Disclaimer…I do not own the Alex Rider series, not any characters you may recognise from the Alex Rider books. Also the code idea in this story came from another Alex Rider Fanfic titled The Best Friends by Crowlows19. Check it out, it's really funny (if you can't find it it's in my favourites section).

Chapter One

(At the end of Crocodile Tears…)

'Fifteen years old', Jack thought, gazing at Alex, who was currently seated in the hospital bed at St. Dominic's. 'Surely MI6 would leave him alone now. They had stolen almost a whole year of his life. But never again,' Jack made herself that promise.

Beside her, Alex settled back into the pillows. His eyes closed and even as she watched he smiled and fell asleep.

It had been almost a year since she had made herself that promise, and for now it seemed that she had kept it. Alex had not been contacted by the 'bank' for close to ten months now. He had gotten over his nightmares, although occasionally he still woke up drenched in sweat. Life had gotten better for the both of them. Alex had caught up sufficiently in school. He was starting to get excited about his sixteenth birthday, even though it was two months away. He had made a couple more friends, though it seemed that only Tom Harris knew about Alex's double life.

They had lived peacefully for ten months. Until one fateful morning...

Alex had just woken up. He was on holiday, and had fallen into the habit of sleeping in late. Though to be fair, it was Saturday, so he normally would've slept in.

He was lying in bed, the sun already pouring through his closed curtains. He had arranged to go to Tom's house for the day, where he would hopefully rescue his friend from his ever-arguing parents.

The phone started ringing.

Jack, already downstairs in the kitchen, had picked up the phone. Alex, thinking it was Tom, rolled out of bed and stumbled down the stairs. When he reached Jack, he knew something was wrong.

Jack stood with the phone pressed to her ear, her body rigid and stiff. One look at her normally cheerful face told him that he did not want to know who was on the other end of the phone. Jack looked up, and Alex read the anger and frustration in her eyes. Wordlessly she handed him the phone, then left for the backyard to cool down.

"Hello?" Alex asked, dreading who he thought was on the other side.

"Ah, Alex. Haven't heard from you in a while," the woman on the other side said.

Alex closed his eyes in dismay.

"What do you want, Mrs Jones?" He asked. Of course it had probably been too much to ask that MI6 would leave him alone forever. He knew that Jack had tried to get them away from him, but then again what power did an American, whose visa was being used as leverage against the best teenage spy in the country, have over MI6?

"We just need you to pop down to the bank this afternoon. Some of your paper work hasn't been cleared, and we really need to open your account soon."

Of course, Alex knew fully well that that was code. In plain terms, he was required to go to headquarters, which was located at a fake bank. Paper work…that had to mean he was getting an escort. Probably to make sure he actually went. Open account soon…he had no idea what that was code for. If they wanted him for a mission, they would have said "Access you savings". Maybe they changed the code?

"I'm going over to my friend's today. Can't this wait?" Alex asked, his voice clipped in controlled anger.

"I'm sorry dear, but it really can't. By all means go to your friend's in the morning, just don't forget to bring your paper work with you."

Great. They were sending escorts to Tom's house. Making a snap decision that he didn't really want to freak out Tom's parents, he replied "No, I'll be back in the afternoon to collect my paper work."

"Okay, glad that this is going to be sorted soon! Well, see you this afternoon Alex!"

Alex hung up at the same time as Mrs Jones. Running back into his room, he grabbed his mobile from his table and texted Tom.

I need you to come over to my house now.

A few minutes later and there was a reply. Okay.

Sighing, Alex put his phone down and ran a hand through his blonde hair in frustration. Going downstairs, he sought out Jack in the backyard slamming a basketball again and again into the wall.

"Jack…" Alex began.

Jack turned her eyes on Alex. Her expression softened when she found the worry hovering in his brown eyes.

"They want you again don't they?" She asked, keeping her voice down.

Alex nodded.

The two made their way back inside, but not before Jack ditched the basketball at the opposing metal fence, where it bounced off with a loud crash. The red-head had a strong temper, and she wasn't afraid who knew it.

