Hey everybody! Nice weekend? I don't remember mine so don't ask. Is it still the weekend? I'm so confused after exams…and will someone please tell me what the heck everyone's surname is in alpha force…maybe not everyone- I've completely forgotten! Alex is Craig right? Amber Middleton obviously…but then, the others?! I needed Paulo's surname and was like- what the heck is it?! Anyways, the fic, which is near an end!

Paulo sat in the ambulance next to the stretcher where Amber lay, her limp frame had been strapped to it and hooked up to God knows what. He knew, of course Paulo knew, he'd read about it, perhaps he'd even seen it. He couldn't think straight, his eyes were tired with the strain of not breaking down; Lily was right, the longer Amber was like this, the worse it would be. He rubbed his eyes with his hands and took a deep breath; he couldn't lose himself now.

There was another man in the ambulance, taking blood from Amber, he paid no attention to Paulo and Paulo paid no attention to him. They were stuck in two different worlds, one trying to being another patient back, the other trying not to think of the patient as one of his best friends. The man was in green overalls, taking a quick blood sample from Amber. This had to be done to determine whether her blood sugar was high or low, that would show them what treatment was needed. Paulo coughed, fatigue overwhelming him, but he kept his eyes wide open. The man muttered something in Spanish, Paulo heard it; Amber's blood sugar levels were too high. The van stopped abruptly and Paulo held onto a rail in the ambulance to steady himself.

He followed her stretcher as Amber was taken into the hospital; he never left her side, silently praying nothing had happened too late. He was thinking a little clearer now; if her levels were too high then she would be given intravenous fluids to restore water to her tissues. The information was coming back to him, it was all he could think of, perhaps it was just to block out what was happening. A nurse grabbed his arm and stopped him from following Amber as another doctor came to look at her, talking hurriedly and nodding to the paramedic. Paulo stared speechlessly after her and then wiped his eyes with his sleeve. His phone rang; he looked down in confusion and answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Paulo, where are you?" Hex asked anxiously, "are you OK? Is…is Amber OK?" Hex heard Paulo let out a shuddering sigh.

"I'm in the hospital, Amber's been taken away-"

"Where too?" Hex asked.

"I…what…I'm not sure." He said uncertainly, that was bad; Paulo unsure could only mean one thing.

"How is she?" Hex asked in a quieter voice.

"Her blood sugar levels are high, they'll put her on a drip, give her potassium, sodium or chlorine supplements-"

"Paulo!" Hex said despairingly, "how is she?"

"I don't know." Came the bleak, unwelcomed answer, "it depends on how fast she heals; that differs for everyone." Paulo paused, "how are you guys?" He asked, suddenly remembering the situation he left them in.

"We're all fine-"

"How-"

"We'll explain when we get to the hospital." Hex said, "see you in a little while."

"Bye." Hex turned back around to his friends.

"Well?" Li said anxiously, Hex shrugged and the girl looked like she'd dissolve into tears at any moment. They were stood in the room of the basement they first come too; they had removed all weapons from Pedro and Lily and Alex securely tied him to a table. He was muttering at them in Spanish.

"Yeah well next time don't underestimate your enemy." Lily said savagely, yanking at the rope she had tied around his hands. He spat at her.

"Hey!" Alex shouted and lashed out at the boy, the gun Alex was holding hit the side of Pedro's head. As his head moved back it slammed into a table leg and all was still. Pedro was unconscious, blood oozed from the back of his head; Lily looked at Alex in surprise. The blonde haired boy shrugged, "he deserved it." She nodded in agreement. "Got the evidence?" Alex asked Li and the girl nodded, handing out their rucksacks.

"Evidence?" Lily asked.

"To show the police." Li answered.

"You think they'll listen?" Suddenly there was an anger in Lily none of them had seen before, "you think they actually give a damn?" She laughed at their naivety. "The police were probably helping this trade." She said to the disbelieving trio.

"Lily, that can't be-"

"It is!" She cut across Hex. "You go to the police…they'll kill you for knowing about it." She shook her head. "So unless you guys have someone else you can complain to, there's nothing we can do."

"Someone else?" Li blinked at Lily and then looked around at Hex and Alex. "Yeah…we have some contacts." Lily stared at her blankly for a few moments before raising an eyebrow.

