Wolf pulled up outside the Royal and general bank after spending the ride in companionable silence, something which Alex never ever imagined he would ever experience with the man who hated his guts when at Brecon Beacons, but then again the situation was completely different.
Together they exited the car and walked up to the 'bank'. Alex made sure to avoid an area on the pavement which seemed cleaner than all the others.
They entered and made their way to the reception but were stopped by Mrs Jones.
"Mr Luca, Alex." She exclaimed.
They stopped simultaneously and made towards her.
"Glad you could come. Now if you could follow me."
They followed her silently up the stairs. If wolf wondered why they didn't take the lift, he didn't ask.
They made their way up and entered mr blunts room without knocking, obviously because blunt was expecting them.
Mrs Jones sat in her usual seat and Alex and wolf sat in the other two.
Mr blunt seemed to be reading a file of some sort and did nothing to acknowledge their presence.
That was fine with Alex. Following his 'superiors' lead, Alex took out his phone, turned the volume up and began playing flappy bird.
The sound of the game blasted through the silence which led to Jones sending him a warning look and wolf a surprised look. But blunt showed nothing. Of course he didn't.
They remained in this situation until blunt put down his papers and cleared his throat, to signal that he was ready for the meeting.
Alex's lips curled up to a smirk knowing that he had won but decided to rub salt into the wound.
He carried on playing and made sure the sound was loud enough to hear when the bird died. Then purposefully raised his eyes to meet blunts for a full second before pressing the play button.
For those who didn't know bBunt would say that the man was indifferent to what had happened. Only Mrs Jones could tell that her superior was positively fuming and a vein was pulsing on the side of his forehead. She wished Alex would just stop playing these silly games with Blunt but she had no place in this matter. This was a one-on-one game between Alex and blunt.
She almost felt sorry for Mr Luca who was some place in utter disbelief. But that's what this meeting was about right? For Alan to show mr Luca that Alex had 'behaviour problems'. Blunt wanted an obedient weapon not... Alex. And so he decided to do so by getting a soldier to stamp out the disobedience. And the fact that the soldier hated Alex's guts was a bonus. Of course blunt knew that wolf would not recognise Alex at first. Of course he knew that he would ask snake. Of course he knew that before finding out, Alex and wolf would develop a relationship that was a bit above mutual. Of course he knew that this would only exacerbate wolfs anger later on. Now all wolf had to know was that Alex had 'problems'. Tulip knew that Alan was playing a dirty game, but he had been playing this game for 2 years, and if it was dirty at the start then now it was down right rotten.
She was taken out of her thought by Alex's pocketing his phone and she mentally let out a sigh of relief. Last time Alex had continued playing that damn game for 15 minutes. Using her exceptional deducting skills, mrs Jones knew that Alex only stopped because he didn't want wolf to stay here longer than he already had too. That meant that Alan's plan was already working. If Mrs Jones was a sarcastic person she would have probably thought great(!). Thankfully she was not.
Alex pocketed his phone and knotted his arms on his lap, signalling to blunt that he was ready.
"I'm glad you came mr Luca"
Alex snorted. How immature, blunt had resorted to
style="font-family: '.SFUIText-Italic'; font-style: italic; font-size: 17pt;"ignoring Alex. Wasn't that what 7 year olds did when they fell out.
Blunt turned to Alex and after reading Alex's thoughts added "and you too Alex. It's been a long time."
Alex muttered "Not long enough." Then smiled politely "As much as I would love to stay here and exchange pleasantries, We would greatly appreciate it if you just spat out whatever is in your mouth then let us be on our way."
Wolf snapped his head to Alex in shock. But still remained silent. Wise choice. This was not a battle for his level.
Blunt worked his jaw but before he could reply Mrs Jones spoke. "Alex we just wanted to know how your first day with your new guardian was going"
All eyes snapped to hers. She could see some concealed surprise in Alex's eyes. Probably at her courage or maybe stupidity for trying to intervene between the two.
"Oh really" Alex drawled. "Because I was under the impression that you wanted to open a bank account for me." His voice turned polite and serious "I wanted to apologise and say that I would rather open up one at Barclays instead because for some strange reason I find their bank is more safe and considerably more trustworthy. I'm sorry for wasting your time"
Alex made his way to get up, and everyone watched him walk to the door. They watched him twist the Handle and-
"Sit down Alex" snapped mr blunt.
