Alex woke up at 4.00 AM on the dot, inner alarm clock running smoothly as ever, and slid out of bed. Covering a yawn with one hand and half blind with sleep, the spy retrieved a pair of running shorts and tatty shirt from his dirty clothes basket.
Humming under his breath in an attempt to achieve a status of full awareness, Alex pulled the clothes on over his sleep wear, which was, well, just his skivvies, his brain blinked slowly from its sleep as he pulled on his shorts to his hips and the faint smell of coffee registered wafting in from outside his door.
And then Alex snapped fully awake. His ears perked up and his breath caught, there was nothing to hear but the house waking up around him with tiny creaks and groans.
The alarms in his head rang clearer. Someone was in his house and couldn't be detected. A single word bounded from wall to wall in his thoughts. Threat, threat, threat.
Dropping onto the balls of his feet, Alex made his way to the open door, it was never closed, pushing it open quietly, he kept it well oiled. Peering out of the doorway and determining that there was no one on that floor with him, Alex slipped over to the banister overlooking the ground floor.
Nothing but the usual entry way met his eyes so he strained his ears again. Nothing. Nothing, why can't I hear anything?
And then a voice, breathy against his earlobe. "Alehhx." His body reacted for him, grabbing for the intruder behind him and sending him over his shoulder into the hardy oak banister with a loud "Oof".
Shooting to his feet and advancing on the enemy, Alex composed his face into something he figured was menacing. "Who are you and what do you—" then the pained face staring up at him regretfully from the floor registered and Alex blinked. "Ben? What are you doing in my house?"
His partner picked himself up off the floor with a visible wince, hand going to his lower back, and he offered a weak smile. "Just came to check up on you. Sorry. I should have known better than to do that." Alex frowned.
"Shite, I'm sorry, Ben, I wasn't, uh, thinking." He apologized, rubbing the back of his neck, suddenly self-conscious. "Do you, uh, want any coffee? Tea?"
Ben shook his head and straightened, popping his back audibly with a stretch backwards. "No, no, I already had some. Made you coffee though, if you'd follow me downstairs please."
Nodding blankly, Alex followed the older man down into the kitchen where, sure enough, a fresh pot of coffee sat in the counter begging to be consumed. Grabbing a mug and filling it, Alex sat at the table and stared at Ben. "Mission?" he asked ignoring his burning tongue as he sipped his drug.
Ben sat opposite him and was rather lost for words. "Yeah, see…that's the thing, Alex…" he paused, considering the air before him and sighed, shoulders deflating and chin tucking into his collarbone. "MI6 has decided to give you a half year leave, because of…well, you know. That." He stared at Alex as if willing him to get what he was trying to say and looked to the heavens for support when Alex stared at him blankly over the rim of his mug.
"Leave?" Alex asked, brow furrowed. "MI6 has never given me leave, for any circumstances. What happ—" he fell silent, realization dawning in an ugly cloud over his face and his expression turned sour. The mug was placed with a soft click on the table. "You don't have to dance around the subject, Ben, you're too duck footed for any finesse."
He turned to stare at the coffee bean grinder beside the toaster, ignoring Ben's obvious efforts to find something to say, ignoring best he could the insult, and coming up with nothing. Another sigh was exhaled. "They, uh, also told to me to tell you that they wired the money for the Brookland case to your account and Mr. Bray says thanks and…sends his condolences."
Alex turned back to Ben with a frown. "Condolences?" he asked crossed his arms grumpily. "Mr. Bray owes me no thanks, nor condolences and I don't deserve to be payed." Alex grabbed his mug and drained the last of the coffee in an attempt to calm himself.
Ben silently offered the coffee pot and Alex held out his mug to be refilled, taking another draught before putting it down again.
"It's okay, Alex, he knows you didn't mean to do it. Part of the job and all. I mean, from what I hear you've actually done it before, yeah?" Ben tried for a consoling tone, the usual animal tamer voice he used when Alex was distraught and at risk of running off back to Scorpia in a cloud of angst.
Alex stood angrilly and threw up his hands in the air. Didn't really expect it to work. Ben mused to himself, now preparing to weather the coming storm.
"Then Mr. Bray is an idiot!" Alex exclaimed fiercely, causing Ben to flinch back for fear of being engulfed. "I blew up a classroom! I. Shouldn't. Be. Rewarded!" he collapsed into the chair and glared sullenly at the bean grinder again.
Yet another sigh, accompanied this time by a pinch of the nose bridge between thumb and forefinger. Ben tried a different tactic. Alex is such a child. "You know you collapsed in Jai-Wolf's flat, right? Scared his girlfriend out of her wits, and all." Alex nodded semi-reluctantly, still riding on the anger high, but deflated a little nontheless.
