I'm ill, and being ill means I stay in bed and with nothing better to do, I can write :) so it's not all bad.

"Let me get this straight," Hera said with such sharp, bitter, repulsion, "you think I killed all the members of Scorpia and now I'm posing as them to kill my old partner, Alex Rider?" Even as she said it, she saw the faces of Blunt and Jones go blank on her TV screen. "Answer me." She said slowly when neither spoke. Mrs Jones plucked up the courage first and she also knew that Hera was not one to be mollycoddled. The teenager stood, in front of the TV, hands on hips, pouting at them as though daring them to ask her anything else.

"Why kill all the members of Scorpia in such short time?" Jones asked in a childish tone, as though trying desperately to prove Hera wrong.

"I hate," she choked out the word, "those people. They took my mother, they took my father," she paused, "they took Alex." Hera closed her eyes and pointed an accusing finger at the two on the screen, "they fucked up my life," she spat out as though she had been given poison, "they took everyone I loved!" She screamed before calming down. "The sooner the world was rid of them, the better." Hera whispered and wiped her eyes. "I had my revenge," she said smoothly, "and it was pretty damn sweet." There was a pause, for two minutes Jones and Blunt pretended they were reading but Hera knew what they were doing; biding time, waiting for her to break.

"You told us Scorpia contacted you," Blunt said suddenly and Hera looked lazily over to him. "They said they wanted you to go after Rider-"

"You've heard of Il Generale?" Hera asked quietly. Il Generale was the myth of all gangs. He was said to be the boss, The General, of the four most vicious and powerful terrorist organizations in the world. One of them being the newly reformed Scorpia. But his existence was a myth; the all-powerful overlord was never seen or heard of or caught. He was simply the driving force when it came to rebuilding these groups. "I thought he was the one calling." She said simply, "I know I destroyed everything that Scorpia had," Hera shrugged, "so when Scorpia phone up, I'm guessing it's him- and you know no one can kill him-"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Blunt, who was usually able to retain his patience, shouted at the girl. Hera looked like she was going to retaliate, simply bit her lip and folded her arms in annoyance. The man took a moment to calm down as Mrs Jones shot him a look of surprise. "Il Generale," Blunt spat out, "does not exist-"

"Then I suggest you find out who contacted me!" Hera shouted back. "Rather than accuse me of treason." She whispered dangerously and Blunt's eyes narrowed on her. It looked like he was ready to shout again but Mrs Jones interrupted.

"Very well," she said before Blunt could press Hera any further. "You will maintain your position," Jones informed the teenager, before quickly adding; "for now. You will watch over Alex until further notice." And before Hera could start screaming at them, the screen went blank and then returned to a split screen of all the cameras put up around Alex's house so she could watch over him. The girl stood, staring at it but not really taking anything in. A strange feeling of grief and betrayal rose up to a sore lump in her throat and she ran a hand through her hair.

She had no time to think about such insignificant things; she had a cherry pie to make for Mrs Rum and she'd run out of cherries.

A few hours later, Alex was stood by a fish tank in Mrs Rum's house, being engulfed by the hubbub of a party and getting bored with the conversation. Alex and Sabina were always a strange pair at these events; they were half way between being adults and being teenagers so no one quite knew what to do with them. Sabina got on fine with the elderly ladies and the mums of the street, there were no girls there her age but she still chatted and drank as though she enjoyed these gatherings. He watched her greet a new mum and as Sabina peer at the baby with a childlike curiosity, it made Alex smile. Sabina was a wonderful and very beautiful person that continued to astonish him; whatever had he done to deserve her?

Alex, who, since leaving MI6, had become more withdrawn at social gatherings, didn't care where he fitted in. It was either with the boys, who were twelve, playing their computer games or annoying the girls, or there were the middle-aged men of the street. They were all very nice to him and he liked them but he found that their conversation was dry and never exciting; he figured that this is what happened when you hung out with Tom for a long time, everything seemed dull in comparison. And then one of those strange coincidences of life happened; just as he had been thinking of his friend, he saw him, out of the corner of his eye, emerge from the front door. Alex smiled and took a step forwards but stopped as soon as he saw who had walked in with Tom.

