A.N.: So I decided to alter my schedules a little bit. I'll try to update twice for this story before I update the Prince's Bodyguard. It's so that I can finish a story faster before I decide to push both stories further down the schedule. I hope this doesn't cause any inconvenience for you. ^ ^

Okay, one more thing before we go onward: (By request of BlueCookies214) Never Say Die, the next book in the AR series! No, seriously, it's true. Involves Alex on a mission to find out if Jack is really dead or not...It's coming out, so please strap in your belt and wait for the launch. ^ ^ Just google it, you will be sure to find it! (I sound like an ad...)

With that set, onwards~


Alex didn't know how he should react. Blind? Wasn't the room dark? W-

"It's probably temporary," The agent informed him, laying a hand on his shoulder, "Calm down."

"Are you sure that-"

"It's only temporary," Agent Belworth interrupted him, "Once we get out of here, you should go see a doctor."

Alex closed his eyes, not that it mattered anymore, and exhaled softly, "Sorry."

"You should get used to the blindness soon," The agent said, brushing away his apology easily, "It's pretty dark here, so there isn't much change."

Alex swallowed and sat up, leaning against the nearby wall for support, "We should get out of here soon before I lose my mind."

Agent Belworth chuckled, "Don't lose it just yet because I need it to form a plan."

Alex let out a small smile, "I'll try."

Bear made no comment throughout the whole conversation. Alex turned his head toward where he last heard Agent Belworth, "How's Bear?"

"He's asleep," Agent Belworth said, and in a way, it answered his unasked question.

Alex nodded slightly, "Do you think they're on their way?"

Agent Belworth caught his meaning. "They are," He could hear the nod in the agent's voice, "They must be."

"Is that just something that I want to hear or is it fact?" Alex asked, slightly amused.

He pictured the agent's lips quirking up a little, "Both."

"I-"

Alex jumped as he heard the metal bars of their cell being bang on and swung open, crashing against the hard stone walls. Involuntarily, he squinted, trying to see them, before realizing that he was…sightless. He swallowed.

"Wake that man up," He heard someone said. It was Pine.

Alex struggled to his feet and stood up, facing the general direction of the door of the cell, "What do you want?"

"This's something that you will definitely like to hear," The man's tone was sly and Alex had a sense of foreboding settling upon him.

He heard the sound of water being splashed from a bucket, Bear spluttering slightly, and the sensation of the cold water droplets being flung upon him. Alex heard Bear growled but did not move to attack the guards that must have come in to dump the water.

"I'll give you a chance of freedom," Pine said.

It was as if the room held its breath before Pine continued, "But before that, I must tell you a short story as an introduction."

"Get to the point," Alex said curtly.

"I will, I will," Pine's voice was friendly as if he was talking to a small kid or a friend, "Now, if you were dropped onto an island, along with two other people, and there is only one boat which can take only two people, what will you do? Will you leave someone to die or will you all die?"

"What is your point?" Alex asked, stepping forward but felt Agent Belworth pulling him back. He knew exactly what Pine's point was, but he had to ask.

"Just answer my question."

"Leave someone to die," It was Bear who answered, "At least two surviving is better than none."

"What if you are all best friends?" Pine asked.

"Throw out the one that's the weakest," Bear muttered.

Why was Bear going along with the man? To please him while he could so that they could get out? Somehow, Alex didn't think so. Did Bear really believe in the lie of freedom that Pine spoke about?

"What if you are all equally strong?" Pine continued, "Now, let me back up a little. One of them is someone whom you used to be friends with but now hates, and the other is a new met friend who you accepted. Who will you push off?"

Alex felt his heart pummeled. He knew where the man was getting at, "Bear, don't answer him."

"Get to the point," Bear snarled at Pine, ignoring Alex.

"If I volunteer to give freedom to two of you in here," Pine said and Alex could hear the sly smile in his voice, "Who will you push off?"

There was a moment of silence, then, "Coyote."

Involuntarily, Alex took a step back, "…Bear?"

