Chapter 20: Things go down

The investigation had been going on for weeks and Alex was back in school. Tom had eyed him suspiciously, but had been quick to switch topics to his parents impending divorce and split. Apparently, they were now arguing over every appliance down to the light switch plates. As Alex had suspected, they were probably not going to move anytime soon without an outside force to impel them. He felt like the universe conspired against him sometimes. Ian was keeping an extraordinarily close eye on him. The principal had the 'brilliant' idea to make them all attend forced socialization and Alex was currently checking ways he could get the man fired out of sheer irritation. Seriously, the vice principal would do a much better job. Unfortunately, with the five thousand people sniffing around, framing the guy would take skills even Alex didn't possess. Alex got a text from Ian saying that he would be working late. Probably hoping to wrap up the case before Christmas. Alex decided to take the scenic route down the 'less safe' part of town to get home. Ian had specifically told him to avoid the part of the city, but right now Alex was decidedly irritated with the man. Out of a sheer need to avoid people in general, Alex went into the dumpiest convenience store he'd seen in London. Really, how they got any customers was a complete mystery. He decided to get a snack and batteries for his flashlight. Alex saw a woman and a man in the store, they seemed to be debating something. The woman sounded condescending. "-And I'm telling you, that combination will explode." Alex perked up immediately. The man sighed. "I have a doctorate. I think it will go fine." The woman threw up her hands. "Yes, a doctorate in medicine. Meanwhile, I know my stuff." Alex took one look at what the man was holding decided to intervene before there was a premature cremation. "She's right, you know, that combination will explode." The both turn to him, startled. "What would a kid know about pyrochemistry?" It was the doctor's turn to smirk. "Need I remind you, Ms. Graves, the age at which you began to play with fire?" The woman had opened her mouth to protest and closed it again. "Fair point, Dr. Stein. Which begs the question, what are you up to, kid?" Alex snorted. "It's nice to meet you, too. I'm Alex, here to buy batteries."

The woman looked taken aback by his offered hand. "I'm Tara, here to keep the moron from being stupid." The doctor rolled his eyes. "I'm Frank, I needed help with some projects involving welding." Alex raised an eyebrow. "You'd be better off in a hardware store with a garden section, then. More selection, you know." Alex knew they were both lying, but he supposed ten year olds were supposed to believe that kind of thing. Tara smiled. She was actually stunning when she wasn't scowling. "Well, we're kind of new to town. Do you mind showing us one then?" Alex wondered if other children were really this gullible. His curiosity was piqued, however. "Uh, sure. I have one I like more towards the center." Frank looked curious. "Do you weld, then?" Alex shrugged. "Actually, I garden. Plants have all sorts of fun uses, you know. Did you know they uses flammable pollen in Hollywood special effects?" Frank looked surprised. "You don't seem like type." Alex raised an eyebrow. "You don't look much like a doctor of medicine." It was true. They were both quite athletically built. Frank rolled his eyes. "I was in the army." Tara looked suitably impressed by the end of their barely veiled conversation about explosives and arson, interspersed with all of them dodging personal questions with vagaries. Alex was almost sad to see them go. Playing word games with semi-competent criminals who weren't intent on murdering you was kind of fun. Though of course, they didn't know he was playing. He wondered who they were. They didn't have the edge he associated with SCORPIA. Mob, maybe? Unassociated Mercs? It really was anyone's guess. They were certainly more laidback and cheerful. Alex decided to leave Ian out of this. They had been perfectly friendly and they didn't seem like a threat, even though they were involved in something less than legal.

