A Complicated Game Of Cat And Mouse

Co-Authored by Writer With Sprite and Torn Apart Paper Dinosaur

Notes: This is authored by Torn Apart Paper Dinosaur and by Writer With Sprite. We would like to take the time to thank Jayden95, NightmareWorld and her sister, and Rainstripe for all of their help. Thanks for reading.

Disclaimer: We do not own Alex Rider in any way, shape or form. We do own the unique ideas to this story and the unique characters. Monotaro's name and character belongs to Writer With Sprite.

CHAPTER ONE

Alex Rider huddled in his blue, worn, threadbare blanket. He was exhausted and it was only day one of the rest of his life after MI6. He knew that it was going to be tough from the start, but he didn't expect this. When he had first arrived with his suitcase, the woman who was in charge of the home had given him a sweeping look and said, "You're the boy they sent over?"

Alex had blankly stared at her, wondering what her big deal was. She was an older woman who had had blond hair at some point, but made a choice to try and cover it up with a weird hairstyle. Alex didn't find it in himself to tell her it that it wasn't working. She also had glasses that were smudged and slightly crooked. He didn't even get the chance to ask her any questions because he was thrown into a room almost before he had gotten a look at her, although he'd somehow managed a glance.

The room he was in... well... it sucked. That was all he could say without vehement language. Still, he wasn't really sure what to think about the environment. Alex once again took in his environment, thinking briefly about life with Jack. He didn't have a mattress or a cot. He had a few blankets - two - thrown on the floor. Although they were beaten and well used beforehand, he would be warm. He did get a pillow, too.

Alex had taken on (Scorpia Rising) Egypt as his last mission. The Pleasures had wanted to adopt him, but when Jack had died and Sabina's father had been unfortunate enough to have health complications, they hadn't been able to take him in. Alex had flat-out refused to do any more missions for MI6 and had told them in no uncertain terms, "No more." Alan Blunt had resigned as the MI6 head and Mrs. Jones had taken over. She had said she would set him up with a new life, and put him in the foster care system as Alex Hagan.

Mrs. Jones had said she would try to get the best house possible for him.

If this was the "best house possible," Alex wondered if the worst house possible was located somewhere down in Hell. Not the Hell that Brecon Beacons laid claim to, either. He mildly wondered if she had even tried to set him up with a good home.

Alex's head jerked up when the door swung open forcefully, snapping him out of his thoughts. He had been under the impression that everyone was asleep. He squinted his eyes under the harsh light that came from the hallway. His room, of course, had no light. These foster parents didn't even pretend to be nice.

"Who are you?" the man grunted.

"Um, I'm-" Alex got cut off.

"Never mind, I don't care who you are. You're money and that's all that matters to me. Let me lay down some rules you are to follow while in this house."

"But I-" Alex was startled and unprepared when the man took less than three steps to meet him, grab him by the scruff of his neck, and haul him to his feet.

"Rule number one: - don't speak. I don't want to hear a single word come out of your stupid mouth. Rule number two: - follow all orders. It doesn't matter if I tell you to jump off a building, you do it, or I'll beat you senseless and then shove you off the building. Rule number three: all money comes back to me. If I find out you stole anything, there will be hell to pay."

Alex gulped as the man paused, wondering just what MI6 had gotten him into now. Was this reallythe best home that Mrs. Jones could find for him?

"Rule number four: -no more than five hours of sleep a night. Unless I drug you, that is. And I will some time. Kids are fun to experiment with. And last but not least: -if you ever, ever, try to run away, my men will hunt you down, and kill you slowly and painfully on the spot."

Alex visibly swallowed. Why was this man even allowed to foster children? What should he say? He had handled missions before without problem, but this wasn't a mission. This was his life.

And what the hell did the man mean, kids were fun to experiment with?

"One more thing," the man growled. "Your caseworker is coming tomorrow. You will follow these rules while talking with him. Understood?"

Alex found himself unable to speak, regardless of the rules or not, so he barely nodded. He had been through so much, but found himself terrified of this man.

What was he going to do when he found out Alex was once an MI6 agent? Alex hoped that didn't happen until the right time, otherwise his life could be over with.

