Sapphire & Jasper

By: Aubrie1234

Doyle suppressed the whimper that tried to escape his lips. He knew it had been a bad idea to go anywhere alone, especially a seedy part of New York City, and this was his fate: to be rented out as a prostitute by who-knows-who. Why did it have to be him, why not someone else? Not that he wanted it to happen to someone else, he just wished it wasn't him. Hearing the door open interrupted his thoughts and he tried to push himself into his corner, to make himself smaller and not be seen. He strained against the ropes that held his wrists, but they only rubbed his skin raw and cut deeper, almost stopping the circulation.

"The one in here is the last one and the newest. We only got him a few days ago and looks like he's never been taken." the redhead heard past the small opening of the half-open door, "You're the first to see him, too."

"How lucky I am." the second voice sounded younger than the first with a slight American accent, "Is he unharmed?"

"Mostly. He's an unwilling participant, so we had to tie his wrists. What's your bid?"

"I want to see him before I show my money." The door was then opened all the way and Doyle had to shut his eyes from the brightness that spilled out. He heard footsteps and soon a shadow hovered over him, allowing him to open his eyes. He was still a bit blinded by the light, so he couldn't see the person in front of him properly. He did know the person was a man based on the figure, at least, and that he looked to be only a few inches shorter than Doyle. Said man then knelt to examine him. The man's face was in shadow, like the rest of his body, but Doyle could see dark brown eyes, old eyes that had seen much. They reminded him of the gemstone jasper, in a way.

A hand then grasped his chin, gently but firmly, and moved his head so he could be examined. It nearly made him sick, the man examining him like he was just an animal. After nearly a minute of looking him over (not just his face), he was let go and the man stood up.

"How much?"

"Depends on how much money you have."

"20 grand. That's my offer." Doyle's eyes widened at that, fear entering them. Was this guy rich or something?! And if he was bought, what would the man do to him?

"Most prostitutes aren't that expensive, but I'll take what I can get." Doyle heard the distinct sound of paper money being exchanged before he was dragged to his feet by a hand on his arm. He squinted as he was lead into the light, mostly unable to see.

"Pleasure doing business with you." said the man to Doyle's previous captor, "Expect to hear from me again."

"Don't worry, we will!" As Doyle's eyes finally adjusted to the light, he was lead out of the warehouse and back into darkness. From the backlight, he could barely make out the shape of a black car in the darkness. The door opened and he was gently pushed in, followed by the man. As the door closed and the car moved away, a soft yellow light was turned on. Doyle blinked at the suddenness of it, finally getting a look at the man. His jaw dropped, though, as he saw that the man wasn't exactly a man at all. He looked more like a boy, no younger than 16 at the very least! He had blond hair and fairly normal clothes, such as a t-shirt, a leather jacket, denim pants, and so on, which masked the rich element he hid. He sat beside Doyle quietly, staring at the redhead as much as Doyle was staring at him.

"You're safe." said the boy, who smirked as his accent changed from American to British, "And I'm older than I look, thank you very much." Doyle snapped out of his shocked state.

"Erm, sorry." he said, shifting in his seat uncomfortably, "So, what are you going to do with me?"

"Didn't you hear me? I said you're safe." he took a multitool out of his pocket and began cutting Doyle's bonds, "I'm Alex, by the way. I bought you to save you from those people." The man rubbed his wrists as he glanced at Alex.

"...Thank you. I'm Doyle. But why just me? Why not all the other people in the other rooms?"

"I'm helping the FBI with this prostitution ring. I buy people, one at a time and at intervals, and give the men marked bills. All the money is real, but the numbers have been written down and memorized in case they get used. When they do, the agents come out and arrest the person. Hopefully the gang won't catch the details." Doyle had to admit, that was clever, "But there's something I need to do to keep the suspicion off of me." he gave Doyle a grimace, which the man didn't like.

"What is it?"

"We won't be having sex, but I'm going to have to give you bruises, just in case the gang checks up on me to make sure I'm not in some sort of operation. That was part of the agreement." Doyle shared Alex's grimace.

"Where are you staying, then?"

"You'll see." It was quiet for a time until Doyle couldn't suppress his questions anymore.

"Why are you working for the FBI? How old are you? What happened to your American accent?" Alex blinked, then smiled.

