Chapter 6: Rescuing Alex

By: cuby18

Alex threw one last look at his project. If he calculated things correctly, and he believed he did, then explosions should start in less than three minutes. he sighed. He was almost feeling guilty for his plans to set everything on fire since it was his most pleasant kidnapping to date. It was probably because they were the first villains in a long time that didn't seem to expect him, and, even more surprisingly, didn't immediately recognize him. They actually didn't recognize him at all, and while he couldn't help but be suspicious of a crime organization that was a big enough threat for MI6 to send him in, but still didn't have a file on him somewhere, he nonetheless decided to enjoy the relative luxury of three meals per day and a blanket to cover himself with while sleeping. Compared to his previous accommodation on missions, it probably equaled a five-star rating. and not just compared to his old missions, also compared to how he barely got any decent sleep or more than one meal a day for the last couple of weeks since his old instructors took over his school. He even managed to flush some of the caffeine and sugar that he digested in bulk out of his body, and that was one of the reasons he waited two full days until he made any attempt toward a breakout. The second reason was that it took them two days of him doing nothing to escape for them to label him not a threat and moved him up several floors where he also found ample ingredients to orchestrate his escape. And his third and last reason (that he wasn't about to admit to anyone) was the realization that this was probably the only respite he would get from school - and wasn't it a big change from how he wanted to stay in school less than a month ago still - in a long time. He realized the fortnight of holidays that MI6 promised him wasn't going to happen as soon as he was captured and consequently treated his capture as a form of that holiday. However, he knew that there was a limit to how much time he could pretend to spend incapacitated especially with all the extra training he had been receiving lately. he wasn't under any delusion that he wouldn't be thoroughly interrogated upon his return, and should he fail to prove he tried everything in his arsenal of skills to escape, he wouldn't like the consequences. And he didn't want to even contemplate the amount of sleep he would miss if that came to pass, and that was something he really couldn't afford with his current sleep schedule or better lack of thereof.

He was brought out of his musing by the sound of glass breaking. For a second there he feared he'd miscalculated until the sound came from somewhere behind him. He spun around, eyes searching for the threat. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he saw Yermalov land like a cat and Gordon stumbling in after him. He settled on simply staring at them, wondering if he took so much time it warranted an extraction team. Then he saw Jet and barely managed to brace himself so she didn't topple him to the floor when she tackled him.

"You're alive!" Her relief was palpable, and he started wondering if he didn't perhaps just hallucinate the whole ordeal when she followed it up with: "It would be such a shame if you didn't finish your research project. Hurry, the plants are already dying, you should've been tending to them every thirteen hours!"

He let out the breath he was holding. That was more like the Jet he knew.

However, before he could say anything in his defense, Gordon was already inspecting his device.

"Nice, really nice... I guess you can be forgiven for taking that long to make it since it's the work of art... You even managed to rig it just so the whole floor bar that corner up there will be obliterated! Full points for precision! Also, extra credit for adding a timer! The sheer ingenuity of using the egg timer! And we arrived just in time to see it at work! Even more extra points for showmanship!" Gordon was almost dancing on the spot. His mannerisms exuded giddiness.

Alex started to preen slightly. It went even better than planned! If Gordon was so impressed it was unlikely he would put up a fuss about how long it took him to complete the task (and his disappearance meant he could sleep in during the weekend, something he knew he missed).

He was just about to make some comments about how he managed to use the elastic band to make the timing even more precise when Jet's shout brought him back to reality.

"We came just in time to watch the explosion with our own eyes, from up close!" She looked ready to strangle someone. "The explosion that will take out the majority of the floor we're on! Are you all stupid? Why are you just standing there?"

Alex was the first to wake up from his stupor.

"Uh, I had, like, a plan to escape just before it went off? Like, right now?"

He didn't wait to see what they'd do, he just ran towards the window they oh-so-conveniently broke and flung himself out using the telephone wire he secured to the opposite window beforehand.

He more felt than heard the way they all followed him, and only once he was on the floor and looking up to the unimpressed Countess and Three, did he realize the whole extent of the what just transpired, and promptly wished he had foregone the five-star treatment and had broken out sooner, even though it would be with fewer points for style.

He didn't have that much time to regret his life choices when three more people landed next to him. Not even a second too early, since the explosion happened right after, accompanied by Gordon's regretful mutterings about how they should have stayed up there to see if the planned safe area stayed safe.

Alex was about to reassure him that it should have stayed that way when The Countess spoke.

"So, you planned on blowing up and setting on fire the whole floor you were on at the moment."

"Um, yes?" Alex hesitantly said. "I mean, I had an escape plan! And it worked, as we just demonstrated." Here he pointed at all of them who didn't look any worse to wear if one didn't look at Her nursing her broken nail.