## break ##

Alex Rider came back into consciousness with a groan groaned back to consciousness as he heard the door open. "Kid, it's time to get up," a thin-looking teenage boy said as he opened the door.

"What?" Alex asked, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Get up," the kid said again. Alex heard him this time and groaned. Remembering what the father had said last night about obeying all rules, Alex regretfully dragged himself out of his bed and followed the teenager. The last thing he wanted to happen was him being beaten for three minutes of extra sleep.

"I'm Alex," he said, quickly stifling a yawn.

The teenager quickly shook his head. "No, you don't want to go by your real name. They'll punish you. Unless you're talking to your caseworker, that is. They assign us names..." he quickly let his voice trail off as he saw another woman approach. This was the same woman from last night, Alex realized. He decided that her anti-blonde hairstyle still didn't work.

"Monotaro, are you talking again?" the stern woman's voice came through the hallway. "Oh. You. I forgot that Jeff -" Alex thought that might be her husband "-hadn't assigned you a name yet. Your name will be Bear. Monotaro, I'm going to overlook your little transgression. Show Alex the drug room. That's where you two will be assigned for the day."

Alex had observed Monotaro as he was being lectured by the stern woman. He really had no other name to call her. Monotaro grunted but led Alex into the room all the same. "We're going to package the drugs today," he explained as Alex followed him closely down a thin. hallway, side stepping out of the way for oncoming people.

Monotaro stopped suddenly, and Alex almost ran into him. He noticed he was roughly a foot taller than the other boy. How young were most of these kids? Alex himself was going undercover as a fourteen year old, although he was actually fifteen. Mrs. Jones had wanted him to "be able to restart his whole year."

"In here," was all Monotaro said until he slipped inside a room.

Alex entered the dimly lit room and surveyed it, instantly taking in all the details. How had this gotten past MI6's radar? Why had Jones decided that this would be a "good" home for him?

There were drugs everywhere - that was the best way to put it. Any questions in Alex's mind that this had been a bad idea were answered. But this 'bad idea' was now his life. And he had to learn to live with it and roll with the punches.

## break ##

Alex felt exhausted when he collapsed on top of a large blanket. His first day had been absolute hell. He had been kept up for nearly thirty eight-hours. A large shipment of drugs was going out today and they needed everyone on deck.

There were five children besides himself in the home. Him, now called Bear, Monotaro, and four other slaves he hadn't met yet. He closed his eyes. He felt physically sick to his stomach. Since he was new he was not allowed to have anything to eat.

God, he felt like he was going to vomit in the toilet. He allowed himself a breath. He got to sleep a whole six hours, breaking what the man had said earlier. He buried his face under his pillow. Oh, God, he felt like he was about to throw up.

He didn't like this.

He didn't like this at all.

## Three Days Later ##

So this was what three days without food and precious little water felt like...

He heard a few small thumps above his head, and he groaned, trying to block out all the noises. He had his food privileges revoked on the second damn day he had been there - all because he had said his name was Alex, not Bear. Unfortunately, the foster father had overheard and had decided that he needed to "learn his damn place," and had decided that starving him for an unspecified amount of time would do the trick.

Now that he wasn't on a mission, and never planned on doing missions for MI6 again, he knew better than to expect MI6 to help. Why should they care? He couldn't help but wonder, was this his life now?Because it certainly seemed like it.

The noise sounded like footsteps, but Alex couldn't be sure with the pounding in his head that threatened to block out all surrounding noises. He wished it would go away. All of it, so he could drift back to sleep, if sleep is what you call collapsing from exhaustion. Then Alex wouldn't mind becoming exhausted again to get a few more hours of needed sleep.

With the pounding diminishing, from both above and in his head, he finally willed himself to crack his eyes open. As soon as he did, though, he closed them due to the cracks in the door that let the light stream evenly through it.

He groaned and turned over slightly, away from the door, but only got so far as his stomach started to churn. Holding his side he held his breath and tried to keep calm; he didn't want to know what happened if he threw up on the bedroom floor. Or if he managed to get out of the room and head to the restroom, someone could easily stop him. He figured he should lay low for a while, and try to keep calm until it passed.

