And there you have it! The final proper chapter! A good, long one for all you readers. Gosh, I can't believe I've finally finished this - it feels like it's taken me forever. XD Read the bottom for a full-ish note, but I'm glad to finally get this one out!
Anyway, thank you to Dobby and Padfoot, Riderkitty and DS2010 for your reviews! I'm glad you guys have stuck with this for so long - we've finally reached the conclusion! I hope y'all love it!
Read on!
Alex yawned as he opened his eyes, stretching a little as he attempted to sit up.
He'd now been awake for a good couple of days, and had more or less recovered from that coma he'd been in for so long. Honestly, even he didn't understand why he hadn't woken up, but he sure was glad that he was awake now. Who knows what would have happened if he'd been out for longer?
Still, things he'd heard after waking up had shaken him slightly. Walker was dead, and so was Dominic – the two men involved in this whole case, and the reason he was in hospital at that moment in time, had been killed before they could be imprisoned. And from the sounds of it, they'd been offed by a group (or individual) that called themselves Viper, though he hadn't heard much more about it. Not since the case had apparently been handed over to the CIA, which the others weren't too pleased about.
Not that he was all that pleased about it either.
Still, it wasn't really his concern. The business card had been handed back to him, but other than that he was pretty much free. The case relating to him was technically closed, and he was no longer under witness protection. He was pretty much as safe as he could be without a target on his head.
Still, in the back of his mind, he kept hearing whispers. Something about people coming for him, and him having to go for them first. He tried to ignore it, but it kept coming back every once in a while.
He was startled out of his thoughts when there was a knock at the door, and the teen looked up to see a group of people walk in, led by Andrew with Tony covering the rear. The teen sat up more fully in bed, smiling a little at his guests. "Hey…"
"Hey, you're up!" Andrew greeted, heading straight towards the bed and sitting beside it. Sabina, who had entered the room just after him, followed suit and sat on the other side of the bed, almost immediately taking his hand into hers.
"Yeah," Alex responded, his voice a little croaky from disuse. Confusion appeared on his features as he looked around at everyone else. "What's with all the people?"
"Just thought we'd check up on you, no biggie," Tony responded as he shut the door behind him.
"The guards didn't tell you anything, did they?"
"Why? Did you do something?"
"No, nothing! Just wondering."
Tony narrowed his eyes, tempted to prod further, but Ziva placing her hand on his arm stopped him. He glanced over at her briefly before sighing.
"Well, we just came to check up on you," McGee clarified with a smile. "Glad to see you're doing alright."
Alex smiled back at him and nodded, and the three teens watched as the agents (minus Lisa Harrison, who Alex hadn't noticed until just then) took their leave. As soon as the door closed, all three of them turned to the one agent left in the room, staring at her.
"What?" she asked, her brows furrowing as she sipped on a cup of coffee in her hands. She grimaced at the taste and set the paper cup down on Alex's bedside table. "That's nasty."
"Why are you here?" Sabina demanded, and if it weren't for the fact that Alex placed his hand on her arm, she would've stood up – a stupid idea, but one she would've carried out nonetheless.
Instead of answering the girl, Lisa focused on the bedridden teen. "How much do you remember about the original flash drive?" she asked, seemingly skipping straight to the point.
Alex's brows furrowed as he thought, trying to remember what he could, but in the end he simply shrugged. "Not a lot, I guess. Only that there were lists of names on there. You and Peter seemed really excited about that."
Lisa gave a single nod, quiet for a few moments before speaking again. "You've worked with Joe Byrne before, correct?" she asked, which caused Andrew to turn towards Alex with wide eyes. The fair-haired male decided to ignore him in favour of answering Lisa's question.
"A couple of times. Unofficially."
"Before all his promotions, Joe Byrne worked with an agent we entrusted the original flash drive to. She was a field agent, and really good at her work, which is what inevitably got her killed – she tended to be involved in infiltrating terrorist and criminal organisations, which made her a target for anyone who found out who she really worked for. As such, she was incredibly trusted, because we knew where her loyalties lay. When she was killed, she took the location of the flash drive with her – and the one person she entrusted with the secret of that flash drive happened to be on the other side, a defect. Joe Byrne, a man she worked very closely with, has no idea where it definitely is."
