No I do not own Alex Rider, or Yassen, they are fictional property of Anthny Horowitz

Enjoy :D

XxX

Alex wove his way through the crowd at the airport on his way to buy an English souvenir before his departure to America to live with the Pleasures. His past two years had been traumatic, family secretes had been revealed, he had been used and abused, and had lost his best friend in the world, but now it was all at an end. His life in the underworld was finally over. Edward Pleasure was waiting for him at gate 3, a gateway to a new life. Alex looked at the souvenirs, favouring a key ring with Chelsea written upon it with the team's colours. He placed it on the counter and waited for the cashier to finish with another customer.

Walking out of the shop Alex's caught a glimpse of a figure but it vanished as soon as he tried to focus. He examined the airport and surrounding areas grimacing. Alex ran through his mind why that image seemed familiar. Was it possible that MI6 was still watching him? For a moment Alex was filled with anger but it subsided on the thoughts that they couldn't possibly do anything to him anymore. Writing the vision off as being due to his increased ability to notice things out of the ordinary, Alex took a deep breath and continued his way towards gate 3. It was going to be difficult to start anew, and Tom & Jerry would be coming to America for the Christmas holidays. That was something to look forward to in any case.

As he was half way through the crowd, he felt someone's eyes on him, looking up he saw a figure looking down. The face was familiar and the body had easiness in its posture like that of a Ballet Master. A small but brief smile flickered across the man's face, while a look of disbelief settled across Alex's. It couldn't be, he had died and Alex had seen him draw his last breath, but there he was! Alex shook of the astonishment, but the man had left, perhaps that figure before…

"Little Alex, the saying is true, like father like son" Alex spun round to see Yassen, standing before him.

"How'd you, up there…You're dead, I saw you die!" Alex accused him.

Yassen tilted his head to one side "my last profession gave me much skill and knowledge Alex, as has yours, we are both miracle Houdini's"

"But MI6 would know you're alive…"

"Perhaps, little Alex, maybe I am, maybe I am not" A look of almost amusement submerged on the Russian's face. "But that is for you to decide, you have grown, you look much like your father now"

Alex stood looking at Yassen's face; he looked the same as he did, almost a year ago, his hair was longer. But there was something less dangerous about him "Thank You" Alex replied and after a pause Alex asked "What are you doing now?"

"Going home, Little Alex, to Russia, where I will be safe to live, and untouchable by this world we lived in, Scorpia is no more, I am free to go as I choose, partly because of you, I will be undetectable, and you?"

"America, away from my past"

"We take different ways to escape out pasts, your escort is looking for you" Alex then noticed Edward looking around for him, and the intercom voice reign out that his flight would be leaving in 10 minutes.

"Goodbye, little Alex" Yassen turned to leave but stopped, and looking over his shoulder said "Now the past is the past, never get involved with that world again little Alex, you don't belong in my world"

Alex said nothing as Yassen disappeared like a ghost in the crowd; the irony of his situation hit him. "Good Bye Yassen" he whispered. Not able to understand why, but feeling lighter than he had felt since Jack's death. Yassen had left him with the option of telling the authorities whether he was still alive. Yet Alex felt like he had finally closed a chapter of his life's book. That someone else from his past had survived with him, had beat the odds, even though Yassen was on the opposite side and had killed his uncle, Alex found no anger to channel towards the Russian. Whatever circumstance had led Yassen into the underworld Alex would never know, but the Russian had been part of Alex's life, more than he could ever know and Alex wanted to keep him a secret. Just like marking a page in a book when you find a passage that you can relate to and feel comforted by. Yassen would be that underlined passage. Alex wasn't the only one.

"Alex, Alex! Are you OK?" Edward had found him.

"I'm fine, just had rerun in my mind" Alex saw the dubious look on Edwards face, but Edward said nothing. Sometimes something's are better left unsaid.

Alex sat in his seat, turned on the radio station and flicked through the channels. 'and I will be strong, even if it all goes wrong, when I'm standing in the dark I'll still believe, that someone's watching over, someone's watching over, someone's watching over me, yeah-e-yeah oh-o-ooh, someone's watching over me…'

Alex was glad Edward had fallen asleep, he didn't know how he could explain these tears cascading from his eyes, tears of pain, sorrow and somehow now joy, about his past two years that were brought about by the the ending of a girly chic song, but sometimes Alex reasoned, it's the little confirmations found in words and those little chance meetings, that remind you of the things that there are still to live for, and above all, remind you that you are never really alone.

On a plane bound for Moscow, Mr Dimitri Gregorovich Volyadeshyn smiled. It had been a long time since he had used his birth name.

"My last profession gave me much skill…" Alex gave a start, waking from his stupor… Yassen had said 'last' profession…Alex heaved a sigh mixed of irritability and determination not to give way, he really was too curious for his own good!

XxX

Yes, I gave Yassen a 'real' name, it looked pretty sweet at the time, anyway, I hope you enjoyed it!

R&R please 0.0

Shubaltz Crazist