Hi everyone. OK, this is my first AF fic, written for Elledreamer's "The End" challenge: what happens when one of Alpha Force is killed? And if you're planning to read this, read Fault Line first!!! This is kind of an alternate ending to the book, so it really won't make sense if you haven't read Fault Line.

Hex shifted away from Suzanne's body, turning away so he didn't have to look at it, but even that simple movement sent his head reeling again. A falling piece of rubble had struck his head during the second quake and it was throbbing insistently, a relentless pounding that made him sick to his stomach. He brought his hand up to the side of his head and his fingers came away glistening, his blood looking black in the cold blue glow of his palmtop. He let his arm fall to his side and stared at the words on the screen of the tiny computer. Had he written that? He couldn't remember.

"Alex!" Amber almost screamed at him frantically. "Which way?! Where do we dig?!" Alex turned to look at her through the night-vision goggles, her skin glowing white, transforming her into a whole different person, and then turned back to the rubble. He took off the goggles and handed them to Amber, shaking his head. "I don't know" he said quietly. "There's nothing. I can't see anything"

"But he's got to be in here somewhere" Li said, the quiver in her voice the only indication of the worry that was swamping her, the panic that all of them were feeling. "This is the only part of the entire museum that we haven't searched"

"We'll just have to dig" Paulo said, helplessly, sombre for once. So they dug. Their hands blistered from the harsh rebound of their pickaxes striking rubble, and bled from hefting the blocks of masonry out of their way. Time crawled by unbearably slowly, each minute lasting an hour and each hour lasting a year, and at the same time, the seconds seemed to slip impossibly quickly through their fingers. Nobody spoke, trying to conserve their energy, and the silence was only punctured by the ring of axe on stone, the harsh grating noise of stone being shifted, by their grunts of exertion. Amber could feel herself growing weaker and fainter as her blood sugar levels dropped steadily. She tried to hide it, pouring all her determination into finding Hex alive and well, until Paulo noticed and ordered her to go and sit down.

"Take a break" he said shortly, not having the breath to waste on lengthy conversations. "You aren't going to help Hex by collapsing" Amber hated to admit it when every nerve and fibre of her being burned with the desire to help but she knew he was right. And then the silence ruled again, each of them wrapped in their thoughts. Tears sprang to Amber's eyes as she sat and tried to remember the last thing she had said to Hex. And couldn't. Wanting to be doing something, she got to her feet and snatched up the night-vision goggles. Alex saw her and walked over, dust sticking to him like a second skin.

"Amber. There's nothing to see."

She glared at him and pulled the goggles over her eyes.

"There might have been too much rubble blocking the way" she said, still clinging to hope. She powered them up and scanned the rock before them. "There!" she shrieked, pointing. "There's someone there!"

Hex lay there, concentrating on taking slow, deep breaths, trying to calm his raging headache. His palmtop was still open, propped up on his stomach as he read the words, over and over. He whispered them to himself at first, almost like talking to someone, making him feel less alone, until his vision flickered and dimmed and he couldn't see anything but darkness. He closed his eyes, shutting out the darkness and retreated into his memories, thinking about his friends and all the people they had saved together. He conjured up images of his friends' faces to comfort him. He didn't want to die alone.

They pulled away the rubble with their bare hands, all previous hurts and weariness forgotten. Nothing mattered now except getting to Hex, finding him safe. All of a sudden, Li stopped dead in her tracks.

"Have you found him?" Paulo asked, coming to next to her.

"I've found him" Li whispered, her voice thick with tears. She backed away from the gap where Hex's body lay, crying freely, her tears leaving trails in the grime on her face. Alex walked up to stand by Paulo, where the Argentinean was leaning into the hole.

"Is he…?" Alex didn't want to ask, didn't want to know but Paulo answered the question that he couldn't voice. "He's dead" Paulo said, tears shining in his eyes. "Hex is dead"

Alex looked stunned, like someone had punched him in the face, unable to take it in. Paulo had his arms around Li as she sobbed into his shoulder. And Amber. Amber stood, alone, apart from the others and then walked to the hole. She grabbed Hex's body by the shoulders and hoisted him through the gap. His head cradled in her lap, she traced the contours of his face with one shaking hand. "Love you Hex" she said, choking on her sorrow. She was glad his eyes were already closed. She wouldn't have been able to face looking into his eyes, and seeing nothing but emptiness.

"Amber" Alex said, and she looked up. He had picked up Hex's palmtop from where it had fallen to the floor and he held it out to her. She took the computer from him and, blinking to clear countless unshed tears from her vision, looked at what was on the screen. "It's a letter" she said…

Hi guys

If you're reading this then I'm…not around anymore. Because, there's no way you're reading it whilst I'm still alive. I'd never hear the end of it! Especially from you, Amber. And that reminds me. If you've found my palmtop then you're all caked in dust and will be filthy. So keep your fingers off the screen! It's a very expensive piece of specialist equipment!

Right. There're a few things I need to say. There's a woman lying next to me. Her name's Suzanne. Tell her family. Don't let some faceless cop turn up on their doorstep. And the same for my family. They were never much of a family really, which is why I never spoke of them. You guys were all the family I needed. But I'd like you to tell them. Please.

The second thing. Promise me you'll keep Alpha Force alive? We've done so much, helped so many people. You can't stop that now. Don't stop helping them because of me.

Now, the last few things I need to say.

Alex – you keep being a leader. Keep them safe, look after them. Not that they need much looking after, mind you.

Li – keep kicking Paulo's butt at everything. I mean it!

Paulo – promise me you'll at least try to beat Li at something. Although maybe not fast-roping.

And Amber. There's so much I need to say to you. And I'm running out of time. All the times we've been stuck in some pretty tight situations, all the times I thought I was going to die – this tops 'em all. I'm going to die here. And before I do, I need to tell you. I love you Amber. And I never said it. I was always going to, one day, but it was never the right time, never the right moment. You know me, I'm not good with all this stuff. But even if I never said it, I felt it, every day since the day I first saw you. Well, maybe not quite the first time I saw you. Because you were an unbelievable pain in the butt on board the Phoenix. But still. Love you Amber, love you and always will. Goodbye.

The End

Well, what did you think? Please review it! :)