AN: So, according to some superstitious beliefs, the number seven is considered to be lucky. Well, I can say that you are in luck today because this is the chapter that Alex and Yassen speak face to face in.
Not only that, I can also say that this story will be a companion piece to Alex Rider: Operation: The Tribal Regimine. This story explains what happens to Alex at the end of the other fanfiction piece that I wrote a long time ago. As such, come May, I will be reediting my other AR fanfic and elaborating on it up until the end where Alex sees someone enter the room he is in before he passes out. Naturally, this should be interesting about how these two written pieces will play out.
Like I said, you guys are in for a treat today and hopefully that story announcement was like the icing on a cake! So, without further notice, I give you chapter seven!
To see the familiar gates that guarded The entrance to Yassen's home and compound was a sight to behold. Yassen felt safer now than he felt on his way home. As the assassin pulled up, his employee at the entrance immediately spotted him and opened the gate. A moment later, the gate made that gringing halt noise which signaled the gate was finished moving. That was when Yassen lifted his foot of the brake and pressed down on the gas pedal. He drove within his complex and parked his car in the small parking garage near his home.
Yassen emerged from his car and looked around for any suspicious activity in the wooded area of his home. Satisfied that he could not find any, he proceeded into his home. Alex could wait a few more minutes. He had more pressing details to attend to in his office.
His home was his sanctuary. Anything in it was of reasonable value or worth, however, anything that needed to be protected was kept hidden away in one of two safe houses that only Yassen and Eric knew about. The other safe home was a home that Yassen himself would only know and he preferred to keep it that way. slowly, Yassen began shipping the few items to his other safe homes. He bought different items to replace what me transferred between homes.
Naturally, there was other safe houses that his employees knew about and often used them when completing assignments that Yassen had issued to them. These safe houses were ones that Yassen did not choose to stay in unless the circumstances were dire. This was to protect the assassin more than anything. Most of the world did believe that the man was still dead to begin with.
The door that Yassen entered through was part of the main entryway. Across from his were two grand staircases that lead in a semi-circle up to the second floor. Yassen began to climb the stairs with his small bag. His first stop would be his office. Ironically enough, Eric's room was in a nearby hallway. If all was quiet, Yassen could hear Eric play music in his room or even listen to the man take a shower. After all, what kind of contract killer was Yassen if he could not pick up on noises far away?
Yassen would not head directly to his office. He never did, instead, he turned in the opposite direction and walked to his bedroom. He would acces his office from there. It was safer. Plus, he did not want to have to deal with the guard at his office door. It was late enough as it was and Yassen still had things to do. Even then, it would be idiotic to take your suitcase into your office.
Once settled, Yassen started up his computer. When the login screen appeared, he proceeded to enter his password in. When he pressed the entered button, the screen stated that it was loading, a moment later, his desktop screen became visible and Yassen was able to begin his work.
The first thing Yassen did was open his email. The reason behind this was that he wanted to submit a final email to Herr Krämmer about the success of the job. The email was typed in a similar format to the phone discussion the two partook in earlier that day. When that was finished, Yassen pressed the submit button. The job was now finalized.
Yassen then stood up and moved to his bookshelf. Behind a set of books was a small, hidden compartment. The only was to access it would be to press a hidden button in the wood frame to open the compartment door. If you looked closely at the wood, you would think that the compartment door itself was a part of the wood's natural grain design. The compartment's door frame was virtually unnoticeable.
Inside the compartment was a USB flash drive. The USB drive was disguised as a wooden cross necklace. The USB port was located in the pendant part of the cross necklace. Yassen selected this flashdrive in case someone went snooping through his office and found the hidden compartment. If one looked inside the compartment, they would only find a necklace in there - and a cheap one at that!
Yassen returned to his desk and proceeded to transfer all the email documents and responses over to this flashdrive. He always kept information about his jobs hidden in case one of his clients tried to claim he did something wrong. This was then password protected to make it more difficult for a hacker or law official to obtain the documents surrounding Yassen's career choice.
