Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider, or anything you recognize from the series. I do however, own all characters and things of my own creation.

A/N: Yes, here it is, the real Chapter 3! I hope you all enjoyed the short little Halloween thingy! I would like to thank all of my reviewers (Over 10 reviews already!) so I'm going to take a minute to address some of them.

Rmiller92: Thank-You for volunteering to be my beta-reader, and also for being the only one so far to post a review for the Halloween chapter,

AlexLover!: I really am trying to get these chapters up as fast as possible, but as for the cliffhangers, they're fun to write.

Glissoning Raven: I don't really plan on making this one of those cheesy 'Im the OC and I have a crush on Alex, I get to be a spy and we go on a mission together stories' even though it looks like it might right now. That will not happen.

HawkEye DownUnder: I really am trying to eliminate the Mary-Sue by going in Christina's head a lot, and hopefully by the end of Chapter 5, I'll be able to eliminate her cheesiness all together.

Anyway, onward with the chapter!

Alone but not Alone (STILL need a better title)

Not Again

II Kaeyne II

Alex continued to stare in shock, as Mr. Crawley motioned for Christina to sit in the car. The way he was almost mechanically reacting to the situation gave the pretense that he had done this before. He showed no concern for what Alex assumed was a matter of national security.

He was sucked away from reality as a barrage of thoughts assaulted his mind. "What will she do when she knows what I am? I mean, they have to tell her now don't they? Will she have to sign the Official Secrets Act? What if I'm not the only teenage spy?" All of these thoughts raced through his mind as Christina hesitantly sat down next to him in the car, attempting to avoid his blank gaze.

She saw his eyes snap back to focus, his eyes scanning his surroundings, and she saw a moment of visible shock flash across his face as his eyes rested on her. She felt heat begin to rise to her face, and no words came to her mouth as she attempted to speak. Her words came out as a jumbled noise that nobody could understand.

Alex moved to speak, his voice coming out choked and cracked. "How did you get roped into this?" He asked, his eyes showing his genuine concern, but also an unspoken rage, that created a tension between them. Christina was unsure how to answer his question. "Should I lie? Should I tell him that this man took me off the street? Or should I tell him the truth, that I was sneaking around his house and came across a body? What about the man with the tattoo?" Her mind was racing as she tried to process her answer to the question.

"I was walking home from school, when I passed by your house. I heard a commotion, and the front door was wide open. When I entered the house, there was a man and a woman. The woman must be your guardian, Jack, that I've heard about, but I didn't have any clue who the man was. He did have a tattoo on his shoulder of a red ta-"

Mr. Crawley cut her off, as he entered the front seat of the car. "Save the rest of this conversation for when we reach the bank. There could be prying eyes and ears everywhere." He said, pausing before the word bank.

"What does this have to do with a bank? And why was an innocent woman just murdered in her own home?" Christina nearly shouted.

"All will be explained in time Ms. Langhorne, but as I said, this conversation will be continued when we reach the…relative….safety of the bank." With this, Christina sank back into the plush leather seat, and let the hum of the engine lull her to sleep.

Alex sat in the back of the car, and watched as Christina began to sink off into sleep. He couldn't help but notice the way she looked so peaceful as she slept, her face no longer showing any signs of sadness or anger, but instead almost like a painting, framed by a beautiful blonde mane. He quickly began to banish these thoughts, however, as he made the realization that he knew nothing about her. She and him were barely friends, only having the occasional discussion between classes or during lunch. It wasn't Alex's fault though; his line of 'employment' made it hard to get close to anyone at all. The one person he had ever gotten close to had gotten their life shattered, and ran away from him.

His eyes began to tear up once again as his mind roamed to thoughts of Sabina Pleasure, daughter of the journalist Edward Pleasure, who had once been a target of the pop singer gone mass murderer, Damian Cray. It was after this event that Sabina and her family had fled to America, in San Francisco. It had been quite some time since he had received an e-mail from her, and it made him feel empty, like he was forgotten and invisible to her. His thoughts were ended as he felt the car come to a stop, and he felt the engine cut off. He gently shook Christina awake to let her know that they were at the 'bank'.

She groggily stood out of the car, looking at the imposing 15 floor grey stone building, with a golden sign out front reading The Royal & General Bank. "This doesn't seem too fishy, I wonder why we are at a bank though." She thought to herself. Alex, however, had a different reaction as he stepped out of the car. As he turned to face the building, there was no curiosity or sadness roaming through his mind, only anger. He had come to loathe this building, every time he entered, he came out with an even higher price on his head. He glanced to the left of the car, and saw a familiar piece of cement. It was this very sidewalk that he had taken a bullet to a major artery, placing him in the hospital for over a month, and physically crippling him. His hand absentmindedly stretched to where his shirt concealed the small, white, circular scar on his chest. Mr. Crawley snapped them both back to attention by slamming the car door shut, and he beckoned for them to follow him inside the bank.

