A/N: Alright, I'm stepping out on a limb and deciding to write an Alex Rider story! This story is mainly involving Alex and Yassen, but there's no slash or anything like that, so don't bug me for it!

Chapter One: Friend or Foe?

"Hey, Jack!" Alex Rider called, opening the front door and stepping into the entrance hall of his house. He walked into the kitchen where Jack was busy making a fruit salad and tossed his backpack onto the floor beside the breakfast bar. "What's new?" he asked her.

"Not much, really," she told him, while she continued to cut up an apple. "Sabina called to tell you that she misses you already, but that's about it."

Alex thought for a second about Sabina. She had left a couple of days ago to go back to her house in America, where her dad worked. Alex smiled to himself, pulling his chemistry homework out of his backpack and sitting at the bar to concentrate on chemical reactions. He was slightly behind in school, but he had been working hard to bring up his grades before the semester ended.

Ding-dong.

The noise brought Alex back to reality. He looked up from the kitchen table where he was doing his homework, and sighed.

"Don't worry, I'll get it," Jack told him. "It's probably another one of those salesmen wanting to sell us something." She walked to the door.

Alex couldn't see the door from his seat at the bar, but he could hear Jack talking to someone in a hushed voice. Odd, he thought to himself. He closed his chemistry textbook and just hopped off of his chair to go see what was up when Jack called to him.

"Alex, could you go to the living room for a second? Someone is here to talk to you."

Alex sighed, proceeding to head to the living room and settle himself in his favorite chair. Mrs. Jones or Alan Blunt had probably come to see him. He heard the door close and Jack walking back to the kitchen; the visitor's steps proceeded to the living room. He turned, expecting to see one of the two. That was when Alex nearly fell out of his chair.

Because it wasn't Alan Blunt or Mrs. Jones. It was Yassen Gregorovich.

He still looked the same as when Alex had seen him before his death. He was still tall, slim, and still had the same look in his blue eyes. Alex opened his mouth to speak, but Yassen interrupted him.

"I know what you are thinking, Alex. Please do not be alarmed."

Alex sat up straight in his seat. "But what about-"

"Let me tell you the whole story about my death, Alex. It is a bit different than you might think."

Alex nodded, still in shock.

"When we were on that plane, I know that you thought that I had died. It certainly appeared so. However, let me assure you that it was not as it appeared to be. Yes, I did become unconscious, but I was not dead. I was simply in a coma."

Alex frowned. "Then how come all of this time-"

"I know, I was gone for quite a while. But that is where Scorpia brought themselves into all of this."

Alex shuddered, feeling sick at hearing the name, but Yassen continued his story.

"Scorpia is always very thorough with their work. When a valuable member of their team dies, it is always confirmed. When Scorpia came to confirm my death, they realized that I wasn't dead, but in a coma. They flew me to one of the top hospitals in this country."

Alex nodded, trying to follow the whole story.

"I was in the hospital for weeks. They didn't know if I would wake up. Then one day, I just did. No one knows exactly how. But waking up didn't mean everything would be alright again. A couple of the top Scorpia agents came to talk to me. They said that it was my fault that everything with the plane had gone wrong and that they blamed me for you coming to Scorpia. They said that it was indirectly my fault that Mrs. Rothman was dead."

Alex sighed. He didn't know what to say. "That was my fault," he said quietly.

Yassen waved the comment away. "No, I sent you there; the fault was mine. Anyway, they told me that if they ever saw me again, they would kill me. You know how it is, Alex. Scorpia is everywhere. So I did the only thing left that I could do; I got the hell out of there."

Alex was now curious. "Why did you come here?" he asked Yassen.

Yassen seriously thought about that question for a second. "Honestly, I don't know. Part of me felt like I owed you an explanation."

They sat in silence for a moment. "What are you going to do now?" Alex asked.

Yassen shrugged. "No idea. I guess I will try to find a job of some sort."

That was when Alex suddenly had an idea. "Come with me and I'll get you a job at MI6," he told the Russian.

Yassen frowned. "Did you just say what I think you said?"

"I'm serious," Alex continued. "They might be willing to make you an agent."

"I seriously doubt that, Alex. MI6 will not be likely to hire the man who killed some of their agents. I doubt they will even let me in the front door."

"They will," Alex reassured him. "They will if you're with me."

Yassen raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Give me one chance," Alex pleaded. "One chance."

Yassen looked at him for a moment. "Why are you doing this for me? I am surprised that you don't hate me for all that I have put you through."

Alex smiled, but there was no humor in it. "I think that my father would have wanted me to give you a chance," he said simply.

Yassen considered this for a moment. Then he suddenly stood up. "One chance," he told Alex. "Just one." He held out his hand.

Alex stood up and shook it. Alex and Yassen shaking hands- it was a monumental moment.

Yassen reached into the pockets of his jeans and pulled out a piece of paper and a small pencil. He scribbled something on a piece of paper. "This is where you can find me," he said to Alex, handing him the paper. "You may come whenever you like."

"How about if I come to your place at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning and we go to MI6 then?" Alex asked, glancing at the paper.

"That would be fine," Yassen said, and turned and left the room. "I'll show myself out," he called.

Alex stood there, watching him go. Then he flopped down into his favorite chair and let out a shaky breath, thinking to himself.

What have I just done?

A/N: Like it? Hate it? Want me to burn it? Tell me in a review and maybe I'll update soon!