No one seems to see the colours in the rain

I guess nobody feels this way

The sky is dull, I fade away

Why do I feel so far from myself?

"Agent Rider?" the agent's expression was carefully blank.

"Give me five minutes," Alex responded.

"MI6 believes this to be extreme importance."

"Okay, three minutes." Alex opened the door further. He resisted the temptation to slam the door shut and barricade it.

"I'm Agent Amachi," the agent introduced. He spoke quietly with the slightest hint of an accent. The accent was hard to place. Australian perhaps? The ASIS had left him alone for a while, maybe they were trying to stir up trouble again.

"Can I see your ID?"

"Of course." Amachi carefully pulled his ID out from inside his coat. Despite the non-threatening body language, Alex tensed as the hand disappeared from sight.

"Agent Austin Amachi, born in April. You must be fond of the letter A. I'm Alex," he said with an easy smile. The ID seemed genuine. Amachi's threat level (ones and zeros) had been hovering at 70% but was now rapidly falling to 45%.

Amachi said something as Alex double checked his bags. "What was that?"

"There's a car out the front," Amachi repeated.

"I usually take the tube," Alex murmured, following the older agent.

"Not this time."

The office felt oddly claustrophobic. He felt like he wasn't quite here, he was stuck in all the other times he had been in here. He wanted to get out. He needed to get out. Get out of here get out of here get the fuck out.

"Alex?" the tone of voice is soft but empty. A false promise. "Alex, we need you to listen."

Alex Rider lifted his head slowly, fixing the deputy head of MI6 with cold eyes.

"We have found a new temporary guardian. We have not informed him of your position with MI6, all he knows is that you have previously been the target of an assassination attempt that meant you could no longer stay with your guardian."

He knows the best lies are the ones closest to the truth, but that doesn't stop him having to stuff his hands in his pockets to hide the trembling. His head was like a minefield of things he had tried to forget.

The tiny office was too small, too tight and there was only one exit. He had to get out, he had to run and run and get out-

The door opened and in walked a very familiar SAS soldier. Wolf. Alex's mind ran an automatic scan ("You aren't even human, you're a fucking robot."). Weapons? The positioning of the semi-formal shirt was too casual, too naturally crumpled around his waistline. A gun? Maybe, but he couldn't rule out a knife either. Threat? 60%. People do stupid things when they're startled. He leant back in his chair and fixed Wolf with a steady gaze.

"Wolf," Wolf grunted. There had been a moment where shock had flashed across his face. Stupid, if he was on a mission, that one moment would've blown his cover.

"Alex." Alex calmly turned back to Mrs Jones.

Mrs Jones index finger moved against the desk. Not quite an uncomfortable twitch, but still a tell. She was surprised by how easily Alex had slid his mask into place. It was strange, really. Why was she surprised? This was one of the reasons he had such a good track record.

"Wolf, I have already provided you with written information and I do not find repeating myself to be enjoyable. This is Alex," Mrs Jones said evenly.

Alex felt the strange urge to chuckle at the amount of forced politeness in the air.

"Wolf, may I have one last private word with you?"

"Yeah, okay." The SAS soldier gave Alex a once over before turning back to Mrs Jones.

Alex was flooded with emotions as he left the room. Relief, suspicion, apprehension and curiosity all crashed down on him at once. Who in their right mind would think that Wolf of all people could be the guardian of a sixteen-year-old?

After a few minutes, Wolf came out of the office. He was holding a file and looked slightly frustrated. What was in the file? Was that Alex's file? It would've been heavily edited of course, but still, that was his file. Was that really something he really wanted in Wolf's hands?

"Come on kid. Alex," Wolf muttered.

Alex gave a heavy sigh and forced his eyes to flash with annoyance.

"I'm not a kid," he grumbled, "I don't need a babysitter."

The mask was in place. He was just an average whining teen. He had to find out how much Wolf knew so he could adapt his cover story. Just like a mission. Alex hid a tiny smile as he bent over to pick up his bag. Just like a mission. Hide his true identity until this was over. If he could hide his identity, maybe he could keep Wolf safe.

Just like a mission.

The next chapter will be up soon! I know the whole plot line with Alex going to live with Wolf has been done a few times (go check them out, Ask No Questions is a favourite of mine) I do write using British English, and no, you don't need to point that fact out to me. That's all from me, thanks for reading, I love all of you-

U

(Used to be Human)