A/N: Sorry I've posted kind of late today, haven't I? Well, it's still on the right day, at least. I almost forgot! Hope you like this chapter!
DISCLAIMER: As usual, nothing belongs to me.
***
They were dragged off the street at gunpoint by men all dressed in black. They were shoved down stairs and, in the dim light of a cellar, bound and blindfolded.
Wolf felt the dull sensation of shame burning in his stomach. How could they have failed so quickly? It wasn't just pathetic, it was downright humiliating.
"I thought you had learned better than to patrol at night," said the woman. "After you lost the last three I really would think you would take a hint. Until you return what you took, we will keep killing you."
Wolf growled in anger. He would not let some little bitch kill his team.
He struggled against the ropes binding him, but they didn't give an inch. The woman gave him a look of disdain and for the first time Wolf looked at her – really looked at her.
She was little more than a girl, though war had made her grow up fast – he could see that much in her eyes. Vibrant red hair was cut brutally short and her ears were pierced but lacked earrings – too impractical in war, he guessed. Her clothes were loose and practical, though left no doubt that she was a woman, despite her slightly boyish face. She was thin and lightly muscled – the type of build that comes from hard work when food was difficult to get hold of.
"Search them," she snapped and Wolf felt a pair of hands begin to pat him down.
Slowly, a pile began to form in front of the girl. Most of it was to be expected, guns, knives, explosives and such, but she raised an eyebrow at some of the things. Curiously, she reached down and pulled something brightly coloured out of the largely grey and black pile.
"Gum?" she asked, reading the packet. "Care to explain?" she added, turning to Wolf.
"Not really," he muttered.
She turned to a man standing in the corner.
"Do we need any extra information at all?" she asked. He shook his head.
Briefly she paled, then she nodded and looked back at the captives. Slowly, she studied each face, as if committing them to memory.
"Kill them," she said, finally.
"You don't want to do that," said a voice behind her.
She froze, her head tilting back as if she were trying to arch away from something without moving.
"Tell them to drop their weapons and untie my friends," said Alex.
"How do I know you won't kill me anyway?" she said, her voice tight with fear but impressively firm.
"You don't," said Alex. "But I could kill you right now and then shoot them before they have a chance to react." He stepped forward and almost lovingly pressed the gun to her temple. Wolf shivered at the completely cold expression on the former spy's face. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that he could carry out his threat.
"Put down your guns," she said, quietly.
"That will do for now, I guess," drawled Alex. "Now, some information, if you don't mind. Who are you and why did you attack my friends?"
She stayed silent.
"I'm warning you," said Alex, quietly.
Still she didn't talk.
"Wrong answer," spat Alex, whirling her around and flicking the safety off on his gun.
And then, right when he should have pulled the trigger, he froze.
Visibly paler, he stared at the girl.
"You're related to Jack Starbright," he said, cold certainty ringing in his tone.
The girl sagged. "She was my aunt," she admitted quietly.
"And what about your uncle?" demanded Alex. "Do you support him?"
The girl paled slightly and her eyes darted towards the gun still held motionless at her temple.
Alex sighed when she didn't answer.
"Well, gentlemen," he said, addressing the room. "You've had the good luck to be captured by the resistance."
Wolf swore. "So why the hell did they want to kill us?" he exclaimed.
"Well, gee, Wolf," said Alex. "You're obviously a soldier. And Washington has a curfew. Do you think that maybe the government has soldiers patrolling this town? Do you think that maybe they thought you were them?"
"I guess that makes sense," muttered Wolf.
"Untie them," said Alex and was obeyed, after a brief nod from the girl.
"What's your name?" he asked.
"Emily Starbright," she said quietly.
"Alex," he said, reaching out a hand.
"As in Alex Rider?" she asked, her face lighting up as she smiled. "Jack always used to talk about bringing you over for Thanksgiving."
"Really?" asked Alex, surprised. "She never mentioned it to me."
"As touching as this is," sneered the man by the door, "We need to get moving. It isn't safe here."
Emily started. "Of course," she muttered.
"We'll go in groups of four, two of us and two of you," said Emily. "The groups will be small enough to slip by unnoticed, strong enough to fight if they have to and all of them will have someone who knows where our headquarters are."