Tara Graves and Frank Stein had both been intrigued by Alex. If Frank didn't know better, he would have thought he was in the game, so to speak. Tara took a sip of her drink. "Someone raised a weapon." Was the rather cynical remark. "Perhaps his father is a professor of biochemistry, Ms. Graves." Tara snorted. She had seen this before. "Not with the way he moves, Doc. I know predator and trained when I see it. Trying to hide it to, by the looks of it." Frank sighed. People just didn't have any decency these days. Training kids. What was next, infant suicide bombers? "Do you think we should alert anyone, Ms. Graves?" Tara snorted. "Nope. I actually like the kid, Doc." The doctor sighed, relieved. His much younger cousin was occasionally obstinate in her immorality. "So cousin, is this environment interesting enough for you or are we going to another warzone?" Tara rolls her eyes. Her cousin is such a stiff sometimes, but she was glad that he was with her now. After they had first met, they had agreed to leave their ghastly spouses behind and travel the world together. They didn't normally stay very long (sometimes due to Tara burning down too many buildings), but they both enjoyed having each other as a companion and confidante. "I think we should stay a while, Doc. MI6 and the FSB are sniffing around so there has to be something good around here." Frank rolled his eyes. He knew full well what Tara was up to. Neither of them had custody of their kids and Tara had looked just a touch attached to Alex. Honestly, he suspected that if she could she would take home orphaned kids like strays. Unfortunately, social services arrested people who did that for kidnapping or some such rot. He himself had never been formally adopted or involved with social services and he turned out just fine, thank you very much.

When Alex got home, he noticed that MI6 Special Operations seemed to have set up a new branch in the living room. Jones, Crawley, and Ian were there. They looked like they were just having dinner, but Alex refused to be in the same room with Jones at the moment. Alex was so not in the mood for this. "Fenrir! Walk!" The wolf came charging down the stairs and vaulted almost completely past the living room in one jump. Ian looked like he was about to protest. "But you just got in!" Alex raised an eyebrow, as though he was questioning the man's intelligence. "Yes, and now I'm going back out. Goodbye." Alex knew he would be paying for that particular tone later. Well, he was running extra for today. He would definitely be sore tomorrow. Grrr. This was not helping his general paranoia. He felt like Ian's job was invading his life. Alex was content with the fact that he knew now, at least. The Russian part of town should still be open, though. Time to practice his language skills. Alex knew he was going to be killing time for a few hours. Bickering in Russian with store owners was both enjoyable and good practice. Alex had decided to come up with different identities for every language he spoke. They weren't in use at the moment, but he now had a few convincing names and accents on his languages. Alex walked around with a few snacks he picked up and decided it was about time to meander home. Ian didn't like him staying out after dark. "Vladimir liked lime as well." Alex froze at the voice and attempted not to choke on his drink. "Good evening, General, I thought you would send someone else to do your shopping." Sarov was clearly keeping a low profile. "I do. This is my evening run." Alex wanted to moan. Couldn't, for once, something just go his way? "Can I help you with something General?" Sarov sighed. He was probably creeping Alex out. Best to let it go, for now. "No, thank you. I am sure you are busy." Alex was glad this version of Sarov had some manners. "Goodnight." Alex made sure to walk off after he saw the dismissal in the man's eyes. Sarov sighed-wishful thinking and regrets-he was definitely going soft in his old age.

Alex decided he was going in by way of a kitchen window. It was laughably easy to open and the alarm hadn't been set yet. Of course, Ian had taught him all the unorthodox exits and entrances years ago on this house. The kitchen phone took messages from the school. Alex was unsurprised to hear they were closing the place so they could get computer specialists in. Personally, he thought they were really overblowing his prank. Not that administration had anything better to do like grades, no not at all. The leftovers were in the fridge and easy to reheat. His homework was done and his other kind of homework was done for now as well. Alex wondered what he should do with his extra two weeks off. Actually, he was tempted to just take a spontaneous lone camping trip to get away from people for a few days. It wasn't like he didn't know what he was doing. Plus, he was certain his sanity was not going to cooperate with two weeks in the house with Ian and his co-workers and the Russians around. Alex decided to pack a bag and leave a note. Of course, he would only take his special phone. He didn't want Ian tracking him down with his other one. They would worry about him sure, but if he left a note surely they wouldn't go psychotic, right? Alex made sure to put weapons in his bag with him, you never knew what was going to happen. The triple-check of all his supplies was done. Alex hid the bag under his bed. Fenrir was sitting on the edge of it eyeing him suspiciously. "You can come with me." Alex stroked the delicate area near the wolf's nose. "After all, you aren't people." He made sure to wrap what he wanted dry in plastic wrap and take a few things for waterproofing. Alex would invite someone, but Jack hated camping, Ian was busy, Tom would be a kind of deadweight without a few classes and... Frankly, he just wanted to disappear for a bit. A strange echo sounded in his ear. It felt like Death was there for a minute.

Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.

As soon as it came, the echo was gone. Alex felt a certain calm wash over him and fell into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning Alex was determined to avoid suspicion. He deleted the message on the phone the night before. They would send a reminder again this evening, anyway. He put on his school uniform, told Jack he would take the tube, and took his backpack. At the first station, he changed into more appropriate clothes for what he had in mind. He also armed himself- they hadn't installed the detectors in the stations yet. Alex felt bad deceiving Jack, but he almost let out a cheer as soon as he got to his location. He had decided to go on a hike in continental Europe. The tickets were paid in cash under a fake name he chose for himself. This was the way they had taught him to travel. He cheerfully cursed in French when they told him his train was delayed. Nobody blinked twice at the kid traveling in the perfectly safe public transportation. None of the cameras got a clear shot of his face. Nobody batted an eyelid at his story about how he got the husky mix. He socialized playfully with a French mother from Bordeaux and made a few jokes before getting off his boat. He had only left a single note highly visible on his desk. It was brief and to the point.

Ian and Jack

School's out. I'm fine. I wanted some alone-time with Fenrir. I should be back from camping by Christmas. I triple-checked my supplies and I have the dog.

With love,

Alex

Ian got home that day and immediately knew something was off. Jack said Alex was at school and he froze. "What's wrong?" Ian felt the first signs of panic begin to hit him. "There is no school starting today for the next week and the rest of holidays!" Jack's eyes widened. "The dog isn't here either. I should have known." They both nearly ran upstairs and opened Alex's door. "There's a note." Ian read it and felt like screaming. It told him absolutely nothing useful. Alex's phone was on the desk, too. Great, now he couldn't track his nephew down with it, which Alex knew full well. If Alex somehow made it back ok, Ian was going to kill him. Ian left Jack staring in horror at the note and began to check around the room. He found the books first. Computers, Russian, and a few ones in Mandarin. Next, he went on Alex's computer. He knew nobody had any hope of breaking the encryption on the files in time, but he went for the documents Alex hadn't bothered to conceal. The history was crystal clear. The essays were interesting, but not at all relevant. He decided to read them anyway. The last place was the closet. It took him a good few minutes, but he eventually found the area Alex had been concealing from him. It contained a case with poisons of every kind neatly labeled. Another case held IED's with enough power to level the block or the house, at least. The last one had documents. The notes with Jack's handwriting stored with care. Gregorovich's seemed to hold the same honor. The next part were books that were clearly illegal or based on illegal work. Why Alex wanted to know about torture was beyond him. Ian game across an extremely gruesome diagram and quickly snapped the nauseating piece of literature shut. The next book was on cyberterrorism and the one after was the history and use of weapons. Ian decide that he would rather not know about the rest of the books or whatever else was hidden in the wall and put the drywall and its contents back. Jack had started crying. Honestly, he didn't blame her. It was the first time in years he even got a little choked up.

