Warnings: Language.
Disclaimer: This is a work of FanFiction using characters from the Alex Rider series, intellectual property and copyright of Anthony Horowitz.
Alex jerked his head awake the and blinked once before looking around the unfamiliar room that was filled with light from where he'd left the curtain open. He cringed at the ache in his neck and rubbed it gently as he stood up from the desk. He tried to ignore the bandage his fingers rubbed against with the motion and his other hand turned the papers over on the desk quickly, checking the ink hadn't smudged any of the lines on the work he was doing. He dropped both arms to his side and took a deep breath before he gathered the paper into piles where he'd been working and turned for the door, stopping when he saw the boxes and tilted his head to one side, opening the one on the top with a frown to find his workbooks. He pulled them out, and grabbed as much of the school stuff as he could from the box, before he dumped it to one side and opened the second to find his clothes packed neatly inside.
He felt a twinge in his chest and snagged the pill bottle he'd gotten from one of the doctors the day before and took one of them dry before he decided a coffee overruled anything else and stepped over the mess of stuff to the door. A yawn wrenched its way from his lips as he walked down the stairs, and he rubbed his eyes as he walked into the kitchen and looked around. Ben looked up at him from the table.
"Morning," Ben greeted carefully. Alex sighed and arranged his normal smirk over his face.
"Morning," He returned in a carefully measured tone. "Can I make a coffee?"
"There's some on the pot," Ben was watching him carefully as he gestured over his shoulder and Alex walked over, pausing as Ben gave him an amused look. "Mugs are above that."
Alex nodded his agreement and pulled the cupboard open and snatched the biggest cup he could see. He filled it nearly to the top and took a long drink with his eyes looking at the two beer bottles on the side before he took a deep breath and composed a plain face before turning around to where Ben was watching him.
"There's food in the fridge, or leftover pizza in the microwave," Ben explained, "I'll have to get some proper food in."
"I'm fine," Alex said as he walked back towards the hall, "Where's the clock?"
"You don't have a phone?" Ben asked with an amused smirk that Alex just gave a disdainful look in response to as the Ben pushed the single button on the iPhone and held it out. Alex blinked in surprise.
"Fuck," He drained the warm coffee before he turned and walked back out to the hall and up the stairs to grab his bag and stuff for school that he was already two hours late for. Alex snatched the books he needed for the day and grabbed some fresh clothes from the box. He scrubbed his teeth quickly, figuring he would do it better later before he snatched his t-shirt off with a wince. He was in the process of pulling the other one on when he caught sight of himself in the mirror and he walked over to it with a frown. He let out a heavy sigh when he saw the size of the bandage that was wrapped over his chest and the colour of the skin around it. He hesitated, wondering if it was even worth going today before he pulled the t-shirt on and grabbed his bag from his room. Ben was stood at the bottom of the stairs with a plain expression and Alex stopped in his step.
"You want a lift?" Ben asked simply. Alex hesitated. "I'm heading that way to meet with Jones."
"Go on then," Alex edged as he pushed his feet into his trainers, not bothering to bend over to do them up properly. Ben held up a single key with a cardboard tag attached when he pulled the door open and Alex took it in one hand before he waited for Ben to walk out of the door first. He didn't make any move. Alex swallowed heavily, as he pinched his lips together and he could feel Ben watching him. "What are you looking at?"
"You," Ben said easily as he gestured for Alex to move forwards, "After you."
Alex grit his teeth together, for all of his senses and skills he still hated people being in his blind spot and he stared at the car trying to force his ears away from the quiet footsteps that followed after him. Ben climbed in with a light huff of laughter and Alex sat down quickly, trying to hide the grimace from the sudden movement, but he knew he hadn't caught it in time when Ben's lips twitched at the sides.
"Bet that hurt," Ben commented offhandedly. Alex turned his head to look at him with a raised eyebrow and that annoying half smile came onto his face. "Relax. This isn't an assignment."
Alex said nothing to that and turned his eyes out onto the road as Ben pulled away and headed towards his school. From the corner of his eye he saw Ben try to relax and lean back in his seat. "And you think I'm tense."
"Excuse me?" Ben asked with a smile that Alex saw as a little tighter than it normally is. Alex looked at him with a raised eyebrow,
"You, you're trying to relax."
"I'm tired," Ben returned with a shrug, Alex looked at him with a raised eyebrow but Ben made no move to respond as he indicated onto another road.
"Didn't sleep?" Alex offered edgily. Ben's lips twisted at the sides.
"Not used to there being someone else in the house," He responded calmly. Alex saw the muscle twitch at the side to indicate he was lying and he smirked.
"I don't believe that. You had a friend over last night," As he spoke he saw Ben's hand tighten on the steering wheel ever so slightly and the man glanced at him with a composed face and that half smile again.