"Earlier…yesterday…maybe it was two days ago," Alex wondered out loud, "anyway, at some point in this town I heard a radio broadcast about the drugs trade here. It was in English; I dunno how but they were listening to an American news broadcast; explaining how the drug trade was escalating there too and how it was thought to be funded from a South American country." He paused; no one followed his train of thought. "We can contact American authorities-"

"Alex!" Lily said, clearly she was now weary of this, "will you guys listen!?" She shouted, "we are a group of six teenagers, in the middle of Peru, who have stumbled across a drugs factory and you guys want to call up American authorities?! Unless you guys are used to saving the world, unless you've done this before. Unless you've…I dunno, prevented human rights abuse in the middle of India or something. THEN THIS IS NOT EXACTLY GOING TO BE…what?" She asked, suddenly stumped, for the other three found it difficult to conceal smirks.

"Lily," Alex said and she turned back to him, "there's something I've…we've, been meaning to tell you." He put a hand on her shoulder, still finding it difficult not to laugh.

"Brace yourself," Hex warned the girl.

"Yeah…You might want to sit down," Li suggested.

"Paulo?" The boy opened his eyes; he'd almost been drifting off but jerked awake as he thought a doctor may have news of Amber's condition. He looked up and came face to face with a pale skinned American man, he was those types of people you know just sit in an office all day and really were not up to working in the field; he was sweating a lot in the Peruvian heat.

"Yes," Paulo answered as the man had not said anything yet.

"Your friends, Alex, Li, Lily and…Hex," he said, making sure he'd said the name right by glancing at a paper in his hands. "Have been taken to temporary DEA Headquarters set up in a secure region of the city-"

"DEA?" Paulo repeated and the man nodded quickly, evidently he wanted to be back in some air conditioned place.

"Drug Enforcement Administration is a United Sates Department of Justice law enforcement agency," he spoke as though reading out of a leaflet. "We deal with drug smuggling and the use of drugs. For a while we've suspected these areas of Peru to be the origin of the drug trade so we've had teams sent out around the country. Your friends contacted us around two hours ago."

"They did?" Paulo asked, suddenly finding it very difficult to keep his eyes open.

"Yes, we were nearby…everything happened fairly quickly. You kids did a good job." He smiled at Paulo although the boy felt the man was being a little too kind, or perhaps he was just annoyed he'd called them "kids." Paulo nodded slowly, trying to get the fatigue to go away. "You're needed for questioning now-"

"I can't leave Amber!" He suddenly shouted.

"Yes," the man glanced towards the door they had taken Amber through, "you're friends are being released now, although they'll come hear and all be guarded. You can come back and wait with them for…Amber." Again he checked his list. "So, we're just going to have to wait-"

"Paulo!" They heard a shriek and Paulo stood up before almost being knocked off his feet as Li threw her arms around him.

"Hey," he said, slightly breathlessly, he nodded to Lily, Alex and Hex who walked on after him. Everyone greeted each other with the same melancholy tones, glancing every now and then to the double doors across the hall.

"Any news?" Alex said as they all sat down. In answer to his question a doctor came out of the doors and walked up to them.

"How's Amber?" Paulo asked suddenly; recognising the doctor. The doctor was young but his face looked aged from the stress of the job. Everyone jumped up to hear what the man had to say.

"Her condition's stabilised; she's being given intravenous fluids and ion supplements." That's all he could say, it was difficult to tell a group of teenagers that their friend was in such a serious condition.

"How will she be once she's woken up?" Lily asked what everyone was thinking, although Hex found he didn't want to hear it, he sat down and stared at the floor, Li sat too and put an arm around him.

"You got her here pretty soon, so the chances are she won't be too bad. But that's only because we're keeping everything in her body regulated; even though we're helping, there are things damaging her body at a slower rate. It all depends on when she wakes up." He said quietly while glancing at Hex.

"When will she wake up?" Li asked even though they all knew the answer.

"I'm afraid we don't know." And so the doctor gave his apologies and goodbyes and left them. They all stood and sat in silence for a few moments, contemplating the devastation that could occur from this.

"Paulo," the American man shifted uncomfortably, "I'm sorry but we have to go…" Paulo nodded, they muttered goodbyes and he left. Lily and Alex sat down.

"She never forgets!" Hex suddenly shouted and stood up angrily. "How could she…why didn't she…she's such an idiot." He finished feebly before sitting back down and putting his head in his hands.

"Can't we do something?" Li said, although they knew it was useless; the information Lily had given them about Amber's condition was replaying in everyone's mind.

The first thing she could feel again was the heat, and then came the overpowering smell of disinfectant. It was such a familiar smell, one she knew was only smelt in…what was that word? A sanctuary for sick people…a hospital. Her mind stringed the words together but they didn't seem to make any sense. Anyway, if she were in a hospital she would be sick. And she wasn't, was she? Slowly her body became accustomed to the itchy blankets scratching at her skin, the sound of footsteps down a corridor came to her. Ugh, but there was another noise, an unholy noise that she wanted to get rid of it. But it was so familiar, so comforting it belonged to that bloody palmtop of his. Who's?