"Let the agent and I go free," Bear continued, "You can keep Coyote. Besides, he's a traitor, he holds no value for us."

"Wait, Bea-"

"Deal," Pine said, cutting Alex off, "In twenty-four hours, you will be able to leave."

"Why twenty-four?" Bear asked, seemingly unaware of the fact that he had just sold one of his unit members away for his own freedom.

"Because we must make sure that the perimeter is clear."

"Bear, don't listen to him!" Alex exclaimed, "He won't keep his promise!"

"I trust his words more than the words of someone who killed them." Bear shot back.

Alex didn't need to ask to know who 'them' were. There were two, and only two, people who Bear was thinking constantly about right now. Bear probably would never forgive him for not being able to save Ferret and Leopard.

Alex swallowed and closed his eyes before turning to face Pine, "You promise that you'll let them go free if I stay?"

"Coyote, what are you doing?" Agent Belworth hissed but Alex chose to ignore him.

"I promise that they will be able to leave," Pine replied.

Alex nodded, knowing that he was driving a hard bargain, "Can you get them looked over first before you send them away?"

"Certainly," He heard the man clasped his hands together, "But you will stay with us, right?"

He felt Agent Belworth's hand dug into his arms, "…Yes."

"Are you crazy?" Agent Belworth spun him around to face him and even though Alex couldn't see, he could sense the fury in the man's voice.

"I will find a way out," Alex said softly.

"You will stay," He heard Bear coming up from behind him, "If you run, they will go catch us again."

"I didn't know that SAS standards have dropped to such low level since my last visit," Agent Belworth said, his voice suddenly cold, "I understand that you're grieving for the loss of your unit members. Do not let it take you over."

"What do you know?" Bear replied hoarsely, "You don't know anything. He didn't save them."

"Nor did you," Agent Belworth replied without missing a beat.

"Belworth…" Alex started.

"He didn't let me," Bear shot back, his voice flaring in anger.

"But will that really stop you if you really wanted to save them?"

"What do you mean?"

"You knew that it was a lost cause the moment that they told you to get out," Agent Belworth said, his words cutting bluntly and causing Alex to wince.

"You-" Bear growled.

"Now," Pine interrupted them, "I will just take Coyote and leave you to sort things out. Is that all right?"

"Bear, do not agree," Agent Belworth said, his voice brittle with ice, "I do not trust the man."

"Take him away," Bear said, ignoring the agent, "And don't let me see him again."

"…Bear," Alex felt the words died in his throat as the guards grabbed him and pushed him out the cell.

The guards probed him along and Alex stumbled a little. Pine ordered one of them to blindfold his eyes, something that Alex considered pointless, before dragging him forward down the maze of hallways. He would have looked back to glance at Agent Belworth, to tell him to get Bear out, but with the sightlessness, he couldn't even locate where the cell was.

In front of him was nothing more than the pitch-black darkness that had nothing to do with the blindfold.


Agent Belworth glanced at the man, with his head in his hands, in front of him. This man was grieving, so much that he was going mad with it. He narrowed his eyes. Were the standards for SAS really this horrible? To be unable to even control their grievance and throwing away their teammates on wrong accusations. He would have to find a way to get the other soldier, Coyote, out on his own.

"You think I did something wrong," Bear stated suddenly.

"No," Agent Belworth glanced at the man, "You're grieving for the loss of your close comrades, I understand."

"Then…"

"But Coyote wasn't wrong," Agent Belworth nearly snapped, "There are a lot of casualties that we can't prevent in this world. There's no point in burying your head deep in the shit and refuse to get out."

Bear's eyes flashed, "He could have saved them."

"He couldn't have," Agent Belworth leapt to his feet, "They were too far away. Besides, even if Coyote did save them, they would have died because of their bullet wound almost instantly."

"Then he should have just died with them!" Bear roared back.

There was a moment of silence before Agent Belworth spoke up quietly, "You want him to die?"