After a while, Jack quit crying and Ian had been pacing in the living room. "What do we do?" Honestly, he wondered why Starbright thought he had any kind of answer. "Wait, I suppose. Technically, he is a runaway, but we can't file a report yet." Also, Ian doubted anyone besides himself even stood a chance at finding Alex. "He did say he would be back by Christmas." Ian mused aloud. Jack looked ready for another round of hysterics. "He could be dead! He could get kidnapped! And-" Jack didn't finish her sentence before she began sobbing again. Ian slowly approached her and gently hugged her. She turned her head and started sobbing into his shoulder. Ian ran his hand soothingly along her back and through her hair. It was time to call Crawley. Jack went to bed early that night. Ian sighed. He had a feeling Alex meant well, but lost something in the execution of it. The note was about as helpful as a concussion. At the very least, where he was going would have been nice to know. Ian knew full well Alex could have easily gotten out of the country with a ten-hour head start. Alex would be a ghost now, until he felt like coming back. Ian could only hope that everything went well. That and he knew he should have talked to Alex.

Yassen Gregorovich nearly dropped an object in shock for the first time in years when he got Alex's message about what he had done. What the hell was going on in that house? You don't just up and leave with a note unless something is wrong. Alex had only told him the country he planned to go to. The country. There was only one kind of response he could give over text to the random decision to drop everything and leave.

Why?

-C

I needed a break. School got out early. It's not like I don't know how.

-A

I thought we were committing arson. Hmm?

-C

We are. I have to wait for the coast to be clear. Agencies and mysterious happenings are a volatile combination. No?

-A

Fair. But don't think you are getting off so easily. What happened in the week leading up to this, Alex? And don't tell me nothing.

-C

Alex told him. Cossack merely blinked at the message. He was starting to get the picture. It didn't seem particularly fun for Alex. Yassen was curious to see if MI6 would track him down, to be honest. Alex could take care of himself in the wilderness. To be fair, it was the most interesting thing he'd seen all week. Actually, Alex seemed to make his life less gray in general. People had habits or the habit of having no habits, in his case. They didn't just go on spontaneous camping trips after a minutes' consideration and perhaps half an hour of packing. Even if Alex had been panicking, statistically he would have been more likely to stay home or blow something up. It was his first true surprise in over a decade. There was one more point he did have to make.

You realize that your guardians will start an international manhunt, right? They are not the type to accept a useless note.

-C

I left them a note. I'll be back by Christmas and everything! What's the big deal?

-A

You are ten, however skilled. Think about that for a while. And Alex? Have fun.

-C

Bye.

-A

Cossack snapped the phone shut with slightly more force than strictly necessary. Nile was staring, again. "Can I help you?" Nile sighed. The last guy who asked Gregorovich if he was alright got stabbed somewhere extremely painful. "Nope. Is it uh…going ok?" Yassen rolled his eyes. Honestly, the prying was inevitable, but the approach was at least more subtle. "Quite. Are we ready for stage three?" Nile mentally withheld a groan. He was asking for a vacation after this. He needed years of therapy just from rooming with Gregorovich. "Yes, we are. Let's go." Cossack joined him and they left together. This would be their last night in South America, one way or another.

Alex was having the time of his life. He had decided to visit the Alps. People in Europe traveled alongside the road quite a bit. Alex in no way stood out. It was beautiful in this time of the year, but the temperatures had a tendency to fluctuate. Fenrir seemed to ward off anyone who might want to talk to him. The wolf looked extra happy at the outdoors time. The quiet was soothing, he found out. With Fenrir, it didn't seem very lonely. When he got to the top of one of the lower peaks, Alex was (for once in his life) glad that he had done something highly impulsive and probably illegal. The wolf kept him warm at night and Alex even got the chance to hunt with him. Fenrir seemed to have gotten the idea down on instinct. Alex figured he might have to reinforce the idea of no hunting or pack forming in the city, but he didn't mind so much. When they had camped near some people with a particularly loud dog, Fenrir had gone to 'rescue' it. Alex had apologetically returned the terrier mix to the couple after waiting in the trees until they cooled off about the wrecked fence. Oops. His pet had also looked a little too wistfully at a chicken coop they came across. Wilderness was actually fun when you weren't running for your life. He supposed he could take the fur ball out hunting more if he liked it that much. The wolf seemed to like the snow, particularly shoving Alex into it when he wasn't running. Alex rolled his eyes. It was like having a toddler. A large, furry toddler with teeth and claws. He was avoiding most populated areas in favor of the quiet people-free experience. Maybe, for once in his life, he would actually get a break. The last thing he did was make sure his and Fenrir's shelter was insulated before sleeping. Peacefully.

