Work Text:
The field was full of the usual children and adults that sports day invited in, the sun hot and beating down onto everyone’s heads as adults insisted on coating their children’s faces with sun cream and shoving hats onto the heads of protesting year elevens.
Alex glanced around, wondering if anyone was going to turn up to support him. It was a silly notion since Jack was in the States, but he had hopes. He could see Tom trying to wave him over to the large Harris family gathering and chose to pretend he hadn’t seen them, if only for a few more minutes of questionless peace.
Just as he was about to give up and retreat to the Harris family, he spotted a group of familiar faces coming in with the almost-constant stream of visitors flooding through the gates.
“Wolf!” He called, hand waving frantically in the hopes the SAS team leader would see him.
“Wolf?”
“I’ve heard that name before!”
He wasn’t disappointed, the team turned and headed in his direction quickly.
“Cub!” Wolf announced loudly as he gathered Alex into his arms and gave him a tight squeeze.
“Who is that?!”
“I thought Alex Rider didn’t have any family left.”
“Don’t be insensitive doofus!”
Alex grinned and patted the older man on the back, “Hey Wolf! I thought you guys were away on an assignment until the end of the month.”
Eagle laughed and embraced the young spy, “Nothing would stop us from coming and watching your sports day! We also heard from old Ben here that they have races for the parents.”
Alex shook his head, “Don’t you guys think that would be a bit mean?” he asked as he hugged Snake.
Wolf snorted inelegantly, “We don’t have training for nothing. This will be a piece of cake.”
“What the hell kinda training sets you up for sports day??”
“Oh don’t be ridiculous you probably heard wrong!”
Alex shook his head, moving over to hug Ben when he spotted another familiar face in the crowd.
“Yassen?” He muttered, ducking out of Ben’s reach and further into the crowd.
Wolf’s face scrunched up, “Oh hell no.”
Ben shook his head, “Give the man a chance, he does care about Cub and that boy needs all the people in his corner that he can get.”
“Yeah, but why an assassin? And out of all the contract killers he could have chosen, why him?” Wolf whined.
“Oooo someone is jealous!”
“Don’t be gross.”
“Well I didn’t mean it like that!”
Ignoring the upset going on behind him Alex stopped short in front of his boyfriend, “What are you doing here? Last time you turned up at my school nothing good happened.”
“You didn’t die.” Yassen pointed out, eyebrow raised.
“I could have managed that on my own.” Alex replied, but the hint of fondness in his voice gave him away.
“Don’t you like being saved by me? I seem to recall that night…”
Alex hurriedly slapped a hand over the assassin’s mouth, face flushed bright red as he valiantly ignored the various glares parents were sending their way.
“Omg is Alex actually in a relationship with an older man?”
“Isn’t that the guy who turned up before?”
“Seems a bit gross.”
“He’s hot though.”
“Still old!”
“Ok, ok fine you absolute terror, but you’re going to have to play nice with the k-unit or you’re leaving. And I won’t let you into the house later!” Alex threatened, knowing full well the assassin could easily get in without his permission.
Yassen looked fairly amused despite the hand over his mouth and nodded.
Alex hesitated for several more moments before removing his hand warily, only dropping it fully down to his side once he was sure Yassen wasn’t going to say anything else.
“So where is your circus group?” Yassen asked, as if he hadn’t clocked the SAS men the second he entered the gates.
Alex rolled his eyes but grabbed the assassin’s hand and tugged him through the thinning crowd to where the group of men were standing, a downright terrifying look on Wolf’s face that had parents firmly steering their children away.
“Cub why are you bringing him over here?” Wolf asked darkly.
Alex let out a dramatic sigh, “I can’t control what he does, and if he wants to be here to watch me race I would rather know where he was. Yassen has agreed to be on his best behaviour around you, so I expect you to be the same. I won’t hesitate to throw either of you out.”
“Definitely some kind of rivalry!”
Wolf grumbled under his breath some more but backed down at the look on Alex’s face.
“Ok, fine. But don’t expect us to suddenly get along after this.”
Alex shrugged, “I don’t really care. Ben is down as my legal guardian, and he doesn’t mind Yassen being in the house, so I don’t need anyone else’s opinions.”
