Calico watched with the rest of his unit, unable to do anything as the blond assassin walked calmly out of the school, his gun held to a young girl's head. She was dressed in the school's uniform, her hair loose down her back and her hands were visibly shaking. They were just close enough to see her face and she looked terrified. Calico suspected that he would be too if Yassen Gregorovitch was holding a gun to his head.
"Calico!"
He turned round. Soy was pointing toward the school. He followed the man's arm and saw where he was pointing. A group of school students were staring at the scene through the window open mouthed.
Fuck. This was going to be hard to explain to their Lieutenant. They were just supposed to be keeping an eye on the school, none of them thought anything would actually happen. He directed his attention back to the assassin, raising his gun a little higher.
"Mr Gregorovitch," he called, "you have until the count of three to put the gun down and let the girl go."
Gregorovitch looked directly into Calico's eyes, icy blue into brown. "Or what?"
"Or we'll shoot you."
The assassin shook his head, "No, you won't. You want me alive, so you won't go for a headshot and despite appearances, you're not as dumb or idiotic as you look, which means that you know you can't shoot me without shooting her." He gave the girl a little shake and she whimpered loudly.
"There's no need for that Mr Gregorovitch." He called. He kept one eye on the assassin, whispering to Soy who was standing two paces behind him. "Does Diamond have an open shot?"
"You're no doubt trying to ascertain whether your sharpshooter has a clear shot." Gregorovtich called, "I will save you the trouble by telling you that he does not." It wasn't arrogant in the way he said it, just like it was an obvious fact.
Calico's face dropped, "Is he right?" There was silence from Soy. "I said, is he right?"
There was a crackle of the radio. "Diamond, can you take the shot?"
"Negative."
Calico swore loudly. Gregorovitch smiled.
"What's happening?" It was the girl, tears were pooling in her eyes, her cheeks were flushed and her voice was high with terror. "Help me, please." Her tone changed a second later to demanding. "Why are you all just standing there?"
Reefer stepped forward, his gun lowered and his arms outstretched "It's going to be alright Miss."
"This lunatic has a gun to my head!" The girl all but shouted at him, "Don't-" she cut herself off as the gun pressed itself closer to her temple.
"Gregorovitch, put your gun down!" Calico shouted.
"No."
"Are you incompetant?" shouted the girl, she was staring at Calico. She clearly didn't realise who was behind her or quite how much danger she was in.
"Miss, he's not going to shoot you," Calico said calmly, "I'd stake my reputation on it."
"Well that's not saying much is it!?"
Despite himself, Calico felt his cheeks colour. The assassin looked like he was trying not to smile which somehow made it worse.
"You're not going to shoot her Gregorovitch." Reefer said bluntly.
"And why's that?" Gregorovitch stepped to his right, toward the school gate, dragging the girl with him. She stumbled a little, her stride smaller than the assassins.
"Because if you do," Calico cut in, "I'll lock you up for so long, the walls will start crumbling around you."
The assassin's eyebrow quirked upward. Simultaneously, there was a tumultuous bang followed by the shattering of glass. They turned as a unit toward the noise. A second later a hail of glass shards rained down upon them. Calico and his unit crouched, trying to protect themselves from the falling missiles. They barely had time to realise it had stopped when pieces of tile from the roof replaced the glass and they scrambled backwards, looking up at the roof.
"What the fuck was that?" Calico shouted over the noise of the tiles crashing and breaking on the ground, "Who did that?"
Reefer looked at the roof, his eyes wild, "Diamond, come in."
"I'm here, I'm fine, what about you?" came Diamond's reply from over the radio, "Was that Gregorovitch?"
"We're bruised but fine and we don't know."
"Who else could it have been?" Spinner asked.
"Calico!" shouted Diamond from over the radio, "Gregorovitch and the girl. They've gone!"
The unit sprung from their place on the floor and were up on their feet in an instant, running full pelt towards the gates.
"SHIT!" Calico swore, turning to Reefer "Where are F and G units?"
Spinner, who was on his other side answered, "Not even in Florida."
"Shit."
They looked around the street, Gregorovitch and the girl were nowhere to be seen. A white sedan passed them slowly, the sole occupant a middle aged woman.
