A/N: Another oneshot, although this one's long...I hope you're happy, because it was tough to write. That said, I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out - let me know what you think!

Collision Course

Ben should have known he couldn't keep his two lives separate for long—as a matter of fact, he did know. What he didn't expect, however, was for Agent Daniels the MI6 spy and Fox the (ex) SAS soldier to collide quite so soon. In hindsight, it was inevitable, with figures from both aspects of his life hanging around his flat so often—Alex practically lived there, and Wolf, Eagle, Snake, and Tiger (his replacement) came over so much that it was practically a miracle the two hadn't met yet…And so it was unsurprising, then, that K-Unit happened to be crashing at Ben's flat when Alex arrived.

It had been a rough mission—one of the most deadly yet, Alex reflected. He had been tasked with taking down an entire organization—an operation that should have taken months—and yet the bank had ordered him to be finished in three weeks, an impossible deadline for anyone but their best agent. He had worked tirelessly for two weeks, carefully infiltrating the organization and picking off its leaders one by one—until he had been caught. It turned out that the reason his timeframe was so short was because the organization he was infiltrating, HELIOS, was planning a joint operation with SCORPIA, and the operation had begun two weeks early.

As a result, when SCORPIA operatives caught sight of Alex, he was summarily thrown into a cell and tortured. After a week, though, the seventeen-year-old became tired of HELIOS' and SCORPIA's hospitality, and escaped, sporting multiple lacerations and a single (albeit non life-threatening) bullet wound. He would say he'd gotten off pretty lightly, however, considering that he managed to swipe the file he'd been sent after on his way out of the compound.

Another grueling week later found Alex limping into the Royal and General Bank at four in the morning for debriefing, a small flashdrive tucked into the inside pocket of his sensible black coat. He had slumped into the stern black chair before one Tulip Jones, head of MI6 (Blunt had retired after one particularly nasty episode involving a grenade launcher), pressing a hand to the hasty, bloodstained bandages beneath his shirt as he withdrew the flashdrive and placed it on her desk.

"There you are, Jones—happy?"

The woman smiled, having known her best agent far too long to retain her austere façade.

"Yes, Alex—excellent work, as usual."

The spy snorted. "It's me—what did you expect?" Not pausing to hear her reply, he continued, "Can I go home now?"

"Of course. Tell Daniels I said hello."

Already halfway out the door, Alex merely raised a hand in response. Making his way out of the lobby with a brief smile to the receptionist, he sighed, looking forward to the first good night's rest he'd had for a while. He paused by the tube station, lips twisting wryly as he glanced at the sign above him. Many things had changed since he first began to work for MI6 three years ago, but Alex still insisted on taking the train to and from the bank (it lent him a sense of normality that was sadly absent from his daily life).

Alex was shaken from his thoughts when the train came roaring up to the station, halting with a grating screech. The train ride was comfortingly quiet, free of any human beings beside him at this hour of the morning, allowing Alex to let down his guard for the first time in weeks. He leaned his head against the window, dozing quietly until the train halted at his stop.

Disembarking, Alex made his way to 1635 Willow St., Ben's address (Alex had made fun of the rather feminine street name until Ben had threatened to forbid him from staying there) with a deep exhale. So tired was he that he paid no heed to the extra jeep parked in the driveway, nor to the occupied bedrooms on the second floor, heading instead to the kitchen where he knew Ben kept his first aid kit. He glanced at the digital clock above the oven—half past five. Sighing, Alex pulled off his shirt and began to dress his many wounds.

Ben woke up at 6:30 in the morning with a distinct feeling of foreboding. Attributing it to the fact that he had four volatile SAS soldiers sleeping under his roof, he rapped sharply on the two doors down the hall, waking the two soldiers within each bedroom.

"Up and at 'em, soldiers!" He barked in his best drill-sergeant imitation, before re-entering his bedroom and getting dressed.

Ben laughed quietly, humming to himself as he heard the colorful curses erupting from the soldiers (damn, he hadn't known Snake could swear like that).

Meanwhile, the entirety of K-Unit was considering harming his ability to procreate, still under the assumption that as a civilian, he couldn't defend himself (oh, how wrong they were—Alex had taught him a few tricks) as they dragged themselves out of bed and into the kitchen…where Agent Alex Rider, the best spy in Britain (maybe even the whole world) and one of the most dangerous persons on the planet was currently stitching himself together.

Alex winced as he wrapped a length of bandage around his bullet wound—and then tensed, hearing footsteps in the corridor. Snatching his gun from where it lay beneath the counter, he spun, bringing the weapon up and flicking the safety off in one fluid movement, startling the four (now extremely nervous) SAS soldiers behind him. Wolf glared, Tiger gulped, Snake's eyes widened, and Eagle inhaled sharply as they stared at down the barrel of the gun at the lethal teenager before them.

"Daniels," he called, voice cold and deadly. "What the hell are they doing here?"

The man in question had just appeared at the foot of the stairs, having made his way down to the first floor, and was now rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Ah, well, you see…they spent the night."

The teenager raised an eyebrow (giving Wolf the feeling that he'd seen the boy before, though he knew not where) and lowered the gun, dismantling it in the blink of an eye and placing the pieces on the counter beside him. It was only then that K-Unit noticed the still-bleeding bullet wound in his shoulder as well as the mass of scars that wrapped around his torso.

