THE SCORPION´S VENGEANCE

Hi everyone, this is Lord Assissin speaking :) I just wanted to say that I am new here, this is my first fanfiction and English is not even my first language, so please be nice :) This idea came when I watched Inception (I love that movie).

Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider nor Inception. Satisfied? I hope you are...

Chapter 1 – A Job Offer

Cobb´s POV

Summer was a bit late this year, but it was worth it. Days were long and hot, with the sun shining high on the sky almost all day. The city was filled with people hurrying down the streets, shopping, talking or doing whatever they like.

,,Daddy, can we go to the carousel? Pleaseee!" a small girl with long blond hair asked, holding her dad with one hand and her little brother with the other. The man smiled and rubbed her hair. The three of them were walking in the city park and the kids had spotted a big carousel with horses and unicorns.

,,Well, Phillipa, aren´t you too old for that?" said the man teasingly. The girl laughed.

,,Nooo, I am not. I am a princess and I need a horse, you know?" she replied seriously. The man chuckled and handed her five pounds.

,,That´s right, you´re my princess. Go, and look after you brother, ok? I´ll be right here." Phillipa squeaked with joy and grabbed her brother.

,,Come on, Jamie, let´s find you some nice horse!"

Dominic Cobb smiled and sat on a bench opposite to the carousel. He waved at his children and then dived into his own thoughts.

It had been almost a year since the Inception. Saito really managed to ensure Cobb his freedom in States and Dom could know fully enjoy his time with his children, something he always wanted. There were no other jobs and neither offers, which surprised Cobb first, but then he let it go. He focused on his family now. Sometimes Miles visited, sometimes Cobb took his children on holiday to Florida or California. The perfect life.

He never has tried to contact the rest of the team, and neither have them. That was their agreement and it was the best way to avoid any danger that could come out. Sometimes though he wondered what were they doing. Arthur probably took another job, because Cobb knew Arthur couldn´t stay long away from the world of dreaming. Eames, being Eames, was most likely sitting somewhere at a play-table. Yusuf was maybe composing some new solution in his lab. And as for Ariadne, Cobb hoped that she was safely back in Paris taking classes again. Though she was a great Architect, the world of dreaming was too dangerous for her...

Cobb was snapped back to reality realizing someone sat on the same bench as himself. Before he could react, he felt something hard being pressed to his side. He just knew it was a gun with silencer and stiffened.

,,Don´t look at me. Act naturally," came out a deep voice. Cobb slowly inhaled the fresh summer air and forced himself not to turn his head. Instead he smiled at his children waving him from the carousel.

,,Who are you? What do you want?" he asked quietly from the corner of his mouth, but his captor ignored the question.

,,Shut up. You do what I tell you to do and nobody gets hurt. You are coming with us."

,,Why would I do that?" Cobb knew this was a bit stupid question, but he needed to know what the man is capable of. He also heard the implied fact that there were more of them. His captor laughed shortly.

,,Well, because I don´t think you would be happy if anything happened to James or Phillipa. You see those two men there? They are ready to shoot on my mark or if anything happens to me. So I think you don´t have any other choice then to come nicely with me." Cobb could now really see two men standing dangerously near the carousel with one hand under their jackets. Cobb clenched his jaws and closed his eyes for a second. This was not good.

,,What do you want me to do? I just can´t leave my children here and go with you," he pointed out.

,,That´s already taken care of. We called your housekeeper to meet you here. She will take your children back to your house. Now go to them and keep them busy before she comes. But remember, my men won´t hesitate to shoot if I think you are about to run or do something stupid. An honestly I wouldn´t be pleased to see these beautiful blond hair covered with blood. Just remember that. Oh, and one more thing. Give me your phone, so you won´t be tempted to call the police or somebody else. Now go," ordered the man and released the pressure on Cobb´s side. Dom shuddered at the thought of his children dead and obeyed immediately.

His first instinct was to run to his children and just hold them tight, but his sense told him that he has to act naturally without raising any suspicion. He forced himself to walk calmly to the carousel. From the corner of his eyes he could see the two men obviously with guns. I have to do whatever they want. I can´t loose my children like I lost Mal.

He bought James and Phillipa ice-cream and the three of them sat on a bench.

,,Listen, guys, I am so sorry, but...I just met some old friends and I need to go with them. I called Mrs. Taylor to pick you up here," Cobb said sadly.

