Hey everyone! I wrote this randomly one day and decided it wasn't half bad! Read and Reciew please!

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ALEX RIDER

The four Cherubs entered the high tech office of the Mission Building and sat expectantly. A middle-aged man with a balding head named John Jones greeted them warmly.

"Hello kids," he said and received bright smiles back. "Now, this is probably going to be one of the toughest missions you've received to date," he told them. Kerry and Kyle both instantly thought of finally receiving their black shirts while James started worrying over Lauren and Lauren started plotting how to keep her brother off her case. "The thing that makes this case so tough, and a little strange, is that you'll be working with another spy from MI6."

"Why is that strange," Kerry asked.

"Well, because he's only 14", John replied shifting a little uncomfortably. The agents all felt their jaws drop in shock.

"But I thought only Cherub employs underage spies," Kyle said confused.

"So did we," John told them. "But it seems MI6 has discovered how useful it is."

"Why would teaming up with this kid be tough for the mission," Kerry asked.

"I'm not entirely sure. MI6 just said he would be a little reluctant to join us."

"Really? Why?" James asked.

"Again, I'm not sure. That's why we're all going to MI6 HQ tomorrow to meet with the heads of SO and the boy. I want you all on your best behavior. We really need his help on this case."

"Yes, sir," replied the Cherubs.

Alex Rider could not believe they had called him. Okay, so he could believe Mrs. Jones had called him but did they have to do it in the middle of class and when he didn't answer did they really have to pull him out school? Alex was, to say the least, mad but he'd received quite a shock when he'd slid into the car that was waiting for him just outside the school gates.

In the car was the entire K-Unit, who had greeted Alex's shocked face with laughs and "Hi Cub! How you been?"

"What are you doing here?" he asked, completely thrown by the reappearance of the men he'd been forced to train with for eleven days at Brecon Beacons. The man sitting next to him, whom he recognized as Eagle, said, "Well, we really don't know. They just told us to pick you up and head over to MI6."

"Why you?" Alex asked. He really didn't want to be with these people, not now.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Eagle asked, faking hurt.

"You know," Alex hissed at him.

"Jeez Cub, we aren't that bad," Wolf said from the front.

"Just going off what I know Wolf," Alex replied. K-Unit shifted uncomfortably obviously thinking of the hell that been SAS Training. Or rather, the hell they'd given Alex.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Fox said.

"Whatever." Needless to say, the rest of the ride was spent in a stony silence.

The Royal and General Bank was as always the last place Alex wanted to be yet couldn't seem to avoid. Alex walked behind K-Unit to Blunt's office, not really wanting to walk with them yet not wanting to fall too far behind. He settled for a good three yards of distance between them.

"Good God Cub, pick up the pace will ya?" Eagle said sounding highly annoyed. "My grandmother walks faster than you." Alex just glared at him thinking Eagle's grandmother had to be a saint to put up with him.

Upon reaching Blunt's office Alex entered behind K-Unit. The gray, nondescript office was the same as ever expect for the four kids sitting and staring at him. If Alex hadn't been so shocked, he'd have been creeped out.

"Oh God, please tell me you didn't organize a play date," Alex said to the graying man behind the desk he knew as Alan Blunt.

"Take a seat Alex," was all the answer he got. Alex plopped down in a seat next to the youngest looking girl in the room.

"Alex," Mrs. Jones addressed him and he turned towards her. "There's really no easy way to tell you this so we're just going to tell you. These kids are from an organization called Cherub. It's a branch of MI5 that deals specifically with underage spies. They've asked for our help concerning a mission." She paused waiting for his reaction. The Cherubs were looking at him with interest, K-Unit was silent still unsure as to why they were there, and Mr. Blunt at Alex emotionlessly steeling himself for the outburst he was sure to come. And sure enough after blinking a couple times in surprise Alex stood up so fast he upended his chair.

"WHAT DO MEAN THERE'S ENTIRE ORGANIZATION OF KID SPIES?!" he shouted. The Cherubs looked shocked at the outburst and looked at their mission controller unsure of what to make of the kid's reaction.

"Alex," Blunt began but was interrupted.

"WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING HERE?! WHY CAN'T YOU SEND THEM INSTEAD?!" he shouted. Alex couldn't remember being so mad. He could maybe understand sending him in a last ditch effort to save thousands of lives but if this Cherub place had existed all along, why ruin his life to begin with?

"They don't have your skill Alex," Blunt said calmly trying to calm down his fourteen-year-old spy. Alex opened his mouth to argue but was cut off.

"I don't know about that, Mr. Blunt," said some balding guy Alex hadn't noticed before. He was standing in a corner and with Alex being to preoccupied by the unexpected sight of four strange teens in the most unlikely place, he'd escaped his notice. "Cherubs are highly trained and educated. They're constantly training while on campus."
"Training is one thing Mr. Jones," Blunt replied, his voice a lot colder than Alex had ever heard it. "Experience is quite another."

