Muddled Tears

by Kiamii

Chapter Ten "Keeping Up a Mask"

Beginning of Chapter has song Lyrics to Crazy by Simple Plan.

Alex settled back under the shady tree and leaned against the trunk, simply watching as kids ran by and were hugged by their eager parents, all asking how their day was. The kid would then rattle off countless things they had done and the adults would laugh. Alex smiled a little. To be innocent again like that would be a wondrous gift, but Alex preferred how he was now. Sure he was a kid, but he was happy that he finally had someone he could call dad and now that extent was calling Ben, daddy. Alex had never called someone that, let alone father. His uncle Ian had been impassive upon hearing Uncle as it had been... Alex sighed to himself and pulled out his ipod Ben had given back to him two nights ago though he kept his phone for safe keeping. Alex put the earpieces in and searched through the white nano 3 for a song. He finally selected the song he listened to a lot before his uncle died.

Tell me what's wrong with society

When everywhere I look I see

Young girls dying to be on TV

They wont stop 'til they've reached their dreams

Alex hummed a little, listening to the lyrics for once. This sounded like reality and he smiled a little at the reminder. He remembered how much Jack had tried to get herself noticed once when they went on an outing. Jack... He wondered what she was doing right now.

Diet pills, surgery

Photoshop pictures in magazines

Telling them how they should be

It doesn't make sense to me

On the contrary, it made sense to him. Alex mused about this section with a dazed look on his childish brown eyes. He wondered how the Felix kid had felt when he found out he wouldn't have gotten to meet Herold Sayle after all... Alex had taken his place. Alex shuddered at the reminder of that guy and his freakish Portuguese Man-Of-War Jellyfish...

Is everybody going crazy?

Is anybody gonna save me?

Can anybody tell me what's going on?

Tell me what's going on

If you open your eyes

You'll see that something is wrong

Alex closed his eyes, leaning against the tree even more. He used to ask himself these questions a lot over the year. Being blackmailed into missions. He had been a 14-year-old kid! Why did Alan Blunt want him so much? In the end though, he mused, Jack left for America anyways... All this for nothing... Only he was the one with the bad end of the deal.

I guess things are not how they used to be

There's no more normal families

Parents act like enemies

Making kids feel like it's world war III

Alex thought about Tom at this portion of the music. Alex didn't have anyone he could ever substitute for a mom, except for Jack and she was only as far as an older sister... Tom must hate having to deal with his parents going through a divorce. Last night before Tom had read to him (the thought of that was still humiliating) Alex remembered Tom mentioning how he planned to move in with his brother after the divorce... Alex wondered how he felt about his mom and dad though... He grimaced and decided he was simply glad he had a father to take care of him. The thought of that was nice. Alex smiled and something caught his eye. Speaking of which... Alex saw the familiar car pull up and this time it was someone else who got out of the driver's seat, surprising Alex immensely. The man walked over to Alex with a sheepish grin and knelt down in front of the boy as Alex pulled the ipod out of his ears and put it away.

"Long time no see kid." The man said with a grin.

"It's been only three days," Alex said with a quirked eyebrow, "and where's my daddy?" Alex mentally wondered how it was so easy to say that. Still, he liked being able to have someone to call that. The man laughed and reached out a hand, lightly ruffling Alex's hair and taking a delighted note in the fact that Alex no longer flinched.

"Ben is at home with some guests, but he asked me to pick you up. I need to talk to you though, is that alright?" He asked.

"Sure Tony." Alex sighed before standing up. Tony took hold of his hand and signed him out of the school before leaving. He strapped Alex in the car seat before beginning to drive to the park. He unstrapped Alex and let the boy walk over to the swings. Tony, not missing a beat, sat on the swing next to him. Alex only held himself up with one hand of course.

"You know, you remind me a lot of my little brother, your dad, when he was your age." Tony began with a smile. Alex looked at him with a confused look, "He used to always stare off into space, always thinking. I'm proud of him... Just don't tell him I said anything." Tony looked over at Alex, his short black spiky hair ruffled. Blue eyes pierced Alex's brown ones and the child blinked at him. If he remembered correctly, Ben told him a week ago that he thought his middle brother resented him sometimes. Zachary, the middle and called Zach, was a high school drop out and single. He worked at the cinema and lived in an apartment... The eldest brother, Anthony and called Tony, was married and a teacher. He had majored in English after graduating college. He couldn't have kids because of his wife and Tony must be deeply depressed by this notion, seeing as he loved kids according to Ben.

After that, Tony began to talk to Alex about how Ben used to be. The thing he brought Alex to the park for was never really known, only that the two talked. Alex didn't say much, simply telling Tony that he used to live with his uncle seeing as his parents died when he was very young. He told him how he had a caretaker and never saw his uncle. He even told Tony that his uncle had worked in MI6, thus the "reason" Ben had known about Alex and taken him in. As it grew late, Tony picked Alex up into his arms and carried the boy back to the car. Alex, feeling tired, leaned against his adopted uncle and allowed him to strap him in.

"What's with the padlock, by the way?" Tony inquired as he lifted up the strap to buckle to the middle.