,,But daddy, you promised us to go on a roller-coaster!" exclaimed James. Phillipa just looked sad. Cobb sighed.

,,I know, sweetie, but something important just came up. But hey, we can go some other time, when I come back."

,,And how long will you be gone, daddy?" asked Phillipa quietly. ,,Will you leave us again like you did when Mom died?" Cobb could hear a hidden accusation in her high voice and sighed again. Maybe I really am a bad parent. He reached his hand and stroked the little´s girl hair.

,,No, of course not! I´ll be back before you even notice," he said cheerfully. But deep down he wasn´t so sure.

When Mrs. Taylor, an elder good-tempered woman, came, Cobb quickly said goodbye to his children and kissed them both on their forehead. He told Mrs. Taylor that he would be away for some time and then he warned her to be careful while he´s gone and keep an eye on his children. When they left, he just stood there, trying to fight the unpleasant feeling that this is the last time he has seen his children for a long time.

He realized someone standing behind him and yet again he felt a gun being pressed to his back.

,,Walk. And no funny business, don´t think now that your children are away, you can start thinking about escape. I still have my men following them," threatened the unknown man. Cobb just clenched his fists and started walking slowly.

He was thrown into a black Sedan and somebody immediately cuffed him and put a dirty bag on his head. Cobb started to twitch violently when he felt a needle being ruthlessly stabbed into his arm, but then the dizziness came and soon Dom welcomed the blackness.


He woke up lying in some dark room. He was aware of his head hurting like hell and also his muscles were sort of numb. He managed to sit and fought the urge to throw up. Looking around he realized that he was not alone. There were four other bodies lying in the room.

Cobb rubbed his face. His inner voice was telling him that he knew who the others were, but he wished he was wrong. Not quite feeling to stand up, he slowly crawled to the nearest person and looked at his face.

It was Eames. Cobb automatically checked his pulse, but it was fine. Cobb then spotted an ugly wound on Eames´s forehead. Looks like good old Eames didn´t come down without fight, thought Dom. He quickly examined the rest of Eames´s body, but other than his head he looked relatively fine.

Cobb moved to the next person. It was Yusuf and he also looked alright.

The third was Ariadne. The whole time Cobb was hoping that Ariadne would be spared, but his wishes weren´t heard unfortunately. The petite Architect had a bit swollen lip and her cheeks were full of dried streams of tears. Cobb softly stroked her face and sighed. He never wanted her to come to any danger and he felt responsible for her. I am so sorry, Ariadne.

The last was, of course, Arthur, and Cobb immediately saw that something is wrong. Arthur´s face was pale as death, except for a purple bruise on his left temple. His breathing was quickened and rasping.

,,Shit," cursed Cobb under his breath. He was almost sure that Arthur had a few broken ribs. There was not much Cobb could do right know, so he decided that it was best to wait for Arthur to wake up before he starts dressing his side.

Instead he shakily stood up and looked around. The room was not very big and there was only a small window near the ceiling, allowing just enough light to see. The opposite wall hosted iron doors. Not seeing anything interesting, Cobb sat down again. It was time for the three most important questions: Where were they, who were their captors, and what did they want. As for the location, Cobb could only guess, they could be anywhere. He didn´t even know how long he was out. But what he could pretty well tell was who their captors were. He and Arthur had still unsolved business with Cobol and Cobb was sure that they haven´t forgotten them. Dom´s best guess was that Cobol wanted them on some job, because if they wanted them dead, he and Arthur would be dead. What he didn´t understand though was the presence of Eames, Yusuf and Ariadne. Cobol wasn´t supposed to know about them.

After about half an hour Ariadne started to regain consciousness. She then woke up with a jolt and apparently regretted it immediately as she groaned and grasped her head. Cobb knelt beside her and put his hand reassuringly on her back.

,,Ariadne! Are you ok?" She looked at him, confused.

,,Cobb? What...what happened? Where am I? Oh my god, why is my head hurting so much?" she mumbled.

,,Yeah. Honestly, I don´t know. What do you remember last?" asked Cobb. Ariadne frowned a little.

,,Eh...I remember walking home from school...and then there were some men..." she looked around and saw the others.

,,Is this...?"

,,Yeah, the old team from Saito´s job," answered Cobb. Ariadne nodded and lay down again to rest her pounding head. Cobb was reminded again that Ariadne is one strong woman.

