Hello guys! So this is a The Help one-shot, dedicated to the wonderful AgentStormOO7, who requested it. As the summary goes, it's a little one-shot about Alex being sick and Ben taking care of him, with a dash of K-unit and Tom! Well, the requested one was just Alex and Ben (or Wolf, but I went with Ben because it seems more logical), but really, who could leave out K-unit? And poor Tom, we need to bring him into the picture, yes? So, here it is! I hope you enjoy it, and don't forget to review.

For those who haven't read The Help, it's a completed 15-chapter (+ epilogue) story I've written and posted in the past nine months. You can find it if you click on my profile. It's best if you read that before this, or else you might not understand the whole one-shot, but it's okay if you don't want to. Also, I've rewritten all the chapters (some have major changes, the others just typos, but the whole essence of the story is still there, so those who've read it don't have to re-read it again if you don't want to. It's just to make the story smoother, more wordy, and to weed out all the inconsistencies). I'll be posting the rewritten chapters slowly after some final editing. The first few revised chapters are already up, by the way.

Anyway, on with the story!

Warning: Swear words. I don't like to use them, but sometimes they just get the message across. I'm sorry for the foul language.

The car raced down the road, past the hidden cul-de-sacs and underground tunnels of London. Swerving round a bend, just preventing a startled stray cat from becoming road kill, the driver recklessly barrelled down the street with only one objective in mind. He was probably breaking every traffic law in the country, but that didn't matter then.

Hastily parking the car a couple of metres away from an impressive looking house, he snuck into it silently. It was strangely quiet, and the man whipped out his gun, holding it out in front of him. He had a feeling of déjà vu, having done the exact same thing two months ago. The house looked more lived in than the last time he did this, but why did he have such a bad feeling? Realising that the first floor of the house was empty, he quietly made his way up to the second. Placing his ear close to the door, he strained to hear a sound. At first he couldn't hear anything and was about to open the door before he heard a groan from another room. Swiftly, he spun around and crept to said room. He counted to three and took a deep breath before kicking the door open, fearing the worst. His heart raced as the door was flung open with the force of the kick, a few pieces of wood chipping off from the impact of hitting the wall.

His eyes focused on a very sick-looking teenage boy lying on the bed.

"Ben?"

Alex couldn't believe it. He knew that Ben cared- it took him a few suicide attempts for him to realise it, but the message got through in the end- but he never imagined it to be of this extent. Ben had thrown a fit when Alex hadn't answered his phone, but it was because his phone's battery had gone flat and he was too tired to recharge it. The house phone was downstairs, and he couldn't get it because he was sick, and the doctor told him to remain in bed. He usually didn't follow doctor's orders, but he was feeling miserable, so he decided to heed his words this time.

Never in his life would he imagine that Ben would break into his house and very nearly break down his door because he hadn't answered a couple of calls.

"They're not just a couple, Alex," Ben sighed, waving Alex's newly-charged phone in his face. "I called your phone seventeen times, excluding the house phone."

Alex rolled his eyes, although secretly feeling a little touched that Ben had been so worried about him. "Yes, Mum."

"Alex," Ben said warningly, "I care about you, and I'm pretty sure you know that. Don't go saying that you're regretting now."

Alex's eyes went wide. "No! I'm not saying that..."

Ben's eyes softened as he ruffled Alex's hair. "I know, Alex...relax. I wouldn't dream about going back on my promise this time."

"You'd better not," Alex mumbled, pulling his blanket up to his chin and wriggling about to get comfortable. Ben laughed at how cute it was: the teenage ex-spy all tucked into bed. Rinsing a handkerchief in a tub of cold water by Alex's bed, Ben neatly folded it and pressed it against his forehead. Alex smiled at the coldness and subconsciously snuggled a little closer to Ben, drawing a little smile from him.

"Jack used to do this when I had a fever, too," Alex blurted. The sadness of losing Jack along with the rest of his loved ones hadn't completely left him, and it was reflected in his eyes. Thankfully, they weren't the same pair of unnerving, cold eyes he possessed previously. Ben knelt against the bed.

"Well Alex, now that's she's...you know, it's up to me now. You're still a teenager, and that entitles you to a little mollycoddling. Enjoy it while it lasts."

Alex grinned wickedly. "Well then, mother, I'd like some ice cream."

Ben lightly smacked his arm. "No ice cream until you get better."

"You can't do that!" Alex gasped, horrified.

"Yes, I can. Since you insist on calling me your mother, I'll act like one."

"But-"

"Go to sleep, my son," Ben smirked.

Alex gaped at Ben. "What...what did you call me?"

Ben froze as well, and then a smile slowly spread across his face. "My son," he repeated. "You're like the son I never had."

Alex's heart warmed, but even he could not stop the words from coming out of his mouth. "You say no to ice cream again and I promise you'll continue to not have any sons. Or any daughters, for the matter."