"Shit." Calico repeated. "Right, let's spit up, Spinner, go south, Soy you take the east, I'll go north and Diamond can do the west. Got it?"
They nodded in unison.
"Let's go."
Alex couldn't stop crying. He knew it was pointless but the tears wouldn't stop. He knew it made him look weak and scared, but his hand hurt. He didn't like to admit it but he was scared. He'd tried to distract himself by trying to work out just exactly who it was who had kidnapped him but he just didn't know. At first he was sure it had been MI6, nothing had seemed right and they had all been too gentle. Being too gentle wasn't an issue anymore though apparently, he didn't think Blunt was capable of ordering someone to hurt him like this, at least he hoped he wasn't. Whoever these people were, they definitely weren't Scorpia. Maybe they were just Scorpia admirers out for revenge like Blunt and Jones had suggested. He sniffed. He wanted to wipe his face free of snot and tears but his left hand was still cuffed above him and he didn't dare move his right.
He didn't know how long Robert and the guards had been gone but it seemed like forever until the door opened again, flooding the room with light. It was a woman he didn't recognise, taller and broader than Miss Sadie, with a bag hanging from her shoulder. Alex couldn't help himself and tried to press himself further into the wall, drawing his shoulders into himself.
"Don't worry kid." she said plainly, "I'm not here to hurt you."
He looked up at her, doubtfully. She tugged down the gag and he sucked in a long breath.
"Then why are you here?" he asked warily.
"Bathroom." She said simply.
"Oh."
The woman leaned forward across Alex to unlock the cuff on his left hand and he briefly thought about sweeping her legs from under her but he was too exhausted to move. There was a click and the cuff came undone. Without anything to hold it up, Alex's arm dropped to his lap and he moaned in pain.
"Sorry kid, but you're going to have to get up now." It sounded like she meant it so he didn't offer a sarky reply. She held out her arm and gestured for him to hold it. He clutched at her sleeves with his thumb and two middle fingers and pulled himself up off the floor, making sure to protect his right foot.
"It's not far."
Alex nodded and they limped slowly toward the door. He didn't even think about escape. He knew he wouldn't get far, not like this. She led him to a door a metre down the hall to the left and opened it for him.
"It'll wait here, knock on the door when you're done."
He nodded and entered the bathroom alone, hearing her slide a lock across from the outside. It was difficult with his elbow and hand the way they were but he managed to go eventually. Once he was done, he closed the toilet lid and sat down. Taking a deep breath he picked as much glass as he could out of his foot, biting hard on his lip to prevent himself from making too much noise. The pieces of glass he picked out were small and tricky and he couldn't see how they could be useful so he threw them across the room childishly. Once all the glass he could see was out, he walked over to the dirty mirror and inspected his reflection. His fringe was sticking to his forehead with sweat and his cheeks were flushed red. He turned the tap on with his working fingers and tried to splash water onto his face, wiping the tears and mucus off his skin. He walked over to the door and tapped. For a second he was irrationally scared she'd leave it locked, but then it slid open and her arm was held out toward him. He took it again, and she led him back over to the dark cell, the door open ready. It looked scarier than it had before. He stopped, letting go of her arm.
"Please," he said desperately, "please don't put me back in there."
She didn't look moved. "Sorry, but it's orders."
"Please," he tried again, "look at me, you know what they're doing isn't right."
"Kid, I don't care," she said, her voice devoid of emotions, "You can either go back in voluntarily or I can call Toby down here and he'll make you."
Alex bit his lip, obviously she didn't have as much as conscience as he'd thought. He didn't want to be hurt anymore. He sniffed "Okay."
He took her arm and limped back into the room feeling sick. She gently let him down to the floor.
"Stretch your arms," she said in a business-like manner, "you won't get another chance."
He extended his right arm and rotated his wrist. Once he'd signaled he was done she took his wrist in her hand and pulled it above his head, up to the metal cuff. He tried to jerk his arm out of her grasp but she was surprisingly strong.
"You're hurting me!"
"That's unavoidable."
