Chapter 4 has arrived! It's a bit lengthy but it's really interesting. Not a lot of action, mostly dialogue.
Disclaimer: No, I don't own Alex Rider. What the... *Yassen enters*
Me: Yassen…what are you doing here? *nervous laughter*
Yassen: I'm looking for my gun. It seems to have mysteriously disappeared… *looks at BeautifulWolfGirl accusingly*
Me: what are you talking about? I don't have your gun! *smiles innocently*
Yassen: Well, luckily I have a spare. *takes out gun and points at BeautifulWolfGirl*
Me: Wait! If you kill me, no one will ever find out what happens to you!
Yassen: Fine, I'll spare your life. But just this once.
Me: *sighs in relief* thank you. All right, here's the story!
Chapter 4- The Big Question
After breakfast, we drive to my second safe house. It's not really a safe house, as Alex soon states.
"It's…a storage unit," he says, staring at it in confusion.
"I couldn't afford another house. It's supposed to be temporary; emergencies only," I say. I don't like this. I don't have anything here really. I have guns, C-4, and bullets. There is a small fridge, and a mattress that serves as a bed. The only food in the fridge are in cans. There's a microwave, but it's barely usable.
"I unlock the door and step inside. I haven't been here in several months. I glance around; its dusty and really dirty.
"This is…interesting," Alex says as he enters behind me.
"We'll have to stay here until we get into contact with MI6 and figure out what to do," I tell him.
"Great," he says, his voice dripping sarcasm.
"I know it isn't ideal, but we're going to have to live with it for now," I can tell he doesn't like this at all.
"I should call MI6 now," he suggests. He looks around for a phone.
"No phones here. I have a cell," I explain, handing him my IPhone.
Alex calls the number and waits while it rings. He clicks a button, and puts it on speakerphone.
"Hello?" a voice says. I recognize Mrs. Jones' voice.
"Hi Mrs. Jones," Alex greets her.
"Alex! Thank God! Are you all right? Where are you? I heard you were captured by Yassen. Did you escape?" she's really worried about him.
Alex hesitates, looking at me. I give him a slight nod. "I'm all right. I'm—"
"Where is Yassen? Do you know?" she interrupts.
"He…he's here, with me," Alex says.
"What?! Is he listening to us?" she exclaims.
"Yeah but…" he starts but she interrupts him again.
"I want to talk to him. Now," she demands.
"I'm here," I say calmly. This is the hard part. We have to convince her I'm on their side, somehow.
"Yassen, you WILL bring Alex to us, unharmed, tomorrow at a set location. If you don't we'll—" she starts to explain.
"Mrs. Jones, it's all right. He's not hurting me," Alex exclaims.
"He could. Has he taken you to Scorpia yet?" she asks.
"He doesn't work with Scorpia anymore. He's protecting me," Alex explains.
"How do you know he won't betray you?" she asks suspiciously.
"He saved my life. These men from Scorpia came, and Yassen saved me from being shot. In fact, he was shot, twice," Alex replies, looking at me as he says it.
"Yassen?" she asks.
"Yes?" I reply.
"Is that true? Did you save Alex's life?" she seems stunned.
"I did," I say.
"Why? Is it because of John?" she says, figuring it out.
"Yes. Alex told me about John…it doesn't matter. He was still like a father to me, and protecting his son, especially from a company that has tried to kill him, seems like a good way to repay the debt. I owe him," I wonder if she'll believe me.
"Alex…do you trust him?" Mrs. Jones asks carefully.
"At first I didn't but after he saved my life…that changed. Yes, I do trust him now," Alex says.
"Yassen, why did you kidnap Alex?" she asks me.
"To protect him from Scorpia," I reply.
"And what makes you think you can protect him better than us?" she asks, sounding slightly offended.
"Scorpia knows where you live. He was living with you, correct?" I say.
"Yes, he was," she confirms.
"Also, as far as Scorpia knows, I'm dad. If he's living with a ghost, then he cant be found. Unfortunately, because the men found my first safe house, that might have changed. Maybe not, though. Not many people out there can recognize me," I say. I hope this won't change her decision. I haven't heard what her decision is yet.
"So am I going to stay with him or not?" Alex asks, bringing up the main question.
"Do you want to stay with him, or come back with us?" she asks him. This surprises me; Alan Blunt, the old director of MI6, would never have asked this. Blunt would have made the decision for him. Alex wouldn't have had any say. It's obvious that Mrs. Jones cares about Alex's opinion.
