Chapter 48: Education and Escapades

Alex wandered through the ashes some more before looking at Fenrir. "Well?" The fluff ball had been following him around but had decided to dig through the ashes. Alex was kind of glad. He would already have to bathe Fenrir as it was. Fenrir slowly padded to a spot and let out a yip. Alex walked over and began to gently remove the stuff on top. Trying not to disintegrate the stuff on him. Alex began to brush off the ground where he assumed something was. It felt too smooth for actual ground or foundation. This was more like wood. Maybe it had been fireproofed? "What do you think it is?" Fenrir let out a huff. "Yeah, yeah. I'm getting on it. Not all of us have massive paws the size that can bulldoze a few feet of snow like nothing, you know." Alex felt something metal and decided to clear the area around it. Water could freeze if he used it. Alex sighed and pulled what he hoped was a latch up. It took a surprising amount of force, but it finally moved after his third try. The squeal let out was unnaturally loud. Alex hoped none of the neighbors heard. Once the piece of wood had been lifted, Alex grabbed a flashlight from his backpack. He usually took one with him on the sorts of things. You never knew when you'd have to take an impromptu trip to France or Switzerland. The hole didn't seem too deep. "What do you say, fluff, shall I go in?"

Alex heard a faint rustling. "You know, I don't think the dog can answer back."

Nile was leaning up against a pole. "Don't you have a job or something?"

Nile's lips twitched. He might have smiled once upon a time. "Time off. Gregorovich is a killer."

Alex sighed and began to stand. "And you decided, hey, I've got time off, maybe I should stalk that kid I met in a train. Really?"

Nile shrugged. "Well, the family's dead or pieces of shit. You know how it is."

Alex felt snippy. "Fuck off."

The man didn't seem to pay him any mind, though he began moving towards him. Nile's eerie feline grace was unnerving, especially since he knew what it warned of. "Manners."

Alex sighed. "Is there a point you're getting to?"

Nile shrugged. "Yeah, don't go in there."

Alex gave him a look. "And why not?"

Nile was unnaturally calm. Alex wondered if being around Rothman had really made him that temperamental. This was more Yassen than the Nile he remembered. "Check the upper side of the trapdoor."

Alex brushed off the top that he had left alone in favor of the latch. It was a silver scorpion he recognized all too well. "If you ever see that symbol again, walk away."

Alex huffed. Nile had a point. "Why?"

Alex had a purpose after all. Leaving SCORPIA alone was not part of it. "Because it's trouble even Gregorovich and I can't get you out of."

Nile vanished after that. Alex knew the trick, but still thought it was incredibly creepy. He needed to think.

Nile walked off into the snow. Silent. Deadly. Damn, he was totally and utterly obsessed. Was this how Gregorovich felt? He wondered. Blondie was entertaining, but he was like a human cat. Small, fluffy, gets into everything and had a swipe or two ready if you got too close. Well, he tried. Besides, he was actually telling the truth, mostly. If SCORPIA proper found him, Alex's placement would be out of his hands and Cossacks. It would be a board decision. Grrr. That and he was getting rather attached to the idea of poaching him right under Gregorovich's nose. Yeah, they'd get along fine. Good family members were dead. A few shitty live ones. Nile figured they had a lot in common. He'd committed his first murder only a few years older than Blondie. The only question was when. He'd prefer a student that was almost an adult, but he had no idea when Yassen was planning on kidnapping Blondie. Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen? That would be his three guesses. Any older would be too old in Yassen's book. Nile was decently sure the man was not about to put up with anyone under the age of thirteen. That left him a very short window. Plus, Russia was not exactly board member free. It hadn't taken too much effort to find out about Blondie's exchange program. It had been blasted on just about every major news program, after all. Nile had snorted. Politicians just loved patting each other on the back. Nile sighed. Chase was letting him wander around for months on end. He may as well put it to good use. Besides, it was still close enough to get Blondie a birthday present. The irony was, his 'gift' would likely still arrive before Ian Rider remembered the date. Well, who was he to mess with tradition? Yassen had already sent a severed head. Nile wondered what sort of dead people Blondie liked. Was it drug dealers? Or just the fact that the dude was in Alex's neighborhood? Post-mortem or pre-mortem decapitation? He could do either, you know. The sword was good for that sort of thing. It wasn't like he could outright ask Cossack either. Oh well, he'd figure something out eventually. He had time. Maybe somebody who'd pissed him off? He'd eat his shoes if the house burning down had nothing to do with Blondie. House-burning sans murder was usually personal. So, why had he burned the house down? Nile used that sort of thing as intimidation, but there were plenty of other reasons to torch a house…

Alex Rider got home to a very grumpy set of adults. Damn, he'd forgotten about leaving a note and he'd left his cell phone behind. Fenrir followed him in. "Do you have any idea how worried we've been?!"