"These four are quite experienced I assure you. Both Lauren and James here just returned from a mission involving cult terrorists," the man boasted. Alex could not believe what he was hearing. Was this guy actually going to try and draw Blunt into a 'Who's kid-spy is better' contest? Alex couldn't tell Blunt's reaction to the other man but judging by the snickers that were coming from K-Unit, he wasn't the only person who found this situation laughable.

"I'm sure the Cherubs are very experienced," Blunt assured the other man. "But as I recall, it was you who called us inquiring about borrowing Alex's expertise concerning this mission." Alex wasn't sure but he thought Blunt had just defended and complimented him. This was shaping out to be a strange day. Turning back to Alex, Blunt said, " Cherub has asked for your help regarding a gang of Eco-terrorists known as Help Earth. They've gone up against them many times now but can't seem to permanently shut them down." Blunt added this last bit as a further sting towards to the other man; Alex hadn't known Blunt could be so openly vindictive. "If you accept you'll be working with these four," he nodded towards the kids, "as well as K-Unit. If you do not accept Cherub will the bin the mission and K-Unit will do something else." All eyes turned towards Alex but all he did was eye the Cherubs.

"What kind of training do Cherubs go through?" he asked. The four other teens looked a little put out by his answer but Blunt knew instantly what Alex was doing.

"Well, all Cherubs are required to be bilingual, they go through a 90 day basic training program, they're taught several kinds of martial arts, along with detective skills, and a few other things." Mr. Jones replied.

"How hard is basic training?' Alex asked.

"Most adults wouldn't be able to do it," Jones said with what Alex thought to be a rather smug smile. Alex just nodded his head before turning back to Blunt.

"I want to know what they can do before I give an answer," he said. Blunt merely nodded.

"What do you mean you want to know what we can do?" the girl Alex had been sitting next to asked.

"Yeah, if anything we should be asking about your skills," said a dark haired boy. Alex raised an eyebrow at him and heard another snort of laughter escape from K-Unit. Alex had to hide his own grin.

"I'm pretty sure you'll be satisfied with any tricks I decide to pull," he told the kid.

"Kid," Eagle finally spoke up and the Cherubs turned to look at him. He was barley holding in his laughter. "I'm pretty sure Cub can keep up with whatever you Cherubs are about to do."

"Cub?" another asked, confused. Alex could've sworn she was from China.

"It's my training name," he told her.

"You trained with them?' the second boy asked, a blond.

Alex nodded. "I did eleven days of training with the SAS at Brecon Beacons," he told them. All the Cherubs looked fairly impressed. Cherub basic was one thing, SAS was quite another. Alex ignored the awed stares and turned to Mrs. Jones. "Do you have their files?" he asked.

"We do," she said.

"Can I see them?'

"You may." There was an instant uproar.

"You can't show him Cherub files," Jones all but shouted.

"If it helps Alex with his decision we will," Blunt replied and Alex got the distinct feeling that was getting real tired of the Cherubs.

Alex smirked at the balding man he already didn't like and turned back to K-Unit. "Care to join me?" he asked. K-Unit looked a bit shocked but they shrugged and nodded all the same. While Mrs. Jones led them from the room Alex turned and waved good-by to the fuming Cherubs. Yup, this was a weird day.

"You were right to request these files Cub," Fox said. "These kids hardly seem experienced."

"I know," Alex replied. "More like glorified flies on the wall than anything." They had been going through the Cherub files for little less than a hour but it had only taken Alex five minutes to figure out why he'd been called. From what he could tell, the Cherubs were well-trained eavesdroppers and nothing more. While Alex had been caught, shot, and in one case almost dissected, the Cherubs didn't seem to target anyone more dangerous than the local drug lord. Not someone Alex wanted to work with. Certainly not someone he considered experienced in spy work.

"Hey, check this out," Eagle called. "This is that cult terrorist case that comb over guy was talking about. Apparently, those two kids, James and Lauren, infiltrated a cult in Australia in order to figure out just how insane they were. Anyway, the compound they were in got blown up."

"They blew it up?" Alex asked his eyebrows flying into his hair.

"Nah," Eagle told him. "The place was blown up by one of the nuts. But the kids got a nice pat on the back for rescuing four cult kids. Three who were to young to do anything and one who ended up at Cherub."

"I'd be more impressed if they'd kept the place from going up in the first place," Wolf said. Alex had to agree he knew that if he'd been there he'd done all he could to keep innocents from being killed. But then, maybe the Cherubs had done all they could and just weren't able to help. Either way it wasn't helping their case.

"Well Cub," Snake said tossing his folder on the table and standing up to get a coffee refill. "What do say? Are these kids anywhere near your level?'

"No, not really," Alex replied truthfully. He didn't want to sound conceited but it was true. These kids hadn't done anything like his missions.

"What have you done, Cub?' Fox asked.

