Chapter Seven: Training

Alex wandered blearily into the kitchen of the new house. The light streaming through the windows made him squint. He ran his hand through his shaggy blond hair. Yassen and he had talked late into the night. Questions about his father, the organization, everything Alex wanted to know. Yassen had answered them best as he could. For Alex, it had been a restless night, his mind was full to the brim with all this new information he had learned. Only in the wee hours of the morning did he catch a few hours of sleep.

Yassen stood alert at the stove cooking eggs and bacon. It looked like the man had already been up for several hours. Alex, on the other hand, felt like he could use a couple more hours of sleep. He plopped down at the simple table while Yassen set a plate of breakfast in front of him. Usually, Alex didn't eat a heavy breakfast, opting for a simple bowl of cereal or if he was particularily peckish, Jack's pancakes.

Jack. Alex felt a twinge of sorrow deep in his chest. God, he missed her so much. He would probably never see her again. Any time soon at least.

"You'll need that," said Yassen nodding towards the plate heaped with food. Alex poked at the offending eggs.

"What exactly are we doing today?" asked Alex as he began munching on the food.

"I have drawn up a schedule for you. Every morning you will run three miles outside. Then we shall move to the gym where you will be trained by a variety of teachers. Followed by a number of classes which you will find similar to the ones taught in SCORPIA. I shall be there the first couple of lessons to assess your skill level. There will be a light lunch in between," said Yassen. "We musn't neglect your studies either. I have already contacted someone who will privately tutor you in the school subjects. The evening is yours."

Alex's mouth was in an 'o' of surprise. Intense, he thought. He hurridly shoveled some more breakfast into his mouth. He felt like he was going to need it.

Several minutes later, both men walked down the front steps of their house. They had decided to forgoe the morning run and head straight to the gym. Alex was almost quivering in anticipation.

The two quietly slipped into the vast lit gym. There was already the sound of men and women intensely working out. Most of the treadmills and weightlifting spots were filled, but Yassen and Alex were not heading there.

They went straight to the back of the gym. Even more people stood around several large mats. Heavy thuds and grunts of pain were heard from the middle of the group. Some of the men cheered loudly as they watched two men attack each other. Alex and Yassen pushed towards the middle. Alex's eyes widened as he witnessed the fantastic speed at which the two opponents kicked and blocked. These were real masters at work.

The fight was finally ended as one of the men, a man with shoulder length black hair, pinned his fairer-haired opponent on the ground. The crowd gradually dispersed.

"Denkou," said Yassen politely to the Japanese man with the black hair.

Denkou turned his deep black eyes onto Yassen. His eyes flitted to the boy next to the Yassen.

"Level?" quiered the man.

Alex answered respectfully, "First Dan, black belt."

The man launched into action. There was no barely had time to raise his arms to block the attack. The next few minutes, Alex used everything he had ever learned to defend himself against the master. He was clearly over his head. Denkou moved with such skill and grace which Alex had never seen before. The man was fluid, every motion flowing into the next. Alex only managed to land only a few blows, but most were blocked. Ushiro Geri, blocked. Mae Geri Keage, he nearly fell to the floor as the man almost grasped his ankle. His favorite roundhouse kick was useless. The man was simply to fast.

Alex could feel the sweat running into his eyes and his muscles ached. However, he kept on going. A few curious people had wandered back to the mats, watching the man and boy dueling it out. He looked at Denkou and almost groaned. The man wasn't even breaking a sweat. That tiny slip of concentration, and the man slipped through his barriers.

There was a thud as Alex was pinned to the mat by the man's foot. Alex lay panting on the floor.

"Impressive," commented Denkou. "Lasted longer than I would have thought."

The floot lifted from his chest and the man pulled Alex to his feet.

"Your name?" asked the man.

"Ale-Azrael," answered Alex almost slipping up on his new name.

"Hmmm based on your fighting style, I think you will be well suited to learn some judo as well as taekwondo. Perhaps some kung fu as well. You have potential, young man."

"Thanks," replied Alex, pleased.

After the men exchanged a couple more words, Alex and Yassen proceeded to their other classes.

