The scent of blood filled his nostrils; the sounds of explosions surrounded him. Wolf looked at his teammates and gave a sharp nod. The group moved forward but they had barely been exposed when, seconds later, bullets rained down on them and then one by one they fell…glassy eyed and pale…

"Ben!"

"Shit!"

Wolf sat up, breathing heavily. He was used to the nightmares, they were unavoidable, but Wolf held a particular hatred for the nightmare he had just experienced. It was one he had had ever since returning to England and Eagle had tried to get him to go to a therapist for it, but he refused. As far as he was concerned, he deserved them.

The dream, however, wasn't his priority at the moment. What was the priority; was the scream he'd just heard that sounded just like Alex. Next to him, Snake was also awakening and was wondering what was happening. They both scrambled out of the tent and met Eagle and Fox. Alex wasn't with them, confirming his worry.

"That was Alex. He shouted my name," Fox said grimly.

Wolf was going to ask since when had Alex begun calling Fox 'Ben', but he knew that was the least of their worries.

"How did someone get to him? Damn it. Which direction did his shout come from?" Wolf asked.

Fox pointed to his right. "It came from over there, if we hurry we may catch up to them." He didn't want to think about what would happen if they didn't.

Ignoring the fact that they were all in their pyjamas, Wolf grabbed his gun as did the others. They never would have left the flat without them, especially since with the risk of something like this happening. Wolf mentally berated himself for allowing it, though logically he knew that none of this was his fault.

His teammates were oblivious to his internal strife and Wolf spoke as if nothing were wrong. "Move quickly and silently. We need to find tracks, if there are any."

It didn't take long for them to spy Alex's footprints from when he first woke up but they disappeared not long after.

"The person who took them knows what they're doing," Ben muttered, wishing he had some of his equipment on him, though nothing he currently held onto would truly help in the situation.

"We'll split up," Wolf decided after a second of planning. "Snake, you're with me and Eagle, you're with Fox. You all have your phones right?" A chorus of 'right' answered him and with his mouth set in a grim line, he signalled to them to go.

With no obvious tracks to follow, they had to look for more subtle clues such as some leaves being pressed further to the ground than others. It wasn't much, but it was something. And that something had to be enough.

His head felt like it was stuffed with wool and his eyes felt heavy. His body refused to co-operate with him but he could still feel his ribs protest as he was carried over his captors shoulder. Over-all, he felt like shit.

Alex had only been conscious for a few minutes. He was surprised that he wasn't in his destination yet and that the dose wasn't more powerful. Then again, he couldn't have shouted if he'd tried and his wrists were bound together tightly with rope. Alex knew there was no way he'd be able to escape this man, but he needed to find a way to make it easier for the other's to track him. This man had obviously been well trained and was covering his footsteps expertly.

Alex flexed against his restraints to see how much strength he had. The man carrying him either didn't know he was awake, or didn't care and was more focused on transporting him swiftly through the forest. Alex knew it was a big one that had somehow managed to be preserved for many decades, but he wasn't sure how close his captor had got to the edge as he didn't know how long he'd been out for.

Alex flexed against his restraints once more and was confused. The sedative coursing through him was wearing of much faster than he anticipated, or at least than Alex thought it should have (not that he was complaining). Whilst his captor was a good fighter, it looked like he was absolutely rubbish with dosages. This gave Alex an unexpected advantage. It allowed him to do the following.

Lifting his head as high as it would go, Alex flung it at his captor's back. As he'd wanted, the man stumbled and made a nice long track in the ground along with a couple of broken twigs. Too angry to cover up the evidence, the man grabbed Alex and held by his throat in front of him, effectively choking him.

"You little bastard. You should be glad the boss wants you alive," The man growled, his accent betraying his Essex origin.

Alex couldn't answer and the man smirked slightly before bringing up a fist and punching him in the head, knocking him back into unconsciousness.

They had been searching for twenty minutes with no sign of Alex and Ben was really beginning to panic. Whoever had him really knew what they were doing and this did not comfort him in the slightest. So highly strung, he almost missed the pretty obvious dent in the dirt in front of him.