“Who’s Ben? I thought he lived with a housekeeper of some kind.”
“Clearly not!”
“No he definitely did, like Jackie or Jacqueline or something?”
Tom’s sudden arrival mercifully interrupted whatever Wolf was going to say next.
“Alex? There isn’t long left til the head calls for the start of the day. Come and sit with us before my parents invite someone else I don’t want to talk to. Oh, hey Ben… Yassen.”
“Tom knows them!”
“We definitely underestimated him. Remember how vague he was last time?”
“I can’t believe we let him brush us off!”
Yassen smirked and Alex whacked his arm lightly as Ben waved slightly to the teenager.
“Tom, this is Wolf, Eagle and Snake.”
Tom held up his hand, “Hi! My parents might want your real names though, they are annoying like that.”
Snake shook her head, “We don’t legally have names. Classified information, even Cub doesn’t know them.”
“Hold up. Classified information! Who the hell are these guys?”
“Man, jeez, Alex knows some scary people.”
“You don’t say.”
Tom raised an eyebrow, “Okayyyyy. Well, I’m not explaining that to them, they’re already being nightmares today. Jerry and I are currently contemplating whether we could gather all our siblings together and make a break for it before they notice. Come on, we’re this way.”
The group quickly made their way through the crowds stood around and each made themselves comfortable next to the Harris family, who all looked vaguely surprised to see so many people had come for Alex.
“Hey Alex, who are all these people?” Mr Harris asked kindly, ignoring the look his wife was shooting him.
Alex sighed slightly and gestured to Ben, “This is Ben Daniels, he’s looking after me whilst Jack is visiting her family in the states.”
Ben smiled kindly at the two adults, “Hi, nice to finally meet you. We have Tom around a lot.”
“So that’s where he goes.” Mrs Harris muttered, shooting her son a look.
Tom squirmed uncomfortably and Alex hastened to introduce the others.
“These are Wolf, Eagle, and Snake. They are technically family.”
The K-Unit all smiled pleasantly at the two adults.
“What kind of names are Wolf, Eagle, and Snake?” Mr Harris asked, brow furrowed.
The team shrugged noncommittally, Wolf taking leadership as usual, “We could tell you our real names but then we would have to kill you.”
Mr Harris laughed, and shook his head, “I like you! Ok, we will use your nicknames.”
Mrs Harris looked towards Yassen, who was still holding Alex’s hand loosely.
“And who might that be? Another part of your group?”
Wolf snorted and shook his head, “Never.”
Yassen rolled his eyes, “Now, now, that isn’t really playing nice Wolf. Don’t forget what Alex said applies to you too.”
He turned back to the confused Harris parents, “My name is Yassen. I don’t buy into the silly nickname thing Ms Harris.”
Tom’s mother giggled lightly, “Now, now, young man there’s no need to call me that! Do call me Dinah.”
Yassen smiled graciously at her, as Wolf scowled in the background.
“So, how do you know Alex?” Mr Harris asked, keen to draw his wife’s attention away from the handsome assassin.
“Oh, I knew his father.” Yassen said vaguely, “His uncle too, but only very briefly.”
Alex suddenly made a choking noise of surprise, the scowl on Wolf’s face twisting dramatically as he attempted to lunge at Yassen.
“What happened to Alex’s uncle again?”
“A fatal car crash I heard.”
“I heard there were drugs or guns involved or something!”
“Oh don’t be stupid he did something boring. Like a banker or something?”
“Hey, hey, hey calm down!” Ben said, hurriedly getting in between the two men.
Wolf shook his head, “No!”
Alex recovered himself at that moment, “Oi enough, you promised. And Yassen please refrain from winding Wolf up, you know very well that I count that as not getting along nicely.”
“Sorry Sasha.”
“Sasha?”
“I dunno, must be a nickname or something.”
“Alex was always a bit of a weirdo.”
“It’s fine. Now forget about Ian and let’s get settled down before I get yelled at for being disruptive.”
The SAS team quickly arranged themselves onto the grass, uncaring that they didn’t have anything to sit on.
Yassen looked at the group with disdain and sat down on a chair he had gotten from who knows where.
