Disclaimer: I wasn't Anthony Horowitz last year, so I'm certainly not him this year. So that means Alex Rider still doesn't belong to me.

Previously…

From there, things improved considerably, in Alex's opinion. A bed—really just a layer of blankets on a thin mat—in the middle of the small cove gave him a comfortable place to lie down. The man came back with another blanket, but Alex was already drifting off to sleep by then. The warmth of the blanket was just starting to get to him by the time he finally slipped out.

It seemed he had gotten the peaceful death he had hoped for.

CHAPTER 37: The Lost Are Found

It had been too long. Far too long. The leads that they had thought they got were essentially dead ends. No one had good news, and this lack of good news was rubbing on Ben. Out of everyone, he was the most invested in finding the two boys. Not only was his brother missing, but Alex as well. He also knew, better than most, just what kind of welcoming committee was waiting for Alex the moment Simurgh or SCORPIA got their hands on him.

It didn't help any that the injury he had received during their attempt at escape had placed him out of the action. For far too long, in his opinion. When ho roused in the hospital, he was positive that his injury wasn't any worse than a flesh wound—his arm at least, he might have had a concussion too—but Jones had barred him from participating in the search until after the doctors had cleared him for duty again. It was only after days and hours of badgering that Jones allowed him back into the loop. Two weeks after Luke and Alex disappeared.

By the time she let him participate in the search, many things had changed. In the beginning, they had no idea if Luke and Alex had been kidnapped or if they were just that good at hiding. While out of the loop, Ben had hoped that Alex's skills were keeping them out of sight, but those hopes were dashed as the analysts at MI6 sorted through hours of footage from the Simurgh compound. They had their first glimpse of Luke and Alex, as they were escorted down a half-lit hall—from nearly a week and a half earlier. The glimpse was only a few seconds long, but at least showed that at that point they were unharmed. There was no telling what had happened in the intervening time.

Everyone that had the slightest amount of skill with computers jumped on the project of sorting through the footage. The glimpses were rare, sometimes showing Alex, sometimes showing Luke, and every time they were surrounded by guards. They had no chance to escape from the island… but in the more recent footage, they hadn't come across any signs of Luke or Alex. And there was no way to tell if it meant that they were gone from the island, or if they had just stopped passing by the cameras…

If they were still on the island, they had a chance.

The number of people working the case had been narrowed down to a select few after Jones had found the second mole within the agency. Those that had been in the safe house and a handful of MI6 personnel that Jones trusted implicitly. Everything was being run with the tightest security possible, as the group planned the raid on the compound. It had to be planned out meticulously, or things were going to go seriously wrong. Ben, Braden, and Mendelssohn had all worked furiously to come up with the information needed, cross checking all the information they had on the building.

Their work hadn't seemed to do anything toward making the raid a success though. They were far too late. After hours of interrogating the few prisoners they had captured, only one, a Richard Nyman, confessed to anything useful. They had sent "the kid" off with a group of ex-SCORPIA members—nearly two weeks earlier.

Ben had stormed off, barely sticking around long enough to hear that the man was one of the Simurgh leaders. They had been too late. By two weeks. The Nyman person had had other semi-useful information, but it seemed that the move to turn Alex over to the ex-SCORPIA group had come from two other leaders, Quinn and Clarke. The move had apparently set the four leaders against each other, with two pressing for a peaceful resolution, while the other two were insisting on using Alex as a bargaining piece. They gave SCORPIA Alex, receiving support from the ex-SCORPIA members in return.

But all of this information was worthless as far as Ben was concerned. Though Nyman's information was useful to knowing what had happened at the island—and Jones was working on cutting some sort of deal for him—he had no information about where Luke and Alex had been taken. Just that the ex-SCORPIA members had taken them away—unconscious.

The only one who would have known where Luke and Alex were, Quinn, had been one of the ones killed in the initial confrontation. Ben wasn't entirely sure that it had been an accident either. He had seen others take drastic measures when their plans essentially blew up in their face… With Quinn dead, they had turned their sights onto Clarke—who had promptly turned up missing. Authorities had come across his body two days later in Malaysia, with a scorpion branded into his shoulder.