Alex nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Excuse me a second though, will you? I have to go and find someone."
***
Twenty minutes later, Alex and Yassen were reclining on dilapidated armchairs, while the rest of the soldiers eyed the men and women that made up the resistance warily.
"This isn't a good idea," said one man. It was the man from the corner before. He'd been introduced as Chad Davies, Emily's second in command until such time as Matt returned. Without him, they were at a loss, from what Alex could gather – no direction and no real plans.
Matt was the tactician, the genius behind the plans that had gained them so much influence in Washington and America. Influence that had been lost with his disappearance.
"You need our help," commented Yassen, calmly. "You're failing without Starbright. We can help you get him back."
"And what's in it for you?" asked Davies.
"Perhaps we could discuss this in private," suggested Alex.
"Private meaning..."
"Myself, Yassen, Alex, you and your second in command," said Wolf, quickly.
"Why you three?" asked Emily, frowning.
"Well, Yassen and Wolf are both incredibly good at what they do... and someone has to keep them from killing each other," smirked Alex. His smirk only widened as Yassen turned frosty eyes on him and Wolf outright glared.
Behind him, someone snorted, but all of them pretended innocent as Wolf's glare transferred to them.
"Ok, through here," said Emily and the four men followed her into what seemed to be a kitchen.
"Homey," commented Alex, glancing around at the faded flower motif on the walls and the pale green counters.
"Why would you help us break Uncle Matt out?" asked Emily. "And why are you here?"
"Ok, first off," started Alex. "Stop calling him Uncle Matt. You don't want your enemies to know if you're close to someone – they'll use it against you."
"Alex," scoffed Wolf. "You're being paranoid."
"No, I'm not," said Alex coldly. "I'd be an idiot not to learn from experience."
Davies muttered something uncomplimentary under his breath, only to find himself pinned under three accusatory gazes.
Emily closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath.
"Chad. Please, please, please stop it. We need to work together. Insulting each other like kindergarteners isn't going to get us anywhere."
"We don't know if we can trust them!" exclaimed Chad angrily.
Emily sighed. "We can."
"How do you know that?" spat Chad.
"My Aunt practically raised him. Do you really think that he'd betray his country and Jack by helping our enemies?"
"You're just going to take his word for who he is?" asked Chad, still angry.
Emily sighed, and turned around.
"I know who he is," said Emily, obviously forcing herself to be calm. "I am asking you to trust me, but you do not have to. If you do not, you simply have to follow my orders. As you agreed to do when you joined us."
"Yes, ma'am," muttered Davies.
"Good," said Emily. "Now, how are we going to get him out?"
***
Twenty minutes later, they had got precisely nowhere.
Well, no, thought Alex. That wasn't entirely fair. They had ruled out a ground attack and an air attack because neither was feasible.
As Davies had exasperatedly pointed out, there wasn't much left.
Slowly, Alex ran through his missions, searching for anything that could help them.
"Come on," said Wolf. "You broke someone out of MI6. You have to be able to think of something."
Alex sighed. "Not that I can think of."
"How did you break into Sayle enterprises? In the labs downstairs?" asked Yassen.
Alex frowned. "I..."
"Wait," interrupted Wolf. "You were the man that took down Sayle? I heard that that mission had already killed one agent before they solved it."
"It did," said Alex, coldly. "My Uncle."
Yassen visibly winced. Alex tried not to look at him. In the one and a half years they'd been living together, they had discussed every subject under the sun, had talked about John at length, but neither had ever brought up Ian.
"Look," said Alex, raking a hand through his hair, "Do we really have to talk about this now? It's not the best time."
"Why not?" asked Wolf, frowning.
"Because," said Yassen and Wolf's frown deepened.
"Cub," he said warningly.
"Not now," snarled Alex and behind him, Yassen closed his eyes.
"How did you break in?" he reiterated.
"Through the mines," said Alex. "It's not going to work in the middle of a city."
"Maybe not..." said Emily slowly. "But what about the subway?"
***
A/N: Please Review! It'll inspire me to write and atm, I really need the inspiration!