Disclaimer: Would Horowitz actually write something like this? I do not own Alex Rider.

Chapter 41: Back to...

Alex stared at the cup of tea he had made and proceeded to pour in nearly as much sugar as there was tea. It would probably be undrinkable, but it was about the only decision he was free to make these days.

The unit had caught him and taken control – decided that he wasn't capable of making the decisions he knew he needed to.

He had always known it was coming.

And eventually, everything else would catch up with him as well. They would have to let him loose one day.

That night had been, by far, the worst so far. Cameron and Nico had carefully questioned him, looking over every little shard of his history and existence, and Alex had been so tired of it all that he told them everything. It had left him feeling tired and worn. But it had also accomplished exactly what the unit had wanted – he was drained of all motivation to plot again.

Partially because their conclusions hadn't been what he expected.

Nico claimed that MI6 had screwed up in the first place and therefore the events that had spiraled out of control couldn't possibly be Alex's fault. He never would have had the opportunity to go over to the dark side – as Mickey put it – if MI6 hadn't put him into the untenable position in the first place. And they had all been less than pleased to hear that Ben, and by extension some portion of Central Command, had been in on the initial manipulation.

Those were, of course, farfetched beliefs. If Alex had just bothered to stop and think for a moment, he could've gotten himself out long before it had ever gotten bad.

But that meant that their position now was a little more tenuous. Locked in a stalemate, with a SAS unit that wasn't about to let him go free. A unit that thought they could protect him, but really, Alex would only inevitably be responsible for something horrific happening.

It was only a matter of time.

The temporary compromise – which really wasn't a compromise, just Cameron making decisions – meant that he was cuffed to a bedpost at night and under the watchful eye of at least one, if not two, members of the unit at all times. Excursions were cut off too.

The outings had been the only thing keeping him sane. Though Nico heartily argued that wanting to go haring off on his own wasn't sane.

They were on day three of the lockdown and Alex was rapidly running out of things to occupy his mind with. The coursework was all finished. There were no interesting games on the laptop. No internet to at least explore – security risk, after all.

Nico seemed to be taking the changes in stride, messing around in the kitchen while Alex contemplated life at the table. Life as a prisoner.

Though admittedly, compared to other prisoner situations, this one seemed to be working pretty well.

Nico set a plate of fruit down on the table and nudged it in Alex's direction. "Gotta take advantage of the local cuisine."

Alex rolled his eyes. As if they hadn't been doing that already. Since Mickey continued to be the only one that could truly cook, the others had taken their rotations at meals by finding food off the street. It seemed risky, but according to Cameron, was a great way of making connections with the locals.

That was another side effect. The others were a lot more talkative than they had been. There was no hiding that they were all worried about money, about having a secure place to stay. Each had ventured out into different areas, local towns, to scope out the prospects. And, oddly, they were keeping Alex in the loop.

It was a strange turn of events.

Nico joined him at the table, with his own cup of tea. "I know I've asked this before, but really, what was your plan?"

Alex grimaced. He wasn't sure why they kept asking. It wasn't like he was going to magically come up with a brilliant plan – and then decide to share it with them. His only plan had been to get away. Staying safe – as they erroneously thought – had never been a part of the plan.

"I know you don't believe you have any power over your life right now, but you actually do."

There it was. The motivational speech. Nico had made several attempts at it so far, and as far as Alex was concerned, they had all failed miserably.

"You're smart enough to have made it this far, so I have no doubt that you have the workings of something brilliant somewhere. Something that will get you back to safety one of these days."

Safety was an illusion that didn't exist for him. "We have no information, no idea what is going on in the world. No idea who is even after me. What part of that do you think will ever give me safety?" Alex asked, scornfully.

Nico frowned. "Well then, what do you need? What can we do to help you feel safer or more comfortable?"

What can we do to keep you here?

That was the truth.

Alex wasn't entirely sure what he had done to inspire such loyalty, such determination on his behalf. It was just as bad with Ben, even though their interactions had been much more fleeting. "You could rid the world of terrorists, for a start."

Nico snorted into his tea. "That'd be lovely, wouldn't it?" He stared at Alex for a long moment, before speaking slowly. "It all comes down to information, doesn't it? The less information you have, the antsier you get, because you don't know what's going to come next."

Alex clenched his jaw and looked away. The not knowing was the worst. The waiting. The anticipation. He would rather go find them himself, just to take the waiting out of the equation.

