A/N: So, I realize this is the longest you've ever had to wait for a chapter...but this is also the longest chapter I have ever written...by far. I hope you enjoy all 3,855 words of it. v . v It's not that long for some...but for me? It's a lot.

Thanks goes out to my mom for putting up with my incessant typing and my pop-culturally ignorant friend, Laura, who allowed me to type up the end while we were watching Shawshank Redemption (which I know by heart, but she's never seen...).

On that note...let's get down to business.

Ramona's Perspective

It's a hard living when children are the only ones that like you...and sometimes, not even them. You're always unexpected, intruding in peoples' lives when you aren't wanted. But it's a necessary task, one that I gladly take on with pleasure. Well, maybe less pleasure and more sheer determination and resignation. Without a case, the sheer monotony of my day was getting to me. I had recently closed out an open-shut investigation and I had finished all of my paperwork that morning. I was, quite efficiently, winning a game of solitaire on my computer as the phone rang.

Now, let me explain my job to you. About 75% of the time, the calls I get are reporting rumors and falsities that I investigate for all of a day before determining that nothing is wrong. However, the other 25% of the time, I get a legitimate report from an anonymous source that leads to an extremely laborious process of getting a child out of a dangerous home. Either way, when I answer the phone, it gives me something to do or even think about...outside of diamonds and spades. That said, when the phone started ringing, I leapt at it.

"Child Protection Services, this is Ramona speaking."

I listened as this teacher spun a tale that started five years before. As he went on and on, I started taking notes, becoming intrigued by the elaborate story that he wove spanning two generations of students.

As his narrative drew to a close, I looked down at the notes I had taken. I was to investigate a girl named Cassandra McMan, nicknamed Cassie. She attended Brooklands School. Her father was named Josh McMan. Cassie had said that her dad worked in shipping at the docks. Her teacher, David Grizzle, had noticed that her father was hanging around with someone who had previously been labeled a troublemaker and possible gang member; a man by the name of Alex Rider. Rider had picked up Cassie one day at school and taken her to see her dad in the hospital as he had been recently shot and felt responsible for it.

From there, all I had was speculation but I had worked with less before. I started nodding, thoughts flying in my head.

"I will definitely look into it Mr. Grizzle. Thank you for reporting this to us. I will do everything in my power to find out what's going on. Have a nice day."

I hung up the phone, closed out of my solitaire window (who was I kidding, I was losing anyway...), and opened up the CPS network.

"Cassandra...McMan..." I mumbled as I typed it into the database. Very little popped up, showing that an investigation had never been opened with her name attached to it. Not surprising; her name hadn't rung any bells in my head. Just to be one hundred percent certain that I could put that in her report, I searched her fathers' name as well.

Josh McMan, 34 years old, married and divorced, one child (Cassandra McMan), job: classified.

I stopped at that, blinking. Classified?

I hit backspace quickly and typed in the last name David had given to me.

Alex Rider, 21 years old.

I blinked again. Wait...what? I kept clicking, hit backspace and searched again, to the same results. What in the world? I hit the print button and went to the printer to gather the single paper. Marching up to my boss, I determinedly shoved the paper at his face.

"Aaron, is there any reason in particular that we would have next-to-no information on this man?"

He took the paper from me and squinted at it. I picked up his glasses and put them in his hand. Accepting his thanks, I sat down in front of his desk awaiting an answer.

I got more and more impatient as he hemmed and hawed. Finally, I up and asked "Well"? His eyes narrowed and he looked up at me once more.

"Do you have any other leads in whatever case you're working?"

"Sure, I have two other names. A father and daughter. Rider's just suspected to be a family friend or work buddy."

"Excellent. I'll do some research into this Rider fellow and you look into the other two. I'll get back to you as soon as I know something."

"Thanks, Aaron."

"Don't mention it," he said half-heartedly, attention already diverted to his phone book. I took my leave from the room and went back to my cubicle. Sitting down, I pulled in my chair, popped my knuckles, popped my neck, and got down to business.

Working with limited information is never easy. Especially limited information of the classified variety. However, I wasn't in this business for easy. After I had visited Aarons' office, I had done intensive internet and database research to recover more information about the mysterious Josh McMan. I'd had tougher cases.

I pulled up to the curb across the street from the subjects house. Settling in for the long haul, I made sure my radio was on (as were my shades), my drink stocked and my snacks readily available. Pulling out a crisp, I scanned the immediate area. As it was only 7:15 in the morning, there was very little visual activity. I recalled that Cassie left for school at around 7:45 so as to get to Brookland on time. Nonetheless, 7:45 came and went, as did 8:00. Not only did no one emerge from the domicile but there were no signs of activity in the house either. Great. So it was going to be one of those days. I let my head fall to the steering wheel and groaned. From there, I reached blindly to the passenger seat for another crisp, distantly realizing that I could have eaten a real breakfast before staking out the house.

