Wow. People, I am amazed! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, I wasn't expecting this 'former one-shot' to get such a positive response. I've had several people ask for this story to continue, so yes I will be developing it into an actual story. (Scary thought! I've only done one-shots up until now!)
Hope you enjoy :)
I don't own Alex Rider. True story.
Alex paused in the corridor. He was shaking with anger.
How could MI6 do this to a child? They already had him, wasn't one manipulated kid enough?
Obviously not. Alex turned, about to walk down the stairs and out of MI6. But something stopped him. Someone needed to stand up for this kid- and other than him, no one around here would be even slightly willing to do so. He turned back to look down the corridor the child had walked down. It was his job to look after people. He couldn't just stand by and watch as MI6 broke another child. The main reason he had come back to MI6 was to prevent something like this!
The teenage spy took a breath and stormed down the corridor and burst into Jones' office. He didn't bother with knocking at the door. Rather, he went for the more straight forward approach, slamming it open as loudly as possible. Both the head of MI6 and the child spy jumped looked up in surprise at Alex.
Field work had taught Alex that it was always a good idea to hit the enemy hard when they were least expecting it, and to never give them time to recover. So, while Mrs Jones was still looking slightly stunned, Alex launched into a rather loud tirade.
"What the hell are you playing at, Mrs Jones? Isn't one manipulated child enough for you? Or do you plan to suck the whole of Britain dry by using school kids to do your dangerous work for you? What if he gets killed?" Alex marched over to the front of Mrs Jones' desk and glared at her. "I joined MI6 so that you wouldn't use another kid." He leaned down, and met her eyes.
Mrs Jones refused to be intimidated. "Calm down, Agent Rider," she instructed. "Ryan's involvement with us is actually none of your concern,"
Even though he was incredibly angry, Alex still made a mental note of the important information Jones had let slip. The boy's name was Ryan. "I don't want to see another child go through what you put me through. Ryan doesn't deserve this, and you know it,"
"Are you arguing with a superior? That's called insubordination, and it will not be tolerated, Rider,"
Alex stood up straight. "I'm not arguing with a superior. I'm pointing out a mistake that you're making. How did you even manage to rope Ryan into this? Did his 'secret agent' relative die and leave you to be his legal guardian?" Alex asked sarcastically. It was the exact same thing which had led to his involvement with MI6. He wasn't expecting a reply, but Mrs Jones surprised him by nodding in response. "Looks like history is repeating a bit, doesn't it?" he sneered.
Mrs Jones sighed and pulled out another peppermint. "I don't like to involve Ryan with this, Alex. To be honest, I didn't want to include you in it either. But, the fact remains that Ryan is useful to us. Because you're now eighteen, you can't really go on missions that require a child anymore, can you? Besides, we only need Ryan for one more mission. There is no one left to look after him. If he works for us, then we can arrange to have him sent to an adopted family after this mission."
Alex shook his head. Liam's past as a spy would catch up with him. Ex- spies didn't make very good adoptive children. They had too many enemies. The Pleasures had all been killed because of him. "You know that will never work, Jones," he stated angrily. "The Pleasures got killed because I was a spy,"
The Head of MI6 nodded. "That was unfortunate. But, there really is no other option… unless you can suggest an alternative, maybe?"
She was baiting him. Alex knew it. Mrs Jones knew he wouldn't have been able to simply stand by and watch another child get hurt. She had probably arranged it so that he would bump into Ryan.
That could only mean one thing. "You want him to stay with me?" he asked.
Mrs Jones smiled slightly. Well, her mouth twitched. Alex assumed it was a smile. "Hmm... that could actually work out quite well. You live by yourself in your old Chelsea house, don't you? There would be plenty room for Ryan. It would also mean that he would be safe, with a guardian who understands who he is. Yes, that would be good, actually." Mrs Jones turned to type something into her computer. "We were actually just discussing where Ryan was going to live, but it looks like that problem has been sorted out. Ryan, you can go get your stuff ready to leave with Agent Rider now. I'll contact you about your final mission tomorrow. It's just a small, operation- should only take a couple of days," she addressed the youngest agent.
Ryan gave a small nod and walked out the door.
Alex watched him leave before turning back to Jones. "I have a mission coming up soon, remember? Who will look after him, then?"
The Head of MI6 didn't even blink. "I'll just get another agent in to take your place." She replied, before leaning in and lowering her voice. "This arrangement isn't going to be permanent. It's for six months- Ryan needs time to heal and he may need your protection. Once he's recovered emotionally from his missions and our other agents have managed to track down and destroy-or at least negotiate some sort of bargain with- his enemies, he will have to be adopted. We need you, Alex. You can't go on missions while looking after him,"
Alex nodded. "Understood Mrs Jones," he replied.
"Very good. Now, Ryan should have finished gathering his stuff. You are dismissed."
"So, um, what sort of stuff have you been doing for MI6?" Alex asked as casually as he could.
