Judging by the light from outside the window, it had been hours since Robert had left. The feeling was slowly ebbing out of Alex's hands. He shivered. He'd removed his jacket to stem Miss Sadie's pretend blood flow and was now just in what remained of his school uniform. The cheap material of his shirt did little to battle the cold. The room had no heating and the bars on the window did nothing to stop the wind from entering.
The door opened slowly and Alex heard rather than saw Robert's feet coming across the room towards him. He pulled the chair into an upright position, bringing his face close to Alex's. He pulled the tie out of Alex's mouth and pushed it down past his chin.
"So, kid- you've had time to think, what's it going to be?"
Robert's breath was stale.
Alex looked him straight in the eye. "Can I have a little longer?" he asked, pleasantly.
Robert's fist sunk into his stomach. Alex groaned, his body trying to double over but his bonds prevented him from moving more than a few inches. He cursed quietly to himself.
"Fuccckk."
Robert's eyes glinted.
"Decision kid, now."
"Fine." Alex said resignedly, "ask your damn questions."
Robert smiled triumphantly. "Where is the entrance of the MI6 headquarters?"
Alex gave him a look which said 'Are you stupid?' "England."
A smack to his left cheek.
"London."
A smack to his right,
"Central London"
Another smack to his left. Alex felt his lip split and he tasted blood.
Robert thumbed at his injured lip, his hand cupping Alex's jaw. "And here I was thinking you were going to be cooperative." he crooned.
Alex shrugged. "Got that wrong then didn't you?"
Robert's hand moved to his back pocket' he smiled maliciously and brought his hand back in front of Alex. A long switchblade rested in his palm; Alex's heart began to pound. A second later a loud bang echoed throughout the room. Alex flinched, thinking of gunfire. When he realised he hadn't been shot he looked toward the door ;it swung open. Five men burst into the room, all in combat gear, all brandishing guns.
"GET ON THE GROUND! PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD AND GET ON THE GROUND! GET ON THE GROUND!"
Robert dropped the knife and then sunk to the floor at the first shout, holding his hands up and beside his head. Alex watched the scene unfurl in front of him. Two of the men locked handcuffs around Robert's wrists and hauled him to his feet, pushing him out the door. The man who had shouted dropped to his knees and looked up at Alex, concern in his eyes.
"You okay kid?"
Alex nodded dumbly. How had they found him so quickly? No one at the school would have realised something was wrong until the day after. Had it been his message to Sabina? But Robert had seemed confident that it wouldn't have done any good. What the fuck was happening?
The man pulled a knife from his boot and cut the ties on Alex's feet, then moved round to do the same for his wrists. Two other men were checking out the room but what they were looking for Alex had no idea.
"Come on Kid."
Alex directed his attention back to the man who had cut him loose. He was holding out a hand to him and Alex took it, pulling himself to his feet.
"Shake your hands and feet off, it'll help with circulation." he said kindly, but Alex was already doing so. "Let's get out of here."
He led Alex out the door of his cell and down a plain corridor. There were several doors to the left and right and Alex wondered where and what they opened onto. Alex looked up at the soldier. He considered him slowly.
The man's accent was evidently American so Alex guessed he couldn't have gotten far. "Who are you?" he asked suspiciously. He'd had enough of fake agents for one day. "Army?"
The man gave him a sideways grin, "Naah, Delta Force," He held out a hand, "B Squadron, Codename Ghost"
Alex felt his eyebrows raise and shook Ghost's offered hand, "Delta Force? For me?"
The soldier shrugged at him. "Seems that it's your lucky day kid. You've evidently got friends in high places."
Alex put a hand on Ghost's chest to bring him to a stop. The man looked at him inquiringly.
"There's something not right about this." Alex told him.
"Look, let's just get out of here and then-"
"No." Alex said quickly, he wanted to have a good look around before he left.
Ghost laughed incredulously, "Kid, this is not a request, we're leaving." he grabbed Alex's wrist but he twisted out of it.
"No, something about this is wrong. It's so wrong." Ghost folded his arms across his chest looking bemused but Alex ignored him and ploughed on. "Why go to such elaborate means to kidnap me? It would have been much easier just to do it somewhere else. Robert - or whatever his name actually is said he was from Scorpia." Ghost's eyes widened. " Don't worry, he obviously wasn't, this isn't their style. What's left of them don't want me alive, they want me dead."
"Scorpia want you dead?" asked Ghost, shocked.
"Yes."
"Oh, okay."
"But that begs the question - why would he pretend to be from an organisation he wasn't apart of? And why didn't he threaten any permanent damage?"
Ghost's eyebrows furrowed. "I don't know, maybe he had qualms about hurting a kid?"
