And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, I have a special announcement... This story now has plot! Yes, a proper plot! Yay! Thank you so much for all your reviews and suggestions- I'm doing my best to fit them into the story. And, yeah I changed 'Liam' to 'Ryan' because I found that someone else has already used that name in another, different story. Wasn't too sure if I used it, it would be called plagiarism or whatever. Then I found that the name 'Ryan' has also been used. Oops. Well, I can't be bothered to change it again, so we'll just stick to 'Ryan'. Sorry for any confusion!

I don't own Alex Rider.

"Did you sleep well, Ryan?" Alex asked the next morning as the boy walked into his study. It was eight in the morning, and Alex had been up since three am filling in reports and doing other pieces of paperwork. Being a full time agent certainly had its downsides. He'd never had to worry about paperwork when he had been 'unofficially' working for MI6.

But then again, it wasn't like he actually minded the paperwork. It gave him something to do in the quiet hours of the morning when he couldn't sleep. Alex really didn't enjoy sleeping- not when his subconscious forced him to watch re-runs of all the terrible things which had happened to him. Jack's death, Sabina's last breath, the Pleasure's funeral and when he had killed-

No! Stop thinking about that!

"Yea. When's Jones picking me up?" The boy asked as he looked around Alex's study curiously. Alex really wished he wouldn't examine his study. There wasn't anything too personal on display, of course. Just several photos on one side of his desk. There was one of him and Jack, another of him with Ian, one with the Pleasures (with Sabina pulling a face at the camera while Liz and Edward smiled politely) and one of him with Agents Clark and Emily… but all the people in the photos (except for him) were dead. Ryan shouldn't be able to have such a good look at the people who had once been important to him.

He stood up and subtly tried to direct Ryan away from the photographs and towards the door. "Around one. Do you know what you're going to be doing for the mission?"

Ryan shrugged causing the bag which he had been holding to swing slightly. Alex guessed that it held all the gear he would need for his mission. "Surveillance. Can I have breakfast now?"

Alex studied the boy. "Help yourself," he replied, noting the way that Ryan was clutching his bag tightly. Like a lifeline. He also looked rather pale, and was unwilling to meet Alex's gaze. The boy walked out of the study and Alex frowned. Ryan was scared.

But why? He was only doing a simple surveillance mission. Alex shrugged, deciding to think about it later. He had more important stuff to worry about. Like this mission report.

Even though Ryan didn't want to tell Alex the details of his mission, Alex was destined to find out anyway. At two am the next morning, he received a call from Mrs Jones demanding his presence at the bank.

"What's going on?" Alex asked as he walked into the Head of MI6's office and sat in the chair in front of her desk. "I thought you were bringing another agent in to do my missions while I was looking after Ryan?"

Sucking on yet another peppermint sweet, Mrs Jones shook her head. "This isn't another mission for you. It's about Ryan. He sent a distress signal out about two hours ago. We need to send someone in to pull him out of the operation,"

Alex rubbed one eye tiredly before raising one eyebrow at her. "You want me to rescue the kid? What's he even doing, anyway?"

Mrs Jones pulled a manila folder out of a drawer on her desk and passed it to Alex. "Recently, we have been getting reports- well, rumors really- of a security leak. It's believed that one of our lower ranking operatives has become corrupt, and is selling information out to our enemies. However, we don't have any proof. Ryan was sent to the operative's house to break in and try and find evidence of the operative's corruption. He was also meant to plant recording devices- cameras and microphones- around the agent's house. It's a simple surveillance job. The operative's name is Fin Neil, and he lives on the other side of London. If Ryan got caught, it should look like a child breaking in trying to steal money-just random street crime. The agent was working night shift this evening, so there shouldn't have been anyone inside the flat when Ryan broke in at ten pm. However, this activation of the distress signal indicates otherwise,"

Alex leaned back in his chair, opened the folder and examined the photo of Fin Neil. Of course, if MI6 suspected that one of their operatives was passing their secrets into enemy hands, they wouldn't hesitate to bug the place. The Intelligence service wasn't worried about privacy issues. "You want me to go over to this Fin person's place and see what's happening?"

"That would be good. To be honest, this was hardly a mission. I can't see how anything could have gone wrong,"

Alex gave the folder back to Mrs Jones before standing up and stretching as Mrs Jones dismissed him. This was going to be interesting. MI6's 'surveillance' missions hardly ever turned out to be straightforward- he had learnt that a long time ago. Of course, this was a golden opportunity to find out more about Ryan - to see how he performed under pressure and whether he was as cold during field work as he was with Alex.

Of course, part of Alex was a little bit annoyed. How come MI6 was immediately sending backup in for a boy who was simply breaking into a flat? When Alex had been fourteen and working for MI6, they had taken their sweet time when it came to providing him with reinforcements. And it hadn't happened only once- it had happened several times. Not to mention that the circumstances Alex was abandoned in had been fair direr than whatever trouble Ryan was probably in.

Maybe this sudden show of responsibility was something to do with the fact that Mrs Jones was in charge now. For a second, Alex felt slightly angry. Why did Ryan get all the easy missions? Why was MI6 taking such good care of the boy? They'd never cared about Alex.

