In the Night Sky

Chapter 3

Summary: Alex is starting his time in San Francisco with the Pleasure family, a new house, a new school and a new life. But can he go from international super spy to normal school boy?
He once got thrown into a world he didn't belong and now he's gotten pulled back into a world he's outgrown. Is his wish for normality what he really and truly wants?
Alex Rider is on his toughest mission yet where his cover is an ordinary boy and his objective is to be ultimately normal, will he succeed or will this be his biggest failure of all?
But the biggest question of all, is: Can he well and truly forget not only the past but also the past him; the spy that he's been and might very well still be?

Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider. Simple as that.

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My fault… my fault… my fault… my fau-

The ambulance screeched to a stop and the paramedics rushed in a blur of blue and white to get Carlie into the hospital. Doctors and nurses came running to meet them and words flew out of their mouths while checking over her wound and speeding her off to emergency surgery.

Alex watched from the corner of his eyes as Scott stumbled out of the ambulance and rushed to stay with his friend, his unsteady feet threatened to trip him up but he determinedly carried on even while stumbling every few steps.

All the young Rider could do was drown himself in guilt while following behind Scott with a steadier pace. He appeared to be the calmer one out of the two boys but Alex knew that Scott was doing far better than him. His friend seemed rather calm while his best friend is on the verge of dying, at least he isn't fully panicking and screaming, Alex rather felt like doing that but his body forced him to appear calm and to blend in as much as possible.

He guessed that his body hasn't had enough time to get rid of his spy instincts that were screaming at him to blend, merge and shrink while preparing him for combat. He had no need to blend in or get ready for a fight but his body worked on a different wavelength to his mind and he guessed that this 'survival mode' just kicked in on situations like these.

Seconds, minutes or maybe hours had passed before a man and woman came rushing into the waiting area and choking Scott with a crushing hug. Alex watched on as the woman sobbed and the man attempted to sooth her. He could see the worry written clearly on all their faces and another wave of guilt hit him in the chest.

"Oh my baby!-Oh why-"

Listening to the woman sob, Alex felt a sudden need to get away. The room was suffocating him and all of a sudden he felt dizzy, his attempt to stand up failed miserably and he stumbled and nearly fell before taking a seat again.

Then before he could go anywhere, a mob of what he assumed as Carlie's family came rushing in, heading directly towards him. But it wasn't the age difference between the kids, the skin color or the bright green hair that stopped him in his tracks. It was a man at the back of the mob, with short black hair and crystal blue eyes.

Alex told himself to breath and he tried to figure out if he was hallucinating or if he's actually seeing Ben Daniels rushing to greet Carlie's parents. He tried to order his thoughts but his brain seemed to be failing him and all he can think about is Ben, Fox, no, Ben…. What the hell's he doing here? Oh God… Oh God… MI6… all my fault… no… no,no,no,no,NO!

Be as it may, Alex didn't go into full panic mode because spies don't do full panic and also because the familiar white hair, sharp face and intelligent eyes belonging to the person who're walking through those doors he's becoming to hate, happen to belong to a certain Director of the CIA.

Numbness washed off his body as he watched Joe Byrne scan the room and when their eyes met, he wasn't sure who had the most shock appear on their face. Of course, a normal person wouldn't see a thing and it'll only be the normal worry that they could detect from two normal men waiting for family or friends, but the small movements of their face and the faint look in their eyes that didn't belong to average worried men gave the two spies away to each other.

All of a sudden Alex found it hard to breathe as the man he had hoped he'd never have to see again strode towards him. It wasn't anything personal but he had wished that he'd never ever see anyone from the spy business again in his future life no matter if he had liked them or not.

Now he knew why Ian thought birthday wishes were pointless, in this world of life and death, wishes never eased the suffering and pain.

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It was a little hazy as to who finally decided to go for a walk outside the hospital but somehow Alex found himself wondering the grounds of the hospital with Joe Byrne. The man's calm posture and steady hands did nothing to betray his fear at meeting the teenage spy again but when he called the boy by his last name, Alex knew something was going on. Something big and unpleasant.

"Rider."

"Byrne."

Alex followed the Director of CIA and took a seat beside him under a big willow tree. He wasn't sure what Byrne was going to tell him but he knew it wasn't going to be good.

"Alex… I'm sorry but you must know how hard it is for me to do this, I know you have… left MI6 recently and that you probably don't want to join any organizations like them again."

"No I don't."

"I really am sorry Alex that your friend got shot in your school grounds but you must see that although it had nothing to do with you to begin with, it has everything to do with you now."

"You know what Byrne; let's skip this riddle guessing game and get to the point, whatever you have to say, just say it."

Alex's tone wasn't very welcoming but the director knew that it was better to be straightforward with the boy than to keep secrets from him. He had a feeling those who kept things from Alex Rider ended up regretting it.

