Ooh... ten chapters!! Exciting! OK, firstly, thank you to everyone who reviewed. Reviews are good. They let you know that people are reading your stories. Secondly, thank you especially to Elledreamer and SuperTD for your support and stuff. Thirdly... I've ran out of points to make... and fourthly, enjoy the chapter!

Hex emerged last from his room the next morning. Amber and Alex were already sitting downstairs in the cafe having breakfast. Hex wanted to smile when he saw Amber's exotic something and Alex's big English breakfast, but he wasn't in the mood. In fact he was incredibly tired, after not getting much sleep the night before. Something was nagging at the back of his brain, that in the last 12 hours they'd done nothing much to help either Ben or Jack.

He sat down at the table with Amber and Alex, but he didn't order anything. His appetite wasn't particularly making itself known right now.

"Hey, Hex," said Amber, taking a bite from whatever it was on her plate.

"What is that?" Hex looked at Amber's breakfast in disgust.

"I think it was gerbil, wasn't it, Amber?" Alex said, grinning maliciously. They all remembered well the time Amber had ordered a guinea pig once from a restaurant because the name sounded fancy. Amber scowled.

"Actually, no. It's something called Cowboy Fritatta. They do it a lot in the States." Hex rolled his eyes and leaned back. "Don't you want any breakfast?" Hex shook his head and mumbled something about not being hungry. Amber shrugged and took another bite out of her 'Cowboy Fritatta.'

Hex was suddenly aware of a middle-aged man approaching their table. He looked a bit shocked, but there was an air of anger around him. He stopped behind Alex and cleared his throat. Alex jumped in surprise and turned around.

"Excuse me," said the man, staring at all three of them in turn. He didn't say anyhting else, so Amber said sweetly,

"Yes?"

"I couldn't help noticing yesterday that you were in the company of a huge boy and a small Chinese girl. Am I right?"

"Yes."

"They stole my car. And they promised to get it back to me. And they haven't. Do you know anything?"

Realisation suddenly hit Amber like a bolt of electricity. Paulo and Li must have borrowed this man's car and crashed it. Amber hadn't even thought about where they'd gotten a car from before. She wondered why it had never occured to her.

"Er... I'm sorry..." Amber looked desperately at Alex and Hex for guidance.

"They crashed. We can get you a new car." Hex said bluntly. He didn't know what else to say.

"What?" The man looked shocked. Alex could tell this could get bad, and if they didn't move out of the cafe then they could get chucked out of the hotel.

"Look, I'm really sorry. I really am. We only just heard last night that they'd been in a car crash, and we didn't realise it was your car. We do have a reason for taking your car, and I'm really sorry about that. Really, really sorry. We can exchange contact details and I'll get back to you as soon as possible about it."

"But I need my car now! I've got to meet someone in half an hour!" The man's voice was rising and a few customers at nearbly tables were beginning to turn their heads. Alex could tell this wasn't getting anywhere. He stood up.

"Let's talk outside, OK?" He led the man outside. Amber suddenly turned on Hex.

"Are you crazy? Why the hell did you offer to buy a new car? And where do you think you're gonna get the money from?" She hissed. Hex bit his lip.

"What else could I say? Oh well, you'll just have to buy a new one yourself?" Amber sighed and put her head in her hands.

"We could definately afford it - Uncle, I mean - but he's going to kill me."

"I'll say it was my fault." Amber smiled and sighed.

"We should go down and check out that hotel where you said Ben was today. Li might even be able to come." Hex nodded. If they were still there, he thought privately to himself. But he didn't say anything.

Alex led the man quickly outside and put a hand on his shoulder. The man was going purple, Alex was sure.

"We are so sorry about your car. But we can sort it all out for you. Insurance and everything. Honestly, we didn't mean for any of this to happen..."

"Right, I get the point. There's nothing else for you to do. I want all your contact details, so I can get in touch with you."

