There had been some damage done to Alex in the time that he was in MI6. There was the gunshot wound, the torture, and the terror. There were kidnappings and threats. And then there were the times when he had thought he was out and he was settling back in a blessed civilian life only to be ripped away from it all.
And Jack-wonderful Jack-had been a rock through it all. When he ducked under the table, thinking a backfiring car was a sniper, she didn't make him feel bad about it. She didn't make him feel like there was something wrong with him or that he was acting like a crazy person. Alex loved her for that.
Eagle had also handled Alex fairly well, all things considered. Not only had he been okay with Alex and his craziness (Tom) but he had been okay with Jack and all of her craziness. For Jack was as quirky as any of them and she had her own baggage as well. But Eagle had not questioned any of it, just accepted, grumbled a little as he liked to do, and moved on.
This was why Alex had not driven him from the house as he had done with past boyfriends he did not like. Despite the general weariness that had passed between the two of them they had grown to like each other. Eagle had fit nicely into the home to the point that he had spent the night once and never left. And nobody questioned it either.
"Do you want cereal or toast?" Eagle asked, as he rooted around in the cabinets. Jack was in America for two weeks for her father's birthday which left Eagle in charge. Alex wasn't quite sure how to feel about that. Eagle on the other hand seemed to take it as a challenge that he could keep everything in one piece for two weeks and was currently making Alex some eggs as a starting point.
"Both," Alex replied, flipping through a magazine and enjoying Eagle's frustrated sigh. Alex wondered exactly how long he could pretended to be Jack before he gave up and reverted back to being himself. In the meantime, Alex was enjoying the show.
Eagle grumbled and shuffled around for the next few minutes before he basically slammed the plates on the table, barely even noticing that he was making an incredible amount of noise.
Eagle had been preoccupied by his new job lately which meant that he was always banging cabinets and grumbling at random objects. He had recently been hired by a private security company to test their systems. Basically, it was his job to break into banks, corporate headquarters, and private residences. Tom thought it was the coolest job he had ever heard of and had been pestering Eagle to take him along.
Today, Eagle had meetings with clients and his handpicked team. Thus, he was in a rumpled suit that he was clearly uncomfortable being in. He kept fiddling with the tie.
"You're going to look like a hobo if you don't stop wrinkling that tie," Alex told him brightly, munching on his cereal. He smiled sweetly when Eagle glared at him. However, Eagle didn't comment and normally Alex would have wondered why. However, he was perfectly aware of what was weighing on the man's mind.
Eagle had been preparing, for weeks, to have a talk with Alex about Jack's guardianship. Once he and Jack were married he was planning on sharing the guardianship with her. He even had the paperwork locked away in the desk, all ready to go. The only problem was that Eagle was absolutely terrified to broach the subject with Alex and Jack wouldn't do it for him. The only reason Alex even knew about it was because he'd found the papers during his weekly search of Eagle's stuff.
He wondered when the man would say something and he was thoroughly curious as to what his own answer would be. He had decided to wing it. In the meantime, he was enjoying watching Eagle try to work himself up to the conversation. It was actually quite entertaining.
"I'm going to be late tonight so you're on your own for dinner," Eagle told him. Alex took a moment to appreciate how incredibly hilarious this situation was. Not so long ago, he and Eagle had hated each other. Eagle had once pushed him face first in the mud at Brecon Beacons. Now the guy was engaged to Jack and wanted to take him on as a ward. They were starting to look like a family. Alex couldn't decide if that was freaky or amazing.
"Alright," Alex said. "I may just go to Tom's, then." He dug around in the cereal box for the prize and came up with a neon green plastic ring with a blue plastic jewel. He smiled and pocketed it.
"Fine, but you need to sleep here. It's still a school night."
Alex hummed and nodded.
There was a real possibility that he would never get used to having such domestic conversations with Eagle. He wondered if Tom felt the same way about Wolf.
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"Shhh!" Tom hissed and Alex rolled his eyes. The small teen would never be as quiet as Alex no matter how many times he told everyone he was a ninja. The two of them had left Wolf's place with a flat out lie that they were going to a movie and would both be in their respective beds by nine. They had then caught the bus back to Alex's home where they were now looking for the keys to Eagle's car.
