Alex instinctively knew something was wrong. He was too sluggish and lethargic. That familiar feeling of being tranquilized. Stephan had rarely drugged Alex. Only on the couple of occasions outsiders had visited and Alex been kept hidden and unconscious. Bile rose in Alex's throat, hands were touching him. There was a cloth on his face. Alex retched, spewing his last light meal over himself. Voices, disjoined, strange to hear English spoken again. Alex knew he was moving, being carried. He heard lapping of waves and a quiet outboard engine coming to life. Unconsciousness claimed him again.

Alex dreamt of Yassen and Stephan, both of them beautiful and dangerous. Even heavy sedation he could feel the parting gift Stephan had left him. No part of his body did not hurt. Alex would sell his soul at this moment for Stephan to hide him away again. He called to him. "Stephan, beloved, I love you. Stephan! Please fuck me. I am empty without you. Please."

The kid in the med bay was talking french and russian in his sleep. Pleading for his tormentor, his rapist to use him. Mike Henderson felt sick. It had been twelve months since the kid had disappeared on his way to school. The special forces raid on the north coast of Uruguay had been a quick in and out. The Rider kid was an absolute mess. The plastic surgeon had his work cut out with the mess of knife cuts on the kid's body. The shrink would be working even harder. How to turn a normal heterosexual soccer loving British kid into a submissive fuck toy who let the bastard cut him to shreds, beat and abuse him and still ask for more.

The tox screen had come back to show trace amounts of Rohyptanol, sodium thiopental and valium in Rider's bloodstream. The kid had been fed a cocktail of drugs, to keep him compliant. The doctors were monitoring him closely for signs of withdrawal.

Alex woke so thirsty. Hospital. St. Dominic's? He'd been shot again? No he hurt all over. No, he'd definitely been tortured. His head was fuzzy. Thoughts were disjointed. He must have been drugged. Alex let out a big sigh trying to sort out his thoughts, not wanting to open his eyes. He could feel restraints, an oxygen mask, a catheter in his arm and one in his dick. His emotionless mask slipped, tears and a choked sob escaped. He curled his hands allowing nails to dig into his palms. Pain was an excellent focus. He then pulled on the restrains on his arms. Padded. He could feel the abrasions on his wrists chaffing sending small shocks up his arms.

Alex opened his eyes to look at the person approaching him. "Good Morning, My name if Elouise, I'm you nurse." She reached forward with a tissue wiping the tears from Alex's face. "Would you like some ice chips?" Alex looked confused and then quickly nodded his head. Eloise fed him ice as she asked questions "Can you tell me your name?

Alex remained silent. "Do you know what date it is?" then asked the nurse with a quiet southern american accent.

Alex then spoke in spanish "My name is Alex. I'm sorry but I don"t know the date. Where am I?"

The nurse then answered in fluent Cuban Spanish "You're currently at the US Naval base at Gauantanmo Bay."

Alex looked confused. "I don't understand?"

"Don't worry you're safe. You have had surgery on your wounds. I'll put the call button in your right hand. Press it if you need anything. I'll go get breakfast sorted OK?"

Alex again nodded.

Alex noted all the staff he saw were female. Alex spoke only in spanish and russian. he refused to speak english. He remained calm and passive so the restraints were removed. Alex curled into a ball his side, away from the door and made himself as small a target as possible.

The initial psychological assessment of showed that Alex Rider spoke positively of his relationship with Stephan Kelenkov, even the more extreme violence and sex. Alex accepted his treatment as it kept his lover happy. The reality was a harsh regime of drugs and behaviour modification being used to break him over an extended period of time. Grooming, torture, rapes and periods of understanding, gentleness and kindness. The drugs making Alex open and compliant. Alex had developed codependancy with his torturer. Alex had convinced himself this was a mutually loving relationship. His psyche protecting himself from the harsh levels of punishment. Stockholm Syndrome and Anxious (avoidant) personality disorder were noted.

The failure to apprehend Stephan Kelenkov did not worry Byrne. Intel from Uruguay stated the billionaire had died in a house fire two days after they extracted Alex. The Police there had treated the foreigner's death as accidental. The CIA's local agent had said Kelenkov had been rounded up by the locals and burnt as a satan worshiper. Maria the housekeeper had told all about what the rich man had done to the poor drugged boy who lived there and had disappeared. The villagers had wanted to protect their own sons from the foreign devil.

Alex had been sedated and moved to a new facility for long term care. He was here for debriefing and hopefully healed. The psychiatrist was very petite and had short red hair. Marsha spoke only in english and had instructed all the staff only to converse with Alex in english. She asked why he would not speak in english.

Alex then whispered in english, so quietly she had to move closer to hear him. "Good boys obey. Stephan wants me only to speak russian or spanish to strangers. I don't want correction."

"What did Stephan do to correct you?"

Alex schooled his emotionless mask. "Stephan could do anything he wanted. He owned me. I obeyed because there was no escape. He only corrected me a couple of times. Have you ever been tortured by pressure points?"

"No Alex. What was it like?"

"I could show you, but I won't. Its not nice. He did it for three hours. Its possibly the worst thing anyone has ever done to me and I've been tortured before. He broke me in three hours. I begged him to stop." Alex closed his eyes "Then he called me a strong boy. The last person he tortured lasted forty minutes. I was a mere child witheld so long." Alex then started to cry. His life was over. What would the future bring? More blackmail and coercion from MI6 or the CIA. Marsha stroked his head and soothed him.

After the initial session, Alex had opened up and spoken freely with Marsha. Several sessions had progressed with Alex becoming comfortable in her presence.

Ben Daniels looked over the video feed. There was almost no resemblance of the kid in the interview room to the bright, sarcastic teenager who had crossed Ben's paths previously. Ben looked at the face of the CIA chief, Joe Byrne looked equally as sad. Alex Rider had been an excellent operative. A year with a trained torturer and sadist had destroyed the boy they had known.

Thankfully, the intel from Carlos Kelenkov meant they had traced Alex, who had been so lucky he had got out. Without the information Alex would never have been found. The ownership of the House in Uruguay had been hidden under a trail of false companies to a little used Russian Bank Account in the name of Yassen Gregorovich. The house had once been the hiding place of the assassin left after his death to his lover, Stephan Kelenkov.

Carlos Kelenkov had inherited a vast amount of wealth but the death of his father had left him bitter. He passively accepted the messages of condolence at his mother's house in Buenos Aries. His father was not the man everyone portrayed him to be in the newspaper articles and obituaries. Carlos then thought a true biography, warts and all was due for his father. His real friends had been killers and blackmailers. His father had been sick and twisted. That poor boy his father had ensnared and enslaved. Carlos was paying for Alexander Rider's treatment and he received updates on his progress, still too soon to know how long Alex would be hospitalised. The young Kelenkov would now start foundations giving his father's wealth away. Blood money would help as his father had destroyed.