"You must have realized that the girl's, Carlie's, family is mostly made up of adopted children. Her parents are both psychiatrists and they have some links with the CIA when we give them some clients who've been on less… classified missions."

Alex wondered if the director always paused to choose what he was going to say or if it was just today since he didn't expect to see Alex and hadn't written the whole conversation out beforehand. Alex was sure that was exactly what the head of intelligence departments did; at least, he was sure that was what Blunt did. The asshole always played him into a corner and knew exactly what Alex was going to reply.

"But her parents aren't really important at this stage, you see Alex, Carlie's brother works for us. He is a very good hacker and you could say that he might even be the best in the world. Last month, Kevin hacked into a new organization's database, although this organization is new, it is strong and getting stronger every second of the day."

"Yes I see how this will be a problem for Kevin if they found out it was him and I'm guessing they did since they shot his sister at school. Now what I want to know is what you meant when you said 'it has everything to do with me now'."

At this Byrne looked uncomfortable again and Alex could see the slight movements of his body that betrayed his fear and dread at what he must say next.

"Alex… I'm not sure how to break this to you the easy way and I have a feeling that you won't take this well no matter what happens but the leader of this organization, he is quite well known and I believe that you might have met him a few times on your missions."

"Don't tell me, Yassen Gergorovich is the leader of this 'new organization'."

Alex smirked at the idea of the assassin leading a group of newbies and teaching them with patience. He then continued to snort at the image of Yassen teaching little babies to talk. Sure,Alex thought, but for some reason I can also see him killing all the annoying rookies who irritate him. Yeah, that's way more likely than him teaching with patience.

"How… I was told you did not know of his survival from Air Force One."

"What – Yassen's actually the leader? Well, this is new. Maybe he got tired of being a retired assassin."

This time Byrne didn't even try to hide his surprise, he simply sat there gaping like a fish and wondering when the young spy had seen and talked to the assumed dead assassin.

"You've talked to him since his death?"

"Technically, he didn't die. But yes, I have. At the time he had told me he had retired but he never did end up telling me what he was doing since his retirement. Guess I should have asked more specifically."

The comment came with an easy shrug of the shoulders and a relaxed grin that promised revenge for the next time he saw the assassin. Somehow Byrne didn't think the revenge will involve any killing or violence, the smile on the young man's face was more like the one's stupid teenagers wore before pulling a prank on their favorite uncle.

Byrne didn't know whether Alex Rider had this effect on everyone but it seemed that the boy was always surprising him. Next thing he'll know, Alex will be sprouting wings and whispering about how the pink fairy got with the blue fairy and how they're now having purple fairies.

"Well, I had expected that Gergorovich would have wanted to extract revenge or hunt you down or something like that but since you seem to be, uh, on good terms, Carlie's shooting shouldn't affect your life here too much."

Alex felt uneasy about how Byrne talked about his friend's shooting as if it wouldn't bother him as long as it didn't cause him any trouble. Sometimes Alex wondered if all intelligence people were emotionless bastards like Blunt or if Byrne was different, somehow he didn't think so.

It was when Alex was heading home from the hospital that he realized that he had been more outspoken and like himself with Byrne than with his new family and friends, but what scared him most was that there was only one reason he could think of that made him feel more comfortable around the Director of the CIA than his friends and it was that they had more things in common.

Alex didn't like having more things in common with a CIA agent than normal kids his age but somehow, somewhere along the line, he had become more of a spy than a teenage boy. And it took the death of his guardian, the shooting of his friend and a visit from the Director for him to realize this simple yet ever so complicated fact.

When he finally did realize, Alex Rider saw only one way to escape the government, the teenagers and his new family that felt more like strangers than friends. His escape plan: find Yassen Gergorovich, tell him that he is a lying asshole, punch him in the face for shooting or organizing the shooting of his friend, ask to join whatever his new organization is and lastly, see if the other side of the law is any better than the previous.

It never occurred to Alex to ask about why Ben Daniels was hanging out with Carlie's family, so when he went to check up on her before his departure he never expected a MI6 agent to be sleeping in a chair and then waking up to find him reading her medical chart. If Carlie hadn't been unconscious, she would have heard a loud banging noise, some swear words and a small weary laugh.

Well… no one could say that Alex Rider didn't go out with a bang.

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First, I'd like to thank Running River for being my beta and fixing all my spelling mistakes and grammar! She did a fabulous job and I can't thank her enough. Next I'd like to apologize for not updating for sooo long, I've been busy with school and exams so I haven't had much time to write but hopefully the next chapter will come faster than this one. Please remember to review and tell me what you think of the direction I'm heading towards.

Thanks for reading!

Ally