Bear seemed to be at a loss for words as he buried his head once again into his hands, "I…"

"You don't hate him," Agent Belworth was tired of the man's stupidity, "You are just too fucked up to take the blame."

Bear didn't respond, nor did Agent Belworth expected him to. Suddenly, he heard a loud yell and tensed. Guards? The sound of bodies dropping onto the floor and guns clattering reached his ears and he leapt toward the door, pressing against the cell door to gain a better view. Another body hit the ground with a near-silent thud. Then suddenly, a man, dressed in camouflaging suit, burst to the front of the cell, a gun still raised and trained at where he came from.

"Agent Belworth?" The man asked as their gaze met and he quickly fired a shot a shot that flickered out of Agent Belworth's vision. It hit someone and he heard another body crumpling to the ground.

"Yes," Agent Belworth answered, a little shock at the turn of the events. Were they from 6?

"I'm Wolf," The soldier introduced himself but his gaze was constantly flickering down the hallway, "I'm the leader of K-Unit. We are sent by 6 to rescue you, the other agent, and the remaining members of J-Unit."

"So the signal worked?" Agent Belworth asked but it was obvious.

"Yes," The man glanced at him, "Please step back."

Agent Belworth complied and glanced at Bear. The man knew what was happening as well but remain seated on the edge of the tattered bed, looking at the soldier named Wolf with a slightly calculating glance. Wolf raised his gun and fired at the lock of the door. It didn't hold much of a chance before it was blasted away, swinging open under the shot. Agent Belworth stuck out his foot, catching the door before it hit the stone wall.

"Bear," Wolf acknowledged the soldier before taking a glance sweeping around the cell, "Where's Coyote?"

"Coyote…" Agent Belworth hesitated, "He's being interrogated right now."

He saw the man stiffened before he continued, "Then the other agent?"

Agent Belworth frowned, "The other agent? There's no other agent. It's just the three of us."

"Damn 6," He thought he heard Wolf muttered under his breath, "Not giving us detailed information."

"6 mentioned another agent?" Agent Belworth asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, they did," Wolf muttered, his hands fumbling with his gun absently.

Another soldier burst into view, or at least Agent Belworth thought he was a soldier before he saw his face, "Agent Daniels!"

"Agent Belworth," Agent Daniels nodded his head, "Where's Coyote?"

Unconsciously, Agent Belworth wondered just who in the world was Coyote? He seemed to be the center of attention everywhere he went.

"He's being interrogated," Agent Belworth repeated. To be honest with himself, he didn't know what was happening to Coyote. Bear had sold him out for their freedom that went to waste because of K-Unit's retrieval. With Coyote's blindness, he wasn't sure if the soldier was in good condition at all. Unable to see was a big disaster when facing someone like Pine.

A moment later, three more soldiers joined them. Two of them were injured. One of them cradled his arm to his chest, and the second was limping, a nasty graze across his right leg. The third was just panting slightly. They must be the rest of K-Unit.

"Where's Coyote?" The one with the broken arm asked.

"He's being kept by Pirmors," Wolf replied, "We are going to get him out before we leave. Do you know where he's kept?"

"No," Agent Belworth shook his head in frustration, "They blindfolded us every time they took one of us out for interrogation."

"Do you still have the information then?" Wolf asked.

"It's on a disk and Coyote has it," Agent Belworth replied, looking a little worried, "At least, he had it."

Wolf, making a decision, turned toward Bear who glanced at him, "Bear, are you shot or wounded in anyways?"

"They bandaged me up," Bear grunted in reply.

"Good, you're coming with me," Wolf jerked his head toward the door, "The rest of you take the agent out. And while you're at it, take him to a hospital. Get yourself checked out as well."

"But—"

"No buts," Wolf snapped, "Now!"

"You know I'm supposed to be the one in charge," Agent Daniels said dryly to Wolf.

"You said the priorities are both Coyote and the information," Wolf replied, "So as long as our goal is the same, it doesn't matter as to who's in charge."

"Wolf has grown up," The man with the broken arm stage-whispered, causing the man next to him laughed.

