A/N: I do not own Alex Rider or any related characters.

Chapter 14

A Day in the Life of one Alex Rider

Recap:

"Bring me the tape," he ordered. The guards nodded hurriedly and left the room.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he began in a mocking voice, glee colouring the undertone, "it is my pleasure to announce that you are the first people in the world to see this highly classified, very rare new documentary about one Alex Rider."

Walking through the door he had entered through earlier and shutting it firmly behind himself and his accomplices, Doctor Three hit a button attached to the wall after entering the ten digit opening sequence for the security lock.

With a terrible groaning and grinding noise, the bars that separated the SAS from their freedom lifted, shuddering to a stop when they had retracted into the ceiling with a final horrible screech that pierced every eardrum present in the room.

Cautiously, said soldiers overstepped their previous boundaries, and, finding no obstruction or pain to stop them, rushed about the room, buzzing like a hive of disturbed wasps.

What was going on?

Why were they being freed?

Where had this 'Walker' and 'Doctor Three' gone to anyway? Had their bodyguards gone with them?

"Look at them, so naive," drawled said Doctor in dismissal. "I wonder how little Alex is faring?"

Alex, meanwhile, was conversing in Russian with Yassen in a corner of the room, trying not to draw any attention to himself whatsoever.

Sadly, this was not the case as he saw Ben along with K-Unit pushing their way through the swarming masses towards them, calling his name over the hubbub.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the men sent to bring the tape returned, having obtained said object. Walker placed the tap into the player and flicked the on switch for the projector.

The door banged open once again, bringing forth the man Alex loathed most in the world at this moment – Doctor Three – and let's not forget his faithful sidekick, Walker. Lovely pair of people really, great personalities.

The man clapped his hands for silence and gradually the noise level dropped.

Not because they were willing to do his bidding, but because the SAS had an insatiable curiosity on what they were going to be shown – Cub's background.

Almost every single one of them had wondered at the boy's past at one stage; how had a boy managed to become extraordinary enough to be allowed to train with them? And now they were about to find out.

"Alex Rider, please make your way to the front."

Slowly, Alex moved to the front, K-Unit following, not seeing any harm in the Doctor's instruction.

The aforementioned man's sickly smile reappeared on his face as he sought sight of Alex moving towards him.

As Alex reached the space at the front by the screen, guards grabbed him and held him by the arms, none too gently either as their partners pointed guns at K-Unit's protestations.

Aforementioned screen then flickered to life, or appeared to.

The first clip was of a three year old Alex, face twisted in confusion as his uncle spoke to him in Spanish.

The clip cut to a few weeks later, Alex could tell by the date at the bottom of the screen, this time showing a smiling Alex babbling away happily in Spanish to Ian. The next clip showed Alex at four learning how to speak French, and German later on in the same year. Suddenly, the screen went dark.

Alex could feel the soldiers' curious stares penetrating his back as he stood, frozen to the spot at the front, shoulders hunched in a defensive position.

Doctor Three began to speak. "Well, as you can see, Alex had a very interesting childhood, being trained by his uncle to spy from three years of age."

Alex could feel the soldiers' gazes go from questioning to pitying, so much so that it got to the point where Alex couldn't bear it. The one thing he absolutely detested; pity.

He snapped at the room in general. "So I had a different upbringing than other people, so what? Everyone has his job in life; mine was chosen for me when I was three. I see no problem with this fact; I have come to accept it."

Alex was now sure that everyone in the room was watching him. Part of his outburst was faked, to test the Doctor's reaction to it, and the other part was real. He seemed to be doing a lot of that recently; faking outbursts to test reactions. He hoped it wasn't going to be made a common occurrence in his life.

"Moving on," came the Doctor's voice and the screen came back to life.

This time, Alex was six years old and was brought to Karate classes. The soldiers stared quietly at the screen as a younger Alex was knocked down countless times and got back up, not once uttering a sound of pain.