"'m sorry." He mumbled, suddenly humble with downcast eyes. Ben groaned inwardly. Shite, I've caught him on a bad day indeed. But he pressed on regardless, perhaps he could get something good out of this.
"And Wolf had to call over Snake, who didn't know you were simply drunk out of your wits and was insanely worried about you and superbly disappointed in you when he was informed so." Ben prodded gently. "I think you should apologize to Snake, and Wolf's girlfriend, and Wolf." He added the Hispanic as an afterthought, it would do the man well to accept an apology.
Alex looked into his mug sullenly, obviously not liking the sound of apologizing—of course it could just be the Jaime factor—but nodded anyways. "Okay."
Ben grinned and leaned back, wincing slightly as his back complained. "Wonderful, thank you, Alex." He attempted a fatherly smile and managed to get at least some warmth in and smiled more when Alex returned the favor.
"If you say so, Ben." He drained that mug as well and Ben handed over the pot. "But, I'll, uh, need Snake's address. If I'm going to apologize, after all."
Ben shrugged. "Of course, I'll just write it down somewhere you won't lose it. Do it soon, yeah? And enjoy your leave." He stood, stretching his back again in an attempt to lessen the pain and almost sat down again. Ahhh, hit the bad spot. Alex shrugged again and gestured to the fridge.
"Notepad's on the fridge, might be a pen somewhere." He sighed into his drink and Ben smiled.
The older man excused himself shortly, saying he had other business to attend with a confidential wink and departed, whistling softly to himself. Business with a bar. If I don't mind the alliteration. He thought with a chuckle. I oughta get a gig in comedy when I retire...if I retire.
He chuckled again then resumed whistling.
Donnach hadn't expected to open his door at 6 PM to the humble face of Cub. "Good evening, Mr., uh," the blond looked down at the slip of paper in his hand then back up at Donnach, smiling with thin lips and warm eyes. "Mr. Innes."
The medic nodded cautiously. "That's me," he said, leaning against the doorway, one arm stretched to the other side as a barrier between his safe haven and this sudden, possible threat to peace and tranquility. "Good to see you well, Cub."
"I, actually, came to, well, talk to you about that," Cub looked about the hall, eyeing the other tenants' doors like people had their ears pressed and listening to their conversation, ready to report to superiors on the actions of one MI6 spy. Donnach restrained a snort and Cub looked imperiously at him. "Might I, uh, come in?"
Donnach made himself comfortable against the door frame. "Not much to talk about, you were drunk, I was there." He stated blandly, Cub flinched visibly and looked away with obvious discomfort, shifting on the soles of his feet restlessly. "Was there more?"
The blond sighed and pocketed the slip of paper before running his hand through his hair, Donnach noted that the other clutched a travel mug with white knuckles. "Can I please just come in?" Cub's voice had a tint of desperation that intrigued Donnach, so he dropped his arm and gestured through the door.
Cub stepped quickly in far enough that Donnach could close the door then, while the medic was facing the door still, made his way to the living room. Spies. The Scot thought with exasperation as Cub checked each room he passed before disappearing through the doorway at the end of the small entryway.
Having no other choice but to follow, Donnach did, closing each door Cub had opened on his way.
"I want to say sorry for having…inconvenienced you." Cub said as Donnach appeared in the doorway to the living room, having taken up station by the lamp in the corner of the room.
Sitting in his armchair, Donnach propped his chin on his fist and stared down the still restless blond. "A card wouldn't do?" he asked, purposefully keeping his tone mild. What does he want?
Cub took a step towards him, opening his mouth to speak, then seemed to reconsider and retracted his foot. "I, uhm, I've got nothing else to do for half a year, figured it's better than watching the telly." He said, half muttering and rubbing his neck with his free hand, looking thoroughly uncomfortable.
Donnach was almost pleased seeing the spy so uncertain and didn't say anything immediately following the slightly insulting statement, preferring instead to examine the blond as he hadn't the chance to when he was fearing for the man's life.
Changed a lot in 6 years. The medic probably would have never guessed the solid man before him was the same 14-year old from back at training camp had they run into each other on the tube. Except for his eyes, Donnach would have known him in an instant anywhere for his eyes.
Plain brown, the plainest Donnach had ever seen on a person, but they still held a spark of the same childhood lost naivety that the medic had found remarkable in the grim faced teen from years ago.
I suppose some things never change. He thought. "Why were you drunk?" he asked aloud, watching carefully the spy's features and coming away impressed. No telling emotion crossed Cub's face.
"Do you really have to know?" he asked, taking a sip from his travel mug. A-ha. Nervous tick found. And people called SAS men unobservant.
Donnach shrugged and drew his chin from his fist, straightening. "Take a seat, you're making me uncomfortable." It was with laughable caution that Cub lowered himself stiffly into the couch opposite Donnach, both hands now clutching the travel mug.
