AN: Hi! Heads up, this is a very dark look at the Alex Rider series. This story is majorly AU, with Alex having been a spy since he was 11 years old. Also, his uncle was way more terrible than in the original series. So this Alex isn't the Alex we see in the original series. This Alex has been through multiple hells, and is willing to do whatever it takes to survive. I mean, I almost want to rate this m, and I may push up the rating depending on whether or not I include a certain aspect in the story. So you have been warned.
Don't let that scare you off though! The darkest aspects will mostly be alluded to, nothing too graphic. Though Alex is going to be pretty much a one man army in this, so a lot of goons are going to be wasted. Fun!
I don't own Alex Rider or the Avengers. Alex should really be grateful for that. I would have made his life even worse than it already was! Ha… I'm so mean to fictional characters.
Alex stared at the ceiling of his cell. He wasn't too concerned about his current imprisonment. These people were clearly underestimating him. They hadn't even searched him before throwing him in this cell. If Alex had to guess, he would say they thought he was just a nosy kid who had gotten in over his head. At least, he hoped that's what they thought. He had gone to a lot of effort to make it seem that way, and it would be disappointing if all that work went to waste.
Alex shifted on his cot. It was remarkably comfortable. These terrorists were really quite considerate, for terrorists. Hopefully he wouldn't have to kill very many of them. After all, he wasn't here to shut them down. He just needed to retrieve something. If he was lucky, he'd be able to get out with minimal casualties.
He glanced at his watch. This was exactly what he was talking about. They hadn't even taken his watch away. That was bad guy etiquette 101. Though in their defence, it wasn't very obvious that it contained a high grade tracker and communication device. Alex wasn't interested in those features at the moment, however. He legitimately wanted to know what time it was. He would make his move once night hit. The fewer people in the building, the better.
Reassured that it would still be a few hours before he should act, Alex went back to staring at the ceiling. Now it was just a waiting game. He was good at those.
A loud explosion shocked Alex into action. He leapt off the bed, running to the front of the cell. He peered out of the bars, curious to see what had caused the explosion. He still wasn't worried. Chaos would only work in his favor. But he would like to know what was going on. Lack of information could be deadly, and Alex really didn't want to end up a casualty of some hostile takeover or civil war.
Looking down the hallway, Alex saw a band of goons rushing toward someone, only for something to fly through the air, knocking them all out. Alex frowned. That had looked like a shield. But the only person he knew of that fought with a shield was…
Almost as if his thoughts had summoned him, Captain America walked into view. Alex's mouth fell open. He had to fight back laughter. Of course the bloody Avengers would raid this compound at the same time he was supposed to be infiltrating it. Why not, right? It made about as much sense as everything else in his life.
Captain America began to walk toward his cell, and Alex thought fast. There was no way he could hide from the First Avenger. The man would see him for sure. Alex shrugged mentally. Well, this wasn't the original plan, but he could make it work. Who knows, it might even be fun.
"Hello?" he called, purposely making his voice quiver. "Is anyone there? Please help me!"
Suddenly Captain America was in front of his cell, looking at him. Alex whistled in his head, being sure to keep a scared expression on his face. The man was an impressive specimen, that was for sure. Tall, handsome, buff, he really pulled off the 'wholesome American hero' thing he had going on. Exactly the kind of guy who would do anything for a scared little kid. This would be easy.
"Oh thank goodness! Please, I just want to go home! Can you help me?" Alex let a few tears fall, and smirked inwardly when the Captain's face softened. Hook, line, and sinker.
"It will be okay." the man assured, and honestly, could he be more perfect? His voice was deep and traditionally 'manly' while still holding just the right amount of softness to calm scared civilians. A super soldier indeed. Those scientists back in the day may have been onto something.
"Step back." Captain America directed, and Alex moved back obligingly. He watched curiously as the Captain smashed the lock with his shield, completely destroying it. Well, that was one way to do it. Alex would have been a bit more subtle, but whatever. Subtly was kind of out the window at this point. Time to do what he did best: improvise.
"Thank you! I know I shouldn't have tried to break in, but my friends dared me, and we thought the building was abandoned, honest! I never would have done it otherwise!"
