Author's notes: An Alex Rider wingfic because there weren't any Alex Rider wingfics when I started writing this and clearly something had to be done.

On that note, this is a wingfic but I'm aiming for the story to also explore Alex's relationships with the other characters and to follow a steady plot, so the wings and its abilities may not be the central focus until later.

The plot and ending has been planned out and my aim is to make this my first completed fanfiction- there'll probably be around 6 chapters but we'll see how it ends up. I proof read my work but please comment if there are any typos or grammar that needs editing.

Rating T is due to mild gore in a few scenes. There will be K Unit and Yassen in later chapters.

Read and enjoy!

Chapter 1: An Unexpected Addition

(In which the extensive collection of Teenage Book Guides, which Ian forced Alex to read as soon as he hit puberty, definitely didn't warn him about this.)

It began on his fourteenth birthday.

Ian had been spending more and more time away from home lately and it had caused more than one fiercely hushed late night arguments between Jack and Ian. Alex had laid still in his bed on those nights and squeezed his eyes shut. Sometimes Jack would enter his bedroom afterwards with soft footsteps in the dark and gently brush Alex's hair with a sad hand. Alex would pretend to be asleep with practised even breaths and Jack would sigh knowingly before kissing his forehead with a whispered, "Good night, dear."

Sometimes Alex could spy Ian's silent shadow standing outside his bedroom door. He never came in.

Alex didn't care. He really didn't, he was used to his uncle's absences and complaining would be immature. Ian had to do his work and Alex was fine with Jack looking after him.

Still Alex couldn't help his smile when Ian had promised to be back home in time for his birthday. Whether it was because of Jack's pushing or coincidence, his business trip was planned to end a good few days before the date on February 13th. The trip was something to do with going to France. Alex didn't claim to know much about his uncle's job but it wasn't something he thought about much considering their kind of distant relationship.

February 12th was a Saturday and Alex spent his morning at his school's weekly football training. He dribbled, ran and was covered in the usual dirt and grass by the end of the session. There was a bounce in his step as he walked back to his house with Tom.

"That pass you did to Dan was bloody fantastic!" Tom gushed with a wide grin which Alex retuned easily. "I haven't seen you so pumped up in ages, did something good happen?"

"Nah, I'm just in a good mood," Alex replied, his arm jostling companionably against Tom's. "Also the sun's actually out today, as rare as that is."

Tom laughed showing white teeth and Alex chuckled a little, scratching the back of his football shirt as he did so. His smile sunk into a slight frown and Tom's eyes flicked to his.

"Hey man what's wrong?" Tom nudged and Alex shrugged.

"Nothing, my back's just been itchy today. It's probably just the shirt material or some grass." Alex felt his back burn again but he ignored it, not wanting to give in to the temptation and aggravate it further. Tom nodded accepting Alex's explanation and the rest of the walk was filled with the easy going, light hearted banter between two close friends.

Alex waved goodbye to Tom at his house. His eyes instinctively scanned the driveway, and then the parked cars on the street curbs. No sign on Ian's sleek black BMW in sight. With a mental shrug, Alex fit in his house key and slipped inside. Jack was cooking in the kitchen and called out firmly, "Shower and change before food! You look filthy! Don't get mud everywhere, I just cleaned!"

Alex rolled his eyes a little and trekked upstairs straight to the bathroom. He would rather fetch clean clothes after a shower than face Jack's wrath at dragging his dirt soiled clothes any further into the house. With one arm scratching his back, Alex locked the bathroom door before freezing his arm and frowning deeply. This was starting to become annoying…

Stripping his shirt off, Alex walked up to the wall mirror. Nothing. His skin was clear, no grass or rashes or anything that could cause irritation. Alex's eyebrows furrowed as he twisted his torso in different angles, trying to find any sign that could explain his still lingering itch. The overhead circular lights illuminated his back in a white light that missed nothing. Finally Alex dropped his shoulders and crouched lightly on the balls of his feet. His fingers thoughtfully rubbed his football shirt on the floor. Alex's skin had never been sensitive and his school bought football shirt had never given him problems for the past year. Maybe today the grass had just rubbed him the wrong way.

