A/N- Down but not out ;)
-Grey.
"What no hug?" Amber prompted, feigning a hurt expression as she lithely sprung off the table.
"Uh sure." Hex quickly obliged, she seemed more mature since he had seen her last; more woman and less girl. She was wearing her hair down at shoulder length and expensively straightened. Amber's makeup as usual was immaculate, yet modest for the occasion.
Quite aware of the large number of onlookers still, Hex stepped forward on awkward legs and wrapped her into a friendly cuddle.
He had meant it to be short, sweet and somewhat discrete, but once she was in his arms that plan went out the door.
Her exotic scent, always so intoxicating, had him dizzy and overwhelmed. Amber leaned her head onto his chest for the embrace and it filled him with warmth and strength. Despite a slight blush of colour in his face, he lowered his cheek down to rest on her head. At the small chorus of 'awws' and sniggers he defiantly opened his eyes to glare down the various offenders.
Chief offenders Li and Alex copped the worst of it.
We haven't seen each other in person in over 6 months, Hex justified their intimate greeting.
"I told you not to come here." He spoke in a quiet voice as they separated.
"You were in trouble, how could I not?" Amber softly replied, knowing he would have done the same for her.
Playfully she slid a finger up under Hex's chin.
"Besides, someone has to bail you out, Codeboy." She teased him with a twinkle in her hazel eyes.
"Is that right?" Hex cocked a jet black eyebrow at the audacity.
"So that is Amber?" A sickly pale Dos asked Alex in a very small voice, where they stood together several metres away.
"Yep, she uh.. Takes a bit of getting used to." Alex explained as best he could.
The still largely catatonic Dos didn't reply and just continued to watch the pair flirt and tease each other. It was a different side to Hex than what she had ever seen before.
Noticing her staring at them, Alex felt obliged to elaborate.
"Her and Hex have a special kind of.. Dos?" Alex turned back and realised the female hacker had quietly disappeared.
"Alex!" Amber cried, bounding over to greet him.
"Oh you noticed I'm here too?" He derisively observed, as she pulled him into an enthusiastic hug. It lasted significantly less time than Hex's one did, bystanders would later testify.
"Are you jealous Sweetie?" Amber mocked him, dodging the jibe.
Alex mischievously poked two fingers into her ribs on one side and ended her hug with a yelp.
"Green is such an ugly colour on you, Alex." Amber ridiculed him. It was actually his favourite colour, for obvious reasons.
Brushing it off, Alex did his leader duty and got down to business.
"Speaking of green, did ya happen to bring the Hulk with you?" He asked.
Amber rolled her eyes.
"Do not ever let him hear you calling him that; his ego is overblown enough as it is." Amber warned Alex in desperation.
"Too late, I have estupendo hearing as well as strength!" A loud accented voice boomed right in Alex's ear. A huge hand clapped him on the shoulder in a friendly fashion.
Sure enough the burly Argentinean was there too, a wide grin cockily stretched across his face. Hulking was however not a bad description for the large lad, with his formidable physique and giant hands.
His dark curly hair was even longer than when Alex had seen him last and only served to further the roguish look he was always going for. He stood out from the crowd in his more rustic style of dress and finished off the cowboy look with a stylish, but well worn brown and black wide brimmed western hat. He looked every part a true Gaucho of the Argentine plains.
The small crowd of female admirers he had fought his way through, seemed to like it anyway.
Alex slapped hands and knocked shoulders with his good friend in an appropriately brotherly fashion.
Hex having obviously already greeted Paulo, took the chance to steal his cowboy hat and try it on. He quickly gave it back upon realising that it messed up his spiked hair.
Paulo decided it was a better fit on Li though, who had just re-emerged with Dos once more in tow and he placed it heavily on her. It was so large it fell down over her eyes, but Li just laughed and pushed it further back on her head.
The group of friends broke out in laughter at how funny it looked on her. It was the nervous laughter born from a stressful event and it served as a pressure valve.
Murmurs of surprise were going through the cafeteria at the arrival of the two strangers and most astonishingly at their apparent friendships with Li and Hex.
