A/N: Thank you to all who reviewed! I'm really glad that so many enjoyed the previous chapter. Hope this one is as good!
Disclaimer: I don't own Alex Rider.
Early the next morning, Alex headed to the Bank, leaving K-Unit to look after Ryan. The conversation between the agent and the SAS Unit had been brief and to the point. It was obvious that both parties were still unhappy about what had happened the previous night.
"I need to go out for a while. Could you keep an eye on Ryan for me?" Alex had asked that morning when K-Unit had come around to check that everything concerning the threat was going ok and to confirm that as of yet, Barker hadn't been spotted.
As far as Alex was concerned, things couldn't be worse, but he didn't voice that thought, not wanting to add to the situation. The relationship between him and K-Unit was rather tense and rocky, to say the least. Especially after the previous night. K-Unit had changed from being cold, but professional the previous morning to almost hostile the next day.
Snake had looked at him warily when Alex had asked them to look after Ryan. "Where are you going, Rider? We've been assigned to protect you,"
"I need to check my bank account. I can take care of myself," Alex replied flippantly as Eagle stepped forward.
"You mean, talk to Mrs Jones?" Eagle asked with a hint of malice in his voice. Alex knew that the malice wasn't for Mrs Jones, it was meant for him. But he ignored it anyway. Alex did, however, decide that a little lying was in order.
"She asked to speak to me just before you came,"
Wolf narrowed his eyes and stepped forward. For a moment, Alex thought that he was going to argue, but was surprised when Wolf said "Don't take too long,"
"I'll be gone forty five minutes at the most," Alex replied as he walked out to the car MI6 had given him to use after his one had been shot. It did occur to him that K-Unit had only let him go so easily because they didn't want to talk to him. He had never been so glad to get out of the house. After last night, Alex had decided that he was going to find out as much about the situation with Ryan as possible, and spend as little time with K-Unit as possible.
The drive to the Bank was uneventful, and Mrs Jones was available, so Alex didn't have to wait too long to see the Head of Special Operations.
"Good morning, Alex. This is an unexpected visit," she said, sitting down at her desk.
Alex sighed and pulled a chair up in front of her desk, before slouching into it. "I need to know what happened to Ryan and how K-Unit is involved with it," he explained.
Mrs Jones frowned. "How did you find out that K-Unit has worked with Ryan before?"
Alex wondered if coming to ask Mrs Jones about Ryan had been such a good idea after all. He was probably not going to get the answers he was after. "Um, something happened last night and Snake said that Ryan's been through a lot and that he had also worked with K-Unit,"
"What happened?"
Alex rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, feeling very much like a whiny child telling the teacher about an unfair playground incident. "Last night, I caught Ryan in my study, looking at my files and stuff. But I didn't know it was him, so there was a bit of a fight which woke up K-Unit, who came into my house and turned on the light. Then I saw that it was Ryan who had infiltrated my study. I asked Ryan what he had been doing, but K-Unit thought that I was being unnecessarily scary to the kid. So then I asked them why they cared when it wasn't any of their business. They said that Ryan had seen terrible stuff and that I was treating the kid unfairly."
Mrs Jones raised an eyebrow, clearly agreeing with Alex on the whole kid-in-the-playground idea. The agent sighed and continued. "I want to know why Ryan was in my study, and what he has done to warrant an SAS unit saying it was terrible,"
The Head of Special operations sighed. "Alex, I'm afraid that it isn't actually my place to tell you that,"
"But you wanted me to protect him! How can I, when I don't know what I'm protecting him against?" Alex protested. Mrs Jones raised a hand, gesturing for him to stop talking.
"That's why we have sent K-Unit to protect both him and you,"
"I can look after myself. After all, Barker is just one assassin. But, if I don't know what's happening with Ryan, I'm a danger to his protection. Just yesterday, he jumped out of my car and ran down the street shooting, and I still don't know who he was shooting at or why. I do know that it can't be Barker, because I didn't recognize the person. That means it has to be someone Ryan has faced before. I need to know what I'm up against. Ryan could have been killed,"
Mrs Jones' dark eyes swept over Alex briefly, and he wondered what she was thinking. She seemed to come to a conclusion, reaching into her desk and pulling out a folder labeled Cooper, Ryan. "Well, you certainly have a high enough clearance level and you're right, it could help if you know what you're dealing with."