"Shut up Eagle," Wolf said but his voice wasn't hard.

He turned toward Bear who had stood up and walked toward them, "C'mon, Bear. Let's go."

Agent Belworth was taken aback when Bear merely nodded, agreeing to the arrangement. Why…? Didn't Bear push Coyote away? Why was he doing it? Agent Belworth blinked. Was he trying to make up for it?

"C'mon, let's head out," Agent Daniels said, snapping him out of his thoughts, "There might be some obstacles, so we'll have to hurry."

"Let's go," Agent Belworth nodded.


Pine led him down the hallways, the smooth cold stone was chilling beneath his bare feet. His side was screaming in agony at every step he took and he gritted his teeth against it. It was painful, but he had to bear with it. Showing weakness would be his downfall. The disk and the responsibility seemed to weigh him down. He just hoped that 6's team would come to get them soon, just in case that Pine went against his words.

He was thrown into a metal room, probably the same metal room that he had visited so often in the past few days. Alex laid on the floor, waiting for Pine to move.

"They have abandoned you," Pine said after the door swung shut loudly.

"I kind of realized," Alex remarked dryly, "I'm not as stupid as you."

"Provocation wouldn't work," Pine said while shaking his head.

Suddenly, without warning, the man lashed up. Alex cried out as the man stepped on his wound before flinging him to the opposite wall with his foot. He tasted metal in his mouth and felt liquid trickling down the side of his mouth.

Pine reached out and jerked him upright by his barely-existing shirt, "Tell me, where is the disk?"

"Go," Alex spat out, "To hell."

The next punch jerked his head back, so hard that he swore he heard something crack. He choked, coughing out the bitter taste of blood in his mouth.

"Every move you made make me want to torture you," Pine hissed as he leaned in closer, "Tell me, where is the disk? If you don't, I'll blow them up."

"You said that you'll let them go," Alex wasn't dependent on the man keeping his words, but the hint of despair still crept up to his tone.

"I promised that they can leave," Pine replied, "But not by how. Leaving here in ghost form is considered keeping my promise as well."

"You bastard!" Alex tried to lash out with his foot, but without much strength, it was weak and the man danced away, dropping Alex onto the ground.

Alex felt something slip out of his pocket and froze. Then madly, he fumbled around for it.

"What is that you're holding?" Pine asked, his tone suspicious, and walked closer.

"Nothing," Alex said, then gasped out loud as the man stepped on his hand, "It's nothing!"

He felt his hand being pried open without my resistance. Pine took out the metallic object, "A…mint?"

Alex didn't respond as his other hand, as out of sight as possible, checked the disk. It was still there but slipping. He swallowed. Don't slip out just yet, please.

"It's something more, isn't it?" Pine asked softly and Alex could sense the man twirling the small ring-like candy in his hand, "It's…a tracker."

Alex held his breath.

"You sent a signal out right after you woke up," Pine said as if it was no surprise, "With this tracker. But they haven't come for you yet."

"H-How?" Alex coughed, "How did you know?"

"Like you said, I have cameras and recorders set in the cell," Pine said, "I heard every word, every whisper, exchanged between you three."

"Then…why didn't you take it away?" Alex felt his blood ran cold. Did Pine know about the disk then?

"Because I enjoy playing games with you," Pine smiled, "But have you ever wonder as to why they haven't come yet?"

"It hadn't been long," Alex muttered, slumped, "They should be coming and then it will be your end."

"Don't be so sure," Pine said and Alex heard him kneeling down slightly, "Have you learned about the interruption in signals in school?"

Alex felt his eyes widened, "You…"

"Interrupted the signal," Pine said, "Of course I did. I wouldn't exactly want them to storm this place, would I?"

He heard the mint being crashed in the man's hand. The pieces fell to the ground, and so did Alex's hope. He swallowed.

"Now, I've noticed that you have been slipping your hand into your pocket back in the cell," Pine continued and Alex stiffened, "Mind turning out your pockets?"