Alex sighed. "No, not really. Mandy could have told you I went for a walk."

Ian nearly dropped his coffee cup. "What does Te-er-Amanda have to do with this?"

Alex picked up a plate of Jack's cooking. "You know, tall, black hair and nails-"

Ian glared at him. "I bloody well know who your friends are."

Alex continued in the same monotone. "Visited me last night and currently passed out in my bed."

That woke Jack up. "What?!"

Alex resisted the urge to flush. "Not like that. It was just talking and sleeping."

Crawley sighed into his coffee and muttered something about getting too old for this. "Why, pray tell, are your friends breaking into the house?"

Alex let a cheeky grin cross his face. "They just miss me that bad."

Tom rolled his eyes and swiped extra chocolate chips while the adults weren't looking. Crawley groaned into his cup. "That line is older than you and Ian, combined."

Alex gave Crawley his best 'butter won't melt in my mouth' look. Crawley shook his head. "Riiight. Back to your disappearing act. Where were you?"

Alex shrugged. "Went for a walk. Nothing too dodgy."

He went to the table, took a bite of his breakfast, and sat down. "By the way, your mother is now a homeless alcoholic, Tom."

Tom didn't even look vaguely sad, which was telling. "Can't say I didn't see it coming. She didn't bug you too much, did she?"

Alex shrugged. "Naw, I lied and said you missed her, but I don't think she'll stop by unannounced or anything."

Tom looked pleased. "Good."

Jack coughed. "You met a drunk lady on your own?"

Alex dumped more sugar in his coffee. "Not on purpose. I just happened to stop by the area."

Jack gave him a long look. "Don't do it again and invite your friend down for breakfast."

Alex went up the stairs. "Of course, Jack."

The door to his room was opened quietly. He gently ran his hand through Mandy's hair; she stirred. Alex moved his hand to her shoulder and lightly tapped. Mandy woke up with a start and inhaled sharply. "Oh, no."

Alex grinned. "Relax, your active sex life might improve your social standing."

Mandy swatted him and got up. "Brat."

Alex felt a familiar savage grin cross his face. "Social reject."

Mandy tossed her already messy hair. "Deviant."

Alex put on a mock-innocent face. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

Mandy arched her back in an attempt to stretch. Alex winced at the loud pops. He could sympathize. Mandy picked up the small bag that Alex hadn't noticed in the low light from the night before. "I'm borrowing your shower."

Alex didn't have a problem with it. "You might wanna come down for breakfast first. The adults think you might have besmirched my person, milady."

Mandy snorted. "Fat chance, but I'll eat. I'm starving."

She brushed her hair with one of those cheap plastic brushes Alex knew hurt people with long hair. Sabina and her mother had complained about them every time they saw them in the drug store. It was funny, he hadn't thought of her in a while. Living together as siblings had gotten rid of most of their chemistry. It was a shame, but they had both moved on. Her ambitions hadn't really aligned with his either. The job she wanted drew attention by its very nature and he had wanted to avoid it. Looking back, he should not have gotten involved with anybody, let alone somebody who couldn't take care of themselves. Sabina had self-defense lessons, but it wasn't really a match for his enemies (past enemies?). Oh, well. He had a nice group of friends to support him into lonely hermit-hood or whatever. Alex had decided to avoid her if he could. It wasn't that he didn't care for her, but he didn't want the family dragged into his world by their very association with him. "You okay?"

Ah, Mandy. Alex was dragged back to the present. "Yeah, just a million miles away."

Mandy harrumphed. "One of these days, I'll find out where you go."

Alex felt a faint smile twist his lips. Not likely. No one could ever know what really happened.

They descended the stairs together. Alex felt warm all over. The burn of sleep deprivation was already in the back of his throat. If he closed his eyes for too long he would just go to sleep. He missed getting the ten solid hours like he once had in the past life. Fenrir looked energized the furry fucking rat. Mandy gave him an amused look. Alex just registered the fact that the entire table had been attempting to get his attention. "You know, maybe that three a.m. trek was a bad idea."

Alex grinned. "I'll never admit it."

Mandy smirked. "Stubborn brat."

Alex picked up his fork. "And you just now realized it? Are you sure that Nicki's pot smoke didn't permanently damage your brain? I mean, you should really get that checked out just to be sure."

Mandy's spoon sailed past his ear even as he instinctively dodged and caught it. His reflexes were still running low-key from his encounter with Nile. Mandy's mouth fell open. Tom stared. "Huh, lucky catch."

Alex gave Tom a mischief-filled look. "Lucky, eh? Watch this."