Hera entered just after Tom and stood by his side. They were talking about something that made a smile light her face and Tom stroke her arm. Alex looked her up and down slowly; trying to figure out what her agenda was and why it wasn't hidden. She wore a dress that was a few shades of brown darker than her skin; it was loose but clung to her curves tightly and Alex smirked as he saw, disappearing into the neck of the dress, was that pear shaped diamond he knew so well. She looked just as seductive and innocent as he remembered her. Right at the beginning, this is how she had been; she made everyone smile and everyone look again. Indeed, as Tom and Hera walked along the hallway together, heads turned twice to watch her go; the guests would say hello in the polite way they should and then realise what she had looked like and turn back to catch another glimpse. Alex was surprised to find that a strange feeling of jealousy lashed out inside of him and made his hand curl into a fist.

"Is this that delightful friend of yours, Alex?" Mrs Rum muttered with a smile as she walked past Alex. He could never understand why Mrs Rum had such a mother-like affection towards him and Tom but whenever Alex was around, she always wanted to see Tom too. Alex went with her to greet the two. "Hera!" Mrs Rum called to her and the girl broke out of her conversation with Tom and turned to the woman. They embraced and as they were preoccupied, Alex glanced to his friend. Tom looked like he'd run here for his hair was out of place and his cheeks were slightly pink. Mrs Rum greeted the flustered boy with a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Oh, I baked a pie." Hera said sweetly and handed Mrs Rum the tray. While Mrs Rum was taken aback by the kind gesture, Hera looked to Alex and bowed her head in greeting, Alex nodded back. The old woman looked to the tray and then to Hera before she smiled.

"Thank you, dear." She said before she grabbed Hera's hand, "come and meet everyone!" Mrs Rum said and dragged Hera away. Alex was concerned when he watched Tom's eyes follow the way Hera's hips swayed as she walked away.

"Hey, Alex," Tom said slowly and Alex sighed; he knew what was coming. "Have you met Hera?" Tom enquired and the blonde ex-spy put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Yes, I have."

"She's really attractive, don't you think?" Tom asked and finally looked at Alex who shrugged.

"Not really." Alex lied.

"What- beautiful, smart, sexy, sweet...none of these make your list?" Tom raised an eyebrow as Alex exhaled slowly and pretended to think about it.

"Well," Alex said as though weighing up the options, "I guess- wait, how did you two meet?" He asked.

"Just outside," Tom indicated the door by jabbing a thumb over his shoulder, "we arrived at the same time." The darker haired boy moved forwards and after greeting people walking in the corridor, he and Alex stopped outside the living room and peered in. Most women were gathered around Hera who looked uncomfortable, sat in the middle of the room with so much attention on her. As the women talked amongst themselves, Hera's eyes travelled across the floor and slowly up to Tom and Alex. She caught them looking and smiled at them before a woman on her right asked her a question.

"Hera, that's a Greek name isn't it?" The lady, who dressed far older than she looked, asked and Hera nodded.

"It is," she agreed, "but the pronunciation of my name is of a different origin; the Greek pronunciation is Hare-rah, but I have the Sanskrit name: Here-a." She explained and the women, who Hera could easily guess the stereotype, all squealed and the sound of something exotic. Hera looked over to Sabina who was sat on a chair opposite and the latter girl gave her and apologetic, sympathetic look. Sabina had already undergone this probing treatment when she had first moved in, so she knew the awkward embarrassment that Hera was feeling.

"So your name is Indian?" The same woman said and Hera took a breath to speak again.

"My father was from Mumbai, in India," Hera explained and straightened her skirt, "and my mother was British." The women all adopted the similar smile that Alex used to get when he used to be considered "cute." Tom laughed at Hera's predicament; she looked so uncomfortable but then he looked to Alex and noticed his stiffness.

"Are you OK, mate?" Tom asked and Alex took another sip of fine liqueur before handing his glass to Tom. "Alex?" Tom asked as the blonde boy began to walk away from him.

"Wait here," Alex said with a wave of his hand and Tom sighed before going to say hello to Sabina. As Tom walked into the room, Hera was walking out.

"The interrogation's over?" He asked and locked eyes with her, Hera flashed him a smile.

