Alex Rider was having a bad day. And that was certainly an accomplishment, as the majority of his life consisted of bullets, spies, and MI6.

Alex was currently running for his life, yet again, this time, from his captors. For the past three months, he had been undercover in a local terrorist organization. He had thought nothing could be worse than SCORPIA. And he was right, but that didn't mean that this one couldn't match.

Like before, he was sent to infiltrate the organization and gain clearance, then send the information to MI6. He got in, and began undergoing training. But there was a mole somewhere in the organization, and he was identified as the rumored teenaged spy.

He had spent an unidentifiable days/weeks/months in captivity, and had just gained enough energy to escape. Now he was running through undergrowth, unsure of where he was. His breathing hard, his feet pounding the ground, his heart beating out of his chest, he was determined to escape. He knew that he was heavily injured, and most likely, covered in blood. Whether it would be his or not, he wouldn't know until he took a break. But he couldn't, he needed to get farther away... farther... away... far-...

His thought faded as he blacked out, just as he reached the edge of the trees.

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Leondre Devries and Charlie Lenehan, more commonly known as the music duo Bars and Melody, were on their way back to their place. After the concert, they were both exhausted, and walked in comfortable silence back to their flat. They had a great concert a few hours previous, and were still shocked by the about of people, well, Bambinos, that showed up at these shows.

The silence of the night was broken by the sound of heavy breathing and surprisingly light, but desperate, footsteps. Charlie and Leo stopped and turned to each other with matching expressions of confusion. They were still young, with Leo barely at 17 and Charlie about to turn 19.

Soon enough, a small figure burst through the dense row of trees the pair was walking beside. The two soon realized that the person, now identified as a young boy with a mop of dirty-blonde hair, was not stopping and was falling rapidly. Charlie reacted first and leapt forward to catch him before he could hit the floor. Leo could only watch in shock as Charlie turned the boy over to reveal a boy of about thirteen- fourteen, covered in blood, and visibly unconscious with shallow and uneven breathing.

Leo and Charlie could not comprehend what they saw. Leo rushed forward to check for a pulse, as soon as his fingers touched the boy's neck, he was on the floor, winded on his back. The boy was up, it seemed, and, although swaying unsteadily on his feet, he seemed to be able to easily take out men twice his size. Charlie got up from his spot on the floor with his hands up, while Leo regained his breath on the floor.

"We aren't going to hurt you, we just wanted to help."

"Who... are... you?" The boy managed to get out.

"My name's" Leo coughed from the floor, "Leondre, you can call me Leo, and that there's Charlie."

"Hey." Charlie said cautiously. "What's your name?"

Alex's instinct told him he could trust these two young men. "The name's Rider, Alex Rider."

His coughing became more distinct as he bent over, clutching his stomach. The two boys rushed towards him. As Leo came closer, he could see the small pool of blood forming on the floor, and looked towards Alex's face.

"Kid! You've got blood coming out of your mouth!"

"No shit, Sherlock!" Alex managed to get out before collapsing into Leo, but not before murmuring, "No hospital, they'll find me..."

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As Leo and Charlie made eye contact, they realized the crazy situation they were in. They had an unconscious boy, covered in blood, leaning on Leo. The boy in question, now dubbed Alex, also made a ridiculous statement that the two young men didn't know what to make of. No hospital! Their first thought was to call 999, despite the boy's protests. However, Charlie stopped Leo before he could press the call button.

"Charlie! This kid needs help! Professional help!"

Charlie, the older of the two, realized what the boy's second sentence was. 'They'll find me...' He then knew that they had to figure out how to help him themselves.

"No." Charlie's voice rang out, clear and crisp. "No, we have to help him ourselves, Lee." He continued as he gathered the boy's small form in his arms.

Leo's shaky voice was barely audible, "O-o-okay. Well," His voice became stronger as he gained confidence in his idea, "we have to get him somewhere we can see the extent of his injuries. A-and so that he can lie down, and so we can help him."

"Good. Good." Charlie began, his arms moving under Alex's arms and under his knees.

As he lifted the boy off the ground, he noticed how light he was. Then again, he frequently exercised. Leo did not.

"Here, you carry him," Charlie said reluctantly.

"What? Why?" Leo asked incredulously.

"Because I think he's too light and I want you to see for yourself," Charlie responded.

"Wait, like, too light as in 'he's just small,' or 'he hasn't eaten in a while,"

"Like, 'he hasn't eaten in a while,'"

"Okay, let me see," The 17-year-old responded.

Leo came forward and slipped his hands under Alex's small frame, easily taking him from Charlie.

"You're right." Leo affirmed Charlie's suspicions as he handed the boy back to Charlie.

Leo turned away from his friend and the mystery boy to walk forward, back to Charlie's flat. Charlie adjusted his grip on the boy and hurried forward to catch up with his friend.

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The motley group of boys arrived at Charlie's flat a mere 15 minutes later, but those 15 could make Alex's injuries so much worse.