"I know how to get out of this so daddy put it there to ensure I wouldn't," Alex yawned tiredly and Tony laughed at the thought of his little brother's problem.

"You are a very smart child Alex." Tony complimented as he adjusted the straps. Alex smiled sleepily at him a little and the man drove the two of them to Ben's house. They heard loud clangs and Tony warily picked Alex up and carried him inside, his backpack looped around one arm. He dug in his pocket and unlocked the door only to be met with a sight he hadn't quite seen before. Alex and Tony both looked at the four men with open mouths...

"What in the hell is going on here!?" Tony asked loudly, enraged that his little brother would do this.

...Alex blinked open his eyes the next day on a Saturday morning before sitting up and stretching. As he did so, he heard his father groan and enter his room.

"Morning Alex," Ben yawned.

"Morning daddy." Alex said with a quirked eyebrow. Ben caught the look and offered up a sheepish grin. He sat on the edge of Alex's large bed and put an arm around the boy, pulling him to his side. Alex, so used to this by now, leaned against his side and clutched his nearly healed arm to his chest while the other had Button.

"Sorry about last night kiddo," Ben apologized.

"It's alright. I didn't mind... but I think Tony did." Alex said, looking up at his father. Ben coughed in shock.

"I don't think I remember anything then... Was my brother the one who dropped you off at home?" When Alex nodded, Ben turned red, "I'm in trouble now."

"Yes. You. Are." Tony's voice echoed to them causing the two to look in the door in the face of the eldest brother of the three Daniels. Tony, hair damp from a shower, glared at Ben with such fiery eyes it was a wonder he didn't cower. Ben stood up after briefly hugging Alex with one arm. Alex slid to the edge of the bed and before he could slide off, Tony walked over to him and picked Alex up, settling him on his hip. Alex said nothing, gripping Button to him tighter. He leaned his other arm against Anthony's chest and the man kept his arms around Alex.

"You have a lot of explaining to do little man." Tony said to his brother.

"Well... K-Unit, my old squad, came back while you went to get Alex for me. Well... Eagle had brought back a bottle of alcohol from who knows where and he managed to convince all four of us to drink... The rest only you and Alex would remember..." Ben said with a blush. Tony's glare intensified. Without a word, he carried Alex downstairs with Ben following. Tony sat Alex on one of the bar stools and went about cooking up a good enough breakfast of pancakes. Ben sat next to Alex quietly and grimaced as Tony began talking in his usual scolding voice.

"You should be sick of yourself Ben. Sometimes, I don't know what goes on in your head, but you have a responsibility to uphold for your son now." Anthony huffed as he set the plate down in front of Alex who thanked him and picked up a fork and stabbed the pancake. Tony laughed suddenly at the antic and took the fork from Alex before cutting the pancake up for the child. He smiled as Alex grinned and stabbed a piece, chucking it into his mouth and getting some of the syrup on him mouth. Tony chuckled again as he grabbed a napkin and cupped Alex's face, gently dabbing the napkin to his mouth and cleaning him up.

"Thanks Tony," Alex said with a sheepish grin. Inwardly the teenage side of him blushed furiously, but was hoping that Tony was now fully distracted. Seeing Tony's warm smile, he guessed it worked as Tony simply shook his head in amusement and waited for Alex to finish before he took the dishes and began cleaning up right as they hear a groan from the living room.

"Looks like your unit is awake." Tony said and Ben sighed before he finished up a cup of coffee and helped Alex off the stool. He took the boy by his hand and pulled him into the living room. This hole time, Alex said nothing and complied. He was a bit embarrassed to still be in his red pajamas though...

"Hey guys," Ben greeted as he found Eagle and Snake moaning as they awoke... next to each other on the couch. Alex's eyebrows shot up at the mess of the living room where most of their drinking had been. It wreaked of alcohol and Alex's nose scrunched up. Wolf was stirring from his spot under the coffee table while Eagle now sat up, trying not to get hit by the bottles all around them. The TV was sticky looking and most of the books Alex had left downstairs... were ruined!

"My books!" Alex said in shock, feeling upset. Ben noticed them and he looked extremely ashamed of himself this time. He lifted Alex up into his arms and kissed his son on the forehead, feeling guilty as Alex blinked at him. He vowed silently to read more of the books he had to Alex and probably spend more time with him. The boy may be mentally 15, but he was also emotionally and physically 5. Alex bit his lip as Tony walked in and, seeing Alex's distress, found the books and grimaced. He lifted the stack of four books up and Alex could see they were completely destroyed.

"You guys are going to stay sober if I have anything to say about it," Tony muttered darkly as he left and returned with a large trash bag. He began to clean up and Ben set Alex down on the thankfully dry sofa before helping. Alex watched this, looking at the three hungover men groaning and moaning about. Ben had told him yesterday they would be staying for a week... This ought to be interesting.

And that's when Alex's phone rang...

Author's Note: Have a Job Interview in a few minutes! A bit anxious. But I wrote the rest of this chapter to calm my nerves. Tell me what you think. The full drinking scene will be posted next chapter for the most part. Review!!!!