Hey there! This is my very first story…..so just a warning. I know there will be some mistakes and errors but please just bare with me. I need to get used to developing the characters and all of that. This is just a one-shot that I know a lot of people have done before but please try to enjoy it!

(Warning: Some violence and swearing)

Disclaimer: I don't own the Alex Rider Series (If I could only steal them from Anthony Horowitz….)

It was just a normal Friday but then again nothing was normal for the life of a certain Alex Rider. Things just didn't work out that way.

This Friday found Alex Rider in the middle of his dreaded math class. It was his last class of the day and he was waiting for the day to finally be over. He did like school a little bit because it gave him time to relax from his missions but there was still nothing as boring as his math class.

As his teacher talked on and on about something Alex knew he would never understand because of all the time he had missed, he begin to think about the past couple of months. After Jack had died, his life had changed and he had been sent to America with Sabrina and her family. They gladly had accepted him into their family and their way of life as Alex called it. Sabrina and her parents had even helped him get over Jack's death a bit. It had worked out the first couple of weeks but it went down from there.

Alex tried so much to fit in, but eventually he just gave up. No one could ever understand what he had been through and the horrors he had faced. That life just didn't appeal to him and it all felt like a big lie to him. The 3 assassination attempts didn't help either. Alex waited a bit longer until he couldn't take it anymore. He told Sabrina and her family his idea and they didn't like it just as he had predicted. He knew that it would never work out and their lives were always going to be in danger because of him. They pleaded and reasoned with him, but his decision had already been made.

Alex had taken a plane back to his home in England the next day. He then had contacted Mrs. Jones, the new head of M16 since Blunt had retired while he had been in America. She gave him the offer of being a full time agent which included backup on missions when he needed it, no more blackmailing, more time in between missions, and personally his favorite, a hell lot of money in return. He even reunited with his old partner, Ben Daniels, and they soon became close.

When he first got back he found it a bit difficult at first but it soon returned to normal. Everyone at school was ignoring him because of the rumors that seemed to change every week, no every day. They didn't bother him as much anymore; he had his crazy, annoying friend Tom instead.

Even though Alex didn't feel comfortable in school, he still got to go on missions quite often that were more enjoyable than before. He was now 16, almost 17, and not old enough to live by himself, but no one knew that Jack had gone.

Alex was just glad that his life wasn't as hellish as before.

As he continued to stare out the window, Alex was snapped back to reality when Tom nudged him with his elbow. He looked at Tom a bit startled, but he didn't show it. Tom glanced at him and it was then Alex realized that the teacher, Mrs. Johnston, was staring at him, her eyebrow raised.

She had asked him a question. He quickly looked at the board to try and solve the problem. Instead he just stared dumbly at the mass of equations and symbols that seemed impossible to solve.

Shit.

"Umm…" He prepared to give a random answer when the bell suddenly rang.

RRIINNGG!

Alex signed in relief. Saved by the bell.

"Okay class! Remember to finish these 10 problems by Monday!" Mrs. Johnston shouted at everyone as they rushed out, glad the weekend had finally come. Tom met up with Alex once the hoard of teenagers had passed.

"You got totally lucky there, man! I thought you were done for!"

"Me too! Thank god that bell rang!" Alex grinned back at him.

"Why do you always have the best luck?" Tom annoyingly whined at his friend.

Alex laughed. "I'm just awesome like that." He grinned mischievously while swiftly dodging the lunging Tom who fell on his but.

Tom glared at Alex while rubbing his sore butt. "Bloody spies…" He muttered under his breath. Then his face suddenly lit up. "Hey you want to go downtown Saturday? Just to hang out and play soccer."

"Sure. Just have to check with Jones and make sure nothing is going on that day." That women sometimes…

"Oh darn! I just remembered that I'll have to bring some kids along whose mom is a friend of mine." Tom said, turning grumpy.

Alex didn't want to go so much now, but he knew he couldn't turn his best friend down. Might be a chance to meet some new people. "Eh. That's fine. I'm guessing your mom wants you to hang out with more people other than me?"

"Yep. She says that I'm gonna turn out like my dad if I don't! She's always pestering me…"

Alex tuned out Tom's voice, noticing someone coming up behind towards them. It was Hannah, the girl who had been annoying Tom and him all year. Right now she called herself Tom's girlfriend but she flirted with him a lot too. He really didn't want to abandon his friend but there was no way he was staying with Hannah quickly approaching. Alex still had the advantage because Tom hadn't noticed her yet.

In the meantime Tom was still ranting on about his mother. "-thinks I'm like a 5 year old! I'm responsible enou-"

"Oh sorry gotta go!" Alex interrupted, hurriedly walking away.

"Wha? Ale-" He heard Tom's confused reply before he was once again interrupted.

