Disclaimer: I do not own any Alex Rider characters. Any mentioned that appear at any time in this story are the property of A.H. Any others are of my own making; and if there are any references outside of A.R series that are real, such as places or people, it is not intentional.

I know I have been missing for a few, but I hope this makes up for it. Enjoy.

Jack hesitated. This morning when she had gotten ready, she was excited. But after that emotion came crushing guilt and shame. For it was Alex who had gotten her here. Indirect as it was, she was now standing before the doors of 10 Downing Street because of him. At first she hated her job. Soon, however, she grew to love it. It had been a simple means of escape. After Alex had simply vanished from her life. She in no way blamed him, she though as she entered the building, how could she? He had given his childhood, innocence for them. And now she was one of them. She held back a sob. She could not be weak. She would be strong. For him. For everything he stood for. And everything that it had cost him. She opened the door and walked into COBRA.

The letters were passed out. Jack read her's and felt sick. How could they do this? It was so cruel, so cold and malicious. And then to turn this on children! Jack's rant was interrupted by Mrs. Jones entering the room. The two had become close friends after Alex…died. But looking at Tulip's face Jack knew something was wrong.

"We have our informant." she announced.

Jack leaned forward. She was speculating who it could be. An assanin. That was always interesting in Jack's line of work. In anyone's really.

The first thing she saw was the hair. It was fair, like Alex's. But it was close cropped. A smooth face that did not gave away any hit of emotion. Honestly, Jack would be surprised if he could give any. Clear, hard brown eyes. Alex's were always haunted, like he had seen too much. But this man looked like his job description. Blank. His pale skin seemed almost sallow in the bad lighting of the room. As he shifted, Jack was handcuffs on his wrists. His face fit something in her memory. She felt it. A whisper, a soft floating breath. And it came into shape. Yassen? But he was dead. She had to watch the autopsy. That still made her shudder.

Her mouth moved on its own accord. "Yassen?" The whisper seemed to fill the room.

The cold eyes slid over and held hers. Jack shuddered. There was nothing there. The eyes locked onto each member of the table. If Jack didn't know any better, she would say he was memorizing them. But he hadn't looked at them long enough, to memorize each aspect, the parts that stood out.

"Shall we proceed?"

The assanin followed Tulip to a chair farther down from Jack. She had started to call him Yassen in her mind. It fit. Yassen sat down and looked at his paper. Then he turned in around so he was looking at it upside down. Finally he flipped the paper over and held it up to the light. No one had moved. He set the paper down.

"You do not need me." He had a soft Russian accent. Jack wondered how long he had been living in Russia to get it. She had lived here for the better part of ten years and still talked like an American.

"Everything you need is before you. They have given you the time, the date, even..." He paused and looked at the page. "The location. Brookland School. You do not need me."

"On the contrary, Yassen," here Tulip paused and shot a glance at Jack, "we do. We need to know Scorpia's motives."

A pale finger pointed to the page. "Money. They state it here. And they also want the control of this…Alex Rider. Give them both and you will be fine."

"We cannot."

Yassen raised a brow. "Really? You cannot. Or you do choose not?"

"We cannot. First the money. The amount is astronomical."

"What about Rider. Turn him over. Surely he is not worth the lives of three thousand school children."

Jack had enough. Alex had done so much, and he did not deserve to disrespected. "He's dead." She rasped out.

Yassen looked untroubled. "That makes it even more simple."

"How so?" The director of police snapped.

"Send them Rider's head."

Tulip looked sick. Jack felt the room sway. Alex's head? She couldn't…three thousand kids…even then, would Scorpia back down?

"Would it stop them?" A man dressed in military splendor looked as if the words tasted sour coming out of his mouth.

"It is possible."

"So you can't guarantee it."

Yassen glared at the man. "I never said I could guarantee anything. But it might get you better results."

Jack to a deep breath. How could she say this? "Even if the plan would work…Yassen," she addressed the man directly. "We have…no head."

"That's bloody brilliant! Will a finger work then?" The military man looked livid. "We can cut of same street hoodlum's. There are plenty of those."

Yassen ignored the man. He studied Jack for a moment. "Why is there no head?"

"Alex went missing a few years ago. We think he's dead." Jack tried not to cry.

"Well that does complicate things a little."

"The money?" a woman down the table looked half hopeful.

"It was simply a way to make Rider seem like the easier thing to give up. The simpler trade. They do not really want it."

The room was silent. Then a man spoke from the end of the room. "We can give them yours." Jack felt puzzled. He pointed at Yassen. "You said you could be no help. Maybe you could help us by donating your head. You don't look like Rider, but we can change that after you're dead."

"I would prefer to keep my head intact. Besides, my body is my personal property."

The man looked at Yassen greedily. "Being as the government holds all your personal property, we own you. We can take your head and you could have no say in it."

"And I could dismember you right now and you would have no say in it."

Tulip slammed her hand on the table. "Do we have any other options?"

Jack didn't want to see Yassen die. He hadn't done anything. Well actuality he had done a lot of things… Get your head on target Jack, she snapped to herself. Speak before it's too late.

"He could do surveillance around the school. He's worked with Scorpia, so he knows any weakness they may have. And he could kill them for us." Jack looked at the man. "Right? If we pad you, you could kill them for us?"

"I assure you the price will be less than the one Scorpia has offered you."

Tulip looked relived. "It's settled then. We'll move you back to…"

"No. I need to be near the school."

"We have no one you can…"

"He can stay with me." It took a few seconds for Jack's head to catch up with her mouth. Again.