Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider.
AN: This is somewhat of a sequel to 'XYXX'. You should absolutely read it BEFORE you start this story. Otherwise you'll miss some important things! So, to avoid further confusion: This is set during the summer break a year after XYXX.
I promise I have some really intense action planned, but this chapter mainly connects both stories so please be patient and give the story a chance!
Love, W
Chapter 1: The calm before the storm (~3,330 words)
Alex woke up from a nightmare.
She was soaked in sweat and fear flooded her body.
Again.
The teen had dreamed about a shooting but she couldn't remember anything else.
Trying to forget the nightmare, she rolled out of her bed.
It's two thirty in the freaking morning! Why can't I just sleep through this crap?
The eighteen-year-old took a refreshing shower to clear her head.
Alex hadn't been on a mission for two months now. Everything went well for once - she hadn't even been bruised. So why did she have this reoccurring nightmare?
When she came back out of the bath, she saw the formal dress on the loveseat in a corner of her room. Then she remembered. Today was her graduation.
How could I forget that?
Deciding it was still too early for breakfast, Alex selected one of her favorite books - Simon Beckett's 'The Chemistry of Death' - and got comfortable in the loveseat. The story was fairly creepy but it held Alex's interest.
She wasn't one for medieval novels or vampire-stories.
Reading about the varying stages of decay in a human body might not be such a good idea in the middle of the night, especially after that nightmare, but Alex honestly didn't care. She couldn't go back to sleep anyway.
The detailed descriptions of what insects brooded when in the rotting human body was not fazing her too much, as long as she personally didn't have to be in a enclosed space with a decaying body.
Alex had seen too much death to still feel particularly taken aback by the idea of a body.
Not that she liked to be around dead people or to have to kill. It was just one of the side effects of being in the spying business for four years.
Death became a part of your life.
After three hours of reading, Alex changed into her running clothes for her 5k morning run.
Ben usually accompanied her. Or he made sure that someone was there with her.
Caution had become his middle name ever since he had been captured by Scorpia a little over a year ago.
Ben waited for Alex in the hallway. He wore his gym clothes as well.
They warmed up and stretched together, not talking much since neither was particularly a morning person. They ran despite the pouring rain, keeping up a brisk pace.
This morning the teen had chosen a new route through the park and around the block.
Ben and Alex both kept their eyes and ears open for anything out of the ordinary.
Alex felt better after the exercise. She followed the run up with hundred push ups and situps each.
After completing this morning's routine, Alex took another shower. Ben had his own exercises and so they met in the kitchen again.
A plate filled with bacon, eggs and toast waited for her.
Alex wore the navy blue dress she had chosen for today with new red heels.
"Do you think this will work for graduation?" she asked Ben, feeling a bit insecure.
"Sure. You look great."
"Thanks, Dad."
Alex ate her breakfast in silence, lost in her thoughts about the nightmare.
"The Bank called while you were in the shower. They want you to come in with me and K-Unit tomorrow," Ben said, carefully avoiding her glare. "Mrs. Jones wanted to speak to us."
Alex snorted, glumly staring in her tea mug. "Mrs. Jones always wants to talk."
"Isn't someone cheery this fine morning," Eagle teased good-naturedly.
Alex glared at him. "The Bank called. I'm allowed to be grumpy if they want to see us."
"Us?" Snake repeated sceptically.
"Yes, us. Al, you four and me," Ben clarified.
"That explains the mood then," Snake muttered. Sometimes I wonder why she hasn't killed Eagle yet... Especially in her current mood.
"Well, I'm not going to lie and act as if I am all excited to leave on yet another suicide mission," Alex ranted, waving her fork with the bacon angrily through the air.
"Also I can already picture what graduation will be like. You guys are already bored halfway to unconscious until my name gets called. I'm going to trip or fall asleep at some point during Mr. Bray's monotonous speech. Tom will crack those stupid jokes nobody finds funny but his annoying girlfriend. Claire and Lou secretly make out. Fun, fun, fun!"
For every 'fun' she stabbed at her eggs.
It really was one of those days again.
Moody was an understatement for Alex on these occasions.
The soldiers exchanged a cautious glance with the male spy.