He was patently ignoring Crawley's warning looks. Alex took a second to aim and tossed the spoon at her coffee cup. It spun end over end and promptly landed in the cup, sloshing about a fourth of the liquid out. Tom gave him a star-struck look. "That was the most awesome moment of my life."

Jack rolled her eyes and muttered about boys and testosterone. Crawley managed to regain the power of speech. "Okay, no more projectile silverware."

Ian was shaking with suppressed laughter. Crawley looked at him. Ian cleared his throat. "I mean, um, that was wrong and you shouldn't throw your silverware, you two."

Ian promptly exited the room. Alex could clearly hear the man laughing his ass off in the other room. Crawley rolled his eyes. "Please don't do that in view of the general public. We don't want people asking questions about uncivilized heathenry."

Alex felt the need to immediately protest. "But uncivilized heathenry is fun."

Crawley sighed. "Yes, but it also gets you a nice night in jail for disturbing the peace."

Then, he picked up his briefcase and followed Ian into the living room.

Mandy gave him a mischievous look as soon as Crawley left the room. "Killjoy, that one."

Jack immediately interjected. "Oh, no you don't. I am not cleaning up another food fight."

Alex gave her a look that was far too hopeful and innocent. "So if we clean up our mess can we still have one?"

Jack gave him a glare. "No. I should ground you for the suggestion."

Alex grinned. "Oh, but you won't."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "And why not?"

Alex retorted. "Because unless something has drastically changed, I do believe Brooklands starts in twenty minutes and it is a thirty-minute tube ride with the morning line set-up and an even longer drive."

One look at the clock told Jack her favorite hellion child was, in fact, right. "Shi-uh, you didn't hear that. Alright you two, time to move."

Alex watched in bemusement as everybody hustled out of the house; running about ten minutes late would do that. They did, to their credit, get out in about three minutes flat. Mandy attempted to protest her lack of shower and was immediately shut down. Alex brushed his teeth, walked out and sat in the car. He wondered if they would notice him in the car before they got to school. The three of them were so wrapped up in checking their stuff that they didn't notice him until they got to school. "What are you doing here?"

Alex shrugged. "I can't visit my old school and fondly recall the screeching of the bells, now? What is this country coming to?"

Jack glared at him through the rear-view mirror. "I give up. It's Bray's problem if you burn down the school on your tour."

Alex laughed outright. Mandy and Tom had to run in as the second bell rang. Alex could just saunter in whenever he wanted. Tours didn't start for another hour, but they did say to arrive early for check-in. Alex attempted to scrub the shit-eating grin off his face as he walked into the Vice Principal's office. "Hi, I'd like to get a spot in the nine o'clock tour."

The non-sleep mania was strong with him. Mr. Bray stared at him before handing him the paperwork. "I am an alum."

The man snorted. "Only you, Alex, only you. Try not to wreak havoc, some of our teachers have heart problems, you know."

Alex widened his eyes. "I claim to have no such knowledge of any such events."

Bray took back the clipboard after he finished. "I taught you in drama class."

Alex ruefully shrugged. "Fair. I'll behave, though."

The vice principal filed his papers and handed him a sticker name badge. "How's the home school?"

Alex stuck it on his chest, even though the whole school pretty much knew who he was. "Good. I'm an alternate in that program on TV."

Bray smiled. "Yes, we know. Ms. Teller just can't seem to contain herself. Try not to break any hearts."

Alex shook his head. "I'll do my best."

I already have.

As it turned out, no sane adult actually signed up for the nine o'clock school tour. Case in point, Nile and a couple showed up five minutes before and asked to go on said tour. Alex barely contained his reaction when he showed up. Shit, shit, shit. Nile turned up looking like he had either murdered a cow or had an accident with a faucet. Since he was wearing black, you couldn't tell. Alex hoped it wasn't blood. He really did. The couple got eyeballed a little longer. Mainly because they were having a bickering match. Alex wondered why the hell Nile showed up to a freaking school of all places. Alex hadn't even decided to come here until this morning. "Can't wait to get your stalker points for the day, can you?"

Nile cheerfully put on his visitor badge. "Oh, you know me, I can't get enough of them. Besides, what you call stalker points, I call awesome points. It's all a matter of perspective."

Yes, and you're a murdering psychopath. The school secretary smiled and waved at him. Alex gave her a smile right back. "How's the homeschool?"

Nile seemed way too happy for some reason. "Fu-I mean, it's going well, thank you."

Alex started with his usual retort but realized he had an audience and grit his teeth. "So you can be civilized."

Alex glanced around and the bell rang. "Fuck me."

Alex thought his muttering was inaudible with the crowd and the bell going until Nile suddenly replied. "When and where?"