It meant that the raid on the island was essentially a dead end. Luke and Alex were no longer there, and the one man that had been identified out of the ex-SCORPIA group, Walker, had been last seen in an airport in Warsaw—more than three weeks earlier. There was no sign that his passport had been checked anywhere else in the past month, and the Polish intelligence agency had no sign of him still being in the country. His movements were essentially invisible.

Not for the first time, Ben wished that he had given up on the car, and disappeared with Luke and Alex into the trees. Then, he would at least be with them and know for sure that they were okay. For all they knew now, both Luke and Alex were already dead. There were those that were still heading the case that weren't holding out much hope now that it was clear that the two were in SCORPIA's clutches. Not when they had such a grudge against Alex…

Ben wasn't about to give up yet. Not yet. Giving up, meant that he had to believe that Luke was dead. And while they were both officially kidnapped, they hadn't been presumed dead yet. But the clock was quickly ticking down. There were just a handful of days before they crossed the line into being presumed dead. It wasn't until then, that the parents would be contacted. And Ben dreaded that day. They desperately needed some kind of big break…

The big break came three days later, and Ben found himself down in the gadgets section of MI6 gearing up for another trek. Their target zone was a much broader area this time, so Braden, Mendelssohn, and K-Unit were there as well, taking advantage of the armory and miscellaneous tools that could come in handy. It was all or nothing this time. They had to find Luke and Alex.

After the raid on the compound, they had pulled all the information they could get off of the computers, specifically those belonging to Quinn and Clarke. The group analysts that Jones had picked to help had spent all their waking hours sifting through the encrypted files, trying to find something that would point to a possible location for the ex-SCORPIA personnel. The location they had come up with wasn't in any way precise. In fact, it referred to a section that was nearly fifty square miles. The only reason it seemed remotely likely, was that there were multiple messages referring to the county of Troms in Norway.

Ben had been in the room when Jones consulted with the Norwegian agency, and they had admitted to losing contact with a pair of agents in the same region. They hadn't been concerned, because contact in the area was flaky at best, and long periods of silence weren't unusual. The watch on the area was routine, and hadn't brought any unusual reports in the past couple of years.

So they were starting in the area where the agents had gone missing.

"These earpieces are on a closed loop. No matter where you are, you'll be able to reach the backup team, and no one else can tap onto the signal." The assistant helping them handed out earpieces that fit snuggly into the ear. "NSM will have a medical team standing by in Finnsnes, if they're needed. Your starting point should be about fifty kilometers from there, and as long as you don't get further away than a hundred kilometers, anyone at the receiving transmitter can communicate with you."

Ben surveyed the small earpiece for a moment, before putting it on. There was a slight buzz and the assistant adjusted the individual pieces, and then deactivated them. They didn't need them just yet.

The assistant pulled out a tray that held a set of guns. Seven were nearly identical, but the eighth was different from the others. "Standard issue, with your own personal preferences taking into account. Smithers saw the making of these personally. Tracker chip embedded in the bottom, so even if you run out of bullets but find a way to slip it into something, we can follow it from here." He handed out the guns to each of them, and then picked up the last gun almost reverently. "Be careful with this one. This is a handmade Smithers special. There are three cartridges of sedatives already loaded into it, but it can take regular bullets as well. The sedative will keep a person out for three hours, and relatively calm for another two after that. Smithers specifically said that it was approved for 'AR'."

It took Ben a moment, but he nodded his understanding. He wasn't entirely sure why Smithers thought they might need a gun that could shoot sedatives, or why he had put extra effort into making it something they could use on Alex, but at least it was another person that hadn't given up. Luke and Alex still had hope. They weren't dead until their bodies were found.

"And of course, there are the standard coin bombs, bug detectors, heat sensors, and tracking chips." The assistant waved his hand toward a small pile of electronics. "Moisten the surface of the coin and stick it to whatever surface you want blown—you'll have ten seconds to get away before it goes off."

Sebastian looked at the coin he was handed suspiciously. "What if it gets wet while we're out? If it rains? I don't want it blowing me up…"

"It won't. Requires saliva. Certain electrolytes will erode the covering and start the reaction. Doesn't take very long."

