DISCLAIMER: I do not own Alex Rider
A/N: Okay, so originally, I wasn't going to write this because I'm not very good at writing slashy things and/or things dealing with romance in general… However… OKAY. I JUST COULDN'T RESIST. I hope Ben and Alex aren't terribly OOC… (And I'm very uncomfortable with the age gap…)
Semper Fi: Always Loyal
Semper Fi
Two Weeks Previous:
Alex sat in Mrs. Jones' office, staring incomprehensibly at the head of MI6.
"You want me to what?" He asked breathlessly, clearly astonished. It was surprising for him to show so much emotion to Mrs. Jones. The only person Alex trusted enough was Ben Daniels, his on and off missions partner. They'd worked together for six years.
"You heard right," Mrs. Jones was acting rather uncharacteristically too. She gave a small sigh, "I need you to kill me."
Alex was flabbergasted, "I can't kill you!"
"I don't want you to kill me, Alex. I want you to 'kill' me," Mrs. Jones put emphasis on the words.
Alex didn't understand, "We need to get an ambulance here. I think you hit your head. I'll let George know-"
"I'm perfectly fine, Agent Rider," Mrs. Jones sighed again, reaching for a peppermint, "And Deputy Head Director Ruiz does not need to know."
Alex cocked his head, "I don't understand what you want, Jones."
The woman sighed for the third time in the minute, "Listen carefully, Alex. You want to get out of this business, yes?"
Alex nodded very slowly, afraid of where this was going.
"As do I. I propose that we set up a scene," Mrs. Jones popped the peppermint in her mouth, "You pretend to kill me – an assassination attempt. You go AWOL. You can move somewhere nice, change your appearance. I can help you with that. And no one will be looking for me. It's perfect.
Alex gave her a look as if she had gone crazy, "Can't you just resign? Can't I resign?"
Mrs. Jones shook her head, "Do you think it's that simple in the espionage world, Alex? I can't just quit. There hasn't been a Director that has resigned yet."
"Why can't you be the first?"
The woman folded her hands on her desk, "Haven't you heard? The only way to leave this business is in a body bag or in prison."
Alex shook his head, "But Blunt resigned, didn't he?"
The look on Mrs. Jones' face was enough to prove him wrong.
"And I have to be the one to dishonor the Rider family name?" Alex asked dryly.
"It's still believed that John Rider was a SCORPIA agent," Mrs. Jones reminded the young man, "What do you think? We'll both be free."
Alex mulled it over. He was sorely tempted to accept.
"Who else will know?" He asked, leaning forward.
Mrs. Jones smiled.
SEMPER*FI
Ben wasn't sure what all the fuss was about when he arrived late the next morning to the Royal and General Bank. People stared at him, eyes wide, as he passed by with his usual coffee in his hand.
"Did I do something wrong?" he wondered aloud as he entered the elevator. He had only just come back from his solo mission in Hong Kong the previous day. How could he have done something wrong so soon?
He exited the elevator, fully intending to make his way to his office and avoid the paperwork he knew he had to fill. Maybe he'd stop by Alex's office for a little while and play catch up.
Ben's bum hadn't even touched his plush rolly chair when the phone on his desk rang.
"Gah!" Ben slipped, the chair rolling away as he fell onto the ground. He hadn't expected the loud noise.
He groaned, standing and grabbing the phone, ill-tempered, "Agent Daniels."
The voice from the phone belonged to the deputy director, George Ruiz. The man was very likable.
"Hey, Ben. Can you come to my office?"
"Yeah," Ben sighed, "Give me a mo."
He hung up, snatching his half completed report. He was sure George just wanted an update.
Ben made his way down the hall, stopping at George's office. He frowned in confusion as he read the name tag. It no longer bore the usual 'George Ruiz, Deputy Director'. Instead, the nameplate was blank.
He frowned, turning to the next door, where the Mrs. Jones' office was located. There, instead of 'Tulip Jones, Director', was 'George Ruiz, Director'.
Damn it! What had he missed this time?
Ben knocked on the door. The muffled "come in!" was enough for Ben. He pushed his way in, demanding, "what the hell happened?"
George sighed, rubbing his temples. Ben wasn't sure how it had happened, but he could see clumps of grey in George's previously completely black hair.
"Sit down, Ben. A lot has happened, and I'm afraid you won't like most of it."
Ben sat tentatively, his senses on alert.
George took a deep breath, as if he was trying to calm his own nerves, "Mrs. Jones was murdered three days ago at approximately 0700 hours by a long range sniper. She was shot while entering the building, right where Agent Rider…"
Ben nodded, a bad feeling welling up in his gut. There was more to the story.
He hadn't been particularly close to Mrs. Jones. In the moments he had spent with her, Ben hadn't really formed an opinion. He just knew that she favored Alex Rider because of her fondness for children.
"We have evidence that Alex Rider was the sniper," George said quietly, "And he has gone AWOL."
