Before you continue with the story, I would like to make a sincere apology to all of my dedicated readers who have stuck with me for the seven months that I went away. I have recently had many issues regarding my family and since I understand your curiosity, I shall explain my absence as briefly as I can.

My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after I posted the last chapter. I am happy to report that she is doing well now and currently undergoing chemotherapy. Needless to say, it had significantly impacted my ability to write and continue with this chapter. Also, my parents were having serious talks about having a divorce. Me still being in high school with a younger brother to worry about, I was preoccupied during most of my spare time. I understand that many my of my readers have gotten impatient and I hope you can understand the situation I was in. Thanks again, for all of your support. I'm sorry for the short hiatus, but I hope I can make up for it with a chapter that is much longer than usual.

Disclaimer: The Alex Rider franchise does not belong to me.

Chapter 5: Mr. B and the Illustrious I

Cold. Alex was cold again. He blearily opened his eyes to see Yassen seated at the table, tapping quietly at his computer a few feet away.

Well, last night had certainly been interesting.

Yassen spared a glance at the Rider, "You slept well?"

"Yes I did, now I wonder why that is?" the teen drawled sarcastically. "What time is it?"

"Around 9:30 a.m." the elder said as he ignored the jibe, "You're adjusting to the time difference quite well."

"I suppose I'm used to it, with all the traveling that I do…" The Rider mused, stretching languidly on the bed. "Why is the air conditioning on? It's fucking freezing."

Yassen frowned, "It's not that cold. Go put a sweater on."

Alex snorted, "Says the man of steel." Nonetheless, he got up and layered on clothing. Returning to the bed, Alex glanced at his companion.

Sitting at the desk, the Russian was unusually stiff. From his vantage point, Alex couldn't see the laptop screen, but whatever Yassen was reading had to be bad news. 'God, the man was gorgeous though', Alex mused. 'Stop, this man killed Ian. And he's almost old enough to be my dad!'

"Are you hungry?" Yassen's low voice shook him from his thoughts. "Room service came an hour and a half ago, but I figured you would prefer the sleep."

Alex cleared his thoughts and glanced at the cold pancakes with scrambled eggs on the cart. Key word: cold. "I think I'm okay for now. Thanks for letting me sleep in."

"You're going to need it," Yassen replied. "We're moving out today, it appears that the press are not the only people interested in you." The elder waved Alex over, and gestured at the laptop. "It's a report from I…"

"What?" the Rider immediately became serious and quickly went over to look. As he scanned the message, his face went from curiosity to suspicion and finally, to anger.

C-

I have been observing a certain organization's movements for many months now, under your request. I have recently acquired new information that might interest you; it is regarding your current dilemma with the illusive Mr. B.

It appears that he has struck a deal with said organization and is planning on giving his and receiving their full cooperation to reveal the truth.

As for my personal opinion on the matter, I feel that after they have captured their target, Mr. B will be given ample time in which to perfect his already developing fairy tale story of the target and include a horrific ending by the hands of said organization, or perhaps, he will refer to them as the enemy that he was sent to destroy…which will turn out to be true. After this work is published and the repercussions start to sink in, our darling Mr. B will soon have become a celebrity for having unearthed the crime of the century.

I sincerely hope my efforts have not gone to waste. Use this information well; I shall await your next request eagerly.

-I

"Damn it," the younger growled, slamming his palm onto the table. "What's going on, Yassen? Who's Mr. B and what organization? How long has this been going on for? Answer me!"

The Russian leaned back into his chair and stared out the window. "Calm down, Alex. Let me think for a moment."

The Rider sighed and trudged back to the bed, burying his face in a pillow.

"Alex," Yassen said suddenly after a couple minutes of uncomfortable silence. "The organization I mentioned is Scorpia."

The younger gasped, sitting up and staring at the elder.

"Mr. B is our current alias for the man who has been tailing you," Yassen continued, turning to look at his companion. "According to I's report, he's joined with Scorpia to get what he wants. After Mr. B gets his information, Scorpia will finish you while he makes it into some heroic event that he was, miraculously, fortunate enough to witness."

"Tch," Alex scoffed.

"When he publishes his book, he will be seen as a hero for 'revealing the true face of the secret service' and the public will hail him as a celebrity for doing your name justice." The Russian frowned, a harsh crease showing between his brows. "In the end, he'll be famous, you'll be dead, and Scorpia will have fully recovered from the blows you dealt to it."

Alex remained silent for some time. He wasn't exactly shocked per say, he had previously learned to deal with the situations thrust upon him by setting his brain on autopilot and sort of blanking out…because he was on his own. Now, with Yassen here, he felt the ice cold rush that spread from his chest to his extremities and onto the roots of the hairs on his head. It was fear. He shook his head to clear it, and clenched the bed sheets tightly with his fingers. "Why is my life such a mess?"

