The faint smell of lemon filled his nose as he walked down the familiar hallway. Chaos surrounded him, but the loud voices, shoving, laughing, and the slamming of locker doors was just a buzzing background noise to Alex.

Most teenagers, if asked, would quickly inform you that they wished they didn't have to go to school. Alex, however, was happy to walk through the hallways again after a long bout of absences. Most of the time he was elsewhere, doing dangerous missions for MI6 with him almost being killed quite often. That resulted in him getting behind in school work and not getting to hang out with his friends much anymore. He was beginning to fear he was slowly losing the little friendships he had left, for he knew each and every time he was gone, he drifted a little more apart from those around him. He had actually just gotten back from a mission and was settling in, again, when trouble stirred up. He got a call from MI6 about a month after the mission to learn that Jack had been kidnapped while he was in school.

The hallways got quieter as people filtered out, heading different ways. A familiar voice stopped Alex and he turned to see Tom Harris grinning at him.

Tom Harris was his best mate. Alex had met Tom about three years ago; when he was on his way home, Tom had been on the curb, wiping blood from his nose after he refused to give his lunch money to Michael Cook for cigarettes. Alex had met the school bully and his two friends the next day, and he taught them a thing or two to remember. Neither Tom or Alex had any more trouble with bullies, or at least, until recently. Ever since then, though, they were partners in crime in just about everything they did together. Tom was even one of the few people who knew about his... job.

"Hey, you won't believe this, but the craziest thing just happened to me." Tom said, a little breathlessly with a spark in his eyes. Suddenly, Alex felt a pang of guilt for how he had been focused on himself all the time, and not Tom. He would try to hang out with him sometime, catch up, but not right now. It was all too fresh and he didn't want to make Tom worry about him. Not anymore. Besides, a thick wave of darkness and grief was suffocating him all of a sudden.

It was hard to ruin Tom's mood, and Alex certainly didn't want to, but he didn't feel like he could tell Tom anything right now. He knew if he stayed and talked, the topic would be brought up eventually and Alex would break down in front of the few remaining students in the school, including Michael Cook who was staring at them suspiciously.

Alex realized he hadn't responded to something Tom had said, and he looked up to see concern in his friend's eyes. He didn't need pity right now. He didn't want Tom feeling even more concerned. He had already worried too much about Alex.

Alex turned away sharply, walking the way he had come. Tom grabbed his shoulder in an attempt to stop him. "Wait, Alex. What's wrong?"

Alex shrugged Tom's hand away, glancing at Mike before turning to Tom and spoke quieter. "Nothing. I've got to go talk to Mr. Darren."

He continued walking up the hallway away from his best friend. "I'll meet you over the weekend," he called back over his shoulder, fearing to look into Tom's eyes anymore. He feared he would see more pity.

"Alex!"

This time, Alex did not stop. He left his friend and a piece of him behind as he turned the corner, exhaling heavily, shutting his eyes briefly as he leaned against the wall.

Alex Rider?" a different voice called out from ahead, and Alex opened his eyes to see Mr. Darren standing on the other end of the hallway. "You okay?" he asked hesitantly.

Surprisingly, Alex noticed no hint of pity in his teacher's eyes. Only genuine concern and curiousness a teacher would be expected to show. He calmed down a bit at finally seeing someone who didn't just feel bad for him. Sure, Mr. Darren didn't know what he did when he was away from school, yet he knew about Alex's uncle's death. Instead of the pity the other teachers displayed, he seemed to have a hint of understanding in his eyes as he gazed at Alex, waiting for an answer.

Alex slowly nodded. "Yeah." He was okay. For now, at least. Everything was off of his mind while he talked to Mr. Darren, and for that, Alex was glad.

Mr. Darren smiled warmly at him. "Good. Why don't we finish this discussion in my classroom? We have lots to talk about."

"So, first of all," Mr. Darren said as he leaned against a desk. "I want to talk to you about your grades."

Alex winced from where he was sitting in the desk beside Mr. Darren.

The teacher held up his hands. "You're not in trouble, Alex. I just wanted to talk about how we can improve your grades." He handed Alex a post-it note with a phone number.

