Muddled Tears

by Kiamii

Chapter Twenty Five "Daring the Devil"

Continued Warning For the Entire Story: Death, Angst, and Fighting just in case

Tom Harris was your average 16-year-old lad, being older than his best friend. He had dazzling blue eyes that went well with his spiky black hair. He was somewhat small, but he more than made up for it with his fitness. He wasn't very clever academically, but he was the captain of the football team and he got extra cash by babysitting neighbor's children from ages two all the way up to ten. He had started this job when he was twelve, in need of an allowance since his parents had started fighting around then. Jerry was off starting his own path, so Tom was pretty much left to it all on his own. Now here he was, four years later, making a check list on the payments from each parent he babysat for, all were done except for one. The one child he had firmly requested that he be paid much less than usual, considering how much he cared for this boy.

One Alex Rider.

Tom bit his cheek as he looked at the name he had put on his list, only it had been put as Alex Daniels. His former best friend was of the age of five now, having been fifteen just days prior to the day it all happened. Tom closed his eyes as he sat back on his bed, clothed in dark blue jeans and a brown shirt that had a guitar on the front. He drew one knee to his chest and the other laying flatly on the bed. His hand still clutched the folded list that had over a dozen children he routinely babysat for during summers and weekends, sometimes after school. His black hair ruffled as he leaned his head against the headboard. Last night, he had called the Daniels residence to see if Ben would need any help since he knew the man worked Wednesdays and Thursdays. No one had picked up and that worried Tom. He had rode his bike to the two stories house and found it empty, not a soul occupying the house. Car was gone and even Alex's toys that Ben casually allowed outside were nowhere to be seen. While Alex wasn't a real child, he played with his football quite often outside.

It was later that day that he found out that Ben had taken Alex with him on a mission, finding a text message from Alex using his father's phone.

At BB again. Dad (Ben) is about to go on a mission again. Zach knows and he's going to be with me.

From,

AD.

Tom reviewed the message on his phone over and over again. He finally put it down and wondered when he'd next see his best friend, and now small companion. The first few nights that Tom babysat Alex had been a struggle to balance best friend with babysitter and child. After the third attempt, Tom had begun to treat Alex like a child every now and then, though he talked to Alex like he was his best friend, except for the times Alex refused to listen to him. Tom's lips twitched slightly as he recalled the various fighting the two of them went through when Alex was in need of a bath. After the first time, Tom secretly found it highly entertaining to see how badly Alex blushed after the incidents. Though his favorite moments would always be when Alex fell asleep for the night, sometimes next to Tom on the couch in the living room or in his bedroom, his hand fisting the blanket tightly.

"What have you gotten yourself into this time Al," Tom groaned to himself. Like all those other times ever since Alex's Scorpia encounter, Tom would always be sitting here and awaiting news of his friend of many years. Tom was about to head down to make himself dinner -his parents having gone out their own ways- when his phone began to ring. He looked at the caller ID and noticed it said Alex Rider. He immediately hit answer without a second thought.

"Hello?" Tom asked curiously as he sat back down on his bed.

"Is this Mr. Tom Harris?" someone inquired softly. Tom narrowed his eyes. The voice was vaguely familiar, but he wasn't sure where he had heard it.

"And if I am?" Tom stated blankly, wondering why this stranger had his best friend's phone.

"This is Zachary Daniels, Alex's uncle. I need you to ride to Alex's old home. There an agent from MI6 will take you to Mrs. Jones, and hopefully a safe house. I can only say, don't let anyone know or else your family could be in danger. Hurry." the voice said before the line went dead. Tom blanched as he recalled the information. Hurriedly he grabbed his iPod and stuffed it in his jeans. He knew from past thoughts that he'd always be in danger ever since Alex had told him about his missions and job, but he had forgotten about those thoughts when Alex was turned into a mere child.

He looked with a vengeance for his shoes and stuffed them on his shoes, hastily tying the laces. There was a note of urgency from the voice and Tom now remembered meeting the man. Zach had black hair and blue eyes, just like Tom he remembered. He was also the middle brother of the three Daniels. The eldest being Anthony and the youngest being Alex's father, Ben. Tom now knew something must have happened and he hurriedly grabbed his phone from it's thrown spot and left only a small note on the fridge on his way out.

