A/N: Hey guys! I'm so excited to be posting my first long piece of work about Alex Rider (I posted a short story about him a while ago). Now, forgive me if some of this stuff doesn't coordinate with stuff in the last two AR books because I haven't read them yet. I'm just starting Scorpia now. In my fanfic, there is no Sabina or Tom. Alex's best friend (besides Jack) is an American named Beth. Also, you COULD maybe consider this piece sort of a cross between Anthony Horowitz and Clive Cussler's series about Dirk Pitt. I just thought Cussler's latest book Black Wind had a great plot, so I'm using some of those ideas and branching off from there. Now just remember to read and review!

Disclaimer: I am just writing this for fun, trying to pass by the boring days of my summer vacation. Don't sue me! All of Alex Rider's world and those character's belong to Anthony Horowitz. The plot from Black Wind and whatever else I may find myself subconsciously using from that book belongs to Clive Cussler. I only own Beth, her family and people who you don't recognize.

OLYMPIC DEATH

(Hehe, forgive me for the lame title. Do you guys like it or should I change it?)

Chapter One

The Truth About Alex Rider

(Dang! I just remembered this was a title for a chapter in Eagle Strike! Oh well, forgive me again, because I'm not changing this chapter's title.)

The sun was shining brightly over London, reflecting off the many cabs and vehicles crowding King's Road, nearly blinding Beth Brehmer as she dodged her way down the pavement. She quickly turned and ran up a small flight of steps to the front door of a middle class house. Pulling open the door she stumbled inside; the cool breeze of an air-conditioner felt welcoming on this surprisingly warm London day.

Beth walked through the entry way as if it were her own home. And in a sense, it felt like a second home to her, for she had spent a great deal of time in this house since she moved to London eight years ago. The girl barely entered the kitchen before a friendly voice greeted her.

"Hello, Beth! How has my 'best American girl living in London' been?" The red-haired housekeeper, Jack Starbright, exclaimed as she rose from her chair at the dining room table and swiftly walked over to Beth, embracing her in a welcoming hug.

Beth retuned the hug, warmly. "I've been fine. And yourself?"

"Good, good." Jack replied. "Alex is upstairs, in his room I think…"

"How is he? Is he completely exhausted from his hospital visit?" the younger asked obviously concerned.

Jack bit her lip. "Ah, why don't you go and see for yourself. He will be glad to see you."

Beth smiled at Alex's legal guardian before she went over to the steps and sprinted up all thirteen of them, then down the dimly lit hall to the second door on her right. She knew this house like the back of her hand. "Alex," she began, lightly knocking on the oak door, "it's Beth!" The girl waited a few moments, and after hearing nothing, she knocked again. "You in there?" Hearing nothing for a second time, she opened the door, revealing the 16-year-old boy's bedroom. She walked in, half expecting Alex to jump out from behind something trying to scare her like they used to do when they were younger, but didn't see him. Looking about at the familiar room, Beth went and sat down on the soft, navy blue comforter covering a half made twin bed. She looked across the hall, noticing light coming out from underneath another door and realizing she heard the sound of running water. Beth concluded that he was in the shower. She'd just have to wait.

And so Beth waited. She was just beginning to wonder what was taking Alex so long when she saw a red Game Boy Advance sitting on his night stand. Curiosity began to take over as she reached over and grabbed it. "I never knew he got one of these! He wouldn't mind if I played it for a while." She switched on the power button, but nothing happened. Wondering if it was broken, Beth tapped a few buttons on its face. Nothing. She flipped the game over and then realized it had no cartridge inserted in the back. Knowing she couldn't play it if it had no cartridge, she laid it back down on the table and continued to wait. Suddenly, a loud squawking sound erupted from the red mechanism. Beth grabbed if again, but then the sound stopped. Staring at it in puzzlement, she held it near the table and listened carefully. It squawked softly at first as she moved the game closer to the table, and gradually got louder as the inquisitive girl lowered her hand. Beth nearly jumped out of her skin as she passed it over the face of Alex's digital clock on his night stand. Its squawk became very high pitched and extremely loud. She quickly pulled it away from the clock, now realizing what it must be. Yes, it probably could work as a GBA, but it also had another purpose unlike any other of its kind. It was a Geiger counter. The clock's green display probably was a bit radioactive; that's what set it off.

