When Ashlyn came to get them the next day, Alex took careful note of the fresh cut above her eye, the livid bruises on her arms. But she ignored questions about them, and everyone soon gave up.

She'd placed them all in the same car they'd been in the day before. Rose sat next to Alex again, but this time she didn't glare at him. He briefly noted the ring on her index finger, one that hadn't been there the day before. It was a simple green gem in a silver web.

Jerry was sitting one seat ahead of them, shooting murderous glances at anyone that came in his range of sight. He was wearing all black today, but Alex could tell they had a purpose, and he wasn't just wearing them to make a fashion statement.

Somewhat absentmindedly, he started ticking through what he knew about Jerry. He was ruled by logic, never did anything he didn't think about first, was more than a little paranoid, and never trusted anyone he didn't have good reason to trust.

Rose was slightly different. Paranoid, of course, but most assassins and killers had to be. But she would do anything to make sure a job got done, even if it involved teamwork or double-crossing, as Alex had found out the night before. She had a way of making you agree to anything she said. A brilliant negotiator, who made you think that everything she did was genuine, even if your reasonable side was screaming at you to run and hide.

He thought for a moment. If he had to choose which one was more dangerous, he'd have to pick Rose. Jerry's actions might be more calculated, more logical, and more accurate with everything he did, but Rose was more likely to cause mayhem. While Jerry might attack a fly with a proper flyswatter (And be successful), Rose would be at it with a tank (and still be successful, just with more carnage to deal with afterwards).

They pulled up to their destination. It looked like a great glob of nothing; completely abandoned, covered in thick grass.

They all got out slowly, reluctant to leave the car with its heating and floors that weren't wet like the greenery below them would undoubtedly be.

Alex followed Ashlyn. He noticed Rose and Jerry lagging behind. He saw her place a hand on his and giggle slightly. He looked at her coldly, and she smiled and skipped over to Alex, where her expression became more serious.

"What was that about?" Alex asked coolly.

She chuckled. "Jealous?"

He didn't really have an answer to that one.

She smiled and showed him her hand, palm upwards. The ring she was wearing was concealing a needle on its underside. "Only enough to stun the poor thing." She said with fake sympathy.

"You are a snake."

She smiled. "And loving it, Felix. And loving it."

He looked at her, unable to stop the smile that crept onto his face. "Remind me to never let you get too close to me."

She chuckled and kissed his cheek like she had the night before, then ran off calling, "Too late!"

He shook his head, chuckling, before noticing that Ashlyn was watching. Her black eyes were cold and thoughtful, her face calculating.

He swallowed and looked away, unable to stand the unnatural gaze that seemed to be penetrating through him, seeing into his mind and reaching into his memories, his deepest fears, dragging them to the surface…

He turned to look at Lance, at Jerry, at anyone that wasn't the artificial and unnatural Ashlyn Corby, away from the strange cut that appeared on her face.

Because it was probably only his imagination. He hadn't really seen it, he couldn't have.

He couldn't have seen metal under the blood on Ashlyn Corby's face.

But, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't look back at her either, to make sure he had been wrong.

Ashlyn's brilliant black eyes continued to watch them, glittering strangely as they walked up to a small house in the otherwise abandoned area.

"Booby trapped." Ashlyn explained to the three of them as they stood in front of it. "Trip wires, lasers, everything security measure you can think of is behind those doors. You are to take out the target through all those traps." Her teeth flashed as she smiled. "Weaponless."

Rose glared at her. "No." She said simply.

Ashlyn's horrible smile widened and she held out her hand. "I'm afraid so, Rose. So if you could please give me your knife…"

Alex had known it was inevitable. They needed to be weaponless, powerless. Though he wasn't completely sure his would work if he tried it.

But this was what MI6 had wanted. And it was what MI6 got.

Trying his best to look reluctant, he pulled out the gun. Jerry did the same, though Rose looked like she was about to shove her poisoned ring down Ashlyn's throat.

One of Ashlyn's too-perfect eyebrows rose in a flawless motion. "Rose, please. I don't want to hurt you."

Rose's eyes narrowed murderously. Alex gently placed a hand on hers, purposely toying with the ring.

The corner of Rose's lip twitched upwards, and Alex knew she'd gotten the idea. She handed the knife to Ashlyn, her expression still livid, but then turned and winked at Alex. She wasn't completely weaponless.

Alex questioned the logic behind reminding a potentially dangerous person that they still possessed a weapon, but he had his own reasons. Particularly one for self-preservation. If things turned ugly, at least one of them could help defend the others.

Ashlyn smiled at them all. "You'll go in one at a time, into each separate room." She looked at Jerry. "Starting with you."

Jerry smiled, though the motion was as cold and careful as all of his other actions. He went inside, his movements swift and fluid as he did so.

They waited for a moment before Ashlyn turned to Rose. "Your turn."

Rose smiled as well, then raced inside.

Alex waited for her to order him inside, already tensed and ready for whatever they tried to throw at him. He'd battled with Scorpia; this should look like child's play. At least, he hoped.

