Summary: a dead body on the stoop of their school brings a familiar face back to them.

Warnings: mentions of a death.

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Alex Rider.

Enjoy!

By Deaths to Die

It was a nice, peaceful and sunny day. The students were slightly rowdy because of the upcoming summer break and the teachers were slightly stressed because they had to keep the students calm but that was to be expected.

It was just after the bell which called for the end of the day had sounded that the peace was disturbed by the sound of one single gunshot, quickly followed by the sound of terrified and shocked screams.
Teachers and students alike ran outside, only to be stopped by the sight of an older, grey-haired man dressed in a grey suit lying in an ever growing puddle of blood on the stones in front of the school's only exit.

Chaos reigned immediately as students started to scream and tried to get away from the corpse. A small number of the students fainted while others tripped down in their attempt to get away.
Some of the teachers reacted almost immediately and one of them called the police to report the gunshot and the dead man while those not gripped by shock and panic tried to herd the students back inside.

She had been one of the first out of the building and all she had been able to do was stand there and gape in shock and horror at the body while her colleagues tried to keep the students safe from whoever had fired the shot.
One of the teachers helped her inside and handed her a glass of water while stating that she was in shock. She was in no shape to tell him otherwise.

It took almost twenty minutes before the students were safely inside – though they were far from calm – and by that time the police and the military police had arrived.
The military police had surrounded the school as soon as they had arrived while the police had helped the teachers to get the students into the auditorium.

"Ladies and gentleman, may I have your attention please," an older police officer – who had made his way over onto the raised dais together with a couple of younger colleagues – asked loudly. The headmaster – Henry Brey – quickly walked towards the man with an active microphone which one of the teachers had supplied. She shot him an apologetic look as he walked past her.
"Students!" he boomed loudly. The students fell silent one by one and turned their attention onto the police officer.

"Thank you," the man told Henry politely, "my name is Officer Jerome. We – meaning me and the men with me – are here to ask you about what you have seen before and during the shooting. First of all: who was outside during the shooting?"
A few students and one teacher raised their hands.
"Could you please follow the officer next to me into the closest classroom?" Jerome asked.
The indicated officer jumped lightly of the dais and made his way over towards the exit where he was joined by the teacher and the students. He gestured for the teacher to lead the way before they all left the large hall.

"Alright," Officer Jerome continued, "who was in the classro-"
But he trailed of as he noticed the immaculately dressed man – he was wearing an expensive navy suit that probably cost her more than a month's salary – who had appeared in the doorway. He had neatly trimmed blond hair and sharp brown eyes and he couldn't be older than 25. For some reason he seemed familiar to her, like she had met him before. She studied him sharply but the answer as to why he seemed familiar wouldn't come to her.
It was for the fact that he was familiar, otherwise she would have described him as average. He could be described as handsome, but not noticeable so.

"Can I help you?" the officer asked sharply.
The man moved away from the doorway into the auditorium before he quietly made his way over towards the dais. He was followed by two broad-shouldered men dressed in neutral grey suits. They wore sunglasses and had earpieces in their ears. She wouldn't be surprised if they carried weapons.
She followed his progress towards the dais.
"I'll be taking over from here," the apparent leader said as soon as he – and the two men with him – stepped on the dais. She almost sighed in relief as she realised that she was seated close enough to the dais to hear the conversation.

"I'm sorry sir," the officer bit out, "but I don't think-"
The young man opened his jacket, took a badge out of his inner pocket and showed it to him.
Jerome gaped at him.
"The dead man was one of mine," the young man told him softly as he placed the badge back into his pocket.

Officer Jerome turned back to the students, "I'll leave you in the capable hands of Mister Rider here."
She sucked in a shocked breath as it suddenly clicked. His face was sharper, his body was more filled out, his eyes were older, colder and harder and his gait was more self-assured and confident than before but he hadn't changed that much from the young student she had known.
She had always wondered what had happened to him after he had left Britain in favour of America a couple of years ago.

"Good afternoon," Alex Rider said politely, "what has happened today shouldn't have happened. Sadly enough, it did and he died in front of all of you. However, you don't have to fear that this school and the people inside are in danger of a similar attack."
"How do you plan to do this?" Henry asked sceptical.
"The military police outside will stay here until we have caught the perpetrator," Alex told him smoothly.
"Do you have any idea why here?" Grey asked curiously.
"We have some ideas," Alex said vaguely.
"Do you know who did this?" she asked, "and why this man?"
"The deceased had made some enemies in his time with us," Alex drawled, "it could have been anyone of those enemies. But we will find out who murdered him and we will make sure that this school is safe. Are there any more questions?"

"When can we go?" one of the students asked.
"As soon as we have cleaned up," Alex answered.
"Don't you have to ask us what we've seen?" one of the female seniors asked.
"We would if we thought that it might have helped," Alex said with a small smile.
"Why? Don't you believe we have seen anything relevant?" the boy next to the female senior said aggressively.
"No," Alex said coolly, "whoever did this was a professional."

One of the two men in suits suddenly pressed his finger against his earpiece. Alex – who seemed to have noticed the slight movement even though the man was behind him – turned around slightly and raised his eyebrow.
The man nodded and Alex turned back towards his audience.

"Ah, it seems that you can go home," he stated almost gently, "I would like to point out that talking about this with anyone can and will be dangerous for your safety and the safety of your loved ones. The perpetrator will not hesitate to end the life of anyone who seems to know too much. And in this case having even heard the shot can be too much. Have a good day."
He nodded towards them before he started to make his way towards the edge of the dais.

"You told us that we would be safe!" one of the students exclaimed.
"And you will be safe," Alex said as he stopped moving and turned towards the student, "but that doesn't mean that you should shout out what you have seen or heard. You are of course more than welcome to explain what happened to your closest family members; I even encourage doing so. But I discourage bragging about happenings like these to friends or other people outside of your direct family."
His eyes – suddenly hard and cold – searched all their faces.

"If there aren't any questions left I suggest all of you leave here and try to forget what you saw and heard," he stated sharply, "there are some things you don't want to get caught up in and this is one of them. Now, if you'll excuse me; I have a family to inform and a funeral to arrange. Good day."
With a small nod towards the teachers he smoothly lowered himself of the dais and walked away followed closely by the two bodyguards. His exit was followed closely by multiple pairs of eyes and it was only after he had left the room that the students voiced their displeasure.

She exchanged a silent, quick glance with Henry before he gestured towards the exit. She nodded briefly before she rose and left the auditorium to update the school's website to make sure that the parents knew that their children were safe and would remain safe and to add a phone number they could call to and that would be answered by the headmaster himself.

The conversation about their wayward former student would have to wait for a later date.

I hop you enjoyed this story!

Reviews are appreciated,

~Marwana