"Because you have talent, Alex. You have potential. If I were to be cheesy I'd say it was hereditary, but that matters not. The truth of the matter is that you cannot run anymore, you…we need to face this threat and get to terms with MI6."

"Yassen," Alex whispered. "I will be completely honest with you. Despite being young -I know you look down on me for entering this profession at my age- I have survived long enough to get to this point in my life on my own. But I've never been in this type of situation before. I understand now why we didn't stay in England. With Mr. B on my tail, MI6 will be forced to ignore me, even destroy me if it comes to it. We are alone with two organizations holding a flame to our asses and have limited resources. I have no idea what to do…"

Yassen nodded, "That's the general gist of things. I have several contacts that I know are reliable and I want to get out of this as much as you do. First, we'll need a safer place to plan and gather gear. We'll need to leave the country again."

Alex grunted in affirmation, "How do you know this…I is reliable? He seems different from the last time I saw his correspondence with you."

"Its all a façade," the Russian explained quickly. "We need not know who he is or what he's like as long as he gives us the information we require."

"Okay."

"I'll go shopping to get the supplies," Yassen got up and quickly left the room.

"What supp-" Alex started, but the door slammed shut.

-Later-

"Holy hell! Wow…that's-"

"-the point, its necessary. Brace yourself."

"AHAA, be gentle, its my first time!"

"That's obvious."

"Damn it, that hurts!"

"I know it does, just relax, the worst part is over. Better?"

"Ugh, ow, yeah…"

"Ready for more?"

"Mmm, ok."

Alex grit his teeth as Yassen plunged it in a second time and then a third. [What're you thinking about? o_O] When it was finally done, the teen had three new piercings, one in each ear lobe and one in the cartilage of his right ear. Oh, and did he mention that his hair and eyebrows were now dyed black? Bam, all in a couple hours work.

"It looks presentable," Yassen murmured as he stepped back to study the boy carefully. "It certainly fits the teenage boy image nowadays."

Alex sighed, as he scrutinized at his new look. The black made his features stand out more, but it was the haircut that really made him look different. Having maintained his longer hair for many years, having most of it cut off had Alex feeling very exposed. Yassen had taken a pair of scissors and promptly chopped off the better part of his bangs and neatly trimmed the back…it looked surprisingly good. The elder had then taken some hair paste and tousled his now dyed locks a bit. From Alex's view, it looked good. Damn good.

"What about you?" he asked curiously.

Yassen rubbed his jaw that had about three days worth of stubble. "This'll have to do."

Alex smirked, the dark blond hairs made the Russian look rugged and incredibly handsome. "Well, if your goal is to have every lady looking your way, then you've definitely pulled it off."

The elder cast him a withering glare. "You're so immature. Now, put these in."

He handed Alex a pair of colored contacts. They were a cloudy silver; a quick glance at Yassen's confirmed they were the same. 'Of course,' the teen mentally berated himself. 'They'd be traveling as father and son!'

"Well," Alex dabbed his eyes with a tissue. "How does it look?"

Yassen reached in to fix the younger's hair and nodded, "Fitting."

He handed the Rider a black, Avenged Sevenfold t-shirt and dark skinny jeans. "Try those on, I think they're your style," Yassen teased, smirking.

Alex wrinkled his nose at the tight looking pants and muttered as he changed, "Since when did you become a fashion stylist?"

"Since I decided that my 'son' is in dire need of a makeover," was Yassen's straight-faced reply. "Hmm, it looks pretty good on you, Alex. What do you think, champ? Going to get all the girls?"

Alex flushed "Stop it."

Yassen only laughed and went to change into his getup.

While the elder swapped clothes, the teen took time to examine his. The t-shirt was nice, and he was somewhat a fan of the band so it all worked out. But the jeans were slightly awkward. They hung low at his hips and were loose enough through the thighs, but hugged his calves a little too comfortably for Alex's usual taste.

He turned to Yassen to see what the elder had picked for himself: a slate gray undershirt with a dark blue cardigan over it paired with casual jeans and aviator sunglasses from Giorgio Armani. 'Bloody hell, he looks so sex-"

"See something you like, Rider?" Yassen drawled.

"Shut up," Alex scowled, not bothering to deny it. "Lets just get the hell out of here."

-Airplane-

They sat in the cramped quarters of the economy class section of the airplane quietly as Alex got accustomed to the seats. Earlier when Alex had asked why they wouldn't be traveling in their usual style, Yassen had replied that they'd stand out too much, albeit that he didn't exactly enjoy being covert or anything.