For those who could see it, which was no one in the room, Alex had a very smug look on his face and hovered momentarily at the door before schooling his expression into politeness and turning around to sit down.
"If you are that desperate to have me open a bank account with you, then please go ahead convince me that I should. However I recommend that you don't waste your time with me, seeing I am just an insignificant teenager. There are much more rich people who would be better for you to invest your time in , I'm sure."
Blunt stared at Alex trying to figure out a way to just make him stop. Sadly 'cut the crap' was not in Blunts dictionary so he had to find a more formal way of saying so. Thankfully Mrs Jones saved him.
"Actually Alex, we wanted to talk about your guardianship"
"My guardianship?" Alex asked, eyes widening innocently and voice too high to be believable. "I'm sure my guardian said that it was about opening a bank account. I may have misheard."
Mrs Jones ignored him. "We wanted to know how you are settling in with your new guardian after the last 4 guardians failed."
Alex narrowed his eyes mockingly "why do you want to ask about my guardianship. You're a bank right? Not social services"
Mrs Jones sighed feeling her temper slipping, though blunt remained stoic. How long would that last she was not sure.
"Alex please stop this. Just answer the question and you can go."
Alex folded his arms defensively "I don't want to answer some personal questions from strangers. My parents always taught me never to talk to strangers. Because it will put you in danger."
Mrs Jones took in a deep breath. "Alex this is your final warning. How are you settling in?"
"What are you going to do to me if I don't tell you?"
"Alex" Mrs Jones warned
He folded his arms defensively, completely ignoring her "this is not what you talk about when you go to a bank. I won't Answer"
"Alex" her voice was now hinting on desperation.
"I mean I was expecting to talk about my bank account though that is clearly not the case"
"Alex!" Mrs Jones snapped. "If you don't answer the question then you will find yourself on another m-" Mrs Jones clamped a hand on her mouth and her eyes widened in shock.
The effect of that one incomplete statement on Alex was startling. Alex had instantly gone tense, shoulders squared, and was staring at the wall in between blunt and Jones. His face a blank slate, devoid of any emotion, any feeling. Nothing of the dry humorous boy he was moments ago.
"Alex I'm so sorry" Mrs Jones breathed.
He ignored her, choosing to remain motionless.
"Alex-"
"Maybe I should open a bank account with Santander instead"
That voice was so cold and completely devoid of any emotion. A voice that shouldn't even belong to a human.
"Alex" Mrs Jones said again, voice barely more than a whisper, and was that pleading in her tone?
"Mrs Jones that is enough." Blunt intervened "How about we ask our other guest."
Only two pairs of eyes moved towards wolf, who shifted uncomfortably at the sudden attention.
"How is Alex settling in?" Blunt asked.
"He's" wolf coughed to clear his throat. "He's doing good. Though its only been one day." Wolf prided himself on his ability to remain professional in such a situation.
"I understand" Mrs Jones said, trying to regain her composure. Alex, only Alex, was able to get her to show this much emotion. "do you believe there will be any complications"
Wolf shook his head "no. I believe that we will get along well, for the time he is under my care" the words sounded strange in his mouth.
Mrs Jones nodded feeling disappointment at the pit of her stomach. Of course Alan's plan would work. It always did. "Thank you for coming today and we will be in contact with you soon."
Both wolf and Alex stood up simultaneously noting the dismissal, and made their way to the door.
"Alex stay behind" blunt said.
Alex pointedly ignored him and walked out, followed by a bewildered wolf.
"That went well" Alex muttered as soon as they exited the office.
That was when wolf exploded.
"What the hell was that kid?"
"Umm I-"
"YOU"
Both Alex and wolf spun round to see a man supporting a bruised jaw and hand in a cast.
"You're the kid.!" The man exclaimed. He then called over his shoulder " Hey Jeremy come look. I told you it was a kid that did this"
His voice was loud and beginning to attract attention.
A couple of people stopped and stared, many of them having either a bruised face or a cast. Or both.
"Mr Luca I think we should go" Alex stated trying to lead the way out.
Wolf followed robotically.
"Hey kid I'm not done with you. Come back here"
The mi6 agent tried to catch up with them
"Mr Luca I advise that we run"
Together wolf and Alex ran away from a bunch of angry agents.
