This fic is dedicated to Insanely Me, whose work I just absolutely adore!

Summary: Continuation of Insanely Me's fic Three Months. Alex isn't suicidal. He knows he's just going to die anyway. But Ben doesn't, and Alex isn't about to tell him. What Ben doesn't know won't hurt him, right? '"Jack dies, Alex goes to live with K-Unit" story, with a twist! Dark!Alex AU, Cutting, Language

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

Now introducing…*drumroll*

Three Months to Forever Chapter 1: Terminal

"…cancer…" "…terminal…" "…how long?…" "…three months…"

These words floated through the door into room nine of St. Dominic's. It was well past ten o'clock, and the patients were supposed to have gone asleep by now, which was probably why they were talking about this now.

Inside the door, a fourteen year old was listening with a heavy heart. Alex Rider thought he was about to throw up. And throw up he did.

As he was hurling the contents of his supper into the toilet, he was thinking, Why is it always me?

-XD-

"Hey Jack!" Alex yelled, and then threw his backpack on the floor. When there was silence, he frowned. Usually, Jack would be making supper right about now. "Jack?"

He shrugged. He was a spy. His senses were trained to overreact. He should calm down. Maybe Jack had gone on a date with a "hot guy" that she had forgotten to tell Alex about. He started on his homework.

-XD-

Five hours later, the teen was going nearly insane. Jack still hadn't shown up. As much as Alex resented it, he had to dial MI6.

"Hello, this is the Royal and General Bank, how may I help you?" the calm and collected voice said.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS, MCDONALD'S? I need to speak to Blunt, now!" the teen spy screamed at the poor lady.

"I'm sorry, there is no-"

"To hell with that! Put me on the line, now!" he yelled.

"Do you have authorization?" The annoying voice said in a monotone voice.

"MY GOD LADY! If you must in-SIST, it's…" Alex sighed. "Agent Rider, Agent Number 71924, security level 3. Now will you PLEASE hook me up to Blunt!" He was in a harry, dammit!

"I'm sorry. Please wait a minute while you are being connected."

Alex actually screamed that time in frustration. "I DON'T HAVE A FUCKING FIVE MINUTES TO WAIT!"

Finally, Blunt picked up the phone. "Hello, Alex. I must say, you sure-"

"I DON"T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT THAT! WHERE'S JACK?"

"Alex, just calm dow-"

"I CAN'T CALM DOWN! MY GUARDIAN AND ONLY SURVIVING RELATIVE LEFT IS MISSING!"

"Alex!" A new voice took over. Mrs. Jones. "Settle down. We're going to send out a rescue team. If we don't find her in a week, then you can be worried."

I was almost hyperventilating. "But what if you don't find her in a week?"

"Then we'll send out stronger forces."

"Thanks. I think." I hung the phone up, then collapsed. For now, I was without a guardian.

-XD-

By now, he was simply dry-heaving. So that's what's wrong with me! He thought desperately. I have- I have- Alex couldn't even think about it. He barely heard the doctor next to me, telling me to take deep breaths and calm down.

I had been feeling off for weeks now- in fact, since Jack disappeared. It must have been just a coincidence, though. I mean, a person couldn't get terminal cancer from trauma- could they?

The doctor, Dr. Hayward, gently guided me back to the bed. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way. I meant to tell you tomorrow."

"It- It's fine. I probably would have found out some other way otherwise. It's my fault anyway. I shouldn't have been up at this hour." I silently agreed with myself. The last time I had stayed up late in the hospital, it had gotten me kidnapped by some psycho-terrorists.

"Alex…I think you should go to sleep. You've had a stressful night. We'll discuss this tomorrow."

Reluctantly, I turned on my side and fell into a disturbing sleep.

-XD-

Black mist surrounded him. The blond was in a world of nothingness. Suddenly, out of the mist, a figured appeared. Herod Sayle. "Why hello, Alex." it said mockingly.

"Hahaha…" a voice cackled. He gasped. Mr. Grin came sauntering out of the shadows, doing a twisted version of his namesake.

Dr. Grief and Mrs. Stellenbosch came forward, arms linked. Despite himself, Alex laughed. "Okay, we all know that Voldemort/Harry pairings are weird, but this is just plain nasty." They just sneered at him.