"Heyyy Tom." Alex was already too far away to hear anymore from Hannah but he did hear his desperate friend's last shout.

"DAMMIT ALEX! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Alex chuckled as he continued his peaceful journey home.

About 15 minutes later Alex was finally home. It pained him to be all alone and not have the presence of the joyful red- headed women around.

He grabbed an apple on the counter and wandered around the house, trying to think of something he could do. Alex eventually just sat down at his desk to start some of his homework and the enormous stack of paperwork Jones always gave him. It was definitely his least favorite part of his job and she knew it. He could always detect a hint of amusement in her eyes when she gave him the work.

Alex and Mrs. Jones definitely had gotten closer than how it was when he was 14. He liked to annoy her by calling her Tulip all the time no matter how much she said not to. Alex knew he was her favorite agent even though she never said it. A buzz from his phone made him stop working. Tom.

Hey! What was that today?! Abandoning me at my time of need!? Talk about a good friend. Alex could literally hear his sarcastic tone.

Not my fault you didn't notice her sooner! He replied back to his annoyed friend.

Yeah well now she's coming with us tomorrow. Really Tom? Now Alex really didn't want to go.

Tom, you stupid idiot!

Hey not my fault! That woman can be very persuasive sometimes! Alex just sighed, closing his phone and returning to the wonderful land of work.

It soon got late, 1 PM to be exact. Alex knew he needed to stay up and finish more but his eyes started to flutter and close…

Alex woke up with a yell. Damn nightmares.

He had them basically every night. This one was about Jack this time. Alex blamed himself for her death and just couldn't get her off his mind. If only she was still here….

Alex snapped out of his thoughts and glanced at the clock. 4:57. Yay. Almost 4 hours of sleep. He got up from where he fell asleep on the chair and groaned at his muscles that were sore from the uncomfortable position they had been all night. Alex took a quick shower to get rid of all the sweat and to calm himself down.

Around 12:15 Alex walked downtown to the park they were going to meet at. Once he got there he spotted Tom along with a boy and a girl. The boy was about his age with short dark brown hair. He had a friendly look and a smile on his face. There was a girl a bit older next to him who had long red hair. Alex would have been lying if he said she wasn't pretty.

"Sup Alex!" Tom had pushed his way through the boy and the girl. "Oh um this is Ashley and Daniel. Guys this is Alex."

"Hey Alex!" They both glared at each other for saying the exact same thing. They were obviously siblings.

"Sorry my brother is very annoying." The girl named Ashley said while trying to put her slightly shorter brother in a headlock.

"Seriously?! Oww! Stop it!" Her brother, Daniel, whined. Alex laughed and his spirits rised a little. They seemed friendly and the kind of people he who hang out with.

"Hey anybody want to play soccer?" Tom eagerly asked holding a ball in his hands,

"Hell yeah! Its been so long." Alex replied back. He truly missed the thrill of playing soccer. "You guys play at all?"

"Used to but I'm a bit rusty. Ashley does though." Daniel said, glancing at his sister.

"Oooh yeah lets play!" Ashley grabbed the ball from Tom's hands ignoring his shout of protest. She turned out to be a very fierce player, not hesitating to push and tackle. Daniel was actually a great goalie and Alex found it hard to score on him.

About 30 minutes later they were all panting and tired, Tom being the dirtiest because Ashley kept on tackling him.

They were all hungry so they all went to one of the best Mexican places in town. But right as neared the corner to where the restaurant was, he felt a chill go down his spine and he froze. A sense of unease that something was wrong and danger was near. He knew he couldn't ignore it, for it had saved his life on multiple occasions.

"Hey mate you all right?" Tom was the only who had noticed what was going on. Alex could detect a worried tone in his voice.

"Y-yeah everything's fine." He shakily replied and gave him a look that notified Tom something was going on.

Ashley chose a table next to the window, much to Alex's horror. But he knew that he couldn't tell her otherwise. Just when he thought it couldn't get any more worse, it did.

"Tom! Alex! There you guys are!" Hannah. Alex mentally groaned and he was sure Tom did too.

"Hey Hannah…" Tom looked shocked, he obviously had forgotten about her.

"I thought we were meeting at that jewelry place?" She battered her eyelashes at Tom.

"Oh um, there was uh… a change of plans."

"That's alright! I'll just have to join you then." Hannah squeezed her way in between Alex and Tom, much to their discomfort. She flipped her long blonde hair and caught notice of the other 2 people at the table.

While Tom was introducing Hannah to Daniel and Ashley, Alex's eye caught something across the street. It was a glint, a reflection in the sunlight, from something that had to be shiny. It was on a rooftop across the street.

A sniper.