"Did you have a nightmare again?" Ben asked, worried.
"Yes. The same as the last times. It's really annoying. I always see someone get shot but I don't know the person. And I always forget what the face looked like as soon as I wake up. My last mission has been over two months ago now and I really don't know what else could trigger the dreams."
The girl appeared slightly calmer now. It seemed as if she simply needed to talk this out.
Her nightmare was a bit scary, considering the information she had just given them.
"I hate to say it but maybe you noticed something unconsciously?" Snake suggested.
The female spy shrugged. "Could be. I don't care. I just want to sleep for a damn night," Alex muttered, now thoughtfully.
Ben looked worried at her. "I think you need to get out of the city for a bit. Have a holiday."
Alex almost choked on her tea at his words. Eagle helpfully patted her back.
"You told me about ten minutes ago that Jones wants to see us tomorrow. Do you honestly think she's going to give us time off and pay for the vacation?" Alex scoffed.
"It would be a nice graduation present for you, wouldn't it?" Eagle defended Ben cheerfully.
He was a morning person, much to everyone else's dismay.
"Well... Yes. Preferably somewhere warm and sunny and far away from this sh**."
"We'll worry about Mrs. Jones tomorrow. Today is your day. You only graduate once!" Ben reminded Alex. "Enjoy the ceremony and if you get bored, just insult the people in your head or guess what they'll really end up doing."
Alex snorted, but her dark brooding mood had lifted a few notches. "As if I hadn't done that before. Somehow I always end up with imagining Mr. Bray as a donkey, always repeating the few words he knows."
Snake quirked one eye brow up, questioning her sleep-deprived sanity, while Eagle was openly grinning at his girlfriend. Ben laughed; he knew the principal and no one could top the level of 'boring' Mr. Bray claimed for himself.
"Or you could just text secretly. After all, you will leave tons of broken hearts behind," Eagle suggested, evilly grinning.
The teen seemed to like his idea a bit better than Ben's.
"Yes, I could. Please, promise me to make a quick exit. Most people will just stare at us and whisper and stare some more," Alex practically begged. "Plus, this new creepy substitute teacher is acting weird around me. I don't really know why but he just...stares. It unnerves me. Claire said he liked me."
Alex made a gagging sound.
Eagle had a slightly murderous expression on his face before deciding to laugh at her dramatics. Ben scowled.
"We will keep those gropers far away from you," he promised.
Eagle smiled at his girlfriend of eight months. "You know us. Your wish, Devil, is our command. Besides, we will cheer for you as loud as possible when your name is called, so you won't be asleep."
"You better not cheer. Or I'll cheer that you can run faster than me, birdbrain," the teen shot back, not missing a beat.
Eagle remembered only too well what happened the last time he purposefully embarrassed her. At her threat he paled.
'Eagle - 0; Cub - 1', Snake thought amused. The two of them were crazy together but it was funny to watch their respective antics.
Alex grinned and stuck her tongue out, knowing full well that she had won the argument. Eagle muttered something hypocritical like 'mature' which earned him a cuff against the back of his head administered by his smiling girlfriend.
Alex could see the five - K-Unit had a new member and they wanted to include him even after the Robin-betrayal - from where she sat.
Tom was too far away to talk to and her other friends were busy holding hands.
Alex was bored out of her mind.
She couldn't even talk to Chris - Eagle - since he was too far away. He teased Ben and Wolf mercilessly, though, judging by the increasingly annoyed looks sent his way, and she smiled.
Somehow Chris's childish antics were less annoying if he tried to cheer you up with them, Alex found. Usually it worked on her.
Mr. Bray eventually came to the monotonous end of his yearly reread speech.
Finally.
He began to read the names in an alphabetical order from top to bottom of his list.
Mr. Donovan, also kindly called The Teacher From Hell, handed out the documents that told Alex that yes, she was intelligent and had studied enough to pass her A-levels.
Last month, Alex had hacked into the school computer system to find out what grades she had gotten, so her outstanding diploma didn't come as a huge surprise to her or Ben.
Taipan had been content with her scholar performance - high praise, indeed - when she told him about the grades during her week-long refresher.
Finding out about her relationship with Eagle had quite the funny effect on her tutor. He had threatened the poor Eagle a free, lengthy and painful death if he so much as dared to hurt her.