Ben almost snorted at Sebastian's expression. "Get used to it. They come up with some very interesting stuff down here."

The assistant beamed proudly. "That's the strangest for your gadgets. Bug detectors are standard issue, once again. The tracking chips are practically unnoticeable and you can just stick or throw them on a person or item. The heat sensor has a radius of one hundred meters. It'll go through stone too, so if there's anything hiding in a cave, you'll find that too. Just make sure to count the heat signatures of your party, and remember that the smaller pinpoints are animals." He sent one last glance around the room. "I think that's everything. The bulletproof camouflage is upstairs with the rest of your kit."

Ben nodded once, picking up his share of the gadgets, and made his way out of the room. They were ready for almost any type of situation. The hardest part would probably be getting into whatever building Luke and Alex were being kept in…

He wasn't giving up. They still had time.

"Having a bit of trouble?" The stranger came up behind him, and Ben could just feel the unease of the situation.

He laughed awkwardly, trying to brush off the tension. "Yeah, blew a tire about a quarter mile back." He ran a dirty hand through his hair, glad that he had thought to roll down his sleeve. It wouldn't do for someone to see the injury, especially if they were hostile. "And it's being rather stubborn."

Out of the corner of his eye, Ben could see the person make a strange movement. A hand signal... perhaps? The person took a couple of steps closer. "Need a hand?"

"No… I think I've almost got it." He glanced back and up at the man, before changing his mind. If he kept the man close by, then they wouldn't go looking for Alex. He knew it was them. "On second thought, do you think you could hold the torch for me?"

His unease skyrocketed, as the man crouched down next to Ben, and took hold of the torch. "Have you thought about calling a tow? You look rather under equipped to fix this."

Ben couldn't agree more, but wasn't about to give an opening to the man. He could volunteer to call a tow, and instead have it show up—with friends. "I'd rather not, but we'll see what happens."

"Good."

"Wha—?" The torch was quickly replaced with a gun, and Ben found himself staring down the barrel. Obviously he said something wrong… and they were definitely on to him. A glance over his shoulder showed a second person with a gun. Definitely in trouble.

"Stand up slowly, with your hands above your head."

Ben gave them both a long look, before slowly complying. He had to play the part of unnerved commoner. Not too hard, since it was the second gun of the night he was staring down. He hoped that Alex took that as a good enough signal to get away. He needed to stall them, to give Alex and Luke a chance.

"Where is he? Where is Pierre?" The first man demanded, the gun not wavering from its target of Ben's chest. Ben almost sighed in relief. That meant that they hadn't put together Pierre and Rider yet. Maybe there was still a chance. "We know you've been helping him, so where did you send him off to?"

"What? I don't…" He resisted the urge to glance toward the woods, to make sure that Alex and Luke weren't visible. They would know better, and that would only serve to give them away… "Who's Pierre?"

His heart nearly jumped to his throat when the man fired. It was a warning shot, and hit the dirt beside the road. "I'm not here to play games. Where is Pierre and why are you protecting him?"

Ben blinked, putting on a terrified civilian face. They didn't know why Alex was being protected…? "I don't know what you're talking about. Just… just let me go. I don't want anything to do with… with you. Let… let me fix my tire, and I'll gladly forget all of this…"

The man just laughed and shot again, narrowly missing Ben. The man wasn't truly amused. "Where. Is. Pierre?"

Ben swallowed. They needed more time, but he doubted he could stall much longer. "Just let me… fix my tire. I don't want any trouble here."

The second man glared at him, before jerking his head toward the woods. "Probably took off. Get rid of this one and we can track him down."

The first man nodded slightly, shot at Ben again—catching him in the arm—and slammed him against the car. "The only reason you're staying alive is because Simurgh seems to think that you're a good bargaining piece. At least we don't have to drag you around though—"

"Ben." A hand shaking his shoulder brought him out of the doze he had fallen into. Blake caught the automatic punch in his direction, and grinned down at Ben. "We're landing in a few minutes."