Alex wasn't sure how long he had been home but he could hear the guy banging around in the kitchen. He opened the front door silently, the oiled hinges making no noise at all which was a testament to Alex's ability to silence a door. Taking two steps into the house he used his thumb and forefinger to gently pick out Eagle's keys from the bowl he's dropped them in. Eagle was nothing, if not routine. Alex also grabbed Eagle's wallet, knowing he'd be grounded for forever and a day but not particularly caring.
With money and keys in hand, he backed out and shut the door.
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The party was in a distant part of town and it took Alex forty-five minutes to get there. With a total of five teenagers in Eagle's boosted car, they were all loud and excited. Alex had never done something like this before and he could hardly believe that he had actually done it. Tom had been perfectly willing to leave Alex behind to go to this party but Alex was tired of being in bed at ten.
Eagle wasn't the only one who was feeling antsy and being at a party in the middle of the week was something that sounded just crazy enough to keep him from pulling his hair out by the roots.
"Here," David said, thrusting his fist in between the front seats. He handed something to Tom and then slipped another into Alex's palm. He recognized it as an ecstasy pill.
"No thanks," he said, immediately. "I'm driving."
"Yeah," Tom agreed. "Not for me either, my friend. The last time I had one of these I thought my teddy bear was trying to get me to eat dog food."
"You have a teddy bear?" David asked, taking back both pills.
"You don't have a dog," Alex said.
"Yes and yes," Tom said, smirking.
The party itself was just a typical teenaged free for all. There was drinking, drugs, and Alex was pretty sure there was a couple having sex in the coat closet. He spent the entire night in a corner with some girl he didn't know and pressing ignore as Eagle kept calling him. Eventually, the man sent him a text.
If you're alive you better reply, otherwise you're dead.
I'm fine.
Where are you?
Out.
There were a few more texts after that and he'd even gotten one from Wolf saying he wanted a call from Tom immediately or he was going to throw away all his comics. Alex just turned off his mobile. They would both be in a huge amount of trouble when they stumbled home but Alex was past the point of caring. He was feeling good; Tom was having fun dancing with a couple of girls.
He didn't want to ruin that for him.
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Alex had let someone else drive Eagle's car home. In retrospect, this had not been a good idea but the girl from the party corner, Madison, had agreed to leave with him and he was more interested in sitting with her than driving. Besides, he had been drinking more than he should have and the person driving claimed she had not.
Tom was passed out next to him, his feet tangled up with Alex's in the cramped backseat and his face pressed against the door. All the windows were open and the cold night air felt amazing as they drove back towards home. It didn't take long before he and Madison were making out.
It took even less time before they were being pulled over by the police.
Apparently, Eagle had instigated a man hunt.
Tom thought that was funny as hell.
And when Alex gave Madison the plastic ring he'd found in his cereal box that morning, Tom had made so much noise the policeman threatened him with pepper spray if he didn't calm down. But with his hands ziptied behind his back and the rain washing away the last of his inhibitions, Alex kissed Madison one last time and thoroughly enjoyed being put into the back of the police car.
He never saw that girl again and by morning he couldn't even remember what she'd looked like.
00000
The police had left Tom and Alex in a cell to sleep it off. By eight the next morning, they were woken by a very irate Eagle. Alex's head was pounding and Tom looked as if he wanted to cry. Eagle had absolutely no sympathy for either of them.
"I cannot believe you stole my car to go across town and get drunk!" he raved as he drove them home. "And whoever was driving you back to town was just as drunk as you were, you little shits! You could have been killed."
"It was just a party," Tom mumbled.
"It was the stupidest thing either of you have done!" Eagle shouted and Alex rubbed at his temple. Eagle had been kind enough to bring him his hoodie, knowing the kid's clothes had been soaked from the rain and all Alex wanted to do was pull up the hood and cover his ears to muffle Eagle's yelling. "And that's in a long line of very stupid things! Rey nearly had a panic attack! I had to call Jack and let her know you'd disappeared!"
