Hey guys, so since In Hospital was pretty short I made this one a tad longer and also this little snippit in their lives will be a two-parter. The second part will be a lot funnier and explain a lot more. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider.

Alex was gone again. It wouldn't have mattered as much if he would come back fine. However, Tom Harris was very used to this after a year and a half of Alex being a spy.

It was all a routine now; Alex disappears, Tom deals with rumors alone, Alex reappears with injury, Tom and Alex deal with rumors, Alex disappears, etc. It was a strange and stressful routine, with more surprises than a routine should have, but that was just how their lives were now. Tom had gotten used to it. He had also learned to deal with it. But he was no Alex Rider.

On those few occasions the routine was broken in a severe way, like Alex almost dying every now and then, it would throw Tom through a loop.

The current state of their lives was by far the easiest on Tom. He wasn't risking life and limb and except for that one time with Spitter, was safe. Yes, being the support system for the spy was a lot easier and safer than being the spy. At least, until now.

Tom was walking home from football practice that Friday and he would later think of that moment as the beginning to the longest weekend of his life. It'd been a long day of inquisitive and viscous peers, fed up teachers, and lots of homework. It had been a great stress reliever to kick the ball with as much force as he could muster while imagining it was the head of whoever he was pissed off at for the moment. It was a trick Alex had taught him.

Tom had stopped at a gas station to get an off brand energy drink that also happened to be his favorite. He thought it was one of the coolest because it had little holograms on the can. He'd just turned onto his street and was passing a black car with some seriously tinted windows when the back door opened and he was grabbed roughly from behind.

Acting purely on instinct, his arm swung around and the half full can collided with something hard.

"Sonofa-" Wait. He knew that voice. He was pulled into the car and the door was shut. Tom twisted around to see who had him in a death grip.

"Eagle?" The man had one hand pressed to his eye and the other was circled around Tom's chest. The boy looked around the car. Holy crap. K-Unit.

"What the hell!?" Tom exclaimed, his heart beat refusing to go back to normal at the prospect of being kidnapped. They may be Alex's training unit but he didn't know them all that well.

He was deposited between Eagle and Snake on the backseat and a seat belt was snapped around his waist. Eagle grabbed his drink and threw it out the window as Wolf turned out of the neighborhood.

"Dude! I was drinking that!"

"Shut up," Wolf snapped as he turned onto a main road then proceeded to completely shatter the speed limit.

"What is going on?" Tom asked as they passed the park.

"Quiet," Eagle snapped.

"No!"

"Tom!" He had never heard his name be spoken so forcefully and angrily. Wolf was the scariest man in the world right then. Tom fell silent.

What the hell? Why the fuck did they just kidnap him? Why couldn't they talk? What was going on?

These men were tense and edgy. It seemed like they were expecting an attack. He was in danger, was the thought that came to his mind. This wasn't supposed to happen! This was Alex's thing! He was only the support system!

Out of nowhere they were rear ended and if it hadn't been for the seatbelt Tom was positive he would have flown through the windshield.

"They found us!" Eagle shouted, already drawing his gun and rolling down the window.

"I hadn't noticed!" Wolf shouted back. Fox, who had yet to make a noise, rolled down his window as well. And suddenly bullets were being fired and Wolf was swerving the car every which way as he tried to both lose the people behind them and avoid a wreck.

Tom looked over his shoulder to see a silver car behind them. He saw a gun come out the passenger window and his head was forced down as the back window exploded.

Holy shit! Tom glanced up as Wolf made another wild swerve and instantly recognized where they were. Oh! He had a plan!

"Turn right!" Surprisingly Wolf did so without question. Tom wasn't sure why, probably just desperate.

"Where are we going?" Wolf shouted.

"The derby!"

"Derby?!"

"Trust me!" It was asking for a lot but Wolf hadn't seemed to be going anywhere specific and if he had before he certainly couldn't anymore. "Left!" Tom guided them until they came to an abandoned underground parking garage, and then directed them in and down.

"We're sitting ducks down here!" Fox protested as they were rear ended again.

"We don't have a choice!" Wolf shouted back.

When they got to the fourth level they came upon a familiar sight for Tom. He and his brother always went to this highly illegal demolition derby when the nomad of the family was in town. People were in rickety bleachers on two sides of a closed off area drinking and screaming. The area was closed off by a chain link fence that looked ready to fall at any moment. There were six muscle cars behind the fence, currently smashing the shit out of each other.