He heard the click as his arm was fastened back in place. He glared at her, taking the woman in. Now that she was closer he saw she looked about forty, but the crows feet around her eyes and waxy skin made her look older. She was dressed in regular clothes, jeans and a buttoned cardigan. His gaze landed on the bag she was carrying.
"Now the left."
He fixed her with a blank stare. She looked confused then noticed his left elbow. "Oh." She checked the fastening on his right cuff and got up to leave.
"Wait!" he said, wishing her could stop her with his hand. "Do you have any painkillers in your bag?"
"Yes."
"Are you allowed to give them to me?" he asked hopefully.
She nodded and opened up her bag. Alex saw several pill packets, disinfectant, bandages and small syringes full of clear liquid. An idea formed in his mind.
"What about anything else?"
"Robert won't like it."
That wasn't a no. "Does that mean you'll help me?"
"Only if you're willing to pay for it later."
He nodded. He didn't like the thought of more pain, but at least he'd have a weapon if his plan went smoothly.
She rolled her eyes and sat down on the floor. "Right, what do you want?"
"Can I have a sling? For my arm?"
She considered this. "I don't see why not. It's not like you can use it as a weapon with the condition you're in." She pulled out a strip of fabric from her bag and wrapped it over his right shoulder and under his left arm, tying it round his neck. She sat back on her heels.
"Anything else?"
"Disinfectant, for my fingers." She raised her eyebrows. "Please," he added.
"That's better."
She took out a couple of cotton wool pads from the bag and deposited disinfectant onto them. She looked first at his left hand, then moved up to inspect his right.
"This is going to hurt." She pressed the cotton pads to his fingers and he sucked in a breath.
"Ow. Ow. Ow."
She held the pads in place with her left hand and grabbed bandages with the other. She moved round him to get closer to his hand. It was now or never.
Reaching out slowly with his left hand he snagged the medical bag. He couldn't pull it towards him without creating noise, he needed a distraction. A second later she gave him the perfect opportunity. She pressed the cotton pads into the end of his fingers roughly. He didn't have to fake the yell of pain he gave. Whilst she was distracted, he managed to pull the bag closer to him and grab a syringe from the top of the bag. He cautiously maneuvered his hand to put the syringe into his sling. It was the only thing he had been able to grab quick enough. He didn't know what was in it, but at least he had a sort of weapon.
"Fingers are bandaged."
"Thank you," he said gratefully, "can I have some painkillers?"
She huffed, "Don't want much do you?" she asked sarcastically but pulled her bag towards her, thankfully she didn't notice that it wasn't where she had left it.
"Right," she said, looking through her supplies, "you want painkillers or something to make you sleep?"
He thought about it. "I want to sleep."
She pursed her lips and pulled out a syringe, identical to the one he'd stolen. "It'll make you drowsy rather than knock you out straight away, you'll be lucid for about ten minutes then it'll kick in, okay?"
He nodded, "Okay."
She wiped his upper left arm with a swab and he was nervous she'd look down and see the syringe. Thankfully, she didn't notice and injected the clear liquid into his arm. Hopefully it was what she said it was.
"Thank you." he said honestly.
She hummed disinterestedly, pushing the gag back into his mouth. He didn't really see the point of it, he didn't think that anyone would be able to hear if he screamed anyway. She packed up her kit and walked over to the door and didn't look back at him as she left though he thought he might have heard a few words said in farewell. The door clanged shut behind her and the room was plunged back into darkness. He drew his left leg up to his chest and tried to move into a comfortable position. A few minutes later his thoughts were becoming blurry around the edges and he could feel himself descending into sleep. He was glad, hopefully things would look better when he woke up. Somehow, he doubted it.
He had been depressingly right. He woke up just as the limp form of Robert stumbled and fell on top of him, there was a gurgling noise from the man's neck as he tried to speak. He was lying on his front, head was tilted upward on Alex's chest, his chin digging into his collar bone. His speech was somewhat impeded by the fact that his throat was slashed open. Alex tried to recoil but whatever the woman had given him was still in effect and it stopped his movements. He was dimly aware of shouting and gunfire but his mind was still clouded from sleep. The man's eyes were glassy, seemingly looking up at him, mouth lolling open. Alex screamed around the cloth in his mouth, still trying to move away. Blood was gushing from the two parallel gashes in the man's chest, the inside of which was visible.. They extended from his throat down to his navel. Twenty seconds later, Alex was completely covered in his blood, and he'd managed to calm down a little, breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling rapidly. He felt sick and almost threw up. Through the noise from outside the open door of his cell he heard a voice which he was sickeningly glad to hear. Anatolievich.