"T-There's nothing in there," Alex knew that his lie was about as convincing as the fact that he could see.

His hand curled around the disk. It was a mistake, he knew, but he had no other options. The man pulled his hand out and pried it open easily. The disk fell out and clattered onto the ground. Alex leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.

"You were lying the whole time," Pine continued as he reached for the disk, "You're welcome for tolerat-"

Alex's eyes flickered open instantly and he launched himself at the man. Pine, caught off guard, flew back, and they landed in a heap. Alex immediately clambered back onto his feet, though swaying, and hurried toward the disk.

"C'mon…" He muttered as he searched blindly for the disk.

His hand found the metallic touch of the disk and made a move to grab it but Pine reached it first, kicking him out of the way and grabbing the disk out of his reach, "So this is the disk…"

Alex's lung burned as he tried to recover from the lash. No…the disk could not fall into Pine's hand. Madly, he stood up and launched himself at Pine, trying to find the disk that he knew that the man had in his hands. He met empty air and cursed his eyes silently. Pine laughed at his failure, dancing away and out of reach.

"I would never imagine such a day," Pine said, his voice gleeful, "That the mighty Alex Rider would fall to this low level."

The man knew his name, he must have a deeper tie to Scorpia than Alex thought. He was more than a common operative that Scorpia employed to set up Pirmors.

Alex steadied himself against the wall with his hands, knowing that he was shaking and trembling like leaves in the wind, "I'll never let you have it."

"It isn't yours, to begin with," Pine said, lashing out with his foot as Alex came nearer, slamming him against the wall violently.

Alex gasped out loud in pain, nearly choking in the violent gush of blood from his lung. Shit. Shit. Shit. His hand clutched the front of his shirt as if it would somehow stop the pain. His whole body was pounding and the throb in his temple had long become a part of the routine. He felt himself slipping sideways down the wall before toppling sideways, his energy drained and barely having enough to stay conscious.

"I'll give you a way out," Pine said, walking closer and leaned in, "Are you listening?"

Weakly, Alex nodded. Let them think that he had lost his will. He closed his eyes and tried to play the submissive pawn.

"Good," Pine said, "Scorpia offered you your freedom if you become their operative."

Alex's eyes flickered open, "Operative?" The question was croaked out and blood trickled out of his mouth soon after. It didn't matter anymore.

"You work for them, and you can get out of here," Pine said, his voice a little bitter, "Personally, I would like you to die. You took my things without my consent, and caused me tons of troubles, nearly getting killed by the higher-ups."

"You don't care if I tell them about your keys?" Alex let out a small smile as the question slipped out, "Your precious bronze keys?"

He felt Pine faltered then stiffened as the man hissed, "What do you know about the keys?"

"Will Scorpia really be that glad to welcome you back if they know that you've been taking from them all along?" Alex asked.

"What are you talking about?" Pine asked. He would have been passed as innocent if only his voice and tone wasn't harsh and bristling.

"It leads to a safe, doesn't it?" Alex laughed but it came out hollow. The keys were probably the only Saving Grace at the moment.

"How?"

Alex let a small smile quirking up his lips, "It was easy."

"Tell me," Pine hissed, grabbing him by his arms.

"Aren't you afraid of cameras in this room?" Alex asked, unafraid of the man.

"There is no camera," The man hissed.

So the man didn't know, huh…

"Then let's do a trade. I'll tell you how I know and promise to stay silent, in return you give me the disk."

"I can kill you right after you tell me."

"And I'll mix in lies," Alex replied.

"I'll kill you right now."

"There are obvious hints that will lead Scorpia to your safe."

He could almost see the man's eyes widened in shock and hid a small smile, "So is that a deal?"

"It's true…" Alex didn't expect the man to speak, "That I took money from them. They didn't give me enough working as an operative."

Alex stayed silent. The man sounded genuine.

"And I have a family, two kids. I can't support them with the limited pay I received from them. They said they will pay me big when I joined them, but all I received is a small amount for every job I did."

"That's why you took the money?"