"Hit the floor!" Tom ordered. They were heading towards the area anyways but if they were going to time it right Wolf would need the extra gas. Tom recognized the formation the cars were going into, it was a show match, put on for fun rather than money.

"Are you insane?" Eagle shouted, firing his gun at the car behind them.

"Do it!" Wolf floored it and in seconds broke through the chain link fence. They'd been incredibly lucky, Tom noted. The cars had been backing up to six different points preparing to give it one big crash for the show. Wolf burst through the barrier just as the other drivers hit the gas. They made it through the middle and Wolf swerved to avoid a head on collision then braked to avoid the wall.

The car behind them wasn't so lucky and was all but smashed to pieces. The people inside should be okay; the muscle cars hadn't been going that fast to begin with, but their car was never going to run again.

Wolf reversed it and hit the gas again before anyone could react and stop them. He drove backwards for a good thirty yards, before switching gears and spinning the car forward. They made it back to the street in seconds.

"Holy shit," Eagle said. Nobody else really made a sound, trying to catch their breath. Tom's mind was buzzing and he felt on the verge of panic. He had never been shot at before. Sure, he'd been held hostage once by a rather timid man, but never had someone tried to kill him like that.

He didn't even realize he was close to hyperventilating until Snake put a firm hand on the back of his neck and forced him down until his head was between his knees.

"Breath Harris," the man said close to his ear. "You'll be fine."

It was a few minutes before Tom's breathing even resembled normal and he sat back up when Snake released his neck.

"You all right Harris?" he asked. Tom shook his head 'no'. He felt sick and told the soldier as much.

"It's the adrenaline," he said simply.

"What the hell's going on?" he ground out, hands clutching at the seat by his knees. He felt like he was going to throw up any second.

"We'll explain when we get to the bank," Fox told him.

"Bank?" Tom squeaked. "Alex's bank?" Eagle shot him an amused look.

"Yes," he said. "Blunt wants to talk to you."

"Who's Blunt?" Tom asked, not recognizing the name though he probably could have figured it out had he been calmer.

"Cupcake," Eagle said, then gave a small flush of embarrassment at the strange looks he received from his team. Tom just nodded knowingly.

"Oh, okay," he said.

"Cupcake?" Fox asked, sounding fully amused.

"I didn't come up with it," Eagle defended before pointing to Tom. "It's his code." The others just fell silent. K-Unit because there just wasn't anything left to say and Tom because he had no clue what to say and was too focused on not throwing up. What did Alex's boss want with him? Surely the man didn't want to recruit him? God, that'd be a terrible idea.

Tom barely registered the fact that they'd entered another parking garage, this one not abandoned and under what he assumed was the bank. They took an elevator directly into the building's lobby before transferring to another that would take them to the floor they needed to be on. Tom was grateful they didn't go through the front door. He had no interest in seeing the spot that Alex had almost bled to death on. Seeing him in the hospital was hard enough, he didn't need to see the place it happened.

Tom didn't know what he had expected MI6 headquarters to look like, but this wasn't really it. The floor they were on was grey and boring. They passed cubicles that had no name plaques and no personal items. Even he could tell that if they had too, they could be out in like a day, especially if the other parts of the building were like this. Whatever needed to be taken was within reach. Smart, considering what this building housed. He wondered if Alex had a cubicle.

They reached a grey office with a grey man. Good god, even his skin looked grey. Get a little sun, man! He also saw a dark woman in a business suit sucking on what Tom thought was a peppermint (Alex had told him about the woman's love for them), and an extremely fat man. They all looked very grave and he wondered if he should be worried. Of course, the gun fight was more than enough reason to be worried.

"Hello, Mr. Harris," the woman said once the door had been closed. K-Unit was at his back, and Alex's people were across the desk. "I'm Mrs. Jones, this is Mr. Blunt," she pointed to the grey man, "and this is Smithers." She pointed to the fat man who conjured up a small smile.

"Uh, hi," he said awkwardly more than a little confused and a little intimidated.

"Are you aware that Alex is on a mission?" she asked. It seemed like a fairly obvious thing to Tom. Where else would the boy be?

"Yeah," he said. "But I don't know where." She gave him a rather indulgent smile and despite being more than a little out of his depth, he managed to feel annoyed.