Ben paled, and excused himself from the room. Alex might be sick, but he was definitely still able to pack an enormous punch. He didn't doubt his threat for a second.

"I need back-up," he mumbled, fishing out his phone from his pocket.

Alex genuinely felt bad after threatening Ben's manhood. He had looked really scared and even escaped from his room. Nevertheless, he doubted that Ben really went to get ice-cream for him. "He's probably outside playing solitaire or something," Alex grumbled, rinsing the now-hot handkerchief himself.

He was pleasantly surprised at the fact that Ben considered him to be his son, though. He always thought that they were more like brothers, but now that Ben mentioned it, it certainly put everything in a new perspective. He hadn't really thought of Ben as a dad, but after thinking about it, he supposed that Ben could be considered as his surrogate father. He was certainly kind and fatherly to him, and after that incident in the forest-he winced every time he thought about it- Ben had become downright overprotective. He wasn't suffocating, but called at least once every two days to check up on him, and occasionally dropped by 'casually' to make sure he was still alive. He looked at his phone, and winced again. In addition to Ben's seventeen missed calls, he also had calls from Cheetah and Snake, as well as numerous texts from Ben and one from Tom. He opened Tom's text first, having not received one in months.

Hey Al, how are you doing?

Alex replied immediately. I'm not really good. Sick in bed.

He still felt extremely guilty for ignoring Tom and distancing himself from him. He had even burned an unopened farewell letter from him, back when he was still 'mope-y and suicidal', as Eagle had long since dubbed. Tom had completely flipped when he found out that Alex was suicidal, and Alex could never forget Tom's face when he confessed that he burned his letter.

Alex fidgeted in the passenger seat of the car, hugging the new black and white football Ben had bought for him after a lunch at a restaurant. Ben glanced amusedly at Alex as he tugged on his football jersey.

"You alright there?"

A hesitant pause. "Yeah. Just nervous." Alex glanced at the house from the car, and diverted his attention back to the ball.

"You ready to go now?"

When Alex made no reply, Ben sighed. "Look, it's going to be alright. I'm sure Tom will understand."

"I ignored him, Ben. I pushed him away, and I said a lot of things to him that I never imagined I would say to anyone, much less to my best friend since forever. I've hurt him so much, he'll probably never want to see me again."

"Look Alex, he still cares for you. He left because he had to go back home, not because he wanted to."

Alex wasn't convinced, but was slowly coaxed out of the car by Ben anyway. Ben got back into the car and wished him good luck before driving away with a wave.

"Yeah, thanks Ben," Alex muttered, "I'll need it." He stared at the wooden door in front of him.

"Here goes nothing," he sighed to himself. The worst that could happen to him was a punch in a face and a slam of the door...right?

He closed his eyes and knocked gently.

There was no reaction, so he knocked louder. Suddenly, he heard the lock turn and his stomach dropped as the door was opened.

He nearly sighed in relief as it flooded him: it wasn't Tom, but his mother.

"Who are you?" she asked suspiciously. Alex felt an eyebrow raise. She couldn't possibly forget her son's best friend, right? (A voice in his mind added an 'ex' to 'best friend', but he ignored it to the best of his ability.)

"Good afternoon, Mrs Harris. I'm a friend of Tom," Alex smiled warmly. Mrs Harris returned the smile.

"Oh, of course! You're here to play football with him, I see," she replied, eyeing the brand new football in Alex's hands, "well, I'll send you up to his room then. He's doing his homework, but I'm pretty sure he'll manage with a few hours under the sun. He's been really down over the past few months, and his other friends haven't been able to cheer him up. He's been refusing to tell me why too, and I suppose I shouldn't push it. Come in!"

Alex wanted to laugh when he heard that Tom was doing his homework- it was a miracle, really- but immediately felt sick to his stomach when he realised that Tom's sudden depression was all his fault.

"Yes, Mrs Harris, I'm pretty sure Tom'll cheer up after a couple of games of football. Thank you," Alex smiled charmingly. He distinctly heard a mutter of, 'I'd be satisfied with life if George was half as polite as you' but chose to ignore that. If memory served him, George was the name of Tom's father. Hiding a smile, Mrs Harris led Alex up the all too familiar flight of stairs to Tom's room.

Knocking on the door, she informed Tom that someone had come to play football with him.

"But I'm not expecting anyone, Mum!" Tom called back, obviously wanting to be left alone. Alex hadn't known that he missed Tom's voice that much.

"It's a surprise visit," Alex whispered to Mrs Harris, and she echoed his words.

"Oh whatever. Come in then."