"Yes…but I didn't take a lot, just enough to sustain the family." Pine admitted.

Alex felt a stab of guilt at pressuring the man. Pine had a family to look after, pushing him to do whatever he could do to get money. If he died, the wife will become a widow and the two children living up fatherless… Alex didn't want them to go through what he went through.

But nor can he just hand the information that Agent Belworth risked his life getting.

"Give me the disk and let me go free, and I'll not speak a word about your safe."

"How do I know that you'll keep to your words?" Pine demanded.

"You can depend only on my words," Alex smiled slightly, "Besides, I want your family to live happily."

"Then can you please tell me how you found out?" Pine's voice was soft.

"It was easy," Alex relented, pitying the man in front of him, "I had my suspicion about you ever since the first day we met. The way you act was very different from the described Agent Belworth. When we first met, Bear knocked on the door, you opened it immediately. If you were sitting in the living room previously, it would have taken you a few seconds, approximately ten, to get to the door and open it. This means that you were in front of the door the whole time, or that you had just come into the building."

"Your observation skills are pretty sharp," Pine commented.

"The keys that you left on your shelf right in front of the door showed that you had put it there in a hurry. Everything in the house was organized neatly, everything except the key. But judging by your way of putting things together, like your plan, showed that you are a careful person. Putting the keys there must have been because you wanted to get rid of immediately when the doorbell rang. You were jumpy because you weren't sure who knocked on the door. It could be one of the Scorpia agents sent to see if your progress in the mission or it could be us. We weren't scheduled to arrive until an hour later, so you probably weren't expecting us."

Alex felt his lung rattled as he took a deep breath before continuing, "When I took the key, I knew that you instantly recognized it to be missing and saw that I slipped something into my pocket on the way in. It was by pure chance and luck that I had something else in my pocket at the time. If you pressed and insisted if I had something else in my pocket, the rest will suspect you, and so you left it alone."

"They definitely would have asked me about the keys if you had taken it out," Pine agreed.

"Then the second time, in Edmonson's office," Alex swallowed, closing his eyes, "When I took out the keys. You were protective of it, yet Edmonson wasn't aware of its worth. That means that it wasn't something business-related, or regarding the mission. It was something more…personal or Scorpia-related. But it couldn't be the latter, because you were desperate to get it back for yourself, not for Scorpia. That's when I knew that it was something personal to you."

"I would have left it alone," Alex said, shifting slightly, "if only I hadn't seen the pile of cash in the drawers back where you throw us in to talk to Agent Belworth."

"You saw them?" Pine stiffened, "How? They were locked."

"The bullets that you were firing at us broke the drawer opened," Alex explained, "And I accidently pulled it open when I was ducking behind the desk. I thought that it was Edmonson's personal money since it wasn't uncommon for rich men to store cash everywhere for their own purposes. But then I thought about it again. Edmonson, a man who definitely did not invent the cure for cancer and was hiding behind falsified cures to gain money, was not someone who would give away money that easily."

"The scene that Scorpia set up," Pine agreed, "To kill the patient in a fatal accident, wasn't realistic enough, huh."

"It wasn't," Alex shook his head, "But Edmonson was a man who did that for money, not for anything else other than that. He was a greedy man who was protective of his money. He wouldn't part ways with even a single piece of cash, so why will he put it in a drawer in the same room that you threw us in? The answer was that he wouldn't."

"But how did you…?"

"Your keys were bronze keys, small bronze-colored keys, with a small tag that shows that it was the property of Edmonson's organization. Perfectly inconspicuous, and to anyone, these are just keys for employees like you to access places. But I had looked at keyholes on the doors of the ship. They were all large, made for larger keys, and not for the small keys that you have. When I looked a little closer at the drawer locks, I knew instantly what the keys were for."

"How do you know for sure?"

"There was also a card under it, am I right?" Alex asked though it was more like a statement than anything, "The card has a name on it. If I recall correctly, it was Pinus Weymouth. A perfectly weird, but decent name. Honestly, I don't know that you were those type of people who enjoyed giving puzzles."