"Hmm," Nico nodded, seeming to know that he had hit a sore point. "So, if we tapped into something, then you would be more likely to stick around for a bit?"

Alex glanced up at the querying tone. "You found something?"

"No…" Nico drew the word out. "But Cameron mentioned something last night. You told us that the fake Smith, or whoever, gave you gadgets. Like the old gadget master did. Were they anything that you could use now?"

Alex shrugged and stirred his tea vigorously "I'm not exactly a programmer." It wasn't like he could recreate what he had had. If he could, he would've been long gone. "And I don't know how much of that information was fake in the first place." Though it seemed like a lot of it was fairly legitimate… The reports and wordings were all too complicated for it all to be faked. That would take far too much work for someone that, so far, seemed to just want to toy with his head.

"Did you even look through all of it?" Nico asked.

Alex raised an eyebrow. "When would I have had the time for that?" Things had started unraveling rather quickly once he had stopped losing his memory. And it wasn't like he had it around now to pull it out and check through things.

Nico paused in his motions. "You haven't looked at it?"

"You mean, I have it?" He would've thought MI6 had confiscated the music player. After all, they knew about the device's existence. It wasn't like they could let enemy tech just go running around with him. That would be a liability.

"Alex… your friend Ben said he fixed it."

Ben? Clearly, they had all gotten more friendly during his hospital stay than Alex had suspected. But Ben was a bit of a wildcard. Direct line to Jones, but had also proved that he was willing to work outside of the box. Someone he could trust.

Sort of.

"He turned off the tracking abilities. Anything that's on there, should still be there."

It was almost too good to be true. Even if half the reports were falsified, there were patterns Alex could look for. Codes to break within the documents if he had to. But then, it was also coming from MI6. Someone could have sabotaged it, even if Ben were working on his side. "Just because they say so doesn't mean it's true."

Nico leaned across the table. "He knows you don't trust MI6 – that's why he sent you with us."

"He sent me?"

"He was the one who passed on the orders from Central Command. We would've done whatever we could without anyone's support, but… going against orders carries a lot of penalties. He gave us more than enough resources and guidance, so we would all have the best chance at getting out and getting back someday. He's the only reason we haven't run out of money yet." Nico shrugged. "Maybe you should see if he left anything specific."

That seemed like almost too much to hope for. That there were still clues and pieces that he could put together. Keep everyone happy for a little while. Just until he had more answers. But really… did he dare hope that someone, anyone, had left him some sort of tools to deal with this mess? At least to carry on for a bit? He eyed Nico carefully. "You going to follow me if I leave the room?"

Nico pushed aside his mug. "Of course."

Alex resisted an eyeroll, but a part of him couldn't blame them. He had broken Mickey's nose in his attempt to get away. He had very little desire to stick around with them and just wait for them to be killed. But if he had some sort of tool… got some bit of information while sticking around. That might be doable.

For a bit.

Alex poured the remainder of his tea down the sink, then waited for Nico to do the same. He hadn't thought about the music player, not even when he had planned to strike off on his own. It was valuable. If it had even some of the previous functions… it would be a great tool for getting out and staying away.

Jacobs eyed him as he passed through the living room, but he had no doubt heard at least half the conversation in the kitchen. And since he had Nico right on his heels, there was no need for another escort.

Of course, the real question was, where had the music player gotten hidden?

Alex picked up his backpack – which he had scarcely touched since arriving – and upended it onto the bed. Clothes, coins, and forgotten coursework papers, scattered across the bed. He checked the outside zippered pocket and wasn't surprised to find it mostly empty.

Which meant the music player was likely somewhere else?

Or… in the clothes?

Alex grabbed at his all but forgotten hoodie and searched through the pockets.

Bingo.

He pulled out the music player and hit the on button. Nothing. Not surprising since it had been ignored for nearly three weeks now and had most likely been left on. "You got a charger for this?"

Nico held out his hand to take a look at it. He peered at the charging port and nodded. "Standard micro-USB. Yeah, should be able to steal Cameron's phone charger."

They went to hunt down the charger and Alex couldn't help the small flicker of hope. Information and technology were the two things he had been severely lacking. If this could solve just one of those problems… well, maybe it wouldn't be quite like sitting ducks.

