Finally finished all 21 GCSE test papers! This chapter is longer than the last since I was meant to update a lot sooner. Thanks for all the reviews and sorry for any mistakes.
Disclaimer: Alex Rider does not belong to me
Warnings: As always mentions of abuse and scars
The first time Alex heard a gunshot was when he was aged 9 and had first snuck out of the orphanage at night. Sprinting down an alleyway to get away from the shop owner chasing him Alex had threw himself behind a couple of bins, giggling when the shop owner huffed then left.
Dusting his grime covered jacket off the blonde had glanced around, spotting two men further down the alley, he paused and cocked his head to the side in interest. Voices raising, one of the men pulled a shiny object from his pocket and pointed it at the taller.
The gunshot echoed around in the quiet air. Alex squeaked as the taller man dropped to the ground but hearing the sound the other man glanced in Alex's direction, taking a step towards the young boy who didn't wait around. Alex had tripped over his own feet in a haste to get away, cutting up his hand on smashed glass.
Glancing down at the shattered glass surrounding him the 14-year-old was reminded of the incident but he had a feeling this time he was in a lot more trouble than his 9-year-old self had been.
"I don't wish to harm you Little Alex but I will if I have to, I must have that memory stick" Yassen broke Alex from his thoughts "now hand it over" the gun never wavered.
Alex licked his lips before speaking clearly "I don't have it" he stared into the man's eyes begging him to see the truth in the chocolate orbs.
"Take off your jacket and show me the pockets" the order was sharp and the teen wasted no time in disobeying, shedding his jacket he turned the pockets out showing that nothing was in them "your shorts?" he pulled the pockets of his shorts out as well with the same result.
"Alex!" a voice shouted from outside.
Opening his mouth to scream Alex flinched horribly when a hand grasp his mouth, the cry coming out chocked "I hate to do this Alex Rider but you leave me no choice, you obviously know the location of the memory stick, you will walk, if you try to run or shout I will shot you, understood?" a curt nod had Yassen pushing the boy in front of him and out of the green house.
….
After following Alex to the park Wolf and Fox had begun their search, quickly deciding on where the best meeting spots could be, but after 20 minutes there was still no sign of Alex. The sound of shattering glass and a gunshot had the whole park freezing.
"It came from the green houses" Wolf cursed under his breath as the duo made a run for it, Fox calling for Alex as they ran. The first two greenhouses Wolf checked were empty but on the third he found the crystals' of glass along with a jacket the teen had left in "shit" he muttered "Fox!" the man was swiftly by his side.
Fox took the jacket with narrowed eyes "there's no blood, that's a good sign" he pinched the bridge of his nose "what now?" he turned to his leader.
Wolf glanced around the space to see if any cameras might have caught the exchange but sighed when he couldn't spot any "we head back to Hopes and contact MI6, hopefully they'll be able to track his whereabouts, get to the tube station and ask permission to be in the security room, if Cub gets on a tube I want to know" he explained calmly.
Splitting up, Wolf kept his eyes peeled as he took out his phone "Eagle, we've lost him" he got straight to the point.
"What do you mean you lost him?"
"I mean that we tracked him to the park and at that point we lost track of his whereabouts, we heard a gunshot, seems like the kid has got himself in trouble, we found his jacket at the scene" a string of foul words came over the line "I sent Fox to the tube station, I need you to get security footage from around the park, Snake stays where he is in case Rider shows up" he gave the man his orders.
"Where are you going?"
"MI6" the man snapped his phone shut and began his determined stride towards the Royal and General Bank to have a conversation with Mr Blunt and Mrs Jones.
….
The three hour drive had been silent except for the shuffling from Alex. At first he had tried to talk to the deadly assassin sat beside him but the man had just given him a blank stare so the teen had tried to put the radio on, his hand being slapped away before reaching the buttons.
They were now stopped outside a motel "kind of cliché isn't it?" Alex raised a well-trimmed eyebrow in mirth. The building looked like something out of a horror movie, windows smashed, dirt caking walls and rubbish stacked outside.
"What next, behave or I will shot you even though I plan to murder you inside" Alex put on a Russian accent, smiling at Yassen in the driver's seat.
Yassen gave a small twitch of the lips "exactly" he responded climbing out of the car "behave" he opened Alex's door and took his shoulder, pushing him towards the motel. The lobby had several plastic chairs sitting in it, an old coffee table covered with stains and an middle aged woman behind the desk who perked up when she seen the two males.
Yassen pointed at one of the plastic chairs "sit" he ordered before standing before the brown haired woman at the desk "a room for me and my son please" his voice was polite and Alex snorted in amusement when the woman blushed.
Brown eyes straying to the door the teen considered running for it but then Yassen was back with an annoyed look leading Alex down the hallway "come on son" he called loud enough for the woman to hear. Alex's gut twisted at the word he had heard from another poisoned mouth not long ago.
They seemed to walk to the very back of the motel before Yassen opened one of the doors. A double bed took up most of the room, a rotting bedside table held a stained lamp and a small sofa was pushed up at the end of the bed.