She handed him the file, and Alex took it wordlessly, astounded that getting her to had the file over had been that easy.
Being an official agent certainly had its advantages.
"I need to talk with another agent, Alex. You have the next half hour to read this, and then I want it back. You cannot leave the room with it," she said, leaving the small office. Alex nodded and opened Ryan's folder.
He sat down and began to read. Apparently, Ryan was fourteen years old and had been working for MI6 for ten months. His parents- which had both been agents- had died when he had been thirteen years old. He had stayed with his older cousin for a year, before MI6 decided to use him as an agent. During that time, he had been on five missions (not counting breaking into Fin's flat), four of which had been achieved successfully. Alex was just wondering what was wrong with the kid, when he came across the mission report for the final operation.
The fifth mission had been a disaster. The file said that Ryan had tried to infiltrate an international terrorist organization based in Pakistan which used slaves to produce weapons. The slaves were homeless children, taken from the street and promised a better life. Ryan had posed as a homeless child, and infiltrated the terrorist organization. However, one of the people he had being fighting against on a previous mission was part of the terrorist group and recognized Ryan, despite the fact that he had been in disguise. MI6 should have known about the man's presence, but it had been overlooked due to a previous agent's incompetence. Ryan was then interrogated for information about MI6, which he had refused to give. The terrorists removed his gadgets, and forced him into slave labor.
MI6 sent K-Unit to rescue him a month later, knowing that something was wrong when Ryan hadn't contacted them. Ryan escaped successfully, but K-Unit got captured while breaking out of the compound where the slaves were kept. Several days later, Ryan broke back into the terrorist's base and attempted to free K-Unit, but was captured and tortured. A week later, K-Unit and Ryan came up with a plan and managed to break out and free most of the slaves, while destroying three quarters of the base with a bomb the terrorist had forced the slaves to make. The terrorist group had five commanders and seven deputies, and all but one deputy and one commander were killed during the explosion. The terrorist organization was no longer active, but it was believed that the two survivors were seeking revenge. It was the deputy that Ryan had spotted and attacked the previous day.
Alex gave a small sigh as he finished reading the folder. K-Unit had been right when they said that Ryan had been hurt. But they were wrong about one thing. 'He's been through stuff you could only have nightmares about'.
Alex had faced much worse than torture and slavery.
Mrs Jones came back ten minutes later, carrying several papers. "Was that helpful, Alex?" she asked, putting the pile of paper down on her desk.
Alex stood up and handed the file back to her. "It was informative, thanks. Looking after him will be a lot easier, now,"
Mrs Jones nodded. "Good." She pulled out several folders and began to sort the paperwork into piles. "You're dismissed."
Alex gave a small nod and walked out of the room.
This was a mess. Between Ryan, K-Unit and himself, there were a huge number of enemies who wanted someone dead. Everyone was a danger to each other.
As he drove home, Alex wondered why he had accepted Mrs Jones' offer of looking after Ryan in the first place. He had felt empathetic at the time, looking at the boy's empty face and hard eyes and knowing that he had once been in that same helpless position. But he was really beginning to regret it now. How many times did he have to learn that emotions got people hurt- killed, even- and that feelings simply were not worth it?
Alex growled, resolving to not get attached anymore after this. It was too dangerous, too painful. Even K-Unit's dismissal of him last night had hurt, because he now realized that deep down, their opinions mattered to him. Perhaps it was because when he had first met them, he had been an inexperienced fourteen year old kid and they were hardened SAS soldiers. Even though they had insulted and bullied him, part of him wanted to be like them- to be efficient, knowledge and have a good, reliable team watching each other's backs. And when they had grudgingly given him a 'didn't think you'd make it this far', he had felt proud inside.
Now, that camaraderie and friendship was what Ryan was getting. In fact, K-Unit was treating Ryan far more nicely than they ever had Alex. Alex scowled. Was he jealous of Ryan, now? Missing out on the attention and- far, far more importantly- the friendship?
