Author's Note: First FanFic ever! Please review!

As Alex lay there, paramedics rushed about him. A teenage girl was shouting, tears pouring from her eyes. A man was holding her back, his eyes solemn and sad. A red-haired twenty-something stood amidst the hustle and bustle, in shock of what was happening. But any onlooker would have to look closely to see the woman on the outskirts, with a tight bun and one loose hair, swaying in the wind. And one would have to look closer still to see the solitary tear sliding down her face.

But even as this happened around him, the only thing Alex was seeing was a mourning dove flying slowly, almost purposefully, in the sky. In fact, he couldn't keep his eyes off it. Something so small, yet…so meaningful.

His lips formed into a smile as he thought to himself how lovely it would be to have the last thing he saw be something so beautiful, so graceful…He gazed for hours, days, years it felt like, savoring the perfection of the moment. Then, everything began to dim. The noise around him, the life inside him, the dove…

No, he thought. He did not want the dove to go. He wanted to stare at it forever. For a brief moment, no one was moving. Everything seemed to stop. His heart itself ceased to beat.

Then, Alex became suddenly very aware of tightness in his chest. This sensation became stronger and stronger until Alex was jerked into reality. It was like being doused with cold water. Alex lay gasping and coughing. There were voices all around him. People everywhere. So much motion….too fast…

Alex's eyes flicked briefly to the sky. The dove was gone. Alex, however, was very much present. Alex Rider would live to fight another day.