Alex shook his head. "That could be it, but I doubt it. It was as if he'd been told not to rough me like back, it was like -" something clicked in his brain. "It was like RTI training."
"You've been through RTI?" came a voice from down the corridor. The other two men had caught up to them. One was tall and built like a tank, the other was slight and shorter, but both still towered over Alex. It was the taller who had spoken. Alex ignored him.
"How did you know where I was?" He asked Ghost "Who gave you your orders?"
"Our Lieutenant - like always."
Alex chewed his lip thoughtfully, irritating the wound and he tasted blood. There was silence. Finally, Ghost spoke.
"Come on, let's get out of here,"
Alex began to protest but Ghost grabbed his shoulders and frog marched him down the corridor. He called back to the other two soldiers.
"Gun, Apache - check out the rest of these rooms; see if you can find anything." he paused.
"Anything strange; something that maybe doesn't add up."
"Thank you." Alex said genuinely. He knew that it was the squadron's job to get him free and felt guilty about making it difficult for them. He'd have preferred to look around himself of course, but he was the hostage here, and hostages didn't investigate.
He let Ghost direct him outside onto what looked like a typical residential street. He turned to see that the building he'd just exited was a normal looking bungalow. There was an army Jeep parked at the end of the drive. The night air was cool on his face and Alex was surprised to see that it was completely dark. He looked at his watch; it should have still been light. He turned to Ghost.
"Hey, where are we?"
"South Carolina."
Alex blinked.
"South Carolina?" he repeated incredulously.
"That's right," Ghost said slowly, "Why where were you before you got - y'know - taken?"
"San Francisco.
Ghost gave a low whistle.
"Well you ain't in Kansas anymore Dorothy."
Alex scowled at him.
"C'mon kid, get in the Jeep."
Alex clambered into the back of the car. Robert, Miss Sadie and the others weren't in there. The other two must have taken them already. Ghost slid into the driver's seat. He pressed a button on the radio set.
"Ghost reporting to base. Mission success. Hostage retrieved and relatively unharmed. Medical attention not required. Returning to base. ETA. 0300 hours. Over."
"Received. Over."
Ghost turned to look at Alex.
"So, kid. I know I'm not supposed to ask, but who are you?"
"I don't know if I'm allowed to say." said Alex, truthfully.
Ghost seemed to turn this information over in his mind. "How about why Scoripa wants you killed?"
Alex smiled at that. "I definitely can't tell you that one."
Ghost grunted. "Fair enough." He turned back to the front and they sat in silence for several minutes until the other two men appeared from the bungalow. Alex watched as they walked toward the car. The shorter man got into the front, leaving the taller to slide in next to Alex.
Alex immediately leant forward. "Anything?" he asked, interestedly.
"Just some notes on a swanky school in San Francisco." said the man from the front. "A couple of fake ID's for each of the members of the crew. A list of questions about MI6?"
He posed the last statement as a question looking curiously at Alex. "What have you got to do with MI6? Has this got to do with the RTI?"
The man next to Alex put a hand on his shoulder.
"Gun, shut up" he tapped the edge of Ghost's seat, "C'mon, let's go."
The engine roared into life and they pulled out of the drive.
Alex sat in the corner of the Jeep, hugging his legs to his chest, head resting on his knees. He didn't understand what was going on; he was tired and hungry and wanted to go home. Not to the Pleasures but to his house in Chelsea, curling up on the sofa watching bad 90's rom-coms with Jack. He felt tears welling up in his eyes as he thought of her and pressed his eyes into his knees so the military men wouldn't see him crying.
They drove for about an hour until the sign posts indicated they were in Cumberland County, North Carolina. Finally Alex decided to speak up. He felt foolish for not asking sooner.
"Where are we going?" he asked Apache.
"Fort Bragg, it's a military installation. Our HQ"
Alex nodded. "Right. And where is that?"
"Not far."
Alex didn't speak again until they reached a set of electric gates. A young man sat in a booth and he looked up when their car pulled up to the window.
"Identification?"
Ghost rattled off a bunch of numbers and code words; Alex was only half listening. The gates buzzed open and they drove through. Alex looked around with interest. The fort was made up of dozens of identical houses, each side of the main road symmetrical. There was a statue to his right and he examined it. A tall soldier, stood proudly brandishing gun. The words 'Green Beret' enscripted underneath.
They continued up the road and came to a stop outside the main building. Alex assumed it was the main building as it was the largest and the only one which didn't have an identical counterpart.
"Where did you take Robert and the others?" he asked Ghost once they'd exited the car.
"Rex and Charge took them to a secure facility in Tennessee." he replied, "They'll be interrogated I expect."
