Hehe, hi readers! So... I know you were all looking forward to the Truth or Dare game that the guys were going to play, but... I'd already written this chapter, and I don't think I was really planning on writing it anyway because I wasn't able to think of enough to put in it. Sorry!
Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter, readers! Read on, and enjoy!
"So, how did you find it?"
Alex looked up from where he had been staring at his feet. "Huh?"
Andy rolled his eyes. "How did you find 'Truth or Dare' with my friends?"
Alex shrugged as he leaned back on the bench. "Fun, I guess."
"You guess?"
Alex raised an eyebrow. "What do you expect me to say? Anything else would make me seem like I'm stealing your friends!"
Andy winced. "Look, about that… I'm sorry, okay?"
Alex raised an eyebrow. "What?"
Andy took a deep breath. "I know I'm breaking one of my dad's infamous rules here, but I'm sorry. I'm sorry for acting like such a jerk. I guess… I guess I'm not really used to living with guys bigger than me…"
Alex chuckled. "Nah, it's alright. I guess you have the right to feel a little threatened."
"So, we're cool?"
Alex stared at Andy. "Did you just ask to be friends with me?"
Andy just stared back. "I asked if you were alright with what I did before."
"Oh, then yeah. I'm 'cool'."
Andy grinned. "You sound so weird saying that, with a British accent, I mean."
Alex smirked. "So you want me to say it with an American accent instead, then?" he asked, switching his accent automatically with a grin on his face.
Andy just stared in shock, his mouth wide open. "How… how did you do that?"
"I've been to the States before," Alex answered, still using the American accent.
Andy just shook his head slowly. "Stop that. You're freaking me out."
"Sure," Alex said, switching back to his usual British accent. "I'm not that used to the American accent anyway. I haven't used it for about a year."
Andy just continued to stare. "What other cool tricks can you do?"
Alex shrugged. He wasn't sure about cool tricks, but… "I'm a black belt in karate."
"What?" Andy frowned. "A black belt? How long have you been doing karate for? No, scratch that – show me some moves."
"Seriously?" Alex frowned. No one had ever been interested in his karate before. No one.
Andy nodded. "Sure. I guess I could learn a few self defence moves."
"Uh, okay." Alex stood up. "Uh, which ones should I show you first?"
Andy shrugged. "I don't mind. Just… uh… imagine you're fighting someone?"
Alex paled as memories of past missions flashed back into his mind. "I'd rather not imagine that."
"Okay… imagine you're in front of a practice dummy."
Alex sighed. He's really persistent. He imagined himself in a training room with a training dummy in front of him, sitting there. He took a deep breath. "Here I go," he muttered before he struck out and started fighting with the air.
Andy watched as Alex performed moves in a constant cycle. Punch, kick, punch, punch, roundhouse kick, kick, punch, elbow, kick, punch, punch, duck, kick, jump, kick, punch, punch…
"Woah…" The complex moves were starting to make Andy dizzy. He closed his eyes for a short while before opening them. He frowned.
Alex was still performing the moves, but there was a look in his eyes… something Andy thought he had never seen before… Suddenly, his mind flashed back to those days when his parents had returned from overseas, and he recognized that look.
"Alex!" he called out.
But Alex didn't stop. He continued to fight the air, stuck in his trance.
Andy reached out and grabbed Alex's hand just as he was about to punch, expecting an attack from the other boy. He was surprised when Alex jumped and immediately turned to face him, the look still in his eyes. The look disappeared in a flash, being replaced by emptiness for a couple of moments before they became unreadable. Andy became slightly frightened. "A… Alex?"
Alex looked at Andy with an unreadable expression before pulling his arm out of Andy's grip. "I'm fine."
"What the hell?!" Andy exclaimed. "How could you say that? You're definitely not 'fine'!"
"What did you see?" Alex demanded.
"I mean, I blank out for a second and then you turn into a fighting machine? What the hell, Alex?!"
"What did you see?!" Alex demanded, shaking Andy by the shoulders.
Andy just stared at Alex for a little while before he spoke. "Have… have you ever been in a war, Alex?"
Alex stared at Andy in shock. What on earth… "What?"
"Have you ever been in a war, Alex?" Andy asked again, more clearly. He looked directly into Alex's eyes, his steely look telling the taller blonde that he wanted answers.
