Hello, dear Readers! I am SO sorry that I have not updated in a while. I've been really busy once again, but here's the next chapter! Oh, yeah, Shooter's back! GAH! And Skinner's dead. Yeah! Could Shooter be back with revenge? I dunno! Find out! Please review!!!
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Alex Rider or any of Anthony Horowitz's stuff. I do, however, own Cat, Ivan, Heather, and all the bad guys!
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Alex turned the corner towards his house and froze. The barrel of a gun faced him. A cold chill ran down his spine as he saw the owner of the gun.
"Shooter."
"Alex." Shooter said with hatred. The teen spy looked the man over. Blood ran down the side of his head, and his arm was bleeding badly. Despite his hatred towards the Skinner/Shooter brothers, Alex was concerned. This guy had lost a lot of blood.
"You look awful." Alex sincerely stated. Shooter glared at him.
"Not as bad as you're going to look once I'm through with you." he growled. Alex swallowed hard. That didn't sound good. "You're coming with me." he said gesturing with his head. Alex glanced over to a small car; he sighed and nodded his head. There was no point in arguing with this guy.
Alex walked towards the car, the cold, unforgiving metal of a gun pressed into his back. When they reached the car, Alex was forcefully slammed up against it. Shooter slipped his injured hand into the door's handle and winced in pain. Alex saw this and took advantage of the distraction, slamming a fist into the man's face. Shooter reeled back in pain as his nose started to bleed. Alex took off running, but a rough grip on his collar brought him crashing into the ground.
"Don't. Move." came the voice of Shooter. Obviously, his anger and hatred was helping to fuel his strength. That wasn't good.
Alex breathed in hard as Shooter grabbed the shoulder with the bullet wound. Shooter smiled sadistically as he pressed the wound harder. Alex bit his lip to hold in the pain as Shooter mercilessly squeezed his shoulder. He led Alex by the arm to the car's open door and thrust him into the front seat. Shooter slipped in behind him.
"Good night." Shooter coldly smiled. Alex stared at him. Goodnight? What did he mean by that? Shooter quickly slammed the butt of the gun on the back of the boy's neck. Oh, that's what he meant…
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Cat had seen the whole thing. She had been waiting outside the Royal and General for Alex. She was going to surprise him, but as she had rounded the corner, she had seen Shooter throw Alex in the car. A small cry escaped her lips as she saw her new boyfriend's head assaulted by the butt of a hand gun. Alex had slumped over in the seat immediately.
"Oh, no." Cat rushed to her caretaker Heather. She quickly hopped in the car, and Heather could see that something was wrong.
"Alex is in trouble."
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Alex woke up as a cold sensation gripped his body. The sound of a faucet being turned off hit his ears as he began to regain consciousness. He looked up to see Shooter holding a now empty bucket. Judging from Alex's wet clothes, he knew what had happened.
"Did you have fun doing that?" Alex sarcastically asked. He sat up and noticed his hands were behind his back. He tried to wriggle his hands free, but he couldn't move them...not yet anyways...
"So, here we are together again, Alex." Shooter smiled coldly. Alex rolled his eyes.
"Oh, yes, and what a happy reunion this is not." he snapped.
"Unhappy for you, maybe, but not for me."
"And why is that?"
"Because now I can kill you. I can avenge my brother's death." he finished seriously.
"Yeah, and what a caring brother you are. You left him to die!" Alex said in frustration. Alex barely had time to register the fist flying towards his face before it made contact. Alex yelled out in pain. That had really hurt. Blood seeped out of his split lip.
"Never, EVER, say that!" growled an enraged Shooter.
"Why not?" Alex snapped back. "It's the truth, isn't it!?"
Another harsh punch to his face. He felt his eye begin to swell up. Shooter looked back down at the boy, hatred and pain staining his features.
Shooter sighed frustrated. "I left because I didn't know my brother was in any immediate danger. I was getting our escape boat ready."
"Escape boat?" Alex asked. What was he talking about?
"Yes, we were to leave you spies to perish on the boat. We had placed a bomb on the boat. No one would think anything of it. Faulty wiring. A simple and effective way to get rid of the others and your smug face. But on my way out, I was hit by several bullets from the MI-6. My brother and I were so close to killing you and getting away with it." Shooter snapped.
"And I guess I ruined that for you." Alex stated with a grin he knew would irritate the man before him. Shooter glared at him all the more before standing up and looking out the window. After an awkward pause, a cruel smile twisted Shooter's lips. He turned back to a confused Alex. Something wasn't right. Shooter stalked back to Alex.
"No matter. You won't be smiling for long." laughed the man. He took out a pistol and pointed it at Alex's face. "Goodbye, Mr. Rider."
Alex tried to act as scared as possible. He heard the gun cock, ready to fire.