"What about that guy you gave it to when you first had it, back at your headquarters?" When Lisa gave him a puzzled look, he bit his lower lip. "You know, when my uncle came to pick me up?"
"He was a temporary holder, and he didn't trust himself to keep it safe. He passed it on. Peter and I made sure we knew who had it at all times, until it was lost."
"Why are you telling me this?" Alex asked with a deep frown. "I thought Joe Byrne was off the radar or something?" He definitely knew that Byrne was off the radar, and he knew why as well. Anyone who had been there could have figured it out.
"He's off the radar, but not impossible to contact," Lisa corrected, which made Alex sit up straighter with wide eyes. "And just because he's off the radar doesn't mean he can't have a team with him. He's just as much of a target for any ex-SCORPIA agents as you are – he was involved in the bringing down of the criminal group as well, even if he only played a minor part." She moved to stand at the foot of his bed, leaning on the bed bars. "Joe Byrne is leading the investigation that is searching for the flash drive. He knows that I'm telling you this, and now you know who's leading it up. I'm overseeing it, as requested by Director Vance, because I'm the only one with direct contact with Special Agent Gibbs and the data from his investigation."
Alex blinked a few times, still slightly shocked at the revelation, before he put on a blank expression. "That still doesn't explain why you're telling me this."
Lisa sighed, before pulling something out of her back pocket; a business card. "I know we're not meant to give out personal details to civilians, but you spoke the most with Peter and so had the most contact with that flash drive, even after it was handed over. If there are any details you might remember – anything that Peter said that might give clues as to where the flash drive could be – please contact me. Please. We need those lists before more people die or get recruited."
Alex hesitated, allowing Andrew to take the card for him and smile politely at the woman. "Thanks, we'll keep that in mind."
The woman looked between the three teens, before sighing and nodding. "Right, sure. You don't trust me." She turned to head towards the door.
"You left your coffee!" Andrew called out.
"Throw it out, poison someone with it, I don't care," she called back as she reached the door, not even bothering to look over her shoulder. "It's disgusting and coffee made that way should be banned." She didn't say another word before exiting the room, shutting the door behind her.
The three were silent for a few moments, not quite sure of what to make of the situation. Harrison was now asking Alex for help – Alex, who wasn't supposed to be part of the investigation anymore, who was meant to go home and try to acclimatise to life in the States, and who was currently seriously injured and needed therapy.
Alex knew that if Sabina had it her way, that business card would be ripped up and put in the bin.
Which was why he snatched it from Andrew and hid it.
Sabina glared at him. "You're not seriously going to contact her, are you?"
Alex pursed his lips. "I… I've been having flashbacks of that time. Maybe I'll think of something useful."
"You are not going back into that world."
"I'd agree with you if that world wasn't pulling me in."
"You're letting it."
Andrew cleared his throat before the two could get any more heated. "Look, I know this whole thing is a bit of a sore subject for you both, what with all the emotional scarring and all that," he started, "but I think that's just reason to focus on a more pressing topic."
Alex's mouth opened and closed a couple of times before his brows furrowed. "A more pressing topic?"
"Yes." Andrew glanced over at Sabina, and her eyes widened as she realised what he meant.
"Oh! Yeah." She took Alex's hand in hers, looking intently at him. "Alex…"
Alex leaned away from her. "Yes…?"
"We want you to start seeing a clinical psychologist."
Alex blinked a good few times, confusion clear on his features, before his face went blank. "No."
Sabina sighed heavily as Andrew began to protest, and all Alex could do was roll his eyes and sink back into the pillows, hoping he could block out whatever argument was ensuing.
Alex was getting pretty used to having regular visitors by now. From what he'd heard, the case was being passed on to the CIA, which meant that all the agents were just on paperwork until the next case came up – meaning they had to entertain themselves somehow. And considering Alex was being kept in for another few days so they could monitor his nutrient intake, he supposed he could be considered a form of entertainment. Add that to the fact that Andrew was still in hospital, Edward and Liz checked on him at least twice a day, and Sabina popped up even outside of visiting hours and you had an Alex who was constantly surrounded by people. Not exactly what he wanted, but he supposed it was appreciated.