However, this "sickness" would keep coming back unless they fed him, which Alex wanted to bet wouldn't happen for a while.

Eventually, he started to breathe in and out. His breathing soon calmed his stomach down, but he didn't want to move in fear of either throwing up what little food he had, or he would lose precious nutrition and he'd be beaten.

This was by far worse than his time in Scorpia, he thought bitterly. At least they had fed him from time to time. He swallowed hard, wondering when he would get more water.

A loud banging came from his bedroom door. Suddenly, his breath hitched and his heart rate quickened, and he tried to calm himself down and emotionally prepare himself for what was to come. The door swung open after the third bang, and hit the wall next to him, making the paint chip from the force.

"Are you still sleeping?" a gruff voice demanded.

Alex knew it was the foster father; even though he couldn't see his face, he wouldn't forget that voice. Not the voice that sentenced him to starvation for an indefinite period of time and was making his life a living hell. He swallowed visibly. "No," he said, putting on a deliberately sulking face. He inwardly smirked. This guy thought he was stubborn by not saying his 'slave' name? Alex would show him stubborn.

"Good. Then you can come with me." The man grabbed Alex by his tattered blue sweater and dragged him out of the hallway.

Half of Alex wanted to ask where they were headed, and the other half wanted to punch the living daylights out of him. However he decided that neither of those choices were acceptable, so he stayed both quiet and still.

"Alright, listen up," he told Alex.

Alex just stared at him. If he didn't want him to talk, he wasn't going to say a thing. He would be stubborn, but wouldn't contradict the man.

"Every kid that comes in to this place has to be certified by the state. A social worker comes in periodically to see how the kids are doing, usually the new kids. In this case, you. Which means you keep your mouth shut. If you have to answer something, keep it simple. You got that, punk?"

Alex again did not say anything, or gesture that he had even heard him, which was a bad call on his part. He had been hoping to stay under the radar so that his eating privileges would be restored. He didn't expect Jeff's reaction to that, though. .

"I asked you a question!" the foster father snarled, and whacked him upside the head, which threw him off balance right into the wall.

Alex slid down slowly as he walked away stating something about meeting in the living room and not doing anything stupid.

There was a sudden knock on the door and Alex groaned. The social worker was here already. He had been hoping to avoid that for another nine centuries, but luck wasn't on his side today. Then again, it hadn't really been on his side lately, either. He swallowed hard. How was he supposed to keep his answers simple with the terror that gnawed at his gut? He had a feeling that the anxiety had as much to do with his situation as him not eating. He really wished that he could just have something, anything, to numb the hunger.

He took another personal moment before getting to his feet. The pounding in his head had came back, even worse than before, and he silently wished for a few aspirin. He made his way through the hallway and into the kitchen. Through the openings he could see the foster father standing there and another person behind him. Alex expected that to be the social worker.

From what Alex could tell he was as tall as the foster father and had a shaved head. He looked out of place as a social worker, but who was Alex to judge him. He, after all, was a teenage spy. Not many people have guessed that right.

"Oh, you must be Alex?" the social worker asked from his position across the room, peering over the foster father's shoulder. Forcing himself to calm the anxiety that registered in his gut, Alex tried to decide what to say.

He was just about to say, "No, I'm not Alex, I am your father," but the glare he received from the foster father stopped those words from forming on his tongue. He only managed a small nod of his head.

"He's not very talkative, this one," the father said. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? Alex wondered to himself.

Alex walked through the kitchen and stood in the doorway, keeping the distance between himself and the two of them. He didn't trust the social worker for a second - there was just something about him Alex didn't like. Alex vowed to get through the meeting by saying as little as possible, and wondered if he could say nothing.

The social worker nodded and smiled at him. The smile seemed to be more of a smirk, and Alex felt his stomach turn.

"I'm Matt," he held his hand out and Alex briefly shook it before tearing his hand away to put it next to his thigh. Acting the part of the terrified foster kid was easy - he was one!

"So, Alex...how have you been?"