Alex sighed and looked away. "I… I can't tell you…"
"And why not?"
"Because…" Alex sighed. "Because I just can't, okay?" he snapped.
Andy just stared at him for a couple of seconds. "Okay." He pulled out of Alex's grip. "I get it. You don't want to talk."
"It's not that! It's just… need to know…" Alex muttered.
Andy nodded. "It's fine with me. Honest." He looked over to the road when he heard a car pulling up. "Here's our ride."
Alex nodded and took a deep breath. He was a little shaken from what happened with Andy, but he could deal with it, right?
"This way, Mr Rider."
Alex sighed as he followed the man into the large building. It was fairly modern, with clean white walls and polished floors. The windows in the building were fairly big up to a certain point, where they became significantly smaller. Whether it was to stop people looking in or people from getting out, Alex wasn't sure. You never knew with these guys.
The man leading Alex into this building was fairly tall, with dark hair and dark eyes, and he wore a dark suit, much like the other men of his profession. He had a pair of dark sunglasses on his forehead, and his shoes were dark and polished.
Alex, on the other hand, looked like a normal teenager, with his fair hair messy and hanging over his brown eyes. He wore a plain white t-shirt with a blue Chelsea hoodie and a pair of dark jeans. He followed the man with his hands in his pockets. Why was he here? Stupid American government. "How much longer?"
"Just keep walking, Mr Rider."
Alex sighed and followed the man though the offices, walking past all the desks. Some were occupied, others were empty. One man caught his eye – he was a fairly young man, with red hair and blue eyes that were staring directly at him. Alex narrowed his eyes at him. Something struck him about this man. He was different…
"Please keep up, Mr Rider." The man leading Alex continued to walk on.
The man at the desk waved slightly at them, which only made Alex more suspicious… until he realized he was actually waving at the man walking in front of him. Alex just stuffed his hands in his hoodie pockets and continued to follow him.
"This way, Mr Rider." The leading man turned to an elevator and waited for the teenager to join him before pressing a button. It wasn't long before the elevator arrived, and it was only about ten minutes before the pair arrived at their destination.
The man knocked on the door in front of them.
"Enter."
The pair entered the room to find a man sitting at a desk. He looked to be in his late fifties or early sixties, with grey hair and a moustache. He smiled warmly at the teenager.
"Alex!"
Alex just gave a small smile and nodded. "Mr Byrne."
"Please, call me Joe."
"I'd rather not."
Joe Byrne sighed and turned to the agent that had led Alex into the building. "Thank you, Agent Wilkins."
Agent Wilkins nodded before leaving the room.
Alex sighed. "Why am I here?"
"Mr Rider, if we're not on first name terms, please take a seat." Byrne signaled to the chair in front of him, on the other side of his desk.
Alex took the seat and sat down casually, slouching in it. "Why am I here?"
Byrne leaned forward onto the desk. "I hear from your bosses that you've dealt with Scorpia in previous missions."
Alex tensed and sat up straight. "And?"
"And… we need your help." Joe sighed. "See, we recently received a… complaint from one of our agents. It was anonymous, of course, but we have a suspicion who it was from. He claims that his partner is a member of the organization."
Alex's hands balled into fists on his lap. He wasn't meant to get involved with them. Not again. His breathing became shallow.
Byrne frowned. "Alex, calm down."
"I can't do it."
He sighed. "We need you to keep an eye on this guy. That's all. I want you to work as a part of their team."
"I told you, I can't do it."
"You'll be saving someone's life, Alex."
Alex paused.
"Think about it, Alex. You could be getting one more criminal off the street."
Alex closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "How is it going to work? I'm fourteen."
Byrne smirked. "You look older."
"Agent Marks! Agent Harrison!"
A redheaded man and a blonde man both looked up from where they had been concentrating on their paperwork to see Joe Byrne walking towards them, a teenage boy walking beside him. "Yes, sir?"
Byrne put a hand on Alex's shoulder, ignoring his flinch. "This is my great-nephew, John. He says he wants to learn a little about our work here, so I've decided to leave him with you two. Keep him entertained." He left Alex with them, walking back to his office.
Alex just stared at the two agents. "Uh, hi."
