YAYAY! Finally an update. I know I said June but it's now July. PLease forgive me. This chapter is my longest and it took me a long time to get ready. Well there's a little note at the end I'd like you to read. Oh and thanks for everyone who wished me luck for my exams.

In that instant, time slowed incredibly. I hurtled through the air and experienced the crest of weightlessness. But my life didn't flash before my eyes. Oh no. After everything I'd seen and done, the only images that passed through my head were of the past two weeks. And as I tumbled through space, my brain rapidly tried to pinpoint the moment when it had all gone wrong.

So here she was, stuck in the hotel spa with some mystery gloop on her face.

"No, I don't want those," Alyssa said, turning away the woman holding a tray with cucumber slices on it.

"Don't be silly, Felicity," laughed Stephanie and took the cucumber and handed it over to Alyssa. She forced a smile and placed the cold vegetable over her eyes. She gritted her teeth. Every time she closed her eyes all she could see was him. His face had haunted her dreams last night and she had woken up in a cold sweat. She had been berating herself all morning, feeling lucky that Stephanie's plans for pampering meant that she wouldn't have to face him until later. This never should have happened. For the past two weeks she had been thinking with her heart not her head – never a good thing in her line of work. It was all her fault. And now all she could think about was that Luke Redstone, her Luke, was actually Alex Rider, MI6 spy.

Her first thoughts had been of disbelief and scepticism. But then the seed of doubt had begun to grow in her mind. Small, seemingly insignificant memories then surfaced. The first day when she had found him in the hotel, had he really been exploring or doing some recon? She cast her mind back to one of their make out sessions and how she had traced her fingers over the odd scars that were on his chest. He had said that he was clumsy and was always having accidents. But it now occurred to her that he wasn't clumsy in the least, in fact, his reflexes seemed sharper than your average sixteen year old. And the blade in his flipper, she had accepted his explanation because any other reasons didn't seem plausible.

But isn't that why I'm so successful - because no one would believe that I'm a thief?

With all the evidence, she couldn't deny it. Was this MI6's secret weapon which she had heard rumours of? Along with his personal information, Kane had sent Alyssa case files of some of the missions which Luke – no Alex – had worked on. He was the one behind Scorpia debacle and even the Stormbreaker disaster, two years ago. She had to admit that she was rather impressed at his credentials. The way he had seemed so adamant that the Masked Man would be caught now made sense. He would be doing the catching – or at least trying to.

But she wouldn't let him, no matter how she felt. It was time to see how far her talent of compartmentalising could stretch. She was going to flip the switch and block out her stupid, traitorous heart. Her trusted, loyal head would make the decisions from now on. Her plan was just to complete the mission, ride off into the sunset and forget that Alex Rider ever existed. Her heart, still trying to gain superiority, told her it was going to be hard and painful. She dismissed it with a thin mask of certainty.

I've suffered worse.

Truthfully, she didn't know whether she had but she would think about it when the time came. For now she had to focus on the diamond, convincing herself that when she had it everything would magically be okay.

Suddenly, a possibility occurred to her. Did Alex know who she really was? Had this whole thing been a ploy to get her to let her guard down? Immediately she dismissed the thought.

No he can't know. There's no way. Kane made sure of it.

Alyssa believed in Kane. With his intricate cover story, how could Alex have found out? And she had had been careful. Well, mostly. No. He couldn't know. Even so, she couldn't just let it go. She had to check. She was wrenched from her thoughts as the woman began removing the face mask. Alyssa took the cucumber from her eyes and set them down next to her. When her face was clean and dry, Stephanie turned to her.

"That was amazing," she remarked and looked to Alyssa to agree. She nodded half-heartedly.

"Now we are going to have massages," she informed her. And idea materialised in Alyssa's brain.

"Sounds good, I'll see you in a bit," she said and walked away from the blonde, as if she was going to get her massage. She walked into the closed off room and waited for a few minutes while Stephanie went away. She stepped back out and came face to face with her masseuse.

"Um hi, I'm really sorry but I forgot something in my room. Please please don't tell my friend or I'll never hear the end of it," she babbled and the woman smiled knowingly, she continued, "Why don't you go have a cup of coffee or something. I won't tell if you don't." The woman seemed surprised but pleased at the offer. She quickly accepted, not used to such kindness from a guest, and promised not to tell Stephanie.