"I'm 20, same as you are." he began, sitting back, "I'm actually British, but I've learned to project an American accent and I know many things, including several different languages. The way I know all of that, along with your age, and why I'm working with the FBI is because I'm a spy for MI6."

"Isn't that a part of the UK?" the redhead had heard little about the agency but knew its country of origin.

"Yeah, but they loan me out to other agencies if they need me." Alex looked out the window, "And looks like we're here." Doyle followed his gaze to see them stopped just outside a large apartment building in one of the best parts of NYC. He swallowed thickly, wondering how long he would have to be with Alex and where this adventure would take him.

Doyle blinked open his eyes as Zon flew past the window, cawing out her morning welcome. It was a beautiful day, the sun shining, not a cloud in the sky... But it wasn't as happy as the ex-mercenary wanted it to be. His dream of a memory had dampened his mood quite a bit, especially since it involved Alex. Even the thought of the blond made his heart ache with sadness. Had it already been 13 years since they had met? And it was his birthday, no less.

"Might as well put on a show." he mused, climbing out of bed to get ready for the day. But as he moved about the room, his eyes kept straying to a photo album on his bedside table, one he had only placed out recently. It held certain pictures he both loved and hated, which tore at his heart as much as the thought of Alex did. He ignored it and quickly left the room, wondering if his family knew it was his birthday and how they would celebrate it. He hadn't had a birthday cake in his memory, but he surely had one when his and Drew's parents were alive, right?

As he walked, he saw Zon land at her perch and decided to feed her, as no one else was awake yet. Going to the freezer in the kitchen, he took a bucket of fish and went out to her. She eyed him suspiciously as he put down the bucket.

"Sorry Jurassic, but I don't know how to warm these up the way you like them, so I left them cold. Eat all you want." She blinked, then began eating said fish. He rubbed her mane and smiled sadly to himself.

"My birthday's today. I'm going to be 33. Not like you care, though." he said. Zon glanced at him before going back to her eating, leaving him open to continue, "I had a memory last night, of something I hadn't thought about in a long, long time. Do you think it might mean something?"

"Rawk!" she gave a shrug. How would she know?

"Well, thanks for listening, at least." he gave her a pat on the head before standing. It was also at that moment alarms began blaring, "What's going on now?!"

The alarm was about a cryptid relatively nearby, which they had to deal with and came back just in time for breakfast. But not all was as it seemed, as they were about to learn.

Before getting breakfast, Zak went to return to his room to grab something. As the door slid open and he stepped inside, however, he stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes widened as he saw a blond man standing there, looking no older than 25 at least. He turned at the sound of the door, where Zak saw he had brown eyes, hard like stones. The boy drew the Claw in case the man meant him harm.

"Looks like I'm in the wrong room." the man quipped as he put down a picture frame he had been holding, looking at the last family picture that had been taken before Zak had been discovered to be Kur.

"Who are you?!" growled the dark-skinned child.

"I'm Alex. I mean no harm to anyone, I only want to talk to your uncle."

"How do you know he's my uncle? And how did you get in here?"

"You don't have good security, compared to what I've had to deal with. As for Doyle," the blond gave a sad smile, "let's just say I'm an old friend."

"Zak?" Drew called, wondering why her son hadn't returned yet. Alex sat on the bed, keeping eye contact with Zak.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." he nodded to the door behind the boy, "Go get breakfast. I'll be right here, but it won't be easy to capture me if you decide to try." Slowly, Zak lowered the Claw. He wasn't sure whether to trust the guy or not, honestly. His instincts were telling him not to, to stay away, but his feelings said that Alex was a good guy and would stand by his word.

"...Okay." he spoke and then left. But just to make sure, he locked his door from the outside. He would bring Fisk and Komodo with him and maybe talk a little more with Alex, whoever he was. It also made it a little awkward at breakfast, trying not to say anything about their intruder. He nearly choked on his breakfast when Doyle had announced that his birthday was today. Was that the reason Alex was there? Because it was Doyle's birthday?

"And how do you know it's your birthday?" Drew asked.

"Well, I did a little digging when I was younger but it was only with the help of Van Rook that I got anywhere." he gave a lopsided grin, "I haven't been able to celebrate it, though, and it just passed by last year while we were on the run."

"So how old are you?" Doc asked.

"33. Are we going to celebrate?"

