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Alex was getting bored.
He didn't know when he woke up. It may have been minutes, hours, days or weeks ago.
He didn't know.
He remembered waking up into nothingness surrounded by nothing. And he remembered nothing. Only his name. He didn't remember his age or his parents or his friends of his family. He didn't know if he had any siblings or if he had a girlfriend. He had forgotten
everything but his name. He couldn't even remember his second name.
He tried analysing his surroundings, maybe they would give him a clue , but you can't analyse nothing.
After what seemed like days of just staring into nothingness, a path appeared infront of Alex. Normal people would have taken this as a sign from heaven and to quench their boredom they would have taken the path without thinking. But not Alex. He built
with the instinct to be suspicious of everything.
He stared at the path for who knows how long, but curiosity finally one over and he took the path.

He walked along the path for what felt like days and still nothing. Not for the first time he wondered about his past and how and why he ended up in this place.
He was jarred out of his thought by movement to his right. He looked and saw two people who looked familiar.
His parents.
The memory came back to him sharp and clear. He remembered them. John and Helen rider.
Rider
That was his surname.
He wanted to go to them but something stopped him. He didn't want to get of the path just yet.
He looked to his left and saw a graveyard with 4 gravestones, John, Helen, Ian, Jack.
The memories came back to him. Ian, his uncle, the person you raised him.
And Jack, his housekeeper, guardian, best friend, sister.
But all these people were dead.
He looked to his right again and saw all four of them standing there looking at him with.. With.. Love.
He wanted nothing more than to go to them but he wasn't ready to step of the path. He carried on walking and his family walked with him but off the path. Nothing more showed on the right hand side but the left hand side began to fill with images.
He saw the bank and remembered he was a spy. With that realisation, came images of the missions he had been on. He saw his missions, each one coming back with stark clarity. He remembered the pain after every mission. Cornwall, his first one which was
originally his uncles. Point blank , where he first faced the fears of torture. Skeleton key, where he watched a man who loved him shoot himself because of alex. He remembered eagle strike and Sabina. The memories of Sabina were told strong. How she
refused to believe him at first. Then kidnapped. Then left for America. Then when he left them after they neglected him.
He saw yassen and his brain went into overdrive.
He remembered scorpia. His father. His attempted assassination of Jones. His fight in the air balloon. When he was sniped.
He remembered going into space
He remembered his godfather and what he has done.
He remembered Desmond and the crocodiles.
He remembered his final mission when he was forced to watch his best friend and sister die. He remembered shooting his clone.
He remembered everything.
And he wished he hadn't.
The left side had nothing worth going back to. It was filled with pain and nightmares and manipulation and fear.
He longed for the nothingness in the beginning. He wanted to forget it all. They were too much for him.
He looked to the right side and saw his family whole and alive. He could go and join them.
He made to take a step of the path towards the right.

"His heart rate is going down. We're loosing him" the doctor spoke in a calm town filled with worry.
"Start on the life saving techniques" the doctor ordered and the nurses got to work.
K-unit stood there shocked, watching doctor and nurses frantically trying to stabilise cub.
They had woken up the next morning at 8am cherishing their day off but their thought were only on one person, cub. They quickly went to have breakfast and then went to see cub in the infirmary.

Eagle would never admit it, but he was a bit anxious about seeing cub. He didn't know what to expect.
When he saw cub, he was shocked. Not because cub looked strange, but the exact opposite. He had never seen cub look so..so... Relaxed. Eagle hadn't realised how before cub was always so tense and anxious and always looking over his shoulder but
when compared to him now...
After a night of full sleep, the bags under Cubs eyes had reduced and for the first time, eagle realised how young cub looked. There were no eyes that belonged to older men which held more wisdom then possible. There was no longer the mask that covered
his face, that hid his emotions.
Cub looked so young.
With startling clarity, eagle remembered yesterday's events. It just seemed wrong. How can a person that looked to be 18/19 be forced to go through all that. How can a teenager go through so much pain and sorrow, to seek refuge in an assassin. How can
a teenager be able to defeat 20 trained assassins. Cub should be in college, living his life, getting drunk, holing up with girls, not lying down in a hospital bed in a SAS camp walking a fine line between life and death. Anger took over his emotions
and he wanted nothing more than to just punch a wall.

Snake sensed Eagles anger and felt it too, their protective instincts were screaming at them. A teenager, forced to go through so much.

K-unit just stood in the hospital room looking at cub, each wrapped in their own thoughts, nobody willing to break the silence.
That's when the heart monitor began to show danger signs. The pulse began to slow down. Doctors and nurses swarmed into the room pushing k unit aside and began trying to stabilise cub.

Snake joined in the rescue and started doing compressions.
Eagle walked up to cub and put a hand on Cubs head "Don't you dare die on us cub. You owe us a bunch of answers and I will kill you if you die"

Alex was about to step off the path and walk to his family when a voice stopped him.
"Cub"
Memories came back to him of k-unit.
He remembered the feeling of friendship he felt with them. He remembered the care they showed him. He remembered the voice in his head telling him that they do care.
He remembered eagle and his Alex rider stories. The enjoyment in Eagles eyes.
He remembered the concern snake showed over him and his injuries. Never pity, always care and concern.
He remembered wolf and the change in the man from the bully to the friend.

Maybe there was something on the left side.

But could he do it.
Could he go back to all that pain.
He looked to the right side in longing for his parents and his uncle and his friend.
But they seemed to be looking him in a different way. They each showed love for him but there was something else.
How would Jack feel if he just left that world. She always taught him never to leave without saying goodbye. She would not agree to him just coming like that.
What about his uncle who always taught him never give up. Never to show weakness. He would be disappointed if Alex just gave up and took the easy way out.
He didn't know his parents but he felt that they would want him to carry on with what that world and keep on going on until the very end.
He would always end up with his family in the very end but he won't stay with the other side forever. Maybe he should go to the left side and carry on with his life. Maybe he would be able to find something good in that world if he just tried.

Alex took a step away from the right side towards the left but he just couldn't bring himself to just go to the left.
But he couldn't stay in this limbo forever. He had to make a decision.
His heart wanted the left but he was stubborn. He was stubborn since the day he was born.
Alex took a deep breaths and took a running leap to the left side.

And woke up with a gasp

Before he fell asleep

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