Chapter 9

FFNet has changed formatting again, hasn't it? (sigh) I was only just getting used to the last one. Sorry if the formatting is bad.

Alright, it's been a while, I admit, but here's the next chapter. This chapter doesn't quite sit right with me for some reason, but anyway, here it is.

Enjoy!

Mike paced nervously around the perimeter of the warehouse. Almost unnoticeably, his hands shook on the flashlight, causing the beam to shiver across the ground. His partner didn't say anything and if the flashlight in his hands did the same, well, nobody had to know.

"They should be here by now," he muttered to himself, eyes darting around.

"They'll be here soon, Mikey," his partner muttered. Mike nodded halfheartedly. This was a bad idea. What had he been thinking? You didn't sell out the gang. No matter what. You just didn't. If they found out…

But Gregorovich was some kind of madman. So cold, so calm, never fuckin' twitching. There was something wrong with those damn eyes. Those damn demon eyes.

It had to be worth it.

His partner nudged him. "They're here."

Mikey breathed a huge sigh of … relief, maybe. Or not. Didn't matter now. "Let's get this over with."

Standing on the stairs offered them a good view of the unloading bay, but Alex didn't exactly appreciate it. He held his breath in tense anticipation as the boat, slowly, slowly came into dock. He should call MI6. He clenched his hands into fists and looked at Yassen out of the corner of his eye.

He couldn't. Not yet. If Yassen left him alone, for just a moment, then …

But he wouldn't, Alex realized. Yassen would know, had to know, that he would call MI6, if left alone. He turned back to watching the boat.

It was unloaded smoothly, with precise motions that spoke of practice and many, many repetitions. There was tension in the air, though, that belied the ease of the men below.

Both Yassen and Alex noticed the danger before anything happened. It was mere instinct, a hunch that something wasn't quite right. It saved their lives.

High on the steps, Yassen pulled Alex backwards, towards the door, just as the first round of gunfire sounded. A few bullets zinged off the wall where they had been standing. One sliced a line across the side of Yassen's arm. He did not even flinch. Once again, Alex admired his control.

Then the bullets kept coming and he stumbled backwards, diving towards the cover of the building. The motions of the men below erupted into chaos. Boxes were knocked over, for cover or in haste. Men jumped into the river, ran for the building, fell in pain. Shouts, gunfire, screams of pain, echoed through the night air.

Alex tumbled inside, caught himself, and twisted to his feet. Yassen was already standing, gun drawn and alert.

"What's happening?" he said urgently, voice not quite catching.

"Betrayal," Yassen said, and there was something so dark in his voice. Alex shivered, suddenly thankful he hadn't pushed his luck.

The sudden shooting was audible from the base where the SAS teams were stationed. Even if it hadn't been, they would have known about it via the reconnaissance team. "Do we go?" Eagle asked tensely, hands half curling around his gun. The teams waited tensely for the answer.

Wolf, as the leader, hesitated, then made the decision. He shook his head. "We wait for the signal."

"Damn," Eagle said, worry colouring his voice. "I hope Cub isn't in the middle of that."

Wolf snorted. Knowing Cub, even as little as they did, that would be exactly where he was.

The shipment was ruined, Yassen knew that.

The rival gang would get their hands on at least some of it. The Black Hand would no longer have complete control over the drug. Scorpia would attribute the failure to his incompetence. He had waited too long. Hadn't been careful enough. Hadn't expected betrayal. Had trusted Johnston to control his men. Had… something. Had failed.

Anger burned slowly within him.

But … there was a way to ensure that the failure was not complete. A token gesture, surely, and one that burnt more bridges than it would build but… he didn't care. He couldn't go back to Scorpia anymore.

"Call MI6, Alex," Yassen said distantly, looking out of the warehouse. He could see small pulses of light as guns fired from behind blockades and buildings.

"What?" Alex twisted to look at him in surprise.

"I'm getting too old for this," Yassen said quietly, not moving. "Eagle Strike was supposed to be the end. It was a mistake to go back."

"Scorpia doesn't tolerate failure," Alex said, trying to find words to articulate the things he did and did not want to say. He stayed crouched down, watching the shadowed profile of the assassin.

Yassen smiled sharply. "They'll find that I still have a few tricks left."

Alex flicked the switch on his MedAlert bracelet and sent out the distress call that K-Unit had been waiting for.

The alarm beeped shrilly. Wasting no time, the SAS sprang into action. Moving like the highly trained, well oiled teams that they were they were out of the safe house before the alarm had finished beeping.

Everything had been planned. The paths they would travel, the location, the actions they would take. And, for once, those plans didn't fail them.

The two gangs, locked in combat, could never have expected a third party. Certainly not a third party who outclassed them as thoroughly as the SAS did.

They went in brutally. Opposing gunfire stopped within minutes. Remaining hostiles were found and corralled within minutes after that. The area was deemed clear.

"Right," Wolf said, looking around. "Now where the hell is Cub?"

Cub had followed Yassen out of the building, using the backdoors that the Russian had known about. He waited hesitantly, unsure if he was supposed to be there, yet not quite able to leave.

"So, um," Alex offered weakly, breaking the silence as Yassen prepared to leave. He hesitated in the doorway, knowing he had to stay. "I'll see you around?"

Yassen smiled slightly, half turning to look at him. "I would hope not. And if you do, Alex Rider," there was a hint of a laugh in his voice, "I would suggest that you do not follow me."

"You are in trouble." Wolf glared at Alex when they found him.

Alex sighed. "It all worked out in the end, didn't it?" he said. "I signaled."

Wolf scowled at him. "You think that we just sat on our hands when you disappeared?" he asked gruffly. "That you could just leave and come back when you felt like it? It doesn't work like that, kid. You work to our schedule. We don't work to yours."

"It's not like you would have let me go if I'd told you," Alex pointed out reasonably. The look on Wolf's face made him wince. Obviously that wasn't the right thing to say.

Okay, so that's the last chapter. Just the Epilogue to go now. Good or bad? Please tell me.