An: Hey and welcome to my fifth fic. This one was based of inspiration which I got from reading Eagle Strike and Scorpia. (Yeah I'm reading the series again, but I lost stormbreaker!)

I'm gonna write this in conjunction with Back to business, if it gets some popularity back. Just to say, I'm afraid I need four reviews to update the next chapter in all my fics. It's not That unreasonable, and I already have the next chapter ready for BtB so come on… : )

This fic is about Yassen. All in his, and occasionally Julia Rothmans, POV. (Point of view.) Why Julie Rothman? I hear some of you cry, because she's my favourite member of Scorpia : D

Disclaimer: I don't own Alex Rider, but I can still imagine...

Yassen sat back in his seat, trying to force himself to relax. He knew he must, relaxation was fundamental to his spurs of energy and stamina. The difficult thing was, even if today was a usual day he would've found the hard, uncomfterble seat of the London underground tube that made it difficult for him to remain seated. The design for his backside was all wrong and the back support stuck out at an odd angle resulting in the padding counting for nothing.

It was now about ten hours since he had killed Herod Sayle on that rooftop, and ten hours since he had met Alex Rider. Yassen had known, from the moment the helicopter had first circled the building, what Herod was about to do. There was hate in his eyes, in his body language and terribly noticeable in the gestures he made whilst speaking. Yassen had recognised the boy almost immediately; a spitting image of his father, a man who the Russian owed his life. Yassen knew from experience that a man like Sayle, someone who had had their entire operation ruined, would waste time, if only minutes, expressing his rage to his captive.

For the first time in a good few months, Yassen had felt a sensation of urgency inside him, pressing him to hurry, to hastily land and save the boy. It had taken him precious seconds to restrain the emotion, to return to his original emotionless self. Emotions cause mistakes, therefore an emotionless assassin, like Yassen, was the perfect killer. He remembered landing the chopper; doing so had caused a distraction as Sayle had twisted around to look at him, before returning to face Alex. Yassen had then protruded the gun and the rest, was now history. Some people might prefer to describe his landing, and the agility in which he moved as professional, but Yassen didn't need include such mundane praise in his recollections. He knew he was good, he didn't need to tell himself that.

A sudden jolt brought him back to reality. Yassen was sitting on one of London's underground tubes, an enclosed metal box propelling itself along tracks built at least 50 metres below ground level. Although his face gave nothing away, personally Yassen despised being underground. He hated the blackness, the coldness and the stillness of the stale air he was forced to breath. Sayle's research facility, although well air conditioned and maintained, had still reminded him of this from the moment he had stepped inside. He had refused to let it impend on his task however, once done he had promised himself that he would spent a substantial amount of time above the surface in the future.

In the ten hours that had followed Sayle's death, Yassen had flown the helicopter to an abandoned landing pad just south of London, before making his way back into the central streets on foot. It was fast approaching rush hour, and the streets of London would be as packed as the tube station, yet Yassen had preferred not to walk. He assumed that the intelligence services who knew who he was would be too caught up with Sayle's fiendish plan to bother searching for him. And even if they did, he would spot them. He'd spotted them numerous times before.

Yassen glanced at the watch which was strapped perfectly to his wrist. He had exactly 51 minutes before his hastily scheduled meet with Julia Rothman, one of the most influential executive board members of Scorpia. It was she who had sent him as their representative to provide Sayle with the R5 virus, and until 11 hours previously, she had ordered him to collect Sayle at the roof top, to hide the man from the searches and investigations which would undoubtedly be enquired to discover his whereabouts. It was however, not to be as Mrs Rothman had personally got in touch with him to alter the plan. She hadn't needed to disguise the contempt in her voice as she had ordered him to kill instead of retrieve. Yassen knew she thought Sayle's motives were pathetic. He could tell by her voice, no matter how much she had tried to hide it. That meant little to him though. He didn't care that Sayle had failed, nor did it amuse him that he had been beaten by a teenager, in fact he was emotionally cold on everything that had happened. Everything that is, except Alex Rider.

Yassen shook his head slightly, as if trying to rid himself of a persistent pest. He needed to relax his mind and mentally prepare for the meeting that was soon to come. If his mind was prepared, so was his body. For every eventuality. Yassen's personal favourite methods of doing so were to reflect on everything that had happened on his assignment. Not only did this prepare his mind, but also refreshed his knowledge of what had taken place, allowing him warning and easy reference to past events, if he knew something had gone wrong and the fault was his.

Scorpia was one of many clients that Yassen had, and did, work for. Had it not been for one particular event however, Yassen may well have found himself tied up permanently in the organisation. The day when he discovered that John Rider had been shot on Albert Bridge had seen to the end of his enlistment with Scorpia. Yassen had become a mercenary, a contract killer who worked for the highest bidder, but far too often, that had slipped to become anyone who was prepared to pay.

Scorpia, despite having considerable talent of their own, still came to him for some of their more delicate matters. Yassen thought of Nile, Ivan (A/N: The sniper who was sent to kill Alex) and Ash. Each had their own unique methods and each also had they're own personal superior. Nile for instance was the favourite assassin of Julie Rothman, the woman he was about to meet, while Ash was Major Yu's most successful double agent. They all had as many similarities to him as they did differences, the most noticeable of which was that all of them enjoyed killing. To Yassen however, it was a task that deserved no emotion.

