Disclaimer: I do not own either of these. Good thing to otherwise they would get nowhere.
Alex almost fell asleep on the ride home. He had been running from danger for several months and the only time he had gotten any sleep was when he had been captured and placed in a cell. There were a few light naps on the street, but they never did much. The soft vibrations from the running engine and the cool window against his head calmed him.
As promised the house wasn't far and Alex was soon sliding out of the car with Neal right behind him. The house was huge and the inside only seemed bigger. Elizabeth led the way in with Neal and Alex right behind her.
June was at the door within thirty second, Mozzie scuttling in right behind her. "Oh Neal honey, I was starting to get worried." She gave Neal a tight hug before turning to Elizabeth with a hello and a hug as well.
"And who's this kid?" Asked Mozzie as June and El talked. The question caused June to turn back and her eyes finally landed on the teenager handcuffed to Neal.
"This is Cub." Neal introduced with a smile, while Alex stared at Mozzie, who just stared right back at him.
"Weird name." Mozzie commented as they continued staring at each other, as if was a match, neither one willing to back down to the other.
"Weird life." Alex replied which earned him a small eye squint before Mozzie finally gave up and looked away from Alex's cold eyes.
"June, we were wondering if he could stay in the basement. He kind of broke into Peter's office and asked about the current case, which no one should know a thing about. We can't take him to the police; says he'll be able to get out. Then we remembered your basement. He says he won't run, but you know how paranoid Peter is." Neal casually explained the predicament, ending with a shrug of his shoulders, as if it was no big deal.
"Of course you can use the basement. Just make sure the bed is made before leaving the poor dear down there." June seemed to be just as kind as Elizabeth when it came to children, even if said child had hit a federal agent up-side the head with a gun.
"Alright. I'll take him down; let me know when Peter gets here." Neal then proceeded to lead Alex through the rather large house until they came to a door with two, rather thick, locks on it.
When they finally reached the bottom of the stairs Neal took of the handcuff, letting Alex lose to roam around the apartment like area. Just like promised there was a bathroom with a rather nice looking shower that Alex couldn't wait to use. A small kitchenette was in the corner of the room and after rummaging around Alex finally found some tea bags. The bed was already made up and was bigger than any other bed Alex had ever seen, let alone used, half of it covered in big soft looking pillows.
"I'm holding you to your promise, you know." Neal stated as he watched Alex look around the area.
"Neal, take a good look at me. Does it look like I really want to run? How about, does it really look like I could?" Alex deadpanned as he gave Neal a look that said 'really?'
Neal did as Alex suggested, and looked the boy up and down, taking in all the little details. He looked tired if the dark bags under his eyes were anything to go by. And now that he looked closer he noticed a small limp in Cub's step, one that people wouldn't notice unless they were looking for it, the same as the cuts and bruises that littered the boy's body. There was a tiredness that radiated from the boy, not just a physical exhaustion, but a mental one as well.
"You do a very good job at hiding it." Neal commented as Alex turned away to make himself a cup of tea.
"Because it's my job. If I wasn't good at it, well let's just say there would be…complications. Many, lethal complications." The boy chuckled as if he had just said something funny, as he poured hot water on top of a tea bag, which sat inside a large mug, stirring in some milk and sugar before taking a sip.
The face he made was one of pure happiness and pleasure. A small moan escaped his lips as the warm tea traveled down his throat. He hadn't had a cup of tea in months and even though this wasn't the best one he had ever had, it was pretty close after how long he had gone without it.
"Cub, I have a question." Neal stated, pulling Alex out of his thoughts about the wonders of tea.
"I can't promise that I can answer, but shoot." Once again a smirk appeared on the boy's face as if he had said something funny, some little inside joke.
"Well I know you won't tell us who you are or anything like that, but…why exactly are you here," He held up his hand to stop Alex from interrupting. "I don't mean 'job' wise. I mean why are in this position. It's obvious to me that there is something wrong with you. You don't act the way a normal teenager does and you're being so cryptic. What happened, or is happening, to you?" Neal looked genuinely concerned as the smirk fell from the teenagers face and he became serious.
