DISCLAIMER: See Chapter 1 for Proper Disclaimer.
Author's Note: Like I had promised, you get to find out more about Cassandra in this chapter. Mind ya, it's going to shock a few people here.
And now, without further ado...chapter five of 'Boy Next Door'!
While Riley and Ben were taking care of the blueprint plans of Buckingham Palace, Alex had decided to go out and get some food for the three of them. Riley could sense that Ben was going to ask about Cassandra while Alex was out getting food…boy, was he right.
"I didn't know that you had a sister, Riley…who is she?" Ben asked as Riley was typing away at his laptop.
Riley sighed before he spoke. He had a bad feeling how he might react while retelling of what happened to Ben.
"My cousin, Cass…she met Alex while she was working at Barnes and Noble a few years back. I met Alex while getting my Bachelor's from the George Washington University. Back then…let's just say that Alex wasn't the type of girl that would normally hang out at the library, from what she was wearing then," Riley started out.
"Yeah, I know…went through a phrase of being tomboyish...still does, really," Ben said as he remembered Alex's college days.
"Well…let's just say that, back then, we never really got along that well…until…" Riley said as he remembered that one incident that would change his attitude towards the youngest Gates.
(FLASHBACK!)
Riley was in the library, dressed as if he was about to go on a date. He had been waiting there for about an hour or so before he sighed to himself.
'Where is she? She said that she would meet me here for that date,' Riley thought to himself as he waited.
A tap on the shoulder made him turn around…to find Alex standing behind him. She was dressed in her red Elements hoodie and black pants with red stripes on the insides of the pants. Riley was surprised to see Alex there.
"Hey…why are you sitting here, as if you're waiting for someone?" Alex asked, her hazel-brown eyes searching for the answer in his brown eyes.
"Waiting for my date to arrive…" Riley replied as he straighten up a bit.
"Your date? With whom?"
"Mia."
Alex's eyebrow lifted in a 'You're kidding?' look.
"What? I'm waiting for her, since she asked me out," Riley said to Alex.
"And…you never asked her if she had other plans, huh? God, Riles, you never EVER expect someone like Mia to be serious on their promises. Mia only asked you out so that she can talk shit about you on how you got 'stood up'. Honestly…" Alex said as she walked pass Riley to exit from the library.
Riley followed Alex out of the library, no longer worried about being stood up for his 'supposed' date with Mia Bernhardt.
(END FLASHBACK!)
"You got stood up?" Ben asked.
"Yeah…turned out that I would have been the laughing stock for the next day. Alex took care of that by posting up blackmail photos of Mia from homecoming night. Mia got so mad that she started to curse your sister out. But, Alex took care of that—" Riley replied.
"Whoa, whoa…my younger sister fought with this girl?" Ben interrupted, learning something new about his baby sister.
"Just punched her nose…that's about it, Ben. Anyway, Alex was, forever from that point on, in my good graces. Cass and Alex decided to get an apartment in New York after college. About a couple of weeks later, Alex and Cass invited me and Ian to a concert—" Riley continued.
"You knew Ian Howe before Charlotte?" Ben asked, his eyes widen a little.
"Yeah…he was good friends with Alex and Cass. Anyway, it was after the concert that…" Riley said as he paused after mentioning the concert.
The four of them were walking down the sidewalk back to the girls' apartment late that June evening. The four of them laughing, talking excitedly about the concert they just went to not mere hours ago. Then…gunshots rang the quiet evening air, people screaming and running for cover. Ian and Riley watched as both Alex and Cass fall down to the cement sidewalk, blood pooling underneath their bodies.
"Both of them had gotten shot and had to be rushed to the hospital. Alex made it…Cass never did. Alex had recovered from the bullet wound within a couple of weeks…Cass's funeral and burial was held a couple of days after Alex was discharged from the hospital. I've never seen Ian or Alex that depressed at the funeral. Cass was supposed to get married sometime after the concert, but she never told me who her fiancé was. After two months of the funeral, Alex moved back to New York to settle any of the financial issues with selling the apartment. Ian disappeared right after the funeral, so I never knew where he went until you and I met up with him at that café. It seemed that Alex and Ian were dating sometime after Cass's death, so I assumed that she was dating him around the time we went to find Charlotte.
