AN: Ah, the boredom of summer.

Review Responses:

Synchro Lover – I'm so excited too! What are we excited about?

2whitie – I think you'll be glad to hear that some of my best lines, in my opinion (and I must admit bias), are coming up in future chapters. As for Mrs. Jones and her liking her job…I honestly don't know. It was in my view that Mrs. Jones liked being second in command. Being in charge always comes with more responsibilities. Mrs. Jones, I think, does not like some of the things she has to do. It's not so much that she hates her job as that she doesn't not hate it. I know that's confusing but so are most people. I try to make the characters very real and sometimes I think that puts them a little OOC as opposed to Anthony Horowitz.

Albany – Yes! I actually know what buenisimo means! Ah, that's so exciting. All these dreadful years of Spanish are paying off. Woo woo! I'm glad you show in interest in James' story. James is such a complicated character to write. I love him because he's so real and special but I think you're right, he deserves a story.

Getsumen Kage no Mai – MI6 is always desperate. They are a government funded organization dealing in the grey areas of the law. They are constantly dealing with national and international secrets. Such a duty causes constant desperation. I imagine that writing James' story is going to be a bit like baking a pie. It seems easy when you look at the picture but your pie ends up with a hard crust and not nearly as pretty. Of course, it's awesome because its pie and it still tastes great. James is going to be difficult to write a story about because he is my own creation. You all have a vested interest in Alex, I'm unsure if the interest holds to James.

MonssterUnderYourBed - I'm glad you're enjoying it as well as Tom's humor. As for the cliffhanger, well, you know how much I love my cliffhangers. Don't worry, the action will pick up soon.

Disclaimer: _ - Fill in the blank

Kevin POV

Kevin's father had explained to him once that most people feel a sense of intimidation by merely walking into the front door of a skyscraper. This feeling was caused by several factors that were often placed there intentionally by the designer and owner. For starters, the sheer size which imparts a small feeling on the person. Another was the building materials. Steel is a common material for skyscrapers and it gives the sense of humanization to the person against a backdrop of modern material and technology. Often, a skyscraper's floors are tile, stone, or wood. There is a thin strip of carpet where the human brain says a person is required to walk. People feel guilty if they stray from the carpet. All these factors and more were what gave businesses like his father's the feeling they did. Kevin had grown up in this kind of world and so the factors that made most people feel intimidated affected him little to none. He, and his driver/bodyguard, took an elevator up to the top floor of the skyscraper where James Sprintz would be located. They made their way to his office and then the bodyguard waited outside the door while Kevin spoke to his father.

James Sprintz' office was large without having a ridiculous amount of space. Although the space was larger than necessary it was only by a small margin due to his father's tendency to not spend money for the sake of spending money. There was a picture of Kevin's grandfather, Dieter Sprintz, hanging behind his father's chair and a picture of Kevin's mother sitting on his desk. Kevin had looked at the picture dozens of times and had it memorized. He'd never met the mother who'd given birth to him and then died in childbirth. She'd been pretty, blonde, hailing from a wealthy German family, and the love of his father's life. Kevin could tell his father missed her and he was sure his father grieved but he'd always been sturdy and had never shirked his fatherly duty.

James Sprintz looked up. He was pale with blue eyes from his German ancestry but retained dark brown hair that fell just over his eyes. Kevin knew those looks, along with the enormous amount of money he held claim to, were to be given credit for James' win of most eligible bachelor two years ago, "Hello Kevin."

"Hello Father," Kevin said, "I need to talk to you."

"Can it wait?" James asked with a sigh, "I'd love to talk but I've got all this paperwork. Promise me, when I give you this company that you won't hire someone to do the paperwork no matter how tempting. I know it's crossed my mind so many times I can't even begin to tell –"

"Dad!" Kevin interrupted, "It's about Alex Rider."

James Sprintz smiled, "Now's not the time for stories Kevin. As much as I'd love to procrastinate and talk the fact is that–"

"I have a story to tell you," Kevin said.

James frowned, but his curiosity was peaked, "Go on."

"I've heard you tell me the same story for ten years and each and every time you tell the story it always has the same ending and that ending is a young Alex Rider barely fifteen that goes to America and disappears. Every time you tell the story you tell me that he likely died and that was The End," Kevin said, "What if I could tell you that it wasn't The End."

"Tell me the story Kevin," James said. Kevin could tell, by the look on James' face that he was wondering at the reality and relativity of Kevin's story.

"The story starts and ends almost exactly the same way yours does except for one thing. It continues. Alex Rider moved to America where his identity was carefully hidden through layers of fake stories and false identification and buried under miles and miles of paperwork," Kevin said, "But all the red tape used to cover him up was enough to hid him until his adult years. After making a life for himself that involved a woman and his first born son an old enemy comes and threatens him. He is forced to go back into whatever it is that Alex Rider did, because you won't tell me what. This old enemy forces Alex back to England where he settles down once more but now he's doing whatever it was that he used to do. I know that you said it took him away for long periods of time."

