Dis: As usual I do not own Alex Rider.
A/N: There is a little teen or older rated stuff in this chapter so BEWARE!
Chapter 4:
Max took off the gear and headed out. Mike recovered and stared as she left the ring.
"I demand a rematch. Hey where are you going?" he called.
"I'm going to eat. Besides I want to give the next person a chance too," she said.
She turned and went to the mess hall.
Alex saw Max disappear into the mess hall. He wanted to follow her but the others were coming towards him.
"You missed a good fight," he said as the group reached him.
"What happened?" asked Wolf.
"Kitten forced Mike out of the ring," he explained.
"No way. How?" asked Eagle.
"No idea but she did."
Wolf looked disheartened. They all went to eat.
Max got her food and sat at an empty table. She had been given too much food. She usually ate half of what was on her plate and was full. She shrugged and dug in. She saw her teammates get their food and sit at another table. Eagle tried to wave to her but someone made him stop. She ignored them. She was used to eating alone. She thought about home. Cam would be missing her she was sure. When ever she was away for long periods of time he usually was very happy to see her come home. She only wished he was here now. She finished eating what she could when someone came up behind her. He was dressed like a general.
"Hello, you must be the new person here is that right?" asked the man.
"Yes, sir," she answered immediately.
"Where are your teammates?"
"They are over there," she said pointing.
The man nodded.
"Dismissed."
She picked up her tray and brought it to the dish washing station and left the mess hall. She went to the barracks. Her bag was where she left it. She opened it up and saw a picture of her and her father on the beach a week before they both went to the school. She was wearing a red one piece bathing suit that day her long brown hair tied back in a low ponytail. Her dad was in his swim trunks and a loose t-shirt and he was smiling like he hadn't smiled in a long time. Tears filled her eyes as she remembered that day. The sand between her toes the sun shining down on the two of them. The door to the barracks opened and she was snapped back into reality. She quickly hid the photo and started sifting through her cloths for her night clothes.
"What are you doing?" asked the voice she had hated since she met him.
"I'm unpacking what do you think I'm doing Alex?" she snapped.
"Then what's this?" he asked reaching in front of her and pulling out the photo.
"Give that back!" she yelled.
Alex held it out of her reach. She made a jump for the picture. She managed to grab hold of a corner and tried to tear the picture out of his hand. A tearing sound wrenched through the air. Max held up part of the picture. Tears welled up in her eyes. She dropped the piece and ran out of the room. Alex heard a grunt and Eagle yelling at Max asking where she was going. Soon the gang came into the room and saw Alex standing there.
"What happened?" asked Snake.
Alex was silent; he had the other piece of the picture, the part of her. He looked at the face in the picture and was entranced then her crying face flashed before his eyes and he felt guilty almost immediately. But along with the guilt came anger.
"I just wanted a look, she overreacted," he said out loud.
"What?" asked Eagle confused.
Alex blushed and tucked both parts of the picture in his pocket.
The next morning Max was still mad at Alex. While she ran for her warm-up she brooded over how she was ever supposed to succeed in this mission. Suddenly her foot caught on a root and she tripped and fell forward. She hit the ground with a loud thump. Her whole right arm stung like heck. When she looked at it there was blood mixed in with a fine coating of dust. She cursed herself for being clumsy and stood and continued to run. How could he do that! she screamed in her head He's such a jerk! But something in her gut told her it was her fault as well. She missed home so much though. She finished her run and walked out a little. Wolf came over to her and got in her face.
"What you did yesterday was unforgivable! You'll do twice as much work for that!" Wolf yelled at her.
She took the abuse and didn't say anything at all. She got this all the time. Without thinking she headed for the weight storage. Wolf watched her go. He was confused but he let her go. Max strapped on ten pound weights to her ankles. The weight would make her work harder. They were practicing stealth today and the weights would make it extremely hard. She cursed herself for doing what she did yesterday. She headed to the barracks to change her shirt and bandage her arm. She got to her bed and stripped off her shirt. She rubbed the antiseptic ointment into her arm then bandaged it. She slipped her shirt back on and turned.
Alex got up and went for a morning run. He was debating whether or not to apologize for tearing her picture. She was the one who wasn't giving it to me he argued with himself. But he couldn't shake the flutter in his heart when he thought of Max. It was annoying. Last night he couldn't sleep because he was thinking about her in the bed next to his. She was sleeping so peacefully. When he had finally gotten to sleep it was about three in the morning. She woke at four in the morning to go for a run. Alex had barely any sleep. He decided to see how the situation worked out. He went for the barracks and quietly opened the door. He saw Max stripping off her shirt, thank goodness her back was too him. Her back was muscled and rippled as she bandaged her arm. Alex thought it best to close the door and wait but he was frozen on the spot. She put on a clean shirt and turned. She saw him and nearly screamed. She was mad, he could see. He stood like a deer in the headlights. She stormed out leaving him standing there frozen. What have I done? he thought.
Max saw Alex standing there and her guilt for yelling at him instantly vanished. She was ready to scream but she swallowed it and stormed out of the room. She went for the mess hall and quickly ate her breakfast. Eagle and Snake saw her behavior at breakfast.
"Are you okay?" asked Eagle.
She nodded. She didn't trust her voice.
"Are you sure?" asked Snake.
"I'm fine! Leave me be," she yelled then threw her fork down and took her tray to the dirty tray counter.
She stormed out.
"What's got her agitated?" Eagle asked.
"Maybe it's that," speculated Snake, "You know how girls get like that once a month."
"Oh," replied Eagle getting it finally.
Max went to an open field and went to the middle. She didn't have a ball or anything she just wanted to scream. She sat down and watched the sun climb into the sky. She needed to get back but she liked the peace here. She lay back, putting her arms behind her head. She heard footsteps but didn't move when they came near her head.
"What are you doing?" asked a voice, it was Alex.
"Trying to be alone," she snapped.
"Look, I'm sorry, I didn't see anything I was just trying to say sorry for yesterday," he explained a little shaky.
Max stayed silent and gazed at the sky. Reculantly she felt her anger ebbing away. Finally she sat up and sighed.
"I'm sorry for the way I've been acting. I just miss my father but many times before I was punished for missing someone. It was instinct I guess," she said.
Alex plopped down on the grass next to her. She looked at him with an eyebrow raised.
"Wolf won't be too angry if I tell him I was giving you a private lesson," he said.
She nodded.
"Look," Alex started, "missing someone isn't a bad thing. It shows you still have a heart that hurts when you miss someone. Believe me, I know the feeling. My father, mother, uncle were all killed. Thinking about them isn't bad."
Max looked at Alex with regret and pity on her face.
"Alex, I'm so sorry," she started to apologize.
"It's okay. But I found new friends and the world hasn't ended."
"Because we keep it that way," stated Max a smile playing across her face.
The moment between them was broken by the sound of a chopper. Alex and Max stood and ran for the landing pad.
When they reached the pad a man in a black suit got out. It was Cam. He looked at the crowd surrounding the chopper looking for someone. When he spotted Max he ran over to her.
"Max, something has happened. Your father…your father was…"Cam stuttered.
"What happened Cam?" asked Max firmly.
"Your father's been killed."