Updated: 06/06/2019

Enjoy, all!

Alex could only sit with his head on his arms as he waited for something, anything, to happen. He'd been sat in the interrogation room for what felt like hours – he hadn't even been placed in a holding cell – and no one had come to speak to him. Not a single officer. He'd just been placed in the room, and left to rot or stew or whatever they were doing to him to make him spill whatever guilty secrets they thought he was keeping.

Not that he wasn't keeping any. Just none that they needed to know.

So whilst he waited, he decided it would be a good idea to get a little shut-eye. After all, if he was going to be there for hours, he might as well be rested for when they needed to question him on anything. Though, from the feeling of swelling in and around his throat, he doubted he'd be able to answer any questions efficiently without sounding like a cheese grater on gravel and feeling like a cat was running its claws down his throat.

It felt like it had been hours before anyone actually attended to him, waking him up in the middle of his impromptu nap with the slam of a chair on the concrete flooring, causing Alex to sit up suddenly, scared and alert.

The man who walked into the room was short and stocky, the top button of his shirt unbuttoned and his jacket open. He shut the door gently behind him, before turning to face Alex and slowly walking back to the chair that he'd slammed on the floor, turning it and sitting on it backwards. He sat there for a good few minutes, staring at the teen, before he spoke.

"Alex Pleasure… or would you rather Alex Rider?"

Alex tensed at that. From what he knew, his name had been changed as soon as the papers had been filed, and no one should have had access to those records. They were supposed to be sealed.

"Who are you…?" Alex asked in a scratchy voice, very unsure about the current situation. If this man knew his name… then he might know something about his past. And anyone knowing about his past without his knowledge was never safe – not for him, and not for the people involved.

"FBI Special Agent Michaél Rodriguez, but you may be better off knowing me as Estefania's uncle."

That caused all colour to drain from Alex's face, and the man smirked.

"I suppose that has got your attention. Now," the man cleared his throat, "you have been brought in here because you killed a man, yes?"

"I didn't kill him," Alex protested, though his heart rate had quickened (and with it, he could feel his throat swelling up more). He hadn't actually killed the man, had he…?

"Okay, so you stabbed him and he has come out hospitalised but not dead," Rodriguez corrected. "That does not excuse the fact that you attacked a man."

"He attacked me first," Alex protested again, sounding whiny and desperate because he knew he was innocent. He had done nothing wrong but defend himself. And he was being held against his will by a federal agent who also happened to be related to one of his closest friends and know some of the secrets he had tried desperately to hide.

Plus, he was tired. It was late. He just wanted his bed.

The agent raised his eyebrows. "You think I should believe that?"

"You think a sixteen-year-old would randomly attack a homeless man in an alley just before spring break?"

"You were coming home from a party."

"I didn't drink." Alex huffed. "And I was walking Chrissy home. Because I wanted to avoid her getting caught in a situation like that. That man tried to kill me for no reason."

"That man was an undercover agent," Rodriguez pointed out lowly, "and would not attack without good reason. You, on the other hand, have a record—"

"Of what?" Alex cut in. "What do you have on me? My records are sealed and redacted for the most part. You shouldn't have anything on me."

Rodriguez went silent at that, and that was when Alex realised he'd made a mistake. Rodriguez didn't know about his past. He had no idea about his record. The man had been bluffing to get Alex in trouble.

A blank mask slid over the teen's face, and he leaned back in his seat, watching the agent coldly. He didn't like federal agents or people who worked for the government that much anyway, but one who was trying to manipulate him? Even if he was related to one of his friends?

That just did not sit well with Alex. He wasn't going to play his game.

"Are there files on you, Alex?"

The teen remained silent at the question, staring at the man coldly. (It sure helped his throat, that was for sure.)

Rodriguez's eyes narrowed. "If there are files on you, Alex, I will get them. You will not be able to hide them from me for long." When Alex continued to stare blankly, he slammed his hands down on the table. "You attacked a federal agent, are being questioned, and saying nothing?! Is this how you want to play it?"