All of the happiness Beth had had moments before vanished in that second. A sick feeling washed over her. "Not another one," she moaned quietly. She remembered to turn the Game Boy off, then placed it back on the table. Thoughts began to swirl around in her mind. For the past two years, it had all been the same. Alex would miss school for weeks at a time, then come back with a doctor's note of some kind or another 'reasonable' excuse explaining his absence. Still the same, everyone at school thought it to be a bit odd that a child could be as sickly as that Rider boy was, and Beth was beginning to think the same. He'd always come back immensely depressed and withdrawn from society, and occasionally she would suggest he should try seeing a therapist. He'd always refuse. A few times before, it looked like he had gotton into a fight and he had received the worst of it. Previously, he even had a few rather large bandages on his head, arm, leg, or mid-section when he came back home. And twice before this time, she'd found seeming normal, but turning out to be rather, odd devices lying in his room. One time it was a Harry Potter book with a hidden, but empty, taser gun inside the spine of the book. Another, it was a cell phone that doubled as an x-ray. Both times, she'd let it slip by, but not this time. Beth realized she couldn't take it anymore. The past two years had been uneasy ones filled with lies. What happened to the good-old-days when they were young and happy, never hiding anything from each other? And it seemed she hardly saw much of him anymore. He was always gone or sick. He was maybe home, what, for a maximum of four, five months total this year? What was really going on? It felt as if he was drifting away. Ever since the death of Alex's beloved uncle, everything seemed to have changed…

Then Beth suddenly remembered, she was going back to the United States for two weeks in just three days! The first she'd spend at a national summer camp for children whose parent or parents were on active duty in the American Military. The final week she'd fly out to Washington and spend some time with her grandpa at his farm. The last thing she wanted was to leave with all these unanswered questions that she assumed would now haunt her until they were answered. The same thing was true with her mother's death. She had so many unanswered questions that possessed her for weeks until she finally found out what happened. Beth shivered, remembering it all. She knew she couldn't stand being in the dark like that for a second time. She'd have to ask Alex what was going on, today.

Beth was still sitting on Alex's bed when she heard the shower stop. She knew he'd be coming back to his room soon and tried to settle her nerves. This wasn't going to be easy. Never before had she felt so distant from him. But, all of a sudden Beth thought he became just a little bit closer when she remembered the time a few years ago, when she'd been waiting for Alex to come out of the shower, only he didn't know she'd came to see him. Beth began to chuckle quietly to herself. Alex came waltzing out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist, and was singing off-key to some old rag-time song she had taught him. She'd never forget the look of bewilderment on his face when he noticed her sitting on his bed laughing at him. Dear God, Beth thought, I don't care about the singing, but please make sure he at least puts pants on before coming out here!

A few moments later Beth watched the handle to the bathroom door slowly turn and the door swing open. Standing in the door way was Alex Rider. Behind him, steam billowed through the opening like poorly done special effects in an old black and white film. Beth sighed with relief when she saw that this time he had jeans on. Alex was rubbing a towel through his fair hair when he noticed her perched on his bed. A grin spread onto his face as he walked across the hall and into his room. Beth stood up to greet him.

"It's great to see you!" Alex beamed, giving Beth a tight and heart-felt squeeze to his best friend, nearly sweeping her off her feet.

"Hey, I know! I missed you. A lot. Did you know I had to go to the cinema all by myself for two weeks?" Beth joked as she returned his embrace. When Alex pulled away, Beth's worry returned, noticing he had acquired a series of new scrapes and bruises on his chest and arms. Looking up at his face, she also noticed a scratch on his chin and cheek. But, Beth remembered, she had seen him looking worse.

"You poor thing," he mocked. The girl watched as Alex went over to his dresser, grabbed a striped t-shirt from a drawer, and slipped it over his head and arms.

Beth took a deep breath. Alex please make this easy. "So how was your stay at the hospital in Munich? Everything went well, I hope." Alex walked back over to his bed at sat down next to Beth.

"It was… fine I guess. I'd of much rather been here, though." he replied dully.

Beth lowered her eyes from his, feeling terrible that she had tricked him, for she hoped that would be his reply. "Alex, before you left, you told me you were going to be treated at a special facility in Turin." She watched as Alex stuck his tongue into the side of his cheek. She knew she'd just made him nervous. "I know nothing's wrong with you. What's going on? Where were you really?" Beth paused. "What's been going on for the past two years?"

Alex laughed uneasily. "I knew you'd ask me this one day." Beth stared up at his face; He felt her opaline green eyes bore into his, and had to look away.

