Well, I did promise a longer chapter, so here it is. Enjoy, hope you like it.

Brookland Reunion

Ms. Stevens stared at each student in turn, seeing each pupil hold their breath in trepidation of who she would pick to answer the difficult quadratics question displayed on the board. Although she had only been teaching this class for two months, she knew all of her students quite well. That is, all except for one—Alex Rider. To be frank, the boy puzzled her. In the short time she had been here, the boy had been absent for extended periods of time three times. And when he did finally return, he came back looking more battered, bruised, and clearly exhausted than the last time he had been there. But that was not the only matter that Ms. Stevens was worried about. Of course, the boy's condition worried her, but it was the hardness and maturity in his eyes that no fourteen-year-old should have that frightened her. It seemed to her as though the boy was constantly anxious and looking around, never letting his guard down in fear of...something. She just didn't know exactly what the boy was frightened of. She could tell he had a strength about him, both physical and mental, that hadn't been attained sitting in his room playing video games, like most of the boys his age did. However, Ms. Stevens could do nothing to help the boy apart from keep him paying attention in class. Lately his previously good grades had been slipping due to his absences, and if he wanted to attend university or college one day he needed to get them back up. So Ms. Stevens honestly saw waking Alex up to answer the maths question as helping the boy. Alex, however, did not

"Mr. Rider, answer please." Alex's head shot up from the desk and he looked around groggily while wiping saliva from his cheek. Damn that teacher, Alex thought. Waking him up in the middle of, what would have been, his first good sleep in over two weeks. After returning from his Ark Angel mission, MI6 had yet to contact Alex and it had been two weeks of Alex hoping they would never call again. However, MI6 giving Alex space had not stopped the nightmares. Ever since returning from space, Alex had been plagued by terrible nightmares, forced to relive night after night the horror of his 'adventure'. These nightmares often left him with little or no sleep. He had barely gotten a descent hour's worth of rest last night, and he was exhausted.

Alex brought his eyes up to the board, assessing the problem instantly.

"Ummm, nine, Ms. Stevens." At that moment, Alex was extremely grateful that he had the ability to be in advanced maths. The subject had always come easy to him thanks to Ian Rider. Oh, Ian. Not a day passed that Alex didn't miss his uncle. Alex couldn't help but partly blame his uncle for him being blackmailed into working with MI6. After all, If Ian had not died Alan Blunt would not have approached Alex at all. How life would be different had Alex not been contacted by MI6! I would have been normal, Alex thought. My life would not be touched by such violence and death. Rather than walking into my classroom and immediately seeking exits and assessing threats, I would be worried about a math test I had that day.

Alex turned his head lazily to stare out the window, wanting to escape from his maths class. Alex found it ironic that just when MI6 was giving Alex space and letting him stay in school for a reasonable length of time, he found it too boring. Maybe this spy thing is in my blood after all. Alex's thoughts immediately ceased when he saw the black car drive slowly past his school. This would not normally be suspicious. After all, cars drove by the school all the time, but this was the third time Alex had seen this particular car. Alex was worried that something wasn't right, and his alert on heightened when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise. He was being watched. Alex had been in these types of situations too many times not to know that feeling, and he was certain of it. Alex Rider had also developed a remarkably reliable instinct, and right now, his instinct told him trouble was coming for him. That was it, he could wait no longer. Alex had to get out of this classroom. Not ten seconds after Alex had risen from his seat, two men holding guns barged through his classroom door. Chaos immediately ensued. Some children were screaming and getting under their desks, still others were crying, seemingly unable to move, and the teacher had gone starch white, sitting down hard on her chair. In all the commotion no one noticed Alexs complete lack of emotion and perfectly calm, collected composure. Alex had faced death many times before and, although he would rather he wasn't standing among twenty-four odd innocents, this was nothing new.

"SHUT UP!" The two gunmen were immediately granted silence. Alex could have sworn that the entire room had stopped breathing. He quietly sat down in his chair, not wanting to draw attention to himself...yet.

"Everyone is going to stay calm and cooperate, and no one gets hurt." The gunman who had spoken staid by the door, while the other man began walking up and down the aisles of students.

"That's right, we don't want to hurt you, but we aren't afraid to either. If you're asking for it we'll shoot you."

Shit, Alex thought. These guys meant business. He needed to make sure his classmates got out of this alive. If only he had any gadgets left over from Ark Angel, they would have come in handy now. If only he had a way to contact MI6, they could be here in minutes and diffuse the situation. But there was no way and MI6 was not coming to help, this was all on Alex. He thought that if he acted as a distraction and got brought out of the room, the guards would be focussing on him only. That would give one of his classmates the chance to call for help on a cell. Yes, it had to be done. It was the only way. Once again, Alex was sacrificing himself at the expense of others.