"Sorry," Alex winced, knowing he was in for worse when he got home and had to have that conversation with his guardian by phone.
"He had a panic attack?" Tom asked, curious. It figured that he was narrowing in on Wolf's reaction. Wolf always had interesting reactions to the things Tom did. That was what made it so much fun to pick on him.
"Nearly," Eagle seethed. "And I had to call in to work today. What the hell were you two thinking?"
Alex shrugged and the car descended into a stony silence that wasn't broken until Tom had disappeared into Wolf's flat. He had expected Eagle to immediately drive away but instead he turned in his seat to get a real good look at the miserable teen beside him.
"Is there a reason you decided to sneak out to a party on a Tuesday night?" Eagle asked. Alex shrugged and kept looking out of the window. "Cub."
Eagle hadn't used that name in a long time, long enough that it felt strange to hear it out of his mouth. But it had the exact effect that the man had been looking for. Alex sat up a little straighter, took a deep breath, and faced Eagle head on.
"What?" he asked.
"What really happened last night?"
Alex shrugged again and Eagle sighed. He put the car into drive and drove them three blocks to the closest park. He forced Alex to get out and marched him over to the nearest bench, pushing him down into it.
"Stay here," he ordered and walked away. Alex didn't even think of disobeying, mostly because his head was hurting so badly he didn't want to get up. Eagle returned twenty minutes later with a bottle of water and some to-go aspirin packets that he'd apparently bought at the corner store.
"Thank you," Alex mumbled and the man sat down next to him, throwing an arm over the back of the bench and clasping Alex's shoulder. He waited until Alex had taken the pills and downed most of the water before speaking again.
"Look, Alex," he said, "I know what it's like to be thrust back into civilian life. Everything is turned up and you're always waiting that next phone call. Half the time it doesn't feel real. I know you're trying to make up for the time you lost, the parts of your childhood you'll never get back."
"David invited us out," Alex told him. "He had Tom convinced in like two seconds and he just sort of ignored me like he knew I wasn't going to be game. So I offered to drive."
"Were you trying to impress him?"
"Not really," Alex said, trying to sift through the varied emotions that were coming back to him. He had never spoken to Eagle like this before; that had always been Jack's forte. But Jack wasn't here and Eagle had been interested enough to ask and even though Alex knew he was in major trouble, it was clear that Eagle cared enough to understand why Alex had done what he'd done. "I'm just tired of feeling like I don't belong here anymore. This is my home; I grew up these kids and we were friends. It wasn't my fault we drifted apart and I'm tired of feeling like it was my fault."
Eagle sighed and shifted a little so that his bum leg was more comfortable. "Trying to get back in touch with your old life is fine Alex. But sneaking off and stealing my car isn't the way to do it. You may be out of MI6 but you're still you. I spent an hour last night trying to remember anyone who could be capable of snatching you off the street as some sort of elaborate revenge plot."
Alex snorted with laughter even though it wasn't funny. It was just how Eagle said it, it almost sounded like a big joke.
"It felt good though," Alex said. "Going crazy, like I didn't have to worry anymore about codenames and terrorists. But it wasn't really me."
"Is that your way of saying you'll never do it again?"
"I won't promise to never steal your stuff again but I won't sneak out to parties anymore."
"Good," Eagle said, sounding pleased. Then he paused and the small smile that had been on face dropped. "You promise not to steal my 'stuff'? Does that mean you've been stealing my stuff? What did you take?"
"If you haven't noticed by now you clearly didn't need it to begin with."
Eagle slapped the back of Alex's head as lightly as he could, minding the headache, and rolled his eyes.
"Not cool kid," he said, sounding as if he was pushing down a laugh. "That's a total invasion of privacy."
"I'm a spy," Alex reminded him. "It's my job to snoop through your stuff."
"You snoop through my stuff?" Eagle asked, sounding slightly panicked at the thought. Alex looked at him with a wholesome smile. He quirked an eyebrow and waited to see what Eagle would say next. "What did you find?"