'Friendship' was used loosely in description for Hex and the American girl, by those that had seen their reunion.
It was a strange sight for most of the students to see the usually withdrawn hacker so demonstrative and overtly happy. Most people assumed that Li and the other computer geeks were Hex's only friends.
Li didn't really seem to have much in common with most of the other girls of the school and Hex in turn shunned the friendship of most of the other guys outside of his immediate group. Heck, he had been in one fight or another with many of them at some point.
Starting to catch snatches of what was being said or discussed, Hex brought the group in with a wave.
"We need to talk, how about we get out of here?" He suggested quietly. Hex was acutely aware of how much the events of today were damaging his tough enigmatic image he had so carefully cultivated at school.
"Can we go see Admin at the hospital?" Dos timidly suggested.
"Sure, we can at least try and see him now." Alex agreed, knowing that visitors were often not very well received in the immediate setting of a medical emergency.
"I'd like to see them stop us.." Li added cracking her knuckles and tugging at the brim of her new hat.
"You'll have to tell us the story on the way.." Amber demanded, leading the way out to the car she had rented from the airport.
Alex whistled in admiration of the latest in the Rolls-Royce series, it probably cost more than his parents' house to buy new. It was one classy ride, pitch black and intimidating.
"Extravagant, as always." Hex teased Amber, something he had missed, although he would never admit it.
Amber proved how mature she was by poking her tongue out at him before smiling cruelly.
"Well I was going to let you drive it, Hex…" She mentioned in false disappointment at his disapproval.
"She handles like a dream…" Paulo murmured quietly in awe, he had fallen in love with the car the instant that Amber had reluctantly let him drive them over from their hotel.
"I didn't say extravagant is bad!" The hacker quickly backtracked, beginning the flow of flattery and personal compliments he heaped on the girl in hopes of re-earning the privilege.
Li made a fake vomiting noise as he mentioned for the third time, Ambers rare combination of both beauty AND generosity.
After much flattery and even the promise of a back massage, Amber gave a relenting look and passed him the keys.
It was accompanied by Alex and Li making the sarcastic simultaneous actions and noise of cracking an imaginary whip in the air.
The pussywhip as the gesture was later explained to Paulo; a female motivation tool and a point of mockery between affected males. Hence the saying 'he is whipped'.
Hex was beyond caring since he got to drive the new Rolls-Royce, Alex did not.
Amber was more amused at the four remaining passengers having to sort the seating shortage.
Five minutes later they were off to hospital, Alex sitting very uncomfortably on Paulo. He grumbled about the subpar arrangement to a smug Li, who gladly reminded him who had won the fight over that particular seat. Alex needed very little reminding he still had the bruises to prove it.
If Dos had thought Hex and Li's friends were weird before, this had only been confirmed, but at least she had been reserved one of the actual seats. Always the gentleman, Paulo had of course waggled his eyebrows and offered a seat on his lap if she would prefer.
He too earned some bruises from Li.
Trying to park at a hospital is the same regardless of the country or city; difficult. There were either no parks or those available cost as much as surgery.
Hex performed the most cautious parking he had ever done in the rented Rolls, he suspected the security deposit alone had at least 4 figures to it.
Piling out of the car, the six teens made their way into the hospital, following the signs through to the Intensive Care Unit where Admin was currently admitted according to a phone call with his parents on the way over.
Upon arrival, they were collectively startled to see the young hacker awake and sitting up in bed. He was of course tapping away on a laptop, but looked up with a wane smile as he realised who his guests were.
"Hey," He rasped weakly.
Anything else he may have wanted to say or ask were squashed out of him as Dos smothered him with a hug.
Hex fought back a grin at his friend, who was known for her lack of emotional displays.
Remembering why she was so emotional helped bury his smile.
"Back in the world of the living I see." Hex wryly noted with a tugging at the corner of his mouth as Dos stepped back once more, her eyes hidden behind a curtain of hair that had fallen down in her face.
"With some thanks to you guys I hear.." Admin chuckled softly.
Pale and propped up, the usually frail hacker looked even more fragile than usual. The steady jump of electricity on his cardiac monitor sat at the head of his bed, testament to his serious condition. An intravenous line snaked away from his left arm and fed through a steady slow drip of a clear fluid from a litre bag on a hook.
