She counted the ceiling tiles for the 50th time. There were 13, same as last time. 13 possible openings in the small room, and none reachable. It was positively infuriating. She was startled out of her frustrating musings by the click of a key in the lock. The door was opened and a boy was kicked through, falling hard to the floor. The door was slammed and locked back up.

Alex Rider looked around the room, sizing it up. It was a rather small room, with cement walls and floor, a metal door and… ceiling tiles? What kind of cement room had ceiling tiles? 13 to be exact… odd. The ceiling tiles were the closest thing to a means of escape that he could see, but they were too high to reach. He shook his head in annoyance… they were probably just there to frustrate the prisoner. He turned his attention from the ceiling to the other occupant of the room. A girl who looked about his age. She had brown hair of medium length, freckles, and captivating green eyes. She was beautiful, but in a girl next door kind of way, not a model way. He frowned… why would anyone his own age be prisoner? He hadn't heard of any kidnappings lately… at least not any that were thought to have any connection with Malvagita. She was sitting against the wall staring at him. She was dressed in green cargo pants and a camo tank top, with bare feet and no wounds other than small scratches. He went to go sit next to her so he could talk to her, and hear her story.

She frowned at the boy coming towards her. He looked about her age, with attractive fair hair and serious brown eyes. He spoke, and she smiled at his English accent.

"I'm Alex, Alex Rider." He stuck out his hand and she shook it.

"Nice to meet you Alex. I'm Laina Marks. So, why are you here?" She looked into his eyes, seeing pain.

"Like to get to the heart of the matter immediately, do we?" He smiled

"Well, what is the point of exchanging 'pleasantries' in a place like this? But if you insist… What school do you go to? That is the usual first question right?" She smiled back.

"I think we can start with what country are you from… me? England!"

"The accent totally didn't tip me off. I'm from Texas. Yes, it isn't a country it is a state. Currently."

He laughed,

"Texas! Ok… so what grade are you in?"

"10th. And you?"

"Um, same."

"Ok, so now that 'pleasantries' have been exchanged can we go to the important stuff? Why are you here?" She looked at him intently.

"Well… it is kinda a long story…" He bit his lip

"I'm not going anywhere!" She laughed

"Alright then… I kinda-sorta work for MI6…" He waited for her disbelief.

"Cool! So… mission against Malvagita. That wasn't too long of a story!"

"You… you believe me?" He stared at her incredulously

"Of course? Why, should I not? Were you messing with me?" She frowned

"NO, no… I am from MI6 I just… well it's not exactly the most believable thing…"

"Oh, I'm pretty trusting. My parents are NSA, which happens to be why I'm here."

"NSA used you? I thought America was against that?"

"No, ha! It wasn't NSA's idea. I was kidnapped because my parents were investigating Malvagita. Malvagita found out and researched my parents a bit. Now here I am, perfect bait for a nice trap for my parents. Come free me and give up all their research and possibly their lives or leave me to die and keep their lives and research. Not much of a choice if you ask me. But hey, it's just your average bring your kid to work day!" She rolled her eyes.

"You don't seem very worried…"

"What is there to be worried about? Either I am or my parents are going to die. There isn't much of a question. It's going to happen so why worry about it." Alex had never heard such a bitter tone. She sighed. "Enough about me. What do your parents do?"

"They're dead."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!"

"It's ok. Well, it's not. But they died before I could really remember them. Plane accident. Sorta."

"Oh." She didn't know what else to say. They lapsed into silence, each engaged in their own reveries. It was only broken by the door opening, admitting a large man into the room. He wasn't fat-large he was tall-large, probably about 6 foot 7'. He was thin, in good shape, with large shoulders, thick black hair and brown eyes. He was more than attractive; in fact, he was commonly described as 'hot'. This was Antonio Marcus, the CEO of Malvagita. He smiled at the teens.

"I see we are getting along nicely. That is wonderful! Wouldn't want any fighting. Laina dear, are you enjoying your new toy? We got him especially for you, you seemed lonely" He grinned wickedly, and walked to her, grabbing her arm and forcing her to stand up. He stuck his face into hers.

"I thought that I could console your loneliness, but Dolan wouldn't let me. Normally I would just say screw him… but this situation is a bit more delicate… everyone wants to capture your dear parents, and we can't very well do that if you aren't picture perfect now can we?" He laughed manically and kissed her boldly on the cheek. "Just wait darling. Just wait." He let her arm go and roughly pushed her away, into the waiting Alex. He caught her as her legs gave out, and asked her quietly if she was alright. She managed a brief nod.