The next clip showed Ian telling a seven year old Alex that he was going away for three weeks and that he would be back soon.

The soldiers watched in silence as Alex realised that he had no food in the refrigerator and that the phone's wiring was shot.

K-Unit were reluctantly impressed as they watched Alex grab some money from a money tin in a cupboard, leave the house and return a few hours later with numerous bags of groceries dangling from his hands.

Ben's blood boiled as he saw Alex fend for himself for a couple of weeks that turned into a couple of months.

All the soldiers watched Alex cleaned the house, ironed his clothes, managed to get his next door neighbour to fix the phone's wiring, went to his Karate classes, constantly restocked his fridge over the time that Ian was away, cooked for himself, went to school and got all his homework done.

They all stared in silence as Ian stumbled through the door after two months and three days, or so the date in the bottom left hand corner depicted, and promptly collapsed on the couch.

Alex came running into the living room. "Uncle Ian!" he cried; delight at having his Uncle home evident on his face.

Current day Alex watched in apprehension, knowing what was coming next.

Ian literally jumped off the couch, then realised who was talking to him.

"Alex? Alex, what are you doing here? Christ, trust them...fucking MI6...ask them to take care of him...bastards... Are you okay?"

Alex's face was frozen in confusion edged with a bit of pain. Current day Alex remembered thinking that Ian had arranged for him to be arrested or taken away because he didn't want him anymore. At the time, it was the only logical outcome from what he had gleaned from Ian's mutterings. Two seconds later, the Alex on screen deflated visibly before beaming up at Ian; having quickly smoothed his features into a mask of happiness, already learning to hide his emotions, and replied, "I'm fine, Uncle Ian. I cleaned the house and got the phone rewired for you!"

The clip ended and before the soldiers had time to ask Alex what the hell that last one was about, the next started.

This one showed a changed ten-year-old Alex glaring at a red haired woman.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Jack Starbright, I'm an art student. I was told to come here today..." the woman on tape trailed off, obviously confused.

"By who?"

"Um..." there was the sound of crinkling paper then, "Ian Rider."

"Why?"

"He told me I could room here? Um...I'm supposed to be your new housekeeper."

"We don't need a housekeeper."

"Well then I'll cook meals for you."

"You are not the only one proficient in the culinary arts. Now who are you really? And what do you want with us?"

"Alex," cut in Ian, appearing behind Alex's shoulder. "She is who she says she is. She's here to take care of you, as well as keep house for us."

Alex gave the woman a dark look, but didn't argue any further and opened the door wider to let her in.

The clip cut off there and the screen again went blank.

Doctor Three spoke again.

"As you can see, gentlemen, Alex's guardian wasn't very reliable and poor Alex here has had to fend for himself, until Ian Rider hired Jacqueline Starbright that is. Let's take a look at the rest of Alex's life now."

And with that said, the screen became active, cutting off Alex's reproach before he had even opened his mouth.

Surruptiously, he glanced around the room and was slightly surprised to see that almost all the soldiers' attention was avidly focused on the documentary running. Sighing audibly, Alex turned his eyes back to the screen that was currently ruining his life.

The scene started off at Alex's house at three in the morning. The police were talking to Jack in the living room; telling her about Ian's death and the cause.

The scene suddenly cut to the graveyard, showing Alex's clear reaction to the priest's words.

Alex could still remember the odd feeling inside him as the man declared Ian a 'patriot.'

"Dearly beloved prisoners, we are gathered, here in this moment, to witness the turning moment in Alex Rider's life. Alex's uncle was killed doing his job, by none other than our dear friend lurking in the corner," revealed Dr Three, seeming to thrive on the shocked looks on the SAS' faces, as well as the uncomfortable tint that was added to the tension in the room by the men standing nearest the Russian. "And yet, Alex is good friends with him, would you not agree? Let's see just what happens next."

