(A/N: Hope this is a good story so far... it's almost over...)

21. Aftermath

Alex took his sunglasses off- they were fairly lightly tinted- and glanced at Alex Meyer's bloody face. He opened the window and saw that Andrew was unconscious. Just in case, Alex lugged him back into the room. Alex Meyer sat down on a chair, wincing. Vivie handed him a towel as the door opened.

"Vivie? Alex… and other Alex? Are you guys okay?"

"I think we knocked him out," Alex called out, remembering the snake move and wondering if it was a fatal bite or not. But he wasn't going to be the one to check. Since nothing was slithering out, Alex decided that it had left or it had died from the impact.

When Nessa entered, she was obviously more concerned about the teenagers than if they had gotten Andrew. "Vivie… I'm so sorry."

Vivie shrugged, gazing strangely at her stepmother. "Sure, whatever. Just where is everyone?"

"Right here." Luke, Angela, Carson, Lissy, and Austin entered, along with policemen who were giving Alex Meyer the eye. He was wiping his face with the towel, and he grinned sheepishly, excusing himself to go wash his face. Alex didn't blame him.

"Alex… Vivie… what happened?"

The room was quite a scene- there was some blood, Tree Frog bottles, discarded sunglasses, a bunch of plugs, tapes, a dead (or unconscious) body- he didn't blame Nessa for her question. It wasn't like the typical house scene at all. Alex grimaced. This could be fun sorting out.

"This is going to take some explaining," Vivie remarked.

"Why don't we show them the tape?" Alex suggested. "Where did you get the sunglasses?"

"I'll get more," Vivie volunteered. Alex shot her a grateful look as she left. Alex Meyer entered moments later, his face cleaned. He glanced down at Andrew tentatively.

"Is he dead?"

"I don't know," Alex admitted. "I'm not touching him."

"I'm good too. Someone else is more than welcome to do the honors."

One of the policemen checked while Vivie handed out sunglasses and Alex plugged the TV in. Luke, of course, was the one who had to ask.

"Why do we need to wear sunglasses again?"

"Weren't you paying attention? You're the one who figured it out."

Luke's hazel eyes widened in realization. "Oh, the subliminal messages…"

"And controlling the weather," Vivie interjected. "Nessa, I… he's just like Aaron."

"If he managed to finish showing that broadcast, we'd be dead- he put everyone under a trance if they watched him, and they were supposed to kill everyone else today. The subliminal messages were hidden throughout the program, and he'd influence the weather," Alex Meyer explained. "We unplugged it before the last L could show."

"Meyer, have they watched the weather channel?"

"Good point. Where's those Tree Frog bottles?"

"I got some," Vivie announced and distributed them. Not all of them had been affected, and the ones who had been were out for a while. That gave everyone time to catch up.

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"He really chained you guys like that?" Luke asked, knowing about Aaron's habits and guessing that Andrew was the same way. Aaron had chained Angela to be sitting on Luke's lap once. That had definitely been strange.

"I can always tell Rider about you and Angela."

"That's fine with me- he already knows about you and Vivie."

"I saw it with my own eyes, Farrior," Alex Rider acknowledged. Luke's hazel eyes widened, and he put a hand over his mouth. Alex hit him on the head.

"You're not going to have any brain cells if you keep doing that, Farrior. Brain cells don't reproduce, and every time you act stupid, I hit you on the head, and since you act stupid on a very consistent basis-"

"Aw, shush, Meyer. What happened to your ankle?"

"I tripped… this place is a mess…"

"I'm sorry about everything, you guys. I should have realized what was going on sooner."

Alex Rider shrugged off Nessa's apology. "He, no one else ever bothered to apologize to me. You don't have to keep apologizing."

"Are you serious?" Lissy demanded, standing up. The last time Alex had seen Lissy this angry was when Nessa and Austin had announced their relationship. Nessa seemed to realize this too.

"Lissy, please calm down."

"You're not my mom! I don't have parents!" she shrieked. Carson grabbed her and firmly grasped her shoulders.

"E-Liz, whether you like it or not, Nessa's your legal guardian now. Look, she apologized. Can't you deal with it?"

Lissy shoved him away from her and opened the window, then jumped out and disappeared. Carson watched helplessly, then slumped over and buried his face in his hands. Alex's anger burned against Lissy. How could she do that to Carson, as angry as she was? But there was no reason for her to say those things to Carson. Carson wouldn't- couldn't- lie.

Maybe that was the reason for Lissy's anger- because she couldn't deny it. Anyone that knew Carson was aware of his integrity, and Lissy had known him forever. How did Carson deal with having to spend so much time with her?

Alex realized that that was a little harsh- and, in a twisted way, hypocritical. Vivie could be as difficult to deal with as Lissy, if not more so. But he loved Vivie like he loved no other in the world. That was the reason for it.

Alex had to wonder about Alex Rider- he was good-looking, after all. Was there a girl that he loved too but couldn't have? Alex could identify well with that feeling- being rejected. But he'd probably find someone soon- Alex had the feeling that he wouldn't be single long. He made a mental note to talk to him about it. For now, they needed to do something.

"I'll go get her." To Alex's surprise, Alex Rider and Luke had spoken at the same time- and the exact same words. They both glared at each other now- few people irked Luke, but Luke irked everyone- and they began bickering.

"Farrior, you screw up everything. I'll go."

"You don't even know Lissy!"

"Neither do you- you're always making out with Angela!"

"We don't make out enough," Angela complained under her breath. If she was kidding, her joke didn't help any of the tension in the room.

"Ange isn't the only person I care about, Rider. Where's your girl, huh?"

"Because of the stupid problem in your stupid town, I'm stuck here and I can't see her!" Alex Rider seethed. Ooh, defensive. Alex knew that this was a touchy subject.

"Why don't you both go?" Alex asked before it could get worse. There was actually fire in Luke's eyes- and Alex couldn't remember the last time that he had seen Luke like that. He couldn't remember a single time at the moment. Maybe Luke, ironically, was more mature than Alex saw him.

"Fine," they both snapped. They then fought over who would leave first, and finally, Alex interfered again.

"Pick a number between twenty and forty!"

"Twenty-three," Luke sulkily decided.

"Twenty-three and a half."

Alex groaned. "It was thirty-four. Go, Rider." He did, and Luke followed. Alex watched them leave and sincerely hoped that they didn't murder each other doing this…