Long time no see. This chapter has been hanging around on my laptop for months but I wasn't very happy with it and was going to improve it. However I think it might be best to just publish it and try to do better on the next chapter. Once again I am sorry for the very long wait and I can assure you that you are likely to be in for another one because I have a very busy summer ahead. However I have written out a detailed - that's to say about twenty words - plan for this story and I now know what I am doing which is always a help so hopefully it should be a little easier to get these chapters out. Sorry again for not responding to reviews but seeing as I barely have time to write I think it's a miracle that I even remember to mention them here. So thanks to Sabsi13, Ryuusquall, SweetlyDesolated, Siphor, bb, Tethis and Bumpkin and also to all those who added this story to favourites or their alerts. Bye for now.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for the rights to Alex Rider. Not.

Chapter 4

Cub pushed past Wolf in the narrow space at the top of the stairs, as the noise of the doors crashing open further down the landing below reached their ears. The teenager folded quickly to his knees so that his eyes were level with the padlock, swinging his bag round in front of him and unzipping one of the pockets at the side of the bag.

Wolf watched as Cub removed a roll of material from the pocket and unfolded it to reveal a set of pin/tumbler lock picks. Realising that Cub meant to pick the lock he swung around, drawing his weapon, with Eagle at his side. "We've got your back," he said quietly to Cub so as not to draw attention to them, although it wouldn't be long until the MI6 agents noticed the open door at the bottom of the stairs anyway.

Cub worked fast, words spoken to him from his uncle long ago whispering in his head as he worked the lock. Lock picking was just one of many skills that his late uncle had seen fit to equip him with, and although working with a pin/tumbler lock pick set was perhaps easier, he was just as happy working with a strategically bent nail and a paperclip.

Footsteps pounded down the corridor below and then slowed. Wolf carefully shifted his position, flicking the safety off his gun, estimating that the open door had probably just been noticed and that the agents were now stealthily moving in. "Hurry it up Cub!" He growled.

Barely after he had spoken however, he heard the rasp of the chain signalling that Cub had succeeded in picking the padlock. Wolf turned with Eagle as Cub straightened up, zipping the pocket on his bag back up and then they slipped through the door as one.

Cold air hit them hard as they stepped out onto the roof closing the door quietly behind them. Immediately Wolf and Eagle scanned the rooftop, locating possible routes of escape and looking for anything they could use to block the door, as there wasn't anyway of fixing the padlock onto this side of the door.

The roof was large, flat and concrete with the odd aerial spiking into the dark sky above them. A few pieces of rubble, left behind by repairs taken place a long time ago were scattered here and there but nothing that could help to block the door.

"There!" Eagle said suddenly, pointing to their left. Cub and Wolf looked to where he was gesturing. The building that was next to the block of flats on this side had a roof that was slightly lower than the one on which they were currently standing. From where they were stood it was hard to judge the distance but it couldn't be more than a meter.

Not yet knowing how they would get down from this second roof, but knowing that they had to get moving they set out at a run, Eagle and Wolf tucking their guns back into their holsters.

As they reached the edge of the roof, they leapt together and Cub heard the sound of the door behind them banging open as the roof of the second building rushed up to meet him. Cub felt the balls of his feet kiss against the concrete, effectively absorbing the shock into his legs, which he stiffened slightly, although not so much that his knees would be injured and then leant forward and rolled. He groaned slightly as the impact tugged at his still recent injuries and stumbled a little as he sprang up from his roll.

At either side of him Wolf and Eagle immediately began to run and Cub hurried after them, pain continuing to jolt through him. Through his fuzz of pain however he registered the sound of gunfire and began to weave and spread out slightly from his companions so as not to present so easy a target.

Neither Wolf nor Eagle were yet to return fire, it hadn't got to that point yet. They would only risk shooting back if it was really necessary or else the pursuit might become deadly on both sides. Right now, the agents were aiming low, all of the bullets ricocheting off the concrete at their heels. This was slightly reassuring to Cub as it proved that he so far had MI6 fooled, if they knew the whole story they would be aiming to kill by now.

Cub put on extra speed as a bullet struck the concrete a little too close to his heel, adrenaline spiking once more in his blood and quelling his tiredness and pain as it came. He was following Eagle, who in turn was following Wolf who seemed to know what he was doing, but Cub couldn't help feeling a stab of doubt as the dark-haired man led them closer and closer to the edge of the roof that overlooked the street. From here it must be at least a two-storey drop to the ground below and yet Wolf was racing towards the edge as though he intended to jump.

And then the man launched himself into space, but Cub didn't slow as Eagle too took off, instead following them, closer and closer to the edge…and then over.

He had had perhaps half a second to judge the jump before he'd been forced to take off, his speed too much for him to simply check, calculate and then jump. For a window of time too small to barely consider he was in the air and then he slammed into the metal barriers at the edge of the scaffolding. He was sure that he would have gone over, had Eagle not seized him by the back of his shirt and pulled him back so hard, that this time he impacted against the side of the building.