"I just came to apologize." Cub said, sounding more like he was trying to convince himself than Donnach. "Is all."
"And yet you're still here. Not because I told you to." The medic agreed with a smile. "Should we play catch up? Last I heard from you before two days ago was when Jaime—Wolf to you—came back from a mission white faced and muttering something about 'just a kid'."
Cub managed a smile at that, a strained one, but a smile nonetheless. Donnach felt a small thrill of accomplishment. "I…suppose we could play catch up."
Donnach shook his head. "I barely know you regardless, no reminiscing on your part would please me. Nor the other way around for that matter."
The spy blinked and caught on. His smile turned a bit less strained and he sipped again from the mug. He could just be addicted. "My name is Alex Rider, 20-years old. I work at the Royal & General bank as an accountant consultant."
Donnach smiled back. "My name is Donnach Innes, SAS man. A pleasure, Mr. Rider." Cub shook his head and peered over the rim of his mug for his next statement.
"Please, Mr. Innes, call me Alex. Mr. Rider was my uncle."
Donnach snorted audibly. "Well then, Alex, I insist you call me Donnach."
They shared half-smiles.
Alex arrived back home feeling considerably more light hearted than when he'd left.
Locking the front door behind himself and pocketing the keys absent-mindedly, he leaned against the wall and stared up at the ceiling. A grin twisted his lips up and a soft snort escaped his nose as his head impacted on the wood behind him.
"Thanks, Ben." He murmured, closing his eyes. "I needed that." As much as I don't like to admit.
Heaving himself off the wall, Alex felt all the strength drain from his bones and barely made it to the living room to collapse on the couch in a pile of tired spy.
Lying there and feeling the irresistible call of sleep gently pull him from the land of the awake, it was past his normal bedtime after all, Alex felt as though the stress that had been building up over the past week dissipated.
They, Snake and he, had half-arranged to meet again another day, having mentioned things like 'later' in their goodbyes. In Alex's book such pleasantries were truth and he found himself rather looking forward to seeing the Scot again, even if it meant avoiding certain questions.
With the assurance to himself that the next day he would…address his problems, Alex closed his eyes and fell asleep with a faint smile on his lips still, putting aside the consequences of sleeping on a couch in favor of blessed unconsciousness.
That night Alex dreamt of flying.
"When does he get out of the hospital?" was the conversation opener for the day. Ben looked up from his desk, relieving his already aching eyes, and stared shrewdly at Alex.
"I told you that already." He said, narrowed eyes boring into Alex's inquisitive ones. The blond shook his head with a shamed look.
"I was too drunk to really register what you were saying, sorry." The apology was clearly an afterthought but Ben didn't bother to contest Alex's insensitivity.
He set his pen down and twined his fingers together atop the papers he'd been marking up, providing the younger, but regrettably more experienced, spy his full attention. "I'll only tell you this once more so do pay attention." Alex nodded and Ben continued, pausing to wrack his brain for a moment. "Luckily, his injuries weren't as fatal as you'd thought, he'll be out sometime next month. You can visit him as often as you'd like."
The grateful look Alex gave him before he left after a muttered 'thanks' was the most he would ever get from the kid, so Ben took it graciously and returned to his work with only the smallest of frowns. Paperwork ought to go to the interns. He thought sourly as he began tackling another case file.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot to mention something else." Alex popped back into the office, Ben didn't bother to look back up.
"Yes?" he asked, distracted by a fragmented scribble of a 'first-hand account'.
"I saw Snake yesterday, after I went to apologize to Wolf and his girlfriend."
At this Ben did look up, surprise coloring his face. "Really?" Alex nodded, looking slightly affronted.
"Yes, and you don't have to look so surprised, I'm not so rude that I would put it off for days." He said with reproach. "Anyways, what I wanted to tell you was that he's not as nice as his outward appearance would suggest. Is it just him? Or should I not go see him again?"
Ben choked on spit and spluttered for a few seconds to recover before staring at Alex incredulously. What the—"You're going to see him again? Willingly?" he asked. What happened to anti-social Alex? Alex who only got excited about going out with his best-mate Tom and ex-live in nanny Jack? Alex who'd refused every drinking invite Ben had ever offered and every call out to dinner?
"Yes, what's so strange about that? I have a social life." Alex ignored the coughed 'no you don't' in favor of repeating his earlier question. "Again: is he naturally mean? Or is it me that has to…change?"
Ben struggled to regain his self-control and not chuckle every time he opened his lips. Finally, he could speak, with Alex staring imperiously at him. "He's, he's just like that—Alex, are you going to…pursue him? I honestly cannot think of any other reason for your newfound interest in my old team medic. He's practically ten years older than you to boot."
The glare Alex gave him could wither plants. "You can be really insensitive sometimes, Ben." He said with a huff. "It's none of your business what sex I like and whether or not I pursue your old team medic. I'm going to the hospital now, later."