"What gave you the stupid idea to set that floor on fire?! Every idiot knows you don't limit your escape ways to that extent unless absolutely necessary!" It looked like Jet wasn't about to forgive him about that nail.

Alex started panicking. It didn't go the way he planned it to. Well, when in doubt there was just one person to blame. Well, two, but since Walter wasn't there Ross was the scapegoat. Also, it wouldn't help his case if he said he trusted Walter to give him useful and lifesaving advice.

"We never covered that part in our lectures... Gordon even stopped instructing me at all after that little explosion that wasn't even my fault!" He gave her his best puppy eyes.

He wasn't sure it would work, but he counted on Jet being pissed at Gordon about one thing or another, as was the case ninety percent of the time.

"Of course, it was all Gordon's fault, why are we even surprised?!" She started ranting. "Not only did he keep the news of his disappearance a secret for two weeks, but he also could have gotten him killed with his incompetent teaching skills."

She started advancing towards Ross who was moving back slightly when they were interrupted by yet another person Alex knew.

Wolf.

"Cub! Here you are! We were searching for you for the last day and a half. What the hell was going on there? How did you escape the explosion?" The questions were coming out of his mouth at such a rapid pace that Alex didn't even try to interrupt. Wolf paused for long enough to inform the rest of his team of their location.

"I saw you drop down from the building seconds before the explosion. Why is there always some explosion or another when you're involved?" Here he stared expectantly at Alex who was trying desperately to come up with some excuse.

And since he couldn't come up with anything better he decided to stick with his story from before. Quietly praying that Gordon didn't kill him for it, he pointed his index finger in his direction.

"It was all his fault. Just ask Jet."

Wolf followed his finger, seemingly noticing his entourage for the first time. He took just one look at Yermalov's threatening stance, covering Gordon and still advancing Jet, and promptly brandished his weapon.

"Stay where you are!" Everyone looked at him in shock. Alex thought slightly hysterically that it must have been the first time any of them froze after receiving such an order, although he was pretty sure it was due to shock that someone dared and not due to any sense of respect towards authority. It was also the moment the rest of the Unit arrived at the scene.

Alex was pretty surprised to see Fox dressed in his old military gear since he distinctly remembered seeing the man in the bank during his recent visit, but all thoughts along that line were interrupted when Eagle opened his mouth.

"Oh, look at you Wolfie, all protective of little Cub," he cooed and lunged forward to - allegedly - hug Wolf. He was, thankfully, held back by Snake, while Fox seemed to be torn between joining Wolf in drawing his weapon and telling him to rather put it back because it was a colossally bad idea to point your gun at people in front of them.

It looked like it would be a lot of fun to watch, especially after he saw Jet's face when she processed Wolf's words and they knew he was captured and didn't inform her to know not to expect him to tend to his plant project, but he also realized it was his one chance to get away.

And get away he did.

Once he was sure everyone was suitably distracted by their epic staredown he slowly slinked away until shadows enveloped him and he completely disappeared from their sight.

It was a couple of hours (broken noses and bruised shins) later that they finally stopped bickering long enough to realize he was gone. By then Alex had gleefully divulged the whole story to Tom and they were in the middle of a very intense poker game while sitting at the top of a water tower, when someone climbed the ladder behind them. Alex was shocked upon discovering Dr. Three found them so soon.

"But I don't have my ankle bracelet on anymore!" he exclaimed, uncaring about how his whining made him sound like a toddler.

Three just looked at him. "Did you think that was the only way we had to keep tabs on you? Scorpia learns from mistakes, and while Invisible Sword was indeed a failure, we kept technology. You should also learn from past experiences, especially since we administered it the same way as last time - there is truly no such thing as a standard injection, you know?"

Alex felt like screaming. However, since it wouldn't help his case, he just took a deep breath, sat back down, and calmly invited his professor to join the game. This way he had at least some hope to get something out of the whole thing, and playing with Tom for money got boring pretty quickly since he was a) terrible at poker and b) didn't have a lot of money. Playing with The Good Doctor at least meant he would be challenged. "Cassie is looking at you again!" Tom nudged Alex.

Alex was pointedly not looking in the direction Tom was pointing to. As if it wasn't enough that the whole school thought he was on drugs and/or that Gordon was his father, now he had to deal with a fangirl on top of everything. The girl was always looking at him and fluttering her eyelashes. He tried everything to let her know he wasn't interested (everything, that is, except literally going up to her and saying it to her face, since she never said anything to him directly, and it would be slightly too presumptive of him to do so; that was one of The Countess' lessons), but she just wouldn't get a hint. He was seriously contemplating just forgetting all about etiquette just so he could say it to her face and solve the problem once and for all, but he didn't want The Countess to decide he also needed extra lessons in her subject.