Weapons was taught by a severe looking German man, Soldat. He took the class to the shooting range after a brief lecture. Alex, as usual, hit every one of the targets, except for one. It wasn't good enough. Soldat required absolute perfection. Alex vowed to practice everyday until he could hit them all, circles or human targets, one hundred percent.

With his arms aching from his intense shooting at the shooting range, he proceeded to his next class. It was quite similar to poisons class he had taken on Malagosto. He remembered much of the lessons due to the graphic descriptions of each poison's effect from his last teacher.

Alex was interested to learn that Fenghuang was the ninja instructor. The graceful lady spoke reverently and comprehensively on the different techniques that ninjas employed during the missions. She even demonstrated them on unsuspecting victims in her class. Alex filed this in his head for later use.

There was light lunch in between the exhausting lectures. Alex was pleased that he had remembered a lot from his previous training, however he was abashed to realize that there was still certain gaps in his memory where he had forgot some techniques. However those holes were soon filled as the day wore on.

Finally the time came for him to meet his school subjects teacher. Alex sat down heavily in the plush chair, thankful for a rest. The tutor had not arrived yet. Yassen sat behind him, quietly watching. The man had been present in all his lessons, watching carefully and noting where Alex's strengths and weaknesses were. It was almost a bit disconcerting. Alex wasn't use to having someone constantly hovering over him.

There was a quiet click as the door opened in the front of the room. Alex almost fell off his chair, he sat up so fast.

"Miss Bedfordshire?!" asked Alex in an incredulous tone. What in the world was she doing here? He remembered the kind secretary who was always eager to help him out.

"Hello Alex or Azrael now, isn't it?" said Miss Bedfordshire. She took a seat across from his and smiled kindly.

Alex's head was whirling unpleasantly. How many more old faces and suprises would turn up, thought Alex.

Miss Bedfordshire spoke while gathering papers from her bag, "I was placed in your school to keep watch. You are the son of Hunter, it was our job to keep a look out since your parents had died in that terrible crash. We saw your potential early on and planned to introduce you to our organization if you were willing."

"Unlike MI6," she spat the word, "SHADOW do not force its members, we pefer willing people. I am most glad to see you here Azrael."

Alex sat rigidly in his chair. His whole life, people had been watching him. It was like having a stalker, well he had many of those. Not the usual kind by the least. MI6, SCORPIA, and now SHADOW. Only one of them had really given him a choice, he was finally in the right place.

"Right, so enough chitchat, we must get on with your studies. I understand you have missed at least half the course work, we must get you caught up. Let's start with maths……."said Miss Bedfordshire.

Soon the shock wore down as Alex delved deeper into his studies. He couldn't believe how much he had missed. Luckily he was a quick learner and grasped the subjects easily.

Alex managed to work through a bit of maths, english, and history that afternoon. Miss Bedfordshire bid him a goodbye and the two men had walked on home.

After a delicious supper, Yassen went out of the house. He left Alex to his own devices because he had other matters to attend to.

Bored, Alex decided to turn on the TV. He flipped through the channels listlessly, not really listening. His mind was wandering over all the things that had happened to him over the past two days.

"…….such a tragedy that a young boy's life ended in the hands of these despicable terrorists…..," announced a reporter on the TV.

The word 'terrorist' brought Alex out of his stupor. He glanced at the TV screen and was surprised to see his own faces reflected back. Well, how like MI6, thought Alex, pinning his supposed 'death' on SHADOW. Just couldn't let it get out there that someone else had bested them. Funny they don't mention SCORPIA.

Alex watched in interest as the camera panned in on his school and the reporter continued spouting a story MI6 obviously fed her. There must have been a lot of Official Secret Act forms, thought Alex humorously. He contented himself with the image of Blunt and Jones buried under a pile of heavy paperwork.

A few minutes later, he went upstairs and got ready for bed. It had been an exhuasting day. He was asleep in a matter of minutes and never heard the front door open.

AN: OMG, I haven't updated this story in like a month. I am SO sorry! I had a bit of writer's block and couldn't decide how I wanted the story to go, ya know? Also, I have been really busy this summer and just couldn't get my words onto paper fast enough. Forgive me? Fortunately for you guys, this chapter is long. YAY! So what do you think? Leave me REVIEWS!!! I have cookies!

--Folkvir