"Sure thing." Alex hesitated. Whose should he give? He decided on Amber's mobile and Hex's e-mail address. They were the ones which were used the most. He quickly scribbled them down on a piece of paper and handed it to the man. He glanced at it, and said,

"Where's the home address?"

"That's not really necessary, is it?" Alex said, surprised. He wouldn't want this man to come knocking on any of their doors any time soon. The man grunted and shoved the paper in his pocket.

"I might go to the police about this." Alex was shocked. But before he could reply, the man turned on his heel and left. This was the worst thing that could happen - if the man went to the police and they found out about everything, Alpha Force would probably be disbanded for all the things they had done in the past which hadn't been strictly legal. He swore quietly to himself and ran back in to tell Hex and Amber what had happened. They weren't happy.

"Gosh, I'm not looking forward to telling the others." Amber muttered.

Paulo woke up later that day. He had a splitting headache and the light from his room was only making it worse. At first he didn't have a clue where he was, but gradually he recognised the form of Li sitting next to his pillow. Her dark head suddenly moved.

"Paulo! Are you OK?"

"Mrgrmumerum." Paulo mumbed and squinted, trying to make out Li's face. Eventually he realised she was grinning from ear to ear, and there was a scratch on her forehead. He looked down. Her arm was bandaged. Suddenly he realised she was talking some more, and he strained to make out the words.

"...are going to check out this hotel Hex found on the internet last night. They think it might be where Ben and Jack are./Or Ben, at least. They can't really wait for us, because they might move on again. But Alex said..."

"What happened?" Paulo interrupted. Li stopped mid-sentence and looked surprised.

"Oh, of course. Sorry! You crashed the car. You're gonna be OK, though. They thought you might have brain damage or something. I don't think you do, though. I mean -"

Paulo's senses were coming back. He could tell Li was panicking with all the talking she was doing.

"Li, stop. You're giving me a headache." Li suddenly stopped and grinned sheepishly. She leaned forwards and threw her arms around Paulo's neck, almost cutting off his air supply.

"I'm just so glad you're OK," she said, and sat back happily. Paulo grinned back.

Amber sighed and looked at her watch.

"Your London taxi drivers sure don't worry about being on time, do they?" She muttered. Hex cast her an amused glance.

"Would you rather we took a plane? I'm sure that'd get here a lot quicker - " He cut off when he saw the look on Amber's face. Annoying Amber when she wasn't in a good mood was a very bad idea. He'd learnt that well in the couple years he'd known her.

Eventually the taxi turned up, twenty minutes after they called. Hex didn't see that as late. It was pretty good, considering the taxi company had to call a taxi man first and then they had to drive all the way over to wherever they were. He climbed in the back with Alex, while Amber sat in the front seat.

"Where is it you wanted to go?" The taxi driver inquired, looking at Alex and Hex in the mirror.

Hex gave him the directions to the hotel he'd found on the internet the day before. The man nodded grimly.

"I know that place. Stayed there for a while before I got my job. Not the nicest place, I must say..." He trailed off when he saw the disgusted look on Amber's face. "Ah, well, here we go."

Fifteen minutes later, he pulled to the side of the road. Amber stared at him.

"Why have you stopped?" She said. They were in the middle of an urban area, and most of the buildings had boarded up windows and half-hinged doors. The taxi-driver pointed out the nearest building with a flourish. It was one of the better made up buildings, and most of the windows were still in use, except for one on the top window.

"Your hotel, ma'am." He grinned. Amber's face twisted into a grimace and she climbed slowly out of the cab. Alex followed, while Hex quickly paid the taxi driver. The taxi hurried off, as if he didn't want to stay there for too long.

"Hex? Are you sure this is the right place?" Alex said, staring up at the daunting building. Hex nodded grimly and pointed to the sign above the door.

"Just hope they're OK," he muttered under his breath.

Amber approached the front door warily. The path was a long one, and weeds were poking up between the cracks in the pavement. Alex and Hex followed behind, listening anxiously for any sign on life. Amber pushed the door open. It was like a horror movie, she thought, where any moment you expected something or someone to jump out and grab you. Or eat you.