"So…now you know, Ben. The tragic tale of my cousin's downfall from life itself…and why Alex doesn't like to mention Cass too often," Riley said after letting out a sigh that he didn't know that he was holding.
Ben took this into consideration just as Alex returned with her arms filled with bags.
"Thanks for helping me out, you two…God, these aren't as light as I imagined…wished he had given me something lighter instead," Alex complained as she set the bags down on the table.
Alex looked at Ben, who was looking at his younger sister with a look that Alex couldn't make out easily.
"You all right, Ben?" Alex asked, a little confused and scared as to why Ben was looking at her like that.
"Sorry…I must have spaced out for a moment there. So…you know your part of the plan, right?" Ben said as he snapped back to reality.
"Yup…drive you two over to the palace for the tour and wait for you two at the car. Gee, at least leave me with something to do while I'm waiting at the car," Alex said with a bored sigh as she pulled out her food. "While you're at it, come get your food before it gets too cold for you two…or before I eat it on you."
The next morning, Alex was sitting in the car with her PDA in her hand. Thankful of Riley to install a program to monitor Ben and Riley while they were in the palace, Alex was also able to pull out a program that actually allowed her to see what Ben was doing while inside the palace.
"Riley, you can hear me ok, right?" Alex asked on her Bluetooth earpiece.
\\Yes, I can, Lex/ Riley replied back.
"You haven't called me that since…since we first met, Riles," Alex said as she realized that detail.
\\Well, when one remembers that bit, they tend to remember everything…and, that's when I got to see what you were capable of doing as far as keeping steadfast loyalties to your friends/ Riley replied back.
Alex was a bit crushed at the 'friends' part, but Alex soon ignored it as she saw Ben put in his earpiece.
"Ok, Ben, can you hear me and Riley loud and clear, right?" Alex asked her older brother.
/Yeah. Where did you get these again, may I inquire?\\ Ben asked Alex from the other end.
"Sadusky loaned me a few items to use while I was working for them during the Templar treasure hunt…afterwards, he didn't ask for them back, so I kept them. I hoped that I would use them at a future time, so I made sure to keep them at hand. Aren't you glad that I did that?" Alex asked as she smiled to herself.
\\You could have told me this beforehand, since you're James Bond here, Alex/ Riley said, making Alex roll her eyes in amusement.
"Oh, don't worry, Q…not all is lost…" Alex replied back, getting a laugh from Riley.
/If you're done with the taunting, 007, can we get on with this? I'd like to get to the desk while we're still young…and burning daylight here,\\ Ben said.
"Party pooper…aww, shit…" Alex said before she saw a familiar face as Ben was facing the stairs. "Ben…what is Abby doing there?"
Soon, Alex saw Ben talking to Abigail. The two seemed to have a small argument about something.
/I appreciate you trying to help, but it's kind of a bad time right now,\\ she heard Ben say to his ex-girlfriend.
/\A bad time?/\ Abigail's voice asked on the earpiece.
/It's a bad time.\\
/\I just flew all the way to England to help you, and…/\
/You're the one making a scene here.\\
/\I'm not making a scene!/\
"Ben, pull an 'Ernie and Bert'…make a darn scene here," Alex said, with Riley agreeing her with.
\\Wait, what's an 'Ernie and Bert'?/ Riley asked.
"Wait and you'll see," Alex said, knowing what was about to happen.
(Ben and Abigail's POV)
"Well, fine! If's that how you want it, let's have it out right now!" Ben said as he screamed at the top of his lungs.
\\Ah, so subtle/ Riley said over the earpiece.
/Tell me about it,\\ Alex said with a hint of laughter in her tone.
(Riley's POV)
Riley shook his head in amusement as he heard Ben act all loud and really rude on his earpiece. This was something that both Cass and Alex would have done back when the three of them were still attending college. Riley smiled at the memories the two girls did and it was really hilarious, even when Alex had punched Mia Bernhardt's nose into her face. Clearly, from day one, Alex and Mia never really got along with one another, giving each other fuel to burn more and more with a hatred that would eventually have Alex snap and react to a comment made about Riley's lack of getting a girlfriend at the time. He wouldn't have told Cass about it, but Alex had told him, at one point, that she would have chosen him to date than any of the guys she came to know of during her entire life…and that meant a lot to Riley then…and it still has to this day.