Mrs Harris nodded at Alex, and left him outside the door. Cautiously, his heart racing, he turned the knob. Emotions flooded him as he spotted that familiar dark-haired figure bent over what seemed to be a worksheet. Tom was back facing him, and Alex closed the door with a click. He cleared his throat, hoping that Tom would just send him home without actually turning around and realising who he was. He was very, very scared of Tom's reaction.

Tom swivelled around on his chair, irritation visible on his face. This immediately morphed into shock as Tom stared at the blonde-haired ex-spy nervously shifting from foot to foot at his door, fiddling with the ball in his hands.

There was a tense silence as Tom looked incredulously at him.

"Alex?"

Alex shot him a faint smile. "Hey...Tom."

There was a couple of seconds of silence before Tom spoke again.

"Get the hell out of my room."

Alex had been fully expecting this, but he wasn't going to leave without explaining. He would definitely regret if he didn't clear things up.

"Look, Tom, I know-"

"You don't know nuts!" Tom yelled, shooting out of his chair suddenly. Alex winced as the chair toppled over as a result of the action.

"You have no fucking idea how long I've been trying to contact you. Nothing. Nothing, Alex! You never replied me! You didn't answer a single call, a single text, and remember that long letter I mailed to you? Where the hell is it? Did you even read it?"

Alex stared dumbfounded at Tom. He had not expected an outburst like this one. Tom wasn't one to swear, either.

"Answer me, Alex!"

Alex hung his head. "No."

Tom looked ready to kill him. "I guessed as much! Did your selfish brain even comprehend how long I spent writing that letter? I spent every day of my two months in America knocking on your door, begging to be let in and be your shoulder to cry on. You never answered once, except that note on the first of February that you slipped under the door, telling me not to waste my time! Yes, I remember the date, and I've realised that you were right! I was wasting my goddamned time because you never cared about the fact that I cared about you! I spent months worrying about you, but once you made it very clear that you didn't want me around anymore, I had to leave. My parents weren't going to let me waste my days trying to knock some freaking common sense into my best friend's head!"

Alex felt tears pooling in his eyes. No, he wasn't going to cry again, but how was he not to? Tom's words stung his heart like nothing he had ever experienced before, and even more so because he knew every word was true. He had been so unfair to Tom, so very unfair.

Tom wasn't done shouting. "We've been best friends since forever, Alex! Do you even have a heart? Remember the times spent on the football field? Remember all those rumours that I deflected for you, and the times that I had to cover for you when you went cavorting in Egypt or something-"

That struck a nerve in Alex. "I wasn't just cavorting in Egypt! Jack got killed in Egypt!"

Tom froze. "Wh-what?"

"MI6 told you that she returned to America, but in actual fact she got blown up by Scorpia, and I had to watch every minute of that!" Alex yelled back, tears streaming freely down his face now. The recollection was too much for him and the football dropped from his hands.

"Alex-"

"Sabina was killed too. Along with her parents."

Tom couldn't help but gasp audibly. MI6 said that they had migrated to Asia, and left Alex alone in America. MI6 said that was why Alex went berserk...they didn't say that the Pleasures were killed!

"I was hospitalised after trying to protect them...and then Ben came and made it all better, before leaving me to go to Syria. He promised that he would be there for me, but left too. After that I lost control and I...I became suicidal."

Tom took a second before realising the implications of Alex's confession. "What!" he shouted, eyes widened as he stalked towards Alex and shook him. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Roughly grabbing his wrists, Tom's eyes widened as he saw the scars. "No..."

Alex hurriedly narrated his time at Beacons, and then his coma, before telling him that he woke up because of Smithers' invention, hoping that Tom would calm down and listen to him. "I learned my mistake, I really did! I'm not expecting you to forgive me. I burned your letter without reading it, for heaven's sakes! I'm so, so sorry."

Tom stared at Alex, before punching him in the face. Here comes the slamming of the door, Alex thought grimly, but to his surprise, Tom pulled Alex into a hug. Shocked, Alex stared ahead. He snapped out of it when he felt his shirt slowly dampen. Tom was crying.

"You...you are a fucking idiot," Tom cried out, sniffling.

Alex looked at him with sadness as a tear rolled down his cheek. "I ...I know, Tom."

"Are you...You still suicidal?"

"No."

"Good. I s-swear to god, Alex, if-if you dare say that again, you won't need to kill yourself. I'll p-personally murder you. Y'hear me?"

"Y...yes."

There was a moment of silence as Tom sniffled and reached for a tissue on his table. "I'm so glad you're alive, Alex. I'm sorry, I didn't mean what I said."

Alex stared. How did Tom recover so quickly from his betrayal?

"No, you did...I know you meant what you did. I deserved every bit of it and more."

"Yeah, you're right. You did," Tom grinned, eyes teary, "but you've apologised, and I accept your apology. You distance yourself from me again, and I'll do worse than murder you."

Alex paled. He knew that it was suicide to mess with Tom. (Oh the irony!) He hastily agreed.