No. Alex wasn't that childish. Perhaps it was simply because he had put aside all the pain- physical and emotional- that he had sustained on his last mission, in order to put on a happy front and try to help Ryan?
Well, since Ryan now had K-Unit for friendship, Alex didn't see why he should bother pretending anymore. He was tired of pretending. Sure, he'd protect the kid and try to help him through what had hurt him, but he wasn't attached anymore. He would help Ryan so that the kid didn't end up like him- so that the kid had a hope for the future. But, other than that, there would be no attachment, not to Ryan, not to Wolf, or Snake or Eagle. He would do his job and he would do it successfully and efficiently. That was all.
Alex nodded, satisfied that he now had it all worked out.
That was when the bullet slammed into the driver's door. Alex jumped in fright and swore. This was the second car that he had gotten shot at in this week. Only, this car belonged to MI6, and the Intelligence Agency was not going to be at all pleased when he returned it. Alex pulled off the road, and reached for his gun. Then he paused, his eyes catching something in the rear view mirror.
MI6 getting grumpy about the state he returned their cars in was the least of his worries. Brian Barker was standing on a building fifty meters behind him.
Keeping one eye on the assassin, Alex seized his gun. Then, he shot out his own windscreen and climbed out of the vehicle, keeping the body of the car between him and the assassin and preventing the other man from getting a clear shot at him.
Once he was in front of the car, Alex stood up and fired several shots in Barker's direction, before ducking back down to avoid the assassin's return fire. He needed a strategy, and fast. Looking around, Alex could see that this street was rather low in cover; however, there was a tree growing beside the pavement about thirty meters in front of him. The tree looked easy to climb, with low branches and thick foliage. Alex smiled, a plan beginning to form.
He looked up. Barker was out of sight, but on top of the building he was on, there were several large blocks of concrete and other building materials. Barker must have taken cover behind one of those. There hadn't been enough time for him to get off the top of the structure. Whatever those concrete blocks were doing (Alex guessed that the building was being extended) they were helpful to Alex. As long as Barker was hiding behind them, Alex couldn't be seen. To make sure the assassin stayed hidden behind the block, Alex fired another shot up in Barker's direction.
Yeah, that's right. You stay down!
Then he began to sprint as fast and quietly as he could down the street towards the tree, keeping one eye on Barker's position. The assassin still hadn't moved, Alex was sure. Once he reached the tree, Alex pulled himself up and hid among the thick foliage. When Barker next looked up, his target would have disappeared.
Alex's plan worked. When Barker reappeared, he looked slightly confused. Alex quick stood up and fired several bullets. They should have hit their mark, which was the center of Barker's chest, but a slight breath of wind at the last moment had caused the tree to sway and dip slightly. The bullets hit Barker's weapon, and his leg. The weapon fell out of Barker's grasp and over the edge of the building as the assassin stumbled.
Alex was about to try for another shot, but decided that since Barker couldn't escape and couldn't fire at him, it might be better to capture him and ask who he was working for instead. Alex ran towards the building. There was a fire escape ladder up one side, and he used it to get to the top.
Even though he knew that Barker's gun had been hit, he was still cautious when approaching the top of the building. He climbed up the last few rungs of the ladder as quickly as he could, pushing himself into a flip when reaching the top of the ladder.
A knife whistled underneath him. Barker must have heard him coming and gotten ready to throw the knife, but at least that assassin hadn't expected Alex to leap into the air and do a flip onto the roof. Alex raised his gun and stepped towards the injured man.
"Going soft, Barker?" he smirked as the man gave him a scowl. "Now, that's not very nice. I think I'm going to have to tell MI6 on you, because pulling faces is little kid behavior," Alex said patronizingly, as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and rang MI6.
"Hey, Jones. Sorry to bother you, but I've just caught Barker. Could you come and pick him up?"
Mrs. Jones said that she would send someone, so Alex ended the call. As he slid the phone into his pocket, Alex caught a flurry of movement out of the corner of his eye. Barker had another knife, and had leapt into the air, trying to slash at him.
Alex raised one arm towards the assassin's wrist, trying to block the strike without getting stabbed. Unfortunately, he had been caught off guard and the blade of the weapon sliced the top of his forearm, leaving a trail of blood leaking from a rather nasty cut.