"Ah, the dear Alex Rider coming to the rescue. You're used to that aren't you Alex? Rescuing people. Rescuing whole countries in fact! Ha! Well, you're too late to rescue anyone now. Well, not too late perhaps, but you are rather tied up." He laughed at what he thought was a joke. Alex smiled grimly

"I am not, in fact, tied up!" He realized when he said the words that it was a stupid thing to say. Antonio immediately called in a guard with a nice length of rope.

"Tie them!" he grinned. "Anything to say now, Alex?"

Alex grit his teeth as the guard tied him and Laina together. He had nothing to say to this monster. At least nothing that could be printed. Antonio laughed again… He seemed to do that a lot.

"Well dears, now that I have a captive audience… HA pun intended! I do believe I will outline my plan! That is what the villain always does, right?"

"Yeah, right before the hero saves the day" Alex muttered

"I'm sorry? I didn't hear you…"

"Oh, nothing…"

"Alrighty then, back to the task at hand! My 'evil' plan! Hahahaha… ok, it is really quite simple. I just want to get rid of all the spying institutions in the world!"

"What?!" Alex didn't get it.

"Come on! Wouldn't the world be a better place without all the secrecy and lies! You know it would be! So… I have bombs placed in all the HQs, all over the world! It has taken much money and much time, but hey… it will be worth it! I only need one more month, to make sure I really have them all. You can wait that long right? I hope so, because you have no choice! Well, it was nice talking to you! Arrivederci!" He breezed out of the room.

"I don't get it." Alex frowned. "He is a psychopath! One minute he is captain warrior, pig-head; next he is comedian with an evil plan, then he is just gone. What is wrong with him?"

"Many things," answered Laina. She sighed, "He has some mental issues."

"Obviously. So, how are we going to get out of here?"

"We aren't."

"What?!" He stared at her, eyes wide with disbelief

"Alex, I have been here for weeks, I have explored every inch of this place. There is no way to get out."

"But… what about the ceiling tiles?"

"Antonio couldn't even reach the ceiling tiles and the man is a giant. It's hopeless." She stared at the wall.

"But…" He frowned. What was her problem? Then he mentally hit himself. The girl had just been almost physically assaulted, and basically told that both she and her parents were going to die. "Laina, are you ok?"

"Fine. Well, I'm stuck in a windowless room, I'm eventually, sooner than later, going to die or possibly worse, as are my parents and probably anyone else I care about. But yeah, I'm doing great!" Her green eyes were flashing and she stared at him in annoyance.

"I'm sorry, I just…"

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Just go to sleep. Its night time." She turned as far away from him as their tied hands would let her and lay down. He followed her example, laying on the cold dirt floor and trying to sleep. But sleep wouldn't come. He lay there thinking of everyone he knew in MI6, and even in the CIA. He didn't much like some of them, but that didn't mean he wanted them dead. Somehow, he had to stop Antonio.

A few days later Alex got an idea. He related it excitedly to Laina, already tasting freedom.

"It won't work! I can't pull both of us up! I have been trained somewhat, but I'm not a freaking bodybuilder!"

"C'mon, let's just try it? Please?"

"Fine." Although she wouldn't admit it, the thought of anything that could even remotely end up as a way out excited her too. They executed Alex's plan. It was rather simple, and obvious. Laina was just supposed to stand on his shoulders and reach the ceiling tiles, then pull both of them up through the ceiling. He got her onto his shoulders carefully, and she stood up. She could reach the ceiling, barely. She pushed the ceiling tile up and grabbed onto the ledge.

"It's working!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"Just keep going! Pull yourself up and then we'll figure something out for me." She nodded determinedly. She pulled on the ledge. Suddenly she felt it bending.

"Alex?! Alex, its ---"Her words were replaced by her scream as the ledge snapped and she fell down. It was only a fall of about 5 feet, but she landed hard, and Alex heard a crack.

"Laina? Laina are you alright?" He knelt down beside her. She was staring up at the ceiling in shock. "Is anything hurt? Laina, please, talk to me." She nodded slowly.

"My arm" She whispered. He stared. Sure enough, somehow she had managed to break her arm. He never figured out quite how it happened, but her arm was broken. It wasn't too bad of a break, the bone hadn't come out of the skin or anything, but it was painful and she was in shock. He gathered her in his arms and carried her to the corner. He had nothing to help her, but he held her, and talked to her, to keep the shock from setting in.