Alex's thoughts were interrupted by a sharp rap on his desk. The gunman was right in front of him, looking the teen dead in the eye.

"Are you not afraid of me boy? You're not going to quiver under your desk like the scaredy cat that you are?"

"I prefer sitting here, actually." Although the man may not have noticed it, but Alex had just learned all he needed to know about him in those two sentences. The man was an amateur. He built up his confidence through ridiculing and terrorizing people weaker than himself. Just from looking at his stance, however, Alex could see that the man was probably a black belt and could easily take Alex out in a fight. But he had to try! He couldn't just stand idly by and watch his schoolmates get shot! And Alex did have one advantage over the man, the element of surprise. No one would be expecting a fourteen-year-old boy to fight them.

Just as Alex was lifting his fist to throw a punch, a voice came through the radio on the mans belt.

"ALL ROOMS SECURED, WHAT IS YOUR POSITION?" The man replied quickly, too quiet for Alex to hear him.

So it's not just my class, Alex thought. The attack was directed at the entire school rather than isolating him. However, there was a chance the men didn't know who he was, and he had the opportunity to act on that chance now. Before giving his captor a chance to realize what he was about to do, Alex kicked him sharply in the stomach. The kick was immediately followed by a fist to the head. The man stumbled back, not expecting the attack. Alex kicked the gun out of the man's hands before he had a chance to aim, but by now the element of surprise was over. Alex positioned himself so the man at the door could not get a clear shot at him. He then threw another punch at the gunman. The man, however, had predicted Alex's move and easily blocked it. A side kick brought Alex down, breaking two ribs as it did so. At that point Alex did the only thing he could do; he began to roll away from his attacker. Unfortunately Alex rolled right into the man standing at the door. Before he had a chance to fight, Alex was pulled up from the ground by his hair and his arms were twisted painfully behind him. Alex struggled at first but quickly learned that his attempts were fruitless; the man was just too strong. There was no way he was getting out of the vice like grip that held him.

"Well boy, you're going to pay for-" The man stopped mid sentence, eyeing Alex oddly. Was that trepidation in his eyes perhaps?

"Rider!" Alex was startled at being recognized. He didn't know these men and he was positive they weren't Scorpia. If they had been he'd have surely been dead by now. He thought that attack had been directed at the entire school rather than him alone.

"Boss we have the Rider boy. Yes...Yes, right away sir...Yes boss...immediately...we're on our way now sir." The man put down his radio, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

"Well Rider, looks like you're in for a treat. Ready to meet and old friend? I have to say Alex, I know all about you and having you here right in front of me, you don't look like no spy," the man held his gun to Alex's temple and smirked at him, thinking he was getting to the boy. Alex, however, was only concerned that his secret had just been given up to his classmates. He was positive someone would say something and sure enough, his teacher spoke up seconds later.

"What are you talking about? Mr. Rider here is no spy, he is merely an extremely sickly boy. Please, let him go." Alex's math teacher rose from his chair and the man holding the gun to Alex's temple stared at the teacher, a look of incredulousness and shock on his face. Alex feared that the man would shoot his teacher. Instead, however, the man burst into hysterics, clutching his stomach in laughter before straightening to face Alex.

"Ohh, Rider, is that what you've been telling them, that you're sickly?" the man went to ruffle Alex's hair but Alex moved his head away, only to be punched in the stomach. Alex doubled over in pain, trying not to be sick.

"Come on Rider, if you don't tell them I will." Alex was silent so the man continued to speak. "Dear ol' Alex here is not as frail as you all have been lead to believe." The man turned towards the students, clapping Alex on the shoulder as he did so. "All the times that Rider has been 'sick' he has actually been on missions for MI6 – I'm sure you all remember the Stormbreaker computers, well it was Alex who stopped them from being launched. He's been on six missions since then, most..." the man looked over at Alex smirking, thinking of scorpia. "...of them for MI6." Alex tried to speak but the man holding him put a hand over his mouth roughly.

"Dear, dear Alex, don't be impatient, your turn is coming, I just have one more thing to say." He then turned to Alex's classmates. "Alex Rider, your classmate, is a murderer!"

The entire class gasped, staring up at Alex with expressions of awe, fear, shock, and oddly enough, admiration.

"All right Rider, your turn. Say it's true." The hand was removed and Alex was free to talk. He sighed deeply, wishing he was anywhere else but here, doing this.

"Alright, everything he said was true. I was never sick at all, I was on missions." The class immediately began talking. People were shouting things like, "why?!"

"What?"

"Where did you go?"

"Who did you kill?!"

"Oh my God."

"Murderer!"

The sound of the gun firing was extremely loud. The class was immediately silenced, reminded of their hostage situation and the possibility of death.