Ben ran a hand across his face. He could definitely sympathize with Alex's nightmares. At least, in a way. Survivor's guilt. He had gotten off with nothing more than a couple of bullets in his arm—superficial injuries. Nothing that a couple of stitches and a temporary sling couldn't fix. Luke and Alex though… they were both going to be messed up.

If they're alive…

He shoved the thought out of his mind. He wasn't going to contemplate the possibilities.

The memory had been a recurring nightmare of sorts. Worrying about Luke and Alex had taken priority over the past few weeks, but the memory always popped up at the worst of times. They had two days to find Luke and Alex before they were both presumed dead. Ben had no wish to explain things to his parents. It was not the way he had wanted them learning about his work with MI6. He didn't want to have to explain about Alex either.

"Same memory?" Blake asked.

Ben blinked twice, before nodding slowly. He had explained it to Blake, had thought through all the possible ramifications of saying something differently or doing something differently, and they had always come up with the conclusion that there was nothing he could have done. Hearing it from someone else had helped some in the guilt area.

"Don't dwell on it. We're going to find them." He sent a sly grin in Ben's direction. "Micah says he's got a feeling."

Dmitri leaned up from the seat behind them, and flicked Blake on the back of the head. "Sebastian says we're on mission now. Codenames only. Braden and Mendelssohn excluded, of course."

Ben rolled his eyes. "Of course Penguin."

"Shut it."

They had spread out into a fan formation to cover the most amount of ground as possible. Their base was about forty miles east of Finnsnes, and the NSM agent they had spoken to had outlined the area as the most likely target. It hadn't been patrolled in over a year, and was close to where the agents had gone missing. It was the best area to start.

So they were going through the brush, trying to be as silent as possible. It worked surprisingly well, and Ben was able to keep his eyes fixed on the heat sensor. So far, the only things that had shown up were the small animals around them—the heat signatures were too small to be humans—but Ben still had hope. They had been out for nearly two hours, carefully combing the area. Though the device was supposedly infallible, they couldn't help but double check.

Aside from the occasional check-ins from Braden and Micah—or Eagle, as he was going by at the moment—who were on the edges of the formation, there was radio silence. While they all doubted that they would find anything just in the woods, there was always hope that they would come across some sort of patrol. It would be something that could lead them to the ex-SCORPIA members' hiding place.

It was as they were nearing the third hour of searching, that they finally came across something. Dmitri—Penguin—called in a trip wire in his section, and that he had followed it to a control box. It was entirely out of place, and looked rather new. They regrouped around Penguin's position, keeping a careful eye out for more wires. There weren't any, but Ben wasn't about to let his guard down. The trip wire meant that they were heading in the right direction. Unfortunately, it didn't bode well for the missing NSM agents.

"There's another up here." Wolf said, speaking through the earpiece. He had gone ahead, over the knoll and out of sight, seeming to follow a hunch. "The box it's connected to is up a tree. I think these are just warning wires. They're not going to trigger anything, except let them know that we're coming."

Ben shared a glance with Braden. It was their best lead so far. "Spread out and see if you can find another. Watch your step, and let us know if you trigger any. We might be able to figure out a pattern and direction. Keep your eyes open for cameras too. They're SCORPIA, so they'll have current protections." I think… He wasn't entirely sure what all SCORPIA had, now that they were disbanded. They had been receiving funds from Simurgh though, and there was no telling what kind of technology they had gained from that partnership.

For all they knew, they could be walking into the middle of an elaborate trap.

It took another half hour of searching, and five more trip wires before they found what they were looking for. In some ways, Ben was amazed that there wasn't any sort of fence around the building, but then, maybe the trip wires were enough to alert them to any unwanted visitors. Or so they thought.

The moment the building came into view, they split into groups. From the lack of guards, Ben wasn't entirely sure that the building was still occupied. They weren't close enough for the heat sensor to pick up any signals further inside the building than just the outer section, so there was the chance that everyone was further inside…

The plan was simple—get in and get out. Though they had no blueprints for the building, Ben didn't think that the place would be too complex. They would figure it out as they went. The first split in the hall they reached, the groups would separate. They would always be within distance of the earpieces, after all.