That was why he wasn't too surprised when Agent Gibbs appeared at the door. The man had only visited once, and hadn't said much that time, but his quieter presence was preferred to loudmouth DiNozzo's.
As soon as the man had shut the door behind him, he moved to sit in one of the chairs by Alex's bed, sipping calmly on the coffee in his hands (that clearly wasn't hospital coffee, otherwise that cup would be in the bin). The two were silent for a little while before Gibbs broke the silence.
"How are you feeling?"
There was another short silence before Alex responded.
"A bit better, I guess." Alex stared down at his hands as he fiddled with his fingers. "At least, I am physically."
"And mentally?" Gibbs took a sip from his coffee, staring at the wall ahead of him instead of at Alex.
Alex shrugged, still staring down at his hands, before looking up at Gibbs. "Andrew said he wants me to see a shrink."
At that, the older man turned his head to look at Alex. "I know, I heard." Gibbs' lips quirked up into a small smile. "He's currently speaking to his psychologist to try and get you to meet her."
Alex's face paled.
Gibbs noticed the paling of his expression and his eyebrows rose. "I also hear you're not a huge fan of seeing a psychologist."
Alex pulled his lower lip between his teeth. He had been wondering how much Andrew had actually told Gibbs – and hearing that Gibbs knew he didn't want to see a psychologist didn't put much confidence in Andrew's ability to keep secrets. Still, the man was a federal agent, and they didn't exactly go around spilling people's secrets.
"There are things I don't want to pull up – things I don't want to relive."
Gibbs was quiet as Alex spoke, simply nodding. Short and to the point – Alex clearly didn't want to talk much about this. "This is an initial meet – it doesn't mean she's going to be your shrink." The man cracked a smile. "God, Alex, she lives in Virginia. You're moving to San Fran. There's no way she could be your shrink."
Alex stayed silent, not responding to the obvious humour in Gibbs' voice. "Then what's going to happen?" he asked quietly.
Gibbs placed his coffee down and turned the seat so that he was fully facing Alex on the bed, and waited until the boy was making eye-contact before he started to speak. "You're going to meet her, she's going to show you what a session is like, and then she's going to refer you to someone closer to home."
Alex seemed to contemplate this for a few moments. "And if she can't find anyone?"
"What, you think there aren't any child psychologists in California?"
"Not any that have dealt with me before."
"Hey." Gibbs frowned at the boy. "Everyone's case is different. Everyone goes through different levels of trauma. Just because yours is different in your opinion doesn't mean they won't have seen it before in someone else." Gibbs leaned in closer. "And it doesn't mean you don't need to speak to them about it."
Alex let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding, before sending a small smile at Gibbs. "You really think it'll help?"
Gibbs sat back a little. "You see Andrew?"
"Yeah…"
"Imagine him as an impulsive ball of anger, and you'll see how much therapy helps."
Gibbs cracked a grin at the laughter that spilled from Alex's lips.
The next few days passed quickly. Eventually, Alex was cleared and deemed ready to discharge, and with that came the imminent departure of the Pleasures from the East Coast – they'd stayed there longer than they'd hoped, and they knew for a fact that Alex and Sabina needed to get back in time for the new school year to start. As it was, Andrew and Jessica were preparing for their own schools.
Which was why, when Andrew burst into Alex's room on the day of his discharge, Alex was startled out of his skin.
"You're leaving?"
Alex rolled his eyes. "What, did you really think I'd stay hospitalised forever?"
Andrew scoffed. "No, I'm more peeved at the fact that you didn't warn me beforehand."
"I'm supposed to warn you before I leave?"
"It's called saying goodbye, moron."
Alex blinked at that, the joking demeanour leaving him suddenly. "Oh."
Andrew frowned. "What?"
Alex looked down. "Well, it's just that… when people say goodbye to me… they usually die…"
Andrew's eyes widened comically. "What?!"