Alex dumped the shirt alongside his shorts and underwear into the dirty laundry basket in the corner of the bathroom. The heavy water pressure in the shower soothed his back, chasing away the itch. Heat loosened his tight muscles and Alex felt refreshed as he left the bathroom with a towel wrapped tight around his waist. Luckily Jack was still downstairs so he could dash to his bedroom and avoid the teenage embarrassment of being seen half naked.

The growling of his stomach prompted Alex to change swiftly into a soft blue sweatshirt and jeans. Hunger chased away all further thoughts and lunch was spent enjoying Jack's stir fried noodles with mixed vegetables. The rest of the day passed with the hours melting into each other. Alex lounged in the sitting room couch, idly flicking through a dog eared novel for English. Jack flopped down next to him after a while and flicked through TV channels. Slowly, Alex's eyes began to droop and Jack gave a fond smile.

"Go to bed, Alex. It's a busy day tomorrow," and as soon as the words left her lips, Jack's smile strained. Alex hurriedly agreed with a compliant, "Sure, good night."

He left the room quickly before Jack could comment on Ian's absence.

As if given a cue, his back chose that moment to begin burning again with an earnest. Alex gasped and bent over halfway up the staircase.

"Alex?" Jack called up from the sitting room. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, just dropped my phone," Alex ground out, somehow managing to keep his voice even. His knuckles tightened to a deathly white on the banister and he forcibly straightened up as if picking up his phone. With another quieter gasp, Alex pushed himself to the top of the stairs and into his bedroom. He barely had the restraint to shut his door before giving in to his urges. With desperate arms, Alex clawed at his back like a wild animal. Nails sunk deep into his skin and left flares of pain.

It wasn't enough. It was too much, too much…

Alex ripped his shirt over his head sending buttons flying off. His back felt like it was on fire, as if there were a thousand needles underneath his flesh and bone. His arms were scratching in all directions now, crossing then uncrossing over his chest and shoulder unable to find the perfect reach. Blood was clotting under his fingernails and smearing across his hands and back with every jagged lash. Alex shuddered in revulsion at himself but he simply couldn't satisfy the flaming itch. He couldn't stop. The feeling was so intense that it was the only thing on Alex's mind, obscuring all his senses. He couldn't even call for help, not that he thought anyone could possibly help with this.

Stumbling while still continuously scratching, Alex fell hapzardly onto his bed. He had never been gladder it was right next to the large window. The air was cooler here and Alex put up with it for the sake of watching the stars from his bed. Usually he put on an extra woollen blanket in winter for warmth but it was kept in his cupboard, to be taken out at bedtime. So when he fell onto the sheets, cold linen met his body. Alex inhaled sharply and rolled over on his bare back, shuddering from head to toe in pleasure. He rubbed his back up and down and revelled, half delirious, how the icy cool temperature gave relief to his back.

For a few blissful minutes, that was enough. But like most good things, it didn't last. Alex groaned in frustration as his body heat was slowly warming the sheets and chasing away the cold. He rolled over, pressing and pushing his back against every cold patch on the blanket, pillow and mattress. If only he could take a cold shower…

Alex glimpsed at his digital bedside clock. 11:19pm. There was no way he could let Jack hear him running a shower this late at night. It would be logical to ask for help…but Alex felt a strong, unexplainable urge to ride this through alone.

The burning itch was gradually resurfacing. The bed sheets weren't going to suffice.

Alex bit his lip, glanced to his bedroom door then back at his window. He made his decision.

With one last savage rub, Alex forced himself to sit up and leap for the window handle. He twisted, pushed and opened it wide outwards. It was a winter night in February and absolutely freezing. Jack would flip if she saw. To Alex, it was pure bliss.

An arctic cold breeze floated in, pushed its tendrils against Alex's turned back. His arms, heavy with exhaustion, could now rest. His scratches felt numbed and the itch was still there but thankfully it was a smaller presence now. Alex didn't know how long he simply sat there, sitting cross legged on his rumpled blood streaked bed. At some point his slouch led to him lying on his stomach with his naked back still exposed to the window. Half thoughts strayed through Alex's mind, like the need to clean the mess he made, to close the window before Jack saw tomorrow morning and the fact that Ian had broken his promise.

Most of all, Alex wanted to look in a mirror and check his back. But these thoughts were hazy at best and Alex eventually drifted into a worn out sleep.