Alex cracked his mask slightly to give a small smirk at the agent's outburst, which only angered the man more. The teen wasn't going to give him any more of what he wanted. Not if he was going to play it like this.

The FBI agent was about to start ranting at Alex again when there was a knock on the door, and it opened to reveal a young woman, appearing nervous.

"Uh, Agent Rodriguez… we have a slight problem…"

Rodriguez glared at her. "Is it more important than what I'm doing right now?"

"Uh… yes?"

"Can it wait?"

"No, not really."

"Then what is it?"

The young woman looked between Alex and the agent nervously, as if she wasn't sure whether to say what she was about to in front of the teen, before finally deciding it was okay to speak. "There is… a girl, sir. She's trying to bail him out."

Rodriguez stared at the woman, before turning to Alex with a smirk. "Deny her."

"I'm sorry?"

"Don't let her," Rodriguez repeated, turning to face the woman. "Deny her that ability. I'm questioning Alex for federal reasons." He turned back to Alex, thinking that was it.

It wasn't.

"There's a problem with that, sir…" the woman said nervously, before she moved out of the way to let someone else walk into the room.

A man in a crisp suit walked in slowly, straightening his tie. With his dark hair and bright blue eyes, Alex knew what kind of person he was before he even spoke, and his heart plummeted into his stomach.

He didn't need this. Not today, and certainly not this early in the morning.

"Agent Rodriguez?"

Rodriguez stood and turned to face the man, a deep frown set on his face. "I'm sorry, this is an active interrogation—"

The man ignored him as he continued speaking, pulling his badge out of his inner pocket to show to the man. "Agent Martins, CIA. I hear you're holding an individual under our protection hostage and I've come to collect him."

"You have no right—"

"He is under our jurisdiction and protection, and you have no right to question him without our knowledge." He gave Rodriguez a hard look. "Release him."

The FBI agent stared hard for a few minutes, trying to see if he could win this one. Eventually, though, he sighed, pulling the keys to the handcuffs out of his back pockets and approaching Alex. As he leaned down to unlock the cuffs, he glared at the teen.

"I will get you one day, Alex."

Alex just stared at him blankly as the cuffs were released, and he stood as soon as they were, rubbing his wrists. He didn't even spare Rodriguez a look as he calmly left the room, the CIA agent following him out into the corridor.

Within minutes, they'd reached the reception area of the precinct, and Alex couldn't ignore the stares he got from police officers and civilians – the civilians because he was being followed by someone that looked like a federal agent, and the officers because it was probably known that an FBI agent had questioned him and he was now being let go like he'd done nothing wrong. He had to admit, it looked suspicious to anyone not directly part of the situation.

His eyes, however, locked onto two females sat in the waiting area, and both of them brightened up when they saw him approach. As soon as he was close enough, Sabina stood and ran over to him, hugging him tightly.

"Oh, thank God you're okay," she breathed, giving him one last squeeze before punching him hard in the arm. "What the hell happened?!"

Alex winced, rubbing his arm before looking to Chrissy for help.

The other girl just shrugged, smiling. "Don't look at me like that. I'm just glad they let you go."

"About that…" Alex glanced over at the CIA agent, who had been trying not to draw any attention to himself. As soon as Alex looked over, though, the other two looked over at him too, and he sighed.

"I'm guessing you three need a lift home, right?" He checked his watch. "It's too late for you three to get a cab. My car is outside. Let's go."

The trio of teens shot each other glances before Eventually nodding in agreement, following the agent as they left the precinct and headed out into the night.

As soon as they got outside, though, he stopped, pointing towards a dark sedan with a FOB and unlocking the car.

"If you wouldn't mind letting me speak alone with Alex for a few moments…"

Chrissy frowned, opening her mouth to protest, but Sabina laying a hand on her shoulder and steering her towards the now unlocked car stopped any arguments that may have arisen. As soon as the two girls were out of earshot, the man turned to Alex with a stern expression on his face.

"That was a very close call, kid. You need to be more careful."