"Fine," he said shortly. He now wished he never took someone else's help for granted. He knew he would never say he was 'fine' again if something was really wrong. But, would he even get the chance to get help again? Or would he be stuck here forever?

"Mhmm, I see. Now I know that you talked to Katherine about your grief, and she said you were making progress. Is this true?"

Alex nodded slightly, knowing that Katherine was his fake psychiatrist that had been added into his file. But he found that it was actually helping him, the whole cover was about his parents and drugs. Especially now, as he had been abandoned by the Pleasures. He didn't blame them really; they deserved to have the most meaningful life possible.

In his cover story MI6 had given him in the rest of his file, his parents had abandoned him when he was ten, as both had thought that he would be old enough to take on "real world capabilities." Needless to say, the government had disagreed, and Alex Hagan had been put into the foster care system. He had been thrown out of one foster care home after staying there for two years because the father died, according to his cover. Then, Alex had been fostered by another set of parents. They had fostered him for two years and forced him to sell drugs. He had been caught by the school and had been kicked out. Now, fourteen, he was here.

But while he wouldn't, and hadn't, taken drugs, it was just like being blackmailed by MI6. So needless to say, those fake sessions that they had set up to make the cover work had really helped him.

"That's great!" Matt told him and sent him another fake smile; at least this time it wasn't a smirk.

Matt then turned to the foster father, "Has he taken any drugs that you have noticed?"

Alex had gotten slightly hopeful, maybe this social worker had guessed what was going on in this house, and needed proof. Maybe they were working on getting him out of here as they spoke... He looked up ever-so-slightly before hesitatingly glancing at Jeff.

"Yes."

Alex's stomach dropped and he could feel the blood run from his face. What?

"I found him with a small dose of meth the first day he came up here," he told Matt. Matt looked actually torn and disappointed and Alex felt his hope slide down to the floor. "However I took care of the rest. We have been monitoring him, making sure he doesn't get anymore."

Food! Was all Alex's brain could process at that thought. Maybe by "meth" they meant food. He drifted back into his brain just a little bit, thinking about what food tasted like. He jolted himself back into reality - he had to stop thinking like that; it wouldn't help. Maybe he could raid the refrigerator tonight.

"So he's going through the stages of withdrawal, but he will get through it." Those words snapped Alex back to reality, and he wondered if Jeff would be mad if he glared at him.

Matt nodded, understanding. "Alex, you know that meth isn't good for you. I thought you had been making progress in your addiction," he said, his voice sounding disappointed.

Alex cast his face down at the floor, staring at his shoes. What was he supposed to say? There was nothing he could really say without Jeff being mad at him.

"So that seems to wrap it up," Matt said, before he turned to Alex. "Now I want you to try your hardest not to give in, I know you can do it!"

Alex continued to stare at his shoes, not saying anything.

The sound of glass hitting the tiled floor came from behind Alex. He whirled around to see the kid, Monotaro, Alex thought his name was, standing there and staring at the three of them.

Monotaro glanced over at Alex, then looked at last from him on to Jeff and Matt. He swallowed so visibly that Alex could see his Adam's apple move. It didn't make sense to Alex; why was Monotaro been scared of the social worker? Jeff couldn't do anything with him there.

Alex was about to say something, but Matt beat him to the punch.

"Oh Monotaro! How great of you to join us! How has your addiction been going?" Alex didn't hesitate to notice the flash of fear that ran across Montaro's face.

"Not too well," Jeff answered for him. "He keeps slipping up. We had to take him to the hospital one time because he swallowed a whole bottle of painkillers." Jeff sounded serious and glared at Monotaro.

Monotaro looked even more frozen. Then Alex noticed Matt get this greedy look in his eyes, masked over by the grief look on his face that he gave Alex. Only this look was different. His was one of pure and utter... Alex didn't even know how to describe it, but it was there.

Jeff cleared his throat as he looked at Monotaro.

"Go do homework or something, Alex, while we talk about Monotaro's progress. Or lack thereof."

Alex stepped through the kitchen without another thought, and passed by Monotaro's saddened face. Monotaro looked at him and gave a broken smile.