Alex had no intention of sticking around with the unit forever, but for now, maybe that was still the best solution.

Several hours later, the green bar finally flicked to full. It was, of course, nerve wracking to turn it on and hope for the best. The welcome screen lit up, greeting for AJR on the front.

So far, so good.

Though to be fair, it had been a perfectly normal music player before not-Smithers decided to modify it. The real proof would be whether the additional apps still functioned – and whether those apps had tracking or other nefarious things hidden in their code that would broadcast his location to the exact people he was running from.

Things could get very bad, very quickly.

Alex hesitated on the home screen, not sure which selection would be the least likely to cause adverse effects. Surely Ben left him a message somewher- There. A new app, carefully titled, For Cub. There were only a handful of people who knew that moniker and well… since Ben had supposedly been the last person to get his hands on the device, Alex wasn't too surprised.

He tapped.

Hello Cub,

I'm not as good at programming this as your friend was, but I like to think I've picked up a few tricks in the past year. The tracking system has been disabled, but I highly suggest not messing with the Map app or really, any of those "special" apps, as that WILL break what I have done. I would remove them completely, but fear that in this short amount of time, I might break something.

Wolf and co. say hello. They have been a great help getting you out of the country. Think of us as your homeland contingent – Jones may or may not be compromised, or have her hands tied at this point. The rest of us are working under the radar, but I will try to pass along as much information as possible. You will undoubtedly have more time to filter through it than we will – though Eagle is hard at work most nights.

Unfortunately, file space is limited and I can only share so much here. I'll do my best to pass along an ultrathin USB, but it will be hidden. Check with the unit leader – it's going to be hidden.

There are a few secure methods of sharing up to date information, but Eagle has a few brilliant ideas and is working on setting up a blog. You will have access to the codes and web address in another file on the USB. You may have to hunt a bit.

I'm sure you'll figure it out.

Don't do anything rash. The men with you are some of the best – and are risking quite a bit to help you. Don't run away from them. Stick together. You have more power in numbers.

We have no idea where you will be going, but good luck.

Fox

Alex swallowed hard and clenched his jaw. The only people who were clearly on his side were teams of people who he had literally been forced with. But maybe that was why they were the safest. They had no ulterior motives for keeping him alive, aside from, apparently, it was the right thing to do.

He glanced up, meeting Nico's eyes for a long moment. For some reason, people had banded around him.

It didn't make sense.

Nico nodded toward the device. "He left you something," he asked, softly.

Alex nodded. There were people – people here – that believed he still had a shot at a life. He just had to hold out long enough.

"Is it of any use?"

Alex swallowed against the lump in his throat. He had almost thrown it all away a couple days ago. "There's… supposed to be more information on a USB that he hid somewhere. Something about Cameron. All the information MI6 has on the… threat. So, we can look through it, and maybe…" He trailed off. It still seemed like too much to hope for. That he could just have access to everything MI6 had and figure out how to keep himself alive. It seemed impossible that they, a group of five, could perhaps do something that an international intelligence agency had never succeeded in doing. But then, they were always fighting their internal political battles as well.

Nico rapped on the table, catching Alex's attention again. "There is safety in numbers. We can all go through the info, maybe we can see a pattern they haven't." He nodded toward the hall. "But if Cameron hasn't found the USB yet, I'm not sure it made it through."

Realistic.

That was what he needed.

It would hurt if they didn't find it, but… for now, it was hope. Fear. Anxiety. Determination. There was a way to do something – even if it was only with the files he already had on the music player. And if he could do something, maybe he could pull the right strings and get the unit – his escorts – out of the line of fire.

The Leaders continue to be a threat known in Central and South America and have been growing ties in Central Africa and Southeast Asia over the past decade. Limited intelligence suggests that some grassroots movements in Scotland and Ireland have been connected to dealings with The Leaders, but no direct connections have been drawn.

See agency report files #AG255, IR192, and JR561.

The words had long since started blurring on the screen in front of Alex. He had been at this for days, scrolling through reports and summaries of some of the most top-secret files of MI6. Well, those that were deemed as somehow relating to his little… difficulty. There were plenty of reports detailing missions that had gone awry in years long past, and plenty more that seemingly had no connection to the intel that was being gathered currently.

If anyone got their hands on the laptop, it would be an international incident of epic proportions.