With no windows the single blub casted shadows throughout the room and the greyed carpet seemed to crawl with dirt "Ew" Alex made a face before flopping onto the bed "I hope you didn't plan on sharing, you take the sofa, night Yassen" he rolled over.
Yassen just blinked at the boys back "you do realise little Alex that you are in quite some trouble" he spoke slowly as if the 14-year-old was a toddler. Was the boy insane? Yassen had kidnapped him, held a gun to his back and threatened to kill him if he didn't obey.
Alex shrugged, sitting up on the bed "I'm always in trouble" humour was a defence mechanism, get the threat so mad and annoyed that they made a mistake and Alex could slip away to his room.
Yassen locked the door placing the key deep in his pocket "I will leave you to think about giving me the memory stick" the blonde closed the bathroom door behind him, the sound of running water filling the motel room.
Alex stared after him in confusion, worrying his bottom lip. He didn't have the memory stick with him although he could just tell the deadly, kidnapping assassin where he had hidden it as he obviously wanted it badly but he had a feeling this is what Ian had meant when he had said not to trust anyone.
Alex had a terrible idea.
Sneaking to the bathroom door Alex took a deep breath before slowly cracking it open, praying it wouldn't creak, thankfully it didn't. He shut the door behind him so Yassen wouldn't feel a draft then waited a few seconds to make sure the blonde man didn't hear him.
Alex couldn't see the outline of Yassen through the shower curtain so hopefully the man couldn't see him either. Quickly scooping up the bottoms that belonged to Yassen he searched the pockets and pulled out the car and room key. Contemplating whether to steal the man's clothes or not Alex finally just dropped them.
"I do hope you aren't planning on running Alex" the words startled the teen and he slipped, forehead hitting the sink with a clunk. Alex didn't cry out at the pain instead pressing a hand gingerly to the part of skin he knew would bruise, he bit his lip to stop a hiss when his fingers met blood.
Yassen rolled his icy eyes as the boy sat on the floor, a sigh brushed passed his lips, tying a towel around his waist Yassen knelt down so he could see the bump. It was no surprise when Alex pulled away from his hand but the look in his eyes surprised Yassen.
"Don't touch me" Alex whispered, blood dripping from the cut on his forehead.
"I won't hurt you Alex" Yassen stated in the steadiest voice he could manage.
"I highly doubt that" the teen bit back, eyes watching his every move.
Yassen knelt for a few more seconds before he stood, lifting his clothes "shower little Alex" watching him leave Alex let out a breath of relief.
Sliding his clothes off Alex unwrapped the bandages around his knuckles that Snake had fought to redo this morning before he had left, he probably should have listened to him. The soldiers seemed okay, at least Fox and Eagle seemed like good people. Wolf didn't like him and he didn't like the man much either. Then there was Snake, an annoying mother hen but he radiated safeness. Safeness he hadn't felt in years.
Alex needed to contact them at the first chance he got.
Rubbing the shampoo through his greasy hair, he squeaked when the shampoo stung his fresh cut "stupid assassins" he muttered under his breath.
Getting out of the shower the teenager wrapped a towel around his waist and dried his hair with the hair dryer connected to the wall, thankfully the steam had fogged up the mirror meaning the scars covering his abused body couldn't be seen.
Alex glanced around for his clothes, except they weren't were he had left them "Yassen" he growled, poking his head out the door he glared at the man who sat on the side of the bed closest to the door "give me my clothes!" he snapped, seeing them sitting neatly on the bed.
"I'd rather if I could check you for weapons as I have done with your clothes Alex" Yassen explained in a calm tone.
Alex made a face "I'm naked, where the hell am I going to hide a weapon, more to the point do you realise how screwed I would be if Abby found out I kept a weapon" he did of course had a few knives hidden in his room back at Hopes but nobody needed to know that. When Yassen didn't comment Alex twitched "give me my clothes, please" he held his arm out.
Yassen seemed amused "no, you would be surprised where weapons could be hidden" it wasn't so much weapons Yassen was checking for, he had a theory, one he hoped would be proved wrong when he seen Alex's chest and torso.
Grinding his teeth Alex stepped out of the bathroom, ignoring how Yassen sat up straighter when he caught sight of the scars he scooped up his clothing, pulling his hoodie on without a word then pulling his boxers up under the towel.
Throwing the towel back into the bathroom for someone to pick up Alex finally faced Yassen "there no weapons" he smiled with sarcasm "unless of course you want to pat me down, although I must warn you I'll not be held responsible for the damage I cause" he had expected the man would be happy with his scars, happy someone had caused pain to the sarcastic and overconfident teen.
Yassen though seemed to slip into killer mode when he seen the scars on the young teens thighs "who harmed you?" he demanded to know.
Alex flinched back "no one" he grunted pulling his shorts on.
"Go on Alex" the man laughed gleefully "introduce me, I'm sure Tom would love getting to know me" he put his hands on the boys shoulders.
Alex swallowed heavily "Tom this is Callum Prince, a care worker at Hopes" he introduced the man to his best friend "I guess I've got to go" he avoided looking at his friend's cautious expression.
