Chapter 2
Eight-year-old Aleksandr Gregorovich was sitting on the grass at the edge of a large field strewn with practice dummies. The kind used for martial arts. At the moment the field was empty save him and the dummies. A black cloth was folded twice and wrapped tightly over his eyes making it impossible to see the metal pieces of varying size that covered the ground at his feet. His hands calloused, but still small with his age were expertly assembling four different types of hands guns only to disassemble them and start again.
Yassen had told him to practice with the guns until he could assemble, disassemble, and reassemble each one while staring the assassin in the face. Yassen somehow always made it particularly hard to concentrate so Aleks had stayed to practice long after the others had left. His hands did not freeze, but his head turned when he heard the sound of footsteps on the grass. There was the slightest crunch as the stiletto heel of the person's shoe broke the thin outer layer of soil.
"Hello Julia." Aleks said pleasantly throwing a smile in her direction. The head of Scorpia's most recent project knelt down beside him her minty breath wafting across his face.
"It's time to come in Alex. We wouldn't want you catching cold." Aleks barely stopped himself from frowning. She never pronounced his name right, and unlike many of the recruits and teachers she never even tried. He was not Alex Rider and, no matter how proud of his father he was it would never make him want to be related to the sick man that was Ian Rider. He was Aleksandr Gregorovich and nothing would ever change that. Anyway he couldn't listen to her, Yassen had told him to stay out here and practice until he could do it perfectly and Aleks wasn't convinced he could yet. He told Julia as much leaving out the first part. He could hear the smile in her voice.
"Oh, I don't think Yassen would mind all that much and if it makes you feel any better I'll take all the blame ok? Besides I want to show you something." A young boy's curiosity could never be dimmed. Fortunately for him curiosity only killed the cat.
"Really? What is it?" Aleks thought he had seen everything on Malagosto. Julia paused for a long moment.
"Why don't you come with me and find out." Aleks shrugged to himself and stood without help, but when he reached to removed the blindfold Julia's hand stopped him.
"Leave it on Alex." Confused the boy tilted his head up toward the sound of her voice which had become strange.
"Why?" Julia didn't answer for a long second, but when she did her voice was back to its cheery, mischievous self.
"It's a surprise Alex and you wouldn't want to spoil it." Something told him to be wary of her quick change in tone, but curiosity overrode his better judgment. With Julia's hand on his shoulder to guide him he walked back into the maze of supposedly run-down buildings that made up his home. They stopped in a place that Aleks didn't know, at least not by smell, sound, and touch. Julia stopped him and pressed him gently against the wall so he wouldn't trip over anything.
"Julia what's going on? Where are we?" She didn't answer but he felt her presence kneel down in front of him and felt her long-nailed fingers undoing the knot at the back of his head. As the blindfold slid down over his nose Aleks caught a glimpse of bare stone walls around him before the cloth was slammed into his mouth so hard his head jerked backwards. The knot was retied so tightly that it cut into his cheeks and he felt the cold grasp of metal around his wrists. Julia caught his struggling body from behind and pulled him close against her the long fingers of her hands splayed across his chest.
"Now, now Alex. Be a good boy why don't you? Don't you want your surprise?" Panic was setting and Aleks shook his head hurriedly. Disappointment entered her voice as she spoke again. "But you were so excited earlier, and I so look forward to giving it to you." Her hands were roving caressing every part of his body paying special attention to his chest and hips. Slowly Aleks was getting his mind back from the blind panic. He knew she always carried a knife in her right pocket. Now if only he could get to it.
As his plan became concrete in his mind Julia's hands dipped below his hips. Aleks shuddered horribly, his plan momentarily forgotten, as she caressed his most private part. As he struggled harder she pulled him closer to her giving him the perfect opportunity to snatch the switch blade and something else out of her pocket. She caught the movement and stole the blade from his hands flicking it open at the same time so it nicked the back of his hand. She released him so she could smile threateningly while watching the reflection of the sun on the knife through his blood. Aleks backed against the wall fumbling with the little silver key.