Ian Rider was very nearly a wreck. He had a murder investigation to run and a nephew to find. He didn't care if Alex thought he was coming back at Christmas. Alex would have his ass on the nearest plane back to London the minute Ian found him. Needless to say, he was pestering everybody else in the office. Most of them seemed to be skipping just as much sleep, if not more, as he was. His co-workers had gone almost as ashen as he had upon hearing the news and were now all working double-shifts to cover both investigations. Crawley was trying to convince people of the benefits of subcutaneous trackers. Ian figured Alex would have simply cut his out. Though, it may have had the benefit of slowing his progress. The problem was, the things could get hacked, compromised, or simply cut out. Not to mention there would be location data that MI6 wouldn't want to risk being recorded. At any rate, tempers were particularly short on all sides. Ian was in a slightly obsessive state over his nephew's whereabouts and was being threatened with getting tranquilized by Jones if he didn't go home in the next fifteen minutes. They had already been over the footage hundreds of times. Alex had neatly avoided the cameras, paid in cash, and vanished into the crowd. It was also one of the busiest places for buying trips to other European countries. The clerk hadn't even remembered his nephew or the giant dog. Some people deserved to die from lack of attention to detail. Maybe that was a little harsh, but Ian was really frustrated. At least it was only a week until Alex was supposed to get back. Ian was almost desperate enough to call Gregorovich. Almost. At least they were finally getting somewhere on the dead diplomat. At the moment, Ian couldn't care less, but he was supposed to be helping. He wanted to scream.

Alex had decided to stop in Munich for a few days. There was only so much cold, snowy, people-free mountain range even he needed. Besides, he needed to arrange tickets back to England. He kept his promises, after all. Alex would be home December twenty-fifth if it killed him. Perhaps he shouldn't even have thought about the ultimatum or death in general. He had begun to feel like he had missed something. The niggling sensation in the back of his head that indicated something smelled was back. Just great. Alex decided he was going to firmly ignore the feeling and any urges to investigate it. That should keep him out of trouble. It was only two days until he had to head back anyway. What could possibly go wrong? Alex spent the next few days getting increasingly paranoid and taking a new route every time he went back to his campsite, which he moved daily. He would only have a roof over his head for the last night. Then again, he had taken the place only to make sure he didn't look (and smell) like a vagrant coming home. He was still feeling restless and as though he was being watched. It was really starting to affect his sleep. Still, he refused to go back until it was time. That plan would crash that very evening, but Alex didn't know it yet.

Ian Rider was cursing the day he had ever decided to work for Alan Blunt. He was supposed to go on a raid two days before Christmas with his nephew missing? The impulse to snarl out a rather hateful comment was barely suppressed. Merry Christmas to you to, you heartless bastard. Not only that, but the raid was in Munich, Germany and there was a good chance he wouldn't be back when Alex was supposed to be. He also had to put up with whatever socialization and antics the SAS would get up to afterwards. He used his badge to shamelessly bypass security. He knew necks would be broken if he didn't. At least the Russians had caved on coming. The Germans refused to have them anywhere near their country in any official capacity. He strolled past customs, dropped his crap at the hotel, and informed the people he was supposed to be with that he was going for a walk. The raid was scheduled for midnight and Ian was doing some last minute scouting. He didn't think to check for tails, otherwise he would have noticed a very familiar blonde ten-year-old following him.