"How did you figure that?"
"Lip-gloss on one of the beer bottles," Alex commented aiming for flippant and missing by a mile. He cringed mentally as Ben's eyes narrowed at him and Alex turned his face away out of the window. Ben gave a light huff of laughter.
"Teach me for not taking the trash out, but yes, a friend came over. She brought your stuff."
"An agent?" Alex asked with more interest in the question than he should have put. He saw it was picked up when Ben smirked.
"Is it so hard to believe?" he countered calmly. Alex hid his frown and scoffed instead.
"You managed to find a friend in that building?"
"It's not that bad," Ben reasoned with a shrug. Alex raised an eyebrow at him, "If you weren't so confrontational maybe you could manage the same thing."
Alex hid the hurt from that statement behind his wall constructed for such things and instead let out a sardonic laugh as Ben pulled onto the street of his school, "I have friends. I don't need anymore."
"I'm sure you do, that's why your service was jam fucking packed," Ben muttered as he indicated to pull up in front of the school. Alex turned to look at him with a scowl and as the car slowed Ben gave a pointed look at the school. "Nice place."
"What's your problem?" Alex asked with a challenging look.
"Right now, you," Ben commented easily. Alex gave him a raised eyebrow and Ben smirked, "The arrogant teenager act won't work with me Alex."
Alex shoved the door open with a huff of laughter and he got out quickly, turning once the wince from the movement was concealed and he ducked his head back in the door to see Ben watching him with a smug smirk. Alex took a note of the tension in the man's face and his grip on the steering wheel where the wrists were slightly higher than they should have been if relaxed. Alex pulled his own smug smirk onto his face.
"Don't worry Ben, the calm agent façade isn't working either. Let's hope your girlfriend is better at it than you," He commented in a sarcastic tone and for a second he saw that concern in the brown eyes that looked at him trying to be serious and Alex felt a slight pang of guilt for causing it. He didn't change his expression though and Ben apparently recomposed himself as he put one hand on the gearstick.
"Go to school Alex," Ben commented dismissively. Alex shut the door and watched Ben pull away faster than he should have done. Alex frowned to himself as the car pulled out of the road and he looked at the pavement for a second. He resolved to consider how to play this later, before he pulled a customary uncaring and oh so teenager expression on his face and headed towards his Maths class.
Ben looked up as the front door slammed closed that afternoon to see Eagle bounding down the corridor towards him with a grin on his face.
"Guess what?" Eagle asked as he flicked the kettle on, Ben gave him an amused look before he turned his eyes to Snake as he slid into one of the chairs at the table in the kitchen.
"Did you give him Red Bull again?" Ben asked. Snake put both his hands up as Eagle sighed.
"No douchebag. It's my birthday soon," Eagle announced. Ben leant his head back with a surprised expression.
"Shit really? I completely forgot." Ben said with a surprised tone in his voice. Eagle looked at him with a crestfallen expression before Ben grinned at him.
"You're an asshole Benjy," Eagle muttered as he made coffee for the three of them. Ben twisted in his seat, newspaper he was reading forgotten about.
"Where we going this year?"
"KOKO on the Saturday after. Reserved a booth," Eagle said with a wave of his hand, "Normal shit you know. But that means you are going to have to speak with Luke."
Ben rolled his eyes and gave an exaggerated sigh, "Fine, just for you."
"Well how about we do drinks here next week?" Eagle asked carefully.
"You don't want to go in that lounge. I need to change the flooring and redecorate," Ben said offhandedly. Eagle stopped with a questioning look when he turned with three cups in his hands. "Blood."
"Lovely," Eagle commented with a grimace. "Well let's do it then. It's not like you're doing anything interesting being sat in the kitchen. You could have at least moved the TV out here."
Ben let out a small laugh, "I actually considered doing that."
"Figured," Eagle sat down with a smile, "So let's do it? I guarantee I will manage to paint at least 50% of you by the time we're finished."
"Can get a big rug for the floor," Snake commented, "Will be a pain to change the whole lot. Just ask your masters to get someone to clean it properly. They should pick up the tab for all the shit anyway."
Ben took a drink from his mug with a nod of agreement as he looked at Snake, "Still going to the gym today?"
Snake shook his head. "Off day. Eagle could probably run off some of his energy though if you need it."
"Probably a good idea before I kill Cub," Ben agreed as he rolled his head back, "He noticed lip-gloss on one of the beer bottles on the side. I'm not going to hear the end of it for a while."
"Awesome. He can join me in taking the piss out of you," Eagle said with a grin. Ben scowled at him and the red haired man held his hands up, "Woah alright. Calm down Foxy. I'm stealing your clothes. I'd rather not get my head ripped off."