"That's one of the many things I can't tell, but trust me; I can act like a normal teenager if I want. But that's all it truly is, an act. I've been through things you don't want to dream of Neal, things I will never tell you, but be assured that I can handle myself." Alex gave Neal a small smile before turning away to sip at his tea. Peter's footsteps were heard coming down stair only a second later.
All though Alex had 'assured' him that he could 'take care of himself' Neal found himself more worried than before. Whatever happened to this kid was clearly still happening and it was not good.
That was when Neal swore that no matter what happened he was going to learn all he could about this kid. He would try his hardest to be-friend him and he would try his hardest to help him. He felt the need to try and save the kid before anything worse could happen, before he was beyond saving.
The thing Neal didn't know was that Alex was so close to that point that he had already begun to think he was beyond being saved.
Everyone left soon after Cub was locked in the basement. Peter and Elizabeth had both given June a hug before heading home. Peter had warned Mozzie not to tamper with the basement door and to leave the kid alone, before telling Neal to call him immediately if anything happened. When Neal had finally settled into bed he was beat. Mozzie had decided to stick around, wanting to be there if anything happened during what was left of the night.
By the time Neal had finally drifted off to sleep it was almost two in the morning, his mind so exhausted that he dreamed no dreams that night.
While everyone else had headed home and gone to bed sometime at two in the morning, Alex was left locked in the basement. Peter had stopped at the nearest Salvation Army and had bought Alex some clothes which currently sat on the sofa, still in the bag.
He had poured himself another cup of tea before heading into the bathroom, bag of clothes in hand.
The shower stall was bigger than anything he had seen in his life and right next to it was a huge bath tub. It was tempting to Alex, but eventually he had pushed the thoughts of a luxurious, relaxing bath away had stepping into the shower.
He felt his muscles relax as the hot water hit his back. It was turned as high as it would go as he scrubbed away the dirt and grime that had been gathering on him since last month. He scrubbed his body almost three times before he felt clean enough. Even after he was fully clean Alex sat under the hot water, letting it warm and relax him. He stayed there until the water turned cold.
The clothes Peter had brought were just a tad too big, but they fit well enough and Alex wasn't about to complain about having soft, clean clothes to wear to an actual bed. A bed which was bigger than any other bed Alex had seen in his life. With more pillows than he though was necessary and the softest blankets he ever felt, he sank deep under the covers, reveling in the warmth and comfort it all brought.
The last thought that ran through his mind before falling into the dark abyss of sleep, instead of unconsciousness for a change, was 'I could get use to this.' A thought he wouldn't remember in the morning when he woke from the first dreamless sleep he had had in a long, long time.
The next morning brought sunshine and a clear sky. The sun was just peaking up from the horizon as Neal woke up with the alarm clock loudly buzzing in his ear and Mozzie sitting at the table nursing a glass of wine.
"Little early for that isn't it?" Neal as with a nod toward the glass as his hand came down on the snooze button, before dragging himself out from under the blankets. Last night had been too long and he wanted to sleep all day, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. They had a potentially dangerous teenage boy locking in the basement, who knew about a top secret case and held more secrets than the government. It was a wonder that Neal could sleep when he had a giant puzzle right under him, just waiting to be solved.
"It shall never be too early for fine wine." The red liquid spilled from the bottle into the cup before being transferred to Mozzie's mouth. Neal opted instead for a cup of Orange juice, savoring the acidic taste as he drank from the carton.
"Whatever you say Moz. It's seven in the morning, what are you doing here?" Neal shuffled over to the table, dropping into the chair across from Mozzie as he continued to sip from the orange juice.
"I've done some digging into the boy." Mozzie was as straight forward as usual. "I went to some of my 'other' contacts," by 'other' contacts Mozzie meant contacts that Neal hated. They were ruthless people and Neal still had no idea why Mozzie ever would want to have contact with them, "asked about a teenage boy who had scars all over, shaggy blonde hair, British, and may or may not go by the name of Cub."