Unconscious, Alex didn't notice that as his clock glowed 12:00am his itching and pain left his body as it they had never existed.

"Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god!" Unfortunately for Alex no matter how many different times he articulated the breathless exclamation, it did nothing to make the situation disappear.

Standing in front of his full length mirror, freshly awoken, Alex stared. And then stared some more. With his dropped jaw and wide blown eyes, it was hard to associate this Alex with his typically serious and relatively level headed self.

Alex slowly reached up to his arm… and pinched it hard.

"Ow!" he muttered and that was the last proof that this wasn't some hallucinatory, very verybizzare dream.

In the clear reflection stood one Alex Rider, with wings on his back.

The wings were completely two dimensional like a tattoo inked into his skin yet Alex had never seen such an intricate and elegant tattoo in his life. Alex wasn't the art admiring or artistic type but on all his masculine pride he couldn't deny that they were breathtakingly beautiful. Golden in hue, the wings were shaped like they were resting folded over his shoulder blades. There were smaller feathers bundled closer together near the joints and longer, sweeping feathers trailing down his back with the tips nearly dipping under his waistband. Alex carefully traced his finger on one of these longer feathers and could only feel the smoothness of his skin.

Huh. He had half expected to feel the ridges and soft textures that was patterned into every feather. Alex turned his torso deliberately and in half awe watched the sunlight catch the wings, making the bronze undertones shimmer almost appreciatively.

For a few minutes Alex stood there in a muted daze. Then his brain kicked in like a sharp slap in the face from reality. What the hell was happening to him? First the unbearable, out of nowhere pain last night and now he was sprouting some tattoo like wings! It was like a badly written scene out of a fantasy movie only without any backstory or explanations.

Alex startled as there were two knocks at his door followed by a raised, "Wake up Alex! Breakfast's ready downstairs so come down!"

Jack- how was he going to explain this to Jack? Morning Jack, nice weather isn't it? By the way I totally didn't illegally sneak out to a tattoo parlour last night and these wing designs just magically grew out of nowhere, I swear. Yeah right, as if Jack would believe that or any other version of what happened. This, Alex firmly decided, would have to stay a secret until he could find out properly what was going on.

"Alex, are you up yet?" Jack knocked again from behind the door and Alex was infinitely grateful they had a mutual agreement of 'I'm a teenager so let me have some private space' since he hit puberty. Jack wouldn't barge into his room in the mornings so he had time to get decent.

"Yeah I'm up, be down in half an hour," Alex called back, making sure his voice sounded groggy and sleep muddled to avoid suspicion. Suddenly it felt like a race against time. His room was chaotic with the flung open window, flung around blood-stained sheets and other small items like his shirt and some books flung around in general in his uncoordinated movements last night. Alex rushed about his room, tidying as much as he could with quick strides. He gathered the sheets in his arms and stuffed them in the back of his cupboard behind some old boxes on the top shelf where Jack never looked. By the time the allocated half hour had passed Alex's room looked as ordinary as possible, with the fresh bed sheets deliberately crumpled beforehand to look like they hadn't been changed.

Showered and dressed, Alex was about to walk into the kitchen when he heard Jack speaking in a lowered tone. He paused and discreetly hid himself from the doorway's view. Jack didn't pause so she must not have noticed his presence.

"…he's your nephew and I understand you aren't able to be home often but breaking your promise to a child, without even calling to let him know? I am not happy and as soon as you hear this I expect you to call back, or even better be back to apologise to him." There was silence, then the shuffling of a chair and a tired sigh. Jack must have been leaving a voice mail to Ian.

Forcing a relaxed posture, Alex walked in and greeted, "Morning Jack, what's for breakfast?"

"Morning to you birthday boy," Jack grinned brightly and Alex's heart tightened a little at her determinedly cheerful vibe. "I've made a special birthday breakfast for you today."

As Jack served the hot pancakes with melted chocolate and chattered on about the fun outing and evening meal she had planned for today, Alex didn't notice the small smile slipping onto his face. Ian may not have been there, he wasn't any closer to resolving his wings mystery with a thousand unanswered questions and it was going to be a mission to hide. But this, sitting here with Jack in the warm sunlit kitchen, this was all that mattered at the moment.