"C'mon Laina. You're alright."

"We were going to leave" the words were barely audible as they sighed off her lips.

"It's ok. We'll get out of here eventually "He brushed her hair out of her face.

"In caskets." She said morbidly.

"Laina, please. Don't talk like that; it's not going to happen that way." She was staring at the piece of broken ceiling rafter in her hand. He noticed and pried it gently out of her fingers. It was metal, about a foot long, with sharp jagged edges on both sides.

"Now we have a weapon." He said optimistically. He saw tears rolling silently down her face.

"Laina! Its ok, Laina don't cry! Please, we'll be alright! Don't worry!" He was trying desperately to cheer her up, but it was pointless.

"I already told you, I don't worry." She said the words defiantly, but as soon as they left her she buried her face in his shirt and cried harder.

Hours turned into days. Days turned into weeks. Weeks into a month. Antonio's deadline was fast approaching. Alex knew they had to get out of there soon. He woke up one morning to the sound of an explosion. Leaping up quickly he looked around in fear. He knew he hadn't dreamt it. He knew he had heard an explosion. He knelt back down and woke up Laina.

"Hey, Lai, don't worry, but I think I just heard an explosion…" She sat bolt upright.

"What?!" She winced and grabbed her arm, wrapped in a makeshift sling made of Alex's shirt. They hadn't seen Antonio since the first day, and when he tried to tell the guards who brought their food what happened to her they ignored him, acting as if he wasn't there. Thus, they had been forced to use his shirt as a sling. Her arm was healing, but not fast, and the sharp movement had been painful

"Careful!" He helped her stand up. "I said, I think I heard an explosion. In fact, I don't think… I know I heard one."

"So…" She frowned "What does that mean?"

"I'm not sure… I think it's time to get the weapon though." He went to the corner, where they had buried the piece of ceiling rafter and dug it up quickly.

"I think it's time to tell you something" Laina bit her lip

"Oh, Laine don't tell me you're evil!" He stared into her eyes trying to get an idea of what was coming.

"No! No, I'm not evil… but I do have this…" She pulled the hair-twisty out of her pony tail and held it up.

"Oh, thanks, now I can get my hair out of my eyes. Just what I needed" He rolled his eyes.

"Um, no. Though it might be amusing to see you with your hair up… this is our way out of this room. It's a bomb. Watch… and be prepared to incapacitate the guard." She put the twisty in-between the door-jam and the door, where the lock was. She then pulled out her necklace, a small ruby on a silver chain. She pushed the ruby down and there was a bright flash and a little pop and the door swung open. She grinned triumphantly.

"Um, wow. You've had that all along?" Alex stared at her.

"Yeah. It is a long story that I will explain to you later. Right now we need to disarm the bomb. Follow me!" She took off running, out the door and through a thin corridor to the left. Whatever guard had been there before was gone now, probably because of the large explosion.

Alex followed Laina through a twisty maze of passages that got progressively bigger until they emerged into a giant room. They seemed to be underground but the room stretched ever-upward and there was light coming from the peak. It was like being in a hollow mountain. Alex tried to take in the whole room but it was overwhelming. He noticed a wall of computers, and another wall stacked with weapons. The first thing that caught his attention, though, was the giant piece of metal in the middle of the room. He had no idea what it was but there was a long pipe running from it to the top, and most-likely, the surface. It was rather roundish and there were lots of blinking lights, and he now noticed, a timer. Laina was standing by the timer pushing some buttons.

"Alex, come here." She motioned him over.

"What is it?" She was inputting some sort of code into a computer-type thing.

"I need the MI6 HQ address."

"What?" What on earth did that have to do with anything?

"Alex, this is the transmitter! This sends the signals to all the bombs at all the HQs around the world, telling them to explode! The password to dismantle it is the street names of several of the most important organizations." She stared at him expectantly

"What? How do you know this?" He was so confused

"That doesn't matter! Alex, please!" Her gaze was pleading now. He stared at the timer. Ten minutes. Where was everyone? Why weren't there any guards, or any people at the computers? He was missing something.

"Alex, if you don't give me the street name then these bombs will explode…"

"Liverpool" He didn't know if it was the right choice, but he didn't see another one.

She nodded, "Thanks."

She typed the name in, and then a couple more. The timer blinked and then turned off. She smiled.

"Bingo! The world is saved."

Alex frowned, "So, can you explain all this to me now?"

