Not to spoil anything, but a little additional warning for slightly more swearing, gore, and mentions of rape.
To Kill A Mockingjay and I are organizing what will hopefully become the annual Alex Rider Fanfiction Awards. Check it out here: forum. fanfiction .net/forum/The_Royal_General_Bank/93073/ . Nominations are open and will be until November 1.
14
Getting into the building hadn't been difficult at all, something that didn't sit well with any of the soldiers. The fact that the main power was down and the backup lights were flickering like some sort of horror movie didn't help any. And when they came across the first body?
That was actually kind of amusing, in a rather morbid sort of way.
The man they had leading the group, Moth, slipped in something and fell, landing with a squelchy thud that was oddly muffled. He had started to push himself up but pulled back his hand with a soft curse. He wasn't sure what he had touched, but it was cold and wet and slimy and felt vaguely like overgrown slugs.
It was about then that the light overhead strengthened for a few seconds, long enough for Moth to see that he had slipped on congealing blood and other body fluids and had put his hand into the pile of intestines that had slid from the body he was half-laying on. One that was staring at him with shocked, glassy eyes.
Moth barely bit back the yell that burst up his throat, but he didn't bother to, couldn't really, stop himself from throwing himself back and crashing into someone else's legs.
"Sweet merciful god," someone muttered above him.
Fox slipped to the front of the group, wondering what was going on, and stopped abruptly when he saw the body that was spread over the nearly ten foot wide hallway. He swallowed dryly, wide blue eyes skipping around the mess. All of the things he had seen in the past few years, and this wasn't anywhere near any of that. Who the hell used what to do this?
Feeling a morbid sense of curiosity and caution, Fox edged closer, careful where he put his feet. One person smelling like an abattoir was more than enough. He crouched and peered at the wounds on the body.
"Snake, you got any idea what could have done this?"
The blond grimaced and followed him, leaning down. "Blade," he said after a little. "Roughly forearm length. Sharp. Used by someone who is either very strong or very angry."
"As interesting as this episode of CSI is, can we get moving?" Wolf snapped, glancing at the somewhat less experienced soldiers who were shifting uneasily then at Eagle, who had his lips pressed into a thin white line.
The pair nodded, falling in with the group, Moth gratefully relinquishing the lead to Wolf.
Wolf scowled to himself, wishing the lights would either stay on so they could see or stay off so they could have used night vision goggles. As it was, he was just irritated about the dripped blood trail they were following and using that to cover his worry for Alex. He knew the rest of his unit were trying not to have the same thoughts he kept suppressing - Alex, laying dead and cold on the ground, torn apart like that poor bastard had been. Enemy or not, no one really deserved that.
The soldiers froze when a scream of pain echoed down the hall.
A curse from behind drew Wolf's attention. As he was turning to see what the problem was, someone jostled him out of the way and into the wall. Looking up, he bit out his own curse and broke into a run.
Eagle had just burst past and it didn't look like he cared that he was rushing headlong into a situation they knew nothing about.
Alex groaned softly, body trembling. Fuck, she was so sick of being electrocuted. She lifted her head from where it lay on the ground, glaring up at the black-haired man standing over her, a taser in his hand. A harsh cough wracked her frame, splattering blood on the tile.
"Little miss Agent Rider," he started, a crooning tone to his voice. "You certainly aren't what I expected. I'm sorry I wasn't able to..." Here his eyes trailed over her, making her feel somewhat ill. The only one she wanted looking at her like that was Neal. But that wasn't going to happen ever again. Another wave of hot anger and grief swept over her.
"See you before today," he continued. "Had I known how... exquisite you are, I would have made more of an effort."
"Why don't you... put that effort... toward learning how... to talk?" she panted, trying to push up onto her elbows. The way he kept pausing in the middle of sentences was starting to aggravate her. Of course, the fact he existed aggravated her so maybe she was just biased.
The amusement left his face and he landed a swift kick to her stomach, again. "You should watch what you say," he snapped before smirking lightly, tilting his head. "Or would you rather we found out if I'm as... skilled with a knife as you are?" he purred.
"Give me back the knife... and I'll give you another demonstration," she spat, finally getting to her hands and knees. She yelped when he grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her head back, pulling her partly upright.
"As amusing as you are, I'm quickly losing my patience. What does MI6 know about my operation?"
She huffed out a laugh even as she winced in pain from the angle her neck was at. "Like I'd tell you."