"So...are you still angry with me?"

"Yeah I'm still angry. I see you've got a new football though. I don't know...maybe it'll disappear after a couple of games."

Alex's grin mirrored Tom's.

"Maybe."

It turned out that Tom wouldn't forgive him (ever) but was willing to put it all behind him. Ever since then, they made it a point to meet up at least twice a week for football, and once for homework. Alex had no intention of returning to Brookland, having skipped a grade because of his private tutoring already, but was willing to help Tom with his own homework. Their friendship was slowly being rekindled, and they looked forward to every meeting.

Just then, Tom replied with a text. So that's why you didn't reply me. Didn't charge your phone, eh?

Alex smiled. Tom knew him too well. Yeah, I didn't. I might not be able to go to your house for football today...sorry.

Tom's response was immediate. Don't worry, mate, I won't die without football for one day. I'll swing by later to check on you. Mum will probably want to make some soup for you.

Alex smiled. Mrs Harris had been thrilled when she was told that Alex had come to his senses and apologised to Tom. She and her husband had divorced already-another thing that Alex regretted not being there for Tom for- but wanted to keep her name. She was a superb cook, and Alex couldn't wait to taste her soup again.

Can't wait for your mum's soup. See you.

Yeah yeah, you greedy git. I'll come over soon, once the soup's ready.

Alex thanked him and set his phone back on his bedside table. He felt pretty useless, not being able to do anything. Just when he was thinking about where Ben had gone, the doorbell rang. Alex stared at his room door incredulously. Surely that wasn't Tom. He couldn't have gotten here that fast, and however good a cook Mrs Harris was, she couldn't have whipped up a bowl of soup in a few seconds.

A few gruff voices down the hall confirmed his suspicions. It wasn't Tom, but somebody worse than him. Or should he say, some people.

K-unit was in the house.

Alex could have killed Ben there and then. It would've been really easy. K-unit had been anything but helpful in the past two hours that they had been at his house, and coupled with a more than amused Tom, Alex almost wished that he had really died.

Eagle had been bouncing around his house, exclaiming about how big and luxurious it was, before resolving to raid his 'heavenly fridge' and eating everything edible in there. Snake had been mothering him to an incredible extent, leaving the cold handkerchief on his forehead for literally seconds before rinsing it again. Wolf had been relaxing on his sofa, flipping through the various channels and complaining loudly about how it didn't have his favourite channel. ("I mean seriously, Cub, how the hell can you not have HBO?" "I don't watch HBO.") Cheetah, being the introverted soul he was, just stood in a corner, feeling perfectly comfortable just listening to Tom's chatter. (Which reminded him, Cheetah hadn't given him an explanation on why he was introverted yet, having been busy with SAS matters. It was his misfortune that they had booked out after being granted leave to visit him.) Tom had arrived half an hour after K-unit, and laughed for a whole ten minutes after receiving an explanation from a clearly irritated Alex. He had taken to Cheetah immediately, liking his silence. Like Puma, he could sustain one-way conversations, and Cheetah found himself enjoying the teen's company. Ben just surveyed the scene, torn between looking sheepish, apologetic, or just plain amused.

"Enough!" Alex yelled at Snake, when the latter had inquired for the fifth time if he needed to change a handkerchief. Everyone stared at him, expressions ranging from amusement to shock.

"How am I supposed to recover if you're hovering around me?" Alex jabbed a finger at Snake. He glared at Wolf, who had come upstairs to see what the commotion was about, having reluctantly left an Animal Planet programme on mating wolves. "And you, Wolf, turn the volume down for heaven's sakes. It's been giving me a splitting headache. All of you have, actually. Except Cheetah... you're doing great. And Ben? You are so dead."

"What about me?" Tom asked.

"You brought soup, so you're safe," Alex replied, waving a hand in dismissal. Tom grinned at the statement. Ben just shrugged.

"You threatened my ability to have kids. It's revenge."

Alex just gaped as the rest of them dissolved into peals of laughter. Looking at his messy room and the chaos surrounding him, Alex groaned.

He had hoped that he could recover in another three days, but after what had happened, he wouldn't be surprised if he took three weeks.

Tada! This is what I came up with. One thing: I'm not sure if it's mentioned anywhere that Tom knew the truth, but I don't have Scorpia Rising with me now and I haven't read it in a long time, so it's fuzzy in my brain. I'm just going to stick with the fact that MI6 lied to Tom. I hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to review! If you have any one-shot suggestions, don't hesitate to ask! Thank you again AgentStormOO7 for suggesting this to me. It might not be what you originally had in mind, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. I've had a review asking me to write something about Alex and Wolf. If I have the time, I'll definitely write one. The situation between Tom and Alex has been cleared, so Cheetah's left. You can look out for that soon! Thanks!

Love,

Syd