The ex-assassin did care for his mentor's only child.
Instead of annoying her with the 'princess'-nick name, Taipan had started to call her 'Lioness' if he thought she had earned herself some praise.
Needless to say, Alex loved her new nick name.
"Aleksandra Rytsar-Daniel," Mr. Bray read.
Of course Eagle didn't listen to her. He whistled loudly and the rest of the crew clapped - to her extreme embarrassment. The teen blushed an unusual pink.
Tom laughed somewhere at her expense.
When they were allowed to go, the unit came over.
"Congratulations, Princess," Eagle whispered in her ear and hugged her.
"Thanks, birdbrain."
Ben hugged her as well and K-Unit, except the new guy and Wolf, smiled.
Snake wanted to examine her grades and grinned like a proud older brother.
"So, Al, where do you want to go for dinner? It's your choice and you are not cooking yourself!" Ben turned to his adoptive daughter.
"How about that pizza place a few streets from here?" Alex suggested.
"Pizza? You could have French cuisine, you know?" teased Claire who had come to congratulate her friend.
Alex grimaced. "I'm not a big fan of French cuisine at the moment."
The last time she had French food someone had tried to poison her, resulting in a prolonged hospital stay. The school had been told Alex had a severe case of 'food-poisoning' which considering all the other lame excuses was actually quite close to the truth and somewhat believable.
Claire had just remembered the same incident. "Oh, yes. Sorry."
"Hey, how about you guys coming along? We haven't been out together for a long time and who knows when we'll get another chance?" Alex suddenly suggested.
Lou grinned. "That has to be your best idea ever."
"I agree. I'm in," Tom said, one arm slung across his girlfriend's shoulders.
Claire scowled at the annoying girl but nodded her agreement as well.
Alex turned her puppy eyes on Ben who sighed dramatically when he caved. "Alright. Come on, Ms. Daniels. It is your graduation present."
"Thanks, Dad!" she hugged him.
Sometimes the teenager in her came through. It had increased over the last seven months, Ben noted to himself.
Alex skipped to where Eagle was waiting and grabbed his hand. He smiled cheerfully at her and they walked back to the car.
Tom shared a pointed look with Ben.
"He makes her happy. What am I supposed to do? His childishness is apparently infectious, though," Ben muttered.
The other soldiers laughed.
Wolf grinned a bit evilly. "Remember how she chased him for thirty minutes straight through the park after he tried to prank her?"
Tom stared incredulously at Wolf.
Claire and Lou laughed at that. The always calm and collected Aleksandra chased her boyfriend around? Right.
"Yeah. I'm surprised he lasted that long at the pace they were going," Snake added, a gleeful expression on his face.
"Honestly?" Tom wanted to know. This was a hilarious new side to his serious best friend.
"Oh yes. She might only be eighteen, but I know who has the last say in that relationship," the new guy, Lemming, gloating, confirmed.
Tom laughed even harder then. Although Alex could be quite scary if she wanted...
Eagle and Alex were half-hidden in the shadow of the car and the sea of people. She got on her toes and kissed him square on the lips.
"Thanks for annoying Ben and Wolf for me," she whispered in between kisses.
Eagle smirked, drawing her closer to him, holding her tightly. "Don't mention it. That's the least I could do."
She laughed and he relished her rare genuine happiness. He bend down to kiss her again.
"Oh please! Could you keep your fingers to yourself?" Tom teased mid-kiss.
Alex flashed him the finger, not letting her boyfriend go nor feeling any desire to do so anytime soon.
Tom snorted at her reaction. "Lovely, Ms. Daniels."
Claire hit him none-too-gently. "Leave them alone you insensitive idiot."
Alex rolled her eyes. Eagle chuckled. She stage-whispered: "Remind me. Why did I invite them again?"
"They're your best friends."
"Ah yes. I thought there had to be some sort of reason..."
Eagle chuckled harder now. Tom rolled his eyes. Lou smiled happily while Claire smirked.
"What are you waiting for? Get in the car or stay behind," Ben threw in.
Eagle and Alex were squeezed in between Tom, Lou and Claire and Wolf and Lemming on the other side.