A flash of quickly bared teeth from the corner of her eye was the only warning she got before being jerked up and thrown back down, landing with a bone-jarring thud. She gasped in pain, trying to curl up on her side in a feeble defense. He kicked her again, hitting her chest, her bullet scar, this time, and knocked her onto her back, tearing a cry of pain from her lungs.
"Torture may not have worked, but I bet I can do something else that will. And even if it doesn't, I guarantee that I will enjoy it," he snarled, lips spreading in a mockery of a smile as he dropped the hair he had torn from her scalp.
Alex blinked, mind fuzzy enough that when he settled over her, straddling her hips, she didn't react as quickly as she normally would have. She started struggling weakly, wheezing out threats and cusses at him even as he caught and pinned her wrists with one hand. She realized that she was in bad shape if he was able to restrain her so easily.
He forced a hard kiss to her lips, licking at the blood she had been sporadically coughing up for the past day or so. Using his free hand, he grabbed the collar of her sweater and yanked, ripping her shirt halfway and exposing the fine lines of cuts and scars and the dark bruises that were scattered over her torso and peeked out from her bra.
The sound of gunfire from nearby stopped him, his hand at her waistband, and the yells of his men told him that it was time to go. He smiled down at Alex. "As much fun as this has and could have been, Miss Rider, it will have to wait until another time. Why end the fun so soon?" he asked, smoothly getting to his feet.
She coughed, managing to roll to her stomach as he walked away. She shuddered, heaving at the way his hand had wandered over her. There wasn't much doubt in her mind that he would attempt a next time, he had her wallet after all, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to do whatever she could to kill him when that happened.
Alex struggled to her knees again, looking up weakly at the shouting that erupted at the door. She watched as the bastard responsible for Neal's death was shot in the leg then forced to the ground.
"Dear God," someone breathed when she was caught sight of. She figured she must look a horrible sight if soldiers were made to sound like that. That, or the lighting made her look worse than she did.
"Snake!" one of the men called, moving a few steps nearer.
Alex tensed, not recognizing him and, now that he was close enough, seeing that he was covered in blood. She blinked when the Scottish soldier appeared in the doorway behind Moth, not that she knew who he was.
"Snake?" she whispered, sagging slightly. She held back a shudder when the blond knelt next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Gray eyes glanced at her in confusion before focusing on tending to her wounds. "Moth, get Wolf, Fox, and Eagle."
Alex twisted to stare at him as the other soldier disappeared out the door again. She forced herself to her feet, pushing away Snake's hands, as the rest of K-unit came through the doorway.
"Neal?" she questioned, voice wavering and disbelieving.
"Alex!" He half-ran over, catching her when she half-threw herself at him, half-fell against him. Eagle wrapped his arms around her, clutching her to his chest. He ran a hand over sweat and blood matted hair, whispering that everything was going to be okay, that he was sorry for not being able to protect her.
And Alex? She just clung back, digging her fingers into his vest, doing her best not to start crying from both relief that he was alive and how grateful she was that they had gotten here when they did. All of the things she had been through, and that was the closest that had ever come to happening.
"They told me you were dead," she whispered. If she wasn't so happy he was alive, she'd be feeling rather stupid for believing them. She knew that her enemies would do or say whatever it took to hurt her. Of course, that would be a good reason why she believed them.
But what did it matter? He was here and holding her and if this was a dream, she didn't think she could take waking up.
"I'm here, baby. I'm here and everything's going to be okay," he murmured, drawing back a little to press a gentle kiss to her forehead. "Let Snake look at you, then we'll get you home to Jack and we can talk."
Alex nodded, reluctantly stepping away from him. She let Snake check her, absently answering his questions, and watched as Eagle's eyes swept over her. His eyes turned cold and his jaw clenched before he started to unfasten his vest.
"Put this on her when you're done," he muttered to Snake, setting the vest next to him. He turned to join Wolf.
"Neal," Alex said, refusing to admit that she had actually whimpered, and half-stepped toward him, not wanting him far.
Eagle turned back and flashed a strained smile at her. He brushed some of her hair out of her eyes with a gentle hand. "I'll be right here. Promise."
There was an angry laugh. "How quaint," came from behind them.
They all swiveled to see that the prisoner had somehow managed to grab one of the soldiers and was holding him hostage, using him as a human shield with a pistol in his other hand.
Alex had a second to see that see that he was aiming at her before he pulled the trigger.