Hey, so I'm back! And I am so sorry! I really meant to get back to this sooner than I have, especially with all of the great reviews, but I was busy, and then we were moving, and then we didn't have a computer, and then we had school and were really busy, and I kept forgetting about this fanfic, and I was writing other stuff, and... yeah... lot's of useless excuses... the main point is that I am really really really sorry, and I hope you can forgive me. Anyway, to:

everyone who reviewed, story alerted, and/or favorite storied- Thank you so much!

stitcho- Thanks, and yeah, I've been planning to keep it at Ben's POV. I'm sorry I've kept you waiting.

oreoswithoutmilk- OMG, you made me think of M&M when I saw your name! Um, since you're probably confused about that, I call Martian Manhunter (from DC comics) M&M, and M&Ms Martian Manhunters. Yeah... I'm weird. Anyway, um, I'm not really sure where I came up with the idea... it was just kind of me thinking there weren't enough fem!Alex fanfics out there, and me wanting to make her blind, and... yeah, it kind of spiraled out from there...

flyaway213- (laughs) The number in your name is the same as my homeroom number! But, anyway, what? I'm sorry, but I didn't understand what you were talking about...

jesusfreak200- Actually, I am okay with slash (I love boy/boy, actually, I think it's cute), it's just that all the Eagle/Alex fics I've read have fem!Alex, so I wasn't really sure where to go if I kept it with male!Alex... Sorry, I felt the need to defend myself and slash, there. Honestly, I have no problem with what you like and don't like, I just kind of say what's on my mind... sorry.

Buttons and everyone else who asked for me to update soon- I am so sorry! I feel like I've failed or something. Anyway, on with the chapter.

I do not own Alex Rider.

Chapter Three: Hope

hope (hōp) v. hoped, hoping, hopes. -intr. 1. To entertain a
wish for something with some expectation. 2. To be confident;
trust. -tr. To look forward to with confidence of fulfillment;
expect with desire. -See Synonyms at expect. -hope against
hope. To persist in hoping for something against the odds.
-n. 1. A wish or desire supported by some confidence of its
fulfillment. 2. A ground for expectaion or trust. 3. That
which is desired or anticipated. 4. That in which one places
one's confidence. 5. Expectation; confidence. [Middle Eng-
lish hopen, Old English hopian, akin to Old Frisian hopia+.]

I paced inside the plane. The talk with Mrs. Jones hadn't gone well. It had ended with me slapping -okay, punching- Mrs. Jones in nose and then I had stormed out of the office. MI6 had practically handed Alex over to SCORPIA on a silver platter, simply because one measly secretary hadn't performed the usual background check on an Agent, and said agent had promptly kidnapped Alex as soon as he was put on guard duty. Some guard.

Now, we were inside a plane, flying to freaking Madagascar of all places, to rescue Alex. ... to rescue my little sister. Because, honestly, that was who she was now. We had gone on so many missions together, been through so much, that I couldn't call her anything but that. Little sister. I never had a little sister. Only an older sister and older brother. They were twins, so they were closer to each other than to me. Not that I could blame them, or anything. We were three years apart. Still, Mum and Dad had died, so we got closer... and now it was if there was never any barrier. It made it a lot easier. I suddenly had the urge to talk to Katie or Matt. They knew Alex, too, and they knew she was a girl. They cared for her just as much as me.

I glanced at K-Unit before pulling out my phone and wandering to the other side of the plane. I slowly dialed Katie's number. If I was lucky, Matt'd be at her house.

"Hello?"

"Katie?" I asked, suddenly feeling very small.

"Ben?"

"Yeah. Listen, I- I just had to talk to you."

"What's going on? I thought you were hanging out with your old unitmates."

"Well, we were, but then we got a mission. ... We're supposed to rescue Alex."

"Alex?" Katie gasped. She obviously hadn't expected that.

"Yeah. He was captured by SCORPIA." I put a little extra tension on the word 'he', letting her know I was with people who didn't know Alex was a girl.

"He'll be okay, Ben." I had to smile at that. Even thousands of miles away, knowing her younger brother was on a mission and her surrogate younger sister in danger, Katie knew exactly what to say. She always did.

"Thanks, Katie." I said.

"You're welcome, Ben. Hey, d'you wanna talk to Matt? He got here about five minutes ago..."

"Yeah." I decided. "Thanks again, Katie. Love you."

"No problem, Ben. Love you, too. Here's Matt."

"Ben?" Matt's voice echoed over the line, rough and hard, the opposite of Katie's soft and sweet voice.

"Hey, Matt." I choked out. He always got me to say what I felt. I could never hide anything from him.

"What's up? Katie said you were on a mission. I thought it was your week off."

"Yeah. We- Matt, I'm on a rescue mission. For Alex."

There was silence for a few minutes as Matt processes what I'd said. Anyone else may have thought he was slow, but I know the truth. He was thinking it through, seeing if there was anything I wasn't telling him. Just then, our pilot came into back, nodding to us. It was time to go.

"I'll see you later, Matt."

"Alright. Love you, baby bro."

"Love you, too."

As I hung up the phone and readied my parachute for the jump I was about to make, I realized there was something in my heart that hadn't been there before.

Hope.

I know. A really lousy, short chapter. Not to mention I changed my writing style! I'm so sorry. Usually I can keep different styles of writing for every fic I write, but I just couldn't get that today... oh, well. At least I'm updating.

And please review! I got so many great reviews last time, I can't tell you how happy I was.