(Normal POV)
"That…was brilliant," Alex said, with Riley saying that as well, as Ben and Abigail were taken to the security level of the palace.
\\And, I think that gets us directly where we need them to be, Lex/ Riley said as Alex heard typing on his end.
"Yup…now, if you don't mind…I think I'll take a nap," Alex said as she settled into the driver's seat and closed her eyes.
Not even fifteen minutes later was Alex abruptly awakened from her nap. The sound of a fire alarm was heard over on her earpiece, thus waking Alex from the pleasant dreams of her and a really toned-body Riley.
/Alex, I hope you're ready for us,\\ Ben said over on her earpiece.
"Yeah, I am…and I shall give my thanks to whoever woke me from my nap…" Alex said with a hint of actually killing something…or someone in this case, in her words.
\\Sorry...that would be me/ Riley replied.
"Remind me to give you a few good swift kicks to your arse when you get here…" Alex groaned out as she stretched out her arms and legs in the car.
After doing that, she looked at the rearview mirror to see the three making their way to the car…running to the car, more like it.
"Don't tell me something bad…" Alex said under her breath as she got the car started.
Thankfully, she had the car unlocked, so the three got in easily.
"Drive," Ben said as he climbed into the back with Abigail; Riley got into the front passenger seat, thinking that he would drive the car. "We're in England, Riley. Driver's side is on the right."
"All right, buckle up and hang on to your pants," Alex said as she shifted to reverse and drove backwards, nearly taking down one of Wilkinson's men as she drove. "Please don't tell me that he's here, Ben."
"All right…he is," Ben replied flat-out.
"Great…" Alex said as she swerved the car so that she could shift the car into drive and drove as quickly as she could allow the car to go.
The chase being on, Alex swerved in and out of traffic, causing Ben to yell out 'Watch it, watch it' to her even few seconds.
"Ben, please…for my sake, just let me drive," Alex said as she pulled the emergency brakes as she drifted, nearly colliding with a double-decker bus.
Alex drove to where she was behind a truck with beer canisters in the back of the truck. Making a quick decision, Alex pulled to the right side of the road.
"Are you insane?!" Ben yelled out as Alex drove the BMW next to the truck.
"Ben…SHUT UP!" Alex said as she swerved back onto the left side in front of the truck before pulling into a side alley.
Alex continued to drive at the rate she was going, knowing that she was going to be yelled at by Ben later. She drove through an intersection, nearly scaring her fellow passengers to death.
"Does anyone have a camera on their phone?" Ben asked after Abigail told him that hers was broken.
"Yeah…Riley, at your feet is my phone. Pull it out," Alex said as Riley did that and gave her phone to Ben.
Alex heard a couple of shots taken before handing the phone back to Riley and passing a piece of wood to Alex. Alex took a quick glance at the piece of wood before her eyes widen.
"Ben, do you know what this IS?!" Alex exclaimed loudly.
"Just throw it!" Ben yelled at her.
With a small whimper, Alex chucked the wood out the window, over the side of the bridge and into the Thames River. Alex continued to drive at the rate she was going till she was driving on the outskirts of London. Only then did she pull over and killed the engine to the car.
"You wanna tell me as to why I just threw a piece of Olmec history out the window?" Alex asked Ben as she turned in her seat.
"You know it was Olmec?" Abigail asked.
"Yeah…I did," Alex replied before realizing something. "Oh, we are NOT bringing her into this, Ben," Alex said as she started the car again before driving back to London.
Author's Note: Ok, you know the drill. Click on the Review button, please. As you can tell, I had to put in a flashback that is the setting of one of the oneshots that I did for NT. It's called Admiration. Check it out so that you can get a sense of what I was referring to here. Also, next chapter, you get to see more of Alex's past AND Riley gets to do a romance scene with Alex there.
-Jade Opal-