Ryan was sitting in the back of his car with a blank expression. "Just some odd jobs," he replied evenly. Alex's eyes narrowed. The boy said it with so little emotion that he could have talking about a holiday job. The older teen was tempted to try and get more information out of the child, but decided that for now, it might be better not to push it.
"Umm, okay. What do you do when you aren't on a mission, then?" Alex asked, desperately trying to make some sort of conversation. He was going to be living with Ryan for the next six months. It was important for them to be able to communicate with each other.
"Recover," Ryan muttered. Alex gave a small sigh. People skills really weren't his forte, but at least he was making an effort. Which was more than Ryan was doing.
The rest of the ride passed in silence. Alex was relieved when they finally made it to his house. He parked the car and got out, Ryan following him up the steps to his house.
"Would you like a hand with your bags?" Alex asked, as Ryan tried to carry three bags into the house at once.
His request was met with a rather icy 'I can handle it, thanks'.
Alex shifted angrily. If the boy didn't want to talk, that was okay, but being rude was not an option.
"Watch your tone, kid," Alex said sharply. Ryan made no reply, but turned to glare at Alex. The older agent glared back until the boy turned away. "Right. You'll be in Jack's ol- the spare room. It's just up the stairs, first door on the left. I'll be directly opposite you. Bathroom is beside my room,"
Ryan nodded. Alex wished that the boy would actually say something. But the kid silently dragged his bags up the stairs to get settled into his room, so Alex flopped down on a couch in the living room. He ran a hand through his hair tiredly, wincing as his fingers hit a bruise he had gotten from his most recent mission. Mrs Jones was a nasty, manipulative cow. She had wanted Alex to come into the HQ at the same time as Ryan, because she wanted him to look after the boy.
Why did it have to be him? Alex was still recovering from his last mission. And, not only that, but he still hadn't gotten over the deaths of both Jack and the Pleasures (because both incidents were his fault- he was sure). He wasn't mentally stable enough to look after a younger agent. Protecting him was going to be fine, but what about the other half of Mrs Jones' instructions?
Let him heal. Right, how was he meant to do that? Alex didn't know a thing about counselling or psychology- other than the fact that it was a waste of time when you were trying to stop some manic trying to rule or destroy the world. He groaned. At least he wasn't going to work in the field for a couple of months. That was going to be nice.
Ryan came back downstairs. Alex was surprised. He would have thought that the kid would stay holed up in his room until Mrs Jones brought told him to go on his next mission.
"All settled in?" He asked, wondering whether to boy would reply or not. He hoped Ryan would say something. Alex was beginning to feel like he was talking to himself.
"Yea," Ryan replied. Alex was slightly surprised. It was a one word answer, but still, it was an actual answer.
"Ok, do you want anything to eat? It's lunchtime," Alex asked. The boy gave a shrug.
"Ok," Wow. Another answer. It was like he was actually holding a conversation with Ryan.
Alex pulled himself off the couch and walked into the kitchen, opening up the pantry. "Uh… sandwiches? Cereal? Fruit? There's a whole lot of options down here,"
Ryan just shrugged and grabbed a piece of bread and a muesli bar. Alex gave a small sigh as he made a cup of coffee. So much for that particular conversation. It looked like the boy was back to shrugging and not speaking.
The two agents took their lunch back into the living room.
"Why's your house so clean?" Ryan asked as he looked around the room.
"Because I like it that way," Alex replied shortly. Because Jack had always kept it that way… It was alright if the boy wanted to talk, but asking questions like that wasn't okay with him. Alex wondered if the boy was using silence as a way to get information from him. It had nearly worked. Alex had been tempted to give a longer answer, because he had been so pleased Ryan had talked without prompting. Alex gave a mental groan. That was one sneaky tactic. This kid was trouble. Alex was really going to have to watch out for this one. Ryan wouldn't hesitate to manipulate him, obviously. Though, Alex briefly wondered when Ryan had needed to manipulate adults.
Oh well, it didn't matter. Alex was a master at manipulation and mind games- he had plenty experience with them, after all. He should be able to counter this boy's attempts at manipulation easily. At least he knew what Liam was capable of, now.
They ate lunch in silence. Throughout the meal, Alex examined the younger boy. He looked quite tired, but that didn't stop his blue eyes piercing through everything they saw. There were a couple of scars and bruises around the boy's wrists. They looked like scars from wearing tight metal handcuffs.
Alex was tempted to ask the boy what he had done to get cuffed like that, but knew he would probably get some snappy reply. Besides, the boy could simply be worried about his final mission. Alex decided that after Ryan got back from wherever Jones was sending him, he was going to have a talk and get some proper answers from the younger agent.
So, um, yeah. Was that alright? I actually have no idea where this story is going, which is kind of scary (it's kinda like riding a horse without reins. Been there, done that! :) hahaha, so yeah. This will be interesting. If you have anything you'd like to see happen in this story, feel free to tell me in a review and I'll see if I can make it work. Thanks for reading!
Edit update: The boy's name is now Ryan. I was reading another Fanfic, which has a 'Liam' in is as a main character. Oops! I like Ryan better, anyway. Liam didn't seem to quite fit. Sorry for any confusion!