YAY!!! A sequel! Technically, I was outvoted into making a sequel, so I suppose, I have to. It really would work better to read the first one Anyone Can Be Capable of Love, first, so it will make more sense.
Disclaimer: I love money. But I don't receive any from this fic, so don't bother trying to sue me. Because last time I checked, my names wasn't Anthony Horowitz.
Note: The story title is the same as a Criminal Minds fanfic by The Missing Fairy. She has given me full permission to use it! And you should go read her story, it's amazing!
Ari slept peacefully. Sometimes her dreams were shattered by images of the dead bodies, but most of the time she slept without interruption. Even the lights on the hospital equipment didn't bother her anymore.
She had been in the hospital for two weeks now. Just one more and she would be released. It smelled so… Lysol-ly.
Alex had gone home for school the next night, and Ari had convinced Yassen to go home and get a good night's rest for one night of her whole entire hospital stay.
So it was quiet, only an occasional nurse would sneak in ever so quietly and make sure that Ari's vital systems were okay.
Suddenly, a gun shot rang out, disturbing the quiet. Ari awoke suddenly, not quite sure if it was in her dream or not. Stronger now, she got out of bed and looked out the door. Two men in dark clothes were running down the hall, making no noise.
Startled, Ari closed the door and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She curled up in the bottom of the small shower, trying to be invisible. After all that had happened, she defiantly did not want to be kidnapped again. There was no way.
Silently, she told herself not to be so dramatic, they probably didn't have anything to do with her.
That hope was shattered as a gunshot rang out and the door to her room burst open.
Alex Rider woke up and got ready for school. He had to try to at least pass the semester, or else they would make him take the courses over again.
In the middle of eating his breakfast of toast and orange juice, the telephone rang.
"I'll get it," Jack said with a smile. She walked over to where the phone lay ringing and picked it up with her non-buttery hand.
"Hello?" she asked into the receiver. She listened for a moment, then motioned for Alex to come and take the phone.
He was puzzled at who might be calling him, and was very surprised when he heard a familiar voice on the other line.
"Yassen?"
"Yes. Listen. I don't want you to do anything. Don't react, just go to school like normal. What happened last time cannot happen again."
"Hey, I saved your butt!"
"And in return I saved yours. Twice. Now listen. Ari was reported missing this morning from the hospital."
"What?!"
"She was healed and everything. The doctors were keeping her an extra week to make sure she was okay."
Alex nodded, even though Yassen couldn't hear it.
"I'm doing everything I can to help her, just please don't get in the way like last time."
Alex narrowed his eyes. "For right now I won't."
"You're as stubborn as heck, Alex. Goodbye."
The line went dead. Alex glared at the phone as if it was somehow the phone's fault.
Jack walked back into the room. "What was that about?"
"Nothing,"
Bound a gagged, Ari was terrified. It was even worse then last time, bringing about a weird sense of déjà vu.
This time, however, she was in a car, going to God-knows-where. Ari couldn't see out the window either. She had been pushed into a sweat-smelling trunk that probably once held dead bodies.
No, she told herself, don't think about that.
After the longest time, the car came to a stop, right outside a large mansion. The trunk opened and the men forced Ari to walk up the front steps and into the cavernous foyer. Inside, she felt her stomach drop. He looked almost identical to Victor.
Trembling, she was forced to walk closer, the man smiling at her.
"Ah. You must be Ari Ivanovna. My name is Henry Heines. I believe you met my twin brother two weeks ago."
Yassen paced around his apartment, unsure of how to trace Ari. He had combed through her room, but nothing was found.
Suddenly, the phone rang.
He picked it up carefully. "Yes?"
"Ah hello Mr. Gregorovitch. Your daughter and I were just getting acquainted," The voice was incredibly mocking and Yassen heard something muttered in the background. Could it be Ari?
"Where is she?" Yassen's voice dripped with menace.
"I though of something on the car ride to my estate," the man began before Yassen cut in,
"Is this an unusual occurrence, you thinking?"
"Watch it, Gregorovitch. Remember, you're daughter is sitting right here next to me," the man mocked once more. At least it let Yassen know he was alright. That might have even been her in the background. "Back to what I was saying. You know that Rider kid who always gets in the way? I know some people who would love to get their hands on him. Maybe a trade… Alex for Ari?"
Yassen thought about his possibilities. There was no way he would keep Alex over Ari. No possible way. Yet he didn't want to negotiate with this man. Whoever he was.
"Da," he spoke gruffly in Russian.
"Perfect!" The man chirped. "Meet me at the tube station, stop five, at one o'clock today. No weapons. In front of car eight."
The man hung up before Yassen could say anything else.
Alex was just getting on his bike when a car drove up. "Get in," Yassen commanded through an open window.
Excited that it might have something to do with Ari, he obeyed and climbed in as Yassen rolled the window back up. "Where are we going?"
"The tube," Yassen grunted, concentrating on the road ahead of him. Alex noticed Yassen had a worried frown plastered on his face. It might have been one of the few times Yassen actually expressed emotion on his face in front of Alex.
"Why?" Alex asked, curious. It didn't seem like going to the tube would bring them any closer to finding Ari.
"Because." Yassen's voice had a dangerous edge that kept Alex from asking anything else on the entire car ride to the station.
When they got there, Yassen got out, followed closely by Alex. Yassen descended the stairs and stood in front of the waiting train.
A man walked up that reminded Yassen of Victor. "Where is Ari?" Yassen demanded.
Grinning, struck Yassen's shoulders quicker than Alex could blink. Caught off guard, Yassen stumbled backwards, onto the train as the doors slid shut, trapping him inside, away from the only link to his daughter.
The man blew him a kiss as the train began speeding away.
Review please! Tell me what you think so far!
Updated: November 23, 2008