This information would then be buried deep in the ground in the garden outside his compound and kept there for a year. This was his way of proving that he did a good job. Once, Yassen was sure that his client would not cheat him, he would proceed to dig up the flash drive then erase all the information to cover his tracks. This was a very risky thing to do, but it ensured that his clients would be truthful throughout the entire process they worked together.
Tomorrow, Yassen would bury the flash drive in the pre-dawn hours in the water proof container he purchased a while back. With a sigh, he closed the lap top and glanced at his time told him it was getting late and that he needed to go and visit Alex.
Yassen decided that it would be best to leave his office through the office door. It would save time and the distance would be shorter. Very rarely did he choose to do this and his posted guard gave him an odd look.
For some reason, Yassen felt some anxiety over seeing Alex. It had been almost a year since the two met face to face on Air Force One. That encounter resulted in both men getting shot at. Thank god Alex was wearing the bullet-proof vest or he would have been killed. If John ever found out about that, he would skin Yassen alive for not protecting his son better.
Never had Yassen felt so guarded over his emotions. He did not want them to progress any further than they had already. The thought of John practically made Yassen sad and angry at the same time.
How could a man try to persuade Yassen give up on killing people knowing that Scorpia would hunt the Russian down and kill him for insubordination. Hell, it was Alex's own godfather that murdered the Rider's in cold blood.
Yassen discovered this when he and Ms. Rothman sat down for dinner one evening. She told him that tidbit after having one to many glasses of wine. It stunned Yassen for he never felt such personal loss like he did that night since his parents - and his childhood home by association was wiped out by Yassen's own government.
Yassen snapped out of his thoughts when he emerged on the other side of the compound and saw the doors to the clinic straight ahead. One more quick glance at his watch showed that Alex should still be awake even though it was close to 11 that evening. The boy was an insomniac by trade with the work he did.
Pausing for a quick moment, Yassen took a deep breath and used his meditation techniques to center himself before he opened the door. With a calmness that Yassen achieved once more, he opened the door and went straight to the patient beds.
Pin the middle of the row of patient beds lounged Alex. He was currently keepinghimself occupied with a novel of some sort. Upon hearing the door open, Alex looked up and stiffened rather noticeable.
Yassen read the boy's body language. He could tell that Alex was having some anxiety of seeing Yassen for the first time in a while. After a moment of two Yassen coughed to try and relievthose of the tension.
What Alex said next surprised Yassen next as the boy practically choked over his own words.
"Huh, dead men do tell tales."
A small smile tried to creep up on Yassen's face over the comment just said. As far as facial movements went, only the corner of his the right side of his mouth twitched.
"Indeed they do. One could say the same thing about what you went through."
Absent-mindedly, Alex rubbed a spot on his chest right above where his heart was located. Alex probably did not know that Yassen knew about the bullet wound the boy had received. The scar tissue showed that the wound had healed not to long ago.
It took only a moment for Alex to come up with a retort.
"I never died to begin with."
"You were half-dead when I found you. It's enough to put you in the same category that I am in."
Yassen was able to judge from the facial expressions Alex formed as he thought about what Yassen had said lin his last response. Alex also thought about how he and the assassin could have another thing in common. It was rather a daunting concept. Quick to change the subject, Alex asked his next question.
"So, how did you find me? I had no clue where I was for a while."
"I found you in the basement of a house owned by the man I was paid to kill."
Yassen watched the boy's face darken quite suddenly as the boy looked down. Next thing Yassen knew, Alex replied back in a cold-hearted way that was borderline cruel.
"I hope the sick bastard got what was coming to him."
"He didn't." Alex's eyes suddenly shot up and locked into Yassen's eyes once more.
"Why not?"
"The men I sent out to complete the job failed. They were dealt with in the end."
"Then why were you at the man's home?" Alex pressed.
"Instinct told me to check the place out to confirm that the man was in fact staying there. I always listen to my instincts. You should do the same."
Yassen could tell that the boy wanted to talk, but he was quickly tiring out. Even though Alex was a teenager, it still did not mean that his body would heal best whilst he was asleep. Plus, the boy was still only able to take in clear fluids for his digestive tract had not corrected itself it. The IV that was still in the boy's arm was providing him with the nourishment that he needed from which the fluids lacked in. Alex gave a small yawn.