Inside was dark, but it was obvious it was some sort of hotel. There was a small desk behind glass where a man was sleeping with his head on the desk. Amber peered round at the two boys.

"Should we just ask? Or go away and come up with a plan?" She whispered, not wanting to wake up the man in case they decided to go away and come back later. Alex shook his head.

"Might as well ask while we're here."

Amber nodded and tapped lightly on the window. The man jumped and stared around wildly, as if visitors only came once in a blue moon. They probably only did, Amber thought. The man was in his forties at the most, and Amber could tell that he hadn't shaved for a while. His hair was scraggly and hung across his face like shadows.

"Er..." she began, but changed her mind when she realised that giving away her American accent could be crucial if this man knew anything. She looked pointedly at Hex, who immediately read her mind and came forward.

"We're looking for some friends. We know they were staying somewhere around here, but we're not sure where. You don't have any visitors at the moment, do you?"

The man coughed. "By what name?" He grumbled. Hex looked at Alex, who was waiting outside the door.

"Brody." Alex mouthed.

"Brody." Hex said quickly. At once the man perked up, startled.

"Brody? Never 'eard of them. Came to the wrong place. Haven't had any visitors here in nearly two years." Amber studied his face. Surely he was hiding something? Any sign of a flinch, a twitch or anything could give his game away. But there was nothing. She sighed and turned back towards the door. But just before she did, she saw the tiniest flicker in the corner of his left eye. Something was definately up here.

"So what's happening?" After a morning's rest, Paulo was awake and feeling well enough to discuss the situation with Li. Aparently, like Li, he'd been very lucky in the crash, and escaped with concussion, a couple broken ribs and several cuts and bruises. He was sitting up in bed while Li was pacing the room, transferring all her knowledge to Paulo.

"I don't know much. I think they went to see the hotel Hex found on the internet. They might even be there now. Alex said they met the man whose car we crashed." Paulo's eyes widened. He'd forgotten all about the expensive Land Rover.

"Dios," he muttered, "What happened?"

"I'm not sure. I think they exchanged details and promised to get back to him. Not sure what they'll do, though."

"What we'll do," Paulo corrected her. Li smiled.

"Hopefully we'll be able to buy him a new one or something. Alex said he went purple." Paulo grinned. He wondered where the others were now, whether they'd found Ben or Jack... or was that hope a bit too far-fetched?

"Can we go on it?" Amber asked, watching the London Eye slowly revolve around against the mid-afternoon sky. She, along with the two boys, had taken a break nearer the city centre to think over what they were going to do and discuss their plans.

"Not now," said Hex, who was in deep thought, "but maybe later." Amber smiled. She could tell Hex was a bit awkward having the others here in his hometown with him, and she was sure the others could tell to. He almost acted as if he'd never been here before. Maybe it was because it was so rough and violent compared to Boston?

"OK. After we've sorted everything. So what should we do?"

"How about we go visit Paulo and Li? They might have some helpful imput." suggested Alex, "By the way, Li called. Paulo's absolutely fine. He's sitting up and talking to her."

"That's good," breathed Amber. Suddenly Hex's mobile phone rang again. Amber and Alex fell silent as he answered. Two minutes later he hung up and stared at the other two.

"That was my mum," he said earnestly, "She said Ben called a minute ago. And he was like - really distressed, or something. He said they were in some sort of hotel, but he couldn't talk long because someone would be coming back soon. So I guess that kind of confirms what we thought." Amber stared at him.

"Gosh, I guess we really should hurry up with this thing, then. I just hope him and Jack are together. It's a faint hope, but it could be so."

There was a knock on Paulo's door, making both him and Li jump with surprise. They grinned, though, when they saw the familiar face of Amber peep through the door. She smiled widely and entered, followed by Alex, who shut the door.

"Hello!" said Amber, grinning broadly at them both. Paulo nodded back and Li replied with a 'hi.'

"Good to see you guys," Alex said, and sat down on a chair.