He grasped Alex’s wrist loosely and tugged, voice low enough only k-unit would overhear him, “Sit on my lap. There’s no use getting all dirty on the floor.”
Wolf made a sound similar to a growl much to Tom’s parent’s confusion and Alex fought the urge to roll his eyes for the umpteenth time.
“I will be just fine sat on the floor thanks.” He said, sitting down hurriedly before the assassin could pull him onto his lap.
Yassen pouted and Alex quickly remedied the situation by leaning comfortably back against the assassin’s legs, hoodie dumped in a pile with his other stuff.
The pout was immediately wiped away and Yassen dropped one of his free hands into Alex’s hair, the younger boy relaxing further, almost purring in contentment. There weren’t many people he trusted enough in his life to turn his back to, and Yassen treasured being one of them.
“Yo, Tommy, what’s going on between Alex and that Russian dude? They’re looking suspiciously close and he’s definitely too old for a kiddo your age.” Jerry asked Tom quietly, eyes fixed on the couple.
Tom frowned and looked over towards Alex with a shrug, “I find it best not to ask questions to be honest. Besides, we’re both over eighteen now so does it really matter?”
“Yeah, but he’s old!” Jerry insisted.
“And hot.” A female voice chimed in from behind the two boys.
They both twisted to look at the newcomer and Tom broke out into a wide smile.
“Steph!”
Steph smiled broadly at him, “I brought Ayisha over too, we just came to say hi.”
Jerry raised an eyebrow, “Just to say hi or to find out what was going on with Alex and his hot older friends?”
“A bit of both.” Ayisha admitted immediately, pulling Steph down to sit next to the boys.
Steph suddenly gasped dramatically, and they all turned to look at her.
“Don’t be too obvious but look at them.”
All three heads whipped around immediately and started upon seeing the assassin leant over so far his lips were practically touching Alex’s ear.
They all strained, hoping to hear some of the conversation.
“… happened to Ian.”
“I… depressed… you died… I told him.”
“… hates me…”
“Wolf… protective… you killed…”
Three of the four eavesdroppers stopped listening abruptly, leaning closer together to whisper in conspiratorial tones. Tom rolled his eyes and glanced towards the beginnings of the first races.
“Wasn’t he the guy people claim was an assassin who turned up at school a while back?” Steph whispered.
Jerry looked confused, “What the hell kind of stuff goes down at your school? Nothing interesting ever happened when I went.”
“Tom didn’t tell you?” Both girls looked surprised.
Jerry shook his head and turned to his brother, “Hey, what is this about assassins?”
“Yassen turned up at school with a gun and then Alex pulled out his own. It wasn’t really that big of a deal.”
“Alex killed someone!” Ayisha protested.
“That was never actually proven.” Tom pointed out.
“Oh shush, maybe you’re in on it!” Steph announced.
Tom rolled his eyes at his girlfriend, “Or maybe they actually are together and that was just some dramatic entrance. Yassen did say he had been in Venice.”
“I always thought he was straight.” Ayisha said thoughtfully.
The other three turned to look at her incredulously and then turned back to look at the couple.
Yassen had straightened back up, but his hands were still in Alex’s hair and the teen was leaning his head sleepily against the other’s legs.
“He’s definitely not straight.” Tom said flatly, turning back to Ayisha.
“Forget about Alex’s sexuality for a moment, what about those men who came with him.” Jerry said suddenly, “What kind of names are Wolf, Eagle, and Snake?”
“Those are totally codenames!” Steph said, nodding importantly.
“Wait, shh, I think they are about to call for Alex’s race!” Tom said, instantly quieting the others.
“Will the contestants for the 1500 metres race please head over to the start line!” A voice called through the megaphone.
Alex immediately stood, wide awake as he stretched, shirt riding up slightly to reveal the scars that decorated his back.
“That’s me.” He said with a grin, pausing to drop something metal that glinted in the sunlight under his stuff before setting off in a jog over to the track.
“A weapon?”
“He did have a gun on him when those maniacs broke into the school!”
“Seems kinda far-fetched that he would have brought something like that to sports day though.”