"Go to sleep Alex. I will still be here in the morning." With that, Yassen turned to leave. He ignored whatever remark Alex replied with as he went back to his home to go to bed as well. Tomorrow, Yassen would straighten one of the guest rooms for Alex to use until he went back home to London where the nanny remained in his uncle's home.
Twenty minutes later, Yassen finished his nightly rituals consisting of brushing his hair and teeth. It did not do to well to improperly care for yourself, not in his profession at least. If you took care of yourself, you were less likely to come down with an illness or obtain an injury. Yet, Yassen did not reflect on this concept as he turned off his lamp light and fell into a light sleep. Why should he when it was a nightly habit he performed for years now. Ironically enough, it did keep him more mentally sound than anything. Other than the comfort he took in holding a gun with his hands...
The air in Yassen's home had a frigid feel to it as Yassen emerged from his bed. A quick look outside confirmed his suspicions that it had snows early in the morning. This strangely made yassen a little happy. He had not run in snow in a while. This would be the perfect time to practice. Plus, it was cloudy outside which meant that the reflected light bouncing off the snow wouldn't bother him for a while.
Ponce properly dressed, Yassen emerged from his bedroom and went downstairs to the kitchen. Due to the long run he was planning on completing, Yassenthrobbed a water bottle from the pantry that resided in the kitchen as well as a granola bar.
There was an island bar nearby with chairs on the opposite side. That's where Yassen chose to take a seat. He ate a part of his granola bar and drankdome water. He did not want to eat to much food or he would get cramps later when he ran. It was a smart move, he would be hungry later after his run anes planned on having a "normal" breakfast then. A quick glance at the clock showed it was a quarter after 8 am.
Once his pre-breakfast meal was finished, Yassen opened the door that opened outside from his kitchen and took off into a slight jog.
The run was amazinglynblissful. It challenged Yassen and pushed him to his limits. This was exhilarating for him simply because the snow seemed to try to snow him down whenever it could. The occasional hidden (above ground) tree root tried to collaborate with the snow as well but even they could not stop the Russian from doing what he loved.
It was this that pushed Yassen deeper along the hiking/running trail just inside the wooded area of his compound that he was able to momentarily lose track of time while keeping a wary watch of his surroundings. The forest was quiet in the early morning hours and the snow some-what made loud crunching noises under his running boots. The trail partically encircled the compound and allowed Yassen and his employees to use it to run on.
Sooner than Yassen though was possible, the trail was coming to an end. There was a trail marker that noted he was at the 3 kilometer mark. Off in the distance was the building that housed the cinic and accommodation-style rooms that his employees used. Yassen did not originally plan to stop earlier but a nagging feeling told him he should go check on Alex.
Never to ignore his intuition, Yassen determined that it would be best to check on the British boy. It was just as well that he caught Dr. Morandi rush into the clinic with two security guards behind him.
This puzzled Yassen. He took off at a run as well for a sudden thought came to him: what if this had to do with Alex? Once the entrance to the clinic Yassen could see a little of the clinic inside. As he stepped through the doorway sad found that his suspicions were confirmed: Alex was in fact involved in the situation.
Whatever had happened, Yassen caught the end of it. Another clinic bed was now occupied with the nurse who was on duty. She sat there crying and was cradling what appeared to be a broken nose as the guards stepped away from Alex's bed.
"What in the hell is going on in here?!" Yassen half snarled in anger. Almost a half dozen heads turned in his direction. Everyone wore identical shocked expressions. Alex on the other hanfinal inched rather noticeably.
It was at moment Eric rushed into the clinic as well and immediately observed the scene in front of him with a clinical eye. Eric immediatly went towards the sobbing nurse in an effort to calm her down.
"well?!"
Somehow, Dr. Morandi found his voice and responded to Yassen's demands. "let's take this into my office shall we? Eric; please begin cleaning and prepping nurse Chapman's nose so that I can repair it in a few minutes." Yassen did not even wait for Dr. Morandi to finish his instructions. He immediately went into the physician's office while the two guards exited the Clinic.
