Devilish Charm
Nile was looking at Alex. The boy waved cheerfully at him. He resisted a shudder. Nile refused to be afraid of a boy, even if he technically qualified as a mass murderer. Okay, so maybe it was a little scary. Or a lot scary. Plus, he'd escaped two of Nile's fucking death traps. It was deeply unnatural.
Alex seemed to be heading toward him. Nile inhaled lightly. Right, he was just not going to mention he was from South Africa. None of Alex's British partners had died, oddly enough. "Hello, Nile! You look a bit lost?"
Nile thought that this was the perfect opportunity to make sure that Alex still liked him. He paused. What was a good excuse? "I was looking for you. I brought you here so I thought I would check in after my demo."
That was a complete lie, but Nile was pretty sure it sounded convincing. Alex beamed at him. "You were amazing!"
Nile felt safer already. Partners Alex liked tended to live longer. All you had to do was look at his mission files. Americans who complained about working with him? Eaten by a shark. Or so he claimed. It was not like anyone was alive to contradict him. Smithers' cheerful self? Alive and well. Nile could read between the lines, thank you. "Thank you, Alex."
The boy's sunny smile was almost beautiful. Nile had to admit that Alex just looked like every cute kid you ever saw. He even had dimples, for Christ's sake. Alex continued walking along. Great. He had no idea what to say. "I heard some interesting rumors about your survival trip. How did you get the good gear?"
Alex gave him a slightly mischievous look. Nile looked at him. "Well, I kind of just threatened to burn the quartermaster alive. You can tell he has a fire phobia."
Nile was unaware of a single operative who knew that. Alex's sunny expression never changed. How had he figured it out? "If you say so. Which class is your favorite?"
Alex grinned at him. "Don't tell on me, but Gordon's."
Nile looked at him. Gordon was notoriously grumpy. And hungover for most morning classes. "Gordon?"
Alex grinned and nudged Nile along. "Ah, c'mon. He's not that bad. Besides, he gives me popcorn and booze for typing up reports."
Nile resisted the urge to stare in shock. Gordon did what?! First of all, Alex shouldn't be anywhere near those reports. Nile was pretty sure that fourteen was a little young for scotch, but whatever. He glanced around. Camera dead spot. Score. He wasn't going to have to file that fucking report.
"...and Yermalov keeps trying to give me like the unsnackiest snacks you've ever seen. Seriously, who eats raw broccoli for fun?!"
Who were these people and what had they done to the Malagasto instructors everyone knew and hated?! Then again, Alex was a kid. And he probably hadn't had the best life ever so maybe this was part of the strategy to recruit him or some shit.
Still. Yermalov. Giving out snacks. What in the fuck?! Nile certainly hadn't gotten snacks. Where were his fucking snacks?! "Yeah, they have a few screws loose, but the teachers know their stuff."
This seemed to placate him. Nile was glad. He needed to do some poking around. Especially since half of the instructors seem to have had a personality transplant. "Isn't there a quiz you need to study for?"
Alex pulled out a small book. Wait, was he using those planners Yermalov handed out?! Who used planners?! "Actually, yes. Erm, sorry. I have to go."
Nile waved as Alex ran off. That seemed like it had gone well. Time to stop by the teachers' lounge. Nile was waiting for the teachers to arrive as he sipped the quality coffee. There were perks to doing labs here that he quite enjoyed. Plus, this was one of the few Scorpia offices with actually good coffee.
"Nile. Everything is going well, yes?"
Well, he could tell that Yermalov was acting like his usual waspish self at least. Nile finished his coffee before answering. "Sure. Uh, I have questions about Alex?"
Yermalov's eye twitched. Nile knew he was pushing it by doing things like asking questions. "Doesn't everybody? You have a high enough clearance to read his file, I believe."
Nile could hear the unspoken get out just fine. He was about to leave as a few other teachers filed in.
"Yermalov! Don't be so rude." It was Oliver D'Arc. Nile cursed his luck. "And Alex is such a charming young man. A few questions won't hurt!"
Yermalov made a noise like an angry cat and sat down on the couch. He was sitting ramrod straight as he glared at Nile. "Gordon's giving him booze."
Yermalov let out a slight hiss. Oliver waved him off. Nile was resisting the urge to glare himself. "I'm sure he's being responsible. Children need to be introduced to alcohol early to learn to drink responsibly."
The fuck?! What had Alex done to all of them?! What was this shit?! There was a knock at the door. Yermalov stalked over and pulled it open.
Alex was there. "Professor Yermalov? I had some questions about your pressure points essay. I can come back if you're busy."
Yermalov's scowl was still in place. Nile could see him soften visibly. "Not at all. We were just finishing up. Why don't I help you find some primary sources?"
Nile's mouth dropped open as Yermalov grabbed Alex's arm and padded softly into the hall. What the fuck was this shit?! Why did Alex get help finding fucking primary sources for Yermalov's hard-ass fucking homework?!
Oliver beamed at him. "Perhaps he's lightening up after only, uh, twenty-two years."
Nile gave Oliver a very skeptical look. Oliver shrugged. "I'm sure Jet or The Countess could tell you more about him. He's attended quite a few of their office hours."
That was it. Alex was some sort of fucking demon. He was getting out of here. The boat could leave tonight. Surely that would be soon enough to save him from falling under Alex's thrall.
Fin
Based on a prompt by Zyzyax (see story summary). This is the 306th work in the Winds of Change 2022 Alex Rider Prompt event, where a new prompt (plus a short 1-3K work) is posted every day. For more details, see the AO3 collection. We have an index of all the prompts used in this event so far and going forwards - join the discord to get access to the online index (and to take part in our events, chat about everything and anything, and meet a load of awesome people!