"Hex." She croaked feebly.

"Amber!" she heard a voice next to her bed break. Hex was glad her eyes weren't open; she wouldn't see him wipe his eyes quickly. "Are you OK? Do you need anything, I'll get a nurse!"

"Just shut that thing up." She muttered, "I'm trying to sleep." She inwardly smiled as she heard Hex's voice, what he was talking about she had no idea, but she didn't really care. He was there; that's all that mattered.

"So this is what you guys do." Lily said hollowly as Alex handed her a plastic cup of tea.

"Pretty much." He replied. They were sat in the canteen of the hospital; Hex and Li had fallen asleep but sleep was the last thing Lily and Alex felt like doing. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, when you asked-"

"That's alright," she said quietly. "I understand." She took a sip of her tea and looked up at him, she could see from his eyes and behaviour that he wanted to know what she thought of it. "It's just…"

"Crazy?"

"A little." She nodded and they laughed. "But believable," she admitted, "it suits you all." She sighed and rubbed her eyes as Alex ran a hand through his hair.

"Are you OK lily?" He asked, "this has affected you more than anyone else." She shrugged.

"I don't know; my dad was the one who controlled my life. Without him, I have no clue about what will happen to me. Perhaps I'll live with mum somewhere in London." She speculated.

"In London?"

"Yeah, I'll go to school there still and mum works a lot in Europe, maybe she'll get a permanent job there." She smiled and Alex was surprised that this was her reaction to all this, she noticed his eyes widen. "Well I've never really been in control of anything; it just feels like another day." She said and he laughed.

"You're…" he began.

"What?" he shrugged, she lowered her gaze and smiled.

"What the heck," she heard him whisper and as she looked up Alex kissed her.

"This is a hospital!" They heard someone shriek, "we keep things clean." They broke apart and smiled at Li who looked ecstatic. "Awww Alex, I didn't know you had it in you." She ruffled his hair and grimaced. " Oh!" Li said, suddenly remembering, "Amber woke up!"

"Thank God," Lily whispered and put a hand to her mouth.

"Can we see her?" Alex asked but Li shook her head.

"They threw Hex out; they need to do tests or something." Li said happily and looked as if she was going to cry again.

"I can't believe it; she was out for only eight hours," Hex said as he walked up to them happily, Alex stared at him for a moment, noting the redness of Hex's eyes.

"It'll be thanks to all the stuf you guys do; keeping her body fit." Lily said and they all smiled.

"Kids?" It was that American DEA representative, they all turned to him. "We've put Paulo in a hotel, we'll take you there now-"

"But we want to stay with Amber!" Li protested and the man raised an eyebrow.

"From what Paulo says you haven't slept for almost two days," he smiled at them and gestured out of the door, they all hung their heads and followed him out.

"Miss Middleton you can't get up yet!" A nurse shouted to her as she sat up and removed the covers from her body. But that had taken so much effort and she was so weak that she just fell back onto the pillows again.

"Ugh..." she groaned.

"Here," the nurse came over to her and handed her the control to the TV, Amber shook her head. "Fine." The nurse said, rather annoyed. "That young boy that was in here, hooked this up," she pointed to Hex's video camera on the window sill, "said you might like to watch it to pass the time." Amber nodded, the tape must have their adventures in Peru on there, as well as evidence from the drug factory, perhaps that was on another tape. She put the TV on and pressed play. She laughed as she saw Alex's mud covered face emerge from behind a tree in the rainforest. She saw herself come into view, her ebony coloured skin glistening in the sunlight, she pushed Li who turned around and pushed Paulo, thinking it had been him. A fight quickly ensued. She smiled as she watched herself and her friends in the rainforest; soon this was replaced with images of the town. Then she saw Lily, stood next to Alex late at night in the town, Amber sighed; she'd hoped those two had figured something out, they looked really happy together.

"That's not what I mean mate, I just don't want you to throw it away." Amber jerked awake; she had left the video camera playing and had drifted into sleep. She groped around for the remote.

"You're one to talk; not telling a girl about how you feel-" She recognised Alex's voice and looked at the screen.

"What do you mean by that?" She recognised Hex's voice. On screen was part of the interior of Hex's rucksack and a blank wall.

"It's not exactly a well kept secret hex." Hex must've left the camera on when they had been captured. She found the remote control but did not switch it off. "When exactly is Amber going to find out how you feel?"

That was long and oh so fluffly, i'm like choking on the stuff! Next chapter's the last. Methinks anyways :D