"Alexander?"
Alex didn't say anything, he wouldn't be heard anyway and even if he would be, he wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't sure he could open his mouth without being immediately sick. He tried to wiggle out from underneath the dead body but the drug the woman had given him seemed to have dulled the receptors in his muscles. His arm was locked in place too, he couldn't move. There was a gunshot and then a sickening thud from outside the door and another body fell, head bouncing almost comically off the floor. It was Toby the guard.
Gunfire sounded again and the body twitched, the back of his head caving. Alex closed his eyes and looked away. He was going to be sick. Robert's body was still warm and his blood even warmer. There was a loud footstep and Alex looked back over at the door. Anatolievich stepped into view and Alex sagged against the wall with relief. A second later he felt ill, he knew what the man was, and here Alex was actually glad to see him.
"Alexander!" Anatolievich's voice was full of concern and he ran toward him, leather shoes slapping against the concrete floor.
Alex whimpered as Anatolievich pulled the gag out of his mouth and tugged Robert's limp body off him. Alex turned to the side and threw up. He looked up at the russian.
"Sorry."
"Don't apologise," he whispered, brushing a piece of Alex's hair behind his ear, "Amaliya!"
A second later, the hulking form of his assistant appeared in the cell, she turned on the light and Alex whimpered at the brightness. "Sir." she nodded curtly.
"Find a key for the shackles, NOW!."
She nodded and left, bending over Toby, moving out of view once she patted him down.
"Are you okay?" Anatolievich asked, turning back to him, dark eyes wide.
Alex nodded, offering a forced smile through the tears which had started, "Better now."
"What did they do to you?"
"They just pushed me around a bit," he admitted, "but then I tried to escape and-" his tears fell faster and his lip wobbled. He wasn't even acting.
Anatolievich enveloped him in a hug, and despite all he knew of the man Alex felt himself relaxing into it. It was nice to be touched without the intent of injury or pretend gentleness. The concern Anatolievich showed was more genuine than anything Alex could remember experiencing after Jack. It was nice.
"Sir!" Amaliya was back. With a key. She passed it to Anatolievich and he unlocked the cuff holding Alex's hand to the wall. It fell into his lap but it stayed there for only a second as Anatolievich picked it up inspecting his bandaged fingers.
"What did they do here?" he asked
"My fingernails - he," He nodded to Robert's body on the floor, "he made me choose and then he pulled-."
Anatolievich's arms wrapped themselves tighter around him and he drew Alex to his chest. "No one will ever hurt you again Alexander, I swear it."
Alex wasn't sure what to say so he settled for nodding against Anatolievich's shoulder. They stayed there for what seemed like forever but eventually Anatolievich shifted and nudged his head up.
"Come on, we need to get home. The police will be here soon."
Alex nodded, slowly getting to his feet using Anatolievich's arm as support. They limped towards the door though after a few paces the russian man stopped making Alex stumble. Without a seconds warning, he was swept up off his feet, finding himself being carried bridal style by Anatolievich. Alex didn't have it in him to feel uncomfortable with the proximity.
They made it out of the door and if he had been standing Alex knew that his knees would have given way at the sight that greeted them. The three guards who had tortured him were all writhing on the floor, some kind of wire was wrapped around each of their throats, connected to each other. The wire was slowly cutting into the soft flesh of their necks, making them bleed out slowly, aggravated by the movements they were making. Movements which were inescapable because of the bullet wounds in the centre of their chests. It would be a slow and horrible death. As he watched the horrific display before him, Alex met Toby's eyes then turned to the side in Anatolievich's arms and threw up. As it turned out there wasn't much to come out of his stomach and eventually he was left dry heaving. A hand came up to fondle his hair and he flinched away from it; the hand didn't move.
"Take a good look Alexander." Anatolievich murmured, "you don't know how far I'd go to protect you."
