{MI6 headquarters, London}
Mrs. Jones (POV)

Two Light Bombers fly over the rundown observatory, each letting a single GBU-53/B small diameter bomb drop from them. Walls immediately crumble, dust exploding everywhere, ground shaking tremendously. The last of Scorpias people run out of the exits in a panic, agents from MI6 corralling them up and assisting with any injuries. K Unit from SAS on standby for extraction. The bombers make one more pass, each deploying three bombs this time. And when the shaking of the ground finally stops and the dust in the air settles. K-Unit lead by Wolf, make their way inside. Fifteen minutes later, they reappear at the doorway, the body of a bedraggled young man laying limp in Wolfs arms. They appear worrie-

A knock on the door breaks me from my concentration, eyes flickering over towards the door.

I keep my hands paused over the keyboard, fingers posed to continue my report that was due last week.

Another knock sounds on the door.

"Come in." I look back down at my computer-screen, my senses now on full alert.

The door opens.

        Glancing up, I see it's the new intern.

        I let myself relax.

        Rolling my neck to get the cricks out, I get started back to typing my report.

And that's when I notice it's awfully quiet in here. I look back up and see he's just standing there, looking quite uncomfortable if I do say so myself.

          I tend to do that to people.

           "Mrs. Jones?" He hesitantly asks, shifting his feet around while looking down at the floor.

A couple seconds tick by.

          "Yes." I say monotone.

          Startled, he takes a step back, his face swinging up.

           "I um, just came to t-tell you t-that you have a message Mrs. Jones." He stutters out, his face going a shade redder.

           I raise an eyebrow. "From?" I question, still monotone.

           He looks confused, glancing down at a piece of paper in his hands. "Um, the Hospital." He timidly says.

        And with that one word, my heart feels like its literally stopped.

Please don't let it be bad news.

          "What's it say?" I quietly ask, sitting up straighter.

         "It just says....He's awake." He replies, voice fading.

Oh thank god.

It's been a week since he was rescued and immediately rushed to the Hospital, his condition critical.

          He'd been in a coma that whole week, the Doctor saying he might not make it.

But now he's awake.

         I shouldn't of doubted him, if anyone could make it through this....this ordeal, it would be him.

I sink back into my spinning chair, twirling around to face the window. My resolve to finish that report, disappearing completely.

        "Leave." I quietly say.

        Footsteps, then I hear the door click shut.

           Turning back around, my eyes land on a stack of files that I can't find the heart to put away.

          Slowly, I reach out and pick them up. Reading the names that I've looked at so many times over the last month.

                                                   JACK STARBRIGHT
                                                         DECEASED

                                             TOM HARRIS
                                                         DECEASED

                                                  EDWARD PLEASURE
                                                          DECEASED

                                                        LIZ PLEASURE
                                                           DECEASED

                                                    SABINA PLEASURE
                                                            DECEASED

It's hard to believe that just a month ago, they were all alive and kicking.

          And now....

          Now, they're six feet under the ground.

I sigh.

         I suppose I should go visit him now.

But I can't seem to get up.

         I lightly laugh.

         I don't think anyone would be particularly excited to go and visit someone that has all the reasons in the world, to accuse you of ruining their life.

        Which it is my fault.

        I helped ruin it.

I should've stopped this sooner, but No. I had to go along with it and now look what's happened.

Scowling, I stand up.

Time to go face the music.

I start walking towards the door, but a single file catches my eye. Stopping me in my tracks.

I delicately pick it up.

Walking over to the file cabinet, I open it up, placing the file inside.

Once I shut it, I let a deep breath out. That last files name will always be branded in my brain, for as long as I live.

Along with plenty of other things.

Then a thought strikes me.

Who is he going to live with now?

Everyone's gone, and in the state he's in I can't just let him be sent off to some orphanage.

I can't keep him, he needs a good stable home that's far away from here.

       Far away from this horrible spot.

He's only 15 years old and yet he's gone through more than most adults go through in their lifetime.

There has to be something I can do.

Another thought hits me.

"Lucy." I mumble out.

That's it, why hadn't I ever thought of it before.

Lucy lives on a farm in North America, Ohio. It would be perfect, she's always wanted to be a foster parent.

And there's still all summer before we have to decide what he's doing for school.

He could help out on the farm, get better, then maybe even attend the public school there.

I walk back over to my computer. Sitting down, I pull up her Email.

We still talk frequently, but I haven't actually seen her in-person since we got out of College.

         However many years ago that was.

      I think it's high time for a visit.

But I can't tell her everything. I'll just have to leave out most of the details.

I frown.

More like everything.

As I start typing, my mind flashes back to the last file. And I see the bold words engraved on the front.

                                                    ALEX RIDER
PERMANENTLY OUT OF ACTION

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N (Please Read!!)

[Attention!! Read at your own risk. I started this book almost a year ago and I literally had no idea what I was doing. It's amazing how much better I've gotten at writing since then, which sadly means the first half of this book will most likely look horrible! But please! Hang in there. I promise it gets better further along. I simply just don't have the time to go through and edit everything. (August 19th, 2017.)

  It gets BETTER! ]

Hi!!

Let's just get this out of the way shall we:

This is my very first story ever. So please no hateful comments. And please keep the swearing to a minimum in the comments please.

DISCLAIMER!!
I do not own Alex Rider or any of the other characters from the books.
Anthony Horowitz does.

Warning: this book is going to be pretty gruesome, so just a warning people.( This book has torturing, killing, PTSD, and depression)

And I don't mean to offend anyone if I do. (I'm apologizing now if I do) All names and places are pure coincidence if you recognized anything....Except a few.

Okay, now that we're done with that....yeah. (P.S. The upper part of the A/N is new and everything else is older.)

Yes! This book has now been completely edited!! (That doesn't mean it's perfect though) And I also didn't edit the A/N at the end of the chapters throughout the book. (I'm lazy) So they will most likely look horrible XD.

Help!! I'd appreciate any votes you could oh-so-kindly give as I've entered this book into the 2017 Watty Awards and I need all the help I can get! 😇 (Though I don't think I have a chance anyway)

(The old A/N) ⬇️

Keep reading. (it gets better...I promise!!) (and I mean the chapters, not this A/N lol)

So if you've read the actual Alex Rider books then you'll probably notice I changed some things......well a lot of things.
But Its just the end of the last book, Scorpia Rising didn't sit right with me.

So yes I killed everyone off and Alex is a wreck, but that's besides the point
This is my story and I'm excited to finally be writing and getting it out of my head.

Oh, and I apologize for any grammar/spelling mistakes throughout the story. (I've never been very good at either.)

I just hope it's not too bad😆

Comment (don't be silent readers, I love reading whatever you have to say:) and don't forget to VOTE!!

Started: 10/19/16