And, if all of Ryan's 'missions' (to be honest, Alex couldn't call this a mission. Missions were dangerous. Breaking into a flat was a little job that almost anyone could do) had been this easy, why did the boy act so cold and empty- as if he'd been hurt? Grimly, Alex started his car and drove out of the 'Bank's' dark car park, following the directions Mrs Jones had given him as he had left her office. Perhaps Ryan was just an attention seeker. He could just be trying to make a big deal out of all the 'missions' he had been on. The agent snorted in disgust. Ryan probably knew nothing of the horror in this world. He had no right to go around acting as if he had been hurt. Besides, how could someone stuff up a job which sounded as simple as this one? It certainly appeared that nothing could have gone wrong. The agent wasn't in his flat, and he probably wasn't even corrupt. Maybe Ryan had seen a spider and freaked out, or something.

Even though he was feeling rather angry with Ryan and MI6, Alex still parked his car several hundred meters away from Fin's flat. If something other than a hairy spider had led Ryan to set off the alarm and this Agent Neil was an enemy, Alex didn't want to give any warning of his approach.

Walking quietly in the shadows of surrounding trees, Alex made his way to the block of flats and began to look for flat 757- the number of Agent Neil's flat. He was glad to see that the flat was on ground level. That would make breaking in so much easier. It also meant that there would be more escape options if anything happened and he needed to vacate the premises in a hurry.

After Alex had checked for security cameras and neighbors who were still awake (fortunately, there were none of either) he began to assess the flat, trying to find the best place to break in. He could get in either through a window, or a door. Neil's flat had two doors- one at the front of the flat and one at the back.

As he weighed up each option, Alex noticed that the front door was slightly open, and all the lights inside the house were turned off. He narrowed his eyes. That wasn't good. Open doors at nighttime were an indication of trouble. They often meant that someone had run off in a hurry. And hurry like that indicated danger.

Of course, now the golden question was who had left the door open and why had they left it open? If it had been Ryan, then that could be both good and bad. He could have escaped from whoever had disturbed him. But, then that still raised more questions. Was Ryan still being chased? Or had the person pursuing him (assuming someone had been chasing him) lost track of the boy? Alex knew that either option was a distinct possibility. The only other reason for the open door was a bit more gruesome. Maybe Ryan hadn't escaped from whoever had disturbed him. (Alex was pretty sure it had been someone- the spider theory looked to be wearing a little bit thin now). That could mean that he was either captured and the perpetrator had taken him away. Or Ryan could be lying injured-possibly even dead-inside the flat now, the perpetrator having fled the scene.

Then, that raised the question of who had interrupted Ryan while he was doing his job.

There was only one way to find out.

Alex moved forward under the cover of the darkness. Carefully opening the door, the spy slipped inside without making a sound. He paused. The open door led into a narrow hallway, which opened into a living room on one side and a kitchen on the other.

Alex decided to look though the kitchen first. He didn't want anyone hiding in there with access to any weapons like knives and frying pans. However, a quick check showed that there was no one in the kitchen.

He checked the living room next, and this proved to be a bit more informative. There was evidence of a struggle here. Looking around the moonlight-lit room, Alex could see the bag Ryan had been holding the previous morning lying discarded on the ground beside a coffee table, various tools spilling out of it. Alex guessed that they were what Ryan would have used to install the listening bugs and cameras. There was also series of round holes marking one of the walls- bullet holes. Alex felt his throat go dry as he noticed a large puddle of blood below the last one.

Someone had died here tonight. He was certain of it. If anyone lost the amount of blood that this puddle contained- there had to be liters of the crimson liquid here- they would be dead.

But what had happened to the body? Who had the murderer been, and who had they killed?

Alex was about to turn on the light to investigate properly, but his phone went off as he groped for the switch.

After jumping in fright and cursing, the spy answered it. "This is Rider,"

"Alex. This is Mrs Jones speaking. We have Ryan safely back at the Bank. You need to get out of the flat right now. We've discovered some important information, and as long as you stay in the flat, your life could be in danger,"

Alex didn't particularly like the sound of that. "What do you mean?"

"Alex, this isn't the time to ask questions," Mrs Jones snapped angrily.

With a roll of his eyes, the agent replied. "If my life's in danger, then I need to neutralize the threat, don't I?"

"Just come to HQ now. That's a direct order, Rider." Alex flinched. Mrs Jones' tone gave nothing away, but Alex knew her well enough by now to know that she must be either really worried or really angry. She was issuing direct orders and using his last name- two things she normally preferred not to do.

"Ok. I'm on my way." Ending the call, Alex quickly picked up Ryan's bag and headed out of the dark flat, towards his car. He kept an eye out for any suspicious people, but no one was around.

He started his car and began the journey back to the Royal and General Bank, replaying the conversation he had just had with Mrs Jones. Deep down, Alex was relieved at the news that Ryan was alright. Alex didn't particularly like the boy but he didn't want to see the kid get hurt.