As she walked away, still in her bathrobe because she didn't have enough time to change, she rolled her eyes. This was so not fun. In order to avoid curious stares, she used the service elevator to reach her room. Once inside, she rifled through her drawers and located her master key to every room in the hotel. When she had found what she was looking for she headed over to his room. She slid in the card and opened the door surreptitiously, cursing when she heard the shower running in the bathroom. Wasn't anything going to go her way? It didn't matter though. She didn't have enough time to wait for him to finish and leave the room. She still had stuff regarding the mission to deal with. Anyway, this wouldn't take long.

She looked around the room and realised that she was actually rather fortunate that he was still there. He had left his laptop out and as she sat down at the desk, she realised he was already logged in meaning she wouldn't have to waste time dealing with passwords. Quickly navigating the screen, she opened up his e-mail account and clicked first on his sent messages. She went through them methodically and saw the first one was definitely to someone at MI6.

Hi Smithers,

Everything's going fine here except I'm not making much headway with unmasking the thief and as usual Blunt is no help. But don't worry I'll get him. The gadgets are perfect and I'm sorry but I'm going to need a new Nintendo DS when I get home. But the diving suit was a great help – the blade let me help a friend who was in trouble. But that's about it, so I'll see you soon.

Alex

Okay, so it was obviously Alex's 'Q' and from what he had written he didn't seem to suspect her or anyone for that matter. She opened up the next one which was addressed to someone called Tom. She scanned through the e-mail, deducing it was one of Alex's friends, but stopped when she came to a section which was about her.

So you remember I was telling you about my anti-social diving partner, Felicity. Well let's just say that she and I are a lot more social now. I know what you said about girls from her school but she's different. And before you ask, yes, she is hot. And because I know you won't believe me here's a picture:

Alyssa quickly caught herself before she looked at the picture. She glimpsed the top of the image and knew it was one of him with his arm around her. She couldn't look at it and quickly went to Alex's inbox. She scanned all the recent e-mails to see if anyone had e-mailed Alex regarding her identity. She saw nothing to suggest he had discovered her secret and her fears were assuaged. That was until she heard the shower turn off. Her eyes fell on the door but she knew she couldn't leave without making a noise. Instead she racked her brains for a plausible reason as to why she was here and how she had gotten into the room.

Alex ran the towel through his wet hair before tying it around his waist and checking his reflection in the mirror. His mind was on the task at hand. Tonight a thief was going to steal the Greed Diamond. And Alex was going to stop him. It was true the mission had been more of a holiday and if he wanted to, he could let the thief get away and enjoy a good night with his friends and Felicity. But something stopped him. Alex Rider had never failed and he wasn't about to start now. He turned the handle of the bathroom door and jumped when he saw a girl sitting at his desk.

"Surprise," Alyssa called.

"Shit, Fliss, you scared me."

"Sorry, just managed to escape the clutches of the beauty queen so I thought I'd come and say hello," she explained.

"I'm touched," he laughed and then stopped confused, "Wait, how did you get in here?"

"Oh, it was quite funny actually," she began, "I persuaded a bellboy that this was my room and that I'd left my key card inside, locking myself out. He was only too happy to help."

"I'll bet he was," he intoned and she chuckled. He moved towards her for a kiss but she pulled away.

"No, eww you're all wet," she said pushing him away, lying about why she wasn't going to kiss him. He looked surprised.

"Oh, so when did you turn into Stephanie," he remarked and she glared at him. Suddenly Alex realised that his computer was still on and he had to close it before Felicity saw something she wasn't supposed to. Alyssa caught the glance and blanched when she realised his screensaver hadn't come back up yet. So she did the only thing she could think of.

"Okay, fine," she said with a dramatic sigh and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply. She ignored the water droplets which her robe absorbed and turned them so that she could keep an eye on the screen. As for the kissing, well, she was having a hard time trying not to enjoy it. She had to stop herself from fiddling with the hairs at the nape of his neck and tried to think of something, anything, else as their mouths moved in sync. Finally, mercifully, the screensaver came back. She pulled away quickly, breathless.

