Shorter chapter tonight, but it's time for the real reason Alex came to the Hague in the first place...

Chapter 22: The Trial

Mrs. Jones had never actually asked why Alex was gone for 24 hours and that was fine by him. When he finally came back to the hotel room in his all-black clothes, Ella's flowery sunglasses, and the worst hangover of his life, he had expected some flak from the head of MI6. Much to his surprise, he didn't hear from her again until Monday morning when she knocked on his door so they could leave together for the trial.

Another day passed, and still, Alex wasn't called up to the stand. The wait was doing terrible things for his nerves and he really just wanted to get this over with. That night, when he was lying down in the dark trying to sleep, he could not stop thinking about his weekend.

It was funny to see Ella so in her element like that. Alex liked to see her among friends and he liked the idea of having a group of friends to do spy work together. Were the Revengers too violent for Alex? Absolutely. But they were (mostly) good people to their core and Alex loved seeing Ella so happy with them. It gave him a little hope that life as a spy wouldn't be as lonely as he had always thought.

Of course, Alex Rider was no stranger to a found family, but his was strictly personal. It was just nice to see that same dynamic in a work setting. Alex had never before thought it was possible to see so much joy in such a terrible field until Friday night. Oliver and Fenna clearly loved each other. Even though Fenna's whole shtick was to be flirty and dangerous, she still came home to the love of her life each night. Did Alex agree with Fenna's methods? Not even a little. But it was still so strangely beautiful to see love and light in such a dark world. His life didn't have to be like his parents–quiet and lonely until his untimely death–and it was one of the most freeing things that Alex had ever realized. Who could have ever expected that the drunkest night of his life would also be one of the most spiritually meaningful?

It wasn't just the romantic love that Alex craved. He was moved by the friendships that he saw within the Revengers. Noa's understanding and love for Ella ran as deep as his for Tom, if not deeper. Yuri, though seemingly the odd one out, seemed so close to Oliver and Noa. Ella and Oliver were like him and Jack, almost. Some weird limbo between siblings and friends and Alex loved it, as overprotective and messy as it all was. As chaotic as last night was, Alex could see the love that everyone had for one another, even Tai and Ella.

Alex wanted that. He wanted the whole package. He wanted that light-in-the-darkness love and that band of friends who stood by each other through their faults. Alex held a lot of love in his heart–for Jack, for Tom, and for Sabina–but he wanted more.

As weird as it was for him to admit it, Ella was in the middle of it all. She was that girl he met a year ago by accident. If he hadn't decided to poison MI6 that day and get hauled into Mrs. Jones' office, they never would have even met (okay, Alex realises that Mrs. Jones likely would have introduced the two of them even if he had actually been doing his job). If that privileged little shit at Oxford had never tried to assault that girl in an alleyway, he and Ella definitely never would have met. What a terrible thought.

Ella was the girl he didn't trust at all, except he secretly trusted her completely. Alex wouldn't have gone on drunken escapades with anyone else in the world, minus Tom and Sabina, but he had known them for years. She was good in the field and Alex respected the hell out of her professionally. Was she a bit messy personally? Sure, but who in Alex's world wasn't? His best friends were the girl with the Damian Cray poster on the wall for exposure therapy, the boy who endured his parents feuding for years before finally dropping out of high school and escaping to his brother in Italy, and the woman who unexpectedly became a parental figure to a 14-year-old without a support system. Alex could absolutely handle messy people.

Ella was the girl somewhere in the middle of the partner-love and friend-love that Alex knew he needed. There was something about her that inexplicably drew him in. Alex was unable to put words on their relationship. Since the day Sabina had teased him that he and Ella were going to date, it had been in the back of his mind. He certainly cared for Ella a lot and had the most fun going on adventures with her. He had tried testing the waters a little bit but Ella was incredibly hard to read. The "tucking her hair" thing had started out as a joke all the way back during their mission, but it had quickly become real–almost too real.

If Alex was being honest, it was Ella who showed more interest in him. She was always grabbing his hand and there was that one time she accidentally called him attractive. She always had her guard up, but the few times she had let it come down–usually either while under the influence or in the heat of an emotional moment, Alex could see something there.

Sure, there was a lot about Ella that was completely frustrating to Alex, such as her general lack of respect for authority, how she was so quick to anger with everyone, how she always knew way more than him, and how distrustful she was. Plus, if he was being totally honest, he didn't love her partying habits either.

