A/N: I hope that you liked, I apologize for the delay. While I won't stop writing, updates will be sporadic because I am working 28 and 1/2 hours for internship in addition to college classes. But I will try and get the material out to you.

Thanks for the overwhelming reviews - let's make it to 300! :-)

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Alex was not usually one that wanted to mess around and take time with things. Normally, Alex wanted to move as quickly and as easily as possible; he wanted an easy fix to the problem. Right now, however, he did not want an easy solution to the problem, because he knew what that would be: death. He swallowed hard, not willing to give in and whine about his situation.

Alex had never been the type to understand that. Why would whining help a situation? For him, every time he had complained, it had only made his situation worse… much worse. He swallowed hard, thinking about the one time, the only time, he'd complained to Ian Rider.

"I don't want to be here," he'd whined. Alex had been studying his shoes intently for the past five minutes and was bored out of his skull. He had been sitting there the last twenty-five minutes, and could have told you every single detail in the room. He didn't know what Ian Rider was doing, or why he needed this computer. Why couldn't he work at home? Why did he have to work here?

More importantly, why did he have to bring Alex here? Alex almost growled but caught himself, staring instead at his red-and-white shoes. The laces were all white except for one blood stain that was nearly invisible. Alex had bled on them when he'd been tossed down the stairs yesterday.

Ian whirled around, facing Alex like he was his worst enemy. "I thought I told you not to talk!" Ian Rider barked. He grabbed Alex under the armpits, and, before Alex could make any noise, he dragged him to the closet.

"Ian!" Alex pleaded. He as terrified of closets, and Ian knew this. Actually, Ian Rider was instrumental in this. Whenever Ian was over, he always found some way to lock Alex in the closet, regardless of what crime he had or hadn't committed.

Alex's last crime was eating supper, and he had been locked in the closet for nearly two days for his "offense." He loathed it whenever Ian Rider was over for this reason, amongst others.

A psychiatrist would have fun with his family, Alex morbidly thought.

"Shut the hell up, Alex," Ian barked. He grabbed Alex again and shoved him into the closet. He forced Alex to roll over, and took the time to tie his hands behind his back with a white, dirty rope and gag his mouth with an old but clean red and white bandanna.

That time, Alex Rider stayed in there for almost 78 hours.

He had never complained again.

Alex was snapped out of his thoughts by the car pulling to a stop. "We're here," Ian chuckled. "I want you," he said, pointing his M16 weapon at Eagle, "to step out of the car, and dropdown to your knees. Throw the keys in the grass – we won't need them. Then lace your hands behind your head and don't move. Any move you make that isn't on that list will get your little buddy over here killed. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it."

Ian Rider grabbed Eagle by his neck, using his hands to shove the man back over the car seat. "You talked," he growled angrily. His dirty teeth showed as he growled, revealing the fact that he was a chain-smoker. "I didn't say you could talk."

Despite the seriousness of the situation Alex almost snorted. As if anyone could tell Eagle to do anything he didn't want to do. Mildly, he wondered what Eagle's name was, but didn't ask. He exhaled very slowly as he looked at the ground, wondering if there was any way he could just be left in the car when his eyes lit upon something that he noticed: a lighter.

Specifically, Eagle's lighter. It was dark red, the color that Eagle loved to use. Alex didn't hesitate but quickly slipped it into his pocket. Ian had already searched him and probably wouldn't think about looking again for something that was there, right? Alex smirked but quickly swallowed it as he saw Eagle kneel in the grass and lace his hands behind his head.

Wow. Eagle could really listen if he wanted too.

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Wolf was understandably nervous as he got out of the car and stared at the house. After all, this was the last known location of Eagle and Alex. The pictures that the sergeant's wife had been holding confirmed that much; they showed Eagle being forced to kneel on the ground, Ian Rider holding a gun to the man's head. The sergeant had faxed a copy of the picture to the police, who had informed him that they didn't care and that they weren't going to waste their time looking.

They said that if they didn't manage to find Eagle or Alex to call back within three days, and then they'd look for the two boys.