“Go Cub!” Wolf hollered after him, Yassen quietly repeating the encouragement, even though both men knew without a doubt that Alex would win.
The race flew by quickly and Alex celebrated as he passed over the finish line, barely out of breath despite the heat and the long race. Several loud cheers could be heard echoing across the field and Wolf whistled loudly, Alex immediately blushing as he told the teacher with a clipboard his name and jogged back over to the small group.
“How is he so fit?”
“Look he’s barely out of breath! How unfair is that.”
“Well, I heard…”
“Shut up with your insane theories about his uncle!”
“That was awesome Cub!” Wolf said, grabbing the sweaty teen into a tight hug.
Alex laughed fondly, “Oi let go, you’re making me hot.”
Wolf patted his youngest member’s back but let go, Alex immediately heading over to Yassen with a wide grin on his face.
“I won Yasha!” He said happily, uncaring of the company they had.
Yassen chuckled, unable to find the will to scold his boyfriend for using his real name in front of so many people.
“Well done Sasha. You didn’t seriously think you wouldn’t?” He teased gently.
Alex rolled his eyes but let the assassin pull him down into his lap for a few moments as he hugged his boyfriend tightly.
Mrs Harris leant closer to her husband, “How old is Alex again?”
“Eighteen, just the same as Tom.” Her husband replied in barely concealed annoyance.
“Hmmm.” She said, glancing back to the closeness between him and the older man who claimed to have known his father.
Wolf pointedly ignored the couple as the announcer called out the next few races.
“PARENT’S RACES WILL BE STARTING IN A FEW MINUTES! DUE TO SEVERAL COMPLAINTS FROM PARENTS LAST YEAR, THIS YEAR WE WILL BE RUNNING THE EGG AND SPOON RACE, A SACK RACE, AND THE WHEELBARROW RACE! PLEASE BEAR IN MIND THE WHEELBARROW RACE HAS TO BE DONE WITH YOUR CHILD SO NO CHEATING.”
Wolf immediately swung round to stare at Alex, “Cub we have to do the wheelbarrow race!”
“Absolutely not.” Alex refused blankly.
“Please?” Wolf wheedled desperately.
“No.”
Wolf sighed but didn’t push, turning instead to look at the group of teens.
“Tom?”
Tom was on his feet before Wolf could say anything else.
“Yes, absolutely let’s go!”
Wolf grinned widely, “In your face Cub!”
Alex shook his head fondly and stood up, walking closer to the older man.
“I’ll keep the gun.” He said in a low voice.
Steph and Ayisha glanced at each other, “Did he just…”
Wolf nodded and quickly handed the weapon over. He turned to join Tom who was waiting to go over before pausing again and pushing something else into Alex’s hand.
“Was that a knife?” Jerry hissed.
Alex frowned and looked at the weapon in his hand.
“Oi, Snake, do I get one of these?”
“One of what?” Snake asked, too busy arguing with Eagle about who was going to get to do the other two races to be paying attention to what Alex was holding.
“This knife!” Alex brandished it for Snake to see, inadvertently showing anyone else who was looking at him.
“Omg Rider has a knife!”
“What the fuck is he doing with that?!”
“Oh, you’ll have to talk to Wolf about that. Our Sergeant handed them out following our last successful mission.”
“I’m part of K-Unit too!” Alex protested, “I never get anything when I’m successful!”
“Your view of successful often ends with blowing things up.” Yassen pointed out from behind him.
Alex spun on his heel and pointed the knife at his boyfriend, “Whose side are you on! If I can’t have a gun at the very least I should get a fancy group knife.”
“Oh, he’s gonna be in so much trouble if he gets caught!”
“Rider is never in trouble!”
“Yeah he gets so much leniency.”
“His parents and uncle are literally dead stop being so dramatic.”
Yassen chuckled and shrugged, “I’m sure you could get hold of one easily enough.”
Eagle nodded, “You have a gun don’t you.”
“That’s not the point!” Alex pouted in protest.
At this moment a loud voice rang over the field, “ALEX RIDER PLEASE STOP CAUSING A SCENE OR WE WILL HAVE YOU THROWN OUT!”
“Omg they wouldn’t.”
“haha, he got caught.”