I'll be back one day.

Love,

Tom

Tom was pedaling his bike as fast as possible to the old Chelsea home. It was there he saw, to his amazement, a black car with a woman in gray standing next to an agent looking man. He hesitated and dropped his bike, walking over to them. He had stuffed his backpack with clothes and things he wanted before taking off. He warily went over to them.

"Who are you?" he asked bluntly. The two looked at him.

"Mrs. Jones and this is Agent Sullivan. We are from MI6. Are you Tom Harris?" she asked and when Tom nodded, she looked at her companion and the three of them got in the car. Tom looked around the very sleek car with admiration and finally turned his attention to the lady. She had dark hair and black eyes, a silver chain around her neck and wearing a dark grey suit. She pulled out a peppermint and Tom watched, bewildered, as she popped it in her mouth and sucked on it in something akin to smoking. Well habitual wise, Tom amended as he watched the woman before she looked at him and finally spoke.

"We are taking you to the location of where Agent Daniels left his son and second brother. It seems you were placed a target on as Alex's babysitter, and luckily not his former best friend." the woman said. Tom looked indignant.

"Former? He's still my best friend!" Tom retorted and she blinked, not saying anything about that. Frankly, to his exasperation, the stupid witch looked like she hadn't heard him. Was this how Alex felt? No wonder he hated MI6. He couldn't imagine meeting Alan Blunt! Tom looked at the woman incredulously as she ignored him for a moment or two and he sighed, pulling out his iPod and listening to it. He fell into a light sleep, finding himself jolting awake moments later. He turned his eyes to see that they had arrived at the airport and a jet was boarding right now, making Tom gape. What in the ruddy hell was going on?

"Currently Mr. Daniels and Alex are in Russia, which is where you will be. I will be accompanying you. Alex had requested you be brought with them." Mrs. Jones said smoothly. Tom looked at her incredulously before sighing and he let the agent take his bag as he put his earphones back in. He looked around in awe as he boarded the plane, bypassing security and easily making it into the now boarding plane. It was so amazing and Tom childishly felt like a celebrity what with being in first class. He looked admiringly at the ladies clad in uniform and accepted a cola from them. He warily leaned back in the comfortable seat and looked out the window. For some reason he felt very on edge with this whole thing, but he let it go. Mrs. Jones took a seat next to him and the agent was next to her, looking at everyone suspiciously. All the people boarding spared them a glance and Tom amusingly guessed it looked like Mrs. Jones and Agent Sullivan were his parents. He snorted in laughter and shook his head at their glances.

It was hours later, possibly a day but Tom was never good at knowing the distance, when they landed in Sikhote Alin, Russia. Tom blinked at the name that Mrs. Jones told him and he watched as passengers left, the agent checking around while casually slipping into the role of devoting father. Mrs. Jones must have had children or something, because she just as easily slipped into the role of a loving mother and wife. Tom was very much baffled, but he tried his best to pass into the sulking teenager, realizing this must be what Alex had to do sometimes. Tom dryly noted that being a spy was rather unsuspecting situations that came with the jobs, and he no longer felt excited about Alex's occupation.

They bypassed security, seeing as the guards suspected nothing of the 16-year-old really, though they did look at his iPod. Luckily Tom's phone was so badly scratched that the guards mistake it for broken, so they didn't look through the contacts. If they had they would have noticed Ben Daniels and Alex Rider being two of the contacts.

"How did his uncle get a hold of me from another continent?" Tom suddenly asked Mrs. Jones as they entered a reserved car for them.

"Alex's phone is an international one, in case of emergencies such as this. We received a distress call from Agent Daniels and were told from Mr. Daniels that someone had figured out about your relation to them being much closer than just your average babysitter. Agent Daniels and another of his teammate has had their respective partners sent here as well. It has always been said that you're safer the closer to the enemy you are." Mrs. Jones said in a low voice as they drove around for awhile, making sure to ditch any trailing cars, before they arrived at a hotel. Tom got out and followed the agents to the lobby where he was given a key and taken up a flight up stairs, the agent mistrustful of elevators, and they arrived in front of a hotel room. Tom could hear muffled laughter -adults he realized- and he slid the card into the door, opening it to find the man he could identify as Zach, and one of the ladies looked like Ben's girlfriend from the pictures.