The boy had been scarily silent and limp in Charlie's arms as they hurried back. Even as he was jostled, his face remained impassive, stoic. This worried the teens, who had virtually no experience with injured children.

When they entered the entrance of the room with little trouble, they hurried into the main room.

Charlie lay Alex down on the couch, and as soon as he was set down, the change was visibly apparent. He jumped up, crouched down, balled his fists in front of him, and his eyes became focused entirely on the two boys in front of him.

Charlie and Leo looked at him shocked. This was certainly a strange sight. A young boy, with blood smeared over his body, in a visibly aware fighting stance. Only a few seconds after he stood up, he collapsed. Leo rushed forward and caught the still conscious boy before he could hit the floor. Setting him on the couch, Alex's body relaxed immediately at Leo's touch.

"Hey, hey, hey. You're okay, cool? We're gonna help you, okay? Just let us help you." Leo pleaded.

"Where am I?" Alex demanded, out of breath, "What do you want?"

"Lee, go find a first aid kit, I'll stay here with him," Charlie whispered softly to Leo. As he left, Charlie turned to Alex, who was sitting up on the couch. "You're in my flat, my name's Charlie, that was Leo, remember?"

Alex racked his brain, everything coming back in a sudden rush. He closed his eyes against the strain and remembered him falling through the leaves, then waking up in someone's arms, Leo, Charlie, his gut instinct, collapsing again.

"Yeah, yeah." Alex started, "yeah, I remember,"

"Good. Now, I'm gonna need you to take off your shirt." Charlie started uncomfortably.

Before Alex could register what just came out of his mouth, Leo came running back in.

"I got the first aid kit!" Leo exclaimed, panting.

Charlie would have made a joke, but was too worried about the injured, young boy in front of him.

"Okay," Charlie started, opening the first aid kit, "let's get that shirt off so we can see what happened."

"No." Alex's voice rang out, crisp and clear, without a quiver in his voice. He was all business.

Charlie and Leo were shocked that the boy could have so quick personality changes.

"Remember, Alex," Leo began, "we're not going to hurt you," he said softly, cautious, "we just want to help."

The gut instinct that Alex had came back again. Stupid instincts, Alex thought, Although, they have saved my life more than once... twice... thrice... okay, okay, brain, I get the idea. He scolded himself, maybe he was going crazy after all.

Alex complied with Charlie's earlier request, and slowly took off his shirt, grimacing with every movement. He started to lay down, and as he began, he was stopped by a soft command from Leo.

"Stop. Please," tears sprung to Leo's eyes, "What happened to you?"

Charlie turned at Leo's words and his eyes widened at the sight in front of him. There sat a young boy, with the face of a child and the body of a warrior. The numerous, strategic-like wounds on his body only added to the image of his scar-ridden body. He could only look on in shock as Leo got up slowly, coming closer to Alex. As he did, Alex leaned, flinching away from him, but when Leo kneeled in front of him, he leaned into his touch, yearning for the love and affection he never got.

"We'll help you. We will. At all costs." And Charlie meant his words.

"Let's get you patched up." Leo said, eager to get the sight of the blood-covered boy away.

Charlie began to clean the cuts and put ointment on the bruises.

"Those are going to need stitches. You need a doctor." Charlie said, looking at his numerous wounds, still bleeding sluggishly.

"I can do it." A hoarse voice came from the boy on the couch. This was the first Alex had spoken in quite a while, the majority of the last months spent holding in the screams or screaming.

"No. No. No. No... No." Charlie responded repeatedly, almost pleading. "I will not let you. You need a doctor."

"I can't go to a doctor, they'll just ship me straight back to them without any medical attention anyways, best if I do what I can now before I'm in Russia or something." Alex's voice increased in volume as he became more irritated.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Leo and Charlie asked incredulously in sync.

"Whatever, just get me a needle and thread," Alex sighed, exasperated.

Charlie reluctantly got up to fetch the items.

Once he was gone, Leo began, "So, we don't know much about you, so how about we play a question game, so I can get to know you and you can get to know me."

"That sounds like a stupid idea, but why not?" Alex shot back,

"I'll start," Leo began happily, "How old are you?"

Alex debates the pros and cons of disclosing his age, and, upon remembrance of his gut instinct, he went for it. "I'm fourteen."

"Whoa, you look much younger!" Leo exclaimed, incredulous.

"Yeah, that's what seems to make me so valuable." Alex muttered under his breath, but Leo didn't seem to hear, "So how old are you?"

"Just turned 17. Do you have any siblings?"

Alex fought to keep the memories of her at bay, but in his weakened state, they overpowered him, and he felt himself seize up as consciousness slipped from his grasp. The last thing he registered was Leo's concerned voice, and for the first time since Jack's death, he was certain that he could trust somebody in the world. Leo and Charlie could be his family, and that maybe, just maybe, Alex would heal.