Summary: When Alex returns from Africa, battered and bruised, his birthday is just around the corner. What better way to celebrate than with the one he loves?

Pairing: Alex/Jack (as a sister-to-brother relationship)

Disclaimer: I do not, and will not, own Alex Rider. Anthony Horowitz does. (Darn.)

~AlexRider~

"Alex! It's time to get up!" Jack stood at the foot of the staircase and shouted up to her ward, who was practically her younger brother.

The fourteen year old boy rolled over under his sheets and glanced at his clock. 10:00 A.M. He groaned and threw off his sheets. So much for six hours of sleep.

"Alex Rider! If you don't get down here by the time I count to five, you can say good-bye to breakfast!" Not only was it Thursday, it was also his fifteenth birthday.

"Alright! I'm coming," Alex mumbled, walking over to his door. He opened it and trudged out, rubbing his eyes.

When he reached the kitchen, all signs of tiredness left his face. On the table were several dishes full of food, a half dozen doughnuts, a gallon of milk, and a small mound of presents.

The kitchen itself was adorned with ribbons and signs, all saying "Happy Fifteenth Birthday."

Jack stood beside the table, a smile beaming on her angelic face. "Jack, it's…" Alex was at a loss for words.

Jack approached Alex and embraced in one of the biggest hugs. "Happy birthday, Alex." Alex returned the hug and a smile broke out on his lips.

Jack pulled back and looked at his face. "What? Did I overdo it?"

Alex's eyes showed surprise. "No! It's just great! It's wonderful. Really."

"Alright then, if you're happy. Now, let's eat. I'm hungry."

Alex silently agreed and sat at the head of the table, next to Jack. Once his plate was full of sausage, eggs, toast, bacon, pancakes, and a biscuit, and his glass was filled with milk, Alex Jack a question.

"How long did all of this take you? Surely it wasn't a ten minute meal."

"Today's a special day! You only turn fifteen once. Anyway, it took about, oh, forty-five minutes."

Alex didn't know that to say. Forty-five minutes! Jack had only ever cooked for a maximum time of ten minutes. "Thank you," Alex said, staring at his plate. Where to begin!

The teen started with his eggs, then moved in a clockwise direction around the plate, finishing with the bacon and the last gulp of milk. He leaned back in his chair and rested his arms across his stomach. "Man, I'm full."

Jack set her fork down, finished with her meal, and glanced at Alex. "Oh, don't do that," she teased, lightly slapping Alex's arms off of his stomach. "You look like an old man when you do that."

"Well, maybe I am! You never know how many years could go by with me going on all of these missions."

"Ew. Don't talk about them. Today is just going to be you and me."

"What about my friends?" Alex asked, sitting up.

"They're in school, remember? They can come over tomorrow or Saturday. Is that okay?"

"Yeah. I haven't been in school for so long. I actually miss it."

"I'm sorry, Alex. What do you say about opening your presents? And afterwards, we can go do something."

Alex nodded and eagerly reached for the first gift. It was small and square. The tag said it was from Smithers.

"He sent that over while you were in the hospital. Thought you might like something else on your birthday."

"Remind me to thank him," Alex said, ripping the wrapping paper apart. It was a box, but inside the box was the real gift. Chocolates.

"Do they explode?" Alex asked, looking a little apprehensive.

"No. They're soft centers."

Alex tried one and, surprised by how tasty and gooey it was, offered one to Jack. She took the morsel and popped it into her mouth.

Jack handed Alex his next present, which was thin and rectangular. Alex ripped it open and shouted with glee. "Oh my god! Thank you Jack!" He gave her a big hug before examining the present some more. It was the new Assassin's Creed.

Jack beamed. Alex hadn't looked this happy in a long time. Months, probably. When Alex opened the next gift, he found a pair of dark denim jeans and two new polo shirts. One was light blue with darker blue stripes and the other was just plain light green.

He set the clothes aside and opened the second to last gift. Inside a small box was a necklace. It was a simple small-link chain, made of silver. Alex looked up at Jack, his face puzzled. "I've seen this before…"

"It was Ian's. He used to wear it all the time. But on his last mission, he left it here. I thought that it was fitting to let you have it. It's something the real Ian wore, not the spy."

Alex opened the clip and draped the necklace around his neck, and then clipped it back together. "Thanks, Jack. It's perfect."

"You're welcome. I always thought you'd end up with it anyway."

Alex picked up the last gift. It was from Jack. "It's fragile, so don't shake it or anything," Jack advised.

Alex unwrapped the almost square-shaped package carefully. Under the paper was a picture in a frame. The picture was, now, six years old. He, Ian, and Jack were all in it.