With that last parting jab Alex disappeared once more and Ben sighed. "You're calling me the insensitive one." He muttered and picked up the pen again. "And whenever someone says something like that it means that's exactly what they're going to be doing."
Donnach almost hadn't expected the MI6 spy extraordinaire to appear on his doorstep ever again, and certainly didn't seek him out-spies were slippery fellows and a pain to track, much less find-so he was admittedly surprised to open his door one morning a few days after his and Cub's 'introductions' to find a smiling blond on the other end.
This time, however, Donnach allowed the spy in without a prior interrogation and herded him to the kitchen before he could peer inside the rooms again where a fresh pot of tea was waiting to be consumed.
That day he learned that Alex Rider was addicted, truly addicted to coffee. Being a medic and knowing the affects of a caffeine addiction, Donnach was prepared to wage war against the evil black sludge.
But he also learned that day that Alex Rider would have none of that.
"If you're going to survive in the spy business you had better stop drinking coffee." Donnach warned the blond across the table from himself and his cup of wonderful, heavenly breakfast tea. Alex flashed him a blinding grin.
"That's never going to happen." he replied simply, sipping from the travel mug he'd had last time. Donnach would bet his tea pot the thing was glued to Alex's hand but for when it was refilled with more occupation poison.
"A dependence on caffeine won't help when you're given a mission and not allowed any, your cover might not drink coffee."
Alex gave Donnach a considering look and the medic gave him a guileless smile, taking a sip of tea.
"You're not quite as stupid as I've often considered SAS men to be." Alex finally said and Donnach fixed himself a pokerface.
"Must be the medic in me." he supposed offhandedly, letting the steam from the tea waft into his face and fill his senses with its heavenly smell. A snort caused Donnach to look up and see Alex sipping his coffee with an air of perfect nonchalance.
They stared at each other for a good few seconds, pokeface to pokerface before snickers and chuckles erupted on both ends and spy and SAS man were laughing together over tea and coffee.
"But seriously, an addiction to anything is bad for you." Donnach said when they'd both recovered. Alex met his eyes with a challenge in the set of his jaw and crease on his brow.
"What about exercise addicts?" he asked.
Donnach shrugged and sipped more tea. "Getting much too buff, I suppose. There's a point where it's just unattractive." Most SAS men? Decently built. You? Rather perfect. And then he realized where his thoughts had gone and spluttered into his tea.
"I'm sure it does taste disgusting, you should switch to coffee." Alex gave him a knowing look and Donnach gave him an obscene hand gesture in return. The spy gasped. "You're bad." he said with all the shock of a virgin maiden. "No wonder it doesn't seem like you've got a girl, you're much too vulgar."
The medic snorted into his tea and hurriedly the rest of the cup down, hoping the spy had noticed what he did and realize why he did it. I will never be a spy. Aloud he said, "And I'm sure the ladies fall all over your delicate poncy-ness."
Alex flipped him the bird. "You wish you could."
Donnach laughed and wondered where the conversation had gone. Why was he getting so buddy-buddy with a man he'd only known really for an evening? He blamed it on the spy's natural charisma, the man could probably stop a suicide bomber mid-run by talking to him as he went to pass, hollering, into the building.
A bit confused with himself and the blond grinning in front of him, Donnach shrugged in his head and knocked back an imaginary shot of 'who gives a fuck'. He then proceeded to laugh and joke with the blond for the next hour and bid him goodbye almost without realizing that the spy wormed a promise for lunch out of him on the way out.
Perhaps...there's still hope for me after all. Donnach thought as he closed the front door behind Alex. A giddy feeling he hadn't experienced in years bubbled up from his chest and shaped a ridiculous smile on his weathered cheeks. Perhaps, perhaps.
A/N: Sorry about how slow I was in updating! (ooog) But school has been surprisingly busy for me and I did not like this chapter at all for a couple of days and had to come back to it when I could put aside the self-deprecation and actually fix it.
I realize that this chapter is filled with pointless dialogue that I will try to rectify next chapter, but who knows. I can only offer a meaningless apology. And more pointless dialogue from this side of the screen.
I could have gone half a chapter writing self jokes for Ben, and was sorely tempted to keep him chuckle-whistling just to fill space and because I'm finding older men with quirks really cute right now. (I'm sorry, but you have to listen to Boyd K. Packer's talk on the anniversary of seminary that was today, he's almost completely speaking another language but he's such an adorable old man. :D)
On another note: Thanks so much for the reviews and the alerts and the favorites! It warms an amateurs heart to get such support! I love you all. But...Very solemnly.
Here's a little child-raising advice: If you want a kid to swim, throw 'im in a pool; if you want a kid to fly, throw 'im off a cliff.