"I'd better go or Steph will find out I'm gone," she garbled and made for the door. Alex grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"See you later," he said, kissing her quickly on the lips. She turned back to the door, biting her lip.

"Bye."

So she had determined that Alex knew nothing of her real identity and, on the way back to the spa, rigged a few things in the ballroom. So that left her back in the hotel spa, getting a manicure and pedicure while feelings of guilt threatened to creep in. But there was no way she was going to feel guilty for lying to him. Technically he had done the same to her. And once she had completed the theft and gone away, it wouldn't matter anyway. But maybe, just maybe, she could enjoy her last night together with him. Yes. During the showcasing, it would just be Felicity Reynolds and Luke Redstone spending the evening together, not worrying about anything else. She turned to the blonde beside her and tuned back into the conversation. Alyssa nodded in agreement to something Stephanie had just said but mentally rolled her eyes. The girl was really starting to grate on Alyssa's nerves. And she had to endure several more hours of her incessant yapping.

Oh well, at least if I die of boredom, all my problems will be solved.

She endured countless treatments ranging from body wraps to a head and neck massage until the duo relocated to Stephanie's room to get ready for the showcasing. Alyssa looked in mirror and even she could see that she was glowing after a day of indulgence. Maybe she should do it more often. She unzipped the clear packaging that contained her dress and slipped it on while going back into the main part of the room.

"Oh, you looked beautiful," smiled Stephanie and Alyssa smiled back reluctantly. She had to admit that, despite her ability to annoy her to no end, Alyssa had grown rather fond of Stephanie.

"Thanks, you look amazing too."

"Well of course," she giggled, "now I have to do your hair and makeup so sit down". Alyssa complied knowing that Stephanie could do a better job than she ever could.

"So, tell me Felicity, have you and Luke talked about what you're going to do when you go home?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, feigning ignorance.

"What I mean is: are you going to break up or continue seeing each other?"

"I don't know, we haven't really talked about it," she began and then changed tack, "What about you and Brett?" Stephanie waved a hand dismissively.

"We've talked about it and we both know it is not going to work out," she said.

"You don't sound overly sad about it," Alyssa noted.

"Yes, I am sad," Stephanie said, "But I have always known that it would be a holiday romance. I mean, Brett's a nice boy, but really we don't have a lot in common; not to mention the fact that we live thousands of miles away from each other – a fact which does not apply to you and Luke."

"Hmmm," Alyssa said, trying to sound pensive.

"I hope you do not mind me saying," Stephanie began and Alyssa sensed that she wasn't going to like what came out of the blonde's mouth, "but I have seen you and Luke together and it seems more serious to me." Alyssa was right. She couldn't believe that even Stephanie, who could be extremely self-absorbed at times, had observed that Alex and she had a connection.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," she said, in almost a whisper. Stephanie pursed her lips, finally realising that Alyssa didn't want to talk about it. They were both silent for a few moments and Alyssa sat patiently as Stephanie took a curling tong to her locks and create soft tendrils which framed her face.

‑

When finished, Stephanie pulled out her makeup bag and Alyssa noted wryly how empty her own seemed compared to it. Immediately, she felt the onslaught of foundation, concealer, blusher, eyeliner, eye shadow, mascara and a whole host of lip products. However, she noted looking in the mirror; the finished product looked pretty darned good. Stephanie informed Alyssa that she had gone for smoky eyes and an almost nude lip gloss. None of that made any sense to her but it still looked good.

"Wow," Alyssa said, and turned to her friend, "Thanks so much Steph."

"It is my pleasure," Stephanie replied. Alyssa looked in the mirror and nodded. Phase one of her preparation was now complete.

"I have to go to my room to get a few things, so you get ready and I'll see you in a while," she told Stephanie and exited the room. Closing the door, she began striding down the corridor quickly, heading in the direction of her room.

Her room was virtually empty. All her stuff, bar a few things, was already on its way back to the yacht. Alyssa sat down on the bed and looked in the mirror trying to get herself into the right state of mind. She breathed in deeply and exhaled a few times.

"Well, I guess this is it," she muttered sardonically and moved over to one drawer, in which a few objects still remained. Grabbing the items, she hitched up the skirt of her dress and secured the holster to her leg, slipping in her beloved Sig. once she had checked the magazine. She was doubtful that she would even need to use it but she had to have it, just in case. She looked in the mirror for the final time.