It ended with Alex having to sit on Eagle's lap.
Not that either of them complained.
The pizza place was filled with several parents, teachers and other graduated students from Brookland who oddly enough wanted to congratulate the four students even if they were nothing more than hallway-acquaintances.
Ben somehow knew the owner and so the group got a corner for themselves. Underneath the white table cloth, the soldier and spy held hands which everyone either ignored (it was just too sweet) or never noticed.
The group talked, joked and laughed happily until late.
Ben drove Alex's friends home after dinner.
Lou stayed with Claire at her house for the night. Both girls hugged Alex and wished her a good night with a sly look in Eagle's direction.
Tom used much the same line and look but added a few 'words of advice' which had Alex blush crimson so they shall not be repeated here.
Finally they stopped at Ben's flat. K-Unit, Ben and Alex got out of the car. Eagle helped her out of the Range Rover which was apparently pretty hard to do by yourself when wearing a skintight dress.
"You look stunning by the way," he whispered in her ear after 'catching'* her.
Alex blushed (her teenage mind provided the images to her friends' suggestions) and kissed him chastely. "Thanks."
They settled in the living room/kitchen. Ben handed out some beers to the soldiers except Eagle - alcohol contained sugar after all - and threw a small gift-wrapped box at Alex.
She caught it with one hand out of pure reflex, smiling at her adoptive father. "Thanks, Ben. You shouldn't have..."
Lemming who hadn't seen her in action yet and didn't know of her MI6-status stared open-mouthed at the teen spy.
"I had to. Besides I can spend my money the way I see fit," Ben replied, smiling as well.
Both spies ignored K-Unit's newest member.
"Would you quit staring at my girlfriend, please? I know she's incredibly talented and even more beautiful. However you staring is a bit annoying and rather rude," Eagle commented good-humoredly to Lemming.
He hated people that belittled Alex with a passion. Needless to say, Lemming wasn't his favorite person.
Especially after being forbidden from telling that idiot about her badass moves.
"Good reflexes," Lemming managed.
"Thanks," Alex didn't even look up from opening the present. It was a silver locket, roughly shaped like a paw.
"Smithers made it for me after I told him about my idea for your present. It's fingerprint-sensitive and opens only for you," Ben explained.
Alex jumped up from her seat next to Eagle and hugged her adoptive father. "Thank you! That's so awesome!"
Wolf gave her his present next - a new set of lock picks - which she also was happy about.
Snake gave her a beautiful hand-made diary. He knew the teen didn't want to talk about everything with Ben.
"It's very pretty. Thank you," Alex grinned, having guessed where Snake was coming from.
Lemming had no idea what she liked so he had written her a card and put some money in it.
Sitting back down, she smiled fondly at her odd family. "You sneaky bastards. Now I'm all mushy inside," Alex mock-complained.
That elicited laughter from the men.
"Wait til you see what I have in store for you," Eagle whispered in her ear.
"What? There's more?"
"You didn't think I would only give you one present, did you?"
"What was the first?" Ben interrupted.
Alex smirked at him. "And you call yourself spy?"
Ben obviously expected a straight answer.
Alex sighed. "Chris kept me awake during Bray's speech. What did you think?"
"Never mind," Ben shook his head.
"And here I was thinking Eagle had no other motivation but annoy the crap out of everyone else," Lemming muttered.
"He's actually very considerate so shut it." Alex glared at the man who found himself shrinking under her withering eyes.
Eagle got up. "Come on."
Nobody protested when they left the room. Ben knew Eagle wanted Alex to cool off which was probably a good idea.
"She is scary when she's angry, isn't she?" Snake, ever the mediator, grinned.
Ben snorted. "Ah, that was nothing. You should have seen this boy at school who thought he was going to get lucky at Lou's birthday party. He wet himself. Plus, Eagle and him had a nice chat after..."
The message was clear: 'Don't mess with Alex.'
And Lemming wisely backed off.
The next morning found Alex, Ben and K-Unit in Mrs. Jones' office. The head's eyes stayed on Alex, adopting a slightly softer touch.
"You are in dire need of a vacation," Mrs. Jones announced.
*see Yassen's assignment in XYXX (chapter 6)