"Yes, well, it seems that the mission has taken a turn for the worst," she told him. Tom's heartbeat sped up a little at that. Oh god, dammit Alex!

"Is he okay?" Tom asked.

"We are not fully aware of Mr. Rider's condition at the moment," Blunt said.

"What do you mean?" Tom asked glancing over his shoulder at the soldiers behind him. He wasn't sure why. Just knew them better he figured.

"He was able to send us a message," Jones told him. "Then communication was cut off."

"Okay," Tom said, still not able to understand what was going on. "What does that have to do with me? And why were we shot at?"

"Mr. Rider had to use a non-secure line to transmit the message," Smithers said. "So he used a code." And suddenly it made sense.

"Our code," Tom said.

"Yes," Blunt told him. "You are the only one who can translate it. And as for the shooters, the people Alex was sent to spy on probably figured out you can translate it. They'll want to know exactly what he sent us."

"That, or they wanted to use you as leverage against Alex," Mrs. Jones continued. "Make him talk." Tom let out a small push of air. Holy shit! What had they gotten into? He'd never been the target before. Again the Spitter thing didn't really seem to count. That man barely even knew how to hold a gun. But then, Alex had never sent the code over the airwaves before.

"Once you complete translating the message," Blunt said. "You'll give the entire code to Smithers, who will put it in the databases in case it's ever needed again." Tom wasn't stupid, that also meant they wouldn't have to beef up security around him. Like hell, he wasn't going to have that leverage! That code was the only reason K-Unit had been there to save his life. They'd just have to change the code.

"Fine," he said. "Where's the message?" Blunt handed him a piece of paper, which he read.

Get this to Cupcake. Sprinkles are baked and ice cream is melted. In bakery near hell. Gold is sprinkles. Bring the rain.

Tom couldn't help but appreciate how weird this message would look to somebody who didn't know the code. But he could also appreciate the severity of the situation. My god, he thought, this is intense. He gulped.

"Well?" Blunt prodded.

"Well, he's in Wales," Tom told them and Blunt's eyebrows rose. Apparently, they hadn't originally sent him there.

"What else?" Mrs. Jones asked.

"It says, 'Get this to boss. Weapons are ready and enemy is leaving. In factory near Brecon Beacons. Virus is the weapon. Send help.'"

"Brecon Beacons?" Wolf asked confused. "Why is he there?" Tom shrugged.

"I dunno, but the codeword for Brecon Beacons is hell," he informed them. That was one of Alex's few contributions to the code.

"Thank you, Mr. Harris," Blunt said and suddenly orders were being given and K-Unit was out the door. Smithers took him gently by the arm and led him to an empty office down the hall. The fat man sat on one side of the desk and Tom sat in a chair on the other. There was only a desk and a laptop in there.

"Alright, Tom," the man said, with a smile. "Let's get started."

"Can I ask you something first?" Tom asked quickly. Alex had told him about the fat man that made his gadgets. The teenage spy rarely gave any names; protection reasons.

"Sure," was the jovial answer.

"Do you make Alex's gadgets?"

"Yes, actually, I do," he said with wide grin at his work being recognized.

"Toyman," Tom said. "We call you Toyman." Smithers nodded and started typing. For the next two hours they recorded the code. Tom was worried about Alex, knowing he'd gotten himself caught.

When they were done, Tom was left to wait in the office and quickly became lost in his thoughts. He'd never been in so deep before when it came to Alex's job. He'd been told and ever since he had he got sucked in deeper and deeper. First with the truth, helping him get inside that lab in Italy, the trips to the hospital, the code, the kidnapping, and now this. He'd known he would become a target for enemies and even with that one time, it hadn't hit home like today had.

Tom was in danger for however long Alex was in danger. And Alex would always be in danger. But Tom had no plans to walk away. Alex saved people. Had saved the world. Tom had never respected someone more than he did his friend. The kid gave everything he had to this world. It just didn't seem right to walk away, no matter the danger.

Alex would always need help, and Tom wanted to help him. Tom would never save the world, he wasn't strong like that, but maybe could help someone else save the world.

He really did hope Alex was okay.

"No."

"Harris-"

"No."

It was near six hours later and K-Unit was back. Well, Fox was back, he wasn't sure where the others were. He wasn't even certain if Fox had left. The man had come into the office Tom was sequestered in, telling him that Alex was fine and the situation was diffused for the most part.

