The Collector
Alex found his first butterfly when he was young.
He'd looked at Ian. "It's dying."
Alex had frowned. Ian had been as impassive as always. "Can we do anything?"
Ian shook his head in a single smooth motion. His expression turned gentle. "I'm afraid that this is the end of its natural lifespan, Alex."
The soft voice had not softened the blow. Alex watched the butterfly flitter more feebly. Ian looked at him. "Can we stay? So it won't be alone?"
Ian's hand brushed through his hair. Alex had looked up at him. "Of course."
Ian's tone was the warmest it had ever been. He'd kneeled beside Alex. They'd watched as the butterfly slowly succumbed to its biology. The last vestiges of life passed through it as it fell in a fluttering motion to the ground. Alex had felt Ian's hand on his back. Alex reached for the butterfly's corpse. Ian looked at him. "I want to keep it."
Ian had sighed but allowed it. Alex had been led back home and up to the library. There had been a pause. "Your grandfather used to collect butterflies."
Ian had helped him pin the butterfly into place onto a piece of board. He had gone into the drawers and pulled out velvet. The velvet was glued to a large board. Ian gently placed his hands on Alex's as they pulled the needles from the board and switched the butterfly over to the velvet board. The warm, firm hands on his shoulders. "You did well, Alex."
Alex grinned. The warm happiness washed over him. "Really?"
Ian's smile had reached his eyes. He'd ruffled Alex's hair. "Yes. Now, why don't you see if you can figure out which butterfly it is while I make the label."
It had been a large white. Alex smiled fondly at his case of butterflies. It was one of his few unblemished memories of Ian. He ran his hand down the case. Maybe he should start collecting again. Alex only brought in butterflies that died natural deaths. Sure, it slowed things down, but he wasn't about to go catching and killing insects just so he could put them on display. Alex heard a person behind him. "Hello, Tom."
Tom pouted. Alex grinned at the reflection in the glass. "That's creepy, mate."
Alex folded his arms. Tom made a huffing noise. "Your reflection showed up in the glass, Tom-o."
Tom rolled his eyes. Alex grinned at the other boy. "Someone sent you a package."
Alex decided that his collection wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. He followed Tom to the living room. Alex carefully opened the package. It was a display box. Interesting. He lit the box. "Holy shit. It's a Lotis Blue."
There were only a few people who would send him gifts. Fewer still who would send expensive gifts. Tom frowned. "Uh, what's that in English for us non-insect-nuts?"
Alex rolled his eyes. Tom was bad sometimes. "It's one of the rarest butterflies in the world. I'm not even sure it's legal to buy or sell them."
Tom picked up the paper that had fallen out of the package. He scanned it as Alex carefully set the box down. "Who's Walker?"
Alex rolled his eyes. Of course, the man had figured out it was him who liked collecting butterflies when he stayed at Alex's house. Why Walker kept sending him expensive gifts was beyond him. "Oh, my God."
Tom pouted. Alex rolled his eyes. "Cheating ex-boyfriend?"
Alex whacked Tom upside the head. Tom had weird ideas sometimes. That, and his friend seemed to be desperately trying to find him a significant other. "NO! He was a coworker of mine for a short time. I saved his life a few times and he seems to think he needs to repay me or some shit."
Tom's eyes lit up. Alex very narrowly resisted whacking him again. "That's the start of like eight thousand rom-coms, Alex."
Alex glared at Tom. Tom started pouting harder. "We have never dated."
Tom flopped onto the couch and let out a groan. Alex covered his face with a pillow. "You're hopeless! Wait, is he at least hot?"
Alex was tempted to smother Tom with the couch pillow. Alex considered the question. "He's in his late twenties, so no."
Tom let out another moan of agony. Alex decided to kindly ignore him. "Hooooopeless!"
Tom sprang up. Alex dodged his grab. "Shoo."
Tom rolled his eyes and grabbed Alex's arm. He had a vice grip on Alex. "That means he's hot otherwise."
Alex sighed and grabbed the butterfly. He may as well enjoy the gift. "Bad Tom."
Tom followed him up the stairs. Alex snorted. "You can at least let me text him for you."
Alex longingly eyed his collection and decided to come back to stare at the butterfly later. First, he had to steal his phone back from Tom. Thankfully, nobody important was under their real names except Jack and Tom. He gave the case one last glance and followed after time.
Alex was up early for the first frost of the year. This was around the time of year that butterflies tended to die in droves. Tom and Jack had elected to sleep in. Alex wondered if it wasn't an attempt to tactfully let him collect alone. He hadn't taken a partner with him for this since Ian had died. Alex stepped onto the frozen grass. His boots crunched against the grass. Alex spotted a familiar face once he got to the park. Walker. He was still wanted in the UK. "You shouldn't be here."
Walker grinned and walked over to him. Their breaths were glistening in front of their faces. "Did you get my gift?"
Alex smiled softly. Walker sat down next to him. "Yes. You don't need to keep sending me rare and expensive presents but thank you."
Walker grinned. Alex rolled his eyes. "You like my rare and expensive presents."
Alex occasionally wondered whether Tom and Walker went to the same school of talking to Alex. Probably. "I do but that's not the point."
Walker ruffled his hair. Alex shoved him lightly. "Mhm."
Walker continued petting him like a cat. Alex rolled his eyes. "You deserve nice things and we both know you're not getting them on that MI6 salary."
Alex huffed. Walker's grin went wider. "They don't pay me."
Walker clutched theatrically at his chest. Alex rolled his eyes. "Sacrilege! Gordon and Yermalov did not teach you to work for free."
Alex saw a fluttering motion out of the corner of his eye. He got up. "Butterfly."
Walker smiled slightly and shook his head before silently following him towards the butterfly. It was dying.
Fin
Based on a prompt by Zyzyax (see story summary). This is the 75th 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 :) Want to discuss? Leave a comment beneath, or join the discord (Link on AO3 Fics or just PM me, lol). Want to take part in our Alex Rider anniversary celebrations in September? Join the WoC discord to take part in a fanfic event!