James nodded, "It did."

"While he is gone doing whatever it is that he is doing another old enemy discovers the identity of his family and kidnaps them to do god knows what," Kevin said.

James waited and then asked, "What happens next?"

Kevin finally took a seat across from his father, "That's a very good question."

Alex POV

From the briefing Mrs. Jones' had given him Alex had got the impression that, although dangerous, the Purity Fighters were for the majority without resources or money and had recruited Alex and K-Unit to obtain the money. Alex had obtained the wrong impression. The Purity Fighters were far from low on money. Perhaps the biggest clue to that was the outsized satellite in the middle of the compound. Alex flashed back, only for a moment, to a satellite high in the clouds floating in a hot air balloon. He shook himself of the past and looked carefully at the satellite here in the present. He cast his looks at the soldiers, and they were soldiers. Every man carried a weapon of the highest quality, was dressed in clean green army fatigues, and all of them seemed to have a place to go. It was organized, well-funded, and about to make Alex's job ten times harder than it had to be, "Damn."

"What?" Tom asked in his ear.

Alex frowned, "I really hate my job."

"Is this gonna cause a problem in completing a mission?" Snake asked.

Alex snorted, "Does it matter?"

Without waiting for a response he started walking. From the SAS-like cabin he'd managed to spot Patrick near the satellite. At the very least this would give Alex a chance to see the satellite up close. K-Unit followed behind him. Patrick saw him and grinned. Alex cast an obvious look at the satellite, "I was unaware of your apparent resources Patrick."

Patrick laughed, "Yes, that's our new toy. Cost a pretty penny I assure you but no matter, we'll have even more resources as you called them because of it. I see you know what to do with army fatigues Agent Rider."

"I was under the impression I was no longer an Agent," Alex said.

"Ah yes, well, I find that many people enjoy keeping the status they worked so hard to achieve. From what I hear, becoming an agent for MI6 is extremely difficult," Patrick said.

Alex forced a smile on his face, "In my opinion it always felt thrust on me."

Patrick looked to K-Unit, "Alex has told me little about the three of you and our resident hacker, although highly intelligent, is not up to the task of hacking into MI6 and SAS databases."

Alex raised his eyebrows and motioned to the satellite, "Not even with that thing in his back pocket?"

"Sadly no," Patrick frowned, "Did you suspect otherwise?"

Alex shrugged, "Well, I met a man that hacked into MI6 using just his personal laptop."

"Really?" Patrick asked hungrily, "And where could I find this man?"

Alex looked around at the alarmingly Caucasian militia and thought of Tom's dark skin color, "I don't think he'd fit in around here."

Patrick grinned again, "Well, that's too bad then. As I was saying, I don't know much about you but I'd love for you to give me the chance. Was Alex here the Unit Leader?"

Wolf grinned like, well, a wolf. Alex shook his head, "No, that'd be Wolf here."

Patrick turned to face Wolf, "How surprising. I find the Unit Leader is normally the first to get picked up by MI6."

Wolf snorted, "Not likely. I find that MI6 is not a person I'd like to be working for."

"I'm glad to hear that," Patrick said. He looked back at Alex, "What was your specialty Agent Rider?"

Alex hadn't actually had a specialty for the eleven days he'd been with SAS but without Fox here there was an opening, "Explosives."

Patrick's grin grew wider, "Lovely."

Wolf nodded and finished introductions, "This is Eagle, our communications expert, and Snake, our medic."

"A medic?" Patrick asked.

Snake nodded, "Yes sir."

"And a good soldier," Patrick continued, "I think I'll like you. For that matter I think I'll like all of you."

Alex's grin was strained, "Wonderful."

Patrick didn't seem to notice, "I'd like you to meet my second in command. This is Hugo."

Hugo was a gorilla. Big, hairy, and by the looks of it very mean. Hugo stood at least six foot seven and was as wide as a refrigerator. He had a couple scars here and there but Alex would've guessed they were lucky shots. Whoever gave those scars too Hugo the gorilla had probably left the fight in a much worse condition. When he spoke the accent was thick and German, "Pleasure."

"As terrible as it is I do have work to do. Before we put you all to work, however, Hugo here will run you through the paces; test you and all that rubbish," Patrick said, "I'm sure SAS and MI6 men like yourselves will have no problem with that. Good day."

Patrick walked off and left Alex and K-Unit with Hugo. The gorilla smiled and barked out at them, "Follow me."

Rose Harper POV

Being raised in a military family came with advantages and disadvantages. Depending on your outlook on life it could be either that when someone with a higher level of authority tells you to do something you jump into action. Rose had always thought it was an advantage due to her career choice. She did not question orders and that had earned her many a gold star while striving for MI6 agent status. After her conversation with her father the SAS Sargent she was starting to reconsider.

"Don't bring Alex Rider up," He'd told her.

"Why?" Rose asked.