"If you knew I'd ask, why didn't you tell me right away?"

Alex didn't reply for a moment, for he was searching for what to say next. "It's not just something you'd go around and tell people. In fact, I'm not supposed to tell anyone at all, I signed a contract. And I doubt you'd believe me either. But, mostly I just didn't want you to worry."

"And you think I haven't been worried wondering what the hell could make anyone so sick that they needed to go out of the country to get medical help or spend weeks in bed without any visitors?" Alex flinched when Beth swore. She didn't curse often. He then returned his gaze to meet hers, and could see tears beginning to brim the corners of her eyes. "And what makes you think I wouldn't believe you? Alex, you're my best friend, and I'm worried sick about you. For the past couple years, you've hid something from me, and I want to know what it is now." The last sentence Beth had to choke out, forcing the tears back.

Alex shook his head, and replied exasperatedly. "I can't. I signed on it." A hundred times now, he cursed Alan Blunt, Mrs. Jones, and M16 entirely. He knew he'd tell Beth someday, but he didn't think so soon, nor did he want it to be this soon either, for he knew then he'd have to tell M16 that she knew. This was something he'd never wanted Beth to get involved with. Not his best friend.

Beth was watching Alex as he sat next to her, who was avoiding eye contact, obviously deciding what to say next. "Fine," she replied bitterly. "I won't make you tell. I just find it funny that you wouldn't tell your best friend." The words sounded like venom coming from her mouth. Beth stood and started to walk to the door. "I'll walk out that door and you'll never see me again." She just turned her back to walk out the door when she heard Alex clear his throat.

"I'm a spy," he managed to say quietly and slowly, not knowing if Beth would believe him. His friend froze in the doorway and slowly turned back around, slack-jawed. "Like a young version of James Bond, I suppose you could say." Alex saw all the questions running through Beth's mind as he looked into her eyes. "Ian, he didn't work for the Royal and General. He worked for M16--British Intelligence; the bank is their secret head quarters. He'd been training me my whole life so I could be a spy, too."

Beth retraced her steps back to Alex's bed and sat down again. She studied his face as she tried to accept this news. She shook her head as a small, grim smile twitched at the corners of her mouth. "You know, if anyone else would have told me that, I would have thought they were a lunatic." Her small smile diminished as she paused a moment. "Is it… safe?"

This was exactly what Alex was afraid of. "Um, well, it depends on how you define safe." Beth skeptically raised an eye brow. "M16, of course, claims all of the missions I go on will be safe, but…"

"But, what?"

Alex sighed, knowing she would hear all of this sooner or later. "I'm a lucky person I guess. There have been plenty of times when I've almost been killed. Some people insist that by all means I shouldn't even still be alive."

Beth's breath became lodged in her throat, but quickly regained her composure. "I take it you were gone doing something M16 related then, over the past couple weeks…"

"I was undercover, investigating drug smuggling in Chile."

"What else have you… done?"

The spy thought back in time to a few of his missions. "I discovered the truth about the Stormbreaker computers, and the creeps at Point Blanc, just for starters. I also busted a few international terrorists that possessed uranium a couple months ago. Oh, and you'd never believe it; I've been in outer space!"

"Alex," Beth began as she tried to prepare herself for the dreadful reality she might hear as the answer to her next question. "Have you ever… killed someone?"

Alex hesitated with his reply. "Not in cold blood, no, and I hope I never will." He was sure he had heard Beth sigh with relief. "There is this man I once knew. He told me that killing is for grown ups, not children. Killing isn't like what you see on television. It's real. Something the killer has to live with forever. I could never live with the fact knowing I killed someone."

Beth stared into his serious brown eyes, beginning to see how they had come to be so. Alex had seen more terrible things than any 16 year old should have. "Please, tell me you'll never work for them again."

"I don't really work for them; they sort of just use me."

"Alex…"

"Fine. I swear, I'll never work for M16 and let them use me again." After the sentence flowed from Alex's mouth, he gruesomely realized that that promise was one he could not keep, for he knew as well as Alan Blunt and Ms. Jones did, that no matter how many times he vowed never to work for them again, he would in some way be used by them another time and then another and another. It seemed inevitable. He had to face it. Espionage was in his blood.

A/N: So, what did everyone think? Yes, it was probably really lame, but if you review and tell me what you liked about it or didn't, I'll try to change my second chapter to it's hopefully a little better (but personally, I like my second chapter the way it is…). Anyway, just REVIEW!

Until next time,

erin!