"Ready to go?" asked Stephanie as Alyssa left her room, quickly shutting the door so that Stephanie wouldn't notice the lack of possessions in her room.

"Yep," she mumbled, "let's get this over with." The two girls linked arms and made their way to the ball room where they were meeting the guys.

Alyssa rolled her eyes as she watched Stephanie giggle and chat with two boys they had passed on their way. After a few minutes, they moved in the opposite direction to the girls and she fell into step with Alyssa.

"You're incorrigible, you know that," Alyssa grumbled.

"I don't know what that means but I can guess," smiled Stephanie, "and they only wanted directions, but what can I say, I just love American boys." Alyssa just laughed and shook her head.

"Well, here comes another one," she gestured towards the three boys who stood near the entrance and Stephanie looked up in the direction that Alyssa was pointing.

"Hello, boys," the blonde called out, gaining the attention of the group of males, minus Paulo who was still in hospital recovering. They turned around and smiled at the girls.

"God, they look like a boy band, don't they," remarked Alyssa and Stephanie chuckled lightly.

"Girls, you look wonderful," declared Brett, ever the lead singer. Stephanie grinned and ran into Brett's arms. Instead, Alyssa hung back, biting her lip and was quickly chided by Stephanie for spoiling her lip gloss.

When did I become shy?

She said a quick hello to everyone and turned to Alex, who looked amazing in a black suit, white shirt and black tie. His normally, unruly blonde hair was somewhat tamed and it seemed much lighter after two weeks in the Barbadian sun. And when he caught sight of Alyssa, he grinned widely, displaying a row of perfectly straight, white teeth. All in all, he was every teenage girl's dream.

Too bad, I'm not exactly you're average teenage girl.

"Hey, you," he greeted.

"Hi," she replied giving him a small smile. He took her hand.

"Oh, wait, I forgot about your no hand holding rules," he said playfully, relinquishing her hand.

"I think I can make an exception for tonight," she said, taking it back. The group walked into the ballroom, showing their invitations to the man at the door and Alex leaned in.

"You look beautiful tonight," he whispered in her ear and finally, she smiled fully.

"This place looks fabulous," commented Stephanie, looking around the ballroom in wonder. It had been decorated magnificently, complete with crystal chandeliers suspended high from the cavernous ceiling. At one end, a screen and podium had been set up. And in the middle lay the cabinet which housed the diamond. Alyssa's eyes immediately landed on it and she noted that it looked better in real life. It would look even better in her case at home. Meanwhile, an expansive dance floor had been constructed with another stage for the orchestra, while tables littered the room for the various guests. They found their table and all sat down. Dinner was served not long after and the conversation flowed freely. However, there was also an underlying tension. Everyone was going home tomorrow and not one of them was ready to leave yet.

"Hey, guys, what do say," began Brett, "I know everyone's sad that we're going home tomorrow but why don't we just enjoy our last night together and forget about tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan," agreed Alyssa quickly and some of the tension eased. Tonight was about having fun – in more ways than one.

Alyssa laughed as Yemi spun her dramatically to the music.

"Mind if I cut in," Alex interrupted and Yemi gallantly bowed out, kissing Alyssa's hand.

"Looks like I have some competition," Alex teased as he placed his arms around her waist. Alyssa locked her arms around his neck and laid her head on to his chest, not saying anything. Alex noticed her quietness and lifted her chin gently.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked, concerned.

"Nothing," she tried to assure him with a false smile and looked back down.­

"You're not fooling me, Fliss," he chided and took her gently by the chin again.

"It's nothing really," she said again, "I guess I'm just sad about tomorrow." That was as close to the truth that she could think of.

"Don't be sad, it's not the end," he said forcefully, and in a way he really meant it. He wasn't ready to let it all finish so soon.

"Yeah, you're right," she replied without much conviction.

"Remember your promise at dinner. Tonight's about having fun." She nodded again, this time more positively and she allowed Alex to dip her low to the ground. Laughing as she came up, Alyssa pulled him in for a kiss. Pulling apart, they continued to dance until the song ended. Alex said he was a bit tired and the couple returned to the table. In truth Alex had decided, albeit with reluctance, that he would have to concentrate on the diamond not on the amazing girl who sat beside him.