I took a gulp of my coffee and resumed my vigil.

8:09. Only four hours till I had to report back to my boss.

Alex's Perspective

I had promised myself to the McMan family for the foreseeable future...at least until Snake got off his lazy arse and started PT so he could take care of himself. As such, I had no problem taking Cassie to school that morning. I dropped her off at the school gates at 7:30 and raced back to the hospital, delighting in the thrum of the engine beneath my feet.

Today was the day Josh was getting out of St. Dominic's. We hadn't told Cass. He wanted to surprise his daughter. He had already checked himself out as I pulled up back in front of the Emergency Room driveway. I rushed out to grab his bag and tossed it into the boot. He slid into the car and sighed.

"I cannot wait till I get to sleep in my own bed."

I chuckled and drove away from hospital as Snake settled back and closed his eyes.

At exactly 8:08 in the morning, I drove down Josh's street, past his house, pulled into the drive way and unloaded my human cargo.

Trying not to jar any of the pictures on the wall, I helped Snake up the stairs, shoved him into his bed, walked across the hall and without turning on a single light, tumbled into the guest bed and fell asleep, exhausted.

Ramona's Perspective

Not exactly one to give up after one day, I packed up my supplies and headed back to the office. I walked into Aaron's office and sat down in front of his desk. "Any luck?" I asked shortly.

He bit his lip in contemplation. "Well, I did a little research. I didn't find much."

I contained my groan. "Alright. What did you find?"

"Well, he travels a lot. He's licensed to carry a concealed hand gun. Don't know if he has a license to drive. I couldn't even confirm that 21 is his real age. I will keep looking, but I'm quickly running out of resources. How are you coming on your end?"

"Next to nothing. I went to the house this morning and sat there for five hours. The house was empty. No one came home. So I packed up and came back. I plan on going again tomorrow."

"Alright," he responded. "Just try one more day and we'll go from there."

I nodded succinctly. "Sure, boss."

The next day I was parked in the same spot waiting for something...anything to happen. I was rewarded at about 7:45 when the front door of the house opened and a teenager and older man walked out. The man was in his mid-thirties and had a sling around his arm. That must have been Josh which logically would make the teenager his daughter Cassie. I watched as they walked down the front walk way and turned towards Brookland school.

Perfect.

As soon as they were out of eyesight I grabbed my gloves and got out of the car.

I only wanted to get the scope of who I was investigating. Knowing I wasn't allowed to touch anything, I made short work of the house, looking inside all the windows. Their house had minimal furniture and very little personal possessions. There were only two pictures on the wall, both of Josh and his daughter. The first was Cassie when she was younger, playing on a swing set with Josh behind pushing her higher and the other was one of Josh in military fatigues at the airport hugging his daughter who looked about a bit older. Outside of those, there were dishes in the sink, but not an overwhelming amount. Shoes had been placed by the door and coats were hung up in the entry way. I pursed my lips.

Not noticing anything else abnormal, I headed back to the car. I yanked the gloves off and tossed them into the passenger seat. I hopped into my car with just enough time to get it started before Mr. McMan came ambling around the corner by himself. As he walked up his front entry way, I pulled out of my parking spot.

"So from the house I gathered that the dad is neat but not compulsively. There were some dishes in the sink and shoes by the door but he's been in hospital for a few days and seemingly out of the country before that, so it's understandable. His house is barely furnished and only the two of them live there. Apparently it's only been the two of them for a long time because there isn't a single picture of a mother anywhere on the first floor of the house. He appears to have been in the military at some time. Don't know if he still is. And I have no idea which branch he was in, but I saw a picture of him in fatigues. That would explain why his job was listed as classified. When it comes to military families, I mean, if he is still serving...who watches the girl while he's away?"

"A perfectly valid ques..."

Standing up, I interrupted, "Yes, but at her age, she's almost reached her majority. So even if we did find out that she's been left home alone, at most we could remove her from the household for a year. It really wouldn't make all that much of a difference!"

"We still have to inves..."

I started pacing. "And I realize that I still have to investigate. I'm just getting frustrated. I feel like at every turn, I'm being thwarted from the information that I should be finding. No information should be classified from Child Protection Services."

"I agree. That's why we have contacts that we can call upon..."

