A/N: So yeah... I meant to update this on Friday, and to be honest I don't know why I didn't. It was finished and spell checked and everything! I even had time to do so! I just kind of didn't... strange, huh? Ah well I'm updating now, enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Alex Rider, none of you would be reading this online now, would you?

***

"I didn't mean to cause an argument," muttered Alex.

"No-one thinks you did," said Maria, kindly. "Silvia..." she paused. "Sebastian told you about the rule, right?"

Alex nodded.

"Well, Silvia always had problems with it. She has just as much stubbornness as the rest of us, and twice the curiosity. The rest of us are willing to stay curious, in order to keep our family together, but Silvia thinks the secrets are driving us apart."

She sighed. "It's not the secrets... She took our father's death hard, and ever since she has been obsessed with becoming successful... He was always so proud of her for going to law school. I think she thinks that it will make him happy if she is the best. But she is pushing us away because of it. What she thinks are the secrets dividing us, is really her pushing everyone away."

She looked at Alex carefully. "It's not your fault, you know. If you hadn't been here, Silvia and James would probably have argued anyway."

Alex nodded slowly, not really convinced, but not about to let Maria know that.

"Good," she murmured. "Will you come down for desert?"

Alex smiled at her, but excused himself, claiming he was too tired. The excuse still bore weight - after all he had been bedridden until this morning - so she simply smiled at him and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

***

Wolf sent one final glare at Silvia and stormed out of the kitchen, muttering angrily under his breath.

He stalked through the maze of rooms, unaware of where his feet were carrying him until he found himself outside an old oak door.

Sighing, he knocked.

"Come on in, James. I was wondering when you would come and see me."

Wolf smiled and ducked into the room. His grandmother was sitting in a chair by the window, looking out over the fields, a cup of steaming tea clenched in her delicate, wrinkled hands

"Abuela," he greeted her, pressing a kiss to her papery cheek.

"Sit down, James. Why don't you tell me about this wonderful boy you brought home?"

"Brought home?" he smiled. "You make him sound like a stray dog."

"Isn't he?" she asked. "No living relatives and his only guardian is his housekeeper. Sounds like a stray to me."

"Maria came to talk to you earlier, didn't she?" he guessed.

"Sebastian actually – while you and Silvia were arguing." She gave Wolf a reproachful look. "Though he said that Maria was worried as well. Apparently they think the boy has no instinct of self-preservation. And he is suspicious of everyone."

Wolf blinked. He hadn't thought that Sebastian would be overly concerned, he was normally just a prankster, well meaning but lacking empathy.

"You're worried about him too," she stated and he nodded.

"I just... I don't know why he's... doing what he is." He skirted the topic carefully, mindful that it was almost certainly classified. "I mean... he obviously hates his bosses. He shrinks from all human interaction, especially the kids. It's not like he even just doesn't like young children, because I've seen him laughing at their antics – hell he's just a child himself! It's almost like he's scared to be around them."

"Maybe he is."

"What do you mean?" asked Wolf, confused.

"He ran away from home, James. I know you've worked that much out. He's obviously in trouble, and he acts like he thinks it's contagious. From what Sebastian told me, he's desperate to leave, with no thought of personal health, despite the fact that he is obviously happy here."

Wolf nodded slowly. "You think he wants to leave so that he doesn't bring this 'trouble' here too?"

"That's exactly what I think."

"So you agree with Silvia, that he should leave?!" exclaimed Wolf, suddenly irrationally angry.

"Sit down James," ordered Maiara. He sat, pulled up short mid rant by the annoyance in her tone.

"That is most definitely not what I think. Of course he should stay here. He's part of the family now."

Wolf's mouth fell open slightly. "Part of the family?" he asked, incredulously.

"Yes. Part of the family."

"Abuela, you're being ridiculous. He's been here for three days!"

"So? You treat him like family."

"I- I- no, I don't!" he denied. "I treat him like part of my team!"

"Really?" said Maiara, raising an eyebrow. "And if Snake, or Eagle, had been found in a similar state to Alex, and they had begged you not to call your bosses, would you have bargained with them, or would you have done what you thought was best?"

Wolf opened his mouth, then closed it again, realising he didn't really have anything to say.

"You treat him in a similar way as you do Emma and Jaime."

Wolf frowned slightly. He didn't think he treated Cub like that at all.

Maiara spoke again. "In fact I'd go as far as to say you treat him in the same way as your father treated you."

Wolf blinked, and then exploded. "Are you crazy?" he yelled, forgetting for the moment that he was talking to the matriarch of his family. "He's barely ten years younger than me! I'd have had to have fathered him in primary school!"

Maiara lifted her cup of tea to her lips and took a sip before replying, calmly, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Wolf shut up and stared at her, slightly wild around the eyes.

"Family is more than just a biological imperative, James. You should know that by now," she berated him.

James sighed and bowed his head.

"I know."

"That child is part of this family, and he and you are the only people that don't seem to realise it!"

***

Wolf left his grandmothers room, with a new uncomfortable feeling settling inside his chest. Did he really treat Cub as a son? He didn't think so. He had kind of taken it as a given when he joined the SAS that he would be unlikely to have children and he wasn't especially keen on having them anyway. He loved his family, but he could barely keep his plants alive let alone a baby. He had decided a long time ago that he was singularly unsuited to fatherhood.

So why did he have to go and start acting like one with Cub of all people?

Perhaps, a small, treacherous voice whispered in the back of his mind, because you realised that Cub doesn't have anyone else to act like that with him. Perhaps because he needs you.

Bugger.

He had better go and talk to the damn kid. This was going to be extremely awkward.

***

A/N: So yeah... not exactly an action-packed chapter I know, but there were some things that I guess needed saying, and I had to give Silvia some reason for being a complete b*tch now, didn't I? Though I have to admit... after this I couldn't help but draw some parallels between her and Alex...though I am inclined to think that it's more justified in his case.

So yeah... Love it? Hate it? Review and TELL ME!