She gave a frown of her own, "Well…" She stood up and faced him. He looked down at her soft gaze, wondering what he had gotten himself into. She stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek.

"I'm sorry Alex. I'll miss you."

Before he could react he felt a sharp sting in his neck, and the world turned black.

He couldn't believe what they were saying. It couldn't be true. It had all been a setup? But…

"She was nice!" he glared at the people in front of him. Alan Blunt shook his head.

"I'm sure she was. But she was using you Alex. The whole time, she was using you."

Alex shook his own head in disbelief. "But she… she…"

Mrs. Jones frowned. "You fell in love with her didn't you? Stupid boy." Her words, though sharp, weren't mean.

"I didn't… I" He couldn't believe it. What a horrible lapse in judgment. Good spies don't fall in love with co-prisoners. It doesn't ever turn out well. He sighed. "I'm sorry. Can you explain it again?"

Mrs. Jones nodded.

"Laina Marks was telling the truth in some things. Actually, in most. That is her real name, and her parents really are spies. Honestly, the only thing she was lying about was that she was kidnapped. And she was only half-lying about that one. She was kidnapped, but it was all a set-up. She was given the correct codes and location of the bomb-controller to destroy it, and she had to do that from the inside. That explosion you heard was her parents. They set off a massive bomb at the entrance, and everyone was called to go put out the fire. They were then knocked out with tear gas. It was honestly a faulty plan. What is to say that *everyone* would go. It was a fluke that they all did. The scientists only went bringing the antidote for tear gas (which isn't fully effective) but they weren't there soon enough, and they were knocked out too. Thus Laina dismantled the bomb and her parents captured Antonio and the day was saved…" She watched Alex for his reaction. He merely frowned.

"Wait, why did she need me?" He didn't get where he came in.

"She didn't really. At least, she didn't know you were coming. But you came and so she had to make you feel like you were doing something. That's why she asked you about the street name. She already knew it. She just had to keep you from running away, or from turning on her."

"What about the ceiling? What would have happened if it had worked? She couldn't have completed her mission if we had gotten away!" He still didn't understand. Or, didn't want to believe.

"She got a lucky break there." Mrs. Jones stopped as she realized what she had said. "No pun intended…"

"Look Alex, the important thing is, she didn't hurt you. You're fine! Sure, the NSA beat us to Antonio but at least he is behind bars now. Just forget the whole thing." Alan Blunt frowned at the boy, "I think we have debriefed you enough. Do have a good day."

Alex stumbled out of the room in a daze. He couldn't just 'forget the whole thing.' It would be impossible. He walked home quickly, wanting to get to Jack and get her advice. It may be over, but he would never be able to forget Laina, and her bright green eyes.

Laina stared at the photograph in her hand. It was a fuzzy, long-distance shot of Alex Rider. She hated the way she had treated him, but she'd had no choice. She couldn't have told him, it would have jeopardized the whole mission. Right? It would have, she had to believe that. She stared out her bedroom window, looking at the rain that mirrored her current emotions.

"Laina, dinner!" Her mother's yell permeated her thoughts and she stretched out of her seat. Her arm ached and itched beneath her cast and she longed for the soft loose sling of Alex's shirt. She ran downstairs and took her place at the table. Tacos. Wonderful. Her mom helped her fix a taco, she couldn't do it by herself because of her arm. She felt stifled by the normalness of it all.

"Honey? What's wrong?" Her mother was looking at her, worried. She realized that she was staring out the window again.

"Nothing. I just… nothing."

"Ok." Her mom kept watching.

"I just can't believe how we treated him!" She burst out.

"What?" her mom looked at her, confused.

"Alex, Alex Rider! We just used him, and left him to dry!"

"Honey, we didn't hurt him. He is fine. He'll be alright. MI6 will debrief him and he will go on with his life. Just forget the whole thing." Her dad spoke kindly, but firmly.

She loved the idea. She wished she could forget. But she knew she couldn't. It was absurd to even think about just 'forgetting the whole thing.' She finished her taco quickly and went back up to her room. She resumed her place by the window with the picture. The mission might be finished but she could never forget Alex and his sweet, kind nature.

(A/N – Yeah, so I am obviously not a criminal mastermind. That is a good thing, right? So, my 'evil plan' was a little weak, but how are you supposed to have a good evil plan in a one-shot? Anyway, thanks for reading! OH and I find that all one-shots end up in impossible love. At least, all the ones I've read. Why is that? IDK… I didn't start this one planning that they would be so depressed at the end! Ah, well thanks again for reading!)