They sat down on the couch. It wasn't long before there was a knock on the front door. Alex got up to answer it, and found himself staring at his panting best friend.

"Alex," Tom gasped out. Apparently he had run the whole way here. "Is something wrong?"

Grinning slightly at his dishevelled look, Alex invited him inside.

After locking the door, he turned to his friend.

"MI6 are back," he said grimly.

"…Oh," was all Tom could manage before Jack appeared in the doorway.

They pretty red-head gave Tom a slight smile, before moving into the kitchen to prepare Alex some breakfast.

Alex dragged Tom up the stairs and into his room so that the two could have a private chat. He didn't really want to get Jack worried, and knew that if they stayed downstairs she would be able to eavesdrop easily.

The two dropped onto the bed as Alex came clean about the phone call, about their reactions and about the dent that was now visible in the backyard fence.

"…I don't know what to do. I can't outrun them, I can't hide, and if I refuse, Jack's going to get deported," he finished.

Tom gazed at his friend for a moment. Ever since he had saved Tom from those bullies, they had been the best of friends. Tom was the only person in the entire world, besides Jack, who knew who Alex really was.

"You're going through some serious shit, Alex," he finally said.

The blonde boy just snorted. "Wow, I could have never worked that out for myself."

Tom grinned, though a moment later that grin was gone. He saw the worry in Alex's eyes, the guarded look he never lost. He saw the despair, the anger, the sadness, the pain and the terror. He knew that Alex had seen things that no one his age should have. He knew that he had done things and had things done back to him that were too painful to even recall. And most of all, he knew that Alex had never wanted any of this. He just wanted to be normal. But with spies for his dad, uncle and godfather, that was hardly possible.

"What are you going to do?" Tom asked.

"I'm going to the bank. I have no choice; I don't want to lose Jack."

They were silent after that until Jack came into the room, holding a tray of food.

"Eat up, Alex," she said, the worry plain in her eyes.

More to distract Alex from his predicament that anything, Tom asked, "Can I help myself too?"

It sort of worked-at least he got a smile from his friend. But then the boy's handsome features immediately sprang back to the worried expression he hadn't seen in almost a year.

"You never know, maybe it isn't a mission this time," Tom piped up a while later, just to break the silence. "They might just need you to sign something, or organise folders, or…or," he was out of ideas.

The silence returned.

After an hour had passed, Jack carried the barely touched breakfast from the room. Tom kept glancing worriedly at his friend. He wanted to take Alex out for a game, or maybe to the movies, or back to his house…well maybe not that. Taking the boy back to his house would only add to his troubles. But he wanted to do something to cheer his friend up, to take his mind off his unfair life.

An idea slowly formed in his head.

"Hey Alex…" Tom dragged.

The boy shifted from his earlier position of head-in-his-hands so that now he could see his friend even though his head was still resting on his hands.

"…Do you reckon we should make up a code like they have at MI6? Only a way cooler version?" He asked.

The teenage spy stared at Tom for a full ten seconds before his lips twitch and he began to smile. His head came up off his hands and he walked over to his door to check that Jack wasn't eavesdropping before he closed it and turned back to his friend.

"That," Alex said as he crossed back to the bed, "Is the best freakin' idea you've had in a long time, and that includes the prank on Emily last term."

Tom, pleased that he'd managed to pull his friend from his slight depression, grinned proudly as he remembered the moment Emily had run screaming from the school.

"Okay, you're the superspy. What should we do first?" Tom asked, looking expectantly at Alex.

The blonde boy grinned.

"Codes need to be easy to remember," he began, "They need to mean something only to those who know it, while at the same time sound normal enough so anyone else who hears it won't become suspicious. Codes can't be written down, because then they can be decoded.

"We should probably pick a subject or two on which the code is based. Using everyday words isn't a good idea, because they're easier to forget and harder to detect if it's a code in use or just plain chatter. However, the subject which the code's based on should also not be something we use too often, otherwise it might get confusing. But it also has to be something we talk about often enough so that it won't be suspicious. So…what subject?"

Tom looked at Alex's impromptu speech before casting his mind around for a suitable subject.