Eagle stood up and walked out of the room. Ben looked at Snake and when he heard the door clicked closed the medic took a deep breath and leant back in the chair.
"So that reaction was because of?"
"Don't bother," Ben muttered as he took a drink of his coffee, "I'm being an idiot. Monica is being deployed into deep cover is all."
"I can see why that would be a worry," Snake commented with a shrug, "Of what I know of her though, she'd probably slap you for acting like a grouch."
"She'd break my fucking nose," Ben returned with a small laugh. Snake gave him an amused smile.
"Has she left already?" Snake asked. Ben shook his head. "Get on her notification's listing then if you aren't already."
"Good idea," Ben agreed as he pulled his phone from his pocket and sent a quick text. He could feel Snake watching him and he looked up after pushing send. "What?"
"Just thinking about how you've changed since you left us," Snake commented carefully. "Will you at least think about that rollback?"
There was a long drawn out pause and Ben leant back in his chair with a thoughtful face as he swirled the coffee in his mug gently. It was as he heard Eagle walking along the back hall towards the stairs and he felt Snake watching him that he felt that sense of belonging again that had been missing for a while in company and he smiled to himself. "I'll think about it. No promises."
"Most I can ask for," Snake acknowledged as Eagle came back down the stairs in jogging gear and an expectant look at Ben.
"Come on then Foxy. Need to get you fit again while Papa Snake goes paint shopping," Ben felt the laugh leave his lips as he stood up to get himself changed and ready to go for a jog with a somewhat exuberant Eagle.
Alex dropped his head onto his desk with a sigh as the lecturer was going through sociological cognitive behaviour training and what the effects were on a populations youth. He wondered vaguely why of all the courses MI6 would have entered him for that sociology would have been one, but he took it as a free period to get his head down and get on with work for other courses. He'd already studied this for himself, he thought he'd missed the module and had gone through the content the previous night and was now listening with half an ear as the teacher's voice droned out to nothing. He tilted his head to look out of the window as he took a deep breath, the late Spring sunshine was making everything outside shimmer where it had been raining that morning and over the short concrete seating area he could see the field where the year 11 team were playing football.
He made a mental note to get hold of Tom to see if he'd notified the notified anyone in the college football team they both played in to see if he'd mentioned his "death."
Alex leant his chin on his arms as he looked at the front with a bored expression as his mind wandered to his friends. Tom was in the same college as him after managing to secure himself somewhat decent GCSE results and was studying sports physiotherapy and biology. Alex hadn't seen him yet and he deigned to ask Jones about his absence. Sabina was of course at her acting school they'd came back for. And himself? Still in Brooklands, although now in the college rather than the secondary school attempting to sit AS levels after Jones' insistence that he needed to be educated. He'd scraped through his GCSE's with across the board C's but his attendance had been so bad in the final few months that other college's would have laughed at any application he put in.
Alex took a deep breath and shut his eyes for a second, he really was tired. The first few days were always the worst for attempting to go back to this cycle. He missed the adrenaline that would push him through on an assignment and everything after just felt a bit like a blur. He'd accepted this as his routine, he would persist with being Alex the college kid as long as possible until he needed that hit.
He smirked to himself when he thought it truly made him what everyone had called him last year in school. A druggy of sorts, hooked on adrenaline and James Bond moments rather than heroin or cocaine. He let himself linger on which was the most dangerous for a moment before he shook his head and sat up straight in his chair with a deep calming breath. A lot of those people had long since left the buildings he was in now, splitting into college's that were good for what they wanted to study rather than stay on at a generic all around curriculum like Brooklands offered in the A level year's. Of course there were a couple of familiar faces around the halls of the college, enough to create the whispers after each disappearance but not enough for them to hang around for too long.
His latest absence had been well documented in local media and TV. The cover of a motorbike accident was enough to make people look at him with sympathetic eyes rather than mistrusting ones like the simple illnesses had in his last year of school. He was undecided on what was worse, so he'd just given his usual smirk or scowl to those that tried to extend their regards to him.
He could see he scared people, his common attire of black jeans with a white t-shirt and a simple army green hoody that covered muscles that were too well developed for someone their age made them move away a little if he gave them a scowl. It was a strange kind of power and as much as he knew he shouldn't abuse it, he did. Especially on irritable days like the ones straight after he got back from an assignment.
Of course it also provided him the space he needed from people to think. He was classed as a loner, a dangerous loner, but a loner all the same.
Alex dropped himself and leant back in his seat with a smirk as one of the girls, someone called Elizabeth if he remembered right, looked at him. He glanced over to see her give him a small wave and he raised an eyebrow at her before he moved his eyes back to the front of the classroom with a disinterested expression. Behind his expression was a sigh that screamed just leave me alone already. Unfortunately that was one of the downsides of being a loner. Everyone wanted to know more about you.