"Children shouldn't play with knives." Her voice was motherly and scolding despite the fact Aleks had been playing with knives since he was five months old. "They could get hurt." The lock clicked open on one of the rings around his wrist just as she grabbed his waist pulling him down so she was laying over the shuddering child. A small whimper rewarded her as she dragged the tip of the knife down over Aleks' chest a thin line of blood appearing between the halves of his shirt. She drew another and another until the shirt was mere rags hanging off his body. Each line was shallow, nonlethal, and more painful than the last.
Finally when his chest arms and legs were littered with cuts she seemed satisfied for the moment; sitting back and watching as he bled sluggishly. Leaning down on one elbow she spoke in a thoughtful voice.
"I've always wondered what it was like to be a man. To have all the power to cause all the pain. Then I realized it didn't need to be a man to know exactly what that felt like. So I decided to… experiment on the first good-looking boy I came across." She glanced down at him still twisting the knife. "Lucky you Alex." She used the knife to slash through his belt throwing it off to the side. When she was preoccupied with the button on his pants Aleks struck out with his feet propelling her backward a bit. The knife clattered to the ground and Aleks lunged for it wrapping his small hand around the wooden handle.
They fought for control of the weapon and Aleks could feel a bruise spreading over his eye, but finally the knife in his hand hit flesh. Julia screamed, but Aleks continued stabbing downward until she moved no more. Footsteps hurried over stone coming nearer and wearily Aleks turned to face another threat. When he caught sight of familiar blond hair and blue eyes the knife slipped from limp fingers. Someone was suddenly cradling him.
"Aleks. Oh Aleks." The man didn't seem capable of saying anything else, but Aleks didn't mind. The correct pronunciation of his name and the familiar Russian accent was enough to calm the boy into sweet healing unconsciousness.
Yassen did not even glance at the unmoving body of his superior though he heard several of the recruits behind him gasp. He had eyes only for the blond boy huddled in the background. The knife was still clasped tightly in his hand blood dripping from the blade down his arm. In fact his entire body was soaked with the red liquid. Struggling to hold back his raging emotions Yassen walked stiffly forward and knelt down in front of his ward.
"Aleks?" The boy didn't respond his gaze was somewhere in the distance and his breathing was labored with stress. "Aleks!" He said again his voice louder drawing the attention of the men and women behind him. They turned and immediately released their holds on Julia Rothman, or her corpse. "Aleksandr!" Yassen commanded. Aleks looked up his eyes losing their glaze. The knife clattered on the stone.
Yassen reacted without thinking immediately scooping the boy up into his arms. "Aleks. Shh Aleks you're alright." He pulled away the gag throwing it harshly behind him hoping it landed on the bitch that did this. Yassen was tempted to turn and spit on her as well, but he kept his face emotionless. He paused before turning the corner. "Leave her." He ordered his voice icy. "She is worth nothing." The recruits obeyed without a second thought. They cared much more for the bleeding boy, not that they would show it before a teacher or even each other.
A door shut softly breaking through the fog of unconsciousness. Aleks shifted fighting against the weight that seemed to have settled itself on his eyelids. He opened them slowly to the face of Dr. Karl Steiner the head of Scorpia's medical program and resident physician.
"Well hello there Aleksandr. How are you feeling?" Aleks caught a glimpse of Yassen in the shadows behind the doctor. The elder assassin's face was blank and Aleks wondered what he had done wrong. Resisting the urge to shake his head to clear it Aleks turned his attention back to the doctor.
"I'm fine." He rasped unconvincingly. Coughing a bit he winced guiltily. "I guess I could use some water." The doctor nodded and walked out giving Yassen a brief look before leaving them alone. No one spoke and the doctor returned handing Aleks a cool glass. He waited until the boy had finished and took the glass with him as he left.
"Try not to kill each other." He muttered in the doorway. Both the room's occupants heard the statement but neither made any type of move to acknowledge it. A staring contest was taking place between master and pupil. As was usual Aleks looked away first. Guiltily he fiddled with the edge of the sheet covering him. Gathering his courage Aleks spoke.
"What did I do?" The assassin jerked in surprise the look on his face mirroring that of someone who has just begun choking on a piece of food and has just realized that the food just isn't coming out.
"What do you mean?" He demanded moving toward the bed. Aleks tried not to flinch still not knowing what Yassen was angry about. "Do you not remember what happened? What you did?" Aleks shuddered. No he remembered with perfect clarity what had happened with Julia Rothman, and he told Yassen so.
