Disclaimer: 'Cause Anthony Horowitz is a *cough cough* aged school girl in England...yeah...well, the England part anyway =D

I was reading a bunch of AR fics (Dead Man Walking by Midnight Muse14 - check it out!) and decided to start my own! It's gonna be one of them drabble A-Z thingies, and I have to thank Midnight Muse14 for coming up with the title 'Ash to Ashes' *cyber hug* =D

So...Enjoy!

Ash to Ashes

John

John Rider was many things. He could be called brave and strong, he could be named dangerous and lethal, hell – he could even be described as cuddly and sweet...to Helen and their unborn child, anyway. But among all these other things, the one thing John Rider always would be was loyal.

He was loyal to Ash.

So when John and Ash came back from the horror that was Malta, and Blunt chewed his best friend out as though the whole thing was his fault, John defended him. He stuck up for his buddy and shouted right back at Blunt who stood there in his grey suite with an expression of incredibility on his grey face. Probably the most emotion he's ever had on his face, John Rider had thought.

After that, Ash and John had gone to play squash. It was one of the very few games that Ash had won.

John trusted Ash, trusted him so much that he didn't believe his own brother when Ian had said he didn't like Ash, that there was something off about him. Ash was John's best friend! You didn't come across many of them in the spying business, and John was not about to look a gift-horse in the mouth. Ash was someone who understood what he had been through, Ash was going to be the godfather of his unborn child! John knew he could trust Ash, trust him like he could trust Helen and Ian.

So when he sat on the passenger seat in the top-security plan MI6 had graced them with, stroking Helen's hand, he never thought much of the contemplatative look on Ash's face. He instead, raised his hand and grinned cheerfully at his best friend, the man who was going to visit them a few months later with a vase for Helen and gifts for little Alex, who would also be in France by then. He never thought much of the brief hesitation in his squash-buddy's eyes, the short-lived look of regret on his face. He also never thought much of the cell phone Ash was bringing out of his pocket, balancing on his wooden cane. No, instead John Rider thought of his loyalty to the man. The man who had given up so much, been degraded and humiliated and yet still was here, standing beside John when he and his wife moved away to start their new life.

No. John never thought much of Ashes.

So..waddaya thinkies?

Comments would be VERY much appreciated! Also, if anyone has any ideas for letters of the alphabet, because frankly, I'm stumped, I will send you a BIIIIG Cyber hug! =D I still can't think of one for B, apart from the obvious. =/ Review! And a BIIIG thanks to Midnight Muse14 who helped me a LOT and pre-read this. Thank yooou!

-IGOCD