Alex choked but managed to raise an eyebrow. "And you wonder why I want that restraining order."

Nile glanced around. "Won't do you one bit of good."

Alex gave him a less than thrilled look. "So, why are you at school in full gear and looking like someone who murdered a cow?"

They had been there for about ten minutes. "How did you know it was blood?"

Alex grimaced. "Water fades out, blood stains brown."

Nile gave him a weird look and it was only then Alex remembered it was an infamous saying of Gordon Ross's. Oops. "You don't happen to know anybody in the IRA, do you?"

Alex snorted. "Wrong degenerate-filled school for that crowd, Nile. You'd have to go to Ireland proper."

The secretary and the couple were waving them over impatiently on the other side of the hallway. They both gracefully crossed the hallway in seconds. Ms. Bedfordshire gave them a considering look. "Are you two related, Alex?"

Alex shook his head. "No ma'am, I met him at one of Ian's business conferences we went to."

Nile smirked his way after the rest of the group had their backs turned. Alex was tempted to flip him off but didn't want to draw attention to himself. The tour seemed to go on agonizingly slowly, especially once it was socially acceptable for the couple to begin bickering. "We should definitely-"

Alex hadn't bothered to learn their names. The school secretary was doing an admirable job of attempting to plow through the tour at a fast pace. "The extracurriculars are-"

Alex was almost able to tune out reality until they went to the first lunch round.

Alex was used to the standard of school lunches and had worked out a system to scam the decent bits of lunch off of the lunch ladies whenever Jack or Ian forgot to give him lunch. Plus, there were a few weirdos who liked (and would trade for) really specific things. He got back after Nile and Ms. Bedfordshire, but before the couple. Nile took one look at his tray and raised an eyebrow. "How is it that our lunches look completely different?"

Ms. Bedfordshire glanced over. "The gentleman has a point."

Alex smirked. "I know people."

Nile rolled his eyes. "How much are the bribes to the lunch ladies?"

Alex took a convenient bite of the apple. The school secretary sighed. "I think I'd like to know, too. Do you know how many of these I've had to suffer through?"

Alex stared at both of them. "Such corruptive influences. I'm amazed you're allowed around kids."

Nile snorted. Ms. Bedfordshire looked utterly serious. "Dude, I just asked nicely and then traded about three people who actually like specific colors of the cafeteria garbage. Don't ask me why. I think one of them sniffed glue in the lower forms, but whatever."

The two adults didn't quite pout, but it came pretty close. The couple found them after about five more minutes, but so did Tom and James. "Hey, guys."

Tom grinned. "How's the school tour going?"

James managed to sandwich himself between him and Nile. Alex made a mental note to get him chocolate. "Yeah, did your lonely butt miss me so much you're putting up with the boredom just for me?"

Alex laughed. That look spelled trouble. "Dream on, Jamie."

Alex took another bite. "Damn, how many lunch ladies did you screw to get that?"

Alex kept a straight face at the couple's horrified looks. "There were no clothes removed."

James grinned. "So the pants stayed on this time, good to know."

Nile was shaking with suppressed laughter and Ms. Bedfordshire was not doing much better. Alex fired back. "I stole your cross-dressing gear."

James gave as good as he got. "I had sex on your piano."

Alex didn't even own a piano. He mock clutched his heart. "Ah, Jamie, that was a family heirloom."

The couple got up and the man glared at them. "I think we've seen enough."

The two all but ran out of the school. "Oops."

James looked at him. "What could boy wonder possibly have done wrong?"

Alex couldn't keep the stupid grin off his face. "I did promise Mr. Bray I would behave."

Tom smirked. "You were engaging your friends in conversation and improving your standard of living. Brooklands tolerates students of all races, religion, and sexualities."

James sniggered at Tom's reply. "Congratulations Tom, here's your degree in bullshit - I mean, literature analysis."

The school secretary interjected. "Language, boys."

Nile seemed to be having breathing difficulties. Alex wasn't about to intervene. Tom and James had class shortly after managing to snarf down their lunches. He didn't pout, but it was a close thing.

Nile managed to regain his ability to breathe normally after Blondie's friends left. Damn, that was hilarious. At least those two idiots were no longer in a very tempting range of him. He had a feeling the kid wouldn't take it well if both ended up with a bad case of fractured hyoid bones. Nile was sad to see them go. It had been a while since he'd met any kind of joker. They tended not to last very long in the company. People got huffy, so everybody had to be ultra-polite. Or good enough at hand-to-hand to not get maimed. Alex was pouting, or, well, his version of it. At least they would get to finish sometime before midnight now that Nasty and Trashy were out of the school secretary's hair. Oh, man, Nile had missed people with actual wits. Yeah, he terrified the shit out of most people who knew who he was, but sometimes he wished they'd grow a spine. Then again, it might make his job significantly harder… He rose from the table to follow Alex. It was the longest they'd gone without a restraining order jab in his direction. It was almost unnatural. Blondie acting civilized for more than sixteen whole seconds at a time. Nile was waiting for one after they finished the tour. C'mon, C'mon. Snarky remark time. "So how far should I get my distance for? Fifty feet, one hundred feet or two hundred feet?"