"Hex did give you mouth to mouth," Li informed their friend with a smug grin. There would be no hugs from her, just low blows.
Admin made a show of gagging and spitting for his audience.
"I was hoping it was you giving the mouth to mouth, Li." Admin countered, waggling his eyebrows in what he thought was probably a suggestive manner.
Beside him, Dos gave a short snort of laughter.
"Admin, meet Paulo." Li replied instead, pushing the large Argentine front and centre.
The two shook hands and Paulo showed him what a real cocky grin should look like.
"Not even if I was dying huh?" Admin softly whispered to Dos, as Paulo stepped back.
Dos nodded sadly in confirmation before tensing up where she sat on the edge of his bed.
Hex had stepped forward this time and he had someone in tow.
"Amber, this is Admin." He introduced his friends.
Admin took a second to take in the full beauty of Amber and the way Hex stood beside her.
"Usually he just comes with a computer not a heart monitor." Hex joked as Admin still hadn't said anything yet.
Slowly Admin raised a hand to take Amber's in greeting.
"We've heard a lot about you.." He informed her in a familiar knowing tone.
Amber released his hand to send a curious look back at Hex, Admin dropped his hand and let it fall on top of Dos's own.
It might have been the odd lighting in the room, but Amber could have sworn with amusement that Hex's cheeks darkened red with her accusing glance, before he conspiratorially pointed to the unwitting Li beside him. Amber indulged him with a generous nod and a not so generous roll of her eyes. That didn't stop her smiling though.
"How are you feeling, Admin." Alex piped up.
"Ratshit, Alex. My chest is killing me." The teen complained rubbing his aforementioned sternum, purple bruising had already come up where the CPR had been performed.
"Beats being dead." Paulo mumbled under his breath, earning him a hard punch in the arm from Li.
"My throat is raw from when they crammed some tube down it." Admin carried on, obviously having not heard Paulo.
"And I won't be doing much gaming on this hand." He finished, holding up a bandaged right hand for them to see.
"No I guess not." Alex lamely answered, he felt like there wasn't a right thing to say.
"But I'm alive." Admin added quickly realising he had sounded ungrateful.
"Thank you, guys.." He awkwardly trailed off.
"Do you remember what happened?" Li asked him after a moment had passed.
"Well being the athletic bloke I am, I had just beat Hex in a race to the classroom." Admin started recounting with his usual dramatic flair.
"Ha!" Amber laughed at this fresh piece of information. Funnily enough Hex had neglected to mention that part where he was beaten in a race by one of the least athletic people in a school of over 600.
"I turned the computer on; Boom! Suddenly there was this blinding flash and that is the last thing I remember." The scrawny hacker finished, pushing his glasses back up further on top of his nose.
"You got electrocuted, Adam." Dos grimly summarised for him, her voice flat.
"I know, I'm still quite shocked by it all." Admin made light of her serious tone.
Everyone groaned at the terrible pun, further stretching the hacker's amused grin.
"Obviously his brain is still a little fried, we should leave him to rest." Hex suggested, noting how drained his friend looked even from the short conversation.
Alpha Force said there good byes and quietly filed out of the room, Dos remained behind at Admins side. If anyone noticed they were too polite to comment.
Back to just the team once more they stood in an empty corridor for an impromptu meeting. The foreign members were caught up on all the additional details of the past few days that couldn't be brought up in front of a non-member.
"So the bounty has been taken down, but the events of the last couple of days seem like more than just a coincidence." Alex finished his summary.
"Looks like." Paulo agreed, his thick fingers absentmindedly turned a small syringe over and over, pulling the plunger out and pushing it back in. Paulo was a fiddler when he was thinking.
Li had no idea where he had picked it up from, but she dearly hoped it wasn't used.
Amber's nose was turned up at the universal hospital smell; disinfectant and bad food. She hated that smell, having spent plenty of her low hours in such a facility. It brought back some serious bad memories.
Hex had been quiet a long time and finally piped up having obviously been pondering something.