He almost snorted at himself in amusement. Where had the nick name 'kid' came from? Ryan was only four years younger than him. Going soft, Rider? A tiny voice in the back of his mind began to speak up. That's not good. It's bad to get attached to others. You loved Jack, didn't you? Look where she ended up…. Dead. You were attached to Sabina as well, weren't you? And now she's locked in a wooden prison, six feet under the ground in a graveyard…and then there's also-

No. He had to stop thinking like this. In this business, getting distracted was almost as dangerous as getting attached. Especially since someone was apparently now coming after him. Alex forced himself to stay focused on the situation at hand for the rest of the drive. Firstly, there was the problem of that person Jones had mentioned coming after him. Alex wondered who it could be. All the enemies he had made during his last mission were dead- so it couldn't be any of them. And he doubted it could be any of the dead people's relatives, either. Those particular people didn't seem to be the sort who kept in touch with their families.

Continuing to muse over who it could be, Alex drove into the car park of MI6 Head Quarters for the second time that day. By now, it was six am, and beginning to get quite light.

But Alex didn't have time to stand around watching the sunrise. He hurried into the building and took the elevator up to Mrs Jones' office. Knocking loudly on the door once, he walked straight into the room where everyone was waiting for him. Mrs Jones was eating another sweet, Ryan was slouching in his chair and Mrs Jones' deputy was fiddling with folder.

"What's going on?" Alex asked as he took a seat next to Ryan. The boy didn't acknowledge his presence.

Mrs Jones fidgeted nervously with the peppermint wrapper she held in her hand. "It appears that one of your old enemies has come back and is seeking revenge, Alex. Ryan, tell Alex what happened,"

Alex turned to face the younger boy, who straightened up from where he had been slouching in his chair and began to speak.

"Agent Neil had the night shift for work last night. He had left at 9pm. I entered his house at 10:30pm after working out the best way to get in. I was in the middle of installing cameras in his flat when I heard a car pull up outside at half past eleven. I activated all the cameras I had set up before grabbing my bag and hiding in a cupboard. Two men entered the flat. They had come to pick up the information that 'Neil had left out for them'," Ryan stated brusquely, making quotation marks when he repeated the man's words. "Apparently, Neil had a hiding place in his flat where he would place information for these people to pick up. At quarter to twelve, the two men left the flat, apparently having got what they came for. I saw one of them slip a memory chip into his pocket.

"Once the two men had left, I activated the distress beacon on my phone. It was in the bottom of my bag, so I couldn't reach it while the men were in the flat without making any noise because the cupboard I was hiding in was quite small. I had to exit the cupboard before I could find my phone. Once they had left, I sent the signal, hoping that MI6 could come and capture the two men. Unfortunately, the two men were sitting in their car about to leave, and they saw the light of my phone through a window. They came back into the house and there was a bit of a fight. One man ended up shooting the other with a silenced pistol, mistaking his partner for me in the dark. He soon realized what he had done, and while he was distracted, I escaped out the front door and got a ride in a taxi here. I guess the man must have left soon after me, taking his partner with him. I'm not too sure if the man who was shot survived, though," Ryan finished.

Alex was about to ask how this had anything to do with him when Mrs Jones stepped in. "The cameras were recording everything during the fight. We know who the attackers are. We have a file on one of them. We've been trying to track him down for about four years now," the Head of Special Operations paused uncomfortably. Alex waited for her to continue. "Alex, the man who survived was the sniper SCORPIA sent to assassinate you after that Invisible Sword operation went wrong- about three and a half years ago. We know this because we have a CCTV recording of him from when he tried to kill you,"

Alex froze. "Why is he here? Have Scorpia came back?" he asked, dreading the answer.

"No. Scorpia is well and truly gone, Alex. We don't know why the assassin is here. It could be that he wants revenge because you didn't die when he shot you- so you ruined his mission and he probably got punished for it. Not to mention that you all but destroyed Scorpia. However, it may not be for revenge. The man- Brian Barker- is now a freelance assassin, so he might just be trying to kill you on someone else's orders. Anyway, we have found out that Agent Neil is indeed corrupt. He has been selling information about you to Barker."

Alex frowned. "So what are we going to do? We can't just take Barker down- if he is working for someone else, then they will just send another assassin to kill me,"

Mrs. Jones nodded. "I agree. And, they will also be after Ryan as well, since he got in their way. We could send you somewhere safe, but there always is the possibility of Barker hunting you down. I believe that the best way to deal with this is to let you stay here. We will provide some inconspicuous protection for you of course. And when Barker comes back, we can catch him and find out what he's doing,"

Alex looked at his superior and raised an eyebrow. "So, you want to use us as bait?"

Mrs. Jones nodded, confirming the answer. "Exactly."

And at over 3100 words, that's the longest chapter I've ever written. A lot of editing went into this one! But, now, time for the important question... Alex and Ryan are being sent protection... Should K-Unit come into the story? Yeah, I know that idea has been used SO much in this fandom, but I would love to have a go with it if that's okay with readers.

Q&A time:

guest123:I did it at a riding school I used to go to. It's actually quite fun once you get the hang of it, but I do recommend looking it up somewhere first.

Thanks for reviewing: Guest, guest123, Luckyreader2000, koryandrs and Dust the Hedgehog.

See you next time!