"Hey, Felicity, you have a phone call at the main desk," Yemi informed her as soon as she sat down.

"Really?" she said, pretending to sound surprised. But she had actually been expecting it.

"They said something about an accident at home," he informed her, sounding sympathetic.

"What?" she said, acting shocked and scared, "I need to go." She rose quickly from the table.

"Do you want me to come with you?" asked Alex, anxiously.

"No, I'll be fine," she said quickly, "I'll be back as soon as I find out what's going on." She stopped, realising that this was the last time she was going to see everyone ever again. But she only looked at Alex. She pressed her lips to his, desperately trying to commit it all to her memory – his smile, his voice, his touch.

"See you later," she breathed and rushed out of the ballroom.

She didn't bother going to the main desk. Instead she found the deserted corridor in which she had hidden her suit. She changed quickly, after disabling the security cameras of course and she repositioned her gun on her waist belt and looked up ready. She was no longer Felicity Reynolds. The Masked Man had awoken.

Alex was getting nervous. Surely the thief would have tried something by now. He kept constant watch over the jewel, his mind totally focussed. He heard the current song end and the speakers amplified the voice of a man as he stepped up to the podium to address the guests. Alex looked at him briefly and returned his stare to the diamond.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he heard the man's booming voice call out, "I'd like to welcome you all here tonight to the showcasing of the Greed diamond." The man paused for the polite applause that followed.

"As you know, the diamond first came to the hotel many years ago when-" His voice cut off abruptly as the lights went out. Alex stood up, suddenly alert. It was going down. Now.

He heard the murmur grow louder as the guests became uneasy. He tried to make his way over to the cabinet which contained the diamond but he couldn't see through the impenetrable darkness. Trying to discern shapes in the abyss, he walked slowly in what he thought was the right direction. He kept his arm out in front of him, navigating his way past the tables of confused people.

Suddenly, the room was filled with a dull light which emanated from the huge screen, which had been erected behind the podium. The guests gasped. Alex whipped his head around to look at it. At once, any doubt that this blackout was the Masked Man's doing evaporated. There, enlarged to a massive size on the screen, were the two masks of Greek theatre. The smiling one mocked him while the other commiserated at his failure. He had already left his calling card. Then the lights came back on. Desperately, he ran to the cabinet expecting to find it empty. But, he was shocked to see that the jewel was still there, looking perfectly safe. He took a step back confused.

Am I missing something?

He looked around, perplexed. The darkness would have been the perfect opportunity to take the diamond so why hadn't the thief struck. He was distracted by sudden motion towards the cabinet. But it wasn't the thief, it was some others guards who were coming to check that the diamond was okay. There was a palpable relief when they realised it was still there until they began to give Alex funny looks about why he was standing so close to the cabinet. He mentally rolled his eyes and moved away, still watching out for anything unusual. His eyes returned to the jewel and he scoffed.

How could something so small be worth so much?

Alex shook his head as he continued to look at the Greed diamond. He stopped short, all of sudden noticing that something was wrong. The diamond looked duller than it had before. He remembered it glistening brilliantly but now it barely sparkled. The realisation shook him. It was a fake. The real Greed diamond was gone.

Alyssa allowed herself a huge grin as she pocketed the gleaming gem. The plan had worked. She had short circuited the lights and during the blackout she had done some clever rewiring to provide a distraction. The distraction on the screen had all been part of Kane's plan but the masks were her idea. They added the perfect touch. She laughed gleefully. Not only had she left her calling card in the most obvious way possible but it had served as the perfect distraction for Billy to get to work. The miniscule robot had been hiding in a hole in the cabinet since earlier that day. Alyssa had made the hole in between seeing Alex and all the spa treatments, when the ballroom had been deserted and before the real diamond had even been put in it. No one had even thought to check the inside of the cabinet before inserting the diamond into place. Sometimes people were idiots. Billy had quickly made the switch while everybody had been looking up at the screen. Oh sure someone would realise what had gone wrong sooner or later, but by that time she would already be far away from the hotel. Euphoric, she made her way to the door.

