Close Call

To say Alex was pissed was an understatement at the least. Blunt had called him in the day after Christmas to inform him he had been assigned a new mission and would need to receive extra training for it. When he had told Sabina he would be leaving she had been disappointed as well as annoyed, but had tried to make the best of the situation by taking up her parent's invitation to visit her aunt in Sheffield and would only be able to drop by on her way back to America.

Two days later, he had been called in only to be told that the mission was called off. No explanation was given except that new circumstances had come to light and he was no longer needed.

First they ruin my vacation, then they waste my time calling me in to tell me it's been called off. Alex sulked. It's not fair.

With a sigh of frustration he gave up. What was the use, Sabina had left the day before and Tom was visiting his brother, effectively leaving Alex with very little to do besides the mountain of homework sitting on his desk. He had finally given in to Jacks insistence that he take a break from work and gone out for a ride. With no real destination in mind, he had crossed the Thames and was now mindlessly peddling around Battersea Park Lake.

Given the cold weather and the hour the park was mostly deserted, for which Alex was extremely thankful. He hadn't had much time on his own since the stint in Australia, Jack had been far to worked up to leave him alone for long and then Sabina had come and he was to busy too have much time to think. Now, with no more than the birds and cold winter wind for company, he finally had time to allow his thoughts to take over.

Ash, one of the only friends his father had been able to have after becoming a spy; Ash, the spy who had watched his fathers back when he was undercover and whom his father had risked his life to save; Ash, the man his father had trusted to protect and care for his only son, had turned around and condemned Alex to his death.

There really was no nice way of putting it. Ash had betrayed his parents plain and simple. A fact that still set Alex seething every time he thought about it.

His parents had given Ash their trust and friendship, and what had he done in return? He had sold them out to their enemies, had practically signed their death warrant. But had that been enough? No, he had decided to finish what he started and kill the last closest thing he probably had to family by sending Alex to his death at the hands of General Yu and his cohorts.

Granted, Blunt had played a major roll in causing Ash's decision. But for God's sake, who the BLOODY HELL blows up his best friend and leads his own godson into a death trap!!?

Alex came to a stop and stared off across the lake. The thoughts were screaming in his head now, each more glaring than the last.

Was this the kind of world he was now to live in. A world where people killed millions of innocents simply because they could, where friends stabbed each other in the back to get what they wanted. A world where danger shadowed your every step, filled your days with the fear of discovery, and at night terrorized you with the darkness of the memories of your deeds that would never leave you.

Alex squeezed his eyes shut and blocked out the thoughts. He remembered what his uncle had told him when he was five and had caved in long enough to tell him of his fear that Ian would disappear like his parents.

Fear is what you make it and what you allow it to be. Either you control it or it will control you.

Breathing deeply, he banished the thoughts to the farthest recesses of his mind. Bad things always look worse in the shadows, something else Ian had often told him. He could almost see his uncle's dark blue-grey eyes flashing with inner power as he quoted the words in a continuous effort to help his nephew overcome his fear.

A pang of sadness stabbed through Alex as he thought of his uncle. It had been almost a year since Ian's death but the memories still hurt. It was surprising given how little he really knew of the man, but what little he did, he missed.

Absentmindedly, he rubbed the scar on his chest, another reminder of the world of shadows he now lived in.

Swallowing the lump that had started building in his throat, Alex turned his bike back to the trail, it would do him no good sitting out here freezing while trying to sort out the complicated tangle that had become his life. As Ian would say, sorrow clouds the mind and blocks the way to go, and the dark clouds looming overhead were definitely not helping the sadness in his heart.

Besides, Jack had promised him pork chops in barbeque sauce with stir fried noodles for lunch.

Poor Jack, she had been worried about him nonstop for the last few months. On top of caring of him and helping him recuperate after his missions she had to fend off his teachers and friends when he was away. She wouldn't tell him but he knew she worried about him when he was away, over the years she had become like an older sister to him and he didn't know what he would do without her.

So caught up in his thoughts was Alex that he didn't notice the sound of a motor until it got to loud to ignore.

Alex frowned, he was relatively close to the road but he didn't think a motor should be that loud, unless it was a couple hundred cc. Something felt wrong and Alex had learned to trust his instincts. Twisting his head to look back down the trail his suspicions were confirmed when he saw two black motorbikes racing after him.

Immediately reflexes and adrenaline kicked in.

Shoving the gear shift all the way up, Alex cursed as he stood up to pedal. He had grown another four inches over the last few months and was getting too big for his bike. The situation was not helped by the fact that the park lane was almost a third of a mile long, which meant his pursuers would be able to catch up to him no problem.

Not to be outdone, Alex started to steer toward the edge of the park lawn. If he could get to the street he could find help.

His plan was cut short as the two bikes raced past on either side of him. He frowned in confusion when nothing happened. Maybe he was just getting paranoid. After all, hadn't MI6 threatened to expose the fact that Scorpia had been beaten by a fourteen-year-old if they tried anything?

His relief was cut short as he saw the rider on his left throw something to his partner. It was the end of a length of barbwire. Alex felt his heart leap into his throat as the bikers slowed and dropped the wire across the path too close for him to be able to stop in time.

Alex stopped breathing for a second when the bike flew over the wire. He winced as the sound of the front tire blowing out reached his ears, but then he looked down and knew he was in bigger trouble than just having to ride on the wheel rims.

When the front tire had been punctured, the barbs had become imbedded in the rubber, most of the line had now rapping around the wheel and what wasn't becoming tangled in the axle had been dragged behind the bike to finish off the back wheel.