At the same time, she was the Ella who taught him Arabic. Ella who had gotten him home safely on Friday night. That really pretty Ella with her light brown hair and cocky smile. The Ella who always stood up for her beliefs no matter who she was standing up to.

She was unlike anybody Alex had ever met, and despite the rockiness of their past, he still wanted to learn more about her. What confused Alex the most was how. Were they meant to be mission partners? Friends? Close friends? Something more? Alex wasn't one to believe in fate, but something kept drawing him and Ella together.

What if it wasn't fate, and it was Mrs. Jones pulling strings? Alex shook his head. He couldn't start thinking that way. He decided to call the two people he knew wouldn't steer him wrong.

A few minutes later, Alex was walking through the dark streets of The Hague on a three-way video call with Tom and Sabina. Those two had met a few times over the years at various birthday dinners for Alex, so they knew each other well enough. He had left the hotel so there was no chance of Mrs. Jones hearing his conversation.

"You're probably wondering why I called you both at this hour," Alex began, "But I'm having some trouble and I need some outside perspectives.

"What kind of troubles, Mate?" Tom looked concerned.

"Girl troubles," Alex sighed. Sabina shrieked immediately making Alex regret wearing his headphones–not that he wanted the whole world to know his woes.

"Oh my god," Sabina exclaimed, "I have been waiting for this phone call for my entire life. The answer is yes. Go and get her. Alex, you are a catch and any girl would be stupid not to see that."

"Alex likes a girl?" Tom grinned, "This is the greatest day of my life. For years I try to get you to talk to girls with me and for years you turn me away. Who is the lucky lady?"

"Guys please," Alex blushed. "Okay, okay. She's the American girl I went on that mission with last year."

"Your wife?" Sabina yelled, forcing Alex to turn down his volume before Sabina made him deaf.

"Woah, Mate, you had a wife and never told me?" Tom pouted.

"Okay I need you both to be quiet for one minute please," Alex begged, "Just let me tell the story, okay?" His friends nod in unison. "So she is very much in my line of work and probably doesn't want me to say her real name, so let's call her…Eloise. We met on a mission last year and were fake married. The mission didn't last long and we went our separate ways. I only saw her once between then and now, and that was this random day back in November when she needed a place to stay in London for a night."

"Interesting she chose you," Tom waggled his eyebrows.

"Tom!" Alex exclaimed, "Anyways, I ran into her this past weekend here in another country–again, I'm keeping lots about her vague–and she introduced me to a ton of her friends and we had, like, the most fun night ever. We played drinking games and swam, and it was just great. But now here I am, in my hotel room, and I can't stop thinking about her," Alex's friends were quiet so he continued, "On one hand, we are certainly friends. On the other, I think I may see her as more. I guess I'm just a little confused. Getting to spend time with her and her friends was so nice–it was crazy to see all of this love and light in a world as dark as hers and mine. I just can't tell if I want to be in her position with that type of support system, or to add her to mine as my partner."

"What are we, chopped liver?" Tom teased, "I thought that we and Jack were your support system."

"You absolutely are," Alex explained, "But I try to keep you all separate from my work. What Eloise had was this amazing group of friends who were like her family but in this crazy professional way. Not to oversell it, but it was the first time I had ever seen spying as something that wasn't lonely."

"Alex, that's actually really sweet," Sabina said, "Tell me about the girl."

"Well, she's really pretty, for starters. She has this light brown hair and these bright green eyes," Alex smiled, "And she's so smart. She speaks like a million languages and even started teaching me Arabic. She is fun and always happy to see me. She is so confident that it's unbelievable. She feels like a puzzle–there's so much about her to learn and I want to figure it all out."

Sabina smiled, "Well there's your answer. You love the girl. You have to ask her out!"

"I could never," Alex shuttered.

"Well, are there any signs she likes you back?" Tom asked.

"I think so, but I also don't want to read too much into anything," Alex confessed, "But Friday night when we were drunk, it definitely felt that way. We were having a 'chicken fight' with two of her friends and she kept falling off of me. Rather than actually holding on, she was just playing with my hair. Also, we were running to get into this car to take us home and she grabbed my hand. Oh, and she didn't know where my hotel was, so at the end of the night she took me home and I woke up in her bed. There were two empty bedrooms in that house, and she told her cousin–he was the driver–to put me in her bed."

"Yeah, she likes you," Sabina laughed, "Alex, trust me. You have literally nothing to lose by asking her out. There is not a chance in hell she doesn't like you back."

"You really think so?"

"I know so. And as the resident woman on this call, my word is law," Alex and Tom laughed.