"Of course!" Zak put in, wonder where this was going, "Why not?"

"You all know Van Rook was a cheapskate, so I never really got to celebrate. The best I got was maybe a cheap book or something." He was the one who gave me that photo album, after all.

"At least that's better than nothing." Drew smiled, "And I think you got your birthday right, from what I recall. It's been a long time since I remember celebrating your birthday." More was then discussed about Doyle's birthday, allowing Zak to sneak off with his two brothers. Once they were out of sight and far enough away from the dining room, the boy began to speak.

"Okay, here's the deal." Zak began, "There this guy in my room who bypassed security and wants to talk to Doyle."

"Wazzah wha?!" Fisk yelped, then began saying that they should go get their parents. Zak covered his mouth, however.

"No way!" the boy shook his head, "It's Doyle's birthday and if we go get Mom and Dad, we're bringing Doyle too and I don't think he'd like to see Alex." Komodo hissed, asking why he thought that. Zak answered, "It's just a feeling I've got." Giving each other dubious glances, the two cryptids followed Zak down the hall, to the bedrooms. The blond looked up when they entered, eyes narrowing at the sight of Fisk and Komodo.

"They're not here to help catch you." spoke Zak, "We just want to talk. What connection do you have to Doyle?" The man was quiet, examining them in the uncomfortable silence before he talked.

"...I met him nearly 13 years ago and we became friends, then had a falling out. I tried tracking him down for over a decade so I could say sorry." There was genuine sadness in his eyes, "Do you believe me?" Zak and Fisk were leaning towards yes, but Komodo wasn't so easily convinced. Turning invisible, he slithered forward, ready to bite the man.

"Komodo, no-!" Before Zak could finish, Alex kicked and actually hit the lizard in the head, sending him backwards and cutting off his invisibility. Shaking his head, he hissed at Alex, glaring.

"I was only defending myself." the brown-eyed man admonished, "I wasn't able to see you, but I could see the scratch marks you made on the floor every time you put down a claw. I used that to judge where your head was and kicked out. Simple as that." The boys had to admit, that was impressive. However, the noise of Komodo crashing into the wall had brought their parents and uncle.

"Boys, stay back!" Drew said upon seeing Alex. She and Doc pulled out their respective weapons and but themselves between Zak, his brothers, and Alex. The man only raised an eyebrow at them as he stood.

"Interesting welcoming committee." he remarked, "Do I get a gift now?"

"Mom, Dad, it's okay! Sure, he got past the defenses easily, but he's just here to talk with Doyle!" Zak tried to turn down the tension.

"...What are you doing here?" Doyle's voice was deadly quiet, but full of anger at the same time. Doc and Drew shared a glance before wisely stepping out of his way.

"I came to say I'm sorry." Alex's eyes had softened at seeing Doyle, but he was ready for any verbal or physical lashing he was about to get. He knew he deserved it, after all.

"To the roof. Now." Alex nodded and followed him as the very angry redhead lead the way.

"You're just letting them go?" Zak asked once the two men were out of earshot.

"We don't have a choice." Doc told him, "I'd rather not see what Doyle plans to do to him."

"Can't we listen in on their conversation?"

"They went up to the roof. There aren't any cameras or listening devices up there, so we can't tell what's going on." Drew spoke, "But I do want to know. And later, I want to know how you know him, mister." she pointed at Zak for emphasis.

"Well, Fisk could climb up and put the listening devices there, couldn't he?"

"Uh uh!" the gorilla-cat shook his head and waved his hands in an obvious 'no' gesture.

"I suppose, just as long as he stays out of sight." Doc mused, "There's no telling what those two are going to talk about or what they'll do, especially if they find out."

New story! School's almost out, too, so I should be putting up more stuff. As it is, this is my view of a crossover between The Secret Saturdays and Alex Rider. And because it's a crossover, Doyle's past is different than it usually would be. For now it's rated T, but I might have to move it up because of later chapters and such.

Jasper, as used in the title and the story, is a gem that can be almost any color, including brown, so I decided to go for it. And I know that in the cartoon almost everyone has black eyes, but I gave at least Drew and Doyle eye colors: red and blue, respectively, which will make sense later. Also, please read & review!

EDIT: Originally, the curses were partially blocked out, but now I've undone that where you can see them in their full glory to help make the story flow better.