Another story, courtesy of me. :)

SCORPIA RISING spoliers!

Unrelated to my other stories, lol. :)

Chuck was feeling fantastic. Lester and Jeff hadn't bother him all day or done anything stupid. Casey had not yet felt the uncontrollable need to kill the two of them, or any other BuyMore employees for that matter. Sarah was feeling extremely excited about the wedding, and was fully helping Ellie with the ideas and preparations. Ellie still had no that he was a spy, and she Awesome, and baby Claire were doing fantastic. Yesterday, Chuck, Casey, and Sarah had, once again, completed a successful mission, and Beckman was proud of the team. Yes, Chuck reflected, it was a great day.

"Excuse me sir?" a seventeen year old girl came up to the Nerd Herd desk.

"Yes, how can I help you?" Chuck asked.

"Well," the girl began, "I wanted to get a new laptop for my father, and I was wondering if you could help me pick out the best one. I have things which I want, but I'm just not sure has everything. Could you help me with that?"

"Of course," Chuck replied. "What are some things you have in mind?"

"Well," she began, "he's a journalist, so I need a long battery life, large storage space, and large screen, and fast-internet access; all that stuff. He needs to be able to download information quickly without the computer freezing. You know what I mean?"

Chuck nodded. "Yeah, I think I can help you with that miss."

"It's Sabina," the girl responded as she followed Chuck over to where the laptops were.

"Ok then Sabina," Chuck said, "I'm Chuck. How do you like this one? It has—" and he launched into an explanation of the computer. When he had finished that one, he explained a bit about the others.

"I think that I liked option number three Chuck," Sabina told him.

Chuck nodded, "A great choice."

"Thank you," Sabina responded with a laugh.

"Will that be all?" Chuck asked her.

Sabina paused in thought, biting her lower lip. "Actually, there are a couple things, if you're willing to help me. I wanted to get a new iPhone and whatever that new video game is. Black Ops, I think. They keep showing it with the jeep commercials."

"Yep, that's the one," Chuck confirmed. "You want the newest iPhone, correct?"

"That'd be awesome," Sabina told him. "And I want a warranty on that."

"No problem." Chuck led Sabina over to the cases that held the iPhones and iPods. He reached for his keys to unlock it.

"Freeze," a deep voice ordered and Chuck whirled around and saw Sabina held by a man dressed in black with a gun held to her head. Sabina's eyes were wide and she let out a strangled cry that sounded a bit like "Alex". Another woman screamed at catching sight of the gun.

"Quiet!" the gunman barked. Another gunman came into view. Both wore all black, with black ski masks pulled over their faces. He turned to Chuck. "Empty the case; load the Apple things into this bag. And one of you," he motioned to another BuyMore employee, "filled up his bag," he inclined his head toward his accomplice, "with money from the cash register. If anyone screws this up or calls the cops, she's dead."

Chuck was nervous; he didn't want to blow his cover, nor did he want Sabina to get hurt. His eyes scanned the room looking for Casey. There. Casey and Chuck's eyes met each other; Casey's eyes narrowed and he gave a slight shake of the head. Chuck would do what the man ordered and Casey would take care of it. Chuck took a tentative step toward the case as he watched the cashiers filled the bag of the second man with cash. Chuck pulled out his eyes and opened the case. He began to fill it, hoping that Casey and Sarah would quickly take care of the situation. He didn't want Sabina to get hurt.

A thunk over by the registers caused Chuck to pause for a money. "Hurry," the gunman growled, tightening his hold on Sabina. Chuck hastily returned to filling the bag, hoping that it was Sarah who had caused the sound by hurting the gunman, not the other way around.

"Let her go," a new voice growled. Chuck and the gunman turned simultaneously to see a fair-haired teenager pointing a gun at them. The gunman laughed. He threw Sabina to the ground and walked over to the boy. Chuck, forgotten by the gunman, grabbed the girl and hid her behind the shelf.

"Stay here and be quiet," he ordered her. Chuck was surprised to see anger on her face, rather than fear. But he quickly dismissed that as he left her to try to save the boy.

The man was laughing, slowly making his way toward the child. The boy had a look of immense anger on his face; quite frankly it unnerved Chuck. The man held the gun level with the boy's face. "Don't try to be a hero kid; because you aren't." Before the man could say anything else, the teenager lashed out and knocked the gun out of the man's hand. Stunned and caught by surprise, the man had no time to react as the boy slammed the butt of his own gun into the side of the man's head. He fell onto the floor unconscious.

The silence that had captivated the whole building was broken by a shrill screaming.

"Alex Rider!" Chuck and everyone else turned to find Sabina emerging from where Chuck had hidden her. "I cannot believe you!"

The boy gave her a wry smile and half-shrugged. "Sorry Sab," he mumbled. She ran over to him and incased him in a bear-hug. Everyone started clapping and cheering for the boy.

"You should probably call the cops," he told Chuck. "The two of them might not be out for too long." He looked up and for the first time Chuck looked directly into the boy's eyes.

"MI6…Alex Rider, 14…Skeleton Key…Sarov…nuclear bomb…attempt failed…CIA…Joe Bryne…Drevin…Ark Angel…Space station…Force Three…wrong kidnapping…successful operation…attempt on life…SCORPIA…nine completed…100%...retired at 15…file closed…" information swam through Chuck's head, courtesy of the intersect. His head reeling, Chuck looked at the boy in front of him in a new light. Chuck couldn't believe what was in his head. There was no way it could be possible. But, looking into Alex's eyes, Chuck realized that it must be true. Alex's eyes were unlike any he'd ever seen. And how he had handled the gunmen; this kid was not normal.

"That was…wow. Just wow," Chuck commented. Alex shrugged. He had waved all the people away and it was now just Alex, him, and Sabina.

"This is all your fault," Sabina told him, tightening her hold on him.

"This had nothing to do with me," Alex quickly said.

"I didn't mean it in that way," Sabina said, "I mean that this is your fault. I was picking out an iPhone for you. Therefore, like always, this is your fault," she said the last sentence in a teasing way, with a huge smile on her face. Alex rolled his eyes, but nodded.

"Fine," he muttered, sighing. "Sorry."

"Don't be," Sabina reassured him, "you saved me. Again." She smiled and gazed into his eyes. Chuck got the feeling that he was missing some type of joke that the two of them shared.

"Crap," Alex whispered, "here are the cops." Sabina gave him a knowing look. She then turned to Chuck.

"Is it alright if I come back another time for the laptop and stuff?" she asked. Chuck nodded.

"You're not going to stick around and give your statement?" Chuck asked. Sabina hesitated and looked at Alex.

"You give yours Sab," he told her. "I'll meet you back at the house."

"Money?" she asked.

"Got it," he replied.

"Be careful," Sabina warned, as if it was something she said very often. Alex laughed and waved as he lost himself in the crowd.

Chuck tried to follow the boy's path with his eyes, but soon lost him in the crowd. He did, however, witness the teenager leave through the store unnoticed by all but him. Alex walked purposely down the block, not glancing back at the confounded CIA agent that he had unknowingly left behind.

I might possibly write a follow-up to this; I'm not sure. Let me know what you think.

Thanks!

And please review! :)