"Snake, get over here," He whispered, beckoning him over.

Snake, who had been a few feet away, did so and looked at the mark as well.

"Good on Cub. He managed to give us a head's up," He said, pleased.

"After this the tracks are becoming more obvious," Fox noted, searching ahead. "Looks like the guy who has Alex realised what Alex did and sped up. Good for us as that means he became sloppier."

"I'll contact Wolf and get him to track us over here. With any luck we'll be able to catch if we hurry," Snake said.

Fox nodded. "I'll go up ahead. I'm better at moving more silently faster than you. Tell Wolf and you guys can track me."

Snake didn't hesitate before pulling out his phone and Fox didn't hang around. He moved as quickly as possible, not caring if he was too loud to begin with, the guy probably was probably a good few miles ahead of him and any noise he made now wouldn't matter. He just needed to make sure he found Alex in time.

Alex woke once more with his head feeling like crap. This time, however, it was voices that had awakened him.

"I thought you said they'd be here by now," someone whispered, and Alex recognised it as the man who'd captured him.

"They were supposed to be here. I do not know why they are not. All we can do is wait here for them to arrive," a second voice replied. This one also sounded familiar, but for a different reason. The accent sounded slightly Australian but Alex could detect hints of another in it, the one that was recognisable and stronger than the Australian. It was a strange combination to hear.

Alex squinted through his eyes, not wanting them to realise he was awake just yet. He saw the two men who'd spoken in front of him but he couldn't see them clearly due to the dark. Fortunately appeared there were no other men. If K-Unit got there in time, there was the chance they would be able to get him away.

"This has been a disaster from the beginning," the Essex man carried on. "First that sedative failed and now they aren't even coming to get us!" He started pacing around angrily.

"You know as well as I do Burton that there was not enough time for more planning. We have one chance at this." The second man replied and Alex realised what the second accent he'd heard was, Russian. The man sounded almost like Yassen. Alex could confidently say it wasn't the other assassin, as he was dead, but had he not known that then he could have been mistaken. After closer thought, Alex noted that the tone of the voice was younger, less harsh than Yassen's had been.

Burton snorted. "And look at how well it's going. We'll be lucky if his guardians don't find us. Oh, hey look, kids awake."

Without realising it, Alex had forgotten to squint and his eyes were wide open as Burton loomed over him.

"You've caused quite the bit of trouble kid," he said and aimed a kick at his stomach that Alex was unable to avoid. He grunted as the kick aggravated the stitch and Burton smirked. "That was for your little stunt earlier."

The Russian sighed. "Leave the child alone. You know the boss wants him in good health when he arrives."

Burton sneered. "I don't see why. She was perfectly content to allow him to be tortured before."

Alex froze. He'd known it was possible, but to have it confirmed that these men were in league with the people who'd taken him before and killed Jack, sent a sinking feeling through him. The memory of Jack's death entered his mind again before he could stop it and it was then he realised one more thing. The Russian had been the one to kill Jack.

…he opened the door and halted. Jack was tied to the chair, gagged and with a large gash on her forehead from which blood dripped slowly. At first, Alex thought she was unconscious, but then she raised her head and looked at him with desperation and regret.

Surrounding her were three men, all of them carrying guns. Two were now pointed at him and one was pressed against Jack's temple. He felt his breath leave him as he stared at Jack, panic mounting and causing his heart to beat painfully against his chest.

"Alex Rider," the man whose gun was pressed against Jack spoke, his voice deep and accent thick.

"What do you want?" His voice came out much calmer than it could have considering he was slowly losing all control. He wanted to lunge at these men, rip the guns from their hands and protect Jack but he couldn't. The moment he moved a bullet would either be in him or her. The best he could do was hope that if he complied with them that Jack would be safe.

"Isn't it obvious? We want you. If you would please step nicely towards my friend, I promise not to kill your nice lady friend here." The man nodded to the guy to his left, who was holding a pair of handcuffs in the hand which wasn't grasping the gun.

"How do I know I can trust you to do as you say," Alex said, leaning forward slightly, calculating whether there was any way he could avoid being captured, whilst also avoid Jack's death.