Alex nodded, he still didn't like how things were panning out.
"Come on, let's get inside." Ghost said, throwing an arm around Alex's shoulders, "You need rest and some kind of cream for those wrists. - which one do you want first?"
Alex considered this. "Rest."
Ghost chuckled. "C'mon, I'll show you where you'll be staying. You're lucky, I'm going to have to fill in all the forms whilst you get a nice kip."
"To be fair, I have changed into a different time zone."
"Nope, it's still unfair." he said jokingly, "You're the one who gets kidnapped and I have to fill in all the paperwork?"
Alex grinned at him, he decided he liked Ghost.
They entered the building, Ghost swiping his identification card for the door. They entered into a reception looking set up. The man behind the desk was dressed in full military uniform. He looked up when he saw Ghost and Alex.
"Who's this?"
"Hostage from the op. They didn't tell you we were bringing him back here?"
The receptionist tapped some buttons on the keyboard. "Sorry, yeah - sign here."
Ghost leaned forward and signed the offered paper.
A door to the right opened up and Ghost directed Alex through it. There were rooms on either side of the corridor, all identical to each other. They all contained a single bed and nothing else. Alex pointed to one as they passed.
"Do I get one of these? And can I call my- my family so they know I'm safe?"
"We'll get someone to send an agent around tonight" Ghost said, nodding, "but I expect they'll want to hear directly from you so you can call after the debrief tomorrow morning."
Alex nodded, "Thank you"
"As for the room," Ghost continued, swiping his card to open another door, "you get one of these."
The rooms on this side of the door were much nicer Alex saw, still with a plain bed in the corner of the room. But they also contained another door, presumably to its own bathroom. The walls were painted too, instead of the cool white of the other rooms, these were painted pale pastel shades. There was a window too and though the image behind the curtains was still and evidently just a picture, it brightened up the room.
Ghost gestured to one of the rooms and held the door further open for Alex. He ducked under the soldier's arm and entered the room.
"Thanks."
"I'm going to lock you in."
Alex nodded, he'd expected it.
"I'll be back tomorrow, there's a camera in the corner of the room and there's a panic button on the wall by the bed. We're never far away so if anything happens, we've got you covered, okay kid?"
Alex nodded again.
"Okay then, goodnight."
Ghost moved to leave. But Alex called him back,
"Hey, Ghost?"
The soldier turned back, "Yeah Kid?"
"Thank you."
"No problem."
The door swung shut and Alex heard the key turn in the lock. He looked round the room, checked the camera's position and then crawled into bed, tugging the blankets up around him; within seconds he was asleep.
Ghost locked the door behind him and set off back the way he'd come. He chewed his lip as he walked, deep in thought. He liked that kid; he was intelligent. Ghost himself hadn't spotted the absurdity of kidnapping him directly from school, but now he thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
The people they had arrested were strange too, they'd offered very little resistance. And why did they think that the kid would have answers about MI6? Maybe his father worked there, that was likely. His radio cracked into life, interrupting his thoughts.
"Rex to Ghost, come in, over."
"Ghost here, over."
"Lieutenant wants us in his office pronto, over"
"Tell him I need to fill in the paperwork for the kid to stay here, over"
"He said to skip it, over."
Ghost sighed heavily. If he didn't fill in the correct paperwork on time HR would have his head - Lieutenant Stanley wouldn't receive any blame. He rubbed his eyes wearily, all he wanted to do was sleep.
"Ghost?"
"Yeah yeah, I'll be there in five."
Seven minutes later he'd arrived outside Lieutenant Stanley's office door, he could hear voices from within, the others must already be there. He knocked.
"Enter."
He pushed open the door. Gun, Apache, Rex and Charge were already there, standing to attention. Ghost joined them, saluting the Lieutenant sharply.
"At ease soldiers."
Lieutenant Stanley looked as tired as Ghost felt, his eyes had deep purple bags and his hair was mussed so his hair stuck up almost ridiculously.
"The reason I've called you here is because of your recent hostage extraction," he paused, swallowed and brought out a file. "The boy in question is a level 10 priority civilian." Ghost's felt his mouth fall open. A level 10? The president was the only other level 10 in the country.
"You are to forget the events of the past day. You never got the order to rescue him, you never spoke to him, you never even saw him." he looked at each of them in the eye as he said this.
In unison they nodded.
"An agent from secret service will be here in the morning to collect him. The agent is to stay for the debrief. We are not to interfere or investigate anything further into this case. Once the boy has left the site, he no longer exists. You got that?"
"Sir, yes sir."
The Lieutenant gave them a tired smile.
"Dismissed."