Wolf was furious and he knew the sergeant was as well. The police officer, even with the faxed photo, had bluntly accused Eagle of setting up and orchestrating the event. "How well do you even know the man?" he'd barked.

One interesting thing that had come out of the situation was that Wolf had finally learned Eagle's real name. It was Jason Phillip White. That, Wolf found to be interesting. Wolf had never known anyone named Jason before.

"Hey, Katakana, Fox, did you find anything?" Wolf and Snake had been scoping out the inside of the house while Fox and Katakana had been scoping out the inside of the house.

"Oh, yeah," Fox responded. "One of the knives is missing, and you've got to see this."

"You do realize that one of the knives could have just been in the dishwasher?" Wolf asked as the trio made their way into the kitchen.

Katakana shook his head. "This isn't a game of hide and seek, Wolf. Normally, I wouldn't have even thought about this, but look – it's the slot for the biggest knife. The biggest knife is laid out here, on the table. Then their smallest knife, if you notice here, is missing from this set."

Wolf stared at Katakana, his mouth agape. "How do you even know all this?" he demanded.

"My mother had the same bread set. When I was younger, I would always try and remove a knife to see if she would notice. She always did, and she taught me her tricks," Katakana responded. At Snake's curious look, he responded, "Yes, my mother is Japanese, and knives are very important to her… for cooking," he responded. "I do not know why someone would take the smallest knife and leave the biggest one; that leads me to believe they were trying to conceal it on their person and already had a weapon."

Snake nodded as he put on a pair of gloves and pulled out the second-biggest knife. "This knife isn't all that tiny. How big would you say the smallest knife is?"

Katakana frowned thoughtfully. "I do not know, maybe about double the size of your average bread knife. I do not think that the size really matters. I think what matters more is that we know the kidnapper is armed and dangerous."

"He's more than that," Fox called from the living room. "Hey, come and look at this!" Katakana and Fox had only had a chance to inspect the kitchen before they'd noticed the missing knife.

"What's up?" Katakana asked before he paused. He knelt down and frowned. "This is definitely blood on this carpet," he said as he glanced at Wolf.

"Do you think it could be…" Wolf didn't say what he was truly feeling out loud. Do you think it could be Eagle's or Alex's blood?

"No," Katakana responded with a dismissive sound. "It is way too old. Touch it."

Snake ripped off his gloves and did as he was ordered. "I see what you mean," he responded, "It's almost as if it was crusted into the carpet – there's no way that is their blood."

"But that's a hell of a lot of blood," Wolf responded with a glare at Katakana. Even if he trusted the man he still preferred to work with K-Unit. They worked well as a unit. At least Katakana was a better solider than the last one they'd had substitute on the team. "How did the people cleaning the house miss this?"

"I think we have to look at the possibility that nobody even checked this house," Katakana spoke up. He had always loved detective novels, and here was a chance for him to use his readings in the field. "Otherwise they would have found this blood. I would wager that it's months old."

Snake was next to speak the chilling words. "I think we need to avoid the police department here all together," he responded, "there's someone dirty on that squad, or multiple people who are dirty. It's clear they aren't doing their job."

"I completely agree," Wolf responded.

"Which means," Fox said, "we're on our own." As if they couldn't already tell that.

Suddenly, the door burst open with a loud, rattling noise. All of the members of the SAS jumped up. Wolf pressed in front of his team, always the leader. He held his gun and was ready for action.

So was the New York Police Department. "This is the New York Police Department," the first man said. It was obvious that he was the leader from the way he spoke. "Drop down to the floor and get on your knees. You're under arrest for the kidnapping of Jason Phillip White and Alex Blunt."

The next thing they knew, a bullet fired, and Katakana was knocked down with a cry as the SWAT team raided the area.

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Here's your challenge:

Should Katakana get to live?

Where will Eagle and Alex go? How evil is Ian Rider? Will he kill Eagle?

Okay, that's a lot of challenges. Take your pick.

Free virtual cookies to anyone who leaves feedback or a review. I'm offering 10 virtual cookies for each review, so go for it!