Alex felt sick. This had been done for him? He turned over and dry heaved some more. They made their way down the corridor, stepping over the guards and finally came out into the sun. It looked as if it were early morning.
"What time is it?" His voice sounded hoarse.
"Around 4am."
Had it only been that long? It had seemed like so much longer.
"You're going to have to stand on your own for a second okay?"
Alex nodded and he was lowered to the floor lightly, swaying on the spot once Anatolievich's hand left him. He looked around. They were in the backyard of a rundown one story building which was surrounded by trees. The paint was peeling on the outside and there was a definite smell of manure. Alex wrinkled his nose up, it was so strong he was surprised he hadn't smelt it inside.
There was the sound of a car door opening from behind him and then a hand was back at his elbow.
"The driver will take you home okay?"
Alex had barely nodded when Anatolievich moved off. Alex turned around to look. A silver rolls royce was parked ten metres away. Joseph, the driver, was stood next to it, staring at Alex in horror. His face was pale but he managed a sort of smile and jogged over to him.
"Hey Kid."
Alex offered him a small smile, "Hey"
"Jesus what happened to you?" Joseph asked, taking Alex's good elbow gently, guiding him towards the car "You look rough."
Alex went to shrug but then thought better of it, "Guess these people really don't like my dad."
"David Friend?"
"That's him."
"Didn't you tear gas your school a couple of years ago or something?"
Alex cast his mind back to the cover story MI6 had given him for Point Blanc, "or something." he agreed. He bent down and ducked into the car, sliding into the seat careful not to aggravate his injuries. The door slammed behind him and Joseph walked around the Rolls Royce getting into the driver's seat, turning the key and pulling out of the yard.
"Where are we going?" he asked, though he knew full well where there were headed. But where would the injured pseudo Alex Friend want to go? "My mum and dad-"
"Sorry kid, they're not allowed to see you," Joseph said, glancing back at him, "intelligence thinks that putting you in the same place as your dad is high risk. We're going back to the house. I think you're going to have to stay there too, no more trips out."
"Great." Alex said sarcastically.
"Don't worry, I'll be around."
"Oh?"
"I've been given a new job. Apparently I'm a 'trusted member of staff,'" he said proudly, throwing up air quotes with his left hand. "Everyone back at the house is under suspicion. Mr Anatolievich even questioned the belgian police guy."
Alex gave a low whistle, it was easier to relax away from the cell, away from Anatolievich. An hour of non-stop chattering from Joseph later, they pulled up back outside the house.
"Home sweet home." Alex murmured under his breath.
"There's a nurse waiting inside," Joseph told him, turning round in his seat, "she'll see to your injuries."
"She hot?"
Joseph gave a barking laugh. "Dude, she's like seventy."
"I see," Alex said mockingly, "I'd be too young for her. You might have a shot though."
Joseph twisted round and slapped his shoulder, thankfully his right. "Cheeky kid. Come on, let's go-"
"Wait!" Alex said, a thought had just struck him. He wasn't going to be able to hide the needle he'd taken from the nurse. There were too many cameras and he wasn't going straight to his room. The nurse might be deep in Anatolievich's pocket but he knew that Joseph wasn't. "This is going to sound really strange." he said quickly, "but would you look after something for me?"
"What, like a houseplant?" Joseph joked. He caught the look on Alex's face and sobered up, "it's nothing dangerous is it?"
Alex shifted a confused expression onto his face, "Why would it be something dangerous?"
"I don't know, you're the one who gassed your school."
"Alright, so I don't have the best track record." Alex snapped, then in a softer voice, "It's not dangerous okay?"
Joseph nodded.
"It's in my sling," He explained, maneuvering round in his seat, "can you get it?"
Joseph looked mystified but did as he was asked, eventually managing to locate and pull out the needle. He slowly looked up and gazed at Alex with a mix between bewilderment and concern.
"Kid, what's this?"
"I don't know." Alex said truthfully. Joseph raised his eyebrows and he elaborated, "It makes you sleep."
"Excuse me? Kid, I don't know if I want to get involved-"
"Just-" Alex struggled to come up with a convincing lie. "Just, please." he ended lamely.