"Let Rider speak." The man seemed to stare at each child individually, daring them to speak. "Another interruption like that and you're all dead." The man turned back to Alex, indicating that he carry on.

"And those murderers that were mentioned, they were justified. I only ever killed someone if it was a matter of life and death. And believe me, I wish my life had never had to come to this, I never wanted to be a spy, least of all a murderer." Alex looked away from his classmates, unable to look them in the eyes. He was finished talking. He didn't want to bring up the past any more than he already had.

"HANSSEN! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU." The voice came through the radio loud and clear, allowing the entire class to listen.

"SORRY BOSS, WE'RE ON OUR WAY." The man looked again at Alex, sneer firmly in place. "Any last words Rider? Since you won't be seeing this bunch again." The man fanned his hand across the room, indicating Alex's classmates.

Alex looked each child in the eye, a look of calm strength firmly in place. When he made eye contact with his teacher, however, his resolve left him and the true fear came through.

"You can't do this!" Alex's teacher rose from her chair, a look of panic in his eyes.

BANG

The teacher had not gone three steps when she fell to the floor, a puddle of blood quickly forming around her body.

"I said there would be no more interruptions. I mean what I say. Now I am going to stay with you kiddies while Rider is escorted out. One word out of you and you'd better have your funeral planned."

Alex looked one last time at Tom, smiling sadly as he was dragged towards the door. Tom had tears staining his cheeks as he silently said goodbye to Alex for the last time. Tom's pale face was the last thing Alex saw before the door was closed firmly behind him.

The second the man had Alex outside the room, he put him in handcuffs. Alex could feel the familiar feeling of metal cutting into his skin. He could already feel the blood seeping down his arms. The man held Alex's upper arm firmly, not speaking a word until they were at the doors of the office. Alex assumed that the 'Boss' had taken up residence here and his suspicions were confirmed by the man's words.

"Well Rider, you now get to meet the boss. I'll warn you now, he has little tolerance for heroics, so don't get any ideas." The first thing Alex saw when he walked into the office was his principal, vice principal, and secretary all handcuff and sitting on the floor, to the right of a desk. They all looked relatively shocked to see Alex being lead into the room. The second thing Alex noticed was the man sitting behind the desk. He would know those piercing blue eyes and red hair anywhere.

"Hello Alex, surprised to see me?" Yassen Gregorovich smiled at the teen. It was rare for Yassen to smile and not smirk, but seeing Alex had made him incredibly happy!

"You're dead." The words came out in a whisper and seemed to be all Alex could manage. His face had gone white and he was leaning on his captor for support. This could not be happening! Yassen Gregorovich was a man Alex hated and, although he did not like to admit it, feared. He couldn't be alive, Alex had seen him die on Air Force One. He had been shot! He had been dead! Yet Yassen was sitting in front of him, a triumphant smirk plastered on his face.

"Well Alex, I see that you've come to be a man of many words since we last spoke. Come, you know me better than that. I was not ready for death and so I did not let it claim me. Everything you saw on Air Force One was a hoax, a setup."

"But it couldn't have been. I saw you get shot, you're dead."

"The bullet's path was carefully calculated, down to the last millimetre. All vital organs were avoided."

"The blood. There was so much blood."

"Oh, Alex, I expected a spy prodigy like you to be able to tell the difference between blood and ketchup. I assure you Alex, I'm very much alive, and we'll have lots of time to finish this conversation later, seeing as how you'll be staying with me."

This information was too much for Alex. He began struggling with new found strength, screaming out for help.

"Help me, help! This man's going to kill-" Alex's screams were silenced as Yassen firmly placed his hand over Alex's mouth.

"No Alex, we'll have none of that." Yassen turned towards the man holding Alex, "gag him and put him with the others. And don't take your eyes off of him, Rider here is resourceful." Yassen smirked at Alex as a rough cloth was tied tightly around his mouth, preventing him from calling out for help again. The man, who Alex had now decided to call Handler because all he seemed to do was man handle Alex, roughly dragged him to the corner where the faculty members were tied. Instead of just leaving him lying there, however, Alex's already cuffed hands were then attached to the principal's, one cuff around Alex's and one around the principal's.

"Can't risk you going anywhere, now can we?" Handler gave Alex a particularly malicious grin, lightly slapping his face before turning back to Yassen. It was because Handler's back was turned that he didn't see the mocking and sarcastic look Alex gave him. To Yassen however, it didn't go unnoticed. The assassin just smirked at Alex in a knowing way, which only furthered Alex's gut feeling that things could only go downhill from here.

Well, now you've read all you have to do is review!! Constructive critisism only please. If you're going to flame then don't bother reviewing at all.

It may be a little while until i am able to post the third chapter, it's taking me a while to write it. But don't worry folks, it will be up here eventually.

Review please!!!!