Alex battled through the drug induced sleep sluggishly. He could hear the faint beep of a heart monitor that was starting to beep faster as he surfaced from his unconscious state. He heard a voice talking softly to him. Ian. His uncle was with him, he was safe.

Then harsh words came crashing into his mind and he had no idea how they got there.

"You were a burden to him...to get away from you...Ian's gone....you're all alone."

Ian sat up anxiously as Alex's heart monitor increased its beeping.

He hit the call button and placed a hand gently on the boy's bruised shoulder. He saw Alex's breathing get more rapid and stressed.

"Alex, can you hear me?" He asked gently.

His nephew's eyes fluttered open tiredly and looked over at Ian.

The older man looked like he was going to jump for joy when the kid's brown eyes met his royal blue ones. But his excitement was deferred when Ian saw the raw pain and confusion in his eyes. He never knew that so much emotion could be seen in someone's eyes as young as Alex, but here it was.

A nurse came silently in, interrupting Ian and Alex's silent stare down with a syringe in her hand.

"Good morning Mr. Rider," She greeted in an American accent, though Ian couldn't tell if she was talking to him or Alex so he nodded slightly his eyes still on Alex.

"I'm going to give you something for the pain, okay, Buddy?" She stated more than asked.

Alex didn't seem to comprehend her statement so the blonde haired nurse smiled sadly as she emptied the syringe's contents into his IV before leaving the room as quietly as she came.

Ian waited patiently for the pained expression on Alex's face diminished a bit.

His nephew turned his head slowly toward him.

"Ian?" Alex tried to say, but his throat was too sore for the sound to be anything more than a croaky whisper.

Ian reached over, beyond Alex's line of sight, to produce a small plastic cup of water with a straw in it.

"Sip slowly or you'll get sick," Ian instructed, holding the straw to Alex's mouth.

Alex complied, sipping the wet water down his throat to sooth the rawness of his throat.

Alex pulled back but kept quiet, turning his head away from Ian.

"What's wrong?" Ian asked, knowing that when Alex couldn't stand to look at him something was wrong.

Alex was silent for a while before replying, "I didn't know.....or I never really thought about it, really." He said in a whisper.

"Thought about what, Alex?" Ian asked confused by the boy's words.

"I was a burden to you. You didn't want me, you just got saddled with me when Mom and Dad died," Alex replied with more hurt in his voice and expression than Ian could stand.

Ian had a feeling that Alex would take to heart what Davis had beat into his head. And he didn't blame Alex either, Davis had done quite a number on Ian's mental state. But Ian was an adult and able to work through what he had endured...Or at least that's what he had convinced himself. Alex on the other hand was still just a kid, Ian didn't care what anyone said; Alex Rider was still a child in his eyes and probably always would be.

"Alex-" Ian started only to be cut off by Alex's weakened voice.

"Please don't lie to me, Ian. You and I both know that I've had enough of that." He replied harshly.

Ian could only stare in shock at his nephew as the kid tried to blink back his tears that were forming in the corners of his eyes.

Ian hated it when Alex cried, which was few and far between, but all the same Ian Rider's stomach clenched each time he saw it.

"Alex, did you ever wonder why I took you instead of letting Ash take you? I mean, after all he was your godfather. He had every right to take you in and raise you," Ian stated lightly.

Alex only shrugged as best as his injuries would allow and replied, "He told you he didn't want me either? It wouldn't surprise me, I mean it's not like he needed anything around to remind him of John Rider..or to remind himself that he was a bastard."

"No, well that would have probably wound up happening, but I told Ash that I wanted you. You were my brother's kid, my nephew. As soon as I heard that John and Helen were dead, the very first words that came out of my mouth were, 'where is my nephew'....After, of course, I threw my guts up in the nearest toilet. But I do not ever want to hear you say that you were a burden to me. Granted, our first couple of weeks together were a bit rocky, but I pulled you through it, and I only dropped you on your head twice," Ian said, trying to turn the end of his speech into a joke.

Alex finally turned his head to look at Ian, which he took to be a good thing so he kept talking.

"Davis did this to you, Alex. He took the one person you had left in you life and told you that I didn't care. And in the state you were in, you believed it," he finished.

Alex looked at Ian with pain in his eyes, "I can't be left alone again, Ian...I...I acted like it was no big deal at first, but when you left and I got caught up in this with MI6...I was lost."

Ian looked at Alex with guilt in his eyes, but he knew he deserved the guilt and so much more for putting Alex through this.

"I know, but I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere. Not again. And I'm not going to let this happen to you ever again," Ian replied.

Alex only looked sadly at Ian, "you and I both know that you can't promise that."

"No, but I can damn sure try," he replied determinedly.

Alex surprisingly managed a small smile, "thank you, Ian."

There was a comfortable silence for awhile and Ian saw Alex's pale expression become darker and far away.

"Alex, why don't you try to get some sleep? We'll talk about the rest when you get stronger. I'm surprised you managed to stay awake for as long as you have," Ian suggested, trying to get the boy's mind off whatever it was.

"Did I kill him?" Alex whispered.

Ian was momentarily confused before it dawned on him, "no, you didn't kill him, I did. But you did get him pretty good in the shoulder," Ian replied, refusing to lie.

This seemed to relax Alex some but not completely.

"I've never shot someone before, not even to injure," Alex replied quietly before giving a humorless laugh, "I guess that means I'm finally like everyone else involved in this kind of shit."

Alex looked absolutely miserable, this was something that really bothered Alex. One of the thing that Alex was afraid of was becoming the people he despised.

"Alex, shooting someone isn't something you just go out and do, you know that. Some people do it out of greed, hatred, revenge, money, or just because their screwed up in the head, the list goes on. But there's not a lot of people anymore that do it to save someone. That's what you did, you saved me. So, you're not like all the people you're thinking of. You care, you have feeling, that's something people in this life doesn't have a lot of. You're not like them," Ian replied firmly.

Alex nodded tiredly but didn't seem too convinced.

"Now, why don't you try to get some rest," Ian ordered more than asked, "Jack will more than likely be here when you wake up and she'll want to see you."

The exhausted teen nodded tiredly before trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in.

"What about you?" Alex slurred eyes closed, nearly asleep.

Ian smiled affectionately, "I'm not going anywhere, Alex. Get some sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."

Ian scooted his chair over closer to Alex and ran a hand through the boy's hair before coming to a rest comfortingly on his arm.. This seemed to relax Alex as he finally fell into a much needed sleep.

A/N- Yeah, it's short but it's a chapter that needed to be done. And it more than likely makes Alex seem quite a bit OOC but being tortured will do that to I guy....I'm assuming. Lol.

Let me know how I did!