The agent took a hasty step back as Barker came in for another strike. Alex was sure that the cut wasn't too bad, but the slippery blood was annoying. He ducked down quickly as the assassin's knife swiped at the air where his head had been a millisecond ago. Leaping out of his crouch, Alex came back in with a front kick, smashing the ball of his foot into Brian's nose, which broke with a rather loud cracking nose. The assassin reeled away from him, but Alex had been taught to keep going until his opponent was on the ground, and side kicked the man's solar plexus, before moving in sideways and finishing off with a knife hand strike to the temple.
Barker fell to the ground unconscious, with a satisfying thud. Alex nodded as he surveyed his handiwork, assured that the assassin would not be getting up anytime soon.
"Good work, Agent Rider,"
Alex turned around, nodding a greeting to the MI6 operatives who had come to pick up Brian. "He shouldn't give you any more trouble. It would be good if you could get some answers out of him, though,"
The operative gave a small grin. "We will,"
Alex was about to walk back to his car, frowned as he remembered shooting out the car window. He turned back to the operative and sighed. "You couldn't give me a lift, by any chance, could you?"
"You're only half an hour late. Are all MI6 operatives so punctual?" a sarcastic voice asked as Alex entered the house.
After wiping his shoes and shutting the door, Alex turned to face the speaker, which was Eagle. "Just the good ones," he replied causally, walking past Eagle towards the first aid box, which was kept in the kitchen.
"What happened to your arm?" Eagle asked curiously, following the young agent into the kitchen.
"I went tree climbing," Alex replied flippantly- technically it was the truth after all.
The SAS man glared at him. "What, so you can't even climb a tree properly?" Eagle knew that he was lying, but Alex wasn't surprised that he had taken up the opportunity to insult him. In fact, all of K0Unit was pretty annoyed with him. He had hurt their precious Ryan, after all.
Alex nodded his head as he reached for the first aid box and peeled back his sleeve. "Yea, it's something I really struggle with," he said absently as he checked the wound.
"I wasn't aware that trees gave you stab wounds," Snake said, entering the kitchen and the conversation.
Alex shrugged again. "They do get quite vicious at this time of year, and this was a particularly nasty one,"
Both SAS men glared at him, but Alex ignored the dirty looks, focusing on disinfecting the wound. There was a pause, before Snake spoke up.
"So what actually happened, Rider?"
After wrapping the bandage around the cut, Alex tidied everything up and put it back in the first aid box. "I was catching assassins," The tone he used was so causal that he could have been catching fish.
Eagle raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing him. "What assassin?"
"Barker," Alex said shortly as he put the box away and walked into the living room where Wolf was watching TV with Ryan. Ignoring the little voice which wished that they were friends and he could join them, Alex headed through the room into the hallway.
He meant to go to his study, but the phone rang, so Alex trekked back through the house to get it. Snake had bet him to it though, and was already picking up the receiver. As he approached the man, Alex could make out pieces of the conversation.
"Yeah, I'll tell him that… Okay... goodbye, Mrs Jones,"
Alex frowned as Snake put the phone back on the hook.
"Rider, Mrs Jones says that they've gotten some answers out of Barker. He was sent to kill you by Red Dawn,"
Alex froze. "Go on," he whispered, a micro expression of terror flicking across his face before he carefully masked it behind a blank look. Snake didn't appear to notice the spy's lapse, and continued.
"Apparently, someone called Tony Carson is still alive as well,"
Alex gave a strangled gasp, the empty expression gone- a mixture of fear and anger replacing it. "Oh," was all he could manage.
"You have a choice to make, Rider,"
A drop of blood (ruby against the pale white-), a tick of the clock and death inched closer.
"It's like a beating heart,"
There was a rush of air and a burst of red.
Alex felt like he was going to be sick. There had to be something wrong. Maybe the MI6 people had heard incorrectly. There was no way that they could be right.
Tony Carson shouldn't- couldn't- be alive.
Because Alex had killed him just over a month ago.
Argh! The dialogue is so flipping hard to get right! All of Alex's lines just sound super cheesy. Dammit. Oh well, better attempt next chapter. Hopefully.
Thanks for reading. :)