"Oh, you know. Some of this, some of that," he replied. If they truly wanted to know they could go request his file, but for now Alex didn't trust them enough to spill.

"Detailed," Eagle replied sarcastically.

"We're not here about Cub, we're here to try and figure out these Cherubs," Wolf said without ever looking up from the file he was reading. Alex silently thanked him.

"Okay, so Cub, you gonna do this mission?' Snake asked. Alex looked up form the file he was reading when he felt all eyes go to him.

"Well, I read the Cherub briefing and it really only looks like placing a few bugs and making friends with the bad guy's kids," he said with a rather disgruntled look on his face.

"So does K-Unit fit in?" Eagle asked scratching his head in confusion.

"The mission was rated extremely dangerous. Almost didn't pass their ethics committee; you guys would be there for extra protection," Alex told him.

"God Cub, that sounds like a waste of our time," Fox said.

"I know," Alex replied. "That's why I'm turning down the mission. If these kids can't even place a few bugs without getting themselves in danger then they need more training." Eagle let out a snort that was a cross between amusement and laughter.

"So did that briefing say why these bugs are gonna be placed?" Wolf asked.

"Uh, not really. Just said it'll be their latest attempt to take down Help Earth. Who is Help Earth anyway? I've never heard of them," Alex said.

"I doubt you'll never go up against them," Fox said. "Help Earth is too amateur for MI6 to send up anything less than newbies. That's probably why Cherub handles it."

"Who are they?" Alex asked.

"Just some Eco-nuts," Eagle told him.

"Alright well, if you're gonna turn down this mission let's do it. It's dinner time and I'm hungry," Snake said.

"You're always hungry," Wolf laughed as they all stood up and left the empty office they'd been using.

Alex led the way back to Blunt's office as he had much more knowledge of the confusing halls than K-Unit. Both Snake and Eagle managed to bicker about where to eat for the entire five-minute walk. By the time they'd reached Alex's least favorite place on earth, Snake had threatened to eat Eagle and Wolf had threatened to feed them both to bears if they didn't shut up. Fox just shook his head at his Unit, which didn't go unnoticed, and the result was that when they walked into the office K-Unit was a bout ready to go to war with each other.

Alex was pleased to see four slightly freaked out Cherubs, a ruffled looking John Jones, and a furious looking (For him) Alan Blunt. Mrs. Jones sent Alex a look, silently questioning him about the four bickering SAS soldiers to which Alex replied, "They haven't been fed in a while." As if to prove his point, Eagle's stomach growled at a volume Alex hadn't thought possible. The stomach roar successfully brought the SAS argument to a close when they realized where they were.

When all was quite Blunt spoke to Alex. "Well Alex, what have you decided?"

"We decided it would be a waste of time," he said.

"But you have to!" the Chinese girl exclaimed, jumping up out of her chair. "The mission will be binned and people will die!"

"That mission id barely dangerous!" Alex told her. "I'm sure you can handle it."

"Yeah," Eagle chimed in. "Besides Cub's skills are best used in situations outside of bug laying."

"And K-Unit has better things to do," Snake said.

"But like Kerry said," the dark haired spoke up. "People die if the mission is binned!"

Then I suggest you get working!" Alex snapped. The Cherubs looked taken aback but they fell into silence. John Jones looked at Blunt as if asking him to force Alex to do it.

"This mission is hardly critical," Blunt said. "I really doubt anyone will die because Alex won't do it. Help Earth is still in the planning stage of their next plot and bugs can be placed by a member of Special Operations quite easily. If you discover anything let us know and we'll reconsider helping you but for know Alex's decision stands." The Cherubs took the hint and left shooting glares at Alex as they left. The boy merely smiled sweetly back. Once the door closed Alex spoke to Blunt.

"You don't like Cherubs do you Mr. Blunt?" he asked. Alex was genuinely curious about Blunt's feelings towards the underage spy organization.

"It is not a matter of feelings Alex," Blunt replied and Alex took it as a no.

"Can we go?" he asked. Blunt nodded and Alex was all but dragged back to the care by Eagle who didn't want to have to wait for him to catch up.

They went to eat at a Chinese Buffet Alex had never heard of but had good food. Alex was surprised to say he had a good time with K-Unit. They picked on him mercilessly but more as a little brother and less like they had at train. Alex had forgiven them after Fox's swift apology in the car hours earlier. It was all he wanted and all he expected to get.

Once they'd been fed, K-Unit dropped him off at his house with strict instructions to be more immature and act his age. Alex considered the advice before deciding he wasn't meant to be a kid. Not even a kid like the Cherubs, who still had that small spark of innocence in their eyes.

For Alex being a kid meant either his death or someone else's and he couldn't except that, not yet. He may bitch about MI6 but the truth was that there was no way to repair the damage. He was too far-gone and he was too good at what he did to expect them to leave him be. But he could have some fun and turning to go into the house he decided that he was going to take K-Unit up on their offer to go to the local Laser Quest and kick Eagle's ass at his own job.