“I feel like we should be focusing on the fact that RIDER HAD A KNIFE.”
Alex flushed bright red and hastily shoved the knife under his hoodie along with Wolf’s gun. He could sense the disapproving and fearful stares from parents around him, and he didn’t wish to see the look on Wolf’s face when the older man came back over.
“Honestly Alex, so irresponsible.” Snake teased, much to Ben’s disapproval.
“Ben did you get a knife?” Alex asked accusingly, well aware that Ben was no longer part of K-Unit.
Ben looked shifty for a split second, “No?”
“Liar! You so did get one!” Alex scowled.
“Ok, fine yes, but I’m sure Wolf can talk the Sergeant into issuing you one too. If not I’m sure Smithers can probably help.” Ben said placatingly.
Alex pouted but flounced over to sit down heavily at Yassen’s feet, “Fine! But if I don’t get one, I’m going down there to get one myself.”
The two remaining members of the K-Unit both chuckled before shooting to their feet, “Come on, we’re going to miss the races!”
They hurried off after dropping their own concealed weapons under the pile of things, leaving Alex with Ben and Yassen and the thinning Harris family.
Over on the field, Wolf and Tom were waiting for the race to start when Snake and Eagle joined them.
The students milling around with their parents all immediately started paying close attention to the conversation.
“Cub wants one of the team knives.”
“Oh come on, I tried but Sergeant insisted he was only an honorary member of the team! Besides, Jones would never sign off on it.”
“What the hell! Are they some kinda fight club?”
“I want in omg!”
“Look Tom obviously knows them.”
“Forget about Jones, Cub will probably try and steal one if you don’t try then we’ll all get in trouble.”
“Whose Jones?”
“An administrator for their little fight club?”
“We don’t know if it’s a fight club. There could be an entirely innocent reason for all of this.”
“Fine, fine, I’ll see what I can do. Anyway, the wheelbarrow race is starting at any moment so shoo. We’ll discuss this when we leave later.”
The wheelbarrow race caused great hilarity amongst the watching parents and students, lots of gossip flying around over who Tom had partnered with. It was well known around the school that his parents didn’t get on, and no one recognised the man holding his legs.
“Who is that with Tom?”
“They are with Alex Rider I think?”
“I wonder who the guy is though, he’s fit.”
“Gross!”
“I didn’t mean like that! I meant he’s not out of breath or anything.”
“Yeah, Tom’s tall as well!”
They won easily, moving like a well-oiled machine where the other parents fell or dropped their children’s legs.
Up next was the egg and spoon race, and Eagle was taking part, having won the argument with Snake who was sulkily cheering her on.
“Look its another of the adults are here with Alex!”
“Damn, are they all this fit?”
Alex had recovered his good mood on the other side of the field and was cheering the older members of his squad on with Ben. Yassen was watching his boyfriend fondly from behind, entirely uninterested in what the K-Unit were getting up to.
Jerry and the girls took Alex’s distraction as an opportunity to sidle up to Yassen, forgetting what the rumours had said about the older man in their hopes to find out more about who Alex was.
“Excuse me?” Ayisha asked politely.
Yassen turned and fixed a piercing stare on the three.
“Yes?” He asked coldly.
Ayisha pushed Jerry forwards slightly, deciding she did not want to confront the man.
Jerry shot her a glare but stumbled to speak, “Uh, we were just wondering about the erm nature of your relationship with Alex?”
Yassen cocked an eyebrow and regarded them, all three of them shifting nervously under his gaze.
“I would kill for him.” Yassen said simply, putting enough suggestion into his tone to send the three scarpering back to their seats.
Alex turned around at the movement, sending a suspicious glance towards Yassen who simply stared back innocently.
Over on the field, Eagle was running with the egg balanced carefully on the spoon, barely slower than she would usually run. The parents around her would have struggled to keep up without the eggs, let alone with the uneven ovals that rolled off the flat spoons with their every step.
Eagle chuckled to herself as she kept up the pace, well aware of the advantage the k-unit had from their SAS training. It did wonders for balance.
“She won that so easily?!”
“She didn’t drop the egg once what the fuck!”
“Yeah, everyone else was a mess.”