Suddenly, his eyes caught something else. A figure, stealing into the building, moving with absolute silence. It opened the back door and disappeared.

Lance.

But at that point, Ashlyn nodded to him, and he ran inside.

The first thing he noticed was the trip wire. He looked at it, trying to seem confident, and leapt over it.

He froze, knowing that this could very well just lead into another trap. He swore as he realized he was right. A laser beamed right in front of him.

He looked at it for a long time, mapping out where others were starting to shoot from the walls. He snorted. Lasers. Classic.

But difficult.

He looked at them, mapping out the fastest route he could, then smirked.

There was the barest gap above the lasers, large enough for a child, but never an adult. The problem was getting up there.

He turned around, looking for something, anything, that could help. These people wouldn't have made it impossible…

The walls. They were mainly wood, and wood had beams, flaws, everything.

He ran up to it. Sure enough, there was a beam that looked strong enough to hold his weight. Two, actually, side by side.

He placed one hand on each, pressing against it as hard as he could, lifting himself partially off the ground before placing his feet there as well. It took a few tries, but he managed it in the end.

He took a deep breath. He should be able to get to the top by sliding upwards using his hands and feet. There were so many flaws in the plan, he'd be lucky if he didn't break his neck. But these people wanted him to be spectacular, so that was what he would be.

But he never got to see if that plan would work. Because, at that moment, everything went wrong.

"Jerry!

It was Rose. Her voice sounded tortured, horrible, terrified.

Alex dropped to the floor, searching for doors, in the room. Thankfully, no alarms went off as he passed through the lasers. Apparently, all that counted was the footage from the cameras pointed at him.

He found the door at the end, where the target was meant to be. He yanked it open, and…

He recoiled in horror. Blood pooled around the floor.

And there, among the crimson liquid, with a knife in his chest, was Jerry.

"Don't move." A murderous voice, cold and dark, sounded behind him. He breathed a sigh of relief as he recognized Rose's voice, then froze as he felt the needle pressed against the back of his neck.

"Rose, it's me. Felix."

"I know who it is!" The hate in her voice was phenomenal. "Was it you, Felix? Did you kill him?" The needle pressed closer. "Did you?"

"No!" He protested, trying to turn around. "No, Rose, it wasn't me! Please, you have to believe me! I didn't know…" He chocked, unable to take the sight of Jerry's limp form in front of him.

There was silence for a long time. Alex closed his eyes, expecting the needle to pierce into his skin, expecting the lifeless form of the former killer on the floor to be his last sight.

But Rose just chocked and dropped her hand, the needle with it. "I'll murder them." She vowed. "Every single one of them."

Alex turned to face her. "Rose…"

But there was a killer light in her eyes. "Don't stop me, Felix."

He knew there was nothing he could say. "It was Lance."

Her eyes blazed with a fury he had never seen. "How do you know?" She demanded, her voice barely a whisper.

"I saw him. Before I came in, I…" he trailed off, trying not to look at the pain in Rose's eyes.

Rose looked at him for a long time before walking over to Jerry and pulling the knife from his chest. She whispered a few words in what Alex thought was Russian, then stood, wiping the knife clean. "They'll pay for this." She turned to face Alex again. "Pay with their lives."

He swallowed, unsure how to talk her out of it, and unsure if he even wanted to.

She looked at him, her piercing gaze seeming to see right through him. They stayed in silence again, not knowing what to say.

Finally, Rose spoke up again. "I know you're not a killer by nature." She whispered. He was about to protest, but she held up a hand, cutting him off. "But I have to do this." She swallowed. "You're a… a…" She leaned over and whispered in his ear, presumably to hide her words from the cameras. "A spy, aren't you?"

He swallowed, unable to deny it. "How did you know?"

She sighed deeply, a miserable sound, and Alex could tell she was crying. "Because you don't have that killer's nature." She backed up and looked at him for a long time. "Who are you?"

He swallowed and went to whisper in her ear. He didn't want to deny it any longer. If she was a spy for the others, it was fine by him. Seeing Jerry like that… he didn't want it to continue.

"My name is Alex Rider."

Her breath caught in her throat. "The Alex Rider?" She asked.

He nodded once.

She looked at him, and there was silence once more.

And then she wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you." She whispered. "Thank you."

"For what?"

She looked at him. "My name is Christie." She said, not offering an explanation.

He smiled softly. "Well, Christie…"

She cut him off. "Scorpia killed my brother, Alex. My twin. Christian." Her eyes were filled with gratitude. "And you finished it for me. You did what I couldn't. You destroyed them." She hugged him tighter. "Without becoming the killer that I am."

She released him and, without another word, ran out the door.


Christie's eyes narrowed dangerously. This house was booby trapped, but now it was to her advantage.

"Here, Lance." She breathed, her hand tightening around the knife.


Ashlyn looked at the others, who had arrived minutes ago. "Inside, now. There are two of them. Surely you can handle that?"

They glared at her. There were at least twenty of them, all with (at minimum) military training. Many had once worked with Scorpia. Others were simply soldiers for hire.

"We don't take orders from children." One sneered.