Not to mention the fact that she also saw that Cassie was interested in him and told him in no uncertain terms that he was to treat the situation as if it was a mission and he wasn't supposed to make a spectacle out of himself.

But it wasn't just her. He really could do without Gordon's running commentary and a plethora of dirty jokes that he seemingly had an unending supply of. At least, he thought, it couldn't get any worse.

Unfortunately, he was wrong.

It was two days later and Tom was waiting for Alex to join him in the cafeteria after their new biology teacher held him back after class. It was nothing unusual for professors to keep Alex after class, but it usually took ten minutes at the most, and he was getting slightly worried after Alex didn't show up half an hour later.

He decided to go and check what was taking him so long.

When he arrived in the classroom, the professor was just leaving. "Looking for Mr. Rider?" he asked him.

Tom nodded. "Yes, he didn't come to the cafeteria and -"

"Oh, don't worry, everything is fine," the professor waved off his concerns, struggling not to drop some anatomical model and a stack of papers that he was carrying. "He's still in the classroom, it appears the topic of our conversation had a big impact on him," were his parting words as he headed down the corridor and left Tom standing there.

Tom just stared after him for a couple of moments, and then entered the classroom. He wasn't prepared for the sight in front of him. Alex was sitting at one of the desks, blankly staring at the wall. It didn't look like he registered Tom's arrival at all. He slowly neared the desk.

"Alex? Are you okay?"

It didn't look like Alex heard him at all. Tom was getting more and more concerned. He waved a hand in front of his face and when that didn't work slapped him. That seemed to do the trick.

"Tom?" Alex's eyes slowly focused on him.

"Is everything alright? You were just sitting here staring at the wall. Doc said you were fine but-" he didn't get any further because Alex shot up.

"You say Dr. Three? Is he still here?" he whispered frantically.

Now Tom was concerned. "No, he left just as I arrived. He had his hands full of some stuff and said you were having trouble processing whatever you were talking about."

Alex shivered. "Tom… If you ever cared about me you won't mention this to me ever again. Ever."

Now Tom was concerned. He didn't know everything about their new teachers, but Alex dropped enough hints to know that they were dangerous. "Did he threaten you?" he asked, careful not to trigger him again.

"Threaten?!" Alex let out a hysteric little laugh. "No, it was a completely new form of psychological torture." He looked around as if expecting Three to jump from the shadows.

Once he was sure they were alone, he took a breath. "Try not to delve on this too much, but… remember when your parents gave you The Talk." Tom shivered. His memories of that particular moment were still way too fresh, especially since he had to sit through it twice because his parents didn't believe the other could have done it properly. Whatever happened, it must have been bad if Alex was comparing it to that. However, nothing prepared him for Alex's next words.

"And now that you remembered, imagine getting said talk from a small Asian man who wants you to receive the best possible education in the area so he came equipped with every single diagram you ever say in health class along with diagrams. And you know you can't just not listen to him because he'd know, and the consequences would be even worse than the lecture."

He looked at Tom as he delivered the last line. "He also promised to test me on everything he just told me tomorrow after classes, meaning I can't go and bleach my brain until tomorrow evening at the latest."

All Tom could do was put his hand on Alex's shoulder in silent commiseration. He would have made fun of his friend if his own experiences weren't so horrible, but even that paled in comparison to what he just heard. All things considered, Alex was holding up pretty well, was his last thought.

It was two days later when Alex almost successfully deleted the whole encounter with Dr. Three from his mind when Yassen stopped him in the hallway.

"That girl in your class," he said without preamble.

Alex just stared at him blankly. "What girl?" he asked.

"The one that was making cow eyes at you all the time and took your attention away from the lectures." Here Alex wanted to correct him that it was Three's actions that he was trying to forget that unfortunately hoarded his attention, but Yassen didn't give him the opportunity, "I had a little chat with her. She won't be a problem anymore."

With that, he turned and walked away. Alex just stared at him. Did that just happen? Did Yassen deem a school girl a big enough threat to his studies that he threatened her?!

His question was answered later the same day when he arrived for his detention with Ross. His first words were unexpected, their delivery less so.

"Looks like Cossack cockblocked you, Rider," he laughed at his joke, and Alex was torn between thanking Yassen for saving him from any more jokes and asking him why on earth he waited long enough for Three to notice and give him The Talk. In the end, he decided for neither, both because he didn't want to relive the memories of the lecture and because it was never a good idea to give anyone in his world the idea that you owed them one.