voice came over the phone, Ben gripped it tightly.
"What is it sir?" Ben demanded his training not letting him forget respect on his superiors despite his urgency for information.
"We think we have found him, L, J, C, G,and I are going to get him, you can come as an MI6 liaison, it was the best I could do."
"Thank you sir, where shall we meet?" Ben asked, he hung up after finding out that Alex was probably in Russia and he was to be at the airport in three hours. Ben grabbed some stuff for himself and, optimistically, Alex. Then he was out the door.
"We're coming Alex, hang in there."
The SAS stormed the place after their cover had been blown and had searched the place from head to toe, inside they found thirty seven Zeke agents, four SAS men, one teen and one Alex Rider. The SAS and Chris had been rushed out of there as the medics saw to Alex. Ben's fingers turned white as Alex flat-lined, when he looked later he would find eight perfect semi circle bruises on his palms from his nails.
Thirty two hours later Ben was walking the halls of St Dominic's sighing to himself, Alex had woken a few hours ago and after the reunion was over Ben couldn't help but notice the new darkness in his eyes.
"Fox?" Snake's surprised voice pulled him out of his daydream,
"Hey, I heard you were in here." Ben grinned and clapped him on the back,
"I saw you in the rescue party, come in and talk." Snake led Ben to a four bed room with the other SAS agents in,
"Look who I saw wondering in a trance." Snake announced,
"Hey!" Eagle grinned at their old unit member,
"Did the other make it? The man in the other cell, did he survive?" Cheetah's voice was low and quiet,
"No." Ben's voice matched his tone. The story was that Alex Rider was dead, or to the SAS men the boy in the other cell was dead. For once Ben didn't mind lying to his unit, as long as it kept Alex safe.
"Why were you there?" Wolf asked,
"I heard you were snatched, Sanders asked, I agreed, I get on a plane and I end up busting you from captivity." Ben shrugged telling the truth, mainly.
"Who was he?" Cheetah asked still on the other man,
"Classified I'm afraid." His phone rang and he saw Smithers on the other end, "I need to go."
"Wait, did you know him?" Eagle blurted unable to contain himself. Ben nodded once then left the room.
"Shit." Snake muttered,
"Do you think Ryan will have enough clearance to get the file?" Cheetah asked contemplative,
"I can ask." Ryan said from the corner, "I heard the end of the conversation but never saw the speaker, who was he?"
"Fox, an old unit member, he was seconded nearly three years ago now." Eagle replied lounging back on his bed.
"How you faring Robin?" Snake asked looking the young teen over for injuries,
"I'm fine." He insisted but the medic didn't stop checking,
"You were almost assassinated by The Jonas Hue." Snake reminded him,
"Ah Chris, there you are." Jones' assistant walked through the doors, he was in his late twenties and black with close cropped black hair. He was known for his heartlessness in telling people things, yet he seemed to have a soft spot for Chris.
"Juniper." Chris nodded to him. The man's name was Harold Juniper and was also a snob from Oxford,
"We have come to say that you are free for a month but will be put in protective custody until the assassins after you have been caught." Juniper informed them,
"Who's?" Wolf demanded,
"For the moment MI6's top spy, not that he is aware as of yet, but he will agree, Jones has assured me of it." Juniper seemed to frown slightly,
"Oh he will will he." Ben's flat voice commented, he held two cups of coffee, "Then I had better go and inform him and tell him of his unwavering loyalty to anything you say." K unit winced at the malice and hatred in his voice, they hadn't seen this side of Ben, the fiercely protective side.
"Juniper." Chris' voice broke the tension between the two as Ben stormed off anger rolling off him in waves. "Can I have the other agents file?"
"What other agent?" Juniper asked,
"The one in the neighbouring cell to us, Fox said it was classified do any of us have a high enough clearance?" Cheetah explained, Juniper flicked through the files in his hands,
"No, not even I do. It's all censored." He showed them a page covered in thick black lines then his shock letting more through than normal. He then left leaving the room in shock.
"So, Agent Rider, will you take care of Chris?" Jones asked,
"Well I didn't have much choice in the matter it would seem." Alex replied his voice curt, he had been told he was to be discharged tomorrow so Jones had called in on him on her way home.
