There goes my life…again.
Disclaimer: I do not own either Alex Rider or Maximum Ride; all characters from those books belong to whomever they belong to.
So this is my first fan fic. Hope you like it.
Chapter 1:
The first few days were perfect…
"Alex!" The call came from the crowd of people who had come to welcome their family and friends as they poured out of the San Franciscan airport terminal. The distinct English accent from amid the mob of Americans told him exactly who waited for him. Sabina Pleasure stood waving excitedly at him from the edge of the group. Alex turned to make sure Jack Starbright, his housekeeper, legal guardian, and best friend, was keeping up with him and when he saw that she was, he gripped tightly to his rolling suitcase and carry-on bag and started walking just a bit faster toward Sabina.
He hadn't seen her since the previous New Year which had ended with them climbing out of a Scottish Loch.
"How was your flight? Nothing went wrong I hope?" The inflection in Sabina's voice suggested that she really wanted to know if MI6 had contacted him or if any of his natural tendencies to attract trouble had affected his life at all since their last meeting.
"Everything was perfect."
Sabina's father, Edward Pleasure, popped up behind her. "Hello, Alex. Everything went smoothly?" Alex nodded and Mr. Pleasure continued, "Good, good. We'd better be on our way. Let me help you with that Jack." He gestured to her numerous bags and she gratefully handed a couple over.
They headed to the parking lot ducking and dodging the international stew of people that was the airport.
"I'm so glad you could make it Alex." Sabina said as they all climbed into Mr. Pleasure's SUV. "How was your birthday?"
"Surprisingly uneventful actually. In a good way," he added hastily as Jack gave him a look. "Jack got me the game I'd been wanting and we had a small party." As he spoke Sabina reached behind her seat and pulled out a small neatly wrapped package.
"I didn't know what you'd want so I just guessed. Hope you like it." She handed the present over and Alex carefully unwrapped it. He tugged the paper off uncovering an ordinary enough looking wrist watch. "It's water-proof up to a hundred feet. I thought it might help if you ever ended up in another situation like last time."
"I absolutely love it! It's perfect." He took the packaging off, set it and put it on.
They chatted about life and school all the way to her house. Sabina and her parents lived in a nondescript two story duplex a few miles in from the ocean.
They were greeted warmly by Mrs. Pleasure at the door and shown in.
"We only have one guest room so we thought it best to put Alex on the couch, and have Jack in the guest room." Mrs. Pleasure explained apologetically.
"Its fine, I've slept in worse places." Alex said with a bit of a sardonic inflection.
Once they were settled it was already 7 o'clock and Mrs. Pleasure had dinner ready so they all sat at the table and ate the delicious pasta dinner and then the incredibly jet-lagged guests gratefully went to bed.
The next couple of days were near perfect with visits to the beach, rides on trolleys, and just spending time with the people he cared most about in the world. Just like a normal kid's life should be.
That is, until his perfect spring break comes crashing down around him on the third day.
Of course.
He and Sabina had gone to the beach for a typical laying in the sand reading, splashing in the water, and sand castle building time when he noticed something in the sky. At first he just dismissed it for a bird, but then he realized that it was way too big to be a bird. No one else seemed to notice it so he pretended that he hadn't either.
It wasn't until he glanced again that he noticed that whatever it was, its flying was choppy and ragged, as if it were injured. He watched as it banked towards a place a few miles up the beach that was generally secluded due to its strange affinity for attracting jellyfish.
"What are looking at?" Sabina asked. Alex looked up at her. He had to admit, she made a stunning image at the beach. Her long dark hair glistened with natural highlights brought out by the sun; her eyes were the same deep blue as the water behind her, and the hot magenta bikini she was wearing didn't hurt either.
"Just the clouds," he didn't know why he felt the urge to lie about the strange flying thing, but he had learned a while ago to trust his gut.
"Hey, I have to go the restroom. Will you wait here for a bit?"
"Sure." She sounded surprised. He got up and headed towards the restrooms. Once he was out of sight he changed directions and headed towards the beach that he had seen the thing land on. As he walked he tried to contemplate what it might have been, but just kept drawing up a blank.
When he reached the beach he scanned the immediate vicinity for anything unusual but noticed nothing out of the ordinary. He walked slowly down the beach taking in every detail around him.
He was about halfway down the beach when he saw a flicker of movement from behind a large rock. He tensed up ready for a fight just in case. He walked cautiously to the rock, one step…two steps. The anticipation was making his heart slam and his throat clench. He just knew that whatever was behind that rock was going to impact his life in a way that would forever change the course of his life.
Great, like he needed more of that, because you know being drafted involuntarily into the life of a spy wasn't enough.
When he finally made it he tripped over a piece of drift wood that in his extreme concentration he hadn't noticed. He reached out to catch himself on the rock, and then blacked out.
What was behind the rock? Just dying to find out? Well then you are just going to have to wait until the next chapter. :] R&R