This was more or less the same story that Alex had fed the men who had 'captured' him, and he saw no reason to deviate from a perfectly good lie. He knew his cover would be blown sooner or later, but he saw no reason it couldn't be latter. Besides, the longer he strung the Captain along, the more funny it would be when he finally showed what he was capable of.
"It's okay. I'll get you out safe. Just stick close, alright?"
Alex nodded earnestly, moving to stand next to the Captain. The man put a hand to his ear, and Alex realised that he was contacting his team.
"Guys, I found a civilian in the cells. I'm going to get him out. You all good?"
Alex couldn't hear the response, but he assumed it was positive, because the Captain proceeded to move toward the closest exist. Alex followed behind dutifully, looking for a good opportunity to break away.
That opportunity came as they were crossing a large room, filled with various desks and cubicles. It must have been where the analysts worked. They had just started across, when gunfire broke out.
Captain America swore, dropping to the ground, dragging Alex with him. He pulled over a nearby desk, taking cover behind it.
Alex glanced around the desk, taking in the situation. Five men had taken up position across the room. They must have entered from the opposite side of the room, determined to catch the Captain off-guard. It hadn't worked, but they were pretty well pinned down at this point. Well, they appeared to be, at least. The men knew that the Captain wouldn't risk a civilian life by attacking them, so they thought they had the situation under control. What they didn't know was that the 'civilian' was the one they should be scared of.
Alex looked at the Captain, who was calling his teammates for aid. He weighed his options, before he decided that he was done pretending to be helpless. Besides, he couldn't leave the building without getting what he had been sent to retrieve. Sticking with the Captain would not help him accomplish that goal.
Decision made, he dropped the terrified expression. The Captain must have been more observant than he thought, because he immediately noticed the change in body language. He looked at Alex strangely, clearly unnerved by this abrupt shift.
Alex grinned at him, offering a two fingered salute.
"Well, this has been fun, but I've got stuff to do. Thanks for breaking me out Cap! It's been a blast!"
And with that, Alex exploded into action.
He popped up from behind the desk, throwing two knives one after the other with deadly speed and accuracy. He was moving before the knives hit their targets, running toward the men at full speed. His knives hit almost instantaneously, taking out the two farthest men. He slid under a desk that was in his way, taking him out a range of the bullets that were fired haphazardly in his direction as the terrorists recovered from their shock. Alex rolled to his feet in front of the lead man, transferring his momentum into a roundhouse kick that dropped the man to floor, unconscious. As the man fell, Alex grabbed the gun from his suddenly slack grip, turning it on the two remaining men. Two headshots later, all the terrorists were down, leaving the room eerily silent.
Alex waved cheerily at the shocked Captain, before sprinting from the room, heading for the main control room of the facility. He could hear the Captain chasing after him, but he was able to lose him without too much trouble. Alex had studied the blueprints of this place before he made his assault, so it was easy for him to make his way toward the control room while avoiding any guards or random Avengers.
Alex smiled as he took a small detour to avoid a rampaging Hulk. Who knew that this mission would turn out to be so interesting?
Hawkeye cursed, ducking behind a large crate. Who had designed this place? His job was to get into the control room and shut down Hydra's communication. Unfortunately, the control room could only be accessed by going through a large warehouse type space that was filled with crates and guards. Hawkeye was pretty sure that the crates were full of weapons, but that wasn't exactly his main concern at the moment. He had made it across the room unmolested, but the final distance to the control room was empty, except of course for the large number of armed men filling it. There was no way he could make his way across unseen, and the moment he started firing, his position would be given away. He was royally screwed.
He was still trying to figure out his next move when the Captain's voice distracted him.
"Guys, I lost the civilian."
"He's dead?" Ironman asked, real fear in his voice.
"Ah, no. But a bunch of hydra agents are. Honestly, I'm not sure that civilian is the right word to describe him."
"Wait, you managed to lose a man who is capable of taking down hydra agents? In the middle of an active combat situation? What were you thinking?" Black Widow did not sound happy.
"I was thinking that I was thinking that I needed to protect a kid!" Captain America defended. "What was I supposed to think? The kid can't be older than twelve!"
"Hold on." Hawkeye said, not sure he had understood. "Are you telling me that a twelve year old kid killed a bunch of hydra agents under your watch?"
"Well that's not very nice. I'm fourteen, thank you very much."
