Disclaimer; I do not own Alex Rider, and I never will. I wouldn't be sitting around all day writing fanfictions of my own character.

This is my first fanfiction; I hope that it doesn't bore you. I am using my sister's new account, I am 11, and she let me submit this.

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The phone had rung in the morning.

Alex Rider had heard it at once. He sat up after the second ring, and looked around. The dull sunlight peeked through the curtains and had left an early morning mist that engulfed the glass of the window.

Alex picked the phone up.

"Hello?"

"Alex Rider."

The voice brought back bad memories through Alex, ones that he thought was long gone and left behind. Ever since the events of Ark Angel, Alex had managed to live a fairly peaceful life, but now the hopes of that shattered once again.

"Mr Blunt."

"Indeed. Well, Alex, I suppose you know why I'm calling."

"You want me to do your laundry?"

"No. We need you to…work for us. Again."

"And I need you to stop bothering me. I'm not a spy!" Alex was near to actually shouting into the phone, but the last thing he'd need now was for Jack to come rushing down the stairs.

"But Alex-"

Alex hanged up.

"Hey, Alex!" Tom ran towards him. "Alex, I'm glad I caught up with you. You seem a bit down. Is there anything wrong?"

"What? Nothing's wrong," Alex said. He had been thinking about the morning for the whole day. What did the MI6 need with him?

"It's nothing about…" Tom lowered his voice to a whisper. "Being a spy?"

Alex stopped. "What? No!"

"Okay, well-"

Both boys had seen it. A white convertible drove up to the sidewalk, beside a lone walking schoolboy. Alex recognized him as Ethan. Ethan had been a friend of Alex's, but as Alex was more and more away, Ethan was more and more caught in the drifting rumours of Alex's absence. A man in a black suit stepped out, and a pair of black sunglasses glistened sinisterly at the sun. A hand reached into the casual brown coat he was wearing, and it emerged with a handful of green notes. After a brief chatter, Ethan took the money and clambered into the convertible. It drove away, leaving Alex and Tom in silence.

"What was that all about?"

"I don't know, but I want to find out," Alex said. He had already made up his mind, snatched his bike and started pedalling after the car, already fading into the distance.

Alex heard Tom call back, but the rushing wind deafened his ears; all he knew was the white car in the distance, caught in afternoon traffic amongst all the others of London who were anxious to get back home from work.

He neared a bus, advertising Elizabeth Arden powder and encouraging the viewer to feel beautiful. He swung himself on the back of the bus, and just managed the crawl onto the roof before the bus jerked forward into gear. Alex felt like his body was going to thrift off the edge any moment, and gripped hard to a piece of railing for comfort. Now he would just have to hope that the bus went wherever the convertible went.

It did. Alex noticed that this was the bus to Heathrow Airport, and advertised this in large block letters on the side. He pulled himself up, and the airport was exactly where he was. He saw the convertible not far away; it had parked into a little corner. As Alex climbed down, trying to not draw any attention to himself, from the corner of his eye he had spotted the door open, and Ethan and the dark man stepped out.

Alex dropped onto the hard concrete floor; he quickly dived behind a blue 4WD. He could overhear part of the conversation; some words were drowned out by the sound of the rushing cars or departing planes.

"Where are we? Where are you taking me?"

"Just follow me, and don't talk," the man growled. He roughly took hold of Ethan's collar, and marched off. Two men in black suits greeted him at the entrance. The two looked similar yet they were different. Both of them were Asian, and held the same expression. Two blank faces. They looked like the sort of statue someone would put beside the entrance to a mannequin factory.

Alex looked around. A family was unpacking their suitcases from a taxi. Without warning, Alex took the two suitcases. The family just assumed that he was a friendly member of the airport that would help them. But if the man looked back, he would have just assumed Alex was part of the family.

He gave a nod towards what he assumed to be the mother of the family, and Alex followed the man into the departure section. He heard Ethan struggle and protest.

The man looked up.

"Someone is following us. Please, dispose of them." The man's voice was harsh and firm. Alex swore for not being more careful. One of the men in dark suits already started moving towards him.

Alex got up and ran. It was, after all, the only thing he could do.

The man noticed and ran after him. Alex sped through the crowds, ignoring cries of protest which echoed from the travellers and families.

He felt a jerk on his shirt. He quickly turned around a kicked the man in his groin. The man was obviously not trained to ignore pain. Alex quickly took this opportunity and ran for it.

"Now, where are you going young man?"

An officer uniformed in blue stepped in front of him.

"I'm-I'm lost." Alex managed to stutter.

"Thought you might go causing trouble all over the airport? You come with me young man."