"It wasn't a puzzle."

"Pinus Weymouth, who exactly is Pinus Weymouth?" Alex continued, "I didn't exactly waste my time in the cell staring at the walls. It was that moment that I suddenly remembered something that I learned in this leaf collection project back in school. We had to collect samples of different pine trees. The scientific name for Pine is Pinus. And Weymouth, I remembered collecting the leaf of a Weymouth Pine. Pinus, basically meant your codename, Pine. You added Weymouth for the sake of a last name. Weymouth was the last name of George Weymouth who carried the seed of a pine tree to England. It, if I guessed correctly, basically meant British. Pine British, or the British Pine."

At that, Alex chuckled slightly, "The British Pine, that's basically you. Your codename is Pine, and you're British. You invented the name to create a bank account that can still be linked to you so that you can still claim it when asked but is irrelevant to your true name. And after that is figured out, it wasn't hard to realize that the money was yours. But why will you put your card so carelessly around for people to find?"

"They couldn't have found it if they didn't have a key," Pine objected but Alex ignored him.

"Then, linking it with the puzzle pieces flying around, it wasn't hard to figure out the fact that those were money that you don't want people to find out about, therefore you stored it in the most conspicuous place yet inconspicuous at the same time."

"Everything you said was linked by…coincidence," Pine said, his voice hard, "How do you know that your claims were correct?"

"Because you had just confirmed everything before I begun and even while I was talking," Alex smiled.

There was a moment of silence before Alex heard the sound of a gun's safety being flicked off. He tensed, "What're you doing?"

"Good night, Rider." He could hear the sneer in the man's tone.

"You said you'll let me go!" Alex protested, his head swarming as he tried to steady himself on the floor.

"I never promised," The man said, shaking his head slightly, "Besides, I've got what I need, and I don't need you anymore. Nor do I need them anymore."

Alex yelled, "You bastard! You said you'll at least let them leave!"

"The building is set to blow in ten minutes," The man smiled, "See what you can do before then. In the meantime, I'm going to take my leave."

"I thought you are a father!" Alex spat, "How can you be so ruthless? Do-"

"They were lies," Pine interrupted him, "All lies, just to get you to talk to me. You're softer than you thought, falling for easy traps like this."

Alex seethed, "Then you took the money for your personal gain."

"The part about not enough payment was partially true," Pine decided to elaborate a little, "I ran into a little debt during a gambling match and I need money. Thank you for telling me how you figure it out. I will take measures in hiding it more carefully."

"There's something else that you might want to know," Alex spoke up, trying to reign in the desperate situation.

There was a moment of silence before Pine tentatively asked, his voice full of suspicion, "What's it? You're going to die no matter what, so there's no use in stretching the time longer."

"It's not that," Alex looked up and smiled at the man, "Did you hear the constant beeping in this room?"

"Beeping?" The man frowned. They quiet down. The room was quiet, so quiet that they could even hear the sound of the air coming in from underneath the door.

Then they heard it. The small beeping sound from the top corner of the room. Alex heard Pine turning toward it. Then the man swore loudly, "Cameras."

Alex smiled, "I guess they have got everything recorded, nice and clear, eh?"

"You knew," Pine said breathlessly.

"I knew," Alex confirmed, "I noticed it the first time you threw me into this jail. I guess your higher-ups didn't trust you as much as you thought they did."

A shot rang out and Alex didn't have time to cry out before the bullet buried himself in his shoulder. He swayed slightly then slumped back, unconscious.

With one last glance, Pine left.

The door swung open then shut again.

Somewhere in the compound, the forty-five seconds had gone passed on the small timer clock. Nine minute and fifteen seconds to go before the bundle beneath it explode.


Raise your hand if you were expecting a quick and easy rescue mission. Eh...that's quite a lot of you... My apologies...

So yeah, the situation might have taken a turn for the worse...

Anyways, thanks for all your amazing reviews! As well as the follows and favs!

And as always...anyone got cookies?