Tom had called him out on the 'for the most part' piece and then received some not so good news and, what he considered, a terrible solution to the problem they were now faced with.

The people Alex had been sent to stop had gotten away despite the best efforts of the SAS, although the plan had been stopped. Since Brecon Beacons had been the closest military establishment Alex had been brought there for treatment for whatever injury he'd managed to get. It was decided he would stay there to wait out the red alert, as it was a highly secure location and he could do a brush up on his training at the same time.

Unfortunately, it was uncertain if Tom was still in danger and MI6 had decided it best not to take chances. They wanted to send him to Brecon Beacons as well.

"You won't be training," Fox told him. "You'll just be there for protection, although they may put you to work in the kitchens or something. Plus, Cub and K-Unit will also be there."

"No." Fox gave a thoroughly exasperated noise.

"Why not?" he growled. Tom was undaunted. But since he couldn't give a rational reason he settled for something rather lame.

"I'm not going." He knew he was sounding a bit childish, but didn't care in the slightest. He would not go to Brecon Beacons. There was a reason Alex called it hell, and Tom had no interest in finding out why, even if he wouldn't be doing any training. He. Would. Not. Go.

"You are going," Fox said forcefully. "We'll force you if we have to."

"Why can't I just go to a safe house?" he asked. "Or somebody can come to my house even. Mum makes real good spaghetti." Fox's mouth twitched a bit but he wouldn't give.

"This is easiest," he said. "You're going. This way no one's displaced from work, and Cub gets some more training hours."

"Well, gee, sorry if the danger to my life is unconvincing anyone," Tom snapped purposefully ignoring the logic behind the argument. He wasn't an agent, wasn't a high risk witness or suspect, and for all they cared he could die now, they had the code. He was thoroughly peeved with the situation he'd been placed in and wouldn't go without a fight. Well, it wasn't much of a fight, more like a spat.

It wasn't bad enough that they made Alex disappear regularly and manipulated him halfway to hell. Now they were doing it to him too! He hated MI6!

"I'm not going to be able to convince you, am I?" Fox asked.

"No."

"Didn't think so," the man replied with a sigh. To Tom's complete horror the man got out of the chair Smithers had long abandoned, pulling something out of his pocket as he came around the desk. Before Tom's run-like-hell instinct could kick in, Fox had grabbed his arm and plunged a needle into his vein.

"What the hell!" Tom shouted trying to pull his arm out of the man's grip. He couldn't even get the guy to loosen his fingers around his wrist. Nearly thirty seconds later he was unconscious.

Before he completely blacked out, he heard, "Sorry kid."

Tom came to with a monster headache and what felt like a cot beneath him.

"Did he really put up that much of a fight?" he heard. That's Alex's voice, he noted as he struggled to beat back the blackness.

"He's a pretty stubborn kid," he heard Fox say. "Point blank refused to come."

"Even with the threat to his life?" Wolf asked.

"Doesn't surprise me," Alex said.

"Why not?" Wolf asked.

"Doesn't want to be dragged in any further," Alex said. "He's in over his head as it is without being directly involved."

"Doesn't seem in over his head," Snake noted.

"Naw, he hides it pretty well," Alex said. "But I can tell. When you take away the insanity, he's just a normal kid."

"In other words, he's not you," Eagle chirped. Tom took that moment to groan, finally feeling up to opening his eyes, which he did. They were all standing around him in army fatigues, and Alex looked like shit.

"You look like shit," he told his friend, who gave him an annoyed look. The blond boy had a black eye, some random bruises, and some cuts. And that was just his face, though Tom couldn't see any other obvious injury. Were they really going to make him train like that?

"Nice to see you too, Tom," Alex said. "How're feeling?"

"Pissed," he said, pushing himself up, despite the headache. "He drugged me."

"Yeah, they did that to me too when I refused," Alex said. Tom ignored him in favor of giving Fox a glare who just crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows as if daring the boy to yell at him. Tom didn't feel brave enough or well enough to do it at the moment. But revenge was in order. He wondered if Brecon Beacons had paintball guns, or poison. Either would work.

"You up for walking around?" Eagle asked. Tom wasn't sure, so he swung his legs over the side of his cot and stood up. He was pretty steady so he nodded. "Good, the Sergeant wants to see you."

"Oh, joy," Tom said sarcastically. He saw Alex try to suppress a smile.