The fair-haired teen suddenly grinned. "Kidding!" When Andrew's expression morphed into one of annoyance, Alex put his hands up to ward off the quickly-advancing male. "Don't attack the cripple! Don't attack the cripple!"
When Edward arrived to grab Alex's things a few minutes later, he found the fair-haired boy holding Andrew in a headlock, with the dark-haired teen laughing his head off at something that had been said. The man shook his head as he watched the boys for a few moments, before clearing his throat, and almost laughed at the comical way that the boys froze and turned to look at him.
"He said he was a cripple and lied!" Andrew quickly defended himself as Alex let go, which caused the other boy to start protesting.
"I did not! You have no evidence!"
"Liar!"
"Alex, have you got your stuff ready?" Edward interrupted before the argument could escalate. "We need to stop off at the hotel before we head to the airport."
That sobered up the two boys pretty quickly, and Alex nodded as he moved to grab his things. It was only when he stumbled, the crutches slipping from beneath him, that Andrew decided it would be a good time to help, grabbing the other boys bags for him before deciding to take them out to the car for him.
Edward smiled at Andrew. "Thank you."
"You're very welcome, sir," Andrew responded as he followed Edward out to the car, Alex hobbling behind them with a sour expression on his face.
"I could've carried that."
Andrew scoffed. "And fallen flat on your face? Yeah, sure."
The ride from the hospital was fairly quiet. Once Andrew had helped to get Alex's luggage into the Pleasures' car, he'd managed to bid then a quick farewell before Gibbs was calling him to take him home. Alex had fallen quiet as soon as the other boy had left – something that hadn't gone unnoticed by the rest of the family. Liz seemed to think that attempting conversation with him would work, whereas Sabina decided it would be better to watch videos with him as they drove. Only Edward observed the boy closely, watching him as they headed back to the hotel to grab the rest of their things.
Parking in the hotel parking lot, it was Sabina and Liz that left to grab the things, leaving both males alone in the car.
After a few moments of silence, Edward spoke. "You've been pretty quiet since we left the hospital today, Alex," he commented.
Alex shrugged, staring out of the window. "I'm just a bit tired." The boy didn't need to look over at Edward to know that the man didn't believe that one bit, and instead leaned his head on the window, closing his eyes so as to feign sleep. He didn't need to open his eyes and look to see that Edward didn't believe him one bit, but he'd rather have that than let the man know he'd grown attached to the one person he'd worked alongside that hadn't died in action.
And the one guy his age who would have some sort of understanding without turning into a bitter, jaded individual who wanted the world to pay.
He wasn't sure whether he actually did fall asleep or not, but sooner or later Sabina and her mother had returned to the car with all of the luggage, putting it all in the trunk. It was Sabina sitting down beside him that caused Alex to open his eyes and sit up a little more, and she smiled gently at him.
"You tired?"
"A bit, I guess."
"Grab some shut-eye. We'll wake you when we get to the airport."
Alex nodded and leaned back against the window, closing his eyes and actually trying to sleep this time as the car started up.
The drive to the airport felt far too short when Alex was being woken up, and it was when he opened his eyes that he realised why.
"This isn't the airport," he muttered, confusion lining his features.
"No, it's not," Edward responded as he turned off the engine, officially parking the car. That only worked to further Alex's confusion, until he spotted a very recognisable Agent DiNozzo standing not too far from the car, waving over at the Pleasures with a smile. Alex's eyes widened.
"Why are we here…?"
"Don't you want to say goodbye, Alex?" Liz asked, turning in her seat to look at the boy. When Alex turned to both adults with wide eyes, Edward sent him a soft smile.
"Go on, Alex."
The confusion on his face quickly morphed into a grin as Alex took off his seatbelt and pushed open the car door, his crutches slamming into the ground as he rushed to get out of the car. If it weren't for the fact that Tony had fast reflexes, the boy would have fallen right on his face.
The man chuckled. "Still not used to those crutches, huh?"