I continued, "And yet those contacts aren't helping you much either. We know he travels. He could be a banker. He could be in real estate. We know he has a car but we don't know his age. He looks young. Are we even sure he's reached his majority? We don't really know anything!" I whipped my head around to stare at him and threw my hands into the air.

Aaron just looked at me.

"What?"

"I'm waiting to see if you're done talking."

I blushed. Nodding sheepishly, I sat back down in the chair.

"Right. I have a few more people I can ask. For now we will keep on keeping on. I want you to go to the house one more time. Visit when Cassie isn't there. See what you can find out about Josh's time in the armed forces. From there, we'll devise a plan."

I nodded.

"You are dismissed."

Nodding again, I stood and walked out of the office. As I got to the door I heard "Ramona..."

I paused in the doorway, back still to him.

"I'm getting a really strange feeling about this case. Keep digging, but don't get too close. I'd hate for anything to happen to you."

I took a deep breath and kept on walking.

Alex's Perspective

I pulled up to Snake's house at 9:45 and sat in front of the house with engine idling for a second. I glanced around, looking for anything suspicious before getting out of the car. Finding nothing, I turned off the engine and sauntered up the walkway. I rang the doorbell and waited till the door opened to show Snake's face.

"What?"

"Oh hush." I pushed my way in.

I could feel the eye roll behind me as he shut the door.

I walked into the kitchen and helped myself to a glass of water. As I turned, I leaned back, resting my lower back on the counter. I looked into my glass and asked, "So, how you feeling?"

He scoffed and leaned against the opposite counter. "I feel fine. I want to take the sling off but the doctor said..."

"One more week. Yeah, I know. But hell, I never listen to the doctors."

"That's because you're a horrible child who doesn't respect his elders."

I snorted. "Yeah, sure. Because MI6 gives me time to fully recover every single time I get hurt. That's an accurate assessment."

He grinned at me. I grinned back. As we both burst into laughter, he moved towards me as if to cuff me on the head. I ducked out of the way and headed into the living room. "Come on, McMan. Let's see if anything's on the telly."

At 3:00 we heard the front door open and we both half rose from the couch, my hand automatically going to the gun that I had placed on the coffee table.

"Dad? Cub? You here?"

I quickly but carefully shoved the gun in the seams in the couch as Snake stated in a slightly raised voice, "In the living room."

She walked in and sat on the love seat. After two minutes of sitting in peace, my phone started ringing. Hearing the generic ringtone instead of a specialized one, I glanced at it tensely.

Josh, sensing the movement, gained Cassie's attention and got up to go to the kitchen. Cassie followed without complaint, looking over her shoulder at me as she walked out of the room.

"Rider."

"Hey Alex. It's Ben. You somewhere you can talk?"

"Yes."

"Word around the office is that you're involved in a Child Protection Services case."

"Excuse me?"

"Somebody has been snooping around trying to find out information about you."

"What about?"

"No clue. Just know that it's a guy named Aaron."

"You're telling me that a random guy named Aaron from Child Protection Services is snooping around...about me? But I don't have a kid!" Heat rushed to my face. "...I couldn't possibly!"

"I don't know kid. I do know that he hasn't found out anything important. I mean, how could he. But I just wanted you to know to be on the lookout. IE, don't kill anyone who's following you, because they more than likely don't know what they're dealing with and they don't really need to know."

"Sure. Thanks."

"Don't mention it. You at Snake's place?"

"Yeah. I'll tell him you said hey."

"Thanks. Bye Alex."

I flipped the phone shut. Putting my head in my hands, I rubbed my eyes quickly and stood up. No sense worrying about it now. I walked into the kitchen.

"Everything alright?" Cassie asked.

"Perfectly fine, I think. Where'd your dad go?"

"To the bathroom. Don't worry. He didn't hear anything. But I couldn't help but overhear..."

At that moment Josh walked back into the room rubbing at his neck.

"You staying for dinner, Alex?"

My eyes drifted to Cassie and snapped back to Josh's. "Sure, I'd love to."

He nodded and walked back into the living room. Cassie stared at me hard. As I turned to follow Josh into the sitting area my thoughts started screaming. Okay, she heard. Maybe it has something to do with her? Either way, I can't talk to her about it. I'll have to stick to Snake's side like glue. She won't bring up her eavesdropping in front of him.

I collapsed onto the couch, intent on following this plan all the way through dinner till I left to go home.

I didn't account for the fact that Snake's prescribed pain pills put him out like a light bulb. About thirty minutes after I left the house I was pulling into my garage as my cell phone rang. Knowing I couldn't ignore the call, I answered.