"I think it's just beginning," she answered, "I'm definitely going to need a drink." She said and heard him laugh as she walked away. On her way to the kitchen Hera was greeted by many people who often gave a her a slow look up and down before smiling at her and letting her walk by. She didn't mind it; everyone here was nice...mainly because they had no idea who she was but at least they were nice. She entered the kitchen and the first thing she saw, like a small black hole in the corner of the kitchen, Alex was stood with a stare that shot daggers straight through her. There was no one else in the kitchen and so Hera closed the door with her foot; the sounds of the party died down to a low hum in the background. She walked over to Alex and put her hands on the table in front of her. The table separated them and seeing as Alex said nothing, simply stood staring at her, Hera poured herself a drink. It amused her that she knew so much about him; she knew that look, she'd seen it so many times, that angry, envious glare that Alex had was too familiar.

"Cheer up, love," Hera said and brought the drink to her lips, "it might never happen." Alex moved forwards and unscrewed the lid of a glass bottle, Hera watched in silence and sipped her drink.

"It's you," Alex retorted and grabbed a glass, "it will most definitely happen." Hera laughed.

"If I didn't know you better, I'd say someone's upset you-"

"Then it's a good thing that you know me better." Alex poured the golden liquid from the bottle into the glass; Hera lowered her cup from her lips and gave a disbelieving smile.

"I've upset you?" She asked and knew immediately she was right when Alex shrugged. "I didn't ask for a welcome party-"

"Tom," Alex interrupted her, "is..." he had to think of an appropriate word, "interested in you." Hera lowered her gaze and bit her lip. "I can't tell him why I think he should stay the hell away from you, but I can warn you," Alex's voice lowered to a dangerous whisper, "stay away from my friend." There was a second of silence and then she laughed.

"So you can go and do whoever you want to do, and I can't?" She asked and Alex said nothing. "Talk about double standards-"

"This isn't like that-"

"You're jealous?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Alex dismissed the comment with a simple look. Hera put her glass down on the table and put her fingers to her lips.

"I want you to understand this," she said smoothly and pointed her fingers at him, "you need to get it out of your head that I care about you. Because I don't." Hera said simply. "You are a job, Alex. Just a job. That means you can keep your opinions regarding my life, to yourself. They don't mean a thing. Not a damn thing." No smirk adorned her face and for once, Alex was shocked by her. Hera was constantly surprising him, so he was used to it but he never, ever thought, he would mean nothing to her. "You cannot tell me how to live my life-"

"I can protect my friends!" Alex whispered dangerously.

"I would never endanger a civilian." Hera replied and they stared across at each other with a same sense of confused emotions. They were stuck somewhere between attraction and conflict and neither was picking a side. "I've figured it out," Hera spoke suddenly and Alex, who had been so entranced by the restlessness between them, jumped.

"Figured what out?" He snapped.

"Why it is you seem less," she thought about it, "like yourself-"

"What?"

"This isn't really Alex Rider," she muttered as her finger stroked the edge of her glass, "I haven't met with him in a while." She could see Alex was intrigued by what she was saying and so continued at a whisper. "When you worked with MI6 you were so different; you were exciting, dangerous, charming and now," she looked him up and down, "you may be breathing, but you're not living." She shook her head, "it's true what they say about you; Alex Rider is dead." There was the tiniest trickle of regret inside her as she saw his eyes soften and look away. He knew she was right; he'd changed, lost what it meant to truly be alive. "Now if you'll excuse me, there's a sniper on a roof to your right." Hera said and Alex knew not to react. He simply looked at her with cold blue eyes.

"Thank you." He said, for she was going to save his life. The kitchen door opened and an ecstatic looking Mrs Rum walked in. Her smile faded as she looked between the two teenagers but then turned to her with equally convincing smiles.

"Alex was just telling me what an amazing tiramisu you make." Hera said sweetly and Mrs Rum took a moment before she smiled at Alex.

"Oh, thank you, Alex." She said and stood awkwardly as they both smiled at her. Alex's growing suspense heightened with the realisation that Hera had to leave if she were going to take out the sniper; why wasn't she moving?