He almost smiled to himself at how fruitless his attempts to fit in had been in his last year of GCSE's when he'd eventually gotten back into school. The old rumours resurfaced the minute he stepped foot into the grounds the previous year. People recognising his face, that although tanned, looked more closed off than it ever had been when he was here before. People had been notified of the reason for his absence, his guardian had died near enough a year to the day after Ian and he'd left to live in America.
Of course his old friends had re-emerged and he'd attempted integration into the school routine back then, he'd gotten into a football team after a rather extensive amount of lies had been told to the coach and he'd sat his GCSE's with his estranged peers. That was until he decided the adults in the Pleasure clan were choking him with their perfect lifestyle of normality and he'd told them he was moving out.
It had been Edward Pleasure that had spoken with them initially to get funds released from his trust for his accommodation and that was it, they'd summoned him, telling him they could provide the accommodation he so desperately craved for a place to call his own if he would work a mission for them on a regular basis in return for bills, food and items needed for his day to day living. It wasn't a lot he figured, one mission each month wasn't a big deal, not following his pursuits at 14.
It had taken him four months and seven missions within those months to realise they had people following him, listening and spying on him to tell them when he required something substantial. A laptop, a car, anything really and in return he would work an assignment. Not that he particularly cared, he got his dose of adrenaline to quell that thirst for something more than this normal routine he was currently sat in.
But still that three year-old feeling of belonging neither here nor there remained and he hated the fact he needed the assignments to break that, because that meant that he had to walk into that building and speak with that dull grey man or his puppet in order to be able to feel something.
Alex turned his head back out of the window with a deep breath as the football team started clearing the cones from the floor to start a proper game and he watched as the boys ran into their positions. It was strange to think that had Ian not been who he was he could have been playing for Chelsea main team by now. He tried not to dwell on the thought, he'd ascertained a long time ago that some things just are better not being thought about at all.
Alex let out a quiet sigh as he thought of the one person that he knew had the ability to be able to see straight through his plain faced lies and façade that he had carefully constructed. The same as he had that night almost a year ago when he had been driven home in a black BMW and had one of the most awkward conversations in his life.
He smiled to himself as he remembered that conversation with Jones when Blunt wasn't there. The woman was so much softer than Blunt, in a way it was easier to play this fucked up game with her. When he'd walked out of that office on the first assignment he was supposed to work with Ben to be placed on a plane alone, he'd won a small victory in his mind. It was short lived when Blunt was present at his next briefing and every one since then and the partnership had emerged.
He had to admit it hadn't been all bad, in a way they complemented each other while working. Ben was calm, collected and patient. It was pretty much everything Alex himself wasn't, but between them they could throw things around until shit made sense and over the course of the last five missions they had built up from nothing a somewhat decent working relationship. At least that was from his side, but this new turn just made him shrink away.
His real life and his work life clashing so violently worried him. He knew he couldn't take the Alex he portrayed to people at college or with friends with him back into that house.
Ben had already said he could see straight through it but Alex wasn't prepared to show him anything else.
He leant back in his chair with a sigh and unseeing eyes towards the front as he tried to figure out a solution to the problem. Evidently he'd hit a nerve that morning with his comments and Alex acknowledged he felt bad for it. He knew he didn't want to fall back to the awkward initial days of their assignments where the words were scarce between them but nor did he want to have Ben pulling at the threads of emotion that he knew seeped through the cracks in his self-appointed wall.
Alex dropped his head onto the table with a thud in frustration at the entire situation and he shut his eyes to try to come up with a decent solution that would allow this to be relatively painless without allowing too much crossover between where he was staying and his real life.
There was a crack and Alex lifted his head to see Ms Williams, a rather short and stout woman with shoulder length and badly dyed blonde hair, had smacked a ruler down against the desk just inches in front of his face. She lifted it with a stern expression on her face and pointed it at him as a smirk moved onto his face.
"At the end of this ruler is a lazy idiot with no interest in their future."
"Which end?" Alex returned with a smug tone that was designed to annoy the woman stood in front of him. He heard the spattering of laughter around the classroom, Williams narrowed her eyes at him and pointed to the door.
"Out. Come back when you can act your age."
Alex didn't show his scowl at that particular statement, instead he kept his head held high as he shouldered his bag and walked out of the room. Leaving nothing more than whispers in his wake as he slammed the classroom door closed and started the walk back to Ben's.
Ben stood back from the wall as he painted the last part in the second coat of light blue and he looked around the room with a small smile. Snake gestured to the wall he'd painted, it didn't escape notice that he'd taken the one that had the actual blood on it and he nodded, his eyes lingering over where the patch had been.
"Blue's good," He said simply. Snake placed his paintbrush down and looked at Eagle. Ben felt his arm being grabbed and he looked at Eagle who was grinning as Snake grabbed the other arm roughly. "Oh fuck no."