Alex's heart raced. What was he going to do? He couldn't let anyone get hurt. Alex thought back to the time when he had gotten shot and almost died. He certainly didn't want that to happen to Tom, his new friends, Ashley and Daniel, and heck, even Hannah.

Alex felt it coming an instance before it stuck.

"GET DOWN!" He pushed Hannah and Tom, the ones nearest the window, down to the ground. The glass shattered and Alex felt the bullet graze his shoulder. It wasn't major but still hurt like hell.

He quickly looked up and found that no one else had been hurt. If he had acted the smallest bit later, then he knew someone would have.

Screams broke out throughout the restaurant and the people inside. Everyone ran to the back, hoping they would be safe there. Some were staring at Alex and he knew they were wondering how he knew it was going to happen.

"W-w-what? What's going on?" Daniel's eyes were wide and full of terror like everyone else's.

Alex He pressed a button on his watch that signaled M16 and where he was. Tom glanced at him and Alex nodded, answering his friend's silent question.

They had come for him. Shit.

But before Alex could do anything else, 10 men in all black entered. They had guns out and loaded and he couldn't help but recognize the SCORPIA mark on their sleeves. Really? Them again? He had hoped that he had been done with them. Everyone screamed at the sight of them and backed up.

"Be quiet! Up against that wall now!" A man in the front yelled and gestured with his gun. Everyone scrambled, afraid of the man and the gun he held. A man pushed his way through to the front and I groaned.

Dr. Three.

That man just wouldn't die. His face did look a mutated though. Probably a side effect of not dying. "I'm looking a certain somebody. You know who you are." He gave a sadistic smile. Like that was going to help. His eyes scanned over the crowd of people and Alex kept my head down. He felt Ashley cling to him in terror, her body shaking.

When no one stepped forward Dr. Three's smile turned into a frown. "Do you need some encouragement?"

One of his men grabbed a small girl, about 8, who was at the front. She started crying even more and it was clear she was terrified of the gun pressed at the back of her head. It was then that his decision was made.

"Let her go." Alex's words were spoken quietly but some people behind him cowered at the venom and coldness inside of them.

Dr. Three grinned and turned around to stare at Alex who had walked his way to the front. The little girl was shoved back to the crowd and a desperate mother hugged her crying child.

"Ah Alex. There you are. Such a pleasure to see you… well not covered in your blood." He tilted his head, ignoring the sudden silence. Dr. Three was referring to the last time he had been with Alex. He hadn't exactly been in the best condition.

"Three. Can't exactly say the same. It wasn't all that fun and to be honest- it was a bit brutal."

Alex was calm but inside he was terrified. Everyone was watching the pair of them, shocked of what was going on and how Alex knew this man. He knew it was only a matter of time until M16 got here so he tried to stall as long as possible.

"What can I say? We never forgive, never forget." Three was right. They would never leave him be. Not until the famous Alex Rider was dead and SCORPIA would finally have their glory.

"I think I got that message enough times thanks. How 'bout I kill you and we'll call it even?"

Dr. Three just kept on grinning and sighed at the deadly teenager in front of him. "You never learn do you? You know I'm never going to let you go."

At that 2 of his men came at Alex, trying to hold him down. He dodged the first one and used his momentum to pull him down to the ground. But the man grabbed Alex's ankle and brought him down with him. They rounded around on the floor until Alex managed to lash out with a powerful strike to his temple, effectively knocking him out.

He suddenly remembered the other man and brought a hand up, just in time, to block his attempt at his stomach. Alex grabbed the man's hand he had blocked and pulled the man towards him, giving him a strong knee to his stomach instead.

The man doubled over, wheezing and Alex used that time to deliver one last kick to his head. 2 down, 8 more to go. Everyone gasped. Who knew that this mere boy could be so dangerous?

Tom was also very shocked. He had known Alex was good, but not this good. Alex attacked with the practice of a professional, like he did this all the time, which he certainly did.

But before he turn around, Alex heard the sound of the safety of a gun clicking off and froze when he felt the cold metal of the gun against his head. Idiot. He should have been quicker and more aware of what was around him. Now he would have to pay for his mistake.

He could hear Three laughing. "Alex, Alex, Alex." He scolded him, as if he were talking to a 5 year old. "You're not supposed to do that. I guess I'll have to punish you then…"

Alex felt a man seize his arms behind him and push him down to the ground. Knowing what was coming he struggled, but the man was 2 times the size of him, also making him 2 times stronger.

Dr. Three aimed the gun at him. Alex tensed and shuddered, but nothing could have prepared for what came next.

He couldn't hold in a scream of pain as a bullet came crashing down towards his left knee, tearing through muscle and tissue.

Alex painfully breathed through clenched teeth while swearing a thousand times in his head at the man in front of him. The people behind him screamed, his friends the loudest, seeing his pain and all the blood surrounding him.