Alex frowned, looking up at Mr. Darren in confusion. He just smiled at Alex's response and nodded to the paper. "I know how hard you been working this past month and I want to tutor you to help you catch up with the class. I know having a lot of homework every night isn't teaching you anything. It's just adding stress to your already stressful life, I assume?" he asked politely, no catch in his voice. Alex felt like he could be honest with Mr. Darren, so he mumbled an agreement.

"This is my personal contact information so you can call or text me if you are having trouble with something in particular. I know I'm not supposed to give my number to you or whatever, but I don't think you'll be backmailing me for an A like I feel like some of your classmates would," he joked. Alex cracked a small smile, relaxing. "Also, a few days a week, I would hope you wouldn't mind staying after school so I could teach you at a slower pace till you were caught up."

Mr. Darren was now staring at Alex calmly, waiting. Alex hesitated for a moment. Mr. Darren seemed to sense his dilemma, for he stood up and patted Alex on the back. "You don't have to decide right now. Just keep my number so you always have it, just in case."

Alex nodded numbly and stood up, slipping his backpack on before awkwardly nodding farewell. He had never had a teacher act like this towards him before. Never before had a teacher gone out of their way for him, and Alex suddenly knew his decision. Just as he was about to walk out of the classroom, he turned around. "I'll do it."

Mr. Darren turned around from where he had been packing his stuff up. "Are you sure?" he asked. "You don't have to if it will make you uncomfortable."

Alex shook his head determinedly. "I'm sure. This will probably help me a lot. Thank you for your help, Mr. Darren." He held up the post-it note for clarification and Mr. Darren smiled.

He walked around his desk towards Alex again and shook hands with him. "I'm pleased you agreed. We won't be able to start next week, but we can try the week after," he suggested.

"Sounds good," Alex mumbled, suddenly nervous. "Goodbye, Mr. Darren."

Mr. Darren clasped his hands together happily as he stood by the entrance of the classrom. "Goodbye. Have a good day, Alex."

Alex dipped his head and started walking down the hallway, a weight lifted off his chest. He was about to round the corner when Mr. Darren suddenly called out. "Alex, just so you know, you can text me if you need to talk about anything. I won't pry into your life, but I know that since your uncle's passing, you've been different. I won't grill you for information, but if you just need to let things out or want me to pray for you, I will. I'll listen."

Alex paused, frozen to the spot. He stood there, uncertain for a while, but after Mr. Darren was gone, Alex smiled a little more certain.

Alex had just unlocked his bike Wolf had picked up for him when hands shoved him from behind. Alex stumbled, steadying himself with the handle bars.

"You owe me, Rider," Mike snarled, grabbing a handful of Alex's uniform. Alec glance down, then back up to see hatred filling Mike's features.

"Why do I owe you?" Alex asked calmly, even though internally he was nervous. He was too dangerous to get in a fight with Mike. He didn't trust himself and there was no one around to witness it. He couldn't do it. He didn't care what rumors Mike spread about him, about how much of a coward he was.

Mike huffed. "You know why. Don't you try to pretend you don't know."

Alex frowned, then shrugged. "I really don't know why. Now can you release my shirt?" he requested.

Mike stared at him a second before releasing him and shoving him for good measure. "Just…just back down. I won't warn you again. They will come if you don't."

With that, Mike took off, disappearing in a flash. A black Camaro pulled up against the curb and the passenger window rolled down to reveal Wolf. "Get in, will you? Put your bike in the trunk."

Alex sighed, and did as he was told. As soon as he had shut the car door, Wolf sped off. Alex scrambled to buckle his seat belt, and stared at Wolf incrediously.

Wolf noticed him staring and shrugged, unfazed. "I just got back from a meeting with Mrs. Jones. She says it's not safe for you to ride your bike home from school, so I'm stuck with picking you up every day."

Alex tuned out the last part. "What did you say?" he asked.

Wolf glanced at him briefly before turning his eye back onto the road, knitting his brows. "Uh, I have to pick you up every day…"

Alex shook his head impatiently. "Before that!"

Wolf rolled his eyes at Alex's rudeness. "I said that I went to speak to Mrs. Jones. Is that what you just had to know?" he asked sarcastically.

Alex ignored him, absentmindly rubbing his chest from where he had been shot a little under a year ago. If Wolf went to talk to Mrs. Jones, that meant that they had been discussing him. Mrs. Jones had probably debriefed Wolf about Alex and his situation. His situation…

"Did she say anything about Jack?" he blurted out.