"Well, I found the engagement ring, weeks before you gave it to Jack. I have a copy of your birth certificate and last week I stole all your skin mags and gave them to kids at school."
"I thought Jack threw those out," Eagle mumbled. "Why do you have a copy of my birth certificate?"
"So that I could do a background check," Alex told him. "Did you really think I'd let you date Jack and move into my house without knowing everything about you? I researched you. I know your credit score; where you went to primary school; what your first car was; your grandmother's maiden name; your-"
"Stop, stop, stop!" Eagle exclaimed waving his hand around in a desperate attempt to make it all stop. There were moments when Alex truly frightened him. The kid was just so normal once you'd been around him that you easily forgot he was a fully trained spy. And now the boy had the nerve to giggle.
"I found the paperwork," Alex told him lightly, clearly trying to not make a big deal out of it. Eagle couldn't help but feel his gut clench. He and Alex had never really had a heart to heart about what things would look like after he and Jack were married. They would be a couple, newly married, and ready to start their own family. It was natural for Alex to feel worried about what his place would be but the kid hadn't shown any inclination of being worried.
This left Eagle wondering if Alex really wanted Eagle to be a part of his close knit group of people. The kid kept a tight circle and it took more than a ring to be accepted into that circle. He had thought that he and Alex were on fairly good terms but as far as guardianship went, Eagle was entirely unsure. And Jack wanted him to bring up the subject to Alex first. She felt that this was a conversation they needed to have together and alone.
"And?" Eagle finally asked.
"Were you ever planning on telling me about them?" Alex asked, sounding so amused that it made Eagle uncomfortable.
"Yes," he told the kid. "I thought with Jack gone, this would be the perfect time."
"Probably, yeah. So tell me, what was your opening line going to be?" Alex hadn't even finished the sentence before he was giggling uncontrollably and Eagle would have pushed him off the bench if it would have gotten him anywhere. Alex eventually pulled himself together. "Sorry," he said, "I just think it's funny you're scared of me."
"I'm not scared."
"Yeah, you are."
"Fine, the situation is a little scary," he said. "You're not the easiest kid in the world Alex. You're a teenager dealing with very tough adult problems and you deal with them a lot better than most adults would. But you're also a teenager that runs off to parties, sneaks out to see girls, and gets put into detention for firing a spitball at the Headmaster's toupee."
"That was Tom."
"I'm not sure how Jack does it," Eagle continued, ignoring Alex's half-hearted attempt to shift blame off himself. "The point is, Alex, I don't want to make your life any harder than it already is but Jack and I are going to have a future together. We both want you to know you have a place in that future. That's why I got the guardianship papers. It's up to you whether or not I file them."
"Jack's mom wants her to move back to America," Alex said, suddenly sounding a little small. Eagle wondered how he had known that but decided that he didn't want to know if Alex had bugged the house.
"Jack wouldn't do that to you. If we did go back it wouldn't be until you were an adult and settled. Besides, Jack's made a life here; one she's not ready to leave behind."
"Thank you Andy," Alex said after a moment's hesitation. "I've never said it before but it's been nice having you around. I want you to file the paperwork."
"Okay," Eagle said and patted Alex's shoulder affectionately, letting his arm hang around Alex's shoulders. The kid didn't flinch, stiffen, or pull away like he sometimes did when people touched him. Eagle took that as a sign of trust. The only people he had ever seen Alex get affectionate with was Tom and Jack. His two favorite people. "I hope you had one hell of a good night kid, because it's the last bit of fun you'll have for a while."
Alex laughed at that but nodded his head in agreement anyway.
"I think I proposed to someone last night, but I can't really remember. I gave her that plastic ring from the cereal box."
"Well, as long as she doesn't come knocking with a baby anytime soon, we'll just file that under quirky stories."
"Don't tell Jack that part."
"I won't. Was she pretty?"
"I can't remember. Her name was Madison though."
They didn't say anything else about the party after that and honestly, spending that morning with Eagle talking about Jack and guardianships on that park bench was one of the best days Alex had had in a long time.