Despite his success, accomplishments and all the rest, Yassen knew as much as everyone else that he wasn't perfect, not the best in his line of work. Although he wasn't far off. And the Russian would prefer it to stay that way. He knew others described himself as intimidating, occasionally short tempered and in some cases too quiet. His presence provoked fear in his companions, and despite the usefulness of that, it wasn't always the best approach to the job.

The tube's advance began to slow. Yassen rose gracefully to his feet and made to stand by the exit. As movement stopped altogether, people around him stumbled or staggered but not him, his balance was perfect. The doors began to open and Yassen sensed the impatience of the crowd outside, waiting for the people to disembark before surging onto the tube. Yassen stepped onto the platform and disappeared into the crowd. A security camera caught sight of him in a brief moment, but then lost him as people at the back pushed the crowd forwards onto the platform. A brief moment was enough; it would only take a further five minutes for the heads of MI6 special operations to be informed that Yassen was still in London.

Julia Rothman was sitting elegantly at her desk, her eyes power reading a file regarding a certain terrorist group in south France. She was sitting in one of her many houses, each one situated in some of the most rewarding locations in the world, with this one as the exception. This was the secondary safe house in London and it was where, in a couple of days, the executive board of Scorpia were to meet once again.

She had heard about Herod Sayle and his failure with the stormbreaker, and it had to be said she wasn't happy about it. The man had hopelessly embarrassed himself and made her, his client, a laughing stock. It was fortunate that no one knew about their involvement, but there was such a thing as self pride! Despite this, the facts on how he had managed to be beaten were a little blurry. She suspected further MI6 involvement, as Yassen made his report concerning the spy they had last sent…Ian Rider. Julia Rothman sighed, as she had done many times since hearing that.

She had taken the news with mixed feelings. On the one hand she was immensely gratified to here that John Rider's brother had been killed. The news had half satisfied the seething rage inside her, which demanded revenge. Revenge for the way he had manipulated her and double crossed her entire organisation. On the other hand she had felt slightly saddened by the fact that she, herself, had not been there.

A loud vibration interfered with her thoughts, bringing her back to the real world. The noise came again, the sound amplified through the wood on her desk. She looked over to see her mobile phone buzzing, indicating a call was coming through. Although the caller ID displayed the number as unknown, she knew exactly who was calling. She changed, or more correctly, she had someone else change her phone once every two days to prevent it being tracked.

She slid the panel across and placed it to her ear, she didn't need to speak. A calm emotionless voice spoke a single sentence.

"I'll be there in five minutes."

Yassen paused by the office door, forcing himself to check his awareness. His mind was now fully prepared, and his body on high alert. Yet when he would enter the office, his stance would be perfectly normal and relaxed. Without further ado he knocked once and entered; Julia Rothman was sitting behind her desk and upon seeing him, she lowered the sheet of paper she was reading.

It was rare for a meeting like this to happen and Yassen knew that it was going to be kept short. Julia Rothman would de-brief him, hand over his fee and then possibly make him another offer or, recommendation if she was feeling generous. He took a seat in front of the desk, his body welcoming the comfort, but his face didn't change.

"Good evening, Mr Gregorovich." Julia greeted. Her tone was warm and there was a slight casual smile erected across her face. Her eyes however, hadn't changed. They were still as cold as they always were. Yassen was reminded of himself in many ways whenever he looked at her, and he was sure that particular thought was mutual between them.

"I trust our friend; Mr Sayle has been taken care of?"

Yassen nodded. "He was on the rooftop as you said. Do you intend to leave him there to be found?"

"That's already been taken care of." Assured Julia Rothman. She paused and then continued to speak, talking about how Sayle's failure had made her look foolish. Yassen didn't listen, he didn't care. If this was a mission briefing, his senses wouldn't have been more acute, taking in every single detail. Yet now, there was little point.

"…thank you for finishing the issue." Julia concluded. She seemed completely oblivious that Yassen hadn't heard a single word.

"Here is your pay check; I hope you and I will be working together in the future."

Yassen gingerly retrieved the envelope, and noted with some satisfaction that is was very thick. £50 000 he had been promised, and here it was.

"You know where to find me," Yassen said calmly, standing up. He turned around and had taken a single stride towards the door when Julia Rothman spoke again. Asking a question that Yassen had predicted was coming.

"Do you know who it was brought Sayle down?"

For the second time that day, Yassen experienced his stomach lurching with unease. Immediately he forced himself to relax, he couldn't allow emotion to get in the way.

Personally, Yassen would've preferred to have lied about Alex. He wanted to meet the person for himself and was already grateful to have been given the chance to save the boy's life. Already he felt as though he was giving something back to John. He was a professional assassin however, and his opinion didn't matter, plus he couldn't chance the possibility that Julia Rothman already knew.

"Yes, his name was Alex Rider." Yassen turned around and left the room, he half expected a question but Julia Rothman didn't need to ask.

A/n: Well there you go. All feedback is welcome, even if it's flame. But I hope it won't be :)