"GET HIM. GET THAT KID"
And that's how Alex started a man hunt.
Or in this case a kid hunt. For the third time that week.
Together wolf and Alex ran down the stairs, into the car and drove off just in time.
They spent the entire drive home in silence each looking over their shoulder incase of pesuers.
They reached the house and exited cautiously. The silence however was broken as soon as they entered the house when Alex made to escape into his bedroom.
"Kid come here right now. You have a lot of explaining to do"
Alex stopped midstep and followed wolf into the living room, knowing that this conversation was not one he wanted to have after dealing with blunt.
Wolf went to make himself some coffee and Alex sat on the sofa, knowing that any escape would only be delaying the inevitable.
Wolf made his coffee hoping that it would stop the pounding headache he was having. He was about to walk into the living room when his phone rang.
"Hello wolf"
"Snake" he completely forgot about that. Now he had to deal with eagle.
"I'm sorry but I can't come today, my wife wants to go" snake paused and let out a shuddering breath "shopping. Ughh. And she says that I'm spending too much time with my friends when I'm supposed to be on leave. Women! She wants to spend the next couple of days with me and says if I spend any time with my unit ,then we're going to separate. Can you imagine that? Women and their stubbornness."
Wolf felt a weight lift off his shoulders.
"Need I remind you that she is your wife and you married her because you loved her" wolf mocked.
"You are not helping at all" if Wolf could see snake then he would have been subjected to intensive glaring.
"So that means that you can't come today"
"Or for the next couple of days, unless I want my marriage to end"
Wolf snorted.
"That's fine. Good luck"
"Thanks I'm going to need it"
Wolf hung up and went into the living room.
Alex watched wolf sit on his armchair and with a great sense of trepidation on both parts, the conversation began.
"So kid. You wanna explain what happened?"
"Which part?"
"All of it!"
"Your going to have to be more specific"
Wolf sighed. He didn't like how this conversation was turning out
"How about I ask you questions and you answer them?"
Alex paused. He couldn't lie.
"Ok" he didn't have to answer them fully. One nod.
"What's up with you and blunt?"
This was rocky ground.
"We don't have a working relationship" two nods.
Wolf snorted. "Can you expand?"
"I don't like him" two nods. Probably three.
"Why?"
"Because he's lost a few brain cells" two nods.
"He's the head of military intelligence"
"Your point is"
Wolf looked at Alex with an amused appreciation.
"I think I like you kid."
"Your opinion is appreciated" sarcasm doesn't require nods.
"I mean it."
Alex shrugged. "I am amused by seeing how thin blunts patience can stretch." Two nods.
"How do you do it?"
"How do I do what?"
"How do you get the two most lifeless people to snap?"
"It's a natural gift" one nod.
" what annoying people?"
Alex's smile was feral.
"No, doing the impossible" two nods.
Wolf let out a laugh.
"You're an interesting kid"
"So I've been told"
"With an unlimited supply of sarcasm"
"I know"
"And your egotistic"
"It's kind of hard not to be when your me"
Wolf snorted.
"If your head gets any bigger, we're going to have an eclipse"
Alex flipped his head seductively "your just jealous"
Wolf snorted. "Why haven't they gotten rid of you yet?"
Alex stared "what kill me?"
Wolf looked horrified for a moment "no, I mean why do they still deal with you, why don't they let social services or something deal with you?"
Alex looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Well my dad's an agent" not a lie, one nod.
"There's got to be something more"
"I got involved with some of my dads business that mi6 didn't want me to" one nod, still not a lie. Scorpia was his dad's business. "and they are worried that I will spill classified stuff if they send me to social services" one nod, still not a lie.
Wolf nodded his head in understanding. He did not question further knowing about the whole 'classified' business.
"Okay another question, why did we get involved in a man-hunt?"
Alex laughed. This was easy ground
"Well some agents were angry at me and decided to chase us." Two nods.
"Why were they angry with you?"
"A couple of them were supposed to bring me in yesterday and I didn't want to" two nods
"So what happened?"
"I tried to run away from them" two nods
"You ran away from trained mi6 agents"
"Yes"
"Then what happened?"
"They surrounded me"two nods
"Wait how many were they?"
"Yesterday?"