Alex cursed. If these moronic guards weren't going to take him seriously he would just have to find the thief by himself. He rushed out of the ballroom and made his way into the lobby, desperately trying to think where to look. As it turned out, there was no need for him to search, he discovered, when he saw the two guards at the main entrance lying slumped at the grand entrance. He was just in time to see a black-suited figure slinking away.

"Stop," he called out before he realised what he was doing. The figure immediately tensed, looked back once and began to run. Alex didn't hesitate before breaking into a sprint to follow the thief.

He watched as the figure gracefully loped towards the row of motorcycles near the exit. Alex sped up, guessing what the thief was about to do. Even though he was making up the distance between them, he mentally groaned when he saw the figure vault onto a brilliant fire-engine-red Ducati. His hand rapidly went down to the gun, strapped into the holster at his ankle. He brought it up to take aim but the thief had already started the bike, and was steering it out of the car park.

"Stop or I'll shoot," he commanded futilely. But his words went unheard because the thief was already out onto the street beyond.

He let out a cry of frustration when he noticed a previously unseen man who had watched the exchange astonished, all the while standing next to his motorcycle. The plan hit Alex in a matter of milliseconds. It took a few more before he was standing in front of the guy.

"I need your bike," he demanded. The man took one look at the gun in Alex's hand and handed over the keys quickly, looking petrified. Alex immediately sat on the bike and started it. The sudden hum of power from beneath startled him. But before he had a chance to recover, he was already out on the road, fiercely determined to capture the thief who had managed to elude him so far.

Alyssa looked back anxiously, trying to see whether Alex had followed her. That had been too close. She couldn't believe that he had figured it out so quickly. She wanted to scream in frustration. It wasn't meant to happen like this. The plan had involved the minimum amount of action from her. That was what she had liked about it. The prospect of her fighting past Alex to gain the jewel did not appeal to her. So when she had heard Kane's plan, she was ecstatic. She had to do virtually nothing while Billy did the actual stealing. She thought it was perfect. But how had he known? She looked back once again and swore loudly when she saw Alex, atop a bright yellow motorbike, hot on her trail.

It was crazy. The two teenagers weaved in out through the traffic, neither wearing a helmet but both armed with a gun. Alex couldn't risk firing so close to civilians but would the first chance he got. As for Alyssa, her main priority was to get far away from the MI6 agent who was pursuing her. So far, neither of them was getting what they wanted.

Alyssa was making her way towards the harbour where she knew the yacht was waiting. But could she risk it. Turning her head quickly, she decided to chance it. But it was a mistake. As both teens got closer to the harbour, the roads became less populated and Alex saw his chance. It was hard to aim, while still riding the motorbike but he still managed to fire off a few rounds.

Alyssa hissed as she felt the bullet whiz past her, barely centimetres away. She bent down low and pushed the bike to go faster. She heard Alex fire off a few more shots and instinctively reached for her own weapon. She concentrated, trying drive and look back at he same time. She whipped her head around and fired off two rounds towards the bike. She was careful to miss him, almost like there was an invisible bubble which she couldn't allow herself to penetrate. She fiercely hoped that he would stop and turn around, sensing the danger. She knew it was unlikely, but she had to try - otherwise one of them was sure to get hurt. She let out a shout when she realised that he wasn't slowing down, in fact he seemed to be closing the distance between them. She pushed the bike even faster now, the needle on the speedometer pointing to speeds which she shouldn't be reaching. She was frenzied now. Everything was falling apart.

She felt the impact before she heard it. The bike suddenly jolted as a bullet hit the tyre. It all happened in a matter of seconds. Alyssa frantically tried to gain control of the bike which was now swerving manically as if possessed. Her attempts were to no avail and with an awful noise, the bike, which had been hurtling at monstrous speeds, came to a halt. Alyssa was thrown into the air. Everything became still as she somersaulted through the air.

All too soon, the ground loomed beneath her and she tucked herself into a ball preparing with dread for the impending impact. She cried out as, with a sickening crunch, she hit the tarmac. Pain exploded in her shoulder. She yelled loudly bringing Alex to a halt a few yards away.

He quickly dismounted the motorbike and made his way over to the thief, his gun raised. He searched warily for his opponent's gun and spotted it lying a considerable distance away from the figure writhing in pain. Walking cautiously towards the thief, he was caught by surprise when the figure turned and brought him to his knees with a well-aimed kick. He recovered quickly and the fight began.