Hawkeye jumped, spinning to see a young boy crouched next to him. He could only assume that this was the child that Cap was talking about. He didn't look capable of taking down a group of hydra agents, but he knew that appearances could be deceiving. And looking closer, he could tell that there was more to this kid than it first seemed. He had a grace to him, a subtle confidence that Hawkeye had only seen in seasoned agents. This kid was good, he could tell.
"I think I found your missing 'civilian' Cap." he said wryly, cutting off the argument that was going on over the coms. The kid grinned.
"Come on, we both know that I found you." The kid inched forward, looking around the edge of the crate. He whistled quietly upon taking in the scene.
"Oh dear. Now that is a problem. You Avengers couldn't have waited til tomorrow to attack this place? It would have made my life quite a bit easier."
The kid moved back, tilting his head to the side as he thought. Finally he sighed, looking resigned.
"I guess there's nothing for it. Ah well. What can you do?"
Before Hawkeye could react, the kid pulled out a knife, seemingly from nowhere, and stabbed himself in the arm.
Hawkeye swore violently, looking at the kid's bloodsoaked arm. The kid didn't react at all the the knife in his arm, pulling it out and looking at the wound speculatively.
"Nice." he said with a grin. "Lots of blood for maximum effect, but no real damage to any muscles."
"Why did you do that!?" Hawkeye finally managed to pull himself together enough to ask the question. He was starting to seriously question the boy's sanity.
The kid simply winked at him, the lunatic. "It makes the trick easier. It can be done without it, but eh. I'm lazy. Less acting on my part if I've got actual blood seeping out of me, you know?"
Hawkeye shook his head, but that didn't seem to bother the kid. He shrugged, that cheerful grin still on his face.
"Guess it's just me then. Typical. Anyway, I'm assuming I can count on you for backup? Yes? Great! Let's do this!"
Before Hawkeye could respond positively or negatively, the kid screamed. His entire demeanor changed in a split second, his face twisted in pain and fear as he staggered out from behind the crate, tears streaming down his face. He clutched his bloody arm, holding it close to his body as if to protect it from further harm. He stumbled toward the stunned guards, sobbing loudly.
"Please." he begged, looking at them with terrified eyes. "I don't know what's going on, I just want to go home! Please help me!"
Hawkeye's eyes widened as he suddenly realized what the kid's 'trick' was. The guards were so surprised to be facing an injured child, that they let him get close. At lot closer than they should if what Hawkeye suspected about this kid was true.
As if he had read his mind, the kid moved. The knife made a reappearance, buried in the chest of the guard that had moved forward, whether to help or hurt, it was unclear. A second knife joined the first as the kid continued his attack, leaving three bodies dead on the ground before anyone could react.
A cry of alarm went up as the men started to fire on the kid. Hawkeye took that as his cue to join the fight, taking down men that were perilously close to harming the boy. Not that he seemed to need the help. The kid fought with a grace that made it look like he was dancing. Natasha was the only other person he had ever met who could move like that. It was kind of amazing.
Hawkeye grew more and more impressed as he watched the kid fight. He was constantly moving, and had a knack for using his enemies as shields against incoming gunfire. He mostly used his two knives, but he was not above redirecting gunshots, grabbing men's arms and twisting them to aim at comrades just as they fired. No one could touch him. Punches and kicks aimed at him always missed, and the kid never lost a chance to take advantage of an off balance enemy, slicing tendons and throats without hesitation. With Hawkeye's help, it wasn't long before all the hydra agents were down.
Hawkeye emerged cautiously from behind the crate, keeping an eye out for unexpected enemies. He approached the kid slowly. He would be lying if he said he wasn't a little intimidated. He had no clue who this kid was, or what he wanted. All that he knew was that he was a serious combatant, and he did not want to get on his bad side.
The kid smiled at him. It was a little less charming this time, what with the blood spattered across his face.
"That was fun." he said cheerfully. "I haven't worked with a competent partner in ages."
Hawkeye raised an eyebrow. "Um… thanks?"
"You're welcome!" the kid chirped. He spun around, heading across the room. "Come on! You needed to get into the control room, right?"
Hawkeye stayed where he was, staring after the boy. To be honest, he had no clue what to do. The kid was acting as if nothing unusual had happened, as if the wholesale slaughter that had just happened was normal. Not even he could cause this much death without feeling a little bad, but the kid didn't seem affected in the least. It was a little worrisome. Hawkeye didn't really want to be stuck in a small space with a possible psychopath.
