Hello, friends! You have no idea how much I love you :D Alerts and favs and reviews... you truly are incredible x3
Well, here's an update. I assure you, that I will update again as soon as I can - but I have another chapter of another story to write, too... but it will never, ever take me as long to update as it did before! Promise! K? xP
I remember now what I meant to say before! You see, the program I use to write in, kind of doesn't obey me like it used to - so there's no spellcheck, and I'm a bit too tired to reread at the moment... so if there's any really big errors or something, you know why. And feel free to point them out.
I think that was that... but I'm not sure.
Ah, well. Btw, excuse Wolf for being boring in this chapter. Couldn't help it -.-
Disclaimer: I don't know anything. Really. Rather sad, isn't it?
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Alex groaned.

To say that some part of him was aching or hurting would be wrong; it was more like he hurt. All of him.

Of course it was worse on his left side; while he had managed to avoid actually getting stabbed, he hadn't managed to avoid the knife/scythe-thingy entirely – it was no deep wound, but it was long; from a bit under his left armpit, down a bit and then it swung toward his navel. It would be a thin scar to add to his growing collection. Perhaps the oddest looking one, so far.

And the damn thing stung like hell. Not to mention he was feeling incredibly sick, had a splitting headache, and the sprained wrist he had fallen asleep on and the bruises that overall, like after most missions, littered his body.

Then again, he had had worse, so he shouldn't really be complaining, should he?

Alex sighed and listened to Wolf talk on the phone, presumably with Jack; he said something about "his unit", followed by "John" and "medic" – there was a pause; Jack obviously spoke – and then a simple "bye".

The teen missed Jack terribly, but to talk with her now would be too hard. She obviously knew that he had been on a mission – he had wanted to keep that from her, just this once – and would fuss and worry and cry and curse and demand to know what he had done and been through this time. And Alex was too tired to deal with that right now.

So he remained in the bed, listening to Wolf's every movement and sigh. He seemed to sigh a lot lately.

After a while, Alex decided that lying about in the bed all day wouldn't do, so he forced himself out of it and walked around the room, in a vain attempt to loosen up sore and stiff muscles. He hadn't slept for very long, but old habit die hard, and some internal clock awoke him and wouldn't let him fall sleep again. At least not very soon.

Alex sighed. Wanting to stall having to face Wolf so soon, he decided to shower; so he sneaked out of his room, carefully closed the door and pattered over to the bathroom.

He slowly removed the bandages that were wrapped around the upper part of his body and the one around his wrist and entered the shower. He hissed as hot water washed over his wounds and bruises; but the pain faded rather quickly – he was a bit too used to showering with fresh wounds than he'd like to admit – and he could finally just enjoy being able the bathe, which he hadn't during the past week.

The fake tan – a really disgusting, brownish creme that had also prevented him from actually getting much of a real tan – would disappear if he had showered more than once, and, since he was supposed to be a sixteen-year-old guy named Pedro that had lived in Peru the past five years, that wouldn't be too good.

It was nice to get the creme off and wash the hair dye out. Though the latter didn't go out entirely – it had been dyed so dark, almost black, which was a strong contrast from his naturally fair hair – so even with the "miracle-shampoo" from Smithers, some dye stuck and left Alex's hair a couple of shades darker than it usually was.

Eventually, Alex had to face the fact that he couldn't put off facing Wolf any longer, so he stepped out of the shower, dried himself carefully and did his best to put the bandages back like they had been before.

The teen pattered back to his room, dressed and got out again. He was feeling a little better than before, the warm water had managed to soothe his aching body somewhat, but was far from "fine".

Wolf had rushed up from the couch and was standing in front Alex, before the teen had even reached the kitchen.

They were both quiet for a long while, just staring into each other's eyes, both secretly wondering what the other would say.

Alex was the one to talk first, though Wolf was the first one to make a sound. How? Well, Wolf didn't really talk...

"Cub! What the hell happened to your hair!? Why the hell's your arm bandaged!? You better give me a straight answer, got it? I won't buy the damn confidential-crap! So speak up, kid!"