Being led away Alex flinched when he was span round "you were going to tell him" Prince accused.
Shaking his head frantically Alex tried to deny it but only got a slap in response "I won't tell anyone, I promise" he attempted to calm the man's anger.
Prince sighed "I trust you son, don't worry" he leant into the hand running through his hair.
He hadn't broken his promise. Hadn't told anyone the name of the man, not even when Sam had discovered what was happening. The name had never passed his lips.
"I find it difficult to believe no one hurt you Alex Rider" Yassen raised an eyebrow "now, give me a name so I can dispose of them" it was a blunt statement, one that had Alex scowling.
"Why the hell would you care?" Alex pressed his back against the wall "you've kidnapped me, I have a feeling you can do a lot more damage and I already told you, I don't have the stick!" his voice had risen until he was taking harsh breaths.
"I don't kill children" a hysteric laugh burst from the youngers throat "you need to calm down" Yassen advised.
"You shot at me!" Alex accused "I don't have the stupid stick" he lied.
Yassen studied him intently "many people are looking for the memory stick your uncle stole Alex, I do not wish to see you hurt, unfortunately the others are not going to be as kind as I have been" Yassen stood "Sleep Alex" he muttered, sitting on the sofa and pulling a laptop from his bag, listening until Alex stopped shifting and his breath evened out.
….
Pete playfully slapped 11-year-old Alex on the back of the head when he made a snappy comment about not needing anymore new care workers "we need the help Al, now behave I don't want you scaring anybody else off" he scolded.
Alex snickered "it's not my fault they can't handle a few pranks and the police" they should have expected it really, he wasn't exactly a well behaved kid.
The doorbell rang and Pete rushed to get it, conversation that Alex had no interest in broke out before Pete returned to the office "Callum this is Alex Rider, Al this is Callum Prince" he introduced.
The man was in his mid-twenties, jet black hair spikey on his head contrasting with his tanned skin and forest green eyes "Hello Alex" he smiled, teeth perfect under a nose which had been broken at some point.
Alex stood to survey the man "hi" he greeted looking up at the man who stood around 6'2 and although he didn't look too tough Alex had a bad feeling about him.
"Alex is the second oldest here at Hopes, Frankie is 17 and plans to leave in a couple of months" Pete explained.
"Well I look forward to spending time with you Al"
Alex awoke with something cold pressing into his back. Groaning he shifted and his muscles protested. Cracking a sleep filled eye open Alex took in the room, from where he had been handcuffed to the radiator.
A piece of paper was placed beside him with one word neatly written 'behave'. Alex rolled his eyes setting to work on freeing his hand. It was quite sad that he knew how to open handcuffs at such a young age but it had been a necessity when Prince had lived in the orphanage.
The door was opened meaning Yassen had held little faith in the teen escaping the handcuffs, Alex snorted at that, making his way swiftly down the hallways until he got to reception, the woman from before flicking through a magazine in boredom.
"Excuse me" Alex flashed the woman a winning smile as she glanced up "have you seen my Father, he seems to have left before I was awake?"
'Jade' he could see from her name tag nodded "yes, he left about an hour ago, breakfast I think" her hazel eyes widened "what happened to your head?"
Alex pressed against the bruised graze "oh" he frowned "I fell last night and hit my head off the sink, do you mind if I use the phone?" when she gave an affirmative Alex dialled the number he had learnt at the age of 5.
"Hopes Orphanage" the soft voice of Chase greeted him, irritation in his tone.
"Chase, it's Alex, put Fox on the phone" there was a pause then Chase started shouting questions at him "Chase!" he waited until the boy fell quiet "I don't have time, put Fox on, now"
Chase made an annoyed noise "he isn't here, I can put Wolf on, one second" he disappeared.
"What?" Wolf growled down the phone.
"It's Alex" there was a pause and the man began shouting at him "shut up" he hissed in annoyance "if you would let me speak then I would answer your questions" there was a grunt to continue "Dad found out about our little secret and took me to some Motel" he hoped the man would understand he couldn't say everything.
Wolf seemed to think the words over "What's the name of the Motel, we'll come get you?" Alex politely asked for the name of the road and Motel from Jade before relaying the information to Wolf "alright, name of the kidnapper?"
"Yassen I really don't think I can talk for much longer, Dad will be back soon" Alex chuckled when Wolf chocked on his own breath "how long will you be?" he inquired.
"Hold tight brat and for heaven's sake don't push your luck with this man, you're lucky you're still alive" his voice was serious making Alex flinch.
Swallowing Alex smiled brightly "love you too!" he hung up not waiting for Wolf to respond to that little comment "thanks" he handed the phone back to Jade who blushed "sorry, that was my boyfriend, Dad doesn't agree" he shrugged "please don't tell him I used the phone to call my friend, he'll get annoyed" it probably wasn't the smartest thing he could have said.
There was an understanding in the hazel eyes as Jade nodded in a serious matter "of course not sweetie" she agreed.
"Thanks, bye!" Alex called over his shoulder sprinting back down the hallway and locking his wrist back in the cuff just in time for Yassen to return.
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Robin Rider X