"I…" Alex hesitates, considering what to say. "I want to stay with Yassen," Alex says finally. This actually surprises me a little, too. I honestly didn't expect him to stay that.
"I think you'll be safe with him for now. We've found most of the people hunting you. It's a small group, only five people," she tells us. It's obvious they're working alone; they don't have a leader that is telling them what to do,"
"So there self-employed," I say thoughtfully.
"Yes, it would appear so," she replies. "Where are you living, by the way? You mentioned that Scorpia found your first safe house," she continues.
"We're living in…" I trail off. What should I tell her?
"A storage facility. It's not very ideal or comfy, but it has basically everything we need to survive," Alex finishes for me.
"…Okay? Well, we'll keep hunting for Scorpia. Hopefully this will be over soon. Alex has had enough stress in his life already. This is just one more thing…" she trails off, giving a long, tired sigh.
"Is that all then?" I ask.
"Yes, that's all. Call me if anything happens. If anything happens on our side, can I call this number?" she inquires. Usually I would say no, but this is an exception.
"Yes, you can call us," I reply.
"Well then, I suppose we're done. You've done very well, Yassen. You too, Alex," she says.
"Thank you," we both say.
"Yassen, I want to thank you for protecting Alex. Thank you for saving his life. Are you very hurt?" if someone had told me Mrs. Jones would be thanking me for protecting Alex and asking me if I was all right a week ago, I would have laughed in their face.
"I only got shot in the arm and leg. I'm all right," I say.
"That's good. Thank you," she says, sounding relieved.
"John saved my life in the Amazon jungle. I considered him to be a father to me. Alex is like my son," I reply, looking at Alex as I say this. I can tell Alex is surprised and touched by this.
"I'll call you if anything happens," she says, not sure how to respond to that. "Goodbye, Yassen, Alex," we say our goodbyes, and then we hang up.
Alex sits down on the small bed, looking like his is deep in thought.
"What are you thinking about?" I ask.
"What you said just now. About how you consider me a son. It reminds me of Alexi Sarov," he says.
"Who is that?" I ask.
"Was. He's dead now. He was the man MI6 was after for one of my missions. He lost his son to the Vietnam War. He…he wanted to adopt me," Alex says. I come over and sit next to him. I can tell this memory is one of the ones he doesn't want to remember.
"What did you think about that?" I question.
"I didn't want to. He was going to blow up half of Russia. He was Russian, like you," Alex tells me.
"What do you feel about me considering you as a son? If I wanted to adopt you, would you agree?" I ask. "You don't have to respond if you don't want to," I add, realizing he might be uncomfortable saying no.
"No, I don't mind. I…I think it's nice that you consider me a son. If you wanted to adopt me…I don't know what I would say. I don't know you that well, personally at least," he says.
"No one knows me personally, except John," I tell him.
"That's what I figured," Alex replies, smiling at me. I like that smile. It reminds me a lot of John.
"I'll tell you about myself. Not now, though. Right now we need to get new clothes, for you and me," I say. Neither of us has any clothes besides what we're wearing. "Tonight I'll tell you about me," I add.
"Anything I want to know?" he asks, intrigued. Why am I doing this? Why do I trust him so much? He's John's son, that's why. I trusted John with my life. I trust Alex, too.
"I'll tell you anything you want," I reply.
Alex smiles; this is probably music to his ears. It's probably very rare that someone is actually going to tell him the whole truth. Especially in his life of work. It's also very rare for me to open up to someone like this; even though we haven't gotten very far. The only other person that knew a lot about me was John.
"Thank you for trusting me," Alex says, glancing at me with serious eyes.
"I should be the one thanking you. You didn't trust me at all at first, but now you trust me with your life," I reply.
"Let's go get some new clothes. Yours are starting to smell," Alex says, giving me a crooked smile.
"Mine! You should smell yourself, young man!" I laugh. Together, we go outside, climb in the car, and drive off to get new clothes.
That's the end of chapter 4! If you would like to contribute questions for Alex to ask Yassen in the next chapter, go ahead! I would love some ideas, cuz all I have are stupid things like when his birthday is. Thanks for reading! Remember to R&R! (Yes, I will put this at the end of every chapter I write until people start doing it because there are no reviews as of yet.)