Snake was the next to compete, somehow graceful as she hopped along in his misshaped sack.
“I’m just gonna put it out there. How the fuck does Alex know these people?”
“Kinda fits with his general athletic vibe though doesn’t it?”
“I guess.”
The teacher stood at the end of each race gradually looked more and more confused as each gave their child’s name as Alex Rider. They made a loose circle as the races drew to an end, sending the tired and sweaty parents back to their children so they could discuss the results.
“Does anyone know who all these people with Alex are?”
“No, as far as I know Rider lives with his minder.”
“They contacted us about a new guardian, Ben I think his name was, but there was no mention of these other adults.”
“Well, however they know Alex, they managed to win every race they took part in.”
The group headed back over to where Alex was standing with a grin on his face.
“You should have seen the looks on the faces of the parents who were racing you! It was hilarious.”
Wolf chuckled, “The gossip was telling enough. What is this I’m hearing about you insisting you get a knife?”
Alex had the decency to look slightly embarrassed, “The rest of you got them!” He defended, “Even Ben and he doesn’t go on mission with you anymore. No offense Ben.”
Ben shook his head, “None taken.”
Alex flashed him a blinding smile and turned back to Wolf.
“So can I have one?”
“Just get Sasha the knife.” A third voice joined in from behind the group.
Alex grinned victoriously, “Thank you Yassen!”
Wolf frowned pointedly, “No one is taking advice about giving a child a knife from a contract killer!”
“Contract killer?!”
“Yeah, duh, that’s what assassins are! I can’t believe no one believed me.”
“I am now willing to accept that Alex is an assassin.”
Yassen shrugged, “I’m retired.”
Wolf scoffed and Alex interrupted whatever he was about to say next.
“Forget about Yassen’s sketchy retirement, I’m not a child and I want to be properly equipped for my missions!”
“Missions?”
“When is he getting the time to do that?”
“Well what about all those sketchy absences he has with ill health? Look at him, there’s no way Rider is ill as much as he claims to be!”
Ben sighed, “He has a point. Cub has lost that child factor and it wouldn’t hurt for him to have a knife.”
“I know! I told the Sergeant that Cub deserved a knife, but I’ll try again. Jones never finds out.” Wolf finally said, looking around the group gathered.
Everyone nodded hurriedly and Alex hugged Wolf tightly for a second before turning to Tom.
“Well done mate.” They fist-bumped in celebration.
Wolf nodded in agreement, “What do you kids do for exercise these days?”
Alex gave the team leader an incredulous look and Wolf shrugged, “Just curious. We are always looking to recruit and some people here look reasonably fit.”
Tom immediately lit up and Alex backed away towards Yassen slowly, “Oh you’ve got him started now.”
Before Wolf could ask precisely how Tom started with his rant.
“We do this absolutely horrifying thing called the Pacer Test! Whoever came up with it must have been in league with one of the crazy millionaires Alex is always fighting because it is sadistic torture designed purely to create suffering for us poor souls forced to do it during pe! They make us run in time to stupid beeps which get closer and closer in search of the fastest schmuck who can stand to listen to this tiny bells of misery the longest!”
Wolf blinked slowly, “That is sadistic torture.”
Both Eagle and Snake seemed to seize upon the moment the idea occurred to Wolf and both cried out, “No! What have you created Tom!”
Tom frowned, glancing between them and Wolf.
“You aren’t going to add that to your training are you?” Tom asked weakly.
“Hmmm.”
Was all that Wolf said, leaving the rest of his team quaking.
“Training?”
“I am so glad I already went and did my training.” Alex said contently from where he was leaning in between Yassen’s legs.
“Training?”
“You sound like a parrot.”
“Well pardon me for being confused!”
“Oh, come on that’s not even surprising, you’ve seen how fit he is.”
“There’s no way he isn’t dating that man. Just look at them.”
Wolf frowned darkly and muttered, “We’ll see.”
Tom pulled a face at his friend’s position, “Do you really have to do that here Alex?”
Alex grinned toothily, “Oh shush you. You’ve seen far worse than this.”
Tom groaned dramatically, “Oh please don’t remind me! I’d only just cleared that image from my head.”