"You're Tom aren't you?" Zach asked with a grimace, "Sorry about the phone call. It's probably been a long day for you since you arrived in Russia. Why don't you get some rest? Your room is to the left, where Alex is sleeping."

"Why're we in Russia and not just at home?" Tom asked bluntly. Questions first, rest later, he told himself mentally. Mrs. Jones was the one to answer as the room was swept for bugs by the agent. Zach chose this time to fetch Alex as they heard small movement from another room. According to the newly positioned head of MI6, Ivan-something was planning to blow up the UK and USA. But he was getting his petty revenge first by searching through the UK for people who were close to Ben Daniels, and coincidentally his 5-year-old son. Through that Tom became a victim, though he was only seen as a very close babysitter of the boy. By hiding them in Russia, the enemy would be unsuspecting. That and they had equipment set up in this hotel, where Tom could help by monitoring the screens or taking care of Alex while K-Unit and Ben were on their mission. A dozen or so agents were in this hotel, each monitoring screens to make sure Ben and them weren't in danger, while another SAS unit went with K-Unit. Apparently around three different agents that had gone with K-Unit were now dead and taken back to the UK by the enemy's men themselves. Tom was baffled by all this, but he nodded his head though he really didn't understand.

"Tom?" yawned a small voice and Tom whirled around to see his pint-sized best friend. He allowed a smile to grace his lips, replacing his puzzled look. Tom knelt down as Zach led Alex to the teenager. He easily picked Alex up, much to the boy's protest. Tom turned to the unknown lady with an uncertain look on his face as he shifted Alex on his hip, ignoring the boy's murmured insults that Tom was being overprotective and mollycoddling him.

"I'm Tom Harris," the teenager introduced.

"Pleasure, or rather I wish it was, though I hope we could have met in a better atmosphere. I'm Sarah Evans, Chris's wife... Snake from K-Unit and yes I was told of Alex Rider who is currently Alex Daniels," she said with a humorous smile. Tom could see the very slightly bulging stomach and could only guess she was pregnant. He carried Alex over to the couch and sat down, putting Alex next to him. The ex-spy yawned a little and looked at Tom in small concern, just like the older version of him used to. Tom grinned and ruffled the blond locks.

"How long have you all been here?" Tom asked.

"I've been here with Uncle Zach for about a week. Sarah and Kaitlyn have been here for two days," Alex answered before any of the adults could. Zach's lips twitched at the mention of being an uncle and then he was reminded of his brothers for a second, allowing a frown to cross his face. Tom did not notice any of that.

"Where's Tony, your -uh- older uncle?" Tom asked Alex with a grimace.

"The reason we are here. He was kidnapped by the ones after my younger brother and nephew," Zach sighed, running a hand through his hair. They were quiet for a moment and eventually Tom engaged Alex in a small argument about some funny American song that came with a dance move that Tom tried to imitate, only to have Alex scoff and try, though he failed miserably too. So the boys set up a laptop from Smithers before Alex had left for Russia and looked up the dance. The adults watched with amusement, chattering back and forth, as the teen and child attempted the moves. The night was filled with much laughter and the tension was gone with Tom's ever humorous personality. All of them almost forgot they were being guarded by top agents that remained from a crash. Alex even nearly forgot about Ben and K-Unit risking their lives out there... until an agent came to deliver grave news to Mrs. Jones. Alex noticed and asked what was wrong. Seeing the innocent-like gaze though it was jaded by his previous life, Mrs. Jones hesitated before she looked at the adults and looked right at Alex again.

"Jason McKnight has been shot by Yassen Gregorovich."

Author's Note: So I took forever to update. Sorry about that. I was distracted by everything and anything. Heh. So this entire chapter was almost written in just Tom's POV. It seemed a little uneventful but I felt that I should give this story a little ease up on the darkness. Though the cliffy didn't help, did it? So I know this was shorter than usual, but I'm trying to get my muse back. So just sit back and next chapter might be a skip forward to the end of the mission, I don't know. For those of you who don't realize this. Jason McKnight is EAGLE. Hehe. I hope you enjoyed and remember, lots of reviews make me update faster.