"Good. Where's Hex?" Asked Paulo, noticing the hacker's absence.

"He went to see his mum again. He got another call from her." Li's eyes widened.

"Really? What about?" Alex related the phonecall to Paulo and Li, who listened intently. When he'd finished, they sat for a bit in silence, thinking over what it must be like.

"I hope he's OK," murmured Li, and the other's nodded in agreement. Whether she was talking about Hex or Ben, no-one said, but no-one needed to.

"But for now, we definately know where they, or at least Ben, is. But we kind of thought we needed to come up with a plan first. We could always try disguising someone as a cleaner or homeless person?" Alex suggested.

"Paulo!" Amber said at once, and they all laughed. In their previous missions, Paulo had always ended up disguising himself as a dirty beggar. No-one knew why, but he was just very good at it.

"No, I think a cleaner." Li thought out loud, "One of us could be like a college student - which we all nearly are - just looking for a small job to earn some money. Either Alex or Hex, because they're the most English-looking."

"Not surprising, really," Amber muttered.

"The hotel manager's already seen Hex. He and Amber spoke to him while I waited outside." Alex said.

"So that would mean - "

"You're the only English person he hasn't seen." Paulo finished off.

Hex rang the doorbell and waited patiently for his mum to answer. Just before they'd left the field, he'd decided to pay his mum a visit, as they were so near his home anyway. He hadn't seen her for a couple days. Eventually she opened the door and peeped outside. She was still in her dressing gown, despite the fact that it was mid-afternoon, and what little make-up she wore had smudged down her face.

"Hex!" she said, and made a failing attempt to smile. She opened the door further allowing Hex to enter. Once inside, he noticed the curtains were closed but the house was immaculate. The hoover was perched neatly in a corner.

"Why are the curtains closed? You hate dark houses." He said, moving over to the window to open them.

"Leave them," his mum called out. Hex turned, surprised. He noticed how down his mum was looking, and she looked as though she had even lost some weight since he had last saw her a couple days ago. "There's no point. I don't want people looking in and seeing me in this state.

"Well why don't you clean yourself up? Get changed, for a start."

"There's no point in that, either." Hex looked around the dark hallway. There wasn't a crumb on the carpet, nor a dirty mark on the wall. There wasn't even any dust on the skirting board.

"Then what's the point in cleaning up so much?" Hex's mum fell silent. She didn't know how to reply, but Hex was staring at her, waiting for an answer.

"It kind of takes my mind off everything. Gives me something to do." She quickly moved into the kitchen, which was just as tidy as the hall was, and sat down on the counter. Hex looked around. He couldn't help wishing that his house had been this clean when Amber had come to visit. It had been so embarrasing with all the mess everywhere when she'd come, and even Hex saw the look of surprise on her face that she was trying to hide.

"What did you come for, anyway? Aren't you staying near here? Why don't you just stay in the house? Is it me?" Hex's mum said 'casually', brushing some crumbs from the counter into her cupped hands and tipping them in the bin.

"Course it's not. I've just got some friends round here from loads of places, and I was staying with them." Hex stared at his mum, who didn't react at all. She just carried on perfecting the countertop. "Have you been eating right?" He said suddenly. Regret suddenly filled his mind. Why did he say that so quickly? It had just popped out of his mouth before he had a chance to think about what he was saying. Her head snapped up.

"Why?" She demanded. Hex gave her a look, and she sighed. "I don't know. I just haven't had the time. OK, maybe it's just that I'm too worried. I haven't felt like eating. The police say they're looking, but I don't think they've found anything. He will be OK, though, won't he?"

Hex thought for a moment, then nodded.

He wasn't sure why he did it so confidently, but the look on his mum's face was satisfactory enough.

Oops... I was looking back through this story and realised how many spelling mistakes I'd been making! I'm really sorry, it's because Word on my computer stopped working so I had to write all my chapters in FanFiction itself, which doesn't have a spell check. Word is working again now, so I'll try and be a bit more careful with my spellings after this chapter :D

(P.S. Please review!)