Hope you guys enjoy this one. I thought that now would be a good time to develope Jack a little more, so, here it is! Enjoy and review.
Disclaimer: I don't own Alex Rider.
Tom liked Jack. He really did; he thought she was a good, brave person. He didn't have crush on her or anything, well, anymore. He did however, respect her greatly. Jack was the perfect guardian for his best friend. She was patient, just protective enough, and never made him feel guilty. Jack was the other half of Alex's support system.
However, Jack's world didn't fully revolve around her superspy ward. She liked to have fun so she went to clubs, met guys, and had relationships. She called it "satisfying her needs" which had effectively disgusted Alex and set Tom's imagination on fire.
Every now and then, Jack would go out on a date and Tom would come over and keep Alex company if he wasn't on a mission. They generally avoided his house even though things had quieted down after his father had moved out. Tom's relationship was somewhat strained with his mother and avoiding her was Tom's solution. Not the best in the world but it worked for him. That, and Alex had a really awesome 52 inch TV.
So, Tom would bring his X-box, Chuck, with him and the two would play video games all night. It was just what they did, and it was fun.
This particular Saturday night however, brought several surprises. One in the form of four not-so-welcome soldiers.
"Will you get that?" Alex asked, as he continued to chase a Little Sister in Bioshock. It was only a one player game and it was currently Alex's turn. Jack was already gone, out with what looked like a long-termer, and it was approaching nine at night. He wondered who it could be as he got up off the couch and headed to the front door.
When he opened it, he attempted to slam it shut again only to have it stopped with a boot. A hand grabbed the door and wrenched it back open to reveal none other than K-Unit.
"Hello Tom," Fox said. "Fancy seeing you here."
"Back at you," Tom snapped still not quite over the whole he-drugged-me-and-dragged-me-to-Brecon-Beacons thing. It had only happened two weeks ago and Tom knew for a fact that he could hold a grudge for years. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Where's Cub?" Wolf asked as the four brushed past him into the house. Tom shut the door to the now empty stoop and followed them to the living room. Really, why ask if they weren't going to let him answer?
He got there just in time to hear Alex ask, "What are you doing here?"
"MI6 sent us over," Eagle said making himself comfortable on the couch and stealing the controller from Alex's hands. He unpaused the game and started playing ignoring the annoyed looks from Alex and Tom and the glares from his Unit.
"Why?" Alex asked. Tom stood just inside the door hoping they wouldn't make him leave. Alex would probably tell him anyways but it was such a hassle to wait. Snake shrugged.
"Not sure," he said. "Something about a potential threat."
"They didn't tell you anything?" Tom asked, not able to contain himself. Snake shook his head.
"Not a thing," he said. "Big surprise."
"How long will you be here?" Alex asked. Again Snake shrugged.
"Not sure," he said. "Until the red alert is over." Tom crossed his arms. Good God, how many red alerts would they have to go through in a month? Didn't one fill the quota?
"Great," Alex said with an eye roll. "So I assume you'll have to stay here overnight?"
"Looks like it," Wolf replied, looking like he fully wished that wasn't the case. "Where's your guardian?"
"On a date," Alex replied and Tom noticed Eagle give a slight scowl that had nothing to do with the game as he all he was doing was walking around. Huh, interesting. Tom knew Jack and Eagle had a tendency to flirt with one another but he hadn't thought anything of it and he knew Alex would miss it entirely. He wondered exactly what he would do with this new information.
Wolf suddenly turned towards Tom. "Are you spending the night?" he asked and Tom nodded.
"Yeah," he said. "Mum went to visit Aunt Cheryl up in Glasgow. She won't be back until Monday." His mom was almost always out of town which Tom liked to a certain extent. He missed her sure but he could do so much more when she wasn't at home. Wolf nodded.
"Alright, well, we're going to go check the neighborhood out, see if we see anything," Wolf said. "Eagle, stay here."
"Gotcha," the soldier replied distractedly as the other three left to go see what they could see. Tom wondered if that meant they were going to go look in people's windows. He wouldn't put it past them. Tom returned to the couch on the other side of Eagle and watched his game progression, which was admittedly good.
"You've played this before," he noted as Eagle took down a Big Daddy much faster than Tom ever had.
"Yep," Eagle said. "It's one of my favorites." Eagle fell silent after that, as did Alex, but Tom felt the need to talk so he more or less prattled on about nothing. An hour later and Eagle was getting visibly annoyed as Tom regaled him with the happenings of Brookland. He'd just gotten to the part where the kid who had the locker next to him got busted for having a joint and attempted to hide it by slipping it through the vents of Tom's locker only to be caught on camera when Eagle paused the game and looked him dead in the eye.