"Holy sh—"

Ben's cuff to the back of his head cut Wolf off mid-curse.

"Is that a bullet wound?"

Alex simply looked at Snake as if to say 'no shit, Sherlock—figure that one out all by yourself, did you?' and removed a needle and a length of thread from the first aid kit beside him. He wiped the blood from his shoulder and threaded the needle, ignoring the gasps that came from the soldiers as he began to stitch the wound closed.

"Nice first aid kit you've got here, Daniels. Improved from the last time, definitely."

Ben laughed, surprising his old unit. "I figured that you'd come here once you got back from—where did you go, again?"

The teen snorted. "Bulgaria. Nasty piece of work—Jones was happy, though," he said, referring to their superior.
The older spy nodded. "I heard they'd put someone on that. Anyway, I guessed that you would come here bleeding to death when you got back, so I decided to restock. I'd rather you didn't die on my kitchen table because I didn't have enough bandages or something."

Alex had finished stitching his shoulder wound, and was now putting away all the supplies he'd used, when Eagle blurted, "Who the hell are you?"

Ben snorted. "Oh, you all have met him before, except you, Tiger."

"Yeah?" Wolf growled. "Well how do you know him, Fox?"

"He's my probie," the teen said, smirking, ignoring the indignant 'hey!' from Ben.

Alex leaned back against Ben's counter, lips twisted wryly. "It's true," he continued, turning to the older spy. "You still have a lot to learn—you got sloppy when I was away. One lock on the door, cameras off, weapons gone—you even took my gun out of the freezer, Ben!"

"Ah, well…" The older man had the grace to look ashamed.

The soldiers, even more confused by this exchange, had had enough (or at least Wolf had, anyway). Wolf slammed his fist down on the table, not realizing the effect this would have on two highly trained spies, and suddenly found himself facing the barrels of two guns, steady in the hands of their owners.

"What the hell, Fox!" Wolf couldn't contain the tremor in his voice, and visibly relaxed when the two males lowered their weapons. "You're a civilian—what do you think you're playing at?"

"A civilian?" Alex repeated incredulously.

Ben looked uncomfortable. "Yeah, well…I'm not," he said, finally.

"Not what?" Snake asked.

"A civilian."

"Then what are you?" Eagle questioned, uncertain of where his friend was going.

"Er…"

Alex, infinitely amused by the goings on in the kitchen, chose that moment to speak up. "Let me introduce him. K-Unit, meet Agent Daniels of the Special Operations division of MI6."

A deadly silence followed the young man's words.

"You're…MISO?"

Ben nodded, face blank as he gauged the reactions of the four soldiers in the room. They seemed to be taking the news pretty well—at least, until they remembered Alex.

"And him…?" Tiger asked tentatively, pointing towards Alex.

"Senior agents always show the newbies around until they know the ropes. I got saddled with Ben," Alex replied, jerking his thumb towards the older man.

"You mean…?"

Bit slow on the uptake, these soldiers, Alex thought. "I'm Senior Agent Alex Rider, MISO."

Ben, seeing a chance to get revenge on Alex for revealing his secret to his unit, decided to add his two pence. "Also known as Cub."

If possible, the room got even quieter at his words. Alex punched Ben lightly in the arm, more amused than angry.

"You just had to throw that in there, didn't you?"

Wolf stared at the boy, blinking slowly. "…Cub?" He whispered, as though not daring to believe it.

"I think we've established that, Wolf," the boy replied dryly.

"You're a spy?" Eagle asked, eyes wide.

"Yes, Eagle. I'm a spy."

"And a damn good one, at that," Ben said, ruffling Alex's hair (a move he regretted when the teen almost casually twisted the man's arm just enough to hurt).

"…Who's Cub?" Tiger asked, confused.

Snake replied, his eyes also glued to the teen. "A boy who trained with us for two weeks during selection at Brecon Beacons—with me, Eagle, Fox, and Wolf. Where are your parents, Cub? You can't be more than nineteen," he continued, ignoring the way Tiger's eyes widened to the size of moons.

"Dead," Alex replied, emotionless. "My uncle took care of me until he died when I was fourteen, when I came to Brecon Beacons. My guardian looked after me until she died, and now I stay with Ben."

Wolf inhaled sharply. No parents, he thought, echoing the thoughts of the rest of his unit. The following silence stretched until Ben decided to break it diplomatically.

"So, now that we all know each other, why don't you make breakfast, Alex?"

Said teen snorted. "As if—I can't keep my botany and my cooking straight."

"Botany?" Eagle questioned.

"Poisons," Alex replied cheerfully, not missing the way the four soldiers turned chalky white at his nonchalant statement. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to catch up on some sleep—funny, did you know it's difficult to sleep when you're being tortured?"

On that note, the teen picked up the pieces of his gun, reassembling it, and sauntered out the exit to the kitchen, catlike grace evident in each step.

"Did he say—?"

Alex grinned, satisfied that he had left four extremely bewildered and slightly frightened SAS soldiers in his wake. He yawned. I really do need to catch up on sleep, he mused. I hope Wolf doesn't make too much noise when he blows his top…Ah, well—it's Ben's house anyway…

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-nrynmrth