"Mrs Rum, I'm going to have to pop out for a minute; I think I left my oven on." Hera said and Mrs Rum looked at Hera's sweet smile and sincere eyes before moving aside.

"Of course," she said and Hera walked out of the kitchen. On her way out she looked back and saw Alex try and coax Mrs Rum from the kitchen. He glanced up at her and she was comforted to see he nodded to her with determined eyes, thanking her silently again.

Less than ten minutes later, Alex was secretly impressed, the doorbell rang around Mrs Rum's house and she went to open the door. Luckily the house was so busy that no one besides those really watching, including Alex, could see that something had happened. Hera was wearing a cardigan now and her hair had come loose and he spotted a tear in her dress. She was hurt, badly. He watched her out of the corner of his eyes while pretending to be interested in what a man called John was talking about but he saw her limp and put a hand to her left shoulder as she walked past Mrs Rum. She looked perfectly fine to everyone else but he had seen her injured so many times he could tell if she simply had a scratch. Alex watched with hidden despair as she walked to the bathroom door.

As soon as Hera entered the bathroom, she groaned and almost collapsed. Holding herself up by grabbing onto the sink; she practically dragged herself to stand in front of it and looked up into the mirror. Her hair was out of place, she had scratches everywhere and bruises forming; she must've looked ridiculous coming back into the party like this. Her dress had tears in the sleeves but luckily her cardigan had hid them. Pain seared through her shoulder, where her deepest cut was and she grabbed her shoulder and then put a hand to her mouth so she could scream quietly. In a panic she removed her cardigan and as it fell to the floor she opened Mrs Rum's cupboards to find anything of use. She saw a cloth and grabbed it, as she turned the tap on, another jolt of pain ran through her and she found herself getting weaker. She held on to either side of the sink and took deep breaths; she just needed to calm down. She'd had worse battle wounds than this; she was just uncomfortable with having to be in this tiny bathroom, trying to clean the wound. That sniper had been skilled, she was almost lucky to be alive. It was hanging around civilians all the time that was making her forget how important this was. She doused the cloth with water and squeezed any excess away. Moving down the left sleeve of her dress she could just about see the cut. She grunted as she saw it was in the one place on her shoulder that she could not reach. She tried her hardest, to stretch her right hand down to that place on her left shoulder.

"Hera?" She heard Alex whisper her name from the hallway and stopped in her strange position as she tried to place the cold, damp cloth on her back. The cut was in such an awkward place that she could not reach and if she didn't clean the wound then it would become infected. She looked up to the bathroom mirror in front of her; her full lips showed that familiar pout and she sighed. It was almost as if fate was taunting her; she knew what was coming. "Hera?" Alex asked in a low voice and knocked again. She went to the door and opened it only slightly. She did not look at him but at the collar of his shirt and Alex felt a pang of guilt as he saw the state she was in. Stray strands of hair fell about her face and she pushed them roughly away from her eyes.

"Can I help you?" She snapped, clearly annoyed at being interrupted but all Alex had to do was hold out his hand and she knew what he wanted. She finally looked him in the eye and they stared at each other for a nanosecond of deep silence. "I don't need your help-"

"I saw your limp," Alex whispered urgently, "I saw you grab your shoulder before you came in here!" He said in exasperation and he saw the conflict in her eyes as she thought about it before letting him in. Hera stood away from the door and hated the fact that this bathroom was so small; there was hardly enough room for two people. As Alex had entered his eyes flicked to her bare shoulder before he looked away and held out his hand. Grudgingly, Hera handed him the dripping cloth and turned her back to him, while moving her hair to rest on her right shoulder. Alex looked at her wound and tried not to gasp; it was a deep cut and would probably take a week to heal. And she had got it because of him.

On closer inspection, Alex could see that where the skin had been cut was a tattoo. A very small one, only a centimetre in width; it was a small, black butterfly. He had never seen it before and he knew every inch of her, she must have got it when he left. Alex took a deep breath before he placed his fingertips on her shoulder and he could've sworn he felt her jump slightly at his touch. He had forgotten how warm her skin was, how soft and delicate she felt and he moved his fingers beneath the strap of her bra and slid it from her shoulder.