Nile smirked. "I can watch you through a sniper scope equally well on any of those."

The kid flashed his teeth. "Yeah, that sounded totally wholesome and appropriate."

Nile snorted. He'd bet money Yassen threatened the kid with dismemberment at least once. "I'm preparing you for the real world."

Blondie's eyes danced. "Of what? International crime?"

Nile shook his head. "You say that now, but you never know."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Yes, Nile, my law-abiding ass is going to one day decide: hey, let's go out and break fifteen laws."

Nile raised an eyebrow and muttered. "Law-abiding, my ass."

Alex gave him the evil eye. "I mostly follow them."

Nile just kept looking at him. "Okay, I don't, but I'm not like your lot."

Nile gave him a look. "What? You know it's true."

Nile mentally sighed. "I wouldn't be so sure."

With that, he vanished into the afternoon London crowd.

Alex stared longer after Nile's departure than he would like to admit. Murdering terrorist. He reminded himself. Murdering terrorist. Alex wondered whether it was possible to develop Stockholm Syndrome from being stalked. Probably. Welp, on the cheerful and mildly insane note of the day, he was going back to his studies. He didn't want to risk Nile linking his visits to Pierre's replies, so Switzerland was definitely out. Actually, for the sake of Ian's sanity, he probably shouldn't leave the country for a while. Alex looked around only to instantly regret coming to the school today. Jones. Wonderful. Didn't she have a nine-to-five job? With possibly longer hours? Alex made the attempt to walk in the opposite direction but was foiled by a stoplight. "Can I help you? Maybe give you the number of my therapist?" Jones fixed him with a steely glare. "She's great and you can ask Ian for the file."

The woman sighed. "Have you seen a man around here?"

Alex felt like being deliberately unhelpful today. At least Yassen outright death-threated you. "I've seen lots of men today. You might want to clarify."

Tulip glared at him. "I've been playing semantics since before you were born. Nile. Griffon."

Alex didn't even flinch. "I've got no idea who you're talking about." Jones' eyes flashed dangerously. "Good luck finding him, though. I have to go."

Alex took off in a dead run. He could easily outpace Tulip Jones, mainly because the dress code for her position required shoes (among other clothing) that were fairly inconvenient to run in. Alex kept up a jog for way longer than most people could. It was a benefit that came with his daily and very extreme workout. He ended up at the dojo after a while. Alex sat down on the curb. He had his uniform with him (backpacks were wonderful inventions), but as far as he knew, the lessons for the upper levels were at the end of the week. It couldn't hurt to go in. Alex couldn't recall a single person ever protesting the sheer amount of people doing homework in the lobby area. The door swung open to the almost empty lobby. Alex had barely broken a sweat, but he still decided to drink some water before sitting down and cracking open his own books. It was a few hours before anybody actually noticed he was there. Sensei came out with an amused glance. "Your class is not for another three days and the health department says I'm not allowed to rent the common area out as a residence."

Alex snapped his biology book shut. One of Charles' last recommendations. "Tsk, tsk. Have people actually tried?"

The man's amused twist of the lips was barely visible for half a second. "You would be surprised."

Alex jammed his book back in his bag. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Alex shrugged. "No thanks, I'm headed back home now."

The man raised an eyebrow. "A bit of a long walk."

Alex grinned. "But shorter than a drive with the London traffic."

The man turned back toward his office. "You're not wrong. I'll see you on Thursday."

Alex zipped his bag and walked out. That had been surprisingly nice.

Alex walked into a very tense living room. Yeah, he was definitely shit at remembering to leave notes and the like. "Where were you?"

Alex grinned. Same old Ian. "I took a school tour and went for a walk. Really now, I'm on time for dinner and everything."

Ian shook his head. "Did you at least do something productive?"

Alex shrugged. "I worked on some of my stuff."

Ian sighed. "I suppose you followed all of the rules. Loosely."

Alex could practically feel the smug smirk coming from Jack's area, but couldn't, for the life of him, figure out why. "Well, you never were a stickler for the spirit of the law or the letter of it, for that matter."

Ian rolled his eyes. "Laws, meh. Come on it's dinner time."

Crawley looked like he was holding back a few choice words as everybody went towards the kitchen. Alex was left unpacking some of his bag in the living room. He felt a shit-eating grin appear on his face. "C'mon, Crawley, you know you want to say it."