Alex laughed weakly in response. "Not really, no…"
Tony hefted the boy to his feet carefully, before dusting his shoulders down and grinning at him. "Come on – everyone's waiting for you guys."
Alex frowned in confusion. "What?"
"What, you didn't really think you were going to get to leave without saying goodbye, did you?" Alex turned to see Sabina leaning on the car, a grin on her face. "As if dad would let you do that."
Alex's mouth opened and closed a few times, before he grinned widely and turned back to Tony. "Are you going to lead the way, then?"
"Why of course, my good sir," Tony responded in an exaggerated faux-British accent, making Alex laugh as the three of them headed towards the government building.
The fair-haired teen didn't know who to expect when Tony said that he was going to say goodbye to everyone, but he definitely got more than he anticipated.
Apparently he was even saying goodbye to the Medical Examiner, Ducky, whom he had barely gotten to know. (And his assistant, Palmer.)
He was definitely not expecting the hug Abby gave him as he wished her goodbye, nor was he expecting the sharp pains from the wounds that hadn't healed quite yet. It took McGee peeling her off for her to realise that she was hurting him, and that was followed by profuse apologies.
Ziva gave Alex her own, slightly reserved hug, though she told him earnestly to contact her if he needed anything (and she meant anything, if the look on her face was completely serious).
Tony, of course, ruffled the boy's hair as Andrew bickered with him playfully, which was only interrupted when Jessica gave Alex a hug. It started up again as soon as Gibbs had ruffled both boys' hair and McGee had started speaking, purely because Tony had started making fun of the younger agent and both boys had jumped onto that train. Of course, Sabina was watching everything closely, but she gave Alex a grin and a thumbs up when he glanced over at where she stood beside Ziva.
The interactions stopped when Director Vance arrived in the bullpen, however, with Agent Lisa Harrison beside him. Alex stiffened a little when he saw them side by side, though he relaxed ever so slightly when the woman smiled a little at him.
"I hear you're leaving, Mr Rider," Vance spoke, approaching the boy and holding his hand out to shake. Alex hesitated for a few moments, before taking the hand and giving it a brief shake.
"We never got the chance to speak…" Alex pointed out.
"And that, I'm glad for," Vance responded. "I'm assuming there are a lot of things about you that you wouldn't want coming out in conversation, and I tend to be good at revealing those."
Alex repressed his shudder with a smile, and he nodded. "Yeah, I guess." Letting go of the Director's hand, his eyes locked onto the female CIA agent, whose eyebrows rose slightly, and he hobbled over to Lisa, the expression on his face halfway between a smile and mild nervousness. "So, I heard you were leading the 'task force' for finding out about that group, Viper."
Lisa opened her mouth to speak, before her brows furrowed in confusion.
Alex shrugged as he balanced with his crutches. "McGee isn't exactly quiet. He can't whisper well."
The aforementioned agent cried out indignantly, and Alex noticed Andrew snort from where he stood beside Tony, his hand quickly rising to cover his mouth when Gibbs glared at him.
Ignoring the boy, Lisa nodded in response to Alex's question. "I am, yes."
Alex lowered his voice as he continued speaking. "I guess it wouldn't be too much to ask you to keep me off their radar?" Andrew had already told him that Lisa and Ziva had both mentioned something about him being involved with MI6, and he'd given the other teen permission to at least admit that he'd been the British agent involved in bringing down SCORPIA. But that didn't mean he didn't still feel awkward about mentioning it around the team.
Lisa's eyebrows rose much further this time. "Honestly? I think you're already on it. They're just waiting for you to make a big move."
Alex pursed his lips at that.
"Well, I guess it's good that you're coming to San Fran to live a relatively normal life and start therapy, then!" Sabina attempted cheerfully, breaking the silence and patting Alex on the shoulder in an attempt to change the subject.
Now it was Alex's turn to snort in amusement. "I'm not doing therapy."
"You will if you want to survive in my house."
"You don't even own the house."
"Don't sass-talk me."
Edward rounded the corner to the bullpen, following behind a young NCIS agent as she led him up from the lobby, with Liz right beside him. The two came to a stop beside Ziva, thanking the agent who had brought them up. As soon as Edward realised Alex and Sabina were bickering, he sighed, though Liz had a small smile on her face.