"Do you ever stop talking?" he asked. Tom was a little put out by that. He thought it a good story. He was even more put out when Alex started laughing.
"Not really," the blond boy said. "Our coach calls him Motor mouth." Eagle smirked and Tom pouted. He was about to reply when they heard the front door open and then slam shut. There was a frustrated scream from the hallway that could only have been from Jack.
"What's she doing home?" Alex asked, confused. "It's only ten."
"She sounds pissed," Tom said brightly. Despite the fact that Tom worked overtime to stop the rumors about Alex he did in fact enjoy watching drama. Especially when it involved Jack. The fiery redhead was a screamer and the things that came out of her mouth tended to be hilarious. Jack stormed into the room and Tom was amused to instantly see Eagle's eyes cloud over.
She was wearing a tube top and decidedly tight jeans. It was near impossible to get Jack to wear anything other than her black high top Nikes but in the end it only made her look hotter. Her make-up was dark and her hair was in a messy ponytail. She was supposed to be at a club with the potential long-termer (Tom still didn't know his name) but apparently that wasn't meant to be.
Jack turned and seeing Eagle the scowl momentarily left her face. Huh, interesting.
"Eagle?" she asked with a small smile. "What are you doing here?" Eagle snapped out of it and was opening his mouth to speak when the door opened again and a shout rang through the house.
"Jack!" some guy Tom had never heard before shouted from the front entrance.
"What?" Jack shouted back through the doorway. Tom heard the man come towards the living room and enter. He either didn't see the three people on the couch or ignored them.
"Can we please talk about this?" he asked. Jack's scowl came back full force. Sensing a fight Tom immediately grabbed the bowl of popcorn off the coffee table and settled back.
"No, Jay," she snapped. "We can't."
"Why not?" he asked. Jack gave him a glare that would have made even Wolf cower.
"Why?" she said mockingly. "Why, you ask? I'll tell you why. Because there is no talking about this. You're a perverted jerk and that'll never change."
"I'll never change?" this Jay person asked just as mockingly as she had. "What about you, Princess? You know, you aren't perfect either."
"I'm aware of that," Jack almost shouted. "But at least I don't try to bang every hot girl that goes past, unlike you!" Tom had a vague of idea of what had happened. Jack had landed herself another horny, meathead. Tom wondered if Eagle was a meathead. He didn't even want to contemplate the soldier's horniness level. That was too much even for him.
"C'mon Jack," Jay said clearly exasperated. "I didn't do anything."
"Hah! Don't make me laugh," she replied coldly. Tom leaned further back into the couch to look at Alex behind Eagle's back. The blond boy gave him a raised eyebrow look and darted his eyes to Eagle. Tom nodded. Good, they were on the same page. Well, sort of. Alex gave him a look that plainly said, "I don't want Jack to date Eagle," to which Tom replied with a look that said, "She's a grown woman, you get no say." The two of them were avid speakers in the language of silence. They had to be to keep all their lies straight. Tom turned back in time to see Jack yell, "I can't believe you cheated on me! And with that hooker!"
Tom almost choked on his popcorn. A wandering eye was one thing but this guy had cheated on her. He was lucky to be alive. Tom looked over at Alex, who was barely restraining himself if the narrowed eyes were any hint as to what the boy was feeling. Alex and Jack were very close and it was no secret that Jack was his honorary sister. It was also no secret that Alex was fiercely protective of Jack as she was his only family left. So with the title of honorary brother came all the responsibilities including killing the man who broke her heart.
Tom, as the brother's best friend, and close to said sister himself was obligated to help. Eagle, the poor soul, was just along for the ride.
Clearly, Jay hadn't quite expected her to scream that if his deer-caught-in-headlights look was anything to go by. "What are you talking about?" he gasped out. Tom shook his head; this guy needed to learn how to lie.
"Don't think I don't know," she said. "I got the proof tonight you lying ass. I saw you two together in the corner!"
"You didn't see shit!" the man responded going defensive. That was when all hell broke loose and the two started screaming at each other. Tom couldn't even tell what they screaming as they were doing it at the same time, trying to outdo the other.
The man made a huge mistake however. He brought his hand back as if to slap her and suddenly found two fifteen year old boys tackling him, before he could even start to bring his arm around. Alex punched him in the mouth and Tom ended up hitting him on the head with the popcorn bowl.
That was also the moment that the rest of K-Unit decided to make an appearance and with Eagle they dragged the two boys up off of the floor. It took both Eagle and Wolf to restrain Alex who looked madder than a hippogriff. Tom knew there was no way to actually prove that as hippogriffs weren't real but he liked the saying.