Alex only had a few milliseconds before the bike flew out of control, not wanting to get tangled with the bike, he jumped off to the side, rolling as he hit the ground. Alex gasped as the wind was knocked out of his lungs followed by a flare of white hot pain in his left shoulder.

Alex felt like barfing by the time he stopped rolling but didn't dare. Lifting his head he fought back the wave of nausea that threatened to empty the contents of his stomach on the ground and took in his bearings. He hadn't been thinking when he jumped and was now lying across the middle of the lane.

And the two bikes where coming back.

Alex tried to push himself up so he could get out of the way before he got run over or whatever they had in mind for him, but his arm buckled under the strain of his weight and he slumped back to the ground wincing. Turning his head toward the oncoming vehicles, Alex weighed his options.

The bikes were so close the engines were almost deafening, Alex was sure they intended to run him over. Surprisingly he wasn't afraid to die, interestingly he felt oddly at peace as they raced towards him. It was funny how every time he had been faced with death, time seemed to slow to a crawl and his thoughts were never what he had believed they would be.

Rather than hatred for the people who were about to kill him, he thought about Sabina and the times they had spent together.

He smiled a little as he remembered how she had saved him at the beach in Cornwall and how when they had been captured by Cray, instead of freaking out like most girls probably would have, she had helped him by shoving the drink trolley at Cray and then stopping the missiles. He would miss her and Tom and Jack, the only real friends he had now.

Jack, she always worried that something would happen to him and now she was going to be proved right. Alex new she would be devastated by his death, but at least the responsibility of caring for him would no longer be a burden, she would be free to live the life she had wanted before becoming his guardian.

Tom, Alex wasn't sure how his death would affect his friend; they had been best mates since junior-high. Alex was sure Tom would miss him, but he hoped he along with the others would be able to carry on with their lives without to much trouble.

The bikes were close enough now for him to identify them as Hyosung GT650's, both black with riders in black jackets and full-face helmets. He would die without knowing the identity of his killers.

Without warning the two bikes swerved away from each other and around him with inches to spare.

Alex was too surprised and dazed to do anything but watch as the bikes drove for another hundred-or-so feet before their drivers spun them around and sat facing him, engines idling.

Alex could hear his heart hammering in his chest as he registered what he had just seen. When they had passed, Alex got a good look at the S&W standard 9mm the rider infront of him carried, but what really held his attention was the devise on the handle.

A silver scorpion.

This meant that Scorpia had either chosen to ignore MI6 or didn't care. Both ways he was dead because these two guys had obviously been sent with one purpose in mind and that was to kill him. Most likely the only reason he was still here breathing and not a mound of pulverized mush was because they had decided to have some fun with this kid.

Alex stared dully as the men revved their bikes for a bit before releasing the breaks to come bearing down on him. It was with a sad feeling of resignation that Alex conceded the fact that there was no way he was getting out of this one. It was just as Ash had said, in the end his luck had simply run out.

The sound of the engines was getting louder when two sharp cracks sliced through the thrumming of the bikes like a knife. Alex had heard the sound to many times to mistake them for anything else, gunshots.

Glancing down, he fully expected to see the crimson stain of his blood seeping out of holes in his chest, but there was nothing. His clothes were almost spotless except for where he had rolled on the ground.

Jerking his head up, his puzzlement increased tenfold as he watched the two riders wobble on their bikes for a bit before falling over.

Thankfully his reflexes were faster than his thinking process and he bunched his legs up into his chest just in the nick of time as the two bikes skidded past him on their sides, sending sparks flying in their wake.

Alex scrunched his face as a few sparks got his cheek, but at least he was alive and breathing; not something he could say for his fellow bike-to-ground jumpers. Both of them rolled over a few times when they hit the ground, coming to stop a few feet from where Alex lay.

Alex stared in shock at the bodies for a few more seconds before he became aware that he wasn't alone. Another bike was flying up the path the same way the others had come from.

Alex watched as it passed him but the squeal of tires caused him to look back to see that whoever was driving it had spun full circle to come back at him. Before he could register it they had pulled to a stop less than two feet from him.

The driver was a young woman dressed exactly like the other two but with dark glasses instead of a helmet. "You all right?" she asked in a calm voice that Alex thought carried a bit of a frosty undertone.

Alex carefully nodded his head and instantly regretted it as the spinning and pounding resumed, once again threatening to empty whatever remained of his breakfast onto the road. Not caring for that option he lowered his head and squeezed his eyes shut until the feeling passed before returning his gaze upward.

His rescuer sat watching him with a blank expression. "Thanks." He ventured.

She didn't have time to reply before the sound of more vehicles reached them. A quick glance back down the lane confirmed that they had company. Three more bikes with helmeted riders were quickly closing in.

"Get on." The command was not harsh, just urgent. Alex didn't know if he could trust her but right now he didn't have a choice. He started to comply up but his left shoulder still refused to cooperate when he tried pushing himself off the ground. With a grunt of pain and frustration he slumped back to the ground.

His rescuer made a frustrated noise and reaching down, hauled him up by the back of his collar. Alex was embarrassed to have needed help but didn't say anything as he threw his right leg over the bike behind her.

"Hold on." She ordered, gunning the engine. This time his shoulder obeyed and he managed to get his arms around her just as the first shots were fired. Not bothering to make sure he was on properly, the woman yanked the bike back around to head away from the oncoming attackers and released the brakes.

Hunkering down against her, all Alex could do was hang on and be amazed at the fact that he had survived another attack on his life.

Again.

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