Alex gave one back as he minded the glass on the floor, and continued his way out of the kitchen. What homework could he work on? He hadn't yet gone to school, and he was pretty sure that none of the other kids did either. This house seriously lacked in the education department. He made his way back to his 'room' and closed the door, pulling his blanket over his head.

He was going to die here.

That was the only hope that he had of getting out of this situation.

That was his last thought as he passed out.

#break#

Monotaro stiffened even more when Matt poked his head in the kitchen.

He had been coming to get a drink of water because the drug room was stuffy and dry. After a whole thirty-six hours in there with Alex, and some more this morning because of the lack of 'staff', he had spent far more time in there than he would have liked.

But he was shocked to see Matt standing there in front of him. He thought he wasn't supposed to come for a few more days at the least. Then he had remembered Alex.

Matt being the 'social worker' checked on all the new recruits/children when they moved in. So Monotaro wasn't expecting to see him standing in the living room.

"You better pick that up," Matt said as he referenced to the broken shards of glass scattered over the floor.

Monotaro sighed and turned towards the broom on the wall. His arm was grabbed and he was thrown to the floor. His uncovered hands and knees hit the glass. He winced as Matt stepped in one of his hands, crushing it further into the glass and making it go numb from the lack of blood flow. Monotaro knew not to cry out, or scream, or yell. It would all be all in vain.

"Did I say you could use a broom?" Matt said, not expecting a reply from Monotaro, he turned to Jeff, "Has he always been this bitchy?" he asked as he put more pressure on the hand.

Monotaro blinked away tears that threatened to fall as he watched blood slowly seep out of his hand.

"Usually," Jeff said. "Although I smack him around a bit... Make sure he falls into line."

"Well obviously you're not smacking hard enough. Maybe I should take him back..."

"No, he's the best drug sales man I have. He knows what he's doing in the factory. Plus you said it yourself when you handed him over... He has past experience, and no family, so he's perfect," Jeff said. Monotaro felt a rush of relief flood through his veins, fervently praying he wouldn't have to go back with Matt.

Matt smiled as he stepped on Monotaro's hand once more and it took everything for him not to scream in pain. . "I'll be back in the next few days for my check-up. See you then!"

Matt took one last look at Monotaro before heading out the door.

Jeff walked around to Monotaro's other side, and he stepped on his other hand much like Matt did. Monotaro clenched his other hand into a fist, making the shards go deeper, trying to block out all the pain. Jeff then put more weight on his foot before he bent down, his face next to Monotaro's. His breath smelled of stale beer and cheap cigarettes. Monotaro was hoping when this was over, his hand would just be sprained, not broken. Or that at the very least, it would be usable.

"What did I tell you about eavesdropping?" Jeff demanded, resting his hand on Monotaro's arm. Monotaro flinched.

"Not to do it," Monotaro said, before filling in, "Sir."

"Be sure not to slip up again, or I might just reconsider Matt's offer of sending you back."

Monotaro almost choked at the mere thought of having to go back there, but he managed to keep himself under control.

"Just remember who's in charge here," Jeff said before getting up, and taking his foot off of Monotaro's hand. He turned to walk out of the kitchen before he halted and said, "Clean up this mess too, and get back to work."

Monotaro watched him walk away. Once he was out of the kitchen Monotaro shifted so he was now on his butt. He glanced at his knees, noticing that they were bleeding a little. Then he moved his hands and cringed at the pain of even moving them.

Both of them flowed freely of blood and stung terribly. However his right one hurt much more than his left. He clutched his hand to his chest, ignoring the pain and his sobbing. It wasn't as much from the soreness but from the fact that Matt had stepped on his right hand.

He just wished he could live long enough to do something with his life, other than drugs. But he knew between the two of them, Jeff and Matt, that wish would be impossible.

For as much as Alex hated this life, it was so much better than his old house that to Monotaro it was almost heaven. He had to listen to Jeff because he would never be able to live with Matt again.

## break ##

Challenge:

Did Mrs. Jones really pick the best house available for Alex, or did she just shove him into any house? Or did she have a much more sinister reason for putting him with Matt?

Who is Monotaro, and why is he afraid of Matt and Jeff?

What criminal activities are Matt and Jeff involved in?