"You do not. But if you would like me to kill her now that can certainly be arranged."

The gun was pressed harder against Jack and she whimpered. Alex glanced at her and the look she was giving him to him to fight, to protect himself. But he couldn't. If there was a chance they kept their word, he had to.

"No! Don't. I'll come with you. Just don't hurt her." He left off the please, knowing it would only make them more satisfied.

Alex began to walk towards the man with the handcuffs and avoided looking at Jack, knowing she would be angry and fearful. He did check that the gun against her temple was gone however, before he made it completely towards the man.

His hands were wrenched against his back and the handcuffs were placed on him, tight as possible, making him wince.

"Vitch, you know what to do." Alex froze. No, they couldn't…they had just promised…

"Must I?" The last of the men spoke, his accent one that he couldn't place. His eyes were piercing blue in colour and conveyed his disinterest as much of his tone.

"The boss ordered it. She wants Rider to suffer. Starting now."

The man sighed but in one swift movement a gun was pushed against Jack once again however this time the trigger was pulled.

"You said you wouldn't kill her!" Alex screamed over the sound of the gunshot. He couldn't help but look at Jack, her head slumped against her chest, blood pooling around her. It was an image that would haunt his nightmares.

"Let's go," the killer, 'Vitch', said, avoiding Alex's gaze when he glared at him. Tears flowed freely down his face and he didn't care. Jack was gone. Jack had been murdered. And it was all his fault.

"You killed her" Alex whispered and Burton looked faintly amused.

"Looks like the kid figured it out" he said. Vitch shrugged but offered no comment. Alex wasn't having that.

"How could you!?" He screamed and Burton kicked him again.

"Shut up kid, unless you want me to gag you."

Vitch walked over calmly. "I am an assassin. Killing is what I do," he said emotionlessly and Alex saw red.

"She didn't have to die though! I was going to come with you." Though he was quieter, he conveyed no less anger than before.

"I was following orders, something I believe you are very familiar with."

"Damn it Vitch, stop the conversation and find out when they're going to get there." Burton was getting more anxious. His eyes kept darting into the forest of which they were now on the outskirts of.

"I told you, they will be here soon. As long as you covered your tracks well enough I believe we will be fine."

Burton huffed and folded his arms, not content with the answer but unable to do anything about it. "I don't see why we can't just kill him now," he muttered and Vitch sighed, as if this was a conversation he'd had with the man a million times.

"The boss does not want him dead and I do not kill children. I will not allow you to kill the boy Burton," he said patiently and Burton huffed again. "I know; it would just be easier."

Alex drowned out the rest of the conversation. That phrase had sounded so familiar. It looked like Yassen wasn't the only one with the 'I do not kill children' moral. Alex knew it was strange to be comparing this Vitch to the deceased assassin so much but it was hard not to. They were similar in ways that felt too large to be coincidences.

"What's your name?" He asked, figuring this would allow him put his mind at ease if the man would answer him. Maybe his name would establish some sort of connection. He still wanted to scream and rage at the man, but he was burying that fury deep down until it could be utilised properly.

Vitch raised an eyebrow and Burton snorted. "As if he would tell you kid."

"I will let you work it out," Vitch just said and Burton looked at him like he had two heads.

"I know you're cryptic but why the hell should the kid know your name?"

Vitch shrugged. "That is not for you to know."

Burton glared at the other man but otherwise stayed silent. It was obvious to Alex that this Vitch was the leader of the two.

"You're name isn't Yassen."

Vitch nodded, "You are right, it is not."

Burton groaned. "Just stop this little game you have going on and be quiet! We don't need to alert anyone to the fact we're here and will you please just at least call the others and see how far away they are?"

Vitch rolled his eyes but pulled out a phone. "If it will make you feel better."

Burton exhaled in exasperation and gave Alex the evil eye. "And you; shut your mouth or I really will be gagging you. I am so not getting paid enough for this."

Alex refrained from sticking his tongue out and instead slumped against the tree he had been propped against. He silently prayed for K-Unit to get there soon.

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