NOW!
Alex swung his foot up and slammed it into Shooter's hurt arm sending him flying into a wall. Alex jumped up, his hands now free from the pathetic rope binding his hands.
Shooter stood up and angrily dashed towards Alex. The teen spy ducked out of the way just in time to see Shooter slamming into another wall. He was disoriented from all the blood he'd lost, Alex had figured.
Alex made a mad dash for the door, but a foot slammed him back into the middle of the room.
"You will not escape from me this time, Rider. I'll make sure of it." he grinned, but his grin held no humor as he charged at Alex again. He easily picked the teen up by his waste and ran full speed into a window. Alex screamed out in pain as pieces of glass dug themselves into his flesh. The two enemies tumbled out of the window and onto the ground below.
Alex tried to stand, but a knee was pressed down onto both shoulders. The teen clenched his teeth as more pressure was added to his gun shot wound. A fist slammed itself into the boy's face. Alex tried to lift up his arms, but he could not.
Pain rippled through Alex's head as he was forced to his feet by his hair. Shooter threw the boy a few feet away and watched as he tumbled down a grassy hill. As Alex landed on the bottom of the hill, he rolled to his hands and knees. A foot connected with his ribs, and sent him flying, with a yelp, farther down the hill. Alex lay still on his stomach, his whole body screaming in pain. Shooter walked triumphantly back towards his prey and kicked him over onto his back. A small groan escaped a defeated Alex's lips. Shooter smiled.
"It really is good-bye this time, Mr. Rider. I believe your luck has run out." Shooter laughed as he pointed the pistol at Alex. The spy closed his eyes. This was it. He had lived through all the crazy stuff in his life, and now he was going to die like this. He heard the gun cock and felt it pressed to his temple. A menacing voice ripped through his ears.
"For my brother."
BANG!
Alex waited for the cold grip of death to take him, but it never did. Instead, he felt a ton of weight slam down on top of him.
"OOF!" he breathed out. Breathed?? He-he was alive?? Alex opened his eyes slowly, and what he saw made him blink.
Shooter lay slumped over on top of him, blood staining his back. Two figures stood a few feet away, one holding a still smoking gun. The other figure waited a few seconds before dashing over to her fallen friend.
"Cat?" Alex rasped out.
"I'm here, Alex." she smiled as she pushed the body of Shooter off Alex. She gently cradled Alex's head in her hands.
"Cat." he smiled. He laid a shaky hand on her cheek. "Love you."
Cat smiled. "Love you, too."
Alex passed out, a smile on his face.
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Alex grumbled as Jack tightened his bandages on his ribs.
"Jack! Don't pull so hard!" Alex winced as she did it again. Jack rolled her eyes.
"Well, if you wouldn't make so many enemies and get your rear kicked, I wouldn't have to do this."
Alex laughed. "Sorry. It's what I do."
"What? Tick people off!" she laughed.
"My specialty." he smiled. Jack rolled her eyes again and slapped Alex across the back of the head. "Ow."
"Serves you right. Now, get off my counter. You're done."
"Thanks." he said before hopping off the counter. The phone rang and Alex dashed to answer it. "Hello?"
"Hey, Mr. Accident Prone." came an all to familiar voice.
"Hey, Ms. Saved-my-butt-more-than-once." Alex laughed.
"How are you, Alex?" Cat asked.
"Good. I miss you though."
"Yeah, I miss you too." Cat sighed. She had to leave a day after Alex's incident with Shooter. They had kept in contact, but they still missed each other dearly. Alex sighed.
"I wish I could come see you soon, but Mr. Blunt probably won't let me off work." Alex joked.
There was a giggle on the other end. "Actually, that's why I called."
"Huh?"
"I talked to Mr. Blunt, and he believes that you should take a vacation to America, no strings attached."
"Do what?" Alex almost fell off the stool he was on.
"Yeah." Cat giggled. "And you don't have to worry about a hotel because you and Jack can stay with Heather and I."
"Seriously!"
"Seriously!"
"This is great, Cat!" Alex said excitedly.
"I know! Jack wanted me to tell you today. You guys are headed to Tennessee tomorrow!"
Alex yelled out in excitement over the phone. He heard Cat giggle on the other end.
"Oh, man! I'm so excited! I gotta go get packed!"
"Okay! Talk to you--I mean--see you soon!"
"I love you." Alex said sincerely.
"I love you, too." Cat said. They reluctantly hung up. Alex turned to see Jack standing there smiling in the doorway. He turned on his stool and smirked.
"Pack your bags. We're headed to Tennessee."
To Be Continued…
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Okay, hope you guys liked that ending chapter! I'm going to be writing the sequel soon, so keep your eyes opened for No More Vacations! Read and review please!!!!! Thanks!!!