Snake ended up restraining Tom, who stopped struggling, while Fox asked Jack what the hell was going on. Tom saw him quickly put his gun away.
"We were fighting," Jack said. "He cheated on me and we started screaming at each other. It looked like he was going to hit me and the boys jumped on him. Alex! Calm down!" The four soldiers, who adhered to a high ethical code that included not hitting women and children unless they were trying to kill you with grenades, glared at the man sprawled on the floor. Jack moved towards Alex, breaking through Wolf and Eagle and giving him a hug.
Jay started getting up off the floor and mumbled something as he moved. Tom didn't hear it but Jack did.
"Get out!" she screamed and landed a kick to his gut that sent him back to the floor. The guy quickly got up and scrambled out. He didn't even bother to shut the door behind him as he left and they heard the squeal of his tires as he peeled out of the driveway. Tom didn't really blame him; a glaring K-Unit was scary whether you knew who they were or not.
Jack gave Alex another hug and gave him a quick kiss on the temple, running her hand through his hair before flopping down on the couch.
"What did he say?" Tom asked, moving to pick up the broken popcorn bowl which forced Snake to move his hand from his shoulder.
"Nothing a lady should repeat," Jack said, arms folded.
"Jack, we learned how to cuss from you," Tom pointed out as he put the bowl on the table. Alex was still glaring at the door. Jack rolled her eyes.
"No you did not," she said. "Alex, go shut the door before someone wanders in." The blond boy did as he was told and Eagle sat down next to her.
"You okay Jack?" he asked.
"I'll be fine," she replied, apparently not even wondering why K-Unit was there. She let out a sigh and put her face in her hand, elbow resting on her knee.
"Nice temper you got there," Eagle quipped. He was obviously trying to get her to smile, which she did. Alex came back and looked on the scene with a look that said he was trying not to say something rude.
"I am a redhead," she said. "We like to scream." Jack let out another sigh.
"We should have whip creamed him," Tom said suddenly and Fox, who had been taking a drink from Tom's half empty can of soda, choked.
"Tom, it isn't polite to castrate people," Jack said in a bored tone that implied that she'd said this many times. K-Unit looked at her sharply.
"You know the code?" Wolf asked. Jack looked at him like he was crazy.
"Of course I know the code," she said. "I figured it out months ago. It's not hard." They all looked at Tom and Alex as if for confirmation that, yes, she had actually figured it out, although Tom still couldn't figure out how. Both boys nodded. Jack abruptly stood up.
"Well, I'm going to go give away everything that man has given me to the Salvation Army," she said.
"Even the diamonds?" Alex asked, sounding unsure about the fact that she would just give something like that away. Jack gave a small laugh as she started up the stairs.
"Oh, honey, you never give away the diamonds," she said. K-Unit was left alone with the boys and all the government employees began talking while Tom just stared at Eagle. It really wasn't his place to suggest it but if he didn't, nobody would. Alex was certainly aware of the situation but was inclined to never help the two get together. Tom on the other hand, would not only play matchmaker but would enjoy the show as it was sure bring a little chaos with it.
When Eagle finally registered that Tom was staring at him he gave the boy a weird look before asking, "What?"
"You should ask her out," Tom said and Alex immediately punched him on his arm. Hard. "Ow!" Tom shouted as he grabbed his sore arm. "What was that for?" Alex just shook his head and gave him a warning look.
"Why should I ask Jack out?" Eagle asked, puncturing the boys' second silent argument for the night. Tom turned back towards him while simultaneously stepping away from his irate best friend.
"Because you like her and she likes you," he replied. Tom could honestly say that he didn't understand why Eagle looked so shocked. His Unit just watched it all, highly amused. "Although I would consider your decision carefully."
"Why?" Eagle asked looking like he really didn't want to know that answer.
"Because if you make the wrong decision," Alex said, finally breaking into the conversation. "And the fury that is Jack doesn't whip cream you, we will." The two boys crossed their arms at the same time and while it would have looked incredibly stupid on any other pair of teenagers, it didn't on them.
K-Unit tried their very best not laugh while Eagle gave an audible gulp, a scared look coming to his face. Tom didn't blame him, they were scary. When the soldier just sort of sat there, Tom got bored and unfolded his arms, clapping his hands once.
"Well, while you make up your mind, we're gonna play a game on Chuck," he said brightly. Turning towards Wolf, Snake, and Fox, he continued. "Gentlemen I don't think you've been properly introduced to Chuck." He ignored the strange looks on K-Unit's faces as he introduced them to the game console covered in stickers sitting on the coffee table. Alex just looked bored. It was all normal for him, after all.