Alex groaned as a young woman sat in the vacant seat next to Yassen. 'Merlin, I'm going to have to put up with endless flirting for the entire flight!'

"Hi there, my name's Marie," she said as she flounced into her seat, clearly overjoyed to sit next to such a dashing young man. "What's yours?"

"Evan," Yassen responded pleasantly.

"Nice you meet you," the lady smiled a bit too enthusiastically. She was flaky, Alex decided. Her clothes were two sizes too small and she definitely wore too much makeup. "So, is this your first trip to France?"

"Yes, actually," the Russian responded, his Chicago accent clear and perfect. "I know there's school and all but we felt it was time to pay a visit to his mother," he said, gesturing to Alex.

The Rider sank lower in his seat, playing his part as the disgruntled teen to the letter. "No, you decided that we should go. I had a project due today, that we had to turn in Friday because I was leaving. My friends are going to hate me!"

"Now, now, Alex," Yassen smirk as he 'chastised' his 'son'. "Don't go mouthing off like that in public."

"Fucker," Alex muttered smugly, pulling out an ipod and pretending to blast music. It was a gift, actually, from Yassen. The ipod touch was actually a bug sweeper that could emit waves to short circuit any type of listening or recording device, and of course, do all the other things that an itouch could do. Wonderful how much technology can make or break a person.

"So," the woman continued, despite the fact that the object of her fancies was obviously already taken. He could always be divorced, right? "What is your wife doing all the way in France? I'm sure you two had a lovely life here in America…"

"Ah, I'm afraid that's a bit of a private matter," Yassen politely changed the subject. "But tell me about yourself, what is a…lovely young woman such as yourself doing alone on a trip to France?"

Marie blushed profusely, "Well…um…I-"

Just then, Yassen's cell phone rang. "You'll have to excuse me, I have to take this."

The woman's face fell dejectedly, but stayed silent.

"Hello?"

"This is the all-knowing and marvelously well-informed 'I'."

Yassen grinned slightly at his contact's antics. "Why darling, it is so nice of you to call! We're just about to depart from home. I know it has only been two days since we last talked, but I've missed you more than you can imagine."

"Ah, so the great Yassen Gregorovich is in a pickle, is he not. Well then, I shall get right to the point." The mystery correspondent continued, catching on to the assassin's ploy.

"Oh I'm wonderful, aside from missing you, of course," Yassen continued, grimacing internally. "I've thought of you every night since you left."

Alex took it upon himself to make the appropriate gagging noises at that. He already suspected whom Yassen was talking with.

"We are two steps ahead of our adversaries at the moment. And since you have paid me so well, I will provide you with safe lodging after you land in the motherland. Ah, Paris, how I miss it."

"Goodness darling, I'm terribly sorry to say, but I seem to have neglected to search for our transport after we land," the Gregorovich hinted. "I was in such a rush to come see you, I'm afraid I for some things."

Sitting next to him, Marie's hopes were utterly crushed as she heard 'Evan' speaking with his 'wife' in such affectionate tones. Oh! She couldn't take it anymore! In a rush of frustration, she called the flight attendant over and switched her seat to an empty one on the opposite side of the cabin…next to a drooling, fat douche in his late-40's, at least he was interested in her story.

Alex was impressed, well that took care of one pressing issue…

'I shall have a car waiting for you with the keys under the tire on the driver's side. You won't be able to miss it.'

Yassen, seeing the woman leave, heaved a sigh and kept on talking as he had, "You are too good to me, darling. I shall see you soon."

"Of course, I shall send word to you after you have had ample time to rest. Fear not, brave warrior, I will assist you as much as my position will allow…provided I get paid enough. Ta-ta!"

Yassen groaned as he turned to Alex after hanging up. "He is certainly quite the eccentric character. I suppose you were listening in?"

Alex quirked a brow as he nodded, he had discovered the app on his itouch. "But he's trustworthy?"

"The best," Yassen affirmed.

An hour after take off, the pair settled into easy conversation.

As they talked, Alex noticed that the elder was inconspicuously tracking a certain female flight attendant as she doted on the other passengers. But as the teen opened his mouth to question him, Yassen casually got up and made his way to the lavatory. As he reached the door, he pulled the lovely lady in with him, making sure that nobody else noticed.

'Nobody' as in, excluding Alex.

"I should have known," the Rider scoffed silently. "He's always the best at everything, that probably includes being president of the Mile High Club as well…"

TBC

I figured it was time to finally get moving with the plot, but if its too fast, don't hesitate to point it out.
As always, reviews are greatly appreciated and alert me of any mistakes you guys find.
I hope to get new chapters posted as quickly as possible, but with school starting this week and sports, I'm unsure of when the next update will be.

Thanks for sticking with me, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. *gives BIIIG cyber-hug*