"It's not something anyone should get into, especially you," He replied.

"I don't understand," Rose said, "What is there to get into?"

"I should never have told you anything about Alex Rider," Her father said, "Your curiosity was always easily peaked."

"Sargent, why is Alex Rider such a secret?" Rose asked.

"Rose, please, stay out of this," He said.

"No, not until you tell me what's going on," Rose replied.

There was a pause and then, "There are too many factors for you to be involved in this. Even Rider isn't aware of the pile of shit he's stepped back into. You have to understand, things are much more complicated than they were when he was here last and his case was always unique to begin with."

"Dad–" Rose said.

Her father interrupted, "Things aren't balanced right now. Authority is in the wrong hands."

"I don't understand," Rose insisted.

"Listen," Her father explained, "There are some people, people who never should've been involved in this, that have all the authority now. In this world you don't leave. Alex learned that and I imagine that he's going to learn it again soon."

"Is Rider in danger?" Rose asked.

Silence, and then, "In this situation? We're all in danger."

"Dad…" Rose trailed off.

"Some ideas just won't stay dead, Rose," The Sargent said, "Be careful."

Eagle POV

Alex stood on top of Eagle's shoulders and despite Alex's fit frame he was a full grown and well-built man. He was heavy and Eagle's shoulder's ached. Alex hefted himself onto the brick wall and turned to face the rest of the men, "Who's next?"

Eagle raised his hand, "Uh, that'd be me."

"Beautiful," Alex said. He held out his hands and prepared to lift the SAS soldier up. Eagle grabbed ahold of Alex's hands and together they worked him up the wall. Behind him, Wolf pushed until he growled out, "Eagle, if you don't get your arse out of my face in the next few seconds I'll beat you."

Eagle heard threats like this from Wolf on a nearly daily basis. Ninety-nine percent of the time Wolf was full of shit, but just in case Eagle moved a little bit faster. Alex hauled him up and then Eagle helped him haul Snake up and then finally Wolf. Alex stood up on the wall while the rest of them crouched down, fearing falling off. Eagle frowned, "Alex, what are you doing?"

The man was examining the rope they'd have to swing across a mud pile after crawling under barbed wire. The whole obstacle course had felt similar to the course at SAS and this was one of those times, "I was estimating distances."

"For what?" Wolf asked.

Alex pointed to the rope, "If we could grab onto the rope now we'd be able to avoid the barbed wire and cut off minutes from our time."

Eagle added up distances, "It's not possible. We couldn't reach the rope."

"It's possible," Alex frowned, "Just difficult."

Wolf checked the distances too, "If you miss we'd be adding minutes to our time."

"And you'd fall into the barbed wire. Let's please not forget the barbed wire. There's only so much I can do with barbed wire injuries," Snake said, "You'll probably break a bone."

"Yeah," Alex said. He crouched down and looked at the rope. He leaned forward.

"What are you doing?" Snake asked.

"Probably breaking a bone," Alex said. He tensed his muscles and then leaped. Eagle held his breath as he watched Alex leap in slow motion. It was hardly likely that Alex was actually leaping in slow motion but it sure felt like it. Alex stretched his body out to cover as much distance as possible. Alex began his descent aiming straight at the barbed wire. Eagle closed his eyes for a moment and then decided he'd better watch. Alex seemed to head face first into barbed wire and then he rolled. His shoulders hit the ground millimeters from where the barbed wire ended and he lay silently on his back. Eagle released his breath.

Snake sighed in relief, "Are you okay?"

Alex stood up and brushed off the dirt from his back, "Fine and dandy. Now, how's about I swing you this here rope?"

One by one K-Unit swung across the ropes to where Alex was standing and then one by one they all swung across the mud pit. There was a half a mile jog and then the finish line. Hugo stood at the end with a stop watch. He clicked the watch as Alex crossed over the line last and then frowned, "That is close to four minutes less than our best."

Alex grinned big and swung his arm around Eagle's shoulders, "That's how we do it in the SAS and MI6."

James Sprintz POV

"What exactly are you trying to tell me?" James asked.

Kevin nodded, "I'm trying to tell you what I've managed to piece together about the very real reality of Alex Rider."

"And what have you managed to piece together?" James asked.

"Alex Rider is back in England. His son, James Rider, is a second grader at Brookland Comprehensive. Alex is gone as is James," Kevin said, "And I'd sure like to know what happened to them all."

James grinned, proud of his son, "I think we need to have a more in depth chat about Mr. Alex Rider. There are a few things I left out of the story."

James picked up his phone and got his secretary, "Yes Mr. Sprintz?"

"Cancel all my meetings for today. Cancel everything," He said. After he hung up he looked Kevin straight in the eyes and said, "Let me tell you about a school I went to when I was much younger…"

AN: And that's a wrap. I'm hearing some good things about a sequel and eventually, a James sequel. I'd like more feedback however. Please remember to review. It inspires me to know that there are readers that know what they like. Happy reading!