Ashlyn's brilliant black eyes landed on him. In one swift, fluid motion, her hand was gripping his collar, dragging him down to her height. "Then you die, don't you?" her sharp teeth showed under her smile.

His eyes widened in fear as she released him, and he collapsed.

"I want them out of there! And I want him alive!"


Christie listened to the orders from the window, a killer's gleam in her eye. So, Ashlyn was introducing more players to this game. Fine by her.

She ran, waiting. This was her moment. She was in her element.

Because Christie had always been a killer.


They split up as they walked through the door, each of them searching. They'd been told that appearances were deceiving. Whatever that meant. But it was all the instruction they had, other than that they were looking for one male and one female. They had to bring out the male alive, the female didn't matter.

And they were only there for backup, anyway. If the two they were meant to retrieve had met, they were to go inside. Because as a team, the two could be unstoppable.

Suddenly, one of them froze. "Do you hear that?"

Everyone went silent.

"It sounds like…" Another one said. "Someone crying."

They followed the noise to a small cupboard, which they opened cautiously.

There, on the floor, was a child. She was sobbing violently. She looked at them with wide and terrified eyes.

"A child?" One asked.

They were all thrown for a moment. The child suddenly smiled darkly. "No. Your worst nightmare."

And then the world exploded.


One thing Alex had been sure of; Christie would need help.

He hurriedly explored the house. Not every trap was innocent and harmless. He soon found areas where knives were flung at him, bullets were fired, and arrows whizzed by his head.

But the supply cabinet was the icing on the cake.

With a smile that he must have picked up from Christie, he yanked out every deadly weapon he could keep in his arms at once. But in the end, all he really needed was the grenade.

He pulled out the pin and shoved it into the cupboard, then ran as fast as his legs would carry him. He guessed that it was designed to last a little longer than five seconds before exploding, but it did the job as he dropped to the floor.

The wall had been completely blasted through, and Alex smiled grimly as the dust began to settle.

And then he ran again.


Christie jabbed the needle in her ring into someone's ankle. He cried out as she sliced another person's leg with her knife, rolling once and landing on her feet.

Her elbow struck someone's nose, and her knife slashed by another person's side. She kept whirling expertly, fist, knife, and needle connecting with everyone there.

She'd probably taken down half of them before reinforcements came.


Alex raced down the hall, trying to ignore the growing stitch in his side. The machine gun he'd found was still clutched tightly in his hand.

He ran, now in a far different area than where he had been when he'd set the grenade. He lifted up the gun, took aim, and fired.


Christie smiled as the bullets sliced through the weakest points in the walls, and into the hallway from the other room.

She noted the look of panic on the soldiers' faces. They seemed certain that there were more than the two people that they were meant to recover.

She separated them expertly, dancing around with blade in hand.


Ashlyn Corby listened carefully to the sounds of explosions and gunfire, the sounds of people crying out in pain.

She sighed. "Really. Do I have to do everything myself?"


It took two more grenades and a lot more knife work before all of the soldiers were on the floor or gone, having run away when they 'realized' that there were more than two people here.

Christie's eyes blazed as she raced after those who were fleeing. "Where is Lance? WHERE IS LANCE?" But no one answered. Alex came up behind her and gently caught her shoulder. "We'll find him." He promised. "But you have to calm down!"

She halted and turned to face him, panting heavily, the battle still raging in her blood.

He took a deep breath, exhausted. He'd been running around and throwing well-placed grenades, trying to make it look like enemy fire was coming from all directions. It had worked, apparently.

"Well well." A voice sounded out that sent chills dancing across Alex. Christie held out her knife, crouched defensively.

Ashlyn Corby was surveying the carnage with mild interest. "More creative than I'd thought." She smiled. "But I highly doubt that you'll be able to scare me off so easily."

"Who says we have to scare you?" Christie demanded, acid lacing her voice. "I wouldn't mind just killing you."

Ashlyn smiled, that sharp-toothed smile that always sent fear through Alex's heart. "But can you, Rose? Do you really think you could kill me?"

"I can try."

Ashlyn laughed and easily dropped into a fighting stance. "Then do it."

Christie launched herself at Ashlyn before Alex could stop her.

It was a fierce battle. Christie was furious, quick, and dangerous. But Ashlyn had a certain lethal grace about how she just danced aside to avoid Christie's blade.

But it didn't last long. Ashlyn had Christie's neck in her arm, and was just about ready to snap it, the blood and battle misting in her eyes…

"Stop!" Alex cried.

Ashlyn froze.

"Please! Just stop!"

Christie glared at him, then shoved her knife into Ashlyn's hand.

Ashlyn didn't even blink.

Christie's eyes widened. "Impossible." She breathed.

But Ashlyn slammed her hand into Christie's forehead. The girl was unconscious in a split-second. She dropped limply to the floor.

"Surrender, Alex." Ashlyn said.

Alex froze. "My name is Fe…"

"It's Alex Rider, actually." Ashlyn completed for him. "Don't lie to me anymore."

Alex took a step back. "No… My name-"

But he never got any further. Lance stepped up behind him.

Alex Rider was unconscious before he hit the ground.