It had taken them a full day of stripping down everything that Cameron had brought – and a great share of convincing – to find the small USB. And then Alex and Nico had spent nearly two days breaking through the codes and ciphers meant to protect the files. Alex claimed he helped, but really, it was Nico who did the brunt of the work. But the files held within were a treasure trove to Alex and he was willing to stick around a little longer if it meant that he had another set of eyes or two looking over everything.

A hand landed on his shoulder, startling him out of the daze.

"Come on," Mickey said, "Come get something to eat. The files won't disappear on you overnight."

Alex glanced back at the screen. So far, that was the most promising bit of information. Rumblings that The Leaders were back in action around the world, after a four-year hiatus.

"I will get Jacobs in here to drag you out," Mickey threatened. He had been using Jacobs as a threat ever since Alex had broken his nose.

Alex rolled his eyes, but took note of where he was at going through the documents. Document 47-D, out of… who knew how many. They hadn't had a chance to check out the website Eagle had left behind for them, but it was on Alex's to-do list. He had no doubt that it would be heavily coded and ciphered as well, so he wasn't about to go dashing off on his own for that. Maybe Ben had done that on purpose…

He saved his progress and closed the laptop.

"Excellent choice," Mickey said, striding toward the kitchen. "And we've even got a team meeting tonight to go with our lovely Junae."

He had been warned about the team meeting. Nico claimed it wasn't bad news, but Alex had a feeling that it wasn't exactly good news either.

The others were already in the kitchen, which really wasn't large enough for five, but they made do. Since usually at least one was sleeping for the night shift, they didn't usually all overlap in the same room.

Alex grabbed a plate of the food – rice wrapped in some sort of leaf. It wasn't the strangest thing they had had so far, and it certainly had more variety than any of them were used to in the past several months. Local cuisine definitely had its perks. But there were other times when it looked a little bit more… skeptical. Mickey sometimes magicked up odd little breakfast drinks that were sometimes hit or miss, depending on the day.

They hadn't died – or gotten food poisoning – yet though, so he counted that as a win.

He dug into his food, pleased to find that it wasn't too strong or strange. Nico had convinced him to try ceviche earlier in the week – a supposed delicacy – but he hadn't been a fan. Most of the other meals had been hits though.

Cameron tapped impatiently on the counter, waiting for everyone else to finish.

The meeting.

Though not the first time Alex had been invited to participate – they had had several meetings trying to figure out the best plan of attack while in France, after all – it was the first time he was involved with no questions asked. They had a better understanding of his knowledge and skills, now.

Once everyone had put up their dishes, Cameron clapped his hands together. "We need to make a move by the end of the week. Either further inland or back toward the capital."

Alex blinked. "Moving?" Though he wasn't going to argue about having a different place. Perhaps one with more rooms, a little more space.

"We've about used up the resources here," Cameron said. "We need to transition to another region and start putting out feelers for work."

Work. Money. Of course that was an issue. It was an issue he had thought about himself. But SAS units always had their resources, and now they were cut off from everything. He couldn't imagine what they had thought up though – he hadn't even gotten that far.

"I looked into the central region," Mickey said, laying out several sheets of paper on the table, "And there were definitely opportunities, but it becomes… not the greatest place for tourists very quickly. We'd stick out and become targets, whether we speak the language or not."

Alex glanced at the papers, each one outlining a different city an hour, two hours, and four hours further inland. Each one was smaller than the next and had incrementally lower numbers of tourists and seasonal visitors. Though they wouldn't stick out as the casual tourist, if they stuck around for more than a few days… people would notice. Much like was no doubt happening in the current neighborhood.

Mickey set down another set of papers. "If we went back toward Lima though, there are some good options. Not city-center, but in the outskirts." He tapped a finger on the different neighborhood names. "La Victoria, Los Sauces, or San Isidro would all give us enough resources to get by, but shouldn't raise too much suspicion if we try to find an odd job or two."

Alex settled back in his chair. There were certain advantages to the city, but there were also plenty of reasons they had avoided them in the first place. London was prime example of just how horribly it could backfire – though Alex took full responsibility for that foolishness. But to decide to go back to the city, even staying on the outskirts, seemed, in some ways like they were tempting fate. Painting a target on their backs – though arguably, the city was large enough that no one should stumble across them by chance. No one should even know what country they were in.