Crawley ran his hands through his hair. Alex watched the man's jaw twitch. "No. I, unlike the rest of your degenerate family, do have something that resembles self-control."

Alex raised an eyebrow in Ian's general direction. "That's different."

The bubble of hysterical laughter was harder for Alex to keep back than he would have initially thought. "By the way, Jones is not happy with you."

Alex gave Crawley his cheekiest grin. "It's a travesty."

Crawley groaned. "You're going to give me grey hair and then die in some horrid arctic wasteland from that attitude."

Alex tossed his last book onto the coffee table. "Oh, but that means my life will have been worthwhile. Only special, special people get sent to the Arctic by MI6, you know."

Crawley burst out laughing. Oh, it was such an Ian joke. "You are terrible, just terrible, at being a functional member of society."

Alex grinned. "Oh, and whose fault is that most important agent of socialization."

Crawley rolled his eyes. The kid had definitely been reading too many sociology textbooks. "I blame Ian."

Alex let a sort of wry grin cross his face. "Don't we all?"

Crawley huffed. "No, the real question is: are we right?"

Alex gave a half-shrug. "Suit yourself. Besides, I'm self-aware enough that I know I'm partially to blame for my own problems."

Alex vividly remembered the circumstances in which he chose to put his own life in danger. Sure he'd been manipulated, but in the end, he'd let himself go along with it. "Well then, you're further along in life than most people get."

At that, they joined the rest for dinner.

Jack Starbright was happy. Alex seemed to have decided to be more independent of Ian. Not that she wanted to completely trash the man, but he really made a terrible parent. She wasn't sure she believed he went just for a walk for over five hours, but she was willing to let it go. Then again, Alex was the type to enjoy walking around for hours on end. Heaven knew that dog got enough outside time. Jack was glad Alex had gotten the massive thing, even though it had created more work for her. There was only so many hours she could stand to walk outside. Plus, she sunburned way easier than he did. Alex actually got tanned. It was so unfair. She burned to a crisp as a redhead. Fenrir was a wonderful family pet. Alex seemed to have actually been responsible and trained him properly with a minimum of property destruction involved. The furball took turns between her and Tom's beds when he was gone. Then, the stupid fluff ball went straight back to him. Jack had just started getting used to having it in bed beside her. Oh well, it would cut down on the amount of fur on her sheets. Jack didn't blame Alex one iota for any of his disappearances. Ian disappeared without a trace for months at a time. Alex, at least, kept it two weeks and under. Plus, he did usually leave a note. Mostly. Okay, so he was bad at notes. It was probably deliberate because of the amount of shit Ian had pulled. Overtime? No calls. Business Trip? You were lucky if you found out the day before. School events? Hardy, har. Birthdays? Forgot 'em two years in a row. Case in point, Ian still hadn't remembered and it had been nearly a month. For fucks' sake, she almost hoped Alex ran away to teach him a lesson. Not really, but she was pissed. At least Alex was making light of it. He and Tom seemed to think that she didn't notice the ongoing bet between them. It seemed to be a "for every day he doesn't remember, I'll give you fruit snacks I traded for at lunch" type of bet. Apparently, Tom hadn't quite believed the man had actually forgotten. Oh, she could tell him quite a few things that were unbelievable, but she didn't want those two making a go of it on their own. Tom wouldn't have to try too hard. She was sure of it. Jack smiled over the dishes as the two bantered where they thought she didn't hear them.

Alex Rider was waiting, waiting. He wasn't sure what was about to happen, but he kept going through the motions. Surprisingly, it was Gillian who noticed. "What's up?"

Alex blinked. "I haven't the foggiest clue what you're talking about."

Gillian snorted. "Sure you don't. Let me know when you want to talk."

Alex sighed. "Ever get the feeling you're forgetting something?"

Gillian shrugged. "Yeah, all the time. All these little gestures. It's exhausting."

Alex patted Gillian's shoulder. "It'll come with time."

The almost-adult brushed face against his hand. "I want to believe you, you know."

Alex gave the sort of long-suffering grin he might've given Sabina during their last trip. "Adulting is better."

Alex found himself with a close-up view of a pair of irises. "You say it as though you know it."

Alex let himself give a half-smile. "You never know."

Gillian walked off leaving him alone in the now darkened dining room. A fluttering noise was in the background. He should really know better than to investigate it, but he was drawn to the noise. Alex hesitated, hand hovering above the handle, before opening the door to the back garden. There was a flash and then a thud. Nile was there. Alex had a gun in hand before he even consciously recognized the fact. "You can not just show up here."