"Already acting like siblings?" she murmured into her husband's ear.
"I'm not sure I can deal with this all the way back," Edward muttered in response.
Ziva simply shook her head, a small smile on her own face, before she looked in Andrew's direction. The boy seemed focused on Alex and Sabina's conversation, but the smile fell when he looked up and realised she was watching him. When her brows furrowed in question, he simply shrugged.
"I suppose it's time to take our leave," Edward announced, turning to Gibbs and holding out his hand for the older man to shake. Gibbs took it respectfully, giving the journalist a firm shake and a nod.
"Thank you, Agent Gibbs."
"Just doing my job," Gibbs responded, glancing towards Alex and Sabina. The two had somehow managed to get Andrew involved in their little debate, and from the way he seemed to be shrugging and making faces at Alex, it seemed as if he'd taken Sabina's side.
Edward followed Gibbs' line of sight to see the three teens interacting, hesitating a moment before pulling a card out of his pocket and handing it to Gibbs. "Here. My personal line at work. I should be able to put you through to Alex whenever you call, or at least give you his number." When Gibbs' eyebrows rose, Edward's head gestured towards the teens. "For Andrew."
Gibbs let out a breath of a laugh, looking down at the card, before back up at Edward. "Thank you."
"No, thank you, Agent Gibbs. You've done a lot for me and my family. This is only fair."
"Fair would be me not having to get involved in the first place."
The two men watched the teens for a few more moments, before Edward began to call the teens away so that they could go.
Alex and Sabina gave Andrew one last smile. "It was really nice to meet you, Andrew," Sabina said, giving the male a hug (which he, funnily enough, reciprocated gladly).
Andrew nodded as he squeezed Sabina lightly, before letting go. "It was nice meeting you too. You're pretty fun to hang out with."
"Wow, thanks."
Alex seemed to hesitate, before reaching out and placing a hand on Andrew's shoulder. "Well, then."
Andrew raised an eyebrow. "We spent what felt like days in a cell together, and you only want to pat me on the shoulder?"
"Was this some sort of hug-worthy occasion?"
"Was that not implied with Sabina's hug?"
"He's got a point," Sabina quipped, making Alex roll his eyes.
Andrew huffed and pulled Alex into a hug, not caring that he made the boy drop his crutches and nearly fall over. It took the fair-haired male patting Andrew's back and complaining of "suffocation" for Andrew to finally let go, supporting Alex as he picked up his crutches.
"Christ, Andrew," Alex breathed, exaggerating his breathing. "Did you want to kill me?"
"Not really," Andrew responded nonchalantly. "If you happened to die, it happened. I'd go down for manslaughter and not murder."
"Is this really something you've considered?"
"You thought I was going to kill you."
"Come on, Alex," Sabina pulled Alex out of Andrew's grip and began to steer the younger male away, sending a smile at Andrew over her shoulder. She then turned back to her adoptive younger brother. "Let's go home."
Alex managed a smile as he hobbled after her and their parents. Standing in the elevator, he turned to face the bullpen one last time.
Andrew smiled, waving over at the other boy. "Don't rush to see me again soon!"
Alex laughed as he waved back. "I'll try!" he called back as the doors slid shut.
And there you have it! Well, not exactly, but final proper chapter! I'm a sucker for epilogues, so keep an eye out for that - hopefully I'll have that up soon for you guys to read. But yeah, this is technically all done!
Anyways, for any of you guys who read the original, you'll know that there's a sequel in the works; it's Alex Rider based, for all you AR fans, and I'm currently going through and editing/rewriting chapters of that too. It's called Scorpia's Return, and the original is already up on my profile - I've just got to make some changes. But yeah, epilogue first, then next story! (I actually shed a tear when finishing this chapter, lol.) Also, there are some tiny bits that will be further clarified in a oneshot in The Soldier and The Spy: Extras, so keep an eye out for that updating too!
I'm gonna say my final goodbyes in the next chapter so that I don't drown my keyboard in tears, so until then!