The next clip depicted Alex jumping off the building's seventeenth floor only to nearly miss the flag he was aiming to grad a hold of. The soldiers watched in stunned silence as Alex found a handhold and then managed to fling himself onto the neighbouring office's window and then fit himself through it somehow.

The screen dimmed again and Alex tensed apprehensively. They had already seen much more of his life than he cared for them to.

Dr Three didn't disappoint.

"Unfortunately, we didn't manage to record what happened next, but gentlemen; you just saw a fourteen year old Alex's introduction to MI6. By the way, Alex, your file is very highly classified and guarded. I lost three moles to get that clip from it." A frown appeared on his face.

Alex shrugged, and resorted to sarcasm, hoping to get this over and done with as soon as possible. "What can I say? I'm a popular person."

The Doctor's eyes flashed dangerously, then calmed again.

"I would watch your tongue, young Alex. My patience has a limit to it."

Alex shrugged again, his gaze on a spot on the wall that appeared so fascinating as to hold his attention while Doctor Three was talking. He hoped his calculations were right and said, "Your point is?"

"You're never too young to die."

Alex's head jerked back to face the Doctor of its own accord. Said spy's eyes narrowed.

"I believe you've heard that saying before, haven't you, Alex? Hm?"

"Yes, I seem to recall it. Your point is?"

"Patience," chided the sadistic Doctor, "is a virtue. As is willpower and perseverance. Virtues that I believe should be applied to every situation."

"Oh believe me, Doctor, it's taking all my patience not to strangle you and all my willpower and perseverance not to fall asleep on you," muttered Alex sarcastically.

"Only the weak are unable to respond in a polite and reserved manner when being held hostage," the Doctor returned smoothly.

Alex laughed, then winced. Apparently contracting your stomach muscles, which are attached to the muscles on your hips, is not a good idea; especially when said hip muscles have recently received a gunshot wound.

"Par-don me," Alex said, hurling the two words at Doctor Three. "For not understanding that I am supposed to treat the people I hate most in the world, at the time being, with courtesy, while they humiliate me. I apologise profusely for this grievous lack in my manners."

Doctor Three merely nodded his head sagely as if Alex had just professed something wise and wonderful.

"That's much better. But now is no time for idle chitchat, onwards!"

The screen spluttered before returning to its former state. At first Alex thought it had broken as it went dark almost immediately.

His elation at this turn of events was short lived as he heard the sound of water gently lapping against something. Greatly confused, but not showing it, Alex watched the screen with interest, and then, after recognising the scene as the sub rose from the depths, opening to reveal the blond Russian, who had remained standing in the corner, with awe almost.

Alex turned to face Doctor Three, curiosity getting the better of him.

"How the hell did you manage to film this?"

K-Unit and the SAS seemed fairly confused as they were attempting to divide their attention between Alex on screen and Alex in real life.

Apparently, on screen Alex won out in the end. Questions could always be asked later.

In response to Alex's query, the Doctor simply quirked his mouth into what the man obviously thought was a smile, but to the surrounding observers, was a lopsided, crazed grimace.

"Ah, ah, ah. You should know this, Alex," he tutted as if Alex forgetting a piece of information was a major letdown. "I told you, we've been watching you from the beginning, remember? You, of all people, should be able to picture the extent of Scorpia's network and sources."

Alex's features momentarily flitted into a scowl of displeasure, before, just as fleetingly, smoothing out again.

Turning back to the screen, he was just in time to hear Yassen's disembodied voice (it obviously wasn't a very good recording) spit, "No, you won't," at the clumsy man before drawing his gun and ending said man's life.

Alex watched apprehensively, as, if by clockwork, the SAS forces turned to face the seemingly unconcerned Russian in the corner, Doctor Three pausing the 'documentary' in face of much more interesting entertainment.

After the glaring at the blond foreigner continued for a good minute or so, Doctor Three grew bored, or so Alex guessed by his facial expression, and returned everyone present's attention to the screen by pressing play.