It wasn't an exactly quick process. The two groups split up within the first few minutes, and were soon checking rooms—breaking doors when necessary—and hoping for some sign that people were in the place. A couple of the rooms that Ben found, had bunks, but it was clear that whoever had been there had cleared out. Only the sign of life Ben found was the dusting of trash in the corner. Even then, there was no telling how recent it was. It could have been hours or months.

"We've found some computers here." Braden's voice came across the earpiece, startling Ben from his musing. "We've got the stuff to get the information off. Should we split up, and have the other two keep searching?"

"Snake and I can keep looking while the other two get the information off." Mendelssohn offered.

Ben nodded once. "That's probably the best. Don't go too far though. I want you meeting up again. Penguin, how long will it take to get the data off the computer?"

"Ten minutes, max. We've got some gadgets that will help speed the process up."

"Good. Be careful, and keep your eyes open. I don't like how silent this place is." He motioned to Eagle and Wolf, moving out of the room and down the hall again. There had to be something. Something that would tell them just how long the place had been deserted. Since it was in the right area, the compound had to have something to do with the missing agents.

Wolf broke down the last door on the hall, and they crept inside. The stench was the first thing that got to them, and then Ben noticed the body. It had most likely been left where it was killed, because the blood on the floor around it seemed to have come from the body. Wolf got just close enough to get a good look at the face and toss a tracking chip on the body, before following the others back into the hall.

"Found one of their missing NSM agents. Eirik Knutsen." He closed to door behind him, effectively trapping some of the stench inside. "He's been dead for three days, at least. Someone was here then."

Ben nodded slowly, not truly hearing the others responses. In some ways, he had been relieved that it wasn't Luke or Alex that they had found. But the fact that they had found a body in the first place meant that someone wasn't above killing. It pointed toward SCORPIA—and it seemed that SCORPIA had left the place already.

They couldn't be too late again…

Eagle nudged Ben, motioning down the hall. There were still more places to look. There was still a chance that they would find something.

An hour later, and they had found three more bodies—this time, ones that didn't seem to be prisoners. The last one had still been warm. There had been more than one room with blood spattered around, as well as more cells with rags in the corners. There was no sign of the other missing agent, or any clue as to where everyone had disappeared to.

It almost made Ben wonder if they had tripped some wire, and everyone had scrambled to leave before they showed up. If that was the case… there was no telling if they would ever catch up with Walker and his crew again.

They had left tracking chips on each body they found, in case someone else came through to dispose of the bodies. MI6 would be tracking them, and would know the moment someone moved them. After all, NSM was definitely going to want to get their hands on the evidence—and body of their agent.

So they left the building behind and set back out into the trees hoping to find something more promising. Though in all honesty, Ben wasn't holding out much hope anymore. They had found the building, and it was deserted. They had found the body of one of the NSM agents—and the other was likely wherever Walker had taken them off to. The chance of finding something in the woods still, was almost zilch. Just from glancing at the others, Ben knew that they were losing hope as well. There was no reason for them to still hope to find something. There wouldn't be anything left to find. The building had been both informative and completely unhelpful. People had been there, possibly only hours before, but they were too late. The only thing left were the cooling and decaying bodies.

Luke and Alex were gone… again.

They picked up their fan formation, without saying a word. They still kept an eye out for the trip wires, but Eagle managed to weave a path through that avoided all of them. It seemed that SCORPIA wasn't infallible. Too bad it was too late…

"Fox! I've got something." Penguin's excited voice came across the earpiece loud and clear. "Three more heat signatures. Just off the edge of the sensor, but they're straight ahead and to the left of me."

"Stay where you are. We'll come to you." Ben had handed off the heat sensor to Penguin once they had gone back outside. He hadn't wanted to watch the screen in vain any longer.

Maybe, just maybe, they were finally going to get the break they needed.

It only took a few moments for everyone to regroup around Penguin's position, and Ben had been there the longest, staring at the heat signatures. The signatures had only moved minutely and it seemed that they were staying in place.

"It's coming from over there." Braden pointed in the general direction, and Ben could see the start of the looming rock formation.

"A cave?" He asked.

