The Devil May Care

Alex and Nico stumbled out of the shadow of a huge pine tree at the edge of a clearing. The teenage spy looked up as he breathed deeply, holding his head. Shadow-travel with Nico was the biggest adrenalin rush he'd ever had in his life, and the blood pumping through his head was getting to the point of painful.

"Where are we?" he breathed to Nico, who was scanning their surroundings. His dark eyes looked over at Alex.

"Dr Three's headquarters," he replied. Lifting his hand, he pointed to a dark-grey prison-like building not far from them that Alex hadn't noticed. "J-Unit's in there."

"And so is the remainder of Scorpia," Alex finished, breathing deeply.

"You can't just, I don't know, raise a skeleton army, bomb the place with shadows and do that fear-infliction thing, can you?"

Nico shrugged.

"I could," he said, "but the first thing they'll do is kill J-Unit the moment they're under attack. I could shadow-travel in and get them but… they're no doubt under surveillance. If I got caught, they'd lock the building down and probably find you as well. I could get us out but…" He sighed. "They'd just attack Brecon."

"But weren't J-Unit on surveillance mission when they were taken?" Alex asked. Nico sat upright.

"They were?"

"Yeah," said Alex. "At least I think they were. They weren't in training this week and that was before Three took them. Maybe?"

Nico looked thoughtful and he stroked his chin.

"Then they don't actually know where the camp is…"

"I suppose not, my boy," a new voice suddenly said. "But there are ways to attain that sort of information."

Nico and Alex whipped around to see seven figures surrounding them. Something whizzed towards his head and Nico ducked, avoiding a barrel-shaped arm that would have knocked him out cold.

Alex shot to his feet, his eyes scanning the clearing. One of the men was closer to him and Nico than he would have liked. He raised his fist.

"Get away!" he told them. Nico snarled and they backed up until their shoulder blades were touching, each facing the opposite way of the other with the entire group of strangers in view.

"You're trespassing unauthorised on private property," the same person from before spoke. Alex turned to face him, the sunlight blinding his vision. He scowled.

"We were told to come here," he said defiantly. A small laugh came from the man.

"I know, Alex," they said quietly. "I was the one who invited you."

Alex narrowed his eyes.

"Who are …?"

His question petered off as the speaker stepped into the sunlight.

"Dr Three."

Three smiled and tipped his head to the side.

"Hello Mr Rider," he greeted. Nico made a noise half-way between a growl and a choke, drawing attention to himself.

"And Mr di Angelo," Three acknowledged. He stared at the demigod a while before tapping his yellowed cheek. "So glad you made it."

He clicked his fingers, and six men lunged from the circle around them at the boys.

Alex ducked under the first fist that swung at him, expecting Nico to do the same. He did, and they rolled away from each other, coming up on their feet each surrounded by three opponents.

"Stop," Three ordered, walking in between the two groups. His smile turned sadistic.

"We had a deal, boys, remember? Your army friends for you. I have to say though, they mustn't care too much if they let you come here."

Alex made a face.

"Mmhm, sure," he said. "Can you just get J-Unit?"

Three sighed and started walking away.

"Follow."

They ended up in front of a small, cabin-sized concrete block of a building with a bolted door and barred windows. One of the escorts took a set of keys and unlocked the handle, slowly opening the door. The sunlight spread in and a noise came from the single room on the other side. Alex and Nico leaned forward to see inside.

"Hello, J-Unit," Three singsonged as he walked in front of the two boys. "Guess who's here?"

Alex couldn't help wondering if Three had lost his mind in the last few months.

Nico walked into the room, glaring around until his eyes rested on J-Unit.

They looked half-starved and way too weak to move. Their eyes were half-open and they were all lying on their sides. Racoon, the Unit leader, moved his head slowly to look up. His eyes widened at the sight of Alex and Nico in the doorway, surrounded by Dr Three's men.

"Devil… Cub," he croaked, and the other members of the SAS shuffled to look at the two boys. Alex felt his chest tighten. It was his fault they were in such an awful place.

Nico sent Alex a meaningful look that said, 'I grab them, you grab me, and we get the Hades outa here.' Alex gave an almost indecipherable nod. The key word there being almost.

As Nico bent down to innocently touch hands with the captured men, Alex walked up behind him. Three's suspicions grew as the teenage spy put a hand on the raven-haired boys shoulder, tense and alert. The torture expert seemed to know they were about to make a break for it.

Nico took J-Unit's hands and quietly told them to hold onto him tight. He felt Alex's grip leave his shoulder, then reappear clutching the nape of his collar. He counted in his head and, against all action movie scripts, didn't yell "NOW!" He simply disappeared into the darkness with J-Unit. But before the compression of shadow-travel gripped him, he felt the presence holding his jacket back leave.

Alex wasn't with him.

I did put this chapter up earlier, but I took it down because it wasn't at all what I wanted to happen. Sorry for the confusion.

And special thanks to DaughterofAthena (Guest). I've been walking around with this stupid grin for like, days now, because of you. I can't even describe the feeling of accomplishment right now. You need to get an account, my friend. It'd be great to talk to you.

See ya'll later!

Jasmine Out!