In a Flash

Alex had decided to visit Ian's grave. It was a normal day in London. In other words, cold, rainy, and gray. He placed his hand on the gravestone. Personally, Alex thought that it was a rather ugly one. Nobody had asked for his input, though. There was a reason he was here, though. Yassen. Gregorovich. He felt the back of his throat burn. "Yassen Gregorovich killed you. And, one of these days, I'm going to kill him."

BOOOM!

Lightning hit the nearby tree. Alex swore as the olive tree began to burn. Fuck. Hopefully, he wouldn't be blamed for that. The flames engulfed the tree within seconds. Alex stared and slowly started moving backward.

A man emerged from the burning tree. He had to be nearly three meters tall. His skin was tinted gray. Alex swallowed at the rippling muscle structure. The bright red tattoos almost glowed and encircled his head and chest. The man was dressed in some sort of furry leggings and wielding an enormous ax. "I am Kratos! Warrior of Sparta!"

Alex looked at the man. He was pretty sure that this was no man, but some sort of supernatural being. "Hi, I'm Alex. Uh, orphan?"

Alex felt tiny as the man bounded up to him. His hands were the size of trash can lids. Alex hoped Kratos didn't accidentally step on any particularly fragile graves. Honestly, being an orphan was the only thing he felt like at the moment. Sure, he had Jack and Tom, but it wasn't exactly the-

"Orphan?! Recently?"

Alex gestured at the grave. Kratos let out a heavy sigh. "Are there friends of your father? Or brothers?"

Alex rubbed his face. This was always rough to explain. "My uncle died. And my dad's friends."

Kratos looked contemplative. Alex was shocked he accepted the explanation without questioning it. Then again, Sparta had a pretty bloody history. And those clothes looked pretty damn old. "Is there a man in the house?"

Alex sighed. "Just me."

Kratos looked at him. Alex felt tiny once again. "You are not a man for two more years."

The fuck?! Alex was pretty sure that eighteen was the age of adulthood now.

"Not to worry. I have just lost my son. If you are willing, I can assist you in finding a suitable guardian."

Alex was pretty sure that Kratos couldn't assist him in much besides splitting Alan Blunt with an ax, but he wasn't about to tell the giant fire-proof man that. If he even was a man. "Also, erm, the legal age is eighteen these days."

Kratos nodded and thudded towards him. Alex let out a sigh. This was going to be a fun trip on the tube. "You're not going to fit on the-"

Alex turned to see that Kratos had morphed down to about two meters tall. He was still in fur leggings. And bulked out for days. The ax seemed to have shrunk with him. Great. Just perfect. Hopefully, he could convince people it was a theater prop. "-tube."

Kratos followed him wordlessly as they headed for the London underground. Kratos continuously scanned the area, following him. Alex got the impression that this was the equivalent of taking a giant tiger home. Hopefully, Jack would just grin and bear with it. A few hours later, he was unlocking his house.

Jack walked down the landing and stared. Her tone turned mildly flirtatious. "And who is this?"

Alex felt his eyes go wide. Sometimes he forgot that Jack was a grown woman who liked men.

"Kratos of Sparta!"

Thankfully, Kratos seemed good-looking enough for Jack not to be too hard on him. She did retain some of her street smarts. "Sparta?"

Kratos offered his hand. Jack stared at his frame. "Sparta!"

Jack inhaled and looked at Alex. Alex shrugged. "I met him at the graveyard, he seems pretty chill."

Jack eyed him skeptically. Look, he knew that Kratos was a bit weird, but that was just rude. He wasn't that bad of a judge of character. She mouthed MI6 at him. Alex shook his head. Jack nodded. "Alright. Do you want a drink, Mr. Kratos?"

Kratos thought about it for a second. Alex looked at him. "Thank you."

Alex decided he was going to let Jack handle this. Preferable metaphorically instead of literally. He sat at the table. Kratos managed to sit down without breaking a chair. Alex considered that a win. He wondered how you got that kind of bulk and kept it. Maybe he could convince Kratos to do weight-lifting? He seemed like the kind of guy who enjoyed sports. "Do you attend school?"

Alex shrugged. Time to be vague. He wasn't the trusting type right away. "Yep. It's state-mandated."

Jack served Kratos some of Ian's alcohol. Alex just hoped he liked scotch. Greek Gods appreciated the attempt at hospitality, right? "How are your skills with the blade?"

Alex wanted to facepalm. Jack was looking between them like she was trying to do a complicated math problem. "Uh, not even close to master swordsman, but I'm not dropping them on my foot?"

Kratos nodded. Alex got the impression that the man would know if he tried to BS it. "Not to worry. We can practice after your hours in the ago-school."

Alex shrugged. Hopefully, the Greek God dude would get bored soon. That was a thing right? They got bored and ditched you after a few days to a year.

Jack was examining him. "Are you related to Alex?"

Kratos looked nothing like him or Ian. Not to mention, he was covered in tattoos and had gray eyes. "I relate to his desire for vengeance."

Jack blinked. Alex knew he was going to catch a lot of flack for this, assuming that they weren't both smote for not having honey-drizzled figs or something. "Okay."

Jack glared at him as Kratos sipped the scotch. Alex tried to give her a reassuring look. She did not look very convinced. She pulled him aside in the kitchen. "What did you do? Summon Ian back from the dead and stuff him in a new body? I swear, you lose Ian for three weeks and then you find another man just as insane."

Alex winced. Jack looked mildly remorseful. "Look, I know it sounds nuts, but he appeared in a ball of fire at the graveyard."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "And you brought him home?"

Alex folded his arms. "He's probably harmless."

Jack looked at him. "He's got more muscle in his pecs than you do in your entire body."

Alex sighed. "Look, he'll probably get bored in a few days and then things will go back to normal."

Jack sighed. "Alright, but if he blows up the house or something I'm blaming you."

Based on a prompt by Zyzyax (see story summary). This is the 332nd 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!