A/N : Thanks to everyone who reviewed Chapters 1 & 2~
Thanks to Yashendra2797, Phoenix Revenge, and Synchro lover for reviewing the chapters!
Phoenix Revenge : I'll be sure to make it so Alex isn't perfect. ;)
Phantom Lightning : If you've read a story by SamayouTamashi, then you probably recognize it. I got Samayou's permission to use the Raven in my story.
Thanks to Karatemaster101 for Beta-ing this chapter!
Happy Holidays everyone!
Chapter 3 - Welcome
The following day, Alex went with the guard to the shooting range again. Walking to the booth next to the door, he asked the man to give him only ten magazines. After quickly retrieving the magazines for Alex, the man left the booth. His coworker found a chair from which he would watch the teenager, and sat down.
After Alex had left yesterday, the other agents also exited the shooting range. Gossiping among themselves while returning their own trays, the man in charge of the range had heard bits on the young teenager's prowess with the firearm. Intrigued, he had hoped that the boy would return and asked another agent to take his shift when he left. Currently, the man sat near a window that overlooked Alex.
Standing in front of the targets, the agent saw Alex taking a relaxed stance and raise his gun up.
Inside the shooting range, Alex had cleared his mind of unnecessary thoughts and shot the targets. However, just as he shot the first bullet, he was brought back to Dragon 9, where he followed Ben as he rushed into the command room, shooting.
There was another man lying face down a short distance away, and Alex realized that Ben must have shot him as he came in.
It was Ash.
He had been shot twice in the chest and the life was seeping out of him. Alex could see it in the dark eyes, which were filled with pain and remorse and something that was less definable but that might have been shame.
Alex had abandoned his godfather; rejected him for what he had done to his parents. Ash would never again, be mentioned.
Anger clouding his mind, he forgot about the correct shooting form and fired out of anger. Failing to remember the Raven's strong recoil, Alex yelped and dropped the gun. Alex's guard jumped in surprise at the boy's clumsiness.
From outside, the agent had leapt up, shocked at what he had seen. The teen had been professionally composed one minute and then angry the next. His first bullet reached the center of the target while the others had wildly flown in no specific direction. Realizing that Alex was unstable, but an expert shooter, he walked over to the booth and took over. Five minutes later, Alex walked out, wearing an ice-cold mask. He handed seven unused magazines back to the agent and dragged his feet to the elevator with the guard trailing behind. Shaking his head, the agent put back the magazines and tried to forget about the young boy.
- Alex's room, 1 hour later -
"Agent Rider, Mrs. Jones is waiting for you in her office. She says to come after you have packed your belongings."
Alex sighed and stuffed everything he owned into the backpack Smithers gave him. Shouldering his bag, he followed the guard to Mrs Jone's office. John Crawley stood behind Mrs. Jones, and when Alex opened the door, they both looked towards him. Mrs. Jones gestured to the chair in front of her desk, indicating him to sit down. The young agent sat down and resignedly stared at the two.
"Alex... I hope you realize that we fully intend to keep our promise to you and Jack. We won't contact you unless it is an extreme circumstance. Mr. Pleasure will pick you up at LAX when you arrive. Crawley will drive you to Heathrow Airport. To avoid suspicion of any kind, you'll be going on a commercial airplane. However, we've put you in first class," Jones informed. She handed him ann envelope. "Inside is your ticket to Los Angeles and also, my personal number as well as Joe Bryne's. If you ever need to contact us, you can call us." Mrs. Jones looked Alex in the eye and said, "Good-bye, Alex..."
Crawley walked out from behind Mrs. Jones and ushered Alex out of the room. They both exited the bank through the front exit and Alex turned around to glance at the Royal and General Bank for the (hopefully) last time. He briefly looked at the spot where he was shot and then continued to follow Crawley.
The car was filled with awkward silence as it was driven to Heathrow Airport. When they arrived, Crawley parked the car and they both walked towards the terminal. Instead of heading towards the normal check-in area, Alex was led to a separate, secluded area. The older agent took the young boy aside.
"Alex, I need you to know how this is going to work. You'll go through airport security, but separately. The passengers have been checked to make sure they have no suspicious backgrounds or anything, so your flight should go smoothly. Now, follow me."
Leading him to a single security scanner, Alex handed the backpack filled with gadgets to Crawley. Hesitating slightly (for he was wearing the holster with Raven), he stepped forward into the scanner. The older man walked over to the screen and raised an eyebrow when he saw the concealed gun that appeared. Saying nothing, he then scanned the bag and gave it back to Alex. The MI6 agent ushered the teen towards the plane and pleasantly said good-bye.
As Alex walked up the stairs and into the plane, he looked back one last time towards his home-country.
Good-bye...
A/N : Alex's memory inside the shooting range was taken directly out of the book but rearranged to fit. Also, I'm going to try to finish the story before I upload the chapters so I can update on a regular basis / schedule. So, you probably won't get a chapter until a while... Sorry! :(
