A/N: Hi there. Thanks for taking the time to check this out. Please, make yourselves comfortable. It'll be a bumpy ride.

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Prologue

"Mr. Blunt, this just came in for you. The Prime Minister sent it, priority mail. I thought I should bring it directly in to you."

Alan Blunt glanced up from the papers on his desk and eyed his secretary skeptically. She brushed a nonexistent bit of lint from her shirt and smoothed her skirt nervously. How long had she been working for him again? Three weeks yet? He needed to get one with more backbone.

"Sir?" she ventured timidly.

"Give it to me." He said briskly, finally taking pity on the girl. She walked over to hand him the file, and then hurried out of the room as fast as her five inch heels would let her. He shook his head, watching her go. He would need to get someone more competent to interview potential employees—lately they'd all been imbeciles.

Sighing, he flipped open the folder and briefly scanned its contents. His eyebrows drew together and a worried frown made its way onto his face the further in he got. That was the way Tulip Jones found him only half an hour later, staring at the file as if it contained his own death sentence.

"What is it?" she asked him, taking a seat facing his desk. He didn't answer her right away, which made her a bit apprehensive.

"We need to call in Alex Rider." He informed her, closing the file and placing it in front of him, face down.

Ms. Jones frowned, "Alex quit three years ago. We haven't been able to get through to him since his girlfriend died during his last assignment, and his housekeeper left with her new fiancée."

"The girl was his own fault."

"Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't," Ms. Jones snapped, biting down hard on the peppermint in her mouth; hard enough to crack it into pieces, "That doesn't change the fact that he won't do it."

"Ms. Jones," Alan Blunt said, leaning forward slightly to emphasize his point, "We need Alex. I don't care how we get him. But we need him."

"Why him? He's nearly eighteen. Almost an adult—he couldn't hide behind the façade of an innocent child any longer."

Alan Blunt sighed, "Read this," he told her, handing over the file. She glanced at him suspiciously, then opened it up and began to read. Her face paled. She rose to her feet.

"I'll start calling in the connections. He'll be here by tomorrow evening at the latest."

"Good."

Obviously the following chapters won't be as short--this was just the prologue. If I get a decent response, I'll probably update faster. That was a hint ;)

Information (things you might like to know...

-Alex is almost eighteen in this story, we should see a birthday coming up soon.

-I have decided that Wolf is twenty eight, hopefully that doesn't rub too many people the wrong way

-Yes, there will be slash, romance, angst, swearing...am I forgetting anything?

-Oh yeah, the reason Alex was finally able to go through with his threat to quit MI6 will be explained

Love you all, please review, yadda yadda you know the drill