Narrowing his eyes at the Doctor while trying to ignore the clip playing, the one of Alex and a certain jellyfish, (Alex decided then and there to call it Fred) Alex was endeavouring to discover a way to end this.

The odds definitely weren't in his favour – Walker was, no doubt, watching all this from a yet unknown location, alongside assumed numerous quantities of regular dogsbodies.

The only way to get from this room to another was through the one door, as far as he could see, plus escape meant working with vast numbers of SAS soldiers who either hated him or pitied him.

Fabulous...

This, logically, meant that the only thing to do was to sit tight and wait for them to make a mistake.

It was a tactic that had saved his life in the past, even against Scorpia, and, if he was being honest with himself, it was really his only option at the moment.

Still plotting in his head, absorbing details from his surroundings at speeds that would short circuit the average person's brain, Alex didn't even realise that the clip of him versus Fred had ended in Fred, and Nadia Vole's, demise had finished.

Coming back to himself when he heard the noise levels drop, Alex looked around the soldiers openly gawking at him, hoping for a clue as to what had just transpired.

"After Alex's lucky escape, Alex stole a, what was it, Alex?"

"_," Alex said, answering on autopilot, finally having realised what must have been shown.

"Unfortunately, we weren't able to record his amazing driving skills as he blew up the jeep our cameraman was in-" Alex shrugged noncommittally in his defence. "-but we were able to tape his next actions."

The screen showed a picture this time. A picture of a flaming helicopter falling through the skies, lighting up the underside of the clouds like the sun at sunset.

"This is what remained of Alex's transport to London. Mr Grin, the pilot died in the explosion. Our dear friend here," the Doctor gestured, mockingly, towards Alex. Alex merely bowed, an arrogant smirk tracing his lips as he played along. "Couldn't let it rest at that and decided to get revenge on our dear Prime Minister. I regret to inform you, gentlemen, that Alex only managed to hit him in the finger, but of course, some of you were there. You'll know all about it."

"Herod Sayle," sneered Doctor Three, pronouncing the name with an undisguised disgust, "Had a back up plan. The only part we managed to get on film was this part."

Alex, along with most of the soldiers watched as Herod Sayle held a gun to Alex's head before being shot himself by Yassen Gregorovitch. The clip ended and everyone automatically turned their heads to stare at the two parties involved.

The Doctor, growing bored of the now typical, stare at Alex and Yassen reaction from the soldiers, decided to move on.

"Unfortunately, Alex's next mission took place in a school in the Alps, a place we were unable to infiltrate in time, so there are no clips from the mission apart from these."

The screen burst into motion as a dark figure was clearly shown, outlined against the white snow, snowboarding down the mountain, dodging bullets onto a train before being violently flung off it. All of a sudden the frame changed and Alex was fighting...himself? to the soldiers everlasting confusion, before the panel receded into blankness again.

Not giving the soldiers a chance to look away Doctor Three ploughed on.

"Luckily for Alex, Scorpia were able to film much more of his next mission...to Skeleton Key."

The first clip shown depicted Alex talking with Troy and Turner round a table outside a cafe, then abruptly cut to underwater. The audience watched in mute horror as both Turner and Troy entered the cave and were promptly pincushioned, their dead bodies floating eerily past the hidden camera. The next scene showed flashes of Alex and a bit of the shark before the shark's speared corpse drifted past the camera, and the screen went dark.

"What did you think of that, gentlemen? Rather impressive, even by Scorpia's standards. Taking on a great white shark at fourteen? How careless of you Alex. Of course, not as careless as you were to be. You see, gentlemen, instead of Alex turning around and going home like an ordinary person, Alex went to General Sarov's house, and was almost ground through a mincer, before being rescued by the very man he was there to investigate, because General Sarov, being the kind man he was, wanted to adopt Alex. Unfortunately, that didn't end well, as you can see here," clicking the button, Doctor Three brought the frozen images on screen to life.