Alex had noticed Ian and quickly stepped out of sight. What was Ian doing here? Not looking for him, he hoped. If Ian had spent the last two weeks tracking him, he wouldn't be getting the damn investigation done anytime soon. He hadn't really stopped to consider his or Jack's- oh, shit. Jack was going to murder him. It had just registered in his mind that biological ten-year-olds and traveling alone didn't mix well for Jack. She had freaked once just because Ian left him alone in the house for a few days when he was seven. Alex decided to follow Ian to see what he was up to, plus he was a little concerned. Ian didn't look all that great. Actually, he looked really stressed and about to be or currently ill. When Alex heard the familiar slang and banging he associated with the SAS about to raid he almost turned around and left. Ian was working then. Good. Alex decided to stick to the shadows just in case Ian did something stupid. It wasn't that he didn't have faith in the man, but Ian looked tired and he was worried. Ian looked kind of pissed actually. Then again, it was two days before Christmas. Alex went back to get his jacket and his gun. He always carried his knives, but he felt the sudden urge to bring his firearm to whatever SAS party required full body armor.

At nightfall, they all began assembling. Alex figured if this required parachuting he was screwed. Fortunately, it was an armored truck made to look like a normal vehicle. Alex easily stowed away on the bottom of the thing. He had left the wolf behind. Fortunately, the drive wasn't too long. Alex's was barely sore once he dropped to the ground and waited. The gunfire and explosions began just as Alex went in the back entrance. He had been following Ian. The SAS must have been the distraction. He drew his Grach and carefully loaded it. The movement was almost a second nature to him now. Alex secretly favored the gun. The shadows seemed to swallow him whole as he walked through the compound. Once upon a time, Alex Rider would have been concerned enough to help the soldiers. Now, he was after Ian. He heard arguing up ahead. That voice, he would have recognized anywhere. The doors seem to have been haphazardly left open in face of the attack. Alex carefully went behind the doorframe and looked into the room. The two men had guns trained on each other. Ian and whoever was clearly in charge of this little base. "Mr. Petrov, I would advise you drop the weapon. You are surrounded." The man glared. "I think not, MI6. I will happily shoot you before I die." Alex flicked the safety off. "Come now, did you really think your trafficking operation and what you did to the diplomat would be left unpunished." The man seemed to be pulling something else out of his jacket. Alex recognized it as a bomb vest and dead man's switch and fired before the man could even lift his thumb. The first shot caught his right arm and forced him to drop the switch. The second hit him in his left hand. Disarmed. The third forced Alex to step out so he had a clean shot directly through the man's left eye. Dead. Ian was safe. Alex took off into a dead run before Ian registered what just happened and slammed the door behind him.

Ian Rider was in shock. Someone had saved him. The vest was now clearly a bomb. He hastily called it in as he ran through the door that he had heard slam behind him. Ian hadn't turned fast enough to see who it was. Now, he had a new pursuit. He called it in and took off. Though he knew that he probably stood no chance of catching whoever it was. He knew it was too late when he saw that mystery man had gotten out of the base. Well, shit. Jones was going to be anal about this as it was. They were clearly instructed to bring him in alive. Oops. Ian just hoped he hadn't used up his allotted number of "hitherto unknown terrorists shot them" for the month. In this case, it was actually true, but nobody would believe him. This was one of those times being known for 'accidents' wouldn't really help his case- at all. He decided to head back to base and come up with a way to find Alex. He was just glad it was over and that he wasn't in charge of the body.