Alex's gun had been thrown a small distance in the initial attack and he knew he had to get it back before his enemy did and the situation grew worse. The thief was up now and Alex delivered a roundhouse kick to the stomach and the thief bent over but soon returned with a deft punch to Alex's face. He punched the thief hard in response. As the two exchanged strikes and kicks, Alex endeavoured to find his opponent's weakness. He saw that the thief's shoulder was hanging limply, strangely askew. He saw the opportunity and went for it. He barrelled into the thief who had a lighter build then he did. Using his strength to his advantage, Alex managed to pin the body beneath him.

The thief struggled and he pressed down on the injured shoulder. The person under him screamed in anguish, a cry which pierced the air and made Alex take his hand off at once. Immediately, the thief began to writhe, fervently trying to break free. But Alex kept his hold and made it impossible to escape.

"Stop struggling," he shouted, for the first time addressing his adversary, "It's over." But his words had no effect and he brought his hand towards the base of the thief's neck. He was finally going to see the face behind the mask. He felt the body underneath him stiffen in realisation and a gloved hand lock on to his. He shook it free and returned to the mask.

"Aarghh." He ignored the strangled cry from below him and pulled the mask off roughly. Chestnut brown hair spilled out and covered the person's face. The hair was long. Confused, Alex brushed away the strands and the thief's features came into view. His hands stopped and began to tremble. He opened his mouth.

"You?"

Well, now he knows too. dun dun dun. Okay so, I'm kind of a bit stuck with where to take this story. I have two ways to go one which involves him letting her go or one where he doesn't let her go. What do you guys think? What would you prefer? But either way the story doesn't end - even if he lets her go they will see each other again soon. SO yeah that's my note. What do you think?

And thanks to my reviewers. You guys are the best

FlyingLikeaPhantom - Thanks, well they fought in this chapter but in the next one they will actually talk/argue it out so I hope you'll look forwards to that

royalheiress93 – Thanks for the review and the luck. Glad you like the kissing scenes, hahaha – I like writing them

Fuurai – Thanks, hope you liked this chapter

Segala – thanks, yeah it's so hard to keep up but I was determined so I managed to write it eventually. : )

Rider Gal – Thanks for the review. I'm glad you're enjoying it

Fan O' Fanfic – Thanks so much. Hahaha. I'm glad I've made Alex seem so hot.

Ice Reader129 – Thanks you so much for the review and I'm really glad you're enjoying it so much. I got a bit worried when I read that you hate Alyssa but then I read on and relaised what you meant. I'm jealous of her too. :)

Glissoning Raven – Thanks for your comments. I'm sorry you're not a fan of how the story is going but I know you're entitled to your own opinion and everything.

sheluby94dreamer – aww thanks, hope you liked this chapter

AD – hey, Thanks so much for the review. I'm so happy you like my writing.

AleksandryaGregonovitch – Thanks for the review and the luck. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

crazy-gal-in-blue – thanks for the review and the luck. Yeah lol knowing Alex he is clueless – but now he knows so that will be interesting to see what happens next.

Eli – Thank you for that wonderful praise. I'm so happy you like it.

Kaia – Thanks so much. Lol, I've never met a Kaia before – just always liked the name. Well anyways, I'm glad you think the writing especially the romance is good and I hope you enjoyed Chapter 10. And two reviews from you – I'm flattered and the second one did the job – I finally pdated. hahaha

Lilly Romanov – lol, thanks your review made me laugh in a time of stress. Glad you are enjoying the story.

Asainwannabe13 – Thanks. SO now they both know – I wonder what will happen next. (lol I know I'm the author so I'm meant to know but I haven't decided yet so I'm wondering too).

midnight faery – Thank you, I don't even remember how I came up with this plot but I'm glad that I made it into this fanfic. Hope you like Chapter 10

Quazety – THANK YOU for saying I rock. You rock too.

michellefromhell – Thanks, so now Alex knows she's the thief so keep on reading to find out what happens next

queencleopatra the 2nd – hahaha yeah, Alex is hot. Thanks for the review and I hope you liked Chapter 10.