Master of Mischief

Disclaimer: To my extreme displeasure, I do not own Alex Rider.

A/N: For the purpose of this story, Alex never moved in with Sabina Pleasure and her family after Jack died, he moved into Wolf's apartment after a 'suggestion' from M16. Alex and Wolf wouldn't be too happy with this situation and the following story is something I can easily picture Alex doing. So enjoy.

It has been two months since I moved in with Wolf after Jack died and things seem to have finally calmed down. I no longer panic when I see the rest of K-Unit, in fact we've learned to get along quite well despite our differences. Most surprisingly, I had developed a genuine friendship with Eagle and we have joined forces numerous times to pull pranks on the others. Right now, I was regaling Eagle with the first prank I had pulled on Wolf. It was only a week after I had moved in and when I think of the look on his face I still chuckle.

"I'm serious Eagle! He never saw it coming! It was just as any other day since I moved in, he shook me awake at five o'clock promptly and I followed him into the kitchen. He went right to the fridge just like always and he reached for the bottle of diet coke as he does every morning. The guy just can't seem to understand that soda is not a nice way to start the morning... But unlike other mornings this one was different; as he twisted off the cap the drink fizzled up and spewed directly into his face!"

"And I wonder why it did that Cub?" The voice came from behind me and I didn't need to look to know the speaker.

"Hello Wolf, how was your morning?" I turned around expecting to see anger. He had yet to find evidence that the bottle blow up had been my fault, the Mentos had disintegrated, and while there was no one else who could have done it, I was innocent until proven guilty. Until now.

"A stricter regiment of discipline would serve you well. Maybe a few laps around the house would discourage you from such rebellious behavior." I am a good runner don't get me wrong, but I doubted running would be all I would do. He was likely to make me run holding a cement block or possibly in a dress. We did live in a large neighborhood and if he made me run in a dress, everyone would know about it before dark. I didn't trust the gleam in his eye.

"You know Wolf, there are worse things he could be doing. Placing Mentos in your soda seems like child's play compared to what my nephews do. Just last week they threw crayons at their teacher, and they're only in Kindergarten! Imagine what they'll be like when they're Cub's age!" Eagle punctuated his speech by raising his hands towards the ceiling as if pleading with a high power to save him from his corrupt nephews.

Wolf ignored Eagle's overly dramatic display and stared at me like I was a rat and he was a snake. It wasn't a comfortable moment on my end. Trying to look at ease, I relaxed back into my chair and clasped my hands in my lap.

"I won't make you run this time. It's been too long since the incident for any action I take now to matter. But next time you misbehave or pull a prank, the dress will come out." I couldn't believe my ears. He was letting me off the hook. This had never happened before. When I had used the hose on the driveway, allowing it to ice over and thus making Wolf slip and fall on his rear when he went out to his car in the morning I was sentenced to a week of Charlie duty. That stupid parrot of his bit every hand that came in proximity of his cage. It didn't matter if you wanted to pet him or feed him. He just attacked. For that prank, I had to feed and water the blasted bird and change the newspaper underneath his cage. It was bad enough that I would choose to wear the dress for the fifteen minutes it took to complete my laps than to look after that squawking menace.

I breathed a sigh of relief that I had escaped punishment. Looking at Eagle who was sitting on the couch across from my armchair, I noticed a smirk stretching his mouth wide. I was about to question him when I heard Wolf moving about in the kitchen. A sudden rush of clarity brought me to my feet but I hadn't taken a step before I heard the fridge opening.

A moment later the roar came, "CUB!" and I wanted to scream that it had been Eagle's fault this time. Wolf stomped into the living room and before I could explain, he pointed to the stairs.

"Dress. Laps. Now." He wasn't even speaking in complete sentences. I couldn't think of a time when he had been this angry. As he returned to the kitchen and I headed to the stairs I glared back at Eagle who was still grinning. He had pranked both Wolf and I at the same time and I hadn't seen it coming.

"You can't beat the master, kid." Eagle said with a laugh. Then he yelled to Wolf, "Why are you drinking diet soda anyway? Do you think you're fat or something?"

Already on the second floor, I didn't hear Wolf's reply but I'm sure it wasn't anything pleasant. Walking into the spare bedroom, I shuddered at the thought of wearing the dress. It wasn't some plain cut sundress, but an all-encompassing monstrosity in a flower print pattern that ended at my ankles. In a word, it was awful and I was doomed. Everyone has a camera now and I doubted there was a way I could get through this without my picture ending up on the internet somewhere.

For once, I hadn't pulled a single prank. I was taking the fall for that grinning idiot downstairs and it was embarrassing that I had fallen into his trap so easily. This was Eagle's fault and he was going to pay.

The End

A/N: Please review with any comments or questions you may have. I'm thinking of writing a sequel where Alex pranks Eagle but I want to hear some different opinions first.