The rest of the team woke up one by one in the next hour or so. Yusuf looked just pissed of and said something about them destroying his lab. Eames was joking as usual, taking the situation lighter than he should (or maybe it was his head wound). When Arthur woke up, Cobb could tell he was in the world of pain, although Arthur hasn´t shown it. Ariadne helped Cobb to fixate Arthur´s ribs (by using Ariadne´s scarf) and Ariadne then stayed by him, holding his hand comfortingly. Arthur thanked her with a shaky smile.

,,Are you ok?" he asked quietly and then grimaced – even speaking was painful.

,,Yeah, fine. Just a bit scared, I suppose," shrugged Ariadne. Arthur squeezed her hand.

,,It´s gonna be ok, I promise."

All of them told each other where they´d been and how were they captured. After another few boring hours the doors finally opened and five guards with machine guns entered.

,,You come with us. The boss awaits you," one of them said in a gruff voice and raised his gun at them.

,,Finally! Don´t know about you, but I am starving," stated Eames ironically. Cobb saw there´s no chance to fight the guards. He nodded at the rest of the team and started walking towards the guards. Ariadne helped Arthur to get up and all of them let themselves to be taken down the corridor.

Cobb could tell they were in some sort of complex or skyscraper, because first they walked through almost a maze of corridors and stairs and they they were taken up in the elevator. Cobb noticed the building had forty floors. At last they entered some bigger room. There was a table and chairs and a big window with a view of the city. Cobb knew immediately where they are. It was London.

There was a man in a white suite by the window. He turned around and smiled. Cobb recognized him at once. It was the man who hired him on the Saito´s job.

,,Mr Cobb, what a pleasant surprise. And Arthur, also glad to see you. I was quite disappointed when you didn´t call me after the job in Tokyo."

,,Mr Makamura, I...," started Cobb, but the man raised his hand to stop him.

,,Please, Mr Cobb, let me finish." The men was unbearably slim and calm and it gave Ariadne the shivers. She glanced at Arthur. He was glaring at the man.

,,I was thinking what to do with you and I came with some options. One, I kill you and be done with it. Two, I torture you and than kill you." Here the man paused. If you think we will beg for our lives, you are wrong, thought Cobb and just glared at the men. Eventually, the man continued.

,,But in the end I decided that you deserve one last chance. One last job."

,,Mr Makamura. I appreciate this, but," Cobb swallowed and glanced at the rest of the team.

,,Your problem is with me, so why did you taken the others? They have nothing to do with it."

,,Oh, you are quite mistaken, Mr Cobb," rejoined the man. ,,You all worked on a job with Mr Saito, therefore you all have to pay for it. But like I said, I am willing to give you one last chance."

Cobb glanced at Arthur and Eames and they both gave him a nod. There was apparently no other choice.

,,Oh, and one last thing, Mr Cobb. If you fail, all of you will die. And in case you or anyone else would want to think about escape, don´t. You want to see your children again, don´t you?" smiled the man and Cobb pursed his lips. He also heard Ariadne gasped silently. I am not likely to forget that, you son of a bitch.

,,So what is this job you want us to do, Mr Makamura?" asked Cobb. The man picked up a remote control and a picture appeared on a big screen behind him.

,,I want you to perform an extraction on him," he said. Cobb looked at the picture. There was a blond boy in a school uniform. He couldn´t be older than eighteen. He was quite handsome and well-built. The picture was apparently taken as a snapshot, because the boy had his head slightly turned and he was smiling, like he was talking with somebody. But Cobb also noticed that his eyes were in fact cold and somewhat emotionless.

,,Who is he?" asked Cobb. Whoever the boy was, Cobb felt sorry for him. Nobody that young should deal with Cobol.

,,His name is Alex Rider." The man spat the name like it was poisoned. ,,And to make your job harder, that´s all I´m gonna tell you about him now. Your first assignment is to find out all you can about him and then capture him and bring him here." Cobb looked again at the boy´s face. What did he do that pissed of Cobol?

,,What´s is your problem with this boy?" Eames spoke for the first time. The man said nothing for a few seconds, like he was considering what to say. Then he shrugged.

,,Well, maybe you should know something about Cobol. Our organization is only a small part of a bigger one. Did you ever heard about Scorpia, Mr Eames?" The man smiled when he saw Cobb, Arthur and Eames paled.

,,And let me tell you this. Scorpia never forgives, Scorpia never forgets."

So, that´s for the first chapter. Please tell me what you think. I should update in one week or so. For the meantime, I hope you will like it.

Lord Assissin