A/N: Here comes the next instalment – ooh, the pace is picking up! Yay, plot!

Disclaimer: I own nada concerning Alex Rider

Karmic Balance

Chapter Two

The half-past-three bell rang shrill, and almost immediately Alex Rider emerged from the school entrance among a throng of children. He said goodbye to Tom, a guy that had just moved into the neighbourhood from Manchester, and tried not to look or feel jealous as his new friend got a hug from his dad and a kiss from his mum as he ran towards them, the family then leaving in the car. Apparently, Tom had an older brother whose birthday was today, so both his parents had picked him up so they could go out for dinner.

Alex sighed, and scanned the yard and street for any sign of red hair, but could not find his new housekeeper, who always picked him up from school. Realizing that she was probably going to be a bit late, he settled down on the steps in front of his school, and waited.

For five minutes.

Ten minutes.

After fifteen, he wondered if he should just take the tube home. Jack had showed him how to last week – but changed his mind, as he remembered one of Ian's strictest rules: Never, ever go outside alone.

It seemed like a strange rule to Alex, but he had learnt over the years to follow even the oddest instructions given to him by his uncle. Wait here, run as fast as you can down that street, only speak German, pretend your name is Klaus, and never, ever talk to strangers, were just a few of them. Most of them were told to him over a holiday, but Alex figured that it was just to get him used to the culture of whatever country he was in.

Besides, pretending to be German had been fun that one time, especially when his uncle had let him play with another boy for hours, and hadn't even said anything when the boy's family had invited him out for lunch! Admittedly, the other boy's parents were already sitting at a café and only offered to buy him a sandwich, but still… It was the thought that counted, right? And the two boys had embellished the moment, anyway – no longer were the German parents simply parents, but top secret super spies! And hidden amongst the lettuce in his lunch were hidden messages; two tomatoes meant he and the other boy had to spin around four times, and if any crumbs fell they had to duck and cover! Their games followed this same train of thought for quite a few minutes, before both boys got sidetracked and started trying to get money for the arcade.

He never did quite catch the bemused smirk Ian had given when he overheard the boys playing.

Alex smiled fondly as he remembered his uncle encouraging him to call the boy's parents 'Mütter' and 'Vater' – it had made the woman grin brightly and give him a hug and tell him, "Sie sind liebenswert!" And it had only taken him a handful of seconds to figure out that she was calling him adorable. Even if it had been said in the middle of the shopping centre. He'd blushed, and even uncle Ian had been embarrassed for him – had turned away and started looking in the window of a shop, refusing to even glance at the embarrassing moment that the woman was creating.

Daydreaming and lost in his thoughts as young boys often do, he didn't notice the black van pull up in front of the school gates, but he did notice when three men stopped before him. He looked up, smile turning into a frown, as he couldn't recognise any of the faces.

One of the men with sandy hair gave him a friendly grin. It looked awkward on his face. "Hey, you're Alex, right?"

Alex's frown deepened a little, before he gave a short, curt nod.

The man's eyes lit up. "Thought so. Your uncle Ian told me that he was too busy with work and something came up, so he asked us to pick you up."

Immediately, Alex felt himself on edge. Even if Ian wasn't busy with work, he never picked him up. Besides, picking him up from school was Jack's job.

The man didn't seem to notice Alex's uncertainty, as he continued talking. "Well, best get you into the car now, before it gets too late! At this rate, you might miss dinner."

And uncle Ian had told him to never, ever go into a strangers car. The blond boy straightened up, and stepped back up a step or two. "No, thanks. I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."

One of the other men, dressed entirely in black, scowled. "Just get in the car, kid," and ignored the narrowed look he'd gotten from the sandy-haired man.

"I don't really want to." Alex was starting to feel nervous, and felt like running.

The black-clad man darted forward, and grabbed Alex's arm in an iron grip. "Get in the car – now!"

Alex did what he'd been taught to do in situations like these. He screamed loudly, and gave a quick, vicious kick to the man's groin and elbowed him just below the ribs like his sensei had taught him to, then darted around the men and ran.

Unfortunately for Alex, these men were faster and stronger than him. In almost no time at all, one of them had caught him in a grab and twisted his arms behind his back painfully, and another gagged him quickly, cutting off his second yell.

The men dragged him, kicking and muffled screaming, to the black van and threw him in. Quickly, the others got into the car – two in the front and one in the back, to watch him. But luck wasn't on Alex's side that day, as the man who got into the back was wincing slightly with each step and his breath came in wheezes.

He brought down a rope from where it hung from a wall, and was on Alex in a second, bruising his wrists as he coiled the thick, scratchy rope around them. The man stepped back, and eyed Alex with a dark grin. His right hand formed a fist, and it was the last thing Alex saw that day as it came rushing towards him.

Jack Starbright pulled her car in front of the primary school and parked it, letting out a sigh of relief as she saw a blond child in the playground. She quickly got out, and walked towards the small boy, babbling loudly to him as she went.

"Gods, Alex, I'm so sorry I'm half an hour late! The traffic was crazy – some sort of accident not far from here, too. It blocked the whole roa-" And stopped, startled, as the boy turned around and looked up at her with blue eyes.

"You're… Not Alex." She floundered for a few moments, before looked around the rest of the area, only to find it devoid of any other life. She looked back down at the boy, "You haven't seen another boy around here, have you? Goes by the name of Alex?"

The boy shrugged. "I dunno, lady. I aint seen no other kids; I just got here meself."

Something in that didn't sit quite right with Jack. "Why are you here, alone? Are you waiting for someone?"

The boy shrugged, looking bored. "Nah, not really. Some guys gave me a fiver to stand here facing the school though, so I suppose I saw them, but…" He paused, then looked up at Jack with a curious expression. "Hey Lady, is your name Ian?"

Jack's eyed widened, and her eyebrows met her hairline. "Uh, no, but I work for someone called Ian."

The boy looked around, shrugged his shoulders, then languidly handed her an envelope. "Eh, I suppose you're close enough. Them guys told me to give itcha." He seemed intensely bored, and now that his task was done, he left the schoolyard, intent on exchanging his newfound riches for handfuls of sweets.

Jack opened the envelope, and found inside it a neatly penned note:

'We have Alex. In exchange for him with his body and life intact, we want you, Ian Rider, to present yourself – alone – at the warehouses in district five, at ten AM on Friday the twenty-first

Marcus, Nichol'

Jack, feeling the slight edges of shock, quickly put the letter back into the envelope – only to feel a slight drag as it hit something in the bottom of the envelope. Almost dreading what she would find, she reached her fingers in, and brought out a short lock of blond hair. It wasn't so much that which scared her, but rather how it was stained with several dark brown splotches.

As Jack rushed back to the car where she'd left her mobile, which had Ian on speed-dial, she absently wondered why on earth people would want that of Ian… And exactly what he'd done to enrage someone enough to get Alex kidnapped.