Built for Espionage: Chapter One

Tom and Alex's hushed laughs sounded on the bus as they waited for their stop. The bus full of high school students, all chatting and stressing about assignments and class projects that wouldn't be done till the night before. The two best friends stood beside the back door of the bus, ignoring the three boys sitting near them that had been harassing Alex since he'd returned.

'Dude where haven't you been for them, you're both the luckiest person and the unluckiest' Joked Tom as he pushed the stop button, both boys noticing their incoming stop. The bus still packed with students shuffled as they stopped, a few juniors stumbling while experienced seniors sat comfortably.

'I'm going with unluckiest Tom' Answered Alex as they jumped off the bus, the two teens heading down the street. They joked comfortably, Tom catching Alex up on everything that had been happening, Alex giving the details of every and any mission he had been on.

'Have they contacted you recently?'

'Contacted?'

'Yeah, MI6, have they called you in, blackmailed you to do missions, ya-know' Nudged Tom as they arrived at the intersection where they parted. Tom going to the right, Alex leaving to the left. Alex thought for a few moments, no was the simple answer. But was it the right one.

'Not yet bud, I'll see you on Monday' He farewelled his friend before turning away and making his way home. His mind wondered to Tom's question. He had been feeling on edge and in danger since he had returned, spending most days looking out his classroom windows, searching for a sniper. Other times he would survey his class, looking for people that could be fakes or double checking for bombs or other weapons.

But every day when something didn't happen, those days when he would avoid his bullies and catch his bus with Tom, with nothing but an ordinary day happening. Days like this made him feel stupid, he was corrupted, always second guessing and on alert. Waiting for the very moment someone would attack his school, his friends, his family.

Jack hadn't been around much either, she had been working at a local grocery store, getting some extra cash for the two. But before the end of the month she was to return to America, she had to go back to her home. MI6 had actually stayed out of it this time, having no involvement.

Jack's mother had passed away and her brother and father needed her. She had a family that needed her. She would return home while he stayed in London. He would become a boarding student at a new school, one that was fancy and outcast, a private boarding school somewhere in the country side.

He would stay there till he finished school, Jack and he had found the school the best match. It had activities and school groups that interested him, they had all the necessary facilities and a dedicated-on campus staff that stayed there year-round.

He hated the idea.

Finally, he arrived at the small house he had called home since he was a child. Ian Rider's home that would belong to him as soon as he turned eighteen. A place that he had grown up in, with a loving older sister- Jack, and an uncle that had taken him traveling and kept him on his feet. Both would be out of his life before he even turned fifteen.

Grabbing his keys from his pocket his unlocked the house's front door, ignoring the ongoing feeling of someone watching him. Because when he would turn around and check, on guard and ready to fight, there would be no-one there.

'I'm home' He called, Jack was still at work, till 7pm. But he found himself attempting to imagine that he wasn't alone. That Ian was in his office and Jack had only gone for groceries, that soon they'd be all sitting around the table for a dinner that Jack had made.

That he could quietly laugh as Ian and Jack bickered over a show or game, that he could honestly relate when people at school complained about a family game night or how their parent had packed the wrong food. He had never played a game of Scrabble with Ian or an overly-active and intense game of Monopoly with Jack.

He stormed upstairs, making his way into his bedroom where he dropped his bag on his bed and went to his desk. A single item on his desk lay on the top shelf- a family picture if you didn't know better. Alex stood beside a beautiful Sabina Pleasure who was clinging onto his arm, the Pleasure parents standing embracing behind them.

It had been a photo taken while in France, a moment that didn't last long. Yet still the family loved him. After everything he had done, Mr and Mrs Pleasure called often to check up on him, while Sabina and he talked most nights, talking about school or friends, about the tennis event and everything in-between.

He grabbed his laptop from his bag before walking to his desk and beginning his homework.

Jack clocked off as she finished her shift, ignoring the strange look she received from another worker before she left the store, not before saying goodbye to Barbara. The only employee who had taken her under her wing when Jack had started, everyone already having made their friends with each department.

'Have a good night Jack, I'll see you tomorrow honey' Called Barbara as Jack walked out the front doors of their store. She waved before turning down the street and starting off toward her home, towards the fourteen-year-old boy that she considered her younger brother.

As she passed a few take-away food stores she grabbed out her phone and tapped on someone's contact.

'Jack? What's up?' Said the voice, sounding both tired and focused as they spoke.

'Hey Alex, I'm just off work. Did you want me to grab dinner on the way home? Or I can cook up some spaghetti or something. How you feeling?' She questioned the boy, awaiting his response as she was only fifteen minutes away from where the boy was currently studying.

'Whatever you want Jack, I'm not fussed' Odd, every time she would ask Alex what he wanted he'd jump on the option, asking for take-out one night or home cook pasta the next. Sometimes he even suggests they go out, treat themselves for the night before he had to return to school and she had to return to work.

'Okay Alex, I'll be home soon' She gave a sympathetic tone as she spoke, hoping that the boy would pour his heart out to her as she walked home or when she got home.

The boy though stayed quiet, wishing her goodbye and hanging up before she could get another word through. She sighed, moving the phone away as she quickly decided on a take-away to grab and entered the store.

He watched quietly, for the past few days he had been there. He was determined to ensure the boy's safety, if this apparent threat was real, he had to protect the last living memory of his mentor. The boy was outstandingly talented, active in every state of the word, and prepared for anything. Even as he went to school he watched the students that made up his class with suspicion and wariness.

Yet still he couldn't feel more resent towards the very man that had trained his boy. Ian Rider had prepared the boy for life as a spy, he had unknowingly forced the boy's future, twisting and depriving the boy of a normal life instantly.

But then again, he was one to talk. If the child Alex Rider had been taken under his wing, he would have ended up dead or just like this. Alex's parentage ensured that he would no matter become a spy, working through blackmail and threats forever.

He moved from his position, there had been no attack within the last few days. Alex was fine, he was living and going to school. He was experiencing a normal life, one that he had always wanted.

Yassen left as he confirmed Ms Starbright making her way home.