… he was yelling. Too much time at Brecon Beacons with the Sergerant was finally showing.

"I've been on a mission, Wolf," the teen answered, carefully, calmly. "I was uncercover in Peru. I had to dye my hair."

"That doesn't explain the arm!" the SAS agent roared. It was a wonder the neighbours weren't here knocking on the door, wondering what on Earth was going on here, yet; then again, they were probably used to it by now. "And why the bloody hell were you in Peru!?"

Alex sighed and rolled his eyes, walking past Wolf and into the kitchen. Not daring to eat, since his stomach would probably refuse the food and throw it right up again, he settled on simply drinking water.

"I was a part of another agent's cover." he explained, tiredly, choosing not to explain his arm. Wasn't it obvious?

"Then why the hell were you injured?" Wolf was starting to understand that he didn't need to yell at the teen; the boy would talk anyway. But his way of showing that he cared was by raising his voice...

Then again, his way of showing most emotions was by yelling.

"Because the other agent got himself shot," Alex muttered, wearily, frowning and wrinkling his nose at the memory. "shot three times in the stomach; he bled to death."

Wolf was positively taken aback. His eyebrows shot up, and he stared, somewhat incredulously at the kid.

"So I had to finish the mission." Alex finished with a sigh and took a sip of water.

"Which was...?" Wolf wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer; he didn't want to imagine what the kid had been going through, practically alone... he saw the arm, he saw that the kid was still wiped, he had heard that the kid had seen a man bleed to death – the question now was if it could only getter better or only get worse.

"Locate and watch an organization that deals with drugs, weapons and slave trade – the usual. Or should I say dealed..." the teen muttered, shrugging lightly. "They sold clown costumes and doors as a side job." Alex frowned slighty, once again thinking back, as he said the next words.

"Their leader had a really creepy fetish for kimonos, katanas and cupcakes..."

"What the hell, kid?"

"It might not sound so bad, but believe me, when you were there... it was damn creepy." the spy took another sip of water, looking bitter.

Wolf sighed and shook his head, disbelief clear in his eyes.

"Sure..." Eric muttered, settling on bringing it up again when the others were there. "I'm not Snake, but shouldn't you eat something?" he added, half-heartedly.

"Can't." Alex answered, stretching his arms carefully.

"Why?" the SAS agent asked, slightly annoyed that the kid wouldn't just explain right away. Wolf assumed that it was either because the kid couldn't take a hint, or just liked to annoy people. Probably the latter.

"I was poisoned." the spy explained, flippantly, shrugging.

Silence.

"WHAT!? WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT EARLIER!? DO YOU HAVE A BLOODY DEATHWISH!?" Alex got a vague sense of déjà vu, as his temporary guardian stood up, face flushed from (assumed) anger.

Wolf kept yelling for a while, mostly threats regarding what would happen to Alex if he ever kept something like this from him, Wolf, again and that the teen was a completely idiotic imbecile for even being poisoned to start with. And if you were an "idiotic imbecile", you were damn stupid.

When he was finally done – Alex was sure he was drenched in spit, which was... quite disgusting – he was breathing heavily and glaring daggers at poor Alex.

Ah, yes, déjà vu.

"... you definitely shouldn't hang out so much with the Sergeant. He's rubbing off on you."

With that, the spy rose to his feet and wandered back to his room, admiring his own boldness.

~~.._..~~

"Wait, wait, didn't you say you were in Peru?" Eagle asked, frowning. Alex couldn't believe he had to go through this again – first with Wolf, then James had stormed the building, and now the rest of K-Unit. Not to mention the report he'd written on it.

"Yes." the spy answered, tiredly; really, he was exhausted. He hadn't slept much, and then to deal with any member of K-Unit was tiring – especially Snake in mommy-medic-mode, whom had forced Alex through a really thorough check-up...

"But if he liked katanas and kimonos, shouldn't he be in Japan? Or just some Asian country? What the hell was he doing in Peru?" Eagle exclaimed, bewildered.

"I won't even try to understand how his mind works." Alex said, firmly. "And, James, can you please let go of my arm?"

