*Disclaimer: I don't own Alex Rider or any of these characters. Enjoy!
Chapter 1
Alex was pissed. He really was. He should have been home with Jack and Tom, but instead he was crammed in the back of an armored vehicle with K-Unit on their way to a remote Scorpia base. Remote was putting it mildly, the base was stationed in the middle of a large forest, the closest sign of civilization was a tiny village.
Alex hadn't wanted to go on this mission, hadn't wanted to deal with Scorpia again, but like every time in the past, MI6 had found a way to twist his arm, this time through Tom. His parent's nasty divorce had gotten even worse, which resulted in Tom running away and CPS getting involved. When Jack heard that CPS was going to remove Tom from his home, she had quickly applied to be his foster parent. Given her status with Alex, CPS had allowed it and was set to be officially approved….unless MI6 interfered. Blunt had more or less told Alex he would have it thrown out if he didn't agree to go on the mission, so reluctantly Alex had agreed. Suddenly, Alex was pulled out of his thoughts as Wolf spoke.
"Are you alright Alex?" Wolf as well as the rest of K-unit knew what Blunt and Jones had done. They hated how MI6 always found a way to manipulate Alex. Alex was family to them.
"I'm fine. How far are we?"
"Not too far. Remember the plan?"
"Get you guys in, then stick close."
"Good."
Alex's only job was to get K-Unit into the base by squeezing through a narrow passage that led straight to the power room. Once there, he would shut off the power and wait for K-Unit to infiltrate the building and grab him.
Alex was about to speak when suddenly there was an explosion. Alex felt the truck veer out off the road before crashing into a tree. As the truck came to a halt, they rushed out of the car, K-Unit with their guns drawn and a protective stance around Alex, their only unarmed member. They were greeted with several men and women with their weapons aimed at them, all wearing a scorpion insignia.
A man stepped out from behind the guards, a man that sent chills down all their spines.
"Lower your weapons", said Dr. Three, Scorpia's torture expert.
K-unit stood still refusing to obey. A look of annoyance danced across Dr. Three's face.
"If you do not lower your weapons, my men have orders to shoot to kill every one of you except young Alex so that I can deal with him as planned. You're outnumbered, even if one of you do survive, you'll be in no position to protect him."
Dr. Three paused, letting his words sink in before beginning again.
"However, if you lower your weapons, you have my word that you will all be taken alive, giving you all at least an opportunity to try and protect him. To save him."
Wolf looked around at his team, who were all awaiting his order. It wasn't in their nature or their training to backdown but one look at Alex told him that they couldn't let him enter whatever hell he was about to be dragged into alone. Wolf lowered his weapon to the ground and raised his hands above his head, the rest of the team following suit.
"Good choice", Dr. Three said as his men moved towards K-Unit and Alex.
The men forced them onto the ground and bound their hands behind their backs. Wolf turned his head to look over at Alex. Alex looked at him in the eyes and did his best to nod to Wolf, as if to assure Wolf that he had made the right decision, but Wolf didn't miss the look of panic and fear in his eyes. Before he could yell out a warning, a needle was plunged into Alex's neck. Wolf saw his eyes roll back in his head before they closed, and Alex's body went limp. A second later, Wolf felt a sting in his own neck, and everything went black.