"So what do I do next?"

"Do you have her number?" Sabina asked. Alex nodded, remembering that November night in London when Ella had put her contact into his phone. He still hadn't used it–he decided giving her space while she recovered was for the best. After that, he had sort of forgotten about the whole thing. "Then call her!" Sabina yelled into Alex's ears, "Invite her to dinner. Just be casual about it. Tell her to pick her favorite place and that you are buying. No girl is going to say no to that!"

"But what if she does?"

"Alex," Tom finally spoke up, "I have seen you do the impossible with my own eyes. You should be dead right now, but instead, you have persevered and saved the world. If you can take on terrorists before you've even had breakfast, you can ask out a girl."

"Plus she totally likes you," Sabina grinned.

It was settled then. After he testified at the trial, he would call Ella and invite her for dinner. If Tom and Sabina were right, then what's the worst that could happen?

The next day, Tuesday, Alex and Mrs. Jones were back at International Court. Alex was dressed in a navy blue suit. As he walked in, he silently hoped for today to be the day of his testimony. How much longer could he wait?

Accompanied by Mrs. Jones, the two entered their pew. The judge announced that the court was in session. A tall South Asian woman was called back onto the stand–she had begun her testimony on Monday but impossibly had more to add. Alex stared at his shoes–it was either his sneakers or Zeljan Kurst–and ran through his testimony for the 4,000th time in his head. He needed to execute a balance between putting Kurst in his place without revealing that he joined Scorpia too.

All at once, the prosecutor called his name and Mrs. Jones pulled him out of his seat. Alex couldn't hear anything except for the blood rushing into his ears. He swayed a little as he walked up to the podium. Everything was so fuzzy and Alex was so close to blacking out that he didn't even process that he was swearing to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Alex was seated alone facing the entire courtroom. He recognized a few faces from earlier days in the trial as well as Mrs. Jones and Kurst. The prosecutor, a middle-aged Dutch woman named Josefien Haas, began asking him questions.

"What is your full name for the courtroom?"

"Alexander John Rider, but please call me Alex," he replied very tensely. He knew he must look like a wreck, so he focused on Josefien–he couldn't look either Kurst or Mrs. Jones in the eyes.

Josefien smiled. "Thank you, Alex. Where are you from and how old are you?"

"London," he replied, refusing to be any more specific, "And I am 19 years old."

"Wonderful," Josefien smiled again and asked him the thing that he had been dreading for weeks, "Now, can you please tell the court your history with the organization known as Scorpia?"

Alex took a deep breath and then a second. He began speaking as slowly and measured as he could–he needed the court to hear every single word he had.

"Sure thing. This history actually begins with my father, John Rider, who worked for British Intelligence. When my Mum was still pregnant with me, about twenty years ago, he was assigned to act as a double agent to infiltrate Scorpia." Alex stole a quick glance at Kurst who snarled at the mention.

"To make a long story short, my father quickly moved up the ranks of Scorpia. He played the role of a dishonorably discharged soldier from the British military. However, as he got deeper and deeper into his mission, he became more and more disenfranchised by intelligence work. He didn't want to be a spy or a soldier anymore–he wanted to come home to my Mum and be my dad. MI6 arranged a prisoner exchange and brought him home but betrayed Scorpia in the process. Scorpia caught wind of this and executed revenge on my father. He and my Mum were on a plane to France trying to start a new life without Scorpia or MI6 or anything," Alex cleared his throat. All these years later it was still hard for him to talk about this part of the story, "I was supposed to go with them, but I was ill and stayed behind with a nanny. She was supposed to bring me along once I got healthy again," Alex paused, trying to keep his composure. He looked out over the courtroom and saw a hundred faces listening intently to his wretched story. "My Mum and Dad boarded that plane but never landed. Scorpia had found them and blew up their plane, killing them both immediately," Alex said stoically, "I was supposed to be on that plane too, but an ear infection saved my life. Scorpia orphaned me when I was about two months old." Everyone in the audience looked shocked.

Alex continued with his story, feeling a little better now that the part about his parents' death was over. "Anyways, fast forward to when I was fourteen years old. I was raised in part by my Dad's younger brother–my Uncle Ian. Ian was gone a lot and one day he died too. I later learned that he worked for British Intelligence like my father and had died in the field, also at the hands of a Scorpia assassin. He was investigating Herod Sayle's Stormbreaker project, if anybody remembers those from several years back. Spoiler alert, they weren't recalled due to manufacturing issues but Sayle had tried to use the Stormbreakers as a vessel for smallpox to poison thousands of English children. Scorpia were the ones who provided him with the virus and murdered my last remaining family member." Alex paused again. This is where things got murky–he had discussed with Mrs. Jones at length about how to tell this story but the practice did nothing to calm his nerves.