"Uh…How about music? Or music class or something?" He suggested. Since all students at Brookland were forced to take music lessons whether they liked it or not, and in these two friends case, not, it seemed to fit Alex's immensely complex description of a code. In any case, they were often complaining about it, so that fit the description of being talked about.

Alex frowned thoughtfully at Tom for a moment. "How about just school in general?" he asked.

Tom shrugged. "You're the spy," he said with a smile, "So what now? There's way too many words in the English vocabulary, or even in my vocabulary, to have a double meaning to each word. And I've no idea how I would memorise so many codes either."

Alex grinned.

"Don't worry," his said in a mocking tone, "I'm here for you."

He was rewarded with a pillow to his face.

"We only need codes for something we don't want others knowing about," Alex explained after punching Tom in retaliation.

"So, like, the 'bank' and that?" Tom asked, massaging his throbbing arm. Really, Alex did not know his own strength, and if that had been a playful punch he hated to be on the receiving end of a full knockout blow.

Alex nodded, smirking slightly as Tom winced and held his arm. Really, it couldn't have hurt that much.

"I've got one for the bank!" Tom announced. "History class."

Alex grinned. "I've got to go to history class this afternoon to, uh, find out my mark."

Tom thought for a moment. "Okay, I've got it. You've got to go to MI6 headquarters to find out your mission. Why is 'mark' mission?"

"Because I dread getting both," Alex replied with a smile.

"What about one for guns? In case you get taken hostage?" Tom asked.

Alex though about this before coming up with an answer, "Okay. 'Gun' is tests. 'Guns' are exams. And, well I hope I won't have to use this but 'sub-machine guns' can be Emily."

Tom was puzzled. "Emily? That girl we pranked? Why?"

"Because," Alex grinned, "Her screaming and the noise she made running from the school could have been used as backup in a hostage scene!"

"Oh, can we make 'bomb' bunny? That would just be hilarious!" Tom asked, doubling over in fits.

"Tell Emily to feed my bunny," Alex joked, before also collapsing into laughter.

Before it was time for lunch they had created enough codes that Alex thought if either one of them was ever caught in a hostage situation, they would be able to thoroughly confuse their captors while still managing to get out word for help.

"So what were you guys up to?" Jack asked as the two boys came down, laughing.

"We were making up a code," Alex said as they sat down.

"This looks good!" Tom exclaimed, looking down at what appeared to be leftovers from dinner the previous night. Indeed, in the space of ten months, Jack's cooking skills had taken an enormous leap. Though she would always be known for, and prefer, ten-minute food, Alex had found a recipe for some exotic food that he'd really wanted to try, so Jack had agreed to make it for him last night.

"I hope there's no textas in it!" Alex laughed before digging in.

Jack frowned. "Why would I put textas in…oh, is that part of your code?"

As both the boys had full mouths, they could only nod. Soon the meal was finished, and Jack offered to wash up so the boys could have more fun.

"We should make some for your 'boss'," Tom said as they climbed back up the stairs.

"Okay, Mr Blunt can be detention," Alex said as they sat on his bed again, "And Mrs Jones can be…um…"

"Year coordinator?" Tom suggested. Alex grinned his affirmative, locking that into his memory.

A while after that, Jack called them back downstairs. As they all peered out the window, they could see the car that almost screamed 'I belong to MI6'. Two men dressed in plain suits were making their way to the front door.

"Oh boy," Tom muttered under his breath so that only Alex could hear, "The bullies are about to white board the black hole." (Translation; The MI6 agents are about to enter uninvited into the house).

A moment later, Jack opened to door, not giving the agents a chance to knock, something with clearly surprised them. Before they could react, Alex appeared in the doorway closely followed by Tom.

"Mr Rider," One of the agents said, "We request your presence down at the bank."

Alex just nodded, hugged Jack, and left, though not before Tom had whispered in his ear "Have fun getting your marks from history."

Alex snorted. Yep, their code was definitely a good idea…

Hey guys! That was my first Fanfic chapter ever!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know nothing much has happened, but I've got to set things up.

Love Chariots99