They had landed onto a thin, planked walkway; part of scaffolding that had been erected at the front of the building beside Wolfs. Cub didn't get a chance to recover from the jump before Eagle was dragging him away from the wall, encouraging him to run.

He followed the two soldiers as they ran at top speed along the scaffolding, skidding to a stop behind them as they came to a hole in the scaffolding. Without stopping Wolf quickly climbed down the ladder that led from this level of scaffolding to the one below. Eagle seized hold of Cub once again and shoved him in front of him, onto the ladder.

As soon as Cub's feet hit the planks he twisted round and raced after Wolf, quickly followed by Eagle. He spared a glance over the edge of the scaffolding and his stomach twisted as he saw that there were agents converging on the street below them, forming a semi-circle that would effectively box them in once they reached the street.

He wasn't given much time to observe the scene however, because then Eagle grabbed hold of him once more, shoving him onwards. Cub was suddenly aware that he had drawn his gun, and that it was vaguely pointed in his direction as the man ran. In the brevity of the time that he got to survey the man as he turned him around, he saw that his eyes were set and dark with resolve. Unable to ponder this, feeling hopelessness in every aspect of his being, he ran on.

The agents simply waited for them as they made their way down the scaffolding, a few of them kept their weapons trained on them as they made their descent, but they knew that there was nowhere for them to run.

Tasting defeat, Cub's feet hit the pavement. But then, unexpectedly, Eagle seized hold of him again and Cub felt the cold touch of a barrel against his temple.

Frozen up, Cub quickly worked out the easiest way to pull out of the man's grasp, disarm him and draw his own weapon, but instead of immediately doing so, he waited. Although every instinct in his body recoiled against the touch of the gun, he didn't move.

He was confused and didn't understand what Eagle was doing. Different scenarios chased each other around his head, but he knew it was better to act on solid information than on impulsive guesswork.

The agents who were surrounding them had instantly shifted their aim onto Eagle as he put the gun to Cub, and Wolf whirled round. He must have comprehended the situation more fully than Cub did, because he inclined his head fractionally before stepping up beside Eagle, drawing his own weapon and turning to face the semi-circle of agents.

"Hope you're a good actor kid…cus we've got one hell of show to put on here," Eagle growled in his ear, just loud enough for Cub to hear him, a fierce expression fixed upon his face. Finally understanding what was going on, and realising the part he had to play Cub immediately fixed the man with his coldest glare. "I never really liked drama," he hissed back.

He rather felt that the acidic look the soldier was giving him now was more genuine. Eagle didn't get a chance to respond however, because the armed semi-circle of men was breaking up and the three people, that they had seen from the window getting out of the smart silver car, were walking forwards. As they stopped to stand in front of Cub, Wolf and Eagle, the ranks of armed men closed behind them.

Cub recognised Blunt and Jones, one so grey and blank that they could have blended in with the skyline and the other barely concealing a look of concern. The third person, a well-built, balding man who looked to be in his mid forties, cutting an impressive silhouette in a crisp black suit, was someone who Cub did not recognise.

"Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Martin," Blunt spoke as if he was greeting them into his office. Cub realised that Mr. Cassidy and Mr. Martin must be who Wolf and Eagle actually were. It was strange to think this, although he had always known that the names he knew them by were only codenames. He felt a ridiculous desire to laugh.

"Get your men out of our way Blunt," Eagle snarled

Blunt didn't register any emotion in response to this demand, not that Cub had expected him to. However, apart from annoying and mystifying him as that particular trait of Blunt had always done, it also told Cub that the little charade that Eagle and Wolf were going to try to pull off was not going to work. Blunt was not a fool and his ability to disconnect from his emotions would mean that he could look on this situation with an efficient and unbiased viewpoint.

Realising this, and knowing that the plans that had been drawn up the night before had just been massively altered, if not destroyed, in the few seconds he had before Blunt responded he began to gather his thoughts and try to think up a way to salvage the situation.

"I'm disappointed in you Alex. I'd judged you to be less foolish than this…" Blunt said smoothly, over the noise echoing in Cub's head. A surge of anger spiked in the boy at these words. It irritated him that Blunt thought he could demean him like this. It wasn't as if Cub even cared very much what the man thought of him. And he knew that Blunt's character profile of him was as interchangeable as the body kit of a flash car. At one moment, he could be a hero and a valuable asset that Blunt simply could not replace and at the next he was nothing, something to be lied to, manipulated and used.

Deciding not to give Blunt the pleasure of a response, Cub instead, having come to his verdict on his current situation, stepped forward out of Eagle's grip, who didn't try to stop him, until he was face to face with Blunt. "I want to make a deal." He said just as smoothly as the man had spoken before.

"What are you talking about?" Blunt asked and if there could have been emotion on his face Cub knew that at that moment it would have been confusion. Cub glanced past his shoulder at Eagle and Wolf who had both lowered their weapons and were now watching Blunt and Cub with apprehension and appeared as bewildered at Cub's words as Cub knew Blunt felt.

He turned back to Blunt. "Can we talk about this somewhere private?"