"C'mon," the other boy said. "I'll walk you down there." Tom nodded and followed his friend out of what he could now tell was a small hut and into the wet air of Wales. Oh joy, Brecon Beacons.

"You okay Alex?" he asked once they were out of earshot of K-Unit. Alex nodded, hands in his pockets, and eyes forward.

"Yeah, I'll be okay," he said. "Could have been a lot worse." They walked in silence for a few more moments until Tom said something else.

"We need to change the code," he said.

"Why?" Alex asked. Tom wondered how much he'd been told.

"I'd like to keep the leverage." Alex nodded, his spy-tuned mind being able to decipher the underlying meaning of those words. Trust Alex to be able to spot the words behind the spoken words instantaneously. Tom usually found it dead annoying as Alex had tendency to call him out on things but now he was just happy he wouldn't have to explain himself. His best friend understood. "Should I come up with it again, or do you want to?"

"You do it," Alex replied. "MI6 isn't as used to as they are me. They won't be able to simply work through it if you come up with it. Just make sure it's completely different." Tom nodded.

"I'll get on that once we get home," he said. He didn't feel like doing anything that complicated at the training camp, at the moment he was too focused on not throwing up. He wondered how often he would be forced to feel this way while in contact with these people. He hoped it wasn't too often; it was already getting on his nerves.

Alex led him up a hill to a grouping of huts that turned out to be the trainers' offices and quarters. He was led through the open door of one more or less in the middle of the dysfunctional circle and saw Alex salute a rather sour looking man. The dark soldier did not seem pleased to see them.

"Cub," he greeted through his teeth after telling the blond boy to stand at ease.

"Sir." Was the respectful response. Tom, who was still in his regular clothes, stood awkwardly at Alex's side and waited to be addressed. The Sergeant seemed perfectly content to glare at him in complete silence. After half a minute, Tom was squirming. He wasn't normally uncomfortable around the SAS, at least he didn't show it, but this guy was just different. He was actually kind of scary. It also didn't help that he was on their turf. If the guy had been glaring at him like that at Alex's house he'd already be planning another paintball escapade.

"I hear you are here for protection," the Sergeant said. Tom didn't speak; it seemed the guy was just telling him what he knew, not asking for confirmation. "You aren't here for training, but you won't be sitting on your ass twiddling your thumbs, clear?"

"Yes, sir," Tom said, grateful it didn't come out as a squeak.

"You'll work in the kitchens and when not needed there you'll do whatever we need you to do. Cub, show him where to report, the Head Chef will tell you your schedule. Dismissed." Tom practically ran out of the building and Alex only paused to give another salute.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," the blond boy said as they walked back down the hill towards the mess hall. Tom didn't have the heart to tell him he was losing it. Although, he did have the heart to tell him something else.

"This is all your fault," Tom said and Alex gave him a strange look.

"Excuse me?"

"I'd kill you if you weren't so good at surviving shit." Alex just laughed at the threat.

"Like you could take me," he said and Tom attempted to smack him upside the head. Alex ducked easily. Tom's mood was not be deterred.

He'd been kidnapped, shot at, used, and dragged to a place he didn't want to be in with people he'd never wanted to meet. K-Unit he could deal with, but Tom knew Alex's stories. He was so out of his depth it was laughable to think he had a handle on the situation.

Tom was willing to be Alex's friend, was willing to listen when the boy needed an ear. Hell, he was willing to say his goodbyes every couple months, however painful it was and never complain about it. What he was not willing to do was become Alex. And unfortunately, he was finding himself being sucked into his friend's spy world more than he liked.

Why couldn't the world understand that he was the support system? He belonged at home damn it! His job was to wait for Alex to come home, not join him in whatever it was the boy did. Alex always joked Tom was crazy and while it was true to an extent, Tom was sane enough to know that he didn't want to die.

"You okay Tom?" Alex asked cutting into his friend's internal struggle. Tom looked at him. Alex had changed so much in the last year and a half. Tom wondered if he too had changed any since knowing the secret. He figured if he hadn't already he was going have to. It was a matter of survival after all.

"Yeah," he answered. "Yeah, I'll be okay."

Alex nodded and they continued the rest of the way in that comfortable silence only two people who were extremely close could share. Tom was positive he'd probably experience something like this in future again. That was just the price of being Alex Rider's best friend.