There might even be a chance to access the website data dump Ben had hinted at. A secret blog or something, with countless notes left just for him on a secure server. All things that Alex hadn't been able to access yet, because there was no way of securing and obscuring the connection – and Cameron wasn't about to listen to reason.

But the reality was, Alex only had what was equivalent to paper records – some of which were horribly outdated. He spent half his time sorting through what was useful and legible. Access to new information, to whatever MI6 was working with, could mean the difference. Might even tip the balance.

Alex leaned forward to get a better look at the papers. There were statistics and individual street data, more than he would ever need, but it included population information. And probability of finding work. "What's the plan for work?" He asked.

"Jacobs and I will offer conversational English lessons," Nico said. He looked less than pleased with the idea. "That would be easier in the city, but there would also be more competition. We'd have to adjust our rates accordingly."

Which… could work just fine. If Nico and Jacobs could pull it off.

Cameron tapped on one of the cities, San Isidro. "How soon can we go?"

"As soon as two days from now." Mickey hesitated and tilted his head toward Jacobs. "It would be best if we went separate. Jacobs and I to set up the place, make all the arrangements, and then the rest of you meeting us there."

"I suppose it's unavoidable." Cameron sighed. "Jacobs, recommendations for staying under the radar of locals?"

"Hair dye, for one."

Alex grimaced at that. It had been a while since someone forced him to dye his hair. He wasn't keen on it, but it was also a good way of hiding his complexion just a little bit. Fair hair and fair skin did not fit in with the locals.

"Once we're in the city, outings should be limited unless we're in a community that has a higher number of foreigners. But complete seclusion would draw attention as well." Jacobs shrugged. "It all depends on where we end up."

"And what's in our budget," Cameron added. "Right then, Nico, you'll need to set up the decoys leaving from here at the end of the week. Mickey, find a suitable place to stay. Preferably with enough bedrooms for all of us." He cast a glance in Alex's direction, seeming to size him up. "I trust that you're not going to try anything stupid, immediately."

Alex shook his head. Not yet, at least. Though having his own room would allow him better space to plan his eventual escape. For now, though, they had talked him into sticking around – they certainly had access to more resources than he did. The least he could do now was work on something that would help them.

"Jacobs, see what contacts you can scrounge up in Lima, near those regions. We're going to need something fast once we get settled in. And Alex…" Cameron trailed off, before sighing again. "You've got your information to work through. You're going to have to go it alone for the next few days, while we sort everything else out." He glanced around the room. "Anything else to add?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Excellent. We'll get you fair haired lot dyed and make our move into the city by the end of the week."

It had been a while since he last dyed his hair – over a year? A long time since he had really done anything with his hair. It was probably a miracle that it didn't come out looking worse, but Mickey seemed to know his way around both hair dye and a pair of scissors. Though his pale skin still stood out, he was at least the right height and now had the right hair color. At a glance, he would blend better.

Though the others didn't realize it, it was just another step toward his ultimate plan. The one that would be enacted the moment he had to abandon ship for good. Hopefully by then he would have pieced enough things together to give himself – and the others – a fighting chance.

"You ready?" Nico asked, turning from where he had just stuffed the last of his belonging into a duffel.

Alex took one last glance around the little bedroom. The beds were remade and it looked as if no one had ever been there. "Yeah…" He wasn't exactly going to miss the place where they had all but forced his confession out of him.

And kept trailing him even though he had no current plans to leave.

"We're going to take the long way back to the city."

Alex grimaced. "Washboard road again, right?"

"But for longer." If there were sarcastic grins, Nico was giving him one right that moment. "Cameron wants to avoid the main road for as long as possible, so we're going to take the local's way out."

Alex sighed. There wasn't much getting around it. As it was, they were moving out on a Sunday in the hopes of blending in with the local church crowds. And whoever decided to head straight for the city center early in the morning.

"Come on," Nico nodded toward the door, throwing the duffel strap over his shoulder. "If we're lucky, Cameron might let us hit one of the city parks for some real Peruvian food."

As if they hadn't already been sampling the local fare. "Is going out really that safe?"

Nico shrugged, then headed out the door. "In a city with millions where no one has any idea that you're here – it's probably the safest you're going to get."

A/N: Oh, Alex... Do you really think you're going to win this? Happy May y'all! I've got finals, a thesis defense, and a move this month – so updates will probably be hit or miss. But I'll do my best because you guys motivate me! S.B.L.