The sea wind and rain made it difficult to see, however one could clearly make out the sounds of gunshots and various people dressed in uniforms fighting throughout the area. The camera seemed to be focussed on two people by the edge of the water, standing next to a large technological object. One was clearly Alex, and the other Sarov.

The SAS men watched in horror as Sarov pulled the gun on Alex, who, despite the gun, stood tall and said something incomprehensible to the camera before flicking the card in his hand into the sea. Sarov seemed to droop at this, and slowly turned the gun on himself.

Present day Alex watched the proceedings with a detached air, as he observed the shocked expressions featured predominantly on the SAS men's faces, undershadowed by no small amount of detached curiosity. All of which became resolved into horror upon the deafening noise of a gunshot.

The screen dimmed and the soldiers' attention was once again, Dr Three's. "Yes, that was a rather unfortunate incident – Sarov could've been a most valuable resource for Scorpia, but alas, Alex got in the way, once again."

He smirked darkly at Alex, before continuing. "I'm sure most of you, if not all of you, have played a playstation game in your youth. Or an X-box game. Alex's next mission, he created for himself. In this one, Alex was captured by Damain Cray, after a series of 'unfortunate' events; one of which was watching a man being crushed to death with money, and unhappily volunteered to play a real life version of his new game, which was quite an extraordinary concept."

Without further ado, the first frame gradually appeared on the screen, slinking out of the shadows and creating a sinister atmosphere felt by the SAS men, which was evident by their uneasy shifting. Alex, who had 'seen it all already,' didn't particularly fancy re-watching this particular one again, and hung his head, glaring at the floor in an attempt to communicate how unfair life was to it.

After the screen had died once again, Alex lifted his head to view the soldiers' reaction: and promptly dropped it again.

"Yes, that was one encounter that Alex was unfortunately not able to repeat, but I'm sure would have been immensely entertaining," commented Dr Three in his sadistic tone of voice. "The rest of the mission really is quite boring until we reach the finale. I'm sure you've realised by now, that Alex is a very troubled youth who, clearly, seeks attention, due to his neglected childhood, which he feels he can only get by destroying people and their possessions."

Alex's head snapped upright at that comment, the snarl of wolf plain on his face, and rage's burning eyes set into it. Baring his teeth, Alex's hatred found his voice.

"That. Is. A. Lie. You sick bastard! How could I take pleasure from watching people die? You're evil-"

The butt of a guard's gun implanted itself into Alex's sternum, winding him into incomprehensible heaving pants of noise.

"As I was saying," Dr Three continued, "Alex cannot resist going out with a bang. And so decided to destroy Air Force One."

The murmur of interest and slight disbelief that ran through the SAS men was nearly unperceivable, but there nonetheless. Curiosity was displayed in their strained necks to see the screen clearly, seeking eyes and piqued expressions. The screen roared to life in a whirlwind of noise and colour. The room where the incident was filmed was clearly moving and obviously unstable, debris was flung amuck around the cabin, the largest of which was the body crumpled in the corner of what was the inside of a very well furnished airplane body.

Alex was the main focus though, and soon managed to shove Cray out the door, a cart going with him. The cut off scream and the bang heard when the trolley made contact with the engine left no doubt about the nature of Cray's true demise, and was reflected in the sickened expressions of the hardened soldiers of the SAS. The whole room watched as Alex stumbled over to the body, legs weak. The camera listened as the man told Alex to find his destiny and to find Scorpia, then zoomed in to show the face of the dead man, and shock was present on every soldiers face and palpable in the room.

Yassen merely looked at Alex with a faint smile on his lips.