The teen was shocked momentarily at the sudden change in the agent's demeanour, before he glared at the man. "I was attacked," Alex managed to choke out, looking very frustrated. "I didn't ask to get arrested and questioned by the FBI. I was literally forced to protect myself and my close friend from a psycho." He scowled. "I don't care whether he was a federal agent or not – he attacked me for no damn reason."

The CIA agent watched Alex closely for a few moments, observing his facial expressions, before eventually nodding. "Okay, okay. I'll look into it for you, kid. But we can't keep saving your ass like this."

"This is literally the first time you've done it."

"And hopefully it'll be the last." The agent stepped closer to the car and opened the door for Alex. "Don't make a habit out of it."

Alex glared at the man, pursing his lips, before giving in and getting into the car, sitting down beside Chrissy (who had placed herself in the middle). When she noticed Alex's stormy expression, she frowned.

"What was that all about?" she asked him in a hushed tone, raising an eyebrow when he apparently refused to answer and instead sat back in his seat, folding his arms and sulking. "Okay, then…"

"How did they even know to come for you?"

Alex shrugged as he slowly stirred the cereal around in his bowl, watching as it went soggy. It was a good day or so after the whole fiasco with the mugger and the FBI and CIA, and Alex felt absolutely drained. He didn't want to be dealing with federal agencies again – he'd made it half a year without having to deal with them, and he wasn't looking to get involved with them again any time soon. In fact, Edward and Liz hadn't been pleased at all when Alex and Sabina had returned in the early hours of the morning, a CIA agent in tow. It was only after an intense discussion of what had actually happened that Alex and Sabina had managed to avoid getting grounded, but that didn't mean their parents were okay with what had happened.

It wasn't even the lack of ability to speak with his swollen throat that got him down (even though he was taken to the hospital to deal with that – the doctors had advised soft foods and painkillers, with an ice pack on the bruise at regular intervals to help the swelling go down). It was more the fact that they were so disappointed in him that got Alex so down.

"Maybe they were alerted when the police tried to access my files, just like the FBI were?"

"They were probably more alerted when the FBI tried to access the files," Sabina muttered as she took a bite of her toast. "The police can't do much with the information. The FBI can."

"That's a fair point." He shoved a spoonful into his mouth, the fingers of his free hand tapping on the pack of frozen peas wrapped in a tea towel on the table beside him. "Still sucks that I have to keep my eye out for them. They're assholes. And Essie's uncle was questioning me." He ran a slow hand over his face, stopping at the bruise on his neck. "He hates me."

"And that matters to you because…?" When he gave her a look, her eyes widened. "Oh."

He glared at her before he went back to stabbing at his bowl of food aimlessly. "Don't go on about it."

"I won't." Sabina smirked as she took another bite of her toast. "Just quickly, though – you're moving pretty slowly. At least, compared to with me."

"I said don't."

"Alright, alright. I'll stop."

The two ate in comfortable silence as the conversation between them died down. It was the first Monday of Spring Break, with the party having been on Saturday night, and other than sleep his life away Alex had no idea what to do. Maybe go for a bike ride with Bradley, and hang out with the others, but that wasn't much. He had minimal homework left to do, which could wait until later that week. In his opinion, he deserved a rest from studying. He'd worked hard this year.

"So, what've you got planned for today?" Sabina asked as she finished off her last piece of toast, picking up her glass of juice. "You can't just sleep for a whole day again. You need to actually do something with your day."

He shrugged. "I don't know. Read?" That sounded incredibly boring, but he didn't really have anything else in mind.

"You could try calling Tom?" she suggested, tilting her head slightly. "Message to ask if he's free, then Skype or something. Do something with your day. Maybe you can even go out later."

Alex shrugged. It sounded like a good idea, he supposed. "Sure, I'll message him." He pulled out his phone to start doing just that.

Sabina watched him for a few moments, before giving him a gentle smile, and then leaning over and placing her hand on his. "Maybe he can cheer you up."

Alex's lips lifted into a half-smile, looking up from his phone to her. "You've just put toast crumbs and jam all over my hand."

She rolled her eyes at him. "It's jelly."

"You've officially betrayed the British way of life. You can no longer call yourself British."

Hope you enjoyed!