"Maybe."

"Let's get closer. If they're in a cave, we might be able to spook someone into making an appearance. I would hate to go up against a bunch of innocent civilians—the NSM would probably have our heads."

"PR nightmare…"

Ben let a grim smile cross his face, before nodding. "That it would be. Watch your footsteps for now. We'll alert them on our signal." He took the heat sensor back from Penguin, and started out in the right direction. After making a few small corrections in the direction he was going, he was able to come up on the cave without making any sort of noise. The others followed behind him, filing into places that were protected from sight.

It was clear now that the heat signatures were coming from inside the cave. Ben searched the ground for a suitable noise making object, and came across a good sized stone. Not exactly what he had been hoping for, but it would do. He hefted it in the proper direction, and was rewarded with a sharp crack as it hit the opposing rock.

Now to wait.

Of course, it was always possible that they wouldn't fall for the bait. Then Plan B would have to take effect, which was essentially just storming the cave. Ben really didn't want to have to do that… there was no telling what could happen then.

After a moment though, two of the heat signatures moved. The two came together for a moment, before one went back to the stationary heat signature, and the other started coming toward the front of the cave. It took a few more moments before anything was visible at the front of the cave, and then it was nothing more than the slight shadow of a person.

The tip of a gun peeked out for a second, before the person followed through. Looking rather worse for the wear, Ben was surprised that he was recognizable from the picture the NSM had provided them. He had no doubt that the man with the gun was the other missing NSM agent.

Ben made an abrupt movement to the others, motioning them to stay in place, before stepping out from his hiding place. The man's gun immediately trained on Ben, but wavered for a second. Ben gave him a shallow nod. "Leif Raske. Oscar three tango whiskey. Vilhjalmsson sends his greetings." The NSM agent at Finnsnes had drilled him on the English safe codes used for the two agents. There were two possible answers…

"Zulu delta five sierra. Curse the man to hell." The gun dropped immediately, and an expression of relief crossed the man's face. "Thank goodness someone heard the signal. I fear you won't be quick enough though. You have backup, correct?"

Ben tilted his head slightly, before waving the others into sight. "We have backup, but we didn't get a signal. We've been searching the forest since early this morning. Haven't heard a thing."

"Searching?" The man blinked twice, before waving it aside. "No, it doesn't matter. He needs medical attention. I can't get him to drink any more water. He refuses anything we bring to him."

Snake stepped up. "There's a medical team in Finnsnes that we can send for." Ben heard the confirmation of the orders in his earpiece. The team was already on their way. "They'll be here in twenty minutes. I can see what I can do in the meantime."

The man nodded. "Anything is better than what I have. He's had the fever for more than three days already." He turned to lead the way into the cave, and Wolf and Penguin pulled out two heavy duty torches. "I've done everything I can, but… he's been delirious. Doesn't even recognize his friend anymore."

They were well within the cave, when they came across the other two members of the party. At first, it wasn't clear who they were, but a black shape hurtling across the empty space soon answered that.

"Ben! You're here. I knew it. I told him you would come. I told him… but… but he wouldn't listen to me. He… he gave up." There was a choked sound, and Ben simply tightened his hold. He felt like he had swallowed his tongue. He had all but given up, himself. But here was Luke. Safe and, mostly, sound. "I tried… I'm sorry… sorry…"

"Shh… we're here now. Things are going to be okay." He pulled Luke to the side, dread nearly swallowing him as he caught sight of the still form on the blankets. Snake was already in his element, checking over the figure. A nod in his direction brushed away some of the fear that they were already too late for Alex. "They'll do what they can for him. A medical team will be here soon, and then we can get all of you to a hospital."

Luke nodded shakily. "I thought… I thought they were going to kill him. I… I think they tried." He shuddered slightly, before looking up at Ben. "They wanted him dead. Why?"

Ben shook his head. "Not now. Later, okay?" He really didn't want to get into the details. Not ever. But he suspected that there was no choice. Luke had seen too much. There was no telling how much Jones would approve Luke to hear though. "We'll have a long talk about everything once I'm sure you're okay. Once I'm sure you're both okay."

