Two Weeks Later

It had been a long and challenging two weeks. Alan Blunt had pled guilty and been sentenced to life in prison. Apparently he had been selling information to other countries and using his MI6 position to gain this information. He was going to be locked away for a long, long time.

Alex had been doing better physically. The wounds on his body were healing. The sergeant decided that the base they were at was far enough away from a school that having Alex Rider go to public school just wouldn't work, so he decided that it would be better for Alex to be homeschooled.

Jack, the sergeant's wife, and Mikey, the sergeant's son, had arrived on campus. Although the sergeant had written his wife about his suspicions about Alex, he hadn't been able to write her before her return about the fact that he'd been awarded custody of Alex. Jack was proud that her husband had, quote, "made the right decision to help Alex out." And then they'd kissed.

Mikey was an adorable ten-year-old probably going to be rugby player. He was strong, even for a ten year old. Much like Alex had adopted Eagle as his personal shadow, Mikey had adopted Alex as his personal shadow. Wolf had called Alex "Cub" once in front of Mikey, and Mikey had stubbornly insisted on calling Alex that every time. Everything was going fairly well…

… until they got the news that Blunt had attempted to escape.

Although Blunt's attempt wasn't successful, it definitely put Alex on high alert. Unfortunately, the sergeant hadn't had a chance to talk to Alex about the situation privately, and he'd heard it on the television that the sergeant had in his hut. Alex's soda had splashed to the floor and he'd taken off out the door, not even hearing that the attempt wasn't successful.

Which was why Wolf was here, tracking him down, again. The sergeant didn't want to send out everyone yet. It would disrupt them from their activities, and he didn't want any negative attention sent out towards Alex because the units teased him about the situation. So those who knew the situation best – that is, K-unit – got selected to go look for him.

Kid, why do you keep taking off? Wolf thought, breathing a sigh of frustration. The truth was he knew entirely why Alex kept taking off. It was because he was scared. And, if he was anything like Wolf, hedidn't want to admit out loud that he was scared. That, and because he was probably afraid that the sergeant was going to give him up, even though Wolf – and everyone else except for Alex, it seemed – knew that the sergeant wasn't going to give him up.

Wolf sighed as he saw the teenager sitting in the clearing of the forest. Despite the fact that it was mid-July, it was only sixty degrees out and cold. Alex was wearing a blue sweatshirt, and he sat on the grass under the tree.
How should I approach him? Wolf thought. He sighed, deciding it would be best to draw a page from Eagle's strategy book when dealing with Cub. He went over and sat down next to Cub, not saying anything.

"Is it true then?" Alex asked after Wolf had only sat down for a few seconds.

"Is what true?" Wolf asked evenly. He hadn't had time to see the newscast, he'd only heard from the sergeant what the sergeant thought the problem was.

"Did my… did he… is he escaping?"

So that was the problem – Alex was insecure. Even though he was beginning to trust the sergeant, Alex was still terrified that the sergeant would give him up or that Alan Blunt would come after him. Wolf couldn't say he blamed him. He knew that Eagle had been very upset about the whole scenario, and he was a trained SAS member.

"No, Alex. They caught him and put him back where he belonged – in prison."

"Do you really think he belongs there?" Alex asked, turning to glance at Wolf.
Wolf was silent for a minute before he continued, taking the time to properly word his thoughts. "Yes, Alex, I do. He betrayed his country by sending in information to other countries that could be damning to us. I mean, hell, we're fighting to protect the country and his ass was trying to destroy it. He abused you for what – how many years of your life? – and he helped to hold both you and Eagle hostage, and he hired someone who abused you. Yes, he should go to prison."

Alex nodded, content with Wolf's statement. "But… what if he escapes? I mean, what if he gets out? Will the sergeant… I mean, will Tyler..."

One good thing out of all this, Wolf thought to himself, he'd learned the sergeant's first name. "Will Tyler what?" he asked. From what he'd understood (and Eagle certainly knew more) the sergeant thought that it would be a long time before Alex would be able to address him as 'dad,' so he'd actually given out his name and told Alex just to call him Tyler.

"Will Tyler give me up?" Alex asked softly.

So Wolf had been right about the underlying cause of the issue. If it wouldn't have been obvious, he'd have patted himself on the back. But the issue was serious. Wolf would have to somehow talk to the sergeant and let him know what Alex was worried about. It'd sure be an awkward conversation to have, but if it would keep Alex from running off again in the future… "No, Alex. The sergeant loves you too much to give you up." It was true – Wolf had seen it this morning when the sergeant had told K-Unit about Alex's disappearance. "Have you ever tried to take something away from the sergeant that he likes?"

Alex shook his head.

"Because, Alex, let's face it. He cares about you. He's not going to give you up to a fight. Plus," Wolf said, lowering his voice just a little bit, "There's no way in hell he's going to give you back to Alan Blunt if there's a bone left in his body. He cares about you way too damn much."

Alex just nodded. "I guess. I just need to learn how to trust someone then, huh?" he asked.
"Hey," Wolf responded, "Trusting doesn't come easy, but you're trusting the right man in this case." Wolf checked his watch. "Come on. Dinner's about to start."

"I don't know, Wolf. Are you sure you call that grub you eat in the mess hall food?" Alex asked, pushing himself up off the dirt with a smile.

"Ha, ha," Wolf retorted as he ruffled Alex's hair. "I think the sergeant has been spoiling you a bit too much."

"Me? Spoiled? Never," Alex responded even as he ducked out of the way of Wolf's swing. "By the way, what is your real name?"

Wolf just grinned back at him. "Classified."

"You know," Alex said thoughtfully, "I'll make that my mission to find it out before I leave."
"Good luck, Kid."

## break ##

Barkley stood next to Alan Blunt in the exercise room. They had been left unattended for a brief minute. With a few strings that Alan Blunt's lawyer had pulled, he'd been able to get in the same prison as Barkley, Alex's former caretaker. They could work on getting out together and getting revenge on Alex. Ian was furious that his cousin had ratted on someone he cared about, and had spent a lot of time talking about how he was going to make him pay for that.

Blunt waited and then signaled Ian as soon as the room attendant came back in the room. Two punches later, the attendant was out cold. Truthfully, there never should have been only one person watching the two of them – they were both high risk prisoners. After all, Barkley had managed to embezzle funds from the same bank that the white house used, on top of various other thefts and crimes, as well as abusing Alex.

It didn't take long for Barkley to hack into the computer system and implant the high-tech virus he'd been working on. The computer scramble would give enough trouble to the guards to give them the time to break free.

"Let's go," Alan Blunt said to Barkley as he made his way out the door. Ian followed, and the two of them were able to escape out a side door into the bright sunlight.

"Alex Blunt," Alan said feverishly, "here I come."