"What did you find?" He had to admit, his interest was piqued.
Only to have it come shattering down around him "Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It's weird though because there are always things going around and people contacting one another through others, you would think a kid like that would somehow be known in our world."
"So we still have no idea who this kid is. Can't you like hack into the governments data base? Search Cub? This kids nickname has to be connected to him somehow." Neal was so tired of hitting dead ends.
"Already did, got nothing. So I went worldwide. Hacked into England's data base. Really something I should have done first. Considering the kid's got an English accent, you would think that would be the place I search first, but no. Instead I…." Mozzie could have gone on forever rambling on about it if Neal had not interrupted.
"MOZ! To the point please."
"Oh, yes. Anyways, instead of just getting a 'no entries found' thing, I got a 'classified' thing. There is this whole section dedicated to an 'Operation Rider'. Sadly I couldn't decrypt anything or read through it, it would have caused alarms to go off, but there was a picture of the boy in the file. Everything else was encrypted or in code. All I really know is that he is somehow affiliated with the British government, MI6 to be exact. He also has something to do with that Operation Rider." Mozzie took another sip of wine as he watched Neal process all the information Mozzie had just given him.
"Alright. Thanks Moz. I'm going to let Peter know." Neal rolled his eyes as Mozzie heaved a sigh.
"I swear you and the suit are going to be inseparable soon." Mozzie was soon finished with his wine and after placing the glass in the sink he headed to the door. "I'm going to continue my research. I'll call you if I find anything else."
Neal absent mindedly nodded as Mozzie left, the door swinging shut behind him.
Once again Neal had only gained more questions thanks to the kid.
What was Operation Rider? What did Cub have to do with it? And how did he get involved with MI6?
Alex woke surrounded by warmth and softness. Something he was not use to, and at first caused slight alarm. He forced himself to stay calm as the events of yesterday slowly came back to him. After a few more minutes he forced himself from the bed with a sigh. Once again he was being held prisoner. Of course he couldn't really complain seeing as this time round he had a bathroom, bed, and kitchen all in one. All in all it was one of the best cells he had had so far.
Also he had agreed to being prisoner.
He quickly went to the bathroom before making himself another cup of tea. He leaned against the counter as he listened to the movement from upstairs.
The house he was staying in obviously belonged to the kind lady, June was her name. He heard her laugh coming from just about the same place the muffled voices of a radio (radio, not TV . There was too much static to be a television.) Another man's voice came from the same area, the same voice that belonged to the strange man from last night. The footsteps coming across the floor toward the door that came down to where Alex currently sat must have belonged to Neal. They had the same pace and gait as Neal.
The sound of the door creaking open did not surprise Alex as he stared indifferently at Neal's form making its way down the stairs. He stopped short when he noticed that Alex was already awake, before stating the obvious, "You're awake?" Well, questioning the obvious anyways.
"Yeah. What's the big deal?" Alex replied as he brought the cup to his lips, taking a sip after he finished talking.
"I thought teenagers slept late. I know I did. I hated getting out of bed. Come to think of it, I still do." Neal came around to stand in front of Alex, whose poker face was still perfectly in place.
Alex turned away without an answer, the small smile that had slipped onto Neal's face falling off. "I've learned that sleeping in is not always a good thing and I don't make it a habit to do so often."
A loud crash and the yelling of voice from upstairs shattered the peaceful morning, causing both Alex and Neal to look up before both raced toward the stairs. Neal didn't say anything as Alex followed behind him.
The sight that greeted Neal was horrendous and he felt his stomach turn. Mozzie had a trickle of blood coming from his head as he stood in front of June who sat on the ground staring defiantly up at the men in front of her.
"Where is Rider?"
~End Chapter~
Edit: Well, another chapter down. Bear with me for just a little while longer and I'm sure I'll have this done in no time. For those rereading. I LOVE YOU! AND I APOLOGIZE! I feel like I'm making the story a bit smoother, at least the writing, with the editing I've done. So thank you for taking time to reread.