"Ah," Hera winced as he did this and shut her eyes as though trying to escape to some other place and stop her thinking about the butterflies in her stomach or the heat she felt slowly make its way to the surface of her skin and burn her. With one hand on her shoulder, Alex placed the damp cloth on the knife-wound on her back and his eyes flicked to the back of her head as she put her hand in her mouth and bit her flesh to stop herself groaning from the pain. Alex was surprised to find that, only for a moment, his eyes had caught on to, and admired, the way her mouth opened so her lips could push against the skin of her hand as she raked her teeth across her flesh. He looked away suddenly and could feel something, some strange feeling, a burning almost, rise up inside of him. He couldn't remember the last time he had had her so close. The liquid oozed down Hera's back and she could feel that the heat from Alex's hands had turned the water warm. "God," she whispered and Alex thought she was praying until he saw she was simply commenting on the cut she had received on her leg. She had lifted her dress past her knee and he saw, just above her patella, another cut where the blood had slid down her knee. Due to the place of the cut and the shape of her knee, the blood had oozed down like a firework; with many streams coming from the centre cut. Hera reached into the cupboard and picked out the first aid kit. She opened it, removed the dressings and handed them to Alex who took them and began to dress the wound.

"Almost done," Alex said softly and Hera nodded. Once everything, every bit of blood had been cleared away and the wound was dressed, Alex turned to the sink and washed the cloth. Hera turned to him and watched as his large hands…well, they weren't large; they were just always bigger than hers. Whenever he used to grab her hand, his own would envelop hers with its warmth and reassuring firm grip. She looked down as she remembered those times and then decided that if she did something, it would stop her mind wondering. She put the toilet lid down and went to sit there. Alex watched out of the corner of his eye, pretending to wash the blood from the sink, as she pulled up her dress again and clicked her tongue with impatience as she saw the blood.

"Damn," she muttered and took the cloth once more and quickly wiped the blood away. As she did this, Alex took out more bandages from the fist aid box and knelt down in front of her. Hera stopped when she saw him do this. He didn't look at her but she kept her eyes on his face as he wrapped the bandage around her thigh with a gentle, slow torture and she bit her lip so the pain would distract her. "Ow!" She gasped as he pulled the bandage to tighten it and a small smile lit her face when she saw him smirk at her reaction. Once Alex finished he reached across and through the dirty cloth into the bin. Hera and Alex stood at the same time.

They had not realized that they would be so close to one another. In the tiny bathroom she could feel the fabric of his clothes against her skin and she looked away as Alex looked down to her. He saw the reddening of her bare shoulder as the cut began to heal and slowly, his eyes travelled from her shoulder, along her collarbone, to her neck where his diamond hung and then her face. How could she have said he meant nothing to her, when she kept his last gift to her, so close to her heart?

She had no idea, what she did to him and he had no idea that she felt the same way. That same feeling of lonely desire; wanting more but never having it. They tried to move away from each other but found that when Hera took a step forwards, Alex stepped in the same direction and they bumped into each other. She gasped as he grabbed her arm to stop her falling, or keep her close, she couldn't tell. Hera looked up to her eyes that were so similar to hers and he stared just as intensely as she remembered he could. They were so close; her nose could stroke the side of his face if she moved only slightly and she wanted, desperately, to attempt it but knew she couldn't. So she stared back, with that assassin's glare of determination and reckless lust that she had for him.

Alex had almost stopped breathing as he looked down to her and fought the desire to push her up against the bathroom wall and do what he'd wanted to do since they first met all that time ago. There was something he had forgotten about her; the excitement and mischief that came with her glance, reminded him of the way things used to be. Of how he used to be. Alex bent down a little further so her lips were near his ear and he heard her let out a small gasp when his lips brushed her cheek. He drew back slowly, letting his lips sweep her skin before he came to her lips. Without Alex realizing it, in a sudden blur of movement, Alex had a hand on her neck and ran a hand up her thigh as Hera put a hand to his face and ran a hand through his blonde hair. Blue eyes met once more before soft lips parted and-

"Alex?!"

I know I'm writing it but even I'm like- they were so close, man! Why ruin it?! Does anyone else feel the same way? Also, I hope this level of zestiness is OK for you guys, if not I apologize!

Reviews appreciated!