"You don't have to, we are truly sorry for what you went through, it is only been a week since you woke after surgery..." Jones trailed off, "We don't want to ask this of you, but you will have to be off active duty for a while, you wouldn't appreciate desk duty and after the assassination attempt and Hue not yet found... We don't trust anyone."
"What will happen if I don't?" Alex asked quietly,
"We will have to send him to a children's home until you either change your mind or someone adopts him." Jones replied looking down,
"Which one." Alex's voice was flat,
"Rutherford." Jones named the single worst children's home in London, it was a place where someone was knifed by another member at least once a week and the carers didn't last long. Alex recognised blackmail when he saw it, he was used to it coming out of her mouth.
"I'll do it I'll take him." Alex sighed rubbing his eyes and wincing as he moved, Jones noticed this and paused,
"Alex, I am truly sorry, I can try and postpone it a week, make up a medical dilemma so you can have longer to recover." Jones offered,
"No, its fine, I'll go collect him with you in a minute, I need to change." Jones stepped outside as Alex changed, she hated the darkness in his eyes, the childlikeness long gone. The door opened on her thought, Alex was standing there in jeans, converse and a zip up hoodie, he looked almost like a normal teenager. Almost.
"After you." Alex gestured that she led the way, all too soon they were outside a door, Jones opened it and saw the room full of five people,
"Chris, K unit." She nodded to them,
"Ma'am." Wolf nodded back,
"This is Agent Rider, he will be your guardian until everything is sorted." Jones left the room,
"Chris, I'm Alex." Alex took in the boy properly for the first time, he looked old for his 15 years, just over a year younger than Alex, he had brown hair that was messed up and a haughty arrogant look on his face his brown eyes scornful.
"You are supposed to protect me from the assassins an entire SAS unit only just managed to protect me from." Chris snorted, "Great. Lucky me."
"Great, this'll be fun." Alex muttered under his breath in Russian. "Do you have your stuff? We can go via your old house to collect the rest of it." Alex went to pick up a bag,
"We can manage agent Rider." Wolf cut in scornfully.
"Fun times." Alex muttered under his breath, yet grateful that his injuries wouldn't be tested just yet. "Come on." He led the way out of the room to the car. He stopped at a sleek black BMW, Eagle whistled lowly,
"Nice." He breathed,
"Courtesy of 6." Alex said offhand, then cursed himself in his head, he should have said MI6, 6 was the SAS abbreviation. Cheetah looked at him eyes narrowed slightly confused.
"Have you trained with the SAS before?" He asked curious as to the abbreviation,
"Yep, a few years ago now." Alex didn't want to drop any more hints, "Can I drop you anywhere?" He offered reluctantly,
"We have our own cars." Wolf replied through gritted teeth, "We'll be staying next door to you at the safe house so any trouble with anything just shout." Wolf muttered something else to Chris as he said goodbye, Alex assumed it wasn't complementary. A few minutes later he pulled out of the car park away from k unit.
"So, where do you want to go for your stuff?" Alex asked,
"Richmond, 23 sensate lane, you know where that is hotshot?" Chris snapped,
"No need to bite my head off. Yep I do." Alex tried to keep his cool. "So what have you done for MI6?"
"This and that. Some harder than others, haven't you read my file? Clearance not high enough?" Chris scorned.
"It's your story to tell. I wouldn't want someone reading my file without permission." Alex replied smoothly parking, "Lets go." Alex slipped out of the car leaving a confused Chris behind,
"Come on kid." Alex tapped on his window,
"I'm coming, keep your hair on." Snarky Chris was back.
"Who's house is this?" Alex asked curious,
"Aunt's, she, her husband and four children are never home, they decreed it would be safer with you." Chris replied flatly throwing his clothes into his bag, a few minutes later he was done and they were back in the car.
"Home sweet home." Chris muttered sarcastically as Alex shut the door behind him, Snake was sitting at the top of the stairs,
"Wolf!" He called, Wolf appeared through a door behind bookcase on the second floor,
"Agent Rider. Any issues." Wolf asked curt.
"No. Other than an overly talkative Chris." Alex headed into the kitchen and nosed around in the cupboards then sighed, no food, Ben had been on a missions for the past week,
"Come, I'll show you your room." Alex headed to the stairs fighting the ache in his body. At the top of the stairs he headed towards the bookcase concealing the doorway to the next house,
"This is you." Alex opened the only door on that side of the stairs. "I'm at the far end, there's nothing else interesting down there, trust me. There's an en suite bathroom and make yourself at home, just not at the other end of the corridor."