Alex, age nine, was sitting on Ian's shoulders and Ian had one arm around Jack's shoulders. Everyone was smiling so brilliantly. They were at the beach. The water was clear, the sun was shining, and they looked like a family.

"I found this in Ian's room. Do you remember being there? That was so much fun."

"Yeah. Thanks, for giving it to me."

"You're welcome. Happy birthday."

Alex stood and hugged Jack, trying to convey all of his happiness. She returned the hug, happy to see him happy.

"So what do you want to do today? See a movie; go to the park, whatever," Jack asked.

"I think we should go to the zoo and then rent a movie. And then we can watch the movie here and stuff our faces with popcorn. Sound good?"

"Yeah. Well, head to the car. I'll just grab my purse and we'll be on our way!"

Alex left the breakfast table and went out to the car, sitting in the passenger's seat. A few minutes later, Jack came out. A few seconds more and the car was leaving the garage and heading towards the zoo.

The zoo had always amazed Alex, though he had hardly been. The otters were his favorite. They were always playing and swimming. If he waved to the otters, sometimes they would respond, either by coming close to him or flipping in the water.

The tigers were neat, too. They always looked bored. But Alex knew that was a lie. They were probably thinking about who they would eat if anyone got close enough.

"Wouldn't it be nice to have one of these? Tame, of course," Jack said, staring at the tiger. "We could train them so they would attack anyone that either tried to drag you off to MI6 or kidnap you. I think it would be nice."

Alex knew Jack was joking, but her impassive face looked almost truthful. "Yeah. I would train it to attack on command, though. We can't have a tiger attacking the pizza man!"

"Obviously! Who else would bring us pizza?" Alex laughed at Jack's remark and the two moved on to the next exhibit.

Throughout the visit, Alex saw many more animals, from crocodiles (which he cringed away from) to exotic parrots. There were even animals he never knew existed!

After a few hours at the zoo, Alex and Jack returned to the car.

"So what was you favorite animal?" Jack asked while starting the vehicle up.

"The otters, but the leopard was cool, too. What about you?"

"I really liked the tiger. But I also liked the penguins and giraffes."

The two went the rest of the car ride in silence. When they were near the video store, Jack pulled into the parking lot and let Alex go in with five dollars.

"Now I trust that you'll pick out a good movie. Nothing gruesome and nothing rated R."

"I know," Alex replied, walking briskly into the store. After a few minutes of debate, he ended up renting Ferris Beuller's Day Off and Quantum of Solace.

When Alex returned to the car, Jack looked at the two movies. She gave an approving nod to Ferris Beuller's Day Off, but when she saw Quantum of Solace, her mouth fell open.

"Are you serious? Alex, this is James Bond."

"So? I want to see how the movies create spies."

"But you're Alex Rider. A genuine spy." Alex smirked at Jack's comment. She was comparing him to James Bond.

"Yeah, well you said I could pick anything out. And besides, it's my birthday. Are you going to say no to the birthday boy?" Alex gave Jack the puppy eyes.

She held her ground for a moment, but then caved. "Alright, we'll watch it."

Alex smiled all the way home. When both he and Jack were in the house, she went to make popcorn and get a few sodas and he got the movie ready.

When Jack came in bearing a bowl full of popcorn and two Cokes, she asked, "Which movie are we watching first?"

"The James Bond one. I want to see how their spies work."

The two set to watching the movie. For the duration of it, Alex's eyes were glued to the screen. Jack's were likewise.

When the movie was finished, Alex made the first comment. "Well, they had it almost perfectly right. A few scenes were too ridiculous, but the movie was great!"

Jack agreed and changed out the movies. She never did see the Ferris Beuller movie and was hoping it was as good as it was acclaimed to be.

She was proved right. Alex and Jack were laughing at least every five minutes. The movie was great.

When it was finished, Alex stood and stretched. "Wow, those were really good movies. Especially that second one!"

"Yeah. Well, you'd better head on to bed. It's almost midnight."

"I was just thinking about doing that. Night, Jack. Thanks for everything." Alex gave her a hug before heading to his room.

"You're welcome. Happy birthday and sweet dreams!"

"Alright." Alex chuckled and walked up the stairs and into his bedroom. After he closed the door, he quickly changed into a pair of shorts and flopped onto his bed.

Thursday, February thirteenth had proved to be one of the best days Alex had had in a long time.

~AlexRider~

Author's Note:

Alright, so I was re-reading Crocodile tears when I remembered that Alex's birthday was coming up. I decided to write a little story of how his birthday might have gone. Hopefully it's not horrible and has stuff Alex would actually do.

At the end of Crocodile Tears, it said Alex's birthday was Thursday, February 13. February 13 is actually on Saturday, but I just went along with Horowitz's date.

Any and all comments would be helpful and greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!

~aMa