"'Kay…" Luke swallowed twice and shuddered slightly. "Where are we?"

"Norway."

"Oh. He was right, then."

"Who?"

"Leif. He didn't say how he knew though…"

Ben nodded slightly. "He's a Norwegian agent. He and his partner were out here on patrol. They turned up missing only a few days ago. We found his partner in the compound."

"Alive?"

"No."

"Oh…" Luke shuddered again, before pulling away from Ben and taking a seat against the wall of the cave. Ben pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around Luke. He wasn't dressed for the cool weather of northern Norway. "You should go check on Alec. He wasn't responding to either of us earlier."

Ben swallowed and nodded slightly. "I will. First though, I need to know what you can tell me of his injuries. It'll help Snake—Blake."

Luke gave him a slightly strange look, before shrugging. "He's got bruises and cuts all over. The first week or so he was coherent for the most part—so I was able to get a few answers out of him. They cut up his arms a lot. Shallow cuts at first, but they gradually got deeper. One day he came back with a broken wrist… then they moved him to a different cell. I didn't see him for a day, but he took a turn for the worse. He hasn't acknowledged me since then. His wrist was worse, he had a deep knife wound in his shoulder, and he was delirious. Leif had patched him up as best as he could, but… it was already infected. I… I couldn't do anything."

Ben could hear the desperation in Luke's voice. He knew just how bad it was looking for Alex at the moment.

"They took him away this morning—he had seemed a little bit better, but wasn't doing much more than staring at the ceiling. The screams that came after that though…" He shuddered, and not from the cold, but from a memory. "I was sure they were killing him. There were a couple of times that I thought they had succeeded… but it kept starting up again. It wasn't until after two hours that it was silent again. He stumbled back to the cell three hours after that. He—" Luke broke off, shaking his head.

"There was a seizure almost as soon as he got there." Leif said, stepping up beside them. He raised an eyebrow at Ben's shocked breath. "I take it that seizures aren't unheard of with him?"

Ben shook his head.

"Hmm… Well, it was in and out after that for him. Aside from protesting about us staying, he hasn't said a word. He killed a guard on the way out… but seemed to shut down after that." Leif cast a wary glance in Alex's direction. "He recognized me up until the seizure. He knew exactly what he was doing when he came back to the cell. After that… he was confused by our presence."

Ben swallowed. "That sounds about right. He… he's had trouble with his memory before, after a seizure. Not quite that bad, but… I can see it happening."

Leif nodded slowly, glancing between Ben and Luke, before back over at Alex. "You are all brothers?"

"We are, but…" He nodded toward Alex. "We've all been living together. Protective custody." No matter that they knew Leif was friendly, that didn't mean he was at liberty to tell everything. Bits and pieces were likely to come out eventually. "They've been after him for months."

"Him?" There was no doubting the surprise in the voice. It wasn't exactly common for a teenager to be targeted by such obvious terrorists.

"It's complicated." He sent a sly glance toward Luke. "And classified."

It brought a hint of a smile to Leif's face. "Ah yes. Of course."

Snake came over at that moment, a pensive look on his face. "He's barely responding to me. He's just staring and shivering. The medical team will be here in five minutes though… and they'll have a helicopter."

Ben let out a sigh of relief. He had taken out his earpiece once he started talking to Luke. He didn't want to have to compete with the chatter from everyone else. "You know he had a seizure?"

"Yes, and I'm not surprised either. How he made it so long though…"

"They were giving him the medicine." Luke said. "Until the last couple days though. They didn't touch him for two days, so he didn't have it then. I don't know what they did today…"

"Probably nothing good." Snake sighed and sent Luke a look. "I should check you over. Ben… do you want to go over and see if you can get any reaction from him? I can't do much more than what's already done."

Ben patted Luke's shoulder lightly, before crossing the room to where Alex was lying. His right arm was wrapped in bandages, from wrist to shoulder. A makeshift splint kept his wrist in a stable position, but that didn't seem to matter to Alex. His eyes were heavily lidded, and Ben was surprised that he hadn't fallen asleep—or unconscious—yet.