Alex took another deep breath and focused on Mrs. Jones. "MI6 had tried to cover up Ian's true cause of death, but their story had holes and I was a rather curious child. Eventually, they told me the truth about my family. They had caught wind of Scorpia planning something major and had sent me in to try and investigate it."

"And what were you sent to investigate?" Josefien asked him.

"They called it Operation Invisible Sword. It was an attempt to damage the relationship between England and the United States. Essentially, during their routine vaccinations, Scorpia had injected every child in England with cyanide pellets. The pellets became inactivated once Scorpia sent out a signal across the country. I am oversimplifying this, but essentially the children would die without a trace and seemingly randomly. The United States was given impossible demands with the promise that the English children would be saved. They refused, so Scorpia was going to carry out the plan to drive a wedge between the two countries. I was able to stop them, and on my walk home from MI6, Scorpia sent a sniper after me."

Alex paused and stood up from his chair. He took off his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt in front of the courtroom. This was all quite embarrassing, but he needed to show proof. "After murdering my Mum, my Dad, and my Uncle, Scorpia decided that I was next. He pointed at the scar on his chest from the bullet–it was still extremely visible and the reason why Alex was never shirtless at the beach or at the gym. "The sniper shot me in the heart but I was lucky and survived after life-saving surgery. I was fourteen," he emphasized. Alex took a second to button his shirt back up while the court murmured.

"Was this your last encounter with Scorpia?" Josefien prodded.

"No," Alex shook his head and went on to detail his experiences with Major Yu and the Snakeheads (he did not mention Ash), his time in Egypt (he did not mention Julius Grief but he did mention Jack), and the more recent time with the Grimaldi brothers. His entire testimony took nearly three hours before Josefien finally left him alone.

Alex had thought he was finally out of the woods when another voice spoke.

"I have a few questions for Mr. Rider," the defense attorney declared. He was a large man who felt too clinical in his perfectly tailored suit, "First, how old were you when MI6 sent you to investigate Scorpia?"

Alex swallowed and looked at his hands, unable to make eye contact with anybody. "I was fourteen years old. I understand that I was a child and the former director of MI6 was forced to step down because of this. However, MI6 decided that risking the safety of one child–me–was worth saving the lives of millions."

"And what was that like, being a teenager sent into Scorpia?"

"What MI6 put me through was nothing compared to the hell that Scorpia did," Alex replied defiantly, "I love my country and I love my family, and everything I did was worth it to save my classmates." Alex gritted his teeth. The patriotism was a bit of an act, but it was the only way, "Besides, MI6 isn't the one on trial here. I would like to request that we stay on topic and focus on the harm that Scorpia did to me, my family, my country, and the world," Alex crossed his arms. He looked over to Mrs. Jones who gave him a small nod of approval. Alex took a deep breath and made it through the rest of the defense's questions.

Alex was the last witness and after his testimony, the jury left to discuss their verdict.

Alex was allowed to go to lunch and Mrs. Jones followed. "You did well up there, Alex," she patted him on the shoulder, "I am very impressed with how you kept your composure."

"Thank you, Mrs. Jones," Alex said automatically, his response to that defense lawyer still playing back in his head, stuck on a loop, "Do you mind if I go get lunch by myself? I need some time to clear my head." Mrs. Jones nodded and sent him on his way.

Alex found himself retracing his steps from Friday and ended up back at Rebecca's. He sat at the same table he did on Friday and hoped he would see a familiar blonde waitress again. He needed to not think about the trial and Ella would be the perfect distraction. Alex had eaten his hamburger and fries as slowly as he could, attempting to discreetly look around the restaurant for his friend. It was pretty slow and he counted three waitresses working this shift but none were Ella. He figured Ella would have someone ready to come and interrogate or kill him immediately if he asked one of her coworkers when her next shift was, so he just sat quietly and finished his lemonade.

Three hours later, the jury finally returns. Alex barely even hears them declare a guilty verdict. Immediately, Mrs. Jones reaches over to shake his hand and congratulate him. Alex just closes his eyes and sighs with relief. It's the end of an era.

We really have Alex overcoming generational trauma to an audience while Ella and Noa are debating whether or not she likes a boy…

Next chapter later this week(!), but the next one won't be til May.