Alex Rider got to his tent and swore. His legs and arms he begun to sting, along with the side of his face. He checked. Shrapnel. Of fucking course. Well, at least he knew some friendly neighborhood SAS and MI6 people who would take care of him. He had packed first aid supplies, but not the antibiotics he would have preferred. He packed the tent grabbed Fenrir (who was sniffing at his leg and letting out little whines). By the time he got there, he was fairly certain infection was setting in and that he was still bleeding. Actually he was glad he didn't have to walk any further. He just managed to knock on the door and hear Ian's "I'll get it," before he passed out cold…

Death was glaring at him. "You could have died of infection, you dumb fuck!" Alex groaned. Looks like he was getting the lecture three times instead of two. "Wouldn't you just bring me back?" Death glowered some more. "Not the point, short stack. As it is you look pretty iffy right now. If you die, I get stuck with a chaperone for a millenia. Do you know how annoying that is? Besides, you do know infections kill you faster when you are smaller, right?" Alex rolled his eyes. "I've heard." The being puffed up. "Medicine better be on your list of shit you need to learn. The theory at least." Alex sighed. "What good does the theory do if I don't have the supplies?" Death shrugged. "Steal them. Make them. I don't care. The point, short stack, is not to need an amputation." The world began to fade out. "Wait!" Death turned. "Most people want me to go away and never want to think about me." Alex snorted. "I'm not most people, besides, this is much more fun than being conscious in the hospital." Death grinned. "Oh, I know, brat, which is why you get to go back. Now!" Alex woke up with a start and a curse. He inhaled sharply as he accidently yanked the needle out of his arm.

A very concerned pair of brown eyes met his. "Ian?" His uncle replied. "In the flesh. Nice to know you're alive." Alex felt a stab of guilt. "Now, would care to explain to me why you have shrapnel burns all over and gun powder on your hands." Well, fuck. He was hoping Ian's selective memory might kick in. "I saved you." It was barely a whisper. Alex gently ran his hand over Ian's just to make sure it wasn't a dream. Ian looked even worse than he had before, when Alex had followed him. Though, he seemed to have showered and forgone the sleep. Alex didn't get the chance to say or do anything else before Ian started crying. Alex stepped out of the hospital bed. Carefully, he edged closer and eventually moved into Ian's lap. The man held onto him like a drowning man grasping a life jacket in the ocean. Alex honestly felt like this was coming. Ian was probably just really stressed. He knew firsthand how trying MI6 could be for people. Actually, it kind of hurt and felt good to be held at the same time. There would probably be bruises, but for now he didn't mind. The doctor? medic? walked in on them and abruptly walked out again. Ian was bordering on inconsolable. Alex was shocked. Ian was one of the most reserved people he had ever known. He did his best to be comforting. "Ian we're safe now. It's ok." Alex still had no earthly idea what he'd done, but that seemed to make it worse. He made a move to get up, but Ian tightened his grasp. It was bordering on constricting now. "Don't go, please, please, don't go." Alex relaxed back into Ian's lap and up against his chest. "Alright, then." He was starting to not feel like walking again. Alex knew he was about to pass out again. Ian eventually calmed down and Alex fell asleep, still there.

The nurse, Garrick, was relieved when he finally found the guts to back into the hospital room and found those two walking health hazards who should be institutionalized - sorry, Ian and Alex Rider - fast asleep. From what he'd heard at the office, those two had some kind of nasty family argument and the kid had taken a few weeks on the street and shrapnel to cool off. Jesus. Don't even get him started on that massive dog they had either. He was glad that the man's co-workers had volunteered to take it back to the house. They had to tranquilize the thing to the gills before it even let them near the kid, too. Animals had no place in a hospital. The kid had been out for almost an entire day. Infection and blood loss. Christ. Idiot 1 was about to be tranq'd for health reasons, too. Thankfully, they were both medically unconscious at the moment and he'd moved them to the bed. They had him up to his eyeballs in paperwork and not allowed to ask any questions. Shame. He was kind of curious about what was important enough to the kid that he'd run off and nearly died before coming back. Sadly, he would probably never know. At least the creepy co-workers had gone home and quit harassing the staff into silence. He didn't know why they needed all the extra paperwork. The hospital took patient confidentiality and comfort very seriously. At any rate, those two would both be fine if they quit trying to drop dead of exhaustion.