Nile smirked and got up. "I think I just did."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Let me rephrase that. If you do it again, I'll forgo the police and simply shoot you in the ass."

Nile just smirked. Alex clicked the safety off. The smirk faded. "Fine, fine. It won't happen again."

Alex carefully put the gun away. "What do you want, now?"

Nile grinned. "I thought you weren't speaking to me."

Alex gave him a look. "Well, since you scaled the twelve-foot fence and fell out of a tree, it must be important."

Nile scowled at him. "Can you not mention that part?"

Alex rolled his eyes. "Somehow, it doesn't lessen the creep factor at all. It's like the reverse X-factor. If someone has it, ignore them and stay the fuck away."

Nile felt his lips twitch despite himself. "I'm not that bad."

Alex gave him the evil eye. "You are literally stalking a twelve-year-old."

Nile shrugged. "I haven't done anything particularly nasty yet."

Alex rolled his eyes. Terrorists, honestly. "Moving on."

Nile slinks a few steps closer. Alex was tempted to get out his gun again. "You don't need to be that jumpy."

Oh, contraire. But then, Nile didn't know about that part. "You had a point you were getting too."

Nile grinned. "Tsk, so terse, did you learn all your manners from Yassen?"

Alex felt a smirk appear. "I dunno, did you learn yours at finishing school?"

Nile's eyes danced. "Of a certain kind."

Alex mentally smacked himself for responding. Alex began slowly backing towards the door. Nile stepped closer, just about invading his personal space. "Happy birthday. You'll get your gift tomorrow."

Alex blinked in surprise. Nile seemed to vanish into thin air. Alex quickly went back inside, triple-checking the lock. Alex let out a breath and leaned into the wall. Well, shit. He felt an all-too-familiar stab in the chest. It shouldn't hurt, but it bloody did. Freaking Nile remembered before Ian. It took just about everything he had not to start sobbing on the spot. If he was actually twelve, he would have. Now, at mentally eighteen, he took a deep breath, mentally screamed, and got on with his life.

Alex let the dread and anticipation thrum through him. Hey, you never knew what the crazy murdering psychopath would get you. It was probably dead bodies. Alex was almost curious enough to ask, but he had a feeling Nile liked ruining his sleep cycle with the suspense. Yassen had said something about severed heads, but Alex wasn't sure if the man was serious. He probably was. Speaking of Yassen, he should probably let the man know Nile was upping the stalking activities. Ian was busy this Saturday, so Jack came to pick them up. Alex did his best not to seem impatient. He was not going to take out his current angst on Jack or Tom. Blowing up at people who didn't deserve it wasn't really his style anyway. Jack gave him a wry look. "Your adorable fluff ball tried to eat your breakfast again."

Alex grinned. "Can't really blame him, you know. Stolen food is the best food."

Jack's eyes glimmered with unshed tears of laughter. "Oh, really?"

Alex gave her one of his slightly manic grins. "Yep, followed by the food you conned people out of, the food you shouldn't eat, but totally do, and lastly food made by other people."

Jack burst out laughing. Tom just shook his head. "Alex, you degenerate, you."

Jack was still gasping for breath by the time they were going through the front door. "Oh, Alex, never change."

Alex ran his hand through Fenrir's fur with a softer smile on his face. "I don't intend to."

Jack practically ran across the room when she realized she accidentally left the oven on. "At least there was no fire alarm this time."

Jack flushed. "Oh, hush. You blew up how many appliances when you were seven?"

Alex gave her a careless shrug. "Are we counting deliberate or accidental?"

He said it with his best innocent face. Jack rolled her eyes. "Only, you would need that distinction, Alex."

Tom smirked in the corner. "Don't even think of starting, Tom."

Tom grabbed a plate off the counter. "But, Alex, you make such a fine pyromaniac. You've even got the dark, soulful eyes."

Alex grabbed a plate and made sure Jack's back was turned before flipping his friend off. "Shut up, Tom."

Tom pranced over to his chair. "Oh, but why? I've got five years of you and Hale to make up for."

Alex grinned. "We should invite him over."

Tom shook his head. "Nah, we can go visit him. It's not like his folks mind if we just pop by."

Alex shrugged. "True. Don't you have homework?"

Tom pouted. "It's not due until Monday and I'll have all of Sunday."

Alex rolled his eyes. Tom was always terrible about this kind of thing. "Why don't we finish it first and go to James' on Sunday?"

Tom huffed. "Fine."

He went upstairs to get his school bag. Jack gave Alex a warm look. "Thank you. He only listens to you sometimes."

Alex pulled a clearly faux innocent look. "I have no earthly idea what you are talking about."

Jack rolled her eyes. "Sure you don't. I think it's a good thing you look after your friends."