"Oh fuck yes!" Eagle teased with a grin as the pair of them picked him up off the floor. Ben laughed and tried to latch his legs around the table as they dragged him through the kitchen and towards the back door. They stopped when the front door slam closed and Ben felt the smile slip off his face as Alex raised an eyebrow at the three of them.
"Hello Cub!" Eagle called over his shoulder with a grin as wide as Ben had even seen on his face. Ben looked at Eagle with a deranged expression.
"Let me go," Ben demanded with a broad smile on his face as he tried to wrench his arms away.
"Nope," Eagle responded as he looked at Alex and nodded to the lounge. "Cub, grab the half full paint pot from the lounge."
"Alex, you dare and I will kill you while you are sleeping!" Ben threatened with a laugh as they started to drag him again. Alex didn't move as Ben hooked his legs onto the back door frame and the other two attempted to tug him through the doorway. Once they were out on the decking, Eagle wrenched his arms up around his back with a laugh as Snake disappeared inside to grab the leftover paint from the room. Alex appeared in the opening to the kitchen with a curious look on his face as Snake walked past him with the pot of paint.
"Sure you don't want the honours?" Snake offered. Alex raised an eyebrow at him, "You've had the pain of working with him recently."
"Don't," Ben laughed as he tried to twist out of Eagles grip, he felt the hands loosen and he stood up as Snake tipped the pot over his head. Ben froze and clenched his eyes closed as Eagle stepped away and Ben pinched his lips together to stop any of the paint getting in his mouth. He waited until he felt the flow of the glutinous liquid stop before attempting to speak. "I hate you both."
"No you don't," Eagle said easily with a grin on his face. Ben just whipped his head towards him to startle a curse out of the man before he pulled his shirt off and used it to wipe his face. He looked at Alex who was stood watching the three of them with amused eyes and a full smile on his face that Ben had never seen before. It slipped into his normal smirk a second later it was as if it had never been there.
"Blue suits you," Alex commented offhandedly and Ben laughed as he ran a hand through his hair to get the majority of the paint out before he stood to full height and Snake passed him a towel from the dirty washing pile inside the door.
"Good day at college?" Ben asked casually. Alex shrugged.
"Same old," Alex looked at Eagle who was watching him with a grin on his face before his eyes flicked back to Ben. "Is he drunk?"
Ben shook his head slowly with an exaggerated sympathetic expression, "This is out of op mode Eagle. He's a nightmare. Don't listen to a thing he says."
Eagle smacked Ben round the back of his head and looked down as the impact caused paint to splatter his shirt. The red haired man looked at his hand with a distasteful expression before he nodded. "I'm an idiot."
"You can listen to that," Snake provided sagely. Alex nodded slowly, before he gave the three of them a confused look and turned back into the house and headed for the stairs. Ben watched him go before he pulled the paint soaked jeans off and stepped into the kitchen to rinse the worst of the paint out of his hair under the tap. He looked at the other two as he kept his head over the sink and they sat at the table.
"He always that quiet?" Snake asked.
"I wish," Ben returned as he tested the temperature of the water, Snake sent him a questioning look. Ben waited until he heard the door close upstairs. "Conversation in the car this morning. Hostile as fuck."
"You were pretty grumpy," Eagle said with a smirk, Ben sent him a glare before he shoved his head under the tap and scrubbed his fingers through his hair roughly, holding it there until the water ran somewhat clear before he snagged another dirty towel from the pile and dried his hair off. He sat down at the table in his boxers and grabbed the beer that had been placed in his spot as there was a thud from the room above them. Ben rolled his eyes and tilted his head over the back of his chair with a sigh, waiting to hear if there was another sound when he felt Snake kick his shin as a prompt.
"Alex?" Ben yelled. He waited for a response and took a long swig of his beer before getting up and jogging up the stairs. He knocked on the door gently, when there was no response he frowned and pushed the door open. Ben stared at the empty room, careful eyes roaming across the furniture carefully, noting the open window before he walked out and leant over the bannister by the stairs. "Is he down there?"
"No," Snake called back almost immediately. Ben checked the other two bedrooms, grabbing a pair of jeans and pulling them on. He checked the bathroom before he jogged back downstairs and checked the lounge before entering the kitchen. Snake looked up at him curiously and Ben shook his head.
"Gone, windows open so I presume he went out that," Ben saw the other two look at each other as he sat back down and took a drink from his beer.
"What?" Eagle asked an incredulous expression.
"I have no idea," Ben admitted as he let out an almost amused huff of laughter. Snake leant forwards with a smirk and a pointed look at Eagle.
"Derek scared him. Guaranteed."