"Hey Cass."

"You know, Alex. You're not very subtle. I don't see how you get by as a spy when everything you do is as obvious as a bull in a china shop."

"Excuse me?" I put the car in park.

"You're avoiding me. Does it have to do with what I overheard during your phone call?"

"Hasn't your dad ever told you to not listen in on important business calls?"

"Stop evading the question."

My head fell to the steering wheel. "Cassie, we can't talk about this over the phone."

"Well, if we don't talk, you're just going to go on another mission and I'm never going to get a straight answer from you."

I contemplated her completely accurate statement. "Tell you what. Tomorrow, we can go out for lunch and we will talk. For now, I'm going inside my house and going to bed. As should you. Good night Cassie."

"Night Cub."

I hung up the phone and my head fell backwards upon the headrest. Oh goodness. What was I getting myself into?

The next morning I still hadn't thought of a way to get out of the conversation with Cassie. Knowing I was fighting the inevitable, I called her and told her I'd pick her up at 11:30. As the time rolled by, I wondered who would be leading this discussion...her or me.

I pulled up in front of her house and honked. She barreled out of the front door, barely stopping long enough to shout a "bye dad!" back inside before slamming it shut and locking it. I reached over the seat and opened the passenger door for her. She hopped in and said, "Where to?"

"What are you feeling?"

"Italian"

"Alright." I peeled away from the curb and sped to my preferred Italian restaurant.

"So about yesterday..." Cassie started.

I held up my hand. "Let's wait till we're at the restaurant so that we don't have to stop once we start."

She nodded and kept silent. I did too, gathering my thoughts.

"I'll take the meatball marinara and a water."

"Same," I responded to her questioning gaze.

She nodded and walked away. I watched for as long as I could till I heard Cassie clear her throat. I closed my eyes and turned my head to face her.

"Alright. Go."

"What was the call about yesterday."

"What did you overhear?"

"Just that a guy from Child Protection Services is snooping around. You don't have a kid. What's it about?"

I gathered my thoughts. "I honestly don't know Cassie. It might have something to do with one of my cases..."

"But you don't believe that do you?" She interrupted.

"No."

She swallowed and nodded slowly. "Okay. You go."

"All I know is that I'm being investigated. It's nothing to worry about. Nothing will come of it. No one can touch me. And honestly, if they could get to me, then they deserve it. You have no need to worry."

She nodded again but I could tell something was on her mind.

"Spit it out, Cass."

Words fell out of her mouth before she could stop them, "What if does have to do with me? What if they take away my dad because he left me home alone? What if someone actually thinks something is up? We don't know who reported it. We don't know anything! It could have been anyone! What if it was someone I know? A classmate? A teacher? A doctor from the hospital? Alex, I can't get taken away! I don't know what I would do! I...I..."

I reached over and grabbed her hand. "Cassie. Cass. Look at me." I stared at her as I waited for her to calm down.

"Alex, I can't get taken away from my dad. I wouldn't have anywhere to go."

"Cassandra McMan. I can tell you with 100 percent confidence that no one is going to take you away from your dad. If it takes everything I have...if I have to bring down Child Protection Services itself...I will not let them take you away. You have to know, you aren't alone. You've got your dad. You've got me. You've got Ben, Wolf and Eagle. You're going to be perfectly fine. No one can get through all of us. Not your classmates, not your teachers, and not even the doctors, though they wouldn't say anything."

I kept murmuring platitudes as the words slowly worked their way into her brain. We were interrupted by the arrival of our drinks. I think that, more than anything, is what brought Cassie out of her funk. As she looked at the waitress in confusion, I pushed the drink in front of her and put her hand on the glass. She blinked and took a drink. I nodded at our waitress and she walked off.

I let go of Cass's hand and wrapped mine around my glass as well, eyeing her across the table. Quite suddenly, she looked up and said, "So, I figured out that you're the Alex Rider that everyone talks about from Brookland."

I cocked my head to the side. "It wasn't a state secret. Well...actually..." I dropped off. I looked at her, semi-confused. "You know, actually. I guess it was." My eyes shifted to the left and then to the right. By the time my eyes returned to Cassie, she was giggling. "So don't tell anyone."

She snorted.

I let a grin grace my face and I started chuckling as well.

By the time our food came, Cassie and I were in full-on laughter mode.

We retired the serious conversation and spoke of lighter subjects until I dropped her off at her house and drove home.

Aaaand...thoughts? I like thoughts! Thoughts are great. Thoughts are kind. Thoughts keep me from losing my mind.

~Moldy