Alex was greeted by the same fake front he always saw, the lines of people, the tellers behind windows, the signs advertising deals and interest rates. Christina, however, was fooled, "Why are we at this bank? What does this have to do with anything that just happened? Why was that wom-" She was cut off again as Mr. Crawley turned around.

"You would do well to listen to what I said earlier, Ms. Langhorne, and save these questions until an appropriate time." Mr. Crawley then turned and began to walk towards the row of elevators in the back of the lobby. He continued along the row of elevators, until he came to the last one. He pressed a button, letting his finger linger longer than normal. Alex saw the button flash green and he suspected it contained some form of fingerprint scanner. The door to the elevator noiselessly slid open, presenting a plush interior, clad with golden handrails, thick-woven carpeting, and flawless wood paneling. The fact that MI6 even bothered to show any wealth at all surprised him.

As they stepped into the elevators, the doors slid shut again, and began to rise, not needing any prompting by pushing a button. Both Alex and Christina noticed this, but only one decided to speak up about it. "Don't elevators need a button to be pushed to operate? Why does this place seem so weird?" Christina questioned. Her incessant bickering and questioning was beginning to get on Alex's nerves, as well as Crawley's.

"All questions will be answered in time" He quietly replied as Alex felt the elevator come to a stop. Alex glanced upwards at the digital floor counter, and saw it displayed the number '07'. This puzzled him, as he knew Alan Blunt's office was located on the 15th floor. A quiet beep echoed through the silent elevator, and Alex saw the look in Christina's eye, and knew she was about to ask another question. He quickly got her attention, and held a finger up to his lip, the universal sign for silence.

She was beginning to doubt the legitimacy of this whole bank, and with the people she was involved with. The fact that Alex seemed to know exactly what was going on worried her, and she began to outwardly show it. Her eyes began to flit back and forth, and her hands began to shake. Alex took a quick glance over at her, noticing her change in demeanor. "Should I try and hold her hand? Or is this the wrong time? What do I do?" He waited another few seconds, and his mind came to a decision "Oh well, its now or never" He slowly reached over with his left hand, and gently grasped her right one. He felt her tense up for a brief moment, and then he felt her relax, and grip his hand back.

She felt his hand brush against hers, and passed it off and an accident, but then she felt his hand against her again, only this time, it held a firm, yet gentle grip. She accidentally tensed up at this contact as her mind raced. "Is Alex really holding my hand? I must be dreaming, he just doesn't seem like that kind of guy, especially right now." She passed off the notion and decided to just enjoy the moment. The elevator doors dinged open, and they were greeted by a quartet of armed guards, which were not necessarily out of place in a bank. The hallway they were led down, however, was. It was rich in décor, with the same thick carpeting and wood paneling as the elevator. At the end of the relatively short hallway, was a thick, Victorian style door. As they approached it, the guards stepped to the side, and the threesome stepped inside. A sight that made Alex almost want to cringe greeted them. Mr. Blunt and Mrs. Jones sat behind a desk very familiar to Alex. In his hand, Mr. Blunt held a manila folder, with a white label that read 'WIMBELDON'. Alex's stomach dropped as he remember what occurred there this past summer, his mind flashed past the sabotage plan, his infiltration mission, the triads, and Sabina Pleasure. "Wait, the triads? Does this all have something to do with them?" His mind continued back to thoughts of Sabina, and all of a sudden he dropped Christina's hand. He felt guilty now, he had forgotten about Sabina amongst all the chaos today, and had almost done something he would never be able to rectify.

Christina felt his hand tense against her palm, and then all of a sudden it was gone. She glanced over, and noticed his hands were already shoved deep in his pockets, and a pained look was on his face. She began to doubt herself, and her imagination began to run rampant, because she thought she was to blame for the way he was acting right now. She heard a scratchy voice sound from behind the desk, and saw the old man that she could only assume was Mr. Blunt began to speak. He uttered one sentence that made Alex begin to shake with anger. "Alex, we need you again"

A/N: Well, I think this may be the longest chapter so far, because of the review replies. I feel those help me get to know the readers better, and also lets the people who were wondering the same thing figure it out without having to type the same reply over and over. If they bother you, let me know, that's what the little button below the chapter is for! Please, review, review, and review. Don't hesitate to email me either! I got one e-mail from a reader, and it really made my day, because they took that extra step! Anyway, until next time folks!

Kaeyne