Alex walked through the foyer of the Royal and General with his school bag on his back and pushed through the doors at the back of the banking hall as if he belonged there, eying the agents he passed with wary looks that were returned back to him as he stalked towards the lifts. He waited impatiently as the lift counted down it's stairs, turning his head when he heard footsteps beside him to see Demery stood with a mug of coffee, the man gave him a warm smile.
"Alex," He greeted. Alex just nodded a greeting, "Glad to see you are okay."
"Just fine," Alex agreed as he walked into the lift and pushed the button for Jones floor. "What number?"
"Same," Demery said with an easy smile. "How you been?"
"Got shot. You didn't know I came back?"
"No I didn't. I'll be having words with Jones about that one."
"I wouldn't bother. Speak with Blunt, he's the puppet master," Alex commented dully. Demery raised an eyebrow at him, "No need to look like that."
"I think you'll find Jones has just as big a hand in your operations as Blunt. If not more so," Demery returned with a shrug. Alex tilted his head to one side, "They're a lot more similar than you would believe."
"Maybe," Alex edged. "How are things for you?"
"Getting old," Demery commented, "Blunt pisses me off something rotten. Dirty old fucker."
Alex gave him a somewhat amused smirk and nodded his agreement, "He'll be dead one day."
"Not by your hand I hope," Demery commented easily as the lift dinged for their floor. Alex gave him a serious look, "I thought not. You look after yourself Alex. Remember my door is always open."
Alex watched him give a small wave as he walked away with a broad smile on his face and Alex frowned to himself when Demery had ducked into another office. He paused in his step, considering going to ask the man what he had meant that night almost a year ago before he shook his head and walked the similar route to Mrs Jones office. He ignored the receptionist and knocked on the door, pushing it open with one hand without waiting for an answer.
He wasn't surprised to see Blunt sat to one side of the desk yet again, but then his entire route through the building would probably have been tracked anyway. Jones looked at him with a raised eyebrow and Alex pushed the door closed.
"I'm going to stay with a friend," Alex said simply. Mrs Jones placed her pen down with her lips pinched. "I don't know why you thought putting me with Ben was a good idea. I don't really care but I'm not staying there."
"We haven't sent notification to the Pleasure's yet and Mr Harris is currently out of the country," Mrs Jones explained curtly.
"Then find someone else," Alex said simply as he stayed stood by the door with a plain face, "Or give me one of the rooms here."
"Not an option," Blunt said simply. Alex looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "You are to stay with Daniels."
"I am not staying there," Alex insisted. "If you have any intention of me working for you again, then you won't make me either."
"You are staying there if you intend to work for us again," Blunt stated dully. Alex looked at him plainly.
"Excuse me?" Alex asked with a carefully concealed amount of surprise. This wasn't how this worked, they threatened him to go on assignment's. Not threatened him to not go on assignments.
"If you wish to work for us again, you will stay with Agent Daniels," Blunt clarified carefully as he shut a file in front of him with one hand. "It's very simple."
"Why?" Alex asked suspiciously. Blunt placed his hands on top of the file without breaking eye contact with him. "I can't live with him."
"I believe you can," Blunt returned in that same monotone he always spoke in. Alex felt the scowl move onto his face. "There will be an adjustment period-"
"I don't have time for an adjustment period," Alex snapped, he took a deep breath and stared the man straight back in the eyes dully, "I have course work and a real life outside of this crap."
"Do you?" Blunt asked. If there could have been a hint of sarcasm in his tone, Alex guessed it would have been there. Alex hid the scowl this time and Blunt nodded at him once. "Good day, Alex."
"What?" Alex asked as his hand gripped his backpack tightly, "That's it, you're just going to drop me again?"
"Not at all," Jones said firmly, "We've given you a choice, you reside with Daniels until such a time we can arrange a new place for your residence or you may find your own accommodation and not work with us again."
"Fine," Alex agreed, "Any assignments?"
"You've been out of hospital for two days Alex. Don't be ridiculous," Mrs Jones responded dispassionately.
"That hasn't stopped you before," Alex commented with a smirk. Jones looked down at her desk when he fixed her with a cold stare. He looked back at Blunt whose dull grey eyes were watching him with a calculating look. Blunt steeped his fingers together and leant forwards ever so slightly.
"What happened that brought you here today Alex?" Blunt asked dully. Alex clicked his teeth together quickly. What could he say to that? That he didn't want to be anywhere near his old unit? That the way they were acting was so abstract to him he just couldn't understand it? That he didn't want his reality crashing with his escape? Apparently something in his posture gave him away as Blunt leant back in his chair. "To be stuck between worlds is a rather awkward place to be."
Alex didn't restrain the scowl on his face. "That's why you want me to stay there."
"Not at all," Blunt responded calmly, "That could be a side product but it is not the primary reason. You have our offer. Do what you will with it."