Said boy had been holding on quite tightly to Alex's arm – the one without a sprained wrist – constantly since he had arrived at the apartment. James was so relieved the other teen was alive and, more or less, whole and well – he had returned much worse before.

In fact, James had been so glad that he had dared to hug Alex in three minutes in front of Wolf! Which was pretty much asking for an early death.

The two boys had, after a lot of manipulating and presuading on Alex's part, "received" permission to go to Alex's room and just hang out and talk, so that James could make sure his friend really was alright.

"There's no way I'm letting go." the Austrian boy said matter-of-factly. Fox raised an eyebrow.

"If Alex wants you to let go, then you better let go, kid..." the SAS-gone-MI6 agent said, quietly, trying to seem menacing.

"But – what... when did they actually get an opportunity to posion you, then?" Eagle asked, frowning slightly, ignoring his former teammate and James. "You were held captive for four days, and it wasn't with the food they gave you... you weren't poisoned before, and your grand finale was to set the place on fire..."

"It wasn't like I could just snap my fingers and the whole place caught fire," Alex pointed out, somehow amused by all this. Eagle was trying so hard to grasp it all. "and my wrist didn't sprain itself..."

"Oh, so you had to fight your way out?" the tall man asked, eyes wide and mouth left agape in awe. "This is sounding more and more like some action movie..."

"If if had only been that simple..." the teen muttered, sending an annoyed glare sideways, at James and Fox who were getting noisy.

"You can eat soup, can't you, Alex?" Snake asked, softly. His gentleness was welcomed. "Or would porridge be better?"

"I'm pretty sure I can eat both, so it doesn't really matter..." Alex replied.

"When are you going back to school?" Snake wondered as he started to set the table. He pushed those in the way away and used his surprisingly impressive glare to finally put an end to Fox's and James' bickering.

"I was planning to go back tomorrow..." the spy barely got to finish the sentence before... the response came.

"Why? I thought teen's preferred to skip school. You have an excellent reason..."

"Aw, why, Al? Take the day off with me--" the rest was muffled by Fox's hand.

"I really don't think that's a wise descision...--"

"Hell no! You're not going anywhere!" ah, Wolf. What a surprise.

Alex groaned, watching the others exasperatedly.

"I won't do anything straining and I'll skip P.E..." he stated. "It's not like I'll break or anything."

There was a short silence.

Then the protests started again.

The spy sighed and let a hand go through his hair. Time to use his spy-skills again, then.

~~.._..~~

Alex ended up getting his will through after all.

They (being K-Unit and James) did have some conditions, though; like driving and picking him up to and from school. Not strain himself or pick a fight. Small things like that, but Alex figured he'd just have to deal with it; they had had James on their side, after all, and said boy knew Alex's tactics too well, so he couldn't have expected to have it his was entirely.

To his surprise, Tom wasn't the first one to greet him when he arrived – Penny was.

"Rider! I have no idea where you've been or why you look even hotter now, but welcome back!" she grinned and giggled in a really shrill voice.

"Uh, hi, uh, thanks?" Alex replied hesitatingly.

"I'm so glad you're back! And what a timing you have!" she giggled again; a sound which Alex was already sick of. "The roles of the play are all settled and done! Your rehearsals starts tomorrow."

The spy stiffened – he had completely forgotten about that. Shit.

Penny took in his expression greedily, tormenting him a little while longer with her knowledge and his lack of it.

Finally, she decided to let him in on what everyone else already knew.

"Oh, don't worry, Rider," Penny giggled once again. "what do you think of me? Harris was offically selected for the part of Juliet."

Alex breathed a sigh of relief, a malicious grin quickly plastering itself on his face. Oh, was he going to tease Tom for this...-- wait. Didn't she say "your rehearsals"...?

The grin faded, but Penny's only grew, as she saw that her previous words properly caught up with him now.

"I said I'd get you out of the role of Juliet, not out of the play entirely..." she stated, her grin turning smug. "You, Alex Rider," Pennt was enjoying every second of this. "got the part of Romeo Montague."