"Yes, this is the dead body of Yassen Gregorovich, who stands before you here today. He willingly sacrificed his life for Alex onboard the plane earlier, for an unpaid debt to Alex's father. We were, of course, delighted that Yassen mentioned the name of our organisation to Alex. We always wanted to become involved with Alex, but now he would come looking for us. It was the perfect opportunity," declared Dr Three, with a smug look on his face. "The recently deceased Julia Rothman would agree with me. Unfortunately, Alex went unrecognised by Scorpia in his first meeting, and resulted in his near drowning experience. Luckily Alex survived, and after discovering the truth about his father, a former operative of ours-"

"My father," said Alex in a deceptively calm voice, rage and anger simmering just below the surface of his words. "Was a good man and a undercover operative for MI6. You were just too foolish to understand that!"

"-he agreed to come work for us," Dr Three continued talking in the same unaffected monotone, as if Alex's outburst didn't happen. The room was once again bathed in light as the screen showed an idyllic scene; sun, sand and of course, a school for assassins. Alex's education was shown to not be lacking in the least. As the SAS men looked on, Alex correctly completed courses in botany and the study of poisons, disassembled and reassembled a weapon in less than 1 and a half minutes, was taught about the history of various weapons, the basics of bomb making, how to shoot with deadly accuracy and advanced martial arts.

Alex's face twisted in disgust at his former self's stupidity, a hint of remorse playing on the corner of his lips, and anger at being manipulated by Scorpia found in his creased forehead and shadows haunting his eyes.

Dr Three's beady eyes greedily absorbed every detail on Alex's face, wanting to etch the memory onto his brain for future reference. It would be him and him alone who looked back on these memories with fondness, and with the satisfaction of being the one who finally destroyed Alex Rider. He hit the button.

The screen unfolded into a rather high quality image of a reception area of a block of apartments, clearly detailing to the avid audience, the bored expression on the security guard's face expressing his enjoyment of his job perfectly. Alex tensed, aware of just exactly which clip they were showing, and not liking it one bit. He watched in remorse as himself in disguise walked into reception, carried through with his instructions, entered the elevator, and after an encounter with a guard upstairs, entered the flat of one Tulip Jones.

Alex's intent, by this point, was not lost on the SAS men by any means. A universal intake of breath was held as Alex held the woman on screen at gunpoint. Tension and curiosity were palpable in equal amounts in the room, quickly dispersed with the thunder of a gunshot in the quiet.

Alex could feel the eyes of every single SAS soldier burning holes into his back, not even one paying attention to the screen, which was now on sleep mode. K- Unit couldn't believe it, no, they refused to believe it. That was just some impressive CGI, right? Right? Cub, little, useless, Double-oh-Nothing Cub, was not a killer. Yes, that was it. But in the back of their minds, the truth refused to be euthanized. It lay wakeful of the moment a fragment of doubt would perforate the lie the men had constructed around their convoluted psyche, for that was when the weight of the situation would set in and when the men would fully realise just how deadly a cobra they had sitting amongst their chickens.

Ouch. That was my reaction when reading this work after- what is it now? A three year absence? Wow, time flies. Frankly, this so awful that it took me a while to be motivated to write something instead of taking the easy way out and just deleting the whole catastrophe. It was only at the behest of several reviewers who still left me a review despite my absence that encouraged me to continue. I'm not sure when I'll update, it certainly shouldn't be three years...probably not before June 15th 2012...if anybody can figure out why not before June 15th 2012, I will send you a prize in the form of a cyber cookie...

I take credit for any and all mistakes made, seeing as I haven't read the books in a loooong time, or anything, actually...it's all just study, study, study, piano (if I'm lucky), study, study...

This nine page monster certainly took a lot of coaxing to write...you know those tasks that you do to get out of revision...suddenly your room needs cleaned, or the dishes need washed...or maybe you didn't do any exercise yesterday, and it's time for a run, those sort of things? Well writing this was one of those.

Once again, this has dragged on for way too long, and once again, thanks to all my reviewers who have managed to stick this story to the point it's at now...drop a review, if you dare to stick around that long, and tell me what you think. If you absolutely hate it, please don't bother leaving a review. Thanks again,

Micaha x