"Where's the food?" Chris asked dumping his stuff,
"In the shop. I'm going shopping, make yourself at home," He was out the door before anyone could stop him. He drove and called up a number on the car system.
"Hey Alex! You better?!" Tom's voice came through the system.
"Yeah, you at home?" Alex asked,
"Yeah, you want company? Or someone to complain to. We can go shopping as I guess your house is pretty empty right now." Alex grinned, Tom read him so well.
"I want all of them, as long as it isn't Chris. See you in a few." Tom hung up. The phone rang again,
"Alex." Mrs Jones sighed.
"What?" This wasn't promising.
"I had a complaint from Wolf." She stated, "Apparently you left without saying where you were going or giving them a chance to agree."
"Well, you can tell them I am a big boy and if their precious Chris wants any food I need to go shopping. I said that then left, so technically I was in the right." Alex replied pulling up outside Toms house, he picked up his phone and left the car,
"Alex, I had to give them your number. I'm sorry." Jones sounded apologetic, Alex knew better than to believe it.
"Fine." He saw Tom looking confused. As Alex walked into the house, then his expression cleared,
"Jones." He guessed, Alex nodded rolling his eyes. A few seconds later he hung up. Tom was herding him to the sofa,
"Sit. You look exhausted." Tom was worried, he hadn't been told what Alex had gone through but when he had visited him in hospital he had been in a bad way. "How are your bandages?" Tom was a prospective medic, he was reading all the books he could and was already pretty good, he had had a lot of practice patching up Alex,
"They're fine." Alex rested his head in his hand letting the pain overwhelm him for a second and the room spun. When he came to he was lying on the sofa flat on his back Tom rummaging around for medical supplies, Alex's phone rang, he knew who it would be.
"WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T YOU PICK UP RIDER! YOU DIDN'T SAY WHERE YOU WERE GOING, WHEN YOU WOULD BE BACK, OR GIVING US A CHANCE TO REPLY!" Tom heard Wolf's rant from the other side of the room,
"I didn't pick up because I was talking to the bank, I told you I was going shopping as it must have slipped your notice that we humans need to eat and there is nothing in the house. I don't know how long I am going to be and your response would have only had thoughts for Chris, so I guess I am helping you as Chris obviously needs four SAS men to keep his precious being safe and I am out the way so you don't have me to deal with as well. If I'm not back in three hours, wait a little longer!" Alex hung up and threw his phone onto the sofa as Tom helped him pull his top off without wincing too much.
Without another word Tom set about changing his bandages. Talking about nothing in particular just distracting Alex from everything else,
"So hows Alice?" Alex teased watching his friend blush,
"She's fine. We went to our interviews in Cambridge yesterday, she's applying to Emmanuel and I to Pembroke but it won't be too far if it lasts." Tom replied, both were prospective medical students and applying to the same universities, Alex hadn't even thought about uni. He knew MI6 would not let him go. A few minutes later Tom finished off and stood.
"Right, now you can rant, I know you like to pace when you rant." Tom told him,
"Chris Butler. He's a kid 6 is using and I have to look after him. He is arrogant, snarky, believes in the protection and loyalty of k unit and unbelievably full of himself..." The rant went on.
"K unit as well. Ouch." Tom sympathised, he knew Alex wouldn't place blame or annoyance where it wasn't due. That was what worried him about the situation. "When's Ben back?"
"Soon I hope." Alex ran a hand through his hair. "He was as pissed about this as I was when I found out. Blackmail, again. If I don't take him he goes to Rutherford. I can't do that to a teen, not even him." Alex picked up the keys and threw them to Tom,
"You can drive."
"I wasn't planning on letting you drive." Tom laughed, "Not in that state. They're not aware of what you went through? Of your injuries?" He asked disbelievingly, Alex shook his head and watched the scenery go past the window, "They know you are Cub right?" Again Alex shook his head, "God Al, you should have become an actor." He teased.
"Less dangerous." Alex commented drily,
"Well, screaming fan mobs can get dangerous..." Tom grinned,
"As you well know." Alex laughed wincing as he did so, "Thanks."
"No need to mention it."
Please tell me if I should continue and where it should go, I have a vague idea but not 100% certain..