Alex looked between the two people sat at the desk and he shrugged. "Fine. See you never."
Alex turned on his heel and stalked out of the office, slamming the door closed behind him with one hand. He looked up when he heard footsteps stop near him to see Demery looking at him with a small smile and one eyebrow quirked upwards. "Everything alright?"
"Fine," Alex stated bluntly as he turned and walked down the corridor with a scowl. He heard Demery behind him as he jogged to catch him up. Alex looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Don't seem so fine. Need to talk?"
"No," Alex returned simply. Demery grabbed his shoulder in a surprisingly firm grip and Alex stopped with an unamused face and disdainful look.
"Not as the deputy head of Special Operations. Just as a vent," Demery offered backwardly. Alex narrowed his eyes at the man and pinched his lips together. "Hell, we don't even have to talk. Just let me buy you a coffee."
Alex looked away for a second before serious brown eyes flicked back to Demery, "Hot chocolate."
Demery gave him a small smile and nodded him towards the lifts. They walked in silence to the lift and out of the building. He was surprised by the man's restraint and posture as he walked across the road without faltering in his step once or attempting to ask a question. Alex snagged a booth at the back of the coffee shop as Demery brought the drinks and ambled over a few minutes later with an easy smile on his face. Alex looked at the hot chocolate suspiciously.
"I haven't poisoned it," Demery commented as he took a drink from his own coffee. Alex pinched his lips together before he took a sip and he felt himself relax ever so slightly. "So what to talk about?"
"Why have they made me live with Ben?" Alex asked bluntly. Demery looked amused for a second before he shook his head.
"I wouldn't know," Demery admitted, "I have very little to do with you, not after I tried to conceal your participation in the Camden operation."
Alex looked at him with a raised eyebrow that turned into a frown, "I thought you told them?"
"No," Demery said quickly, "Never would have. I was under the impression you were not interested in becoming involved again and I was willing to leave that decision up to you should you have ever decided to come back officially."
"So much for that," Alex muttered, he frowned when he heard the bitter tone and looked up at Demery who just had a small smile on his face at it. "Why are you in that building?"
"Because I want to be," Demery admitted, "I worked a very long time to get there. Through the ranks of regulars and eventually through the SAS until a position became open that I wanted."
"Bad choice," Alex commented as he took another sip from his drink with a frown. "You recruited Ben right?"
"Yes," Demery agreed, Alex raised an eyebrow at him and Demery picked up on the silent cue as he looked thoughtful, "Daniels is a very experienced operative for his age. Unfortunately, he was one of the ones I lost when Blunt returned."
"Ones you lost?" Alex echoed with a frown. Demery took a drink of his coffee.
"I had a division, mostly made up of recruits from other areas in the military. I hand-picked them myself, Daniels was one of them," Demery explained carefully, "I was aiming to create a group of people different from those that are currently in that building. Younger mostly, one thing they all had in common was excellent people skills."
"Not so great for this job," Alex said with a smirk. Demery made a non-committal gesture with his hands.
"You'd be surprised. Being able to deal with people is a huge part of what we do. Daniels was one of the best in my division for it. There was only one that matched him in fact, but they didn't fulfil other criteria as well," Demery said simply. "I'm surprised you are having trouble staying with him. He's probably one of the most genuine people you will meet within the Establishment."
"I work with him," Alex said cagily. Demery's eyebrow rose over one eye and Alex smirked. "Exactly."
"As surprising as that is. It also makes sense for you to be placed with him temporarily," Demery said carefully. Alex looked at him through narrowed eyes as the man looked thoughtful, "You wouldn't have asked if you didn't want the truth."
"Just because I know him," Alex said offhandedly as he took a sip of his drink, "I'm not staying in this job forever."
"Ah so that is why Blunt told you he placed you there?" Demery deduced as he leant back with all the air of casualness. Alex clicked his teeth together and Demery just gave him a knowing look. Alex took a deep breath and he drank the rest of his drink in one go before he stood and swung his bag on his back roughly. Alex looked down as he took a step away when he felt paper against his hand. He twisted his hand and looked at the five £20 notes in his hand before he looked at Demery. "Take the night to consider your options in a hotel."
"I don't need your money," Alex said evenly.
"Call it a temporary escape."
Alex looked at the notes before he looked back to the man and narrowed his eyes at him. "Why are you helping me?"
"I can see when people are hiding things. Sometimes all it takes is a little space to figure shit out," Demery commented offhandedly. Alex felt his fist clench and Demery smiled at him with a knowing look. Alex threw the notes back on the table and didn't bother saying goodbye before he walked out of the café with brisk strides until he was out of the road.