Alex watched as Wolf sat straighter, tensing up. "Your…other guardian?"

"Yes."

Wolf sighed, not answering but glancing at Alex hesitantly.

Alex finally broke after several minutes of Wolf repeatedly stealing glances at him. "Did she?!"

"I don't want to discuss this now," Wolf replied quietly, his hand clenching the shift tightening.

"Well, I do!"

Wolf suddenly turned off sharply, stopping the car on the side of the road, jerking them both back and forth as they came to a shaky stop. "Alex!" Wolf snapped. "I will not tell you again. We will discuss this when we get home. Until then, you can be quiet so I can focus on the road. You wouldn't want me to crash, would you?" he said tensely.

When Alex didn't say anything, Wolf leaned closer to him. "Understand?"

Alex sighed. "Yes."

Wolf leaned back, satisfied. Alex glared out the window as Wolf pulled onto the road and after a while, cracked open his window. Damp air refreshed him as the pair rode in silence for the rest of the trip. Alex was lost in thought as buildings past by, then pastures, then communities. He fought down the heavy darkness that was filling within him. Tears threatened to fall, but Alex took deep breaths, fixing his composure.

When he had gotten himself under control, he noticed more and more cars had filled the road and Alex realized it was already almost five, rush hour. He hadn't realized how long he was at school. Now that he thought about it, why was Wolf so late to pick him up? Mrs. Jones would have known what time Alex would have gotten out of school and would have not let the meeting have gone on so long. Some must have distracted her. An argument with Wolf? Why would Wolf be arguing with him, though?

Alex glanced over at Wolf, trying to notice something he hadn't before. Wolf gripped the steering wheel tightly, clenching it so hard that his knuckles turning white. His jaw was slightly taunt, and his eyes never strayed from the road once. He certainly was angry, but he couldn't be that mad at him, could he?

A little while later, Alex was startled by a door slamming shut and saw Wolf getting out of the car. They were at the house. Alex grabbed his backpack and followed Wolf and decided he would get his bike out later. Maybe he could convince Wolf to let him ride it when he met Tom this weekend. He had had a lot of time to think about it in the car since Mr. Darren had talked to him, and he knew he wanted to tell someone about what was going on. Tom was his best friend and he was just concerned for Alex, even though he could dig a little too deep sometimes. He at least deserved the truth. It's not like he could tell someone else. Telling Mr. Darren what he did when he was absent was not a good idea, and it was not him and Wolf were going to get down in a one on one talk about the deep stuff any time soon. He didn't know Wolf enough to.

When he got inside, he shut the door softly behind him. Wolf looked up from grabbing pots from the cabinets in favor to look at Alex. He seemed much more calmer, so maybe he wasn't about to drill into Alex and would be more lenient. Alex opened his mouth to speak, but Wolf interrupted. "Let me fix dinner, and you can do homework or whatever you need to do. Afterwards, we…we can talk. Don't try to pry for everything because you don't need to know everything."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "I don't need to know what Mrs. Jones told you about me? It's me we're talking about, isn't it?"

Wolf growled. "Yes, some of it is not for your ears though. And, for the record, it wasn't all about you. You're not that interesting for me to listen about for an hour."

"What was she talking about then?"

"It's none of your business, kid," Wolf said faltering a little bit before he shook it off and walked across the kitchen to get something out of the fridge. The fact that he had something in the fridge amazed Alex. He hadn't hardly used it all week besides the endless amounts of ice coffee, water, and milk.

Alex hung around for a minutes after nothing else was said, watching Wolf curiously. Finally, Wolf snapped, and said, "Go upstairs! Remember our deal?"

That sent Alex quickly upstairs without a moment spared. He couldn't afford to not hear what Wolf would tell him, and he did not want to anger Wolf again.

AN: I typed this really fast and I just ended up going in a totally different direction then I had originally thought ot. Anyway, Happy St. Patrick's Day.

The stuff about Tom is mostly true. It's in the fifth book, Scorpia, near the beginning, so go check it out if you don't believe me. Right now, Alex cannot control his emotions all the time, and ones he doesn't want to feel are resurfacing when he doesn't want them to. I hope that explains Alex's attitude in this chapter. Also, what do you think Wolf is not telling Alex?