"Dear Alex. I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" the voice of Alexi Sarov mocked me. Said boy started to back away when the man's ghost, or something, flew straight at me from the black smog.

"Would you like to try my new video game? I've been dying for someone to test it on." Damien Cray smirked at his somewhat bad joke.

"I've re-met your father, Alex. He's ended up here, too." yet another voice purred. For the second time, the blond spoke. "I know he didn't end up in hell like you did, BITCH!" Julia Rothman stepped forward to slap me when her colleague appeared.

"Relax Julia. Hello, Alex. I've been keeping up on all the British fashions, these days, you know." Major Yu stepped towards him, an evil glint in his eye, when two other people knocked him aside.

"Move over, Yu. Hi, Alex. Been to the zoo lately? I hear the crocodiles had babies." McCain chuckled. The Dr., now Mrs. McCain I guessed, laughed. "We've built a new Poison Dome down here Alex. Welcome to Hell." Alex glared at all of them.

"Alright, you've all had your laughs. Now please, enlighten me as to what this little adventure to Hell is really about." he demanded.

Mrs. Rothman pouted. "But Alex, we were going to keep it a surprise!"

"Oh, piss off!" an annoyed Sayle snapped.

"See, Alex," Sarov explained, "This act is just a sideshow. We're waiting-"

"-for the real act to arrive." Cray finished.

"Okay, I understand the whole thing about you coming to haunt me, but the whole finishing sentences thing is just weird. Seriously. You're evil mad-people, not friends on Barney." That statement had just left his lips when a familiar hand grabbed the front of his shirt. "Jack? Is that…"

The statement died on his lips when Alex looked up into the face of Jack.

Her usually neat fire-red hair was torn in clumps, and her face was streaked with dirt and tears. The teen stared into those blue eyes and saw more than just a spark of madness there. She was broken. Finished.

"Do you know what you have done to me?" she snarled. "Every time you went off on one of those missions, I died a bit. I finally committed suicide. And now, you must PAY!"

She picked him up with superhuman strength. Alex was too horrified at what his adoptive big sister had become. He looked back and saw all of his former enemies following her with what looked like bloodlust.

Jack took him to a pit where she tossed him in. She-

"ALEX!"

"Wha-What?" someone was shaking him. He faintly felt tears on my face. Didn't he recognize that voice?

"That sounded like one hell of a dream you had there, Alex." Wait- was that a Liverpudlian accent? "Fox?" Alex croaked.

"Yeah. How are you doing?" his old friend asked. "Oh, just peachy," Alex said sarcastically.

He chuckled. "Nice to know that you're okay."

"Heh, yeah, I guess."

"Hey…" Ben looked pretty nervous, an expression unusual for an MI6 agent. "What's wrong?"

"Well…I heard about your guardian." Instantly, Alex's face turned into a stone mask. "What about her?" he asked coldly.

Pretending to not notice the change in his demeanor, Ben trudged on. "MI6 said you needed a temporary guardian while they looked for Jack. And…I kind of volunteered."

"WHAT?"

"I-Well, I volunteered to be your temporary guardian. Is that alright?"

"Oh! Oh, well, I guess so. I'm sorry about my reaction."

"It's fine… So you accept?"

"Heh. I guess so. Wait!" He remembered what happened last night. No. He would NOT tear up, much less cry, in front of Ben. "Do- um, do you know about my…err…illness?"

"No. What is it?"

Shit. This would make thing harder. At the same though, Alex was secretly glad. Ben wouldn't try to baby him or anything. Good. "Oh, nothing serious." Just terminal cancer, he thought with a wry mental smirk.

"Oh. For a moment, I thought you had cancer or something!" Ben joked. Alex forced a small laugh.

"You'll get to come to my house in a week or so. I'll come pick you up then or something."

"Okay. Bye."

"See you, Cub- or, Alex, I should call you." Ben left.

Alex smiled.

-XD-

EDITED AND BETA'D (by myself): 11-29-2011

Please Review! A minute of your time for hours of mine!

Tigertopaz- Titanium Banana