Joseph looked like he was having misgivings. Finally, he relented. "Alright," he nodded, "If you swear it's nothing dangerous or harmful."
"It's not."
Joseph's lips pressed into a tight line and he stared at Alex for a couple of while, considering. Eventually, he opened his suit jacket with one hand and inserted the needle into the inside pocket with the other, not letting Alex's gaze drop for a second.
"Thank you." Alex said sincerely.
"Alright, now we best get in," Joseph said, opening the drivers door. "we can't keep Nurse Ratched waiting."
Brad was shaking. He couldn't believe what he'd just done. He slid to the floor in the corridor and felt the floor vibrate as people came running. The fire bell rang out loudly above his head and he knew he should move. The only problem was that his legs seemed to have turned into Jell-O.
"MR COACHES!" It was Principal Vardy.
He looked up from the floor, "Yes, sir?"
"What's going on here?" he demanded, "Get out into the yard with the rest of your class. Get out now, it's not safe!"
Brad scrambled to his feet as best he could and nodded, walking shakily down the corridor. He could feel the weight of his phone in his pockets, it felt heavier than usual. Was that because what was on it? Was he the only one who knew the truth or what was happening? He'd found the phone lying where he'd left it in an empty classroom; Sabina and the substitute teacher nowhere to be seen. He'd listened to the recording or their conversation and almost fainted. The man has threatened to hurt Sabina several times and eventually she'd called him out on it, saying that Alex wouldn't forgive him.
Sabina hadn't mentioned his name, but she'd thought him dead and the man knew Lieutenant Stanley, the guy who had been bleeding out in the Pleasure's sitting room that morning. He must be the russian that had broken out of prison with Stanley, the one who wanted revenge on Alex for getting Gregorovitch killed. Or could this man be Gregorovitch? Sabina had thought he was dead after all and it definitely could have been the name he'd heard the Delta Force unit shouting.
He'd decided what he was going to do as he was already doing it. It was clear that Gregorovitch and Sabina weren't going to be able to flee without either the Delta Force unit hurting them, or more likely, Gregorovitch hurting the unit. He'd turned on all the gas taps at the far end of the chemistry lab, waited and then thrown his lighter as far as he could into the room and then legged it down the corridor. He hoped no one had been hurt. He hadn't realised there had been someone on the roof.
He filed out of the building with the rest of the students, hoping that his guilty face didn't give him away. There were sirens in the distance and he swallowed thickly. He hoped Sabina was going to be alright. He turned to look at the school, the upper chemistry lab window had been blown out and half the tiles which had been on the roof were now smashed on the concrete. A part of him felt guilty, the rest of him felt cool.
Whoo! Another chapter!
Sorry it's a bit short, I've been a bit sad. But anyway, we're back baby.
Okay, so not loads happened in this chapter I admit, but it means that more can happen next chapter. I thought people would want this now rather than wait even longer for the next chapter, so, enjoy! There's a story behind one of the names of Z unit. Props to you if you spot it. It'll be explained anyway but just a fun game I suppose.
Also Brad did something cool for once, he wasn't a dweeb and he Alex Ridered that situation up. I'm also so so pumped for this Sab and Yassen road trip.
I also realised I got super excited that Lincoln high did actually exist in real life (after doing no research on the area they live in) but I should have just read Never Say Die because it says the name of their freakin school. Oh well.
And dudes, my crush has read Alex Rider and he's just watched the TV show and loves it. He isn't as obsessed but it's a start and it made my day so I thought I'd share.
WE'RE GETTING ANOTHER SEASON OF THE SHOW FOLKS ISN'T THAT SPECTACULAR?!
Yes, yes it is.
I really hope it follows the story line of Skeleton Key because I want Alex's meeting with Byrne, Turner and Troy and if they don't include this scene I will fight someone:
"How was the flight?" Troy asked. And then, before Alex could answer, "I guess it must have been scary. Travelling on your own"
"I had to close my eyes during take off," Alex said, "But I stopped trembling when we got to thirty-five thousand feet."
It's honestly one of my favourite ever Alex moments, and there's quite a few to choose from.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Please give me feedback and stuff, it genuinely helps.
TTFN!