Alex gave her a soft look. "I do my best. If you guys were gone, the world wouldn't be enough to keep me happy, so I do my best to make people not gone, y'know."

Jack gave him a soft look. "I love you, you know."

Alex gave her an even softer look. It was the most emotion he'd allowed himself to display since he'd been back. Besides, this was the perfect chance. "I love you too, Jack."

Jack felt her breathing stop from the sheer amount of emotion. She barely responded to Alex's gentle hug. The Alex she met years ago would never have admitted as much. Jack felt the tears beginning to come. "What's wrong? You're crying."

Oh, Alex. "Nothing. You did everything right."

She left to go to her room as Tom came down. The dishes could wait. Tears of joy were a wonderful thing.

"What was that about?"

Alex gave Tom a half-shrug. He knew exactly what had set Jack off, but revealing as much would be out of character for the twelve-year-old he was playing. "Dunno. It wasn't me, I think."

Tom shook his head. "Never mind. Let's get started."

The usual homework argument started up. "Can you do my maths for me?"

Alex raised an eyebrow. "I can. The question is: will I?"

Tom gave him a pleading look. "Pleeeeease."

Alex scowled. It wasn't genuine and they both knew it. "How are you going to learn it if I do it for you?"

Tom pouted. "It's useless in the real world anyway and I have the English History essay from hell due."

Alex mock sighed. "And why didn't you start that essay earlier?"

Tom grinned. "I was busy."

Alex retorted. "With what, TV? The homework leaves you with two hours free on weekdays on of which could have been used for the said essay."

Tom huffed. "But I wanted to spend time with you and Fenrir more."

Alex felt his heart melt a little. He really couldn't keep up his scowl. "Alright. Just this once, you hear me. I'm not doing your maths homework ever again after this."

They both knew it was a complete and total lie. Alex would do Tom's maths homework until the end of time if it kept his friend happy and they both knew it. He got started. It took Alex less than fifteen minutes. This was basic algebra after all. He was studying engineering at a college level. Tom stared at him. "You know you're some sort of mutant, right?"

Alex laughed his ass off at that one. Yeah, he was unusual. "Oh, entirely. But I'm your mutant and you are stuck living with me."

Tom snorted. "Yeah, such a tragedy."

His friend, in the meantime, had taken one look at the essay requirements and put his head in Alex's lap. Tom looked up at him hopefully. "No, I'm not writing your bloody essay. The teachers will actually know the difference."

Tom continued to give him a pleading look. "Fine. I'll grab you good sources from the library and mark the helpful sections."

Tom grinned. "You have to get off of me for me to do that."

Tom moved, but even more on top of him. "Nope. Not moving."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Why not?"

Tom grinned. "I'm holding you hostage until you write my essay."

Alex sighed and promptly flipped his friend face first into the other couch. "Mmph."

Alex grinned. "I'll just go get those books now."

Tom flipped him off and said something into the couch. "Mmmm. NNN."

Alex whistled as he walked out of the room. He pulled the books off of the shelf in quick succession. They were the ones Ian used to teach him out of and later had him read as a child. The sticky notes were exactly where they should be. Alex pulled a few off and stuck them in relevant chapters. He began walking back towards the living room with a few extra stickies.

It was just before lunch hour that Alex decided to leave Tom on his own for a bit and stepped out into the back garden. The cold air bit at him and shook off any sleepiness he may have had. Fenrir padded up next to him. "Sure, you can come."

Alex stepped out into the garden and beyond the cover of the bushes and his mouth fell open. Fenrir pressed up close to him. Holy fucking shit. That was way beyond what he expected. What in the actual fuck did Nile hope to accomplish with that little display? It was completely and utterly sick. "Alex?"

Alex snapped his mouth shut. "Call Ian and Crawley now, Tom, and don't go out this way."

Tom paled. "Okay."

Alex had walked into a grotesque version of dinner with three men and a woman. There was a man at the head of the table with his throat and torso ripped open. The eyes had also been torn out. The second man had his stomach removed and placed next to him. The third had his head removed and placed in the center of the table, next to a brutally mutilated deer. The woman had been blonde and had her heart torn out and placed next to the deer on the opposite side as well. Alex was barely keeping his breathing even. Well, that wrecked the day quite nicely. Tom handed him a phone. "Yeah, Ian, another murderer sent me bodies," Ian swore over the phone line. "No, Ian, it's just fantastic. He really outdid himself."

Ian sighed. "He?"

Alex shrugged. "Statistically more likely, don't you think?"

Ian all but hissed over the phone. "I'll be right over. Is there a note?"

Alex checked the mail. He knew exactly which envelope was guilty. "Uh, yeah. But I figured I should wait to open it."

Ian sounded almost less tense for a second. "Alright."