Unfortunately, the kid was right. He did need to get into the control room. Steeling himself, he walked across the room, avoiding the bodies strewn across the floor. He wasn't surprised to see the door to the control room swinging open, the lock picked. He entered cautiously, looking around.
The first thing that he noticed was the two bodies on the ground, each laying a pool of growing blood. He looked away, trying to find the kid.
He spotted him by the main console. Surprisingly, he wasn't interested in the computers, and was instead looking through different drawers. Just as Hawkeye reached him, he brightened.
"Here we are!" he said with that same cheery grin on his face. Hawkeye was starting to hate that smile. No one should look that happy while they still had dead man's blood coating their face.
"What is it?" Hawkeye asked, worried that the kid had found a bomb or something. Instead, the boy help up a flash drive.
"A list of agents and their various aliases for most of the world's intelligence agencies." The kid shook his finger mockingly. "Not the kind of thing you want to fall into the wrong hands."
Hawkeye stared at the flashdrive in shock. If what the kid said was true, than that could cripple the world's military defenses, and cause a whole lot of deaths.
"Not to worry!" the kid said. "It is heavily encrypted. There is no chance that they broke through in the time that they had it. So, all's well that ends well."
Hawkeye was pretty sure that the dead bodies both outside and inside this room would beg to differ, but he let it go. He went over to the main console in the room and shut down hydra's communication system. Without being able to communicate, the men wouldn't be able to coordinate, and it would be much easier for the Avengers to take the rest of them down.
That done, he turned back to the kid, who was sitting in one of the swivel chairs, spinning around. He stopped when he noticed Hawkeye looking at him.
There was silence for a moment as they looked at each other. Hawkeye cleared his throat.
"I have to bring you in. You know that, right?"
The kid stared blankly at him, the smile gone for once. Hawkeye could almost see him weighing his options. He readied himself, convinced that the kid was going to run.
"Okay." The kid stood up, the smile back again. "But first things first."
He pulled the flashdrive out of his pocket and dropped it on the ground, smashing it with his heel. He smirked at Hawkeye.
"Like I said. Not the kind of thing you want to fall into the wrong hands."
Hawkeye bristled at the implication, but the kid either didn't notice or, more likely, didn't care. Flash drive destroyed, he pulled off his watch, tossing it onto the table. Then he pulled a gun from somewhere, and shot the thing. Six times.
The kid tossed the now empty gun aside and grinned at Hawkeye. "I'm ready now."
Hawkeye looked at him askance. "Why'd you shoot your watch?"
"Hm?" The kid glanced over at the destroyed watch. "Oh, I never liked it. Shall we go?"
Hawkeye considered pushing the issue, but decided he didn't want to risk losing the kid's unexpected cooperation.
"Yeah, fine. Except you need to give me your knives first."
"Oh, of course!" The kid produced two knives, presenting them eagerly. Hawkeye took them carefully, looking them over. He frowned.
"These are clean…" he finally said, looking back at the kid. "Unless you managed to clean them completely in the one minute I left you alone, these are different knives."
The kid didn't say anything. He just kept grinning that stupid grin. Hawkeye sighed.
"You know what? Whatever. You could probably kill me with your bare hands. Keep your dumb knives, I don't care. Just know that when you stab me in the back, I will be severely unimpressed."
The kid laughed, patting Hawkeye on the shoulder. "I like you! Let's go. I'm sure that your team is waiting for you."
The kid fairly skipped out of the room, ignoring the bloody footprints he was leaving on the ground. Hawkeye followed, unwilling to let the kid out of his sight. He could only think one thing.
Sure hope I know what I'm getting in to.
AN: Tada! Alex is a psychopath! Yay!
Okay, not really. I know, Alex seems insane, but he really isn't. He is just really good at pretending. He has adopted the attitude of "if I pretend everything is okay, than eventually, everything will be okay." He's coping the best he can.
I really shouldn't be starting another story, but I am in a writing mood. So instead of updating like, literally every day on my other story, I'll just kinda go back and forth between the two. And also finish the other one. Man, what am I thinking?
ANyway, not sure how much of a response this is gonna get. I guess I'll see. Bye!