"I remember what I did. I just don't know what I did wrong. What I did to make you so upset with me." Aleks closed his eyes for a moment preparing for the dressing down that was probably about to occur. To his utter surprise Yassen was sitting on the bed beside him when he opened them again. There was something in those blue eyes that he could not place. An emotion that stood out amongst its rarely seen fellows but did not allow you to decipher it. Yassen suddenly spoke pulling his thoughts away from the complex emotion.
"Aleks, you put yourself in danger, even though it was unwitting, I feel it gives me a very firm cause to be angry with you. I don't know what I would do if something happened to you." The tiniest sarcastic smile crossed his face. "Short of killing whoever caused it that is." Aleks looked up hopefully, but trying, like his mentor, to maintain a steely disposition.
"So you are not angry with me?" Yassen leaned over and took the boy in his arms, an action that became more and more rare as he grew.
"No, I'm not angry at you. I am angry that you had to deal with a situation like that… at all. And I had hoped you would have a bit more preparation before you made your first kill." Aleks looked up at him questioningly from the circle of pale arms. He hasn't thought about his actions before reacting. She was hurting him and he had reacted just as Yassen and Scorpia had trained him to.
"Isn't that what you have been teaching me to do? I didn't mean to hurt her. I can apologize if you want me to." Apologizing was the last thing Aleks wanted to do. He never wanted to see that woman again much less be in her presence and speak civilly to her. Maybe he had over reacted, but it was so scary what she was doing. Yassen's arms tightened around him and Aleks was surprised and a little unnerved by the unusual show of emotion from his mentor. "Yassen?"
"Aleks you won't be apologizing to Julia," He spat at the dirty taste her name left in his mouth, "any time soon."
"Why?" Yassen took a deep breath. He had been prepared to comfort a hysterical Aleks who remembered what he had done. He had been prepared to deal with the blank impassiveness that meant he remembered and was not dealing. He had been prepared for every different scenario… except this one. Nothing had suggested that Aleks didn't know what he had done in his defense. Yassen was almost unwilling to do it. He couldn't say the words that would corrupt whatever innocence that poor boy had left after living in the training headquarters of the most ruthless criminal organization in the world. His hesitance almost showing, he began to speak.
"Aleks, Julia is dead. She didn't survive your… attack." Wide-eyed Aleks stared up at the man his head shaking slightly in an unconscious denial of the words. A choked sob escaped him and he slumped in the elder assassin's arms. "Shh… You are alright Aleks. Shh…" The words soothed him and soon the disturbing information was tucked away in the back of his mind and he was able to speak coherently again, immediately begging forgiveness for his reaction.
Yassen was stunned. The boy's reaction was perfectly acceptable for someone who had just experienced their first kill within the safety of Malagosto and was at least fifteen. An eight-year-old child should be curled in a corner sobbing terrified of everyone and everything. Then again this was John's son. Riders rarely did what was expected and the boy's upbringing must be taken into account. Apparently being brought up with Scorpia had its good and bad sides.
"Are you sure you are fine Aleks?" He asked ignoring the boy's apologies. Aleks nodded quickly, too quickly, and pressed a hand against his forehead. A glass of water and a little white pill appeared in front of his face.
"Thank you." Yassen nodded examining his charge for any signs of distress. There was nothing. He winced when his head, wrists, chest, practically his entire body moved, but his eyes were clear if still a little wide.
"You should get some sleep, let your body heal." Aleks pouted for a second but lay back against the pillows obediently. Yassen held back the voice that told him to act like a mother hen and made to leave. Before he had even passed the end of the bed a timid voice was calling him back.
"Yassen?" The Russian turned one eyebrow quirked. Aleks smiled slightly at his expression. "Could… could you stay? Just for a minute! Please?" Yielding without hesitation Yassen returned to his place at Aleks' side stretching his lithe body out over the covers and wrapping the small boy in his arms. When Aleks' breathing evened out Yassen carefully untangled himself and slipped out of the room. Within the three inches that made up the doorway his face changed back into its usual apathetic blankness.
I always thought Julia Rothman was a sick twisted, demented woman. So i wrote her that way and killed her off pretty damn quick! I'm not really sure about the value of this chapter yet the plot bunny just wouldn't leave me alone!
Review :D
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