Alex laughed loudly if only to further traumatise Wolf who he could see was also trying not to picture whatever it was Tom had walked into.
Yassen smiled slightly and ran his fingers through his boyfriend’s golden hair, sighing softly as Alex pressed back into the comforting feeling.
Tom quickly turned his back on the couple, much to Alex’s eternal amusement.
The K-Unit hung around for a little while longer, enough to hear the results be called and graciously accept the stickers handed to them for their first places.
As each member stook them to their uniform Alex asked, “Aren’t you leaving straight away?”
Wolf nodded, “Yeah. No one will question these though, thanks to our special status.”
“What on earth?”
“I’ve given up on being surprised. Who knows, maybe they’re military.”
“No, I’m telling you, Alex is in a fight club!”
“He has a point; first rule of fight club is never talk about fight club.”
Alex chuckled and shook his head, sticking his own sparkly first-place sticker to Yassen’s chest. The assassin let him, watching fondly until a phone call cut through the silence.
Yassen rolled his eyes and brought the phone to his ear, speaking in rapid-fire Russian, the syllables sounding hard and sharp to the onlookers’ ears.
“What even is that?”
Alex waited patiently, keeping silent even without the shushing finger the assassin had placed against his lips.
Wolf shook his head disapprovingly, muttering quietly, “Retired my ass.”
Alex shot him a look before turning back to his boyfriend as the Russian put the phone down.
“Sorry little Alex something has come up. я зайду позже. (I will come later.)”
Alex nodded, kissing Yassen lightly on the cheek, “быть в безопасности (Be safe).”
“Omg Alex speaks it too!”
“We already knew he spoke French and German. This is hardly surprising.”
Yassen smiled slightly, “всегда (always).”
Everyone else watched in varying stages of annoyance and resignation painting their faces.
Yassen stood and shook out his long limbs, flashing Tom’s mother a charming smile, “Goodbye Dinah, I hope to see you around.”
Dinah blushed slightly and her husband muttered an obscenity under his breath, much to her annoyance.
Alex rolled his eyes and pushed Yassen towards the field entrance, “Go on then!”
Yassen pressed a quick kiss to Alex’s lips and was gone, too fast for Wolf to try and hit him.
“Omg did everyone else see what I saw?”
“They’re dating. There’s no way they aren’t.”
“Who knew that Rider had a thing for older men?”
Alex shook his head fondly and turned to the SAS team, “So I guess you guys have got to get going too?”
Wolf nodded, “Yeah, we were supposed to go away today.”
Both Eagle and Snake hugged Alex and Wolf squeezed him tightly, “You be safe Cub, ok? We’ll be back at the end of the month but if anything happens contact our Sergeant and he may be able to get a message through.”
Alex nodded, “Don’t worry! I have Ben and Jack is due back from the States later this week.”
Wolf grinned, “You always were a resourceful kid”
The group fetched their weapons from under Alex’s hoodie and concealed them under their clothes, Wolf pausing to warn Alex.
“Don’t go attempting to get hold of a knife before we get back Cub.”
Alex rolled his eyes, albeit fondly, “Don’t worry I have some self-restraint!”
“Hmmm.” Wolf said suspiciously, but left it at that, trusting Alex enough not to push the issue. He was already aware that the world’s youngest spy had a gun, he didn’t want to risk pushing him into doing something stupid.
As if reading his mind Alex defended, “I’m not going to do anything stupid!”
Wolf chuckled, “That tells me you’re absolutely going to do something stupid.”
Alex pouted but gave up, hugging the other man once more.
“So you guys will be back at the end of the month?”
“Yeah, should be.” Wolf ruffled Alex’s hair and then the SAS team were trudging away towards the gates, Wolf’s hand raised as a farewell.
Mrs Harris looked at Alex rather faintly, “You have some interesting people in your life Alex.”
Alex snorted, “Don’t I know it.”
Following this sports day, the general consensus around the school was that Alex was in some kind of fight club.
Alex, endlessly amused by the gossiping, decided to buy fight club patches for the k-unit to put on their uniforms when they arrived back from their mission.
After all, it wouldn’t hurt to encourage people to believe the wrong thing about what Alex actually did in his spare time.