"Yes"
"24 active and 6 in hiding"
"they sent 30 agents after one kid!"
"I'm pretty hard to catch" two nods
"How come most of them were bruised?"
"When they surrounded me I could just give up"
"Go on"
"I was forced to engage in combat"
"You went head to head with 24 agents"
"When you put it like that it makes me sound like some superhero"
"Dammit kid, if you held your own against 24 agents then you might as well be a superhero"
"And they wonder why I'm egotistical"
Wolf looked at Alex appraisingly "I'm starting to understand"
"So you fought against the agents..."
"I managed to knock 16 unconscious and accidentally break 3 bones of others before one of the hidden agents tranquillised me"
"So your saying that 24 trained agents couldn't capture o
style="font-family: '.SFUIText-Italic'; font-style: italic; font-size: 17pt;"ne kidwithout knocking him unconscious"
"I told you, I like to do the impossible"
Wolf snorted and they lapsed into silence.
"I have another question" wolf said in a serious tone.
Alex looked up and saw concern etched into wolfs eyes, something which he never expected from the soldier at Brecon Beacons.
"About what?"
"School"
"What about school?" Alex said cautiously. How much had wolf seen?
Wolf pointed to Alex's face which had no doubt started to bruise.
"Are you being bullied in school?"
Alex paused. To bully meant to use superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typically to force them to do something.
Alex snorted. superior strength. intimidate. force. Yh right.
"No I'm not being bullied" not a lie, but he couldn't do two nods. Only one nod.
Wolf nodded unconvinced but didn't persue the subject, noting the reluctance in Alex's voice.
Feeling the conversation was over, Alex got up.
"one more question. The guy called you rider." Alex froze. This was dangerous ground.
"You wouldn't happen to be the son of Ian rider."
Alex almost smiled in relief. The question was so easy to answer. Wolf obviously had no experience with asking the correct questions.
"No Ian rider is not my father." He didn't lie. He didn't put on a confused look. He didn't give any indication on not knowing Ian rider. But neither did he give any indication of knowing Ian. No smile, no recognition. The answer was simple, direct, said with no emotion, nothing which could give him away.
"So you don't know who Ian rider is"
Alex smiled, even though he was half facing half not facing wolf. His eyes went unfocused as he drifted into another land. The first sign wolf got that Alex was not completely there.
This question was the one Alex had been asking himself since he found out about mi6. Who was his uncle really ? Who was the man who raised him? Did he even know who the true Ian was? Was it the man who left it alone? The man who trained him? Or was he the man who cared for him? Who taught him?
"No I don't know who Ian rider was"
Alex then walked out, nodding twice.
Wolf watched the kid leave wondering just who he had been asked to take care of. He couldn't deny that the kid was fun to talk to. But then he suddenly gets the calculating look where you are sure you've crossed some sort of line by asking the wrong question. But he doesn't refuse to answer. He answers properly. And from wolfs training in reading other people, nothing of what the kid said was a lie. He answered every single question, and he answered them truthfully.
Sure it was strange that the kid and blunt had the relationship they had. Wolf would never have imagined the head of mi6 taking this much interest in a kid. Surely, even if the kid had seen something classified, it won't be so important, that the head of military intelligence had to deal with it. Surely there are more important matters for the heads to deal with than a 16 year old kid.
Sure it was strange that the kid managed to immobilise 19 trained agents. Sure it was strange for a kid to be the reason for a man-hunt.
But to wolf nothing was as strange as the last thing the kid said.
'I don't know who Ian rider was'
Wolf had gone in for back up twice for that man. The man was different from all the other agents. For one he was friendly and wolf had instantly taken a liking to him. And now that he though about it the kid and Ian looked strangely alike. But the kid said that Ian is not his father and he
style="font-family: '.SFUIText-Italic'; font-style: italic; font-size: 17pt;"didn't know who Ian was-Wait. The kid said 'was'. Did that mean that Ian was dead. But how would the kid know if he didn't know the man.
And not only that but the way the kid said it. With eyes cloudy and voice wistful. He was sure that the kid knew Ian. But he said it with such conviction, wolf knew the kid wasn't lying. But the kid looked so strange and fragile in that moment, like one wrong move and he could shatter into a thousand pieces, that wolf didn't want to question him any further.