The redhead smiled at him. "So, you're the kid that Wilkins led in?"
Alex shrugged. "Yeah."
"I'm Agent Marks. My partner here is Agent Harrison." He signaled over to himself and the blonde respectively.
Harrison nodded at Alex. "Hello."
Alex could hear the slight Italian accent in Harrison's voice. "Hi." He looked directly into his eyes and noticed the same slightly steely look in them that he'd seen in… Yassen's…
Marks raised an eyebrow at this exchange. "Okay, well, John, you've been brought here to learn about our line of work?"
Alex nodded, taking his eyes off Harrison. "Yeah, I guess."
"You don't sound very enthusiastic about it."
"I'm not. I was dumped here."
Marks and Harrison shared a smirk. "Awww… poor little baby was left without his mommy…"
Alex glared at them. "Shut up."
Marks pinched his cheeks. "Awww…"
Harrison laughed at his partner's behaviour. "Come on, Pete. Don't mess with the kid."
Alex attempted to pull his face away. "Hey! Quit it!" He pushed Marks away.
Harrison ruffled Alex's hair. "Don't mind him. Some think he was dropped on the head as a baby."
"Hey!"
Alex cracked a smile. Maybe being stuck with these guys wasn't going to be too bad…
"Who are you really?"
Alex gasped as he wrapped his arms around his ribcage. That was definitely one broken. He looked up at the man who had just kicked him.
Harrison glared down at him. "Well, who are you?"
"Why do you need to know?" Another boot to the chest.
Harrison knelt down to Alex's level. "Because I want to know exactly who has been snooping through my things and taking pictures."
"I'm John Byrne." Another boot, this one to the stomach. Alex gasped for breath as the wind was forced out of him.
"Tell me the truth." He pulled out a gun and held the barrel against Alex's neck.
Alex's eyes widened. "M-m-my name's A-Alex Rider… I was sent to find a Scorpia Agent within the CIA."
"Rider…?"
Alex nodded as much as he could with the barrel of the gun beneath his chin.
Harrison pushed the gun further into his neck. "Who sent you?"
Alex froze. He didn't want to answer. Either way, someone was going to get killed because of this. MI6 or CIA. Someone would die.
"Who sent you?" Harrison demanded again, prodding Alex's neck with the gun.
Alex stayed silent.
Harrison growled. "Fine." He clicked the safety off the gun. "We'll do it your way…"
Alex closed his eyes tightly. So this was it?
"ALEX!" Peter Marks burst into the room, gun raised. He spotted the teenage boy lying on the ground… with a gun pointing at his neck. He pointed his gun at Harrison. "Let him go!"
"Ah, Pete, Pete, Pete…" Harrison smirked at him. "The goody-two-shoes agent."
"Let Alex go," Marks growled, pointing his gun at Harrison and slowly nearing him.
Harrison laughed. "And why should I do that?"
"Because I was the one who sent the anonymous letter."
Harrison stared at him in shock for a little while before his face morphed into anger. "Why, you no good…" He aimed his gun at Marks and stood up, walking towards him. "You ruined my mission!"
Marks smirked. "And what are you gonna do about it?"
Harrison smirked. "What can I do? Well, I can pull this trigger of course."
Alex's eyes widened. "No!"
"No!" Alex bolted up in bed, sweat pouring down his forehead and mixing with the recently fallen tears. He panted heavily. That was a dream?
Andy quickly rolled over in bed and flipped on his lamp. He was wide awake, considering he'd been fast asleep just minutes before. "A-Alex? Are you alright?"
Alex gripped his hair tightly. He was still hyperventilating, and he couldn't wrap his mind around it. That dream… that was real once…
"Alex!"
Alex looked up slowly to see Andy looking down at him, concerned. "Y-y-yes?"
Andy frowned. "Dude, you look like you've just seen a ghost."
Alex cracked a small smile. "I think I've seen worse…"
Andy smiled. "Do you… want to talk about it…?"
Alex shook his head. "I… I don't think so."
"That's fine." Andy yawned. "You want anything to drink?"
Alex took a deep breath. "I think I'll just have some water."
"Sure." Andy jumped off his bed. "I'll be right back." He headed out of his room and downstairs to the kitchen.
Alex took a deep breath.
What was that dream all about?
Review, readers!