"Now will you come with me?" Three's voice was menacing, his mouth twisting up into a smirk.

"Fuck you Three." Despite the great pain he was feeling, Alex still managed to look him in the eye and swear at the man, his voice tight with pain. "You know I never will." And with that he spit and the bloodied mass hit Three directly in the eye.

The man holding him kicked his injured leg and he gave another yell of pain before collapsing. He felt the man loosen his grip on him, probably thinking he wouldn't resist anymore.

Bad mistake dude. Alex used his uninjured leg to sweep his legs out from under him. He gave him a sharp blow to the head before jumping into a fighting stance, pushing the pain of his knee to the back of his head.

The remaining 6 men immediately surrounded him and Alex sighed. Time to go to work. He lashed out quickly with a kick and gave another a jab to the neck. Halfway there.

The next man came at him with a knife and Alex just managed to stop him from slashing his throat. Instead the knife sliced through his shoulder and drops of blood spattered on the ground as he gasped in pain.

Kept fighting! The voice instead his head was shouting at him. He gave the man a powerful push and pulled the knife out of his shoulder as gently as he could.

Alex dodged his next blow and then slashed his throat. He whirled around, not aiming as he threw the knife directly into the eye of another attacker. One man tried to shoot him with his gun, but Alex kicked the man's hand and the gun fell out of his grip. He delivered a roundhouse kick to his temple. Another unconscious.

Alex quickly picked up the gun from the ground and fired 2 shots at the last men. He didn't even need to see where they hit- right between the eyes, like always.

Wincing at his new shoulder injury and especially his knee, Alex limped over to where Dr. Three was standing.

"It's SCORPIA's time to pay. I'm done with them." Alex lunged at the still shocked man and pinned him to the ground.

"You, you…." Three just couldn't find the right words to say. "You will pay one day…"

Alex grimly smiled at him. "I'm afraid that's not going to happen Doctor." And with that he aimed the gun at Three's forehead and fired. "I'm not taking that chance again."

He pushed the doctor's corpse off of him, ignoring the blood and his blown up head. Alex felt the adrenaline wear off and would have collapsed if had not been for Tom who raced over to him. He set Alex on a nearby chair, worry written all over his face.

"Thanks, mate." All the energy was drained out of him and all he could give was a meek thanks.

"My god Alex…is there anything I can do?" He could tell Tom was scared, his face pale and his eyes wide at the sight of all the blood. Hannah, Ashley, and Daniel had also come over, still letting all the things that happened sink in.

"My phone…table…ground…" Ashley didn't hesitate in getting what Alex needed. The screen was cracked but it was working. He called Jones' number, the only contact on his list (besides Tom's). It was picked up almost right away.

"We're almost there." Jones knew that this is what he was calling her about. When he took a deep, pain filled breath and didn't answer, Jones was obviously worried. She knew that he was injured in some way.

"Alex? Are you all right?"

"If you call me bleeding everywhere with a bullet in my knee and my shoulder injured all right…"

"Oh Alex… I'll have extra medical help and-" Alex could tell she was a bit frantic.

"Just hurry Tulip." For once the women didn't say anything about the name. He pinched the bridge of his nose wearily, glancing at the civilians around him. Oh shit. The civilians. "And grab some bloody OSAs while you're at it."

Knowing that he needed to say no more to her, Alex closed the phone and took another deep breath. His shoulder was bleeding but not as much as his leg.

Seeing that Alex needed help, Daniel took his shirt off and gently applied pressure to Alex's knee. Hot, searing pain shot up through his entire leg and he grasped onto Tom to help. Daniel and Hannah tried to wrap it as carefully as possible.

"Thanks guys…" He weakly smiled at them, grateful for their help.

"Alex…I…" Ashley looked at him. "Thank you for saving us, all of us. I know that this isn't a good time to ask what the hell just happened but…I just wanted to say thank you.

Worn out, Alex just smiled at her. He could hear sirens and multiple cars in the background. M16 had finally arrived.

He didn't really know what happened next because his vision was turning blurry but he could make out the SAS helping the civilians and handcuffing the alive SCORPIA men. Alex also saw Mrs. Jones' concerned face leaning over him and he couldn't help but say something to her.

"Never knew…you…actually cared…." He managed to rasp out. She just gave him one of her rare, small smiles before the medics arrived and carried Alex into an ambulance.

Alex had one last thought before he passed into unconsciousness.

Just an ordinary day for a teenage spy…

And there you go. Beginning's a bit slow and the ending's a bit cheesy but oh well. I know that this isn't that good but I just wanted to give it a try. Please review and tell me how I did and any mistakes. Thanks for reading my story!

-TheLuckOfTheDevil