"Hey Alex." He crouched down next to Alex, and was slightly surprised to be rewarded with a series of blinks. "You're not feeling too good, I take it. That's okay though. Sna—Blake's taking good care of you. And the medical team will be here soon. They'll have some medicine for you, painkillers, and maybe—" He brushed a hand over Alex's forehead. "Maybe something to bring down that fever. You'll be feeling better in no time."

Alex's eyes drifted shut, and for a few moments, Ben thought he might have finally fallen asleep. Then he noticed the tears on Alex's eyelashes. They hadn't been present earlier, not when he had been staring at nothing. Something had changed.

Ben reached out and brushed the unruly hair off Alex's face. The blond roots were starting to show, though there was blood streaked throughout it. Mats here and there made the hair stick together, contributing to the wild look. "It's okay, Alex. You're going to be okay."

A tear escaped the teen's eyes, and a raspy sigh followed. His lips moved slightly, and it took a while before Ben realized that he was trying to say something. Repeating some word over and over again. Sorry… sorry… sorry…

"Hey, it's okay, Alex. There's nothing for you to be sorry for." He brushed a hand over Alex's forehead, feeling the heat radiating off it. Perhaps he was delirious again, and seeing things. If the delusions were anything like his nightmares were, Ben had no doubt that it was pretty torturous. "Everyone's safe and sound." He cast a glance over at Luke and Snake. "Luke's even fighting off Blake's attempt at being a thorough medic. He doesn't seem to have anything worse than a bruise. You on the other hand… Kid, you've got to keep fighting. If not for yourself, then for me, because if you give up, things are going to turn into hell here. Luke won't forgive himself—hell, I probably won't either. So you've got to be around to keep us from doing something stupid, okay?"

The near whispering stopped, and bleary unfocused eyes opened to look at Ben. It was clear that he wasn't actually looking at Ben—it seemed like he was looking beyond —but it was a step in the right direction. There was something about it that just seemed off and not just because it was clear he wasn't entirely there.

Alex blinked slowly, but his gaze through Ben didn't waver. "'uke... hur…ths…" The sound was barely loud enough for Ben to hear, and was extremely hoarse. Something told Ben that Alex talking now wasn't a good idea, but he didn't know how else they were going to figure out what was fueling his delusions. "'M sorry… he'th dea…d…"

"It's okay Alex. You're safe here." He grabbed a hold of Alex's free hand, and attempted to rub a little bit of warmth back into it. He was nearly freezing. "You'll start feeling a lot better very soon."

He didn't seem to hear any of it. "My fa'lt… Sow…ry… Luke…" He fell silent after that, though Ben could tell that he was still awake. His eyes flicked back and forth for a moment, watching something that only he could see. There was no telling what was going on with him.

Not being entirely sure what he was watching or waiting for, when something finally happened, Ben didn't recognize it for what it was right away. He had never been present for the first few seconds, after all. Alex had jerked his hand away, and at first, Ben thought it was a step in the right direction.

But it wasn't. It was a step back. A big step back.

Ben's eyes widened as he realized what was happening. It was exactly what Alex didn't need. He fumbled for his voice, waving frantically. "Blake!"

A/N: And that's where the chapter ends. Had to get off another cliffhanger, didn't I? *grins* Don't worry; I won't make you wait a month before the next chapter. Only a couple of weeks… kidding. The next chapter should be out within a few days (week, at the maximum), depending on my schedule. I'm trying to balance writing, with finding a job, and planning for a (potential) trip to Nicaragua in the summer. Fun, fun.

Also, if you notice any plot threads that I haven't tied up from earlier chapters (like from before they were in captivity) could you tell me? I think I've gotten all of them, but I'm not entirely sure… Don't worry, the reasons behind Alex's miraculous survival in the past couple of chapters will be explained as well.

It looks like there are only two chapters left, so don't forget to review on the way out! The reviews are much appreciated.

Oh, yes. And before I forget… HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Sorry to those still left behind in 2012, I'm sure you'll catch up eventually ;)

S.B.L.

P.S. sorry if something comes across wrong. I had to update from my iPod... I'll look over it again later, but if you notice anything majorly wrong let me know.