"What's up with you today?" Snake asked as he pulled his bag from his locker with one hand. Ben glanced at him, his towel wrapped around his waist from the post workout shower in the SAS HQ gym that Snake had gotten him access too. Ben shrugged, stopping halfway when he remembered how annoying a gesture it was and let out a sigh.
"Just tired," He edged as he glanced over his shoulder at the door that opened. Snake pinched his lips together and gestured to one corner with his head away from the door before he turned and walked. Ben grabbed his bag with an agitated hand and slammed the locker closed before he followed after the medic. He dropped his bag on the bench and sat down next to it.
"Alright. Now the truth," Snaked stated with a shrug se he scrubbed a small gym towel through his hair. Ben rolled his eyes.
"Alex obviously," He returned with a thoughtful look on his face. Snake raised an eyebrow at him. "He hasn't come back."
"Since we were there?" Snake asked with a frown. Ben nodded once. "Three days?"
"Yes. Jones is going to fucking skin me alive if he's done a runner," Ben said with a frown as he sat on the bench as Snake pulled his clothes from his bag.
"You called him?"
"He doesn't have a mobile," Ben returned with a roll of the eyes. "What fucking teenager doesn't have a mobile?"
"Well he's hardly a normal teenager," Snake commented as he sat down on the bench. Ben looked at him with a sarcastic smirk.
"That's what you'd think right? His attitude when he was there was absolutely on point for normal teenager."
Snake shrugged, "I didn't think he seemed like a normal teenager. In fact, he seemed quite quiet."
"See around you two he was fine. That is Alex. This quiet infuriating thing that only speaks when he has a sarcastic remark to make. That is the Alex I know, not the scowling moody little shit," Ben pinched the bridge of his nose, "I swear he is going to drive me into an early grave with these headaches."
"Maybe he doesn't know how to act around you in this setting yet. Did you speak to him?" Snake asked. Ben looked at him before he sighed and shook his head. Snake smirked, "There's the first problem."
"When was I supposed to talk to him?" Ben asked incredulously, "I saw him for less than an hour before he just disappeared."
"Well his stuff is at yours. So he has to go back there," Snake said with a shrug, "And that's when you catch him."
"If I'm planning to do that I need a strategy," Ben said as he leant back on the bench with a sigh. "He already figured out about Monica and started baiting me for a reaction. I really don't want him getting at more of the interesting shit."
"If you are restraining yourself around him, he'll never drop it." Snake advised slowly. Ben nodded before he looked at Snake with a frown and shook his head.
"I genuinely have no clue what to do with him."
"Stop being so stubborn," Snake commented easily. Ben raised an eyebrow at him, "You're obviously at a point where you've met someone as resilient as yourself with regards to deflecting. Just accept that one of you is going to have to break to stop it and try to speak with him to set up some boundaries like we had too."
"That is going to be a lot easier to say than do," Ben said with a sigh as he dropped his head down to look at the floor. Snake laughed beside him.
"The kid trained somewhat competitively with us at 14 Ben. What made you think anything to do with him was ever going to be easy?" Snake countered. Ben felt a smile on his face and he nodded.
"Fair point," Ben agreed, "Monica said you'd have the right answers if I needed them."
"Perceptive," Snake commented. Ben looked up at him with a frown and the medic smirked, "If she can get the unit dynamics from a brief meeting in the street and a 15-minute trip to ours I really don't think you should be too worried about her capabilities."
"I know."
"Just keep that chin up. I know she would have been one of your major points of contact for this thing with Cub, I figure you spoke with her that night you went out?" Ben nodded his agreement and Snake gave him an understanding look, "We'll get him on the straight and narrow and you can enjoy both of their company when she gets respite."
Ben felt a huff of laughter leave his lips and he shook his head, "Fuck that, they are never meeting."
"We'll see," Snake commented as he pulled his t-shirt on, "I wouldn't be surprised if it would do him some good one day."
"What?" Ben asked with a surprised tone. Snake gave him a pointed look.
"Don't be obtuse, it doesn't suit you," Snake responded with a pointed look. Ben looked up at him with a frown, "She responds to people's attitude and posture remarkably well. I've only seen one other person do it better."
"Who?" Ben asked with a frown. Snake smirked.
"You need to stand up and look at that wall to see him," Snake returned with a nod towards the mirror. Ben looked at the wall with a small frown and felt his clothes being dumped on his lap. "Considering your occupation, you really are surprisingly short-sighted sometimes."
Ben let out a huff of laughter and he pulled his t-shirt over his head. "You think that's all it will take?"
"I think you are better than you give yourself credit for. For all his faults and strengths, Cub is still just a person. Probably a person who is a little more hostile than normal due to circumstance, but if you can manage to talk yourself out of more shit than necessary in Baghdad, I don't think you'll have too many problems with a 17 year-old. Spy or not."