"Does it occur to anyone else that the two 'accidents" He created quotation marks in the air with his fingers.
"Both occurred to us at school."
"Maybe more than two accidents actually." Li chimed in.
Alex nodded in agreement.
"A recent catastrophic climbing rope failure now seems suspicious in light of the other two events." He granted.
"And again all at school." Hex pointed out.
"So someone at your school is trying to kill you?" Amber pointed out the obvious, thinking she had finally caught on to what the hacker was insinuating.
"Exactly." Hex happily affirmed, pleased that someone was keeping up.
"So one of your teachers?" Paulo queried.
"Or a student even." Alex suggested.
"The first fifteen rugby team maybe," Hex muttered and Alex looked inclined to agree, rubbing his swollen orbit.
"I'm sure some of the girls here would gladly kill Hex." Li quipped unable to help herself.
Amber's ears pricked up at the comment and her eyes narrowed on the teen in question like crosshairs.
"And why would that be Hex?" She asked in a strained civil voice.
Hex looked like the proverbial deer in the headlights and uncharacteristically stammered in response.
"Well.. uh the thing about that is.. you see... Hey maybe it is the groundskeeper!" He deftly changed subject.
Amber's expression clearly said that the conversation wasn't over.
"Regardless of who it is, going back to school seems like a really bad idea until we figure it out." Alex decided.
Everyone nodded in agreement bar one.
"Or.." The Hacker proposed.
"We do exactly that and return to school, to find our would-be assassin."
"So walk right into a trap?" Amber sarcastically noted.
"Blindly stumble into a trap is probably a better analogy." Alex compared unhelpfully.
"No-one can trap Alpha Force!" Paulo loudly declared in moto.
"Paulo that is perhaps one of the more wrong statements you have ever made." Li sighed in exasperation.
"What?"
"We literally seem to get trapped like at least once an adventure." Li reminded him.
Paulo waved off her comment like a pesky fly.
"Ah but we always escape." He countered with a cocky wink.
"Barely.." Amber added morbidly on the end.
"It's a risky move going back to school." Alex agreed, turning to Hex expectantly.
It was his idea after all.
"You said it yourself Alex, to break pattern from normal behaviour will draw suspicion, so we carry on with business as usual on the face of things." Hex began.
He raised a hand to stop Li from interjecting before he could finish.
"Meanwhile, I hack the local server to find who had access to each of the accident sites and dig into the history of our school staff. Maybe I can narrow down our list of suspects."
"And what are the rest of us supposed to be doing while you are playing in cyberspace?" Amber rudely cut in, stopped by nothing so common as a gesture or courtesy.
"Well us three will need to stay in school, but you and Paulo need to get in touch with your Uncle. He has better resources then us and may be able to identify a cause for these attacks." Hex explained.
"Why not talk to him now?" Li asked, unwilling to wait around when they could be acting.
Amber fielded this question. "Uncle is busy flying between New York and Dubai, he won't be answering anything for a good twelve hours."
"We'll talk to him tomorrow." She finished, wondering how Hex could have possibly anticipated his travel. Do those two talk behind my back? She considered briefly, horrified by the implications.
"But you would need to do it from somewhere close, just in case we need backup." Alex ominously detailed. Tactically it made sense to have a second group held back in depth ready to respond to any evolving threats.
"Maybe the library?" Li suggested.
"You could Skype John from there, email him or whatever and it tends to be empty enough that no one would notice two 'new' students." She continued.
"Euugh the library, I wouldn't be caught dead in there back at my school!" Amber muttered in disgust.
"What is this 'library'?" Paulo naively asked the group.
"A big musty building full of books and nerds." Li answered with a shudder, the outdoors beckoned her not pages full of ink.
"And what are these 'books' as you call them?" Paulo asked, this time jokingly.
The group laughed as one at the joke and it did a good job of lightening the serious mood that had descended.
"Well it's a better plan then nothing." Amber conceded bringing them back on topic.
"Thanks." Hex muttered sardonically.
"On to the important question then." Paulo seriously started.
The cowboy grin cut across his face before he could help it though.
"What are we doing for lunch?"