"WHAT?" Ben was on his feet as soon as the words left George's mouth, "There's no way! Alex would never do something like that! He must have been framed! George, you have to beli-"
"Calm down, Agent Daniels," George snapped, "Do you think I don't know that?"
Ben opened his mouth, preparing to assault the man with more words, but at the look on his face, he sat obediently.
"Unfortunately, the COBRA meeting held determined that Agent Rider is a defect and that we must kill him on sight," George's gaze flickered to the half-empty bowl, filled with peppermints, on his desk, "I'm going to try to do everything to investigate in this. Meanwhile, I'll get everyone off his back. Hopefully, he'll be smart and leave the country."
Ben bit his lip, worrying.
The room was silent for a minute as Ben took all the information in.
"Now," George sighed, "would you be willing to give up your status as a senior field agent?"
Ben was now confused and worried, "Why? What have I done wrong?"
George's lips moved up into a smile, "Nothing. I just thought you'd like to fill the position of the Deputy Director."
Ben's jaw dropped open.
The man laughed, "Think about it, Agent Daniels. I'll see you tomorrow."
Ben wasn't sure if he could move.
"Tomorrow, Agent Daniels."
SEMPER*FI
"I don't believe it," Ben moaned to himself as he stood in the front door. There was no way Mrs. Jones was in his kitchen, making dinner in a rose pink summer dress while Alex Rider, suspected murderer, did his homework at the kitchen table, wearing Ben's clothes.
"Hey Ben," Alex greeted the spy casually, putting his pencil down, "Have a nice day at work?"
Ben was speechless.
"Dinner is ready!" Mrs. Jones called, scooping something into three plates.
Ben closed the door behind him and marched up to Alex steadily. He studied the boy's face at different angles, then back up a step.
"You're not real," Ben said calmly, "I've gone barmy."
Alex rolled his eyes, "I'm here, you nutter."
Ben frowned, balling his fists.
"If you try to punch me, I will castrate you," Alex stated calmly.
Mrs. Jones brought over the plates of food, frowning at the younger man, "Now, Alex. Remember what I told you. Don't deal with your affectio-"
"Yes, thank you, Tulip," Alex interrupted, looking very irritated.
"You're supposed to call me 'Mum'," Mrs. Jones chastised, handing the man a fork.
"'Mum'?" Ben questioned, his mouth hanging open, "What the fuck is going on?"
"I always did like your dirty mouth," Alex winked, grinning at the affronted look Ben shot him afterwards. The man could feel his face turning pink. Perhaps he never did get over that silly little crush he'd had on the younger man years ago. The crush had spawned from a three month long mission, where they had to pretend to be gay lovers.
"Excuse me, Mummy dearest," Alex stood, ignoring the look Mrs. Jones sent him, "I'm going to check the perimeter again."
Ben was left alone with the supposedly dead head of MI6.
It was odd seeing the woman like this. She didn't look formal, and she'd stopped acting like an emotionless brick. If Ben didn't know any better, he would have mistaken the woman for a completely different person.
"He really does care about you, you know," Mrs. Jones told Ben seriously before bustling away, back into the kitchen.
"What do you mean?" Ben asked, following her.
Mrs. Jones reappeared with a tray of smoking cookies. She frowned at them, "It's been quite a while since I've made these."
Ben persisted as she threw them out the window.
"What did you mean, Mrs. Jones?"
Mrs. Jones looked amused, which threw Ben off. In just the past few minutes, he'd seen more emotions from the woman than he'd seen in the past six years.
"Nothing, Daniels," she obviously meant the exact opposite, "I was merely stating an observation. The pair of you are close."
Ben awkwardly shifted his weight from one foot to another. Did she know?
"Close?"
Mrs. Jones hummed in agreement, "Yes. Close. For example, Alex will waltz back in here in a minute and assault you."
"What?" Ben was utterly and completely baffled as the woman walked away from him, headed for the stairs.
"I'll be retiring early today. Enjoy dinner." A door slammed shut a moment later.
Ben stood, staring at the foot of the stairs in puzzlement, pondering Mrs. Jones' previous words. How did assaulting him count as 'being close'?
The front door opened a crack, and Alex slithered in, as quiet as he always was.
"Someone is watching the house," Alex whispered to Ben after moving back from the door, "turn off the lights."
Ben knew better than to argue. He quickly crossed the room and hit the lights. The two were engulfed in darkness.
"Good," Alex said, "Now come over here."
Ben raised an eyebrow, even though they couldn't see each other. He was curious as to why his long time partner was acting so strangely.
He crossed the room, locating the younger man by his voice.
Ben could just see Alex's figure in the dim moonlight. Was it his imagination, or was he getting closer?
A moment later, he knew what Mrs. Jones meant by "assault".
Ben had never enjoyed an assault more.
A/N: Okay… I'm not too sure if I liked this… I typed this up in the car ride from… I'm not very sure to… actually, where am I right now? Pittsburg?
Anyway, hope you liked! See ya!
-Alice x (for spoilers, sneak peeks, and more, follow me on Twitter at dalekchung)