Hex

He knew something was wrong the minute he stepped into the house. And he knew it was going to be a bad evening. Everything seemed dull, the light wasn't on and an evening gloom had set in. It depressed Hex immediately and he knew something was going to happen. Something not so good.

And then it did happen. His mum came striding into the living room, hands on her hips, her face livid, and not far behind her was…

"Dad" Hex said staring up and him "Why're you here?" It wasn't a strange question to Hex, the fact of the matter was he hadn't seen his parents in the same room for months, and that something pretty big must have happened to bring them together. He hoped nothing had happened to anyone, Ben…

But his mum's face was covered with anger rather than anything else and she glared at him as he shut the door behind him, unzipping his tracksuit top.

"Hex how could you be so stupid?" she asked, her voice inexplicably raised. Hex was getting annoyed. He crossed his gaze to his dad who had his hands behind his back. Hex frowned.

"What mum? What's wrong? Why's dad here?" His dad stepped further into the room.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't refer to me as if I weren't here Hex" he growled before straightening up and moving further forwards to stand next to Hex's mum. "Your mum did some investigating" he pulled his hands from behind his back.

Hex's stomach gave a jolt as his dad revealed his very own palmtop. Up on the screen was a Word document detailing information from Alpha Force's trip to Belize.

"No" he whispered. Why did this have to happen? He felt suddenly sick, coldness seeped up through him and a lump rose in his throat. "Why did you do it?" he asked again, raising his voice a little.

His mum snatched the palm top off his dad and held it out as she spoke

"Because I was sick of my son being so secretive Hex! You never talk, I think we have a right to know what's going on!"

"It doesn't give you the right to look in my personal stuff!" Hex found his voice rising unconsciously into a shout.

"Don't!" his dad shouted back "Don't think it's ok to shout at us Hex. You're being so stupid. Why are you doing this stuff?"

"Because it's what I want to do, it's what I enjoy!" Hex could feel himself getting more and more upset but he was determined not to let it show.

"How could you say you enjoy that sort off stuff Hex? Gallivanting about across deserts? It's stupid and dangerous and you didn't tell us anything!" Hex switched his glare to his mum.

"So? I enjoy it I just said! You always said you worried about me not having friends, well doing that stuff gives me them! I love doing that stuff with them!"

"I know" his mum replied stiffly. "I thought as much, and I assumed that their parents didn't understand the full extent of it either. So I thought it proper to give them all a call. Caught a man in America who tried to explain it all to me. I gave him a piece of my mind".

A wave of shock and sickness hit Hex.

"You did what?" he said hoarsely "How could you?"

"Don't" said his father from his mum's side "Don't argue Hex, I don't think it'd be a good idea do you? Those friends of yours were giving you silly ideas" Hex just shook his head incredulously.

"You've ruined everything," he said, trying to control his breathing "How am I ever going to talk to them now?"

"You think we're going to let you carry on with this?" his mum said loudly "Come off it Hex, you can't seriously think we're going to let you go gallivanting about the world anymore?"

"You can't!" Hex shouted back but his dad who had stepped forwards cut him short

"We just did" he said, staring down at Hex ferociously "And don't think about retaliating".

Hex did consider it for several seconds as the fury washed over him before turning and charging up the stairs across to his room. Just before his door slammed shut he caught a glimpse of Ben sat staring out of his own bedroom door, eyes wide, but he vanished as Hex's vision filled with the wood of his bedroom door. He flung himself onto his bed, seething with anger. He hated his parents for this, hated them. They'd ruined everything. He'd never be allowed to go on another trip; even if he was he doubted the rest of Alpha Force would ever speak to him again.

He instinctively reached out for his palmtop only to realise his mum still had it. He thumped the pillow again in frustration before reaching for his mobile from his bedside cabinet. He couldn't contact Amber or Li or Paulo without annoying his mum further with bills but he could phone Alex and hopefully try to get him to pass the message on.

The phone rang twice before Alex picked it up.

"Hex" he replied

"Alex I'm so sorry" Hex spoke quickly, wanting to get it over with "My mum just took my palmtop, I can't believe it".

"Hex it's ok I know" Hex frowned, how could Alex know?

"My mum said what happened. Yours obviously explained"

"Oh" said Hex quietly, he didn't know what else to say.

"It's not your fault Hex, you ok?" asked Alex down the phone.

"Not really" Hex replied, "My parents are giving me a hard time about it. What did yours say?" Alex chuckled

"They were worried more than anything. I think I nearly gave mum a heart attack." He paused before speaking again, his voice becoming more serious "It'll be ok Hex, we'll sort it out. Just don't blame yourself, it was bound to happen sooner or later".

"Spose" mumbled Hex, he was grateful for Alex's words, but couldn't get what his mum and dad had said out of his head. "Can you contact the others for me? I mean, Paulo and Li? My mum said she spoke to Amber's uncle and he tried to talk her round."

"Course I will" said Alex calmly "They'll understand Hex it's going to be ok you know"

"Thanks Alex" Hex replied. It felt good to hear his friend's voice, but somehow, now it felt like it was outlawed.

"It's fine" Alex answered "Call me if you need me Hex, we'll sort it out. We can't be Alpha Force without you". Hex grinned at that, and thanked Alex again before hanging up.

He laid the phone back on his bedside cabinet and laid back onto his bed. The burning feeling in the pit of his stomach was subsiding somewhat now, although he still felt horrible. What was he going to do?

There was a short rap at his door before it opened and his dad walked in.

"I'm returning this," he said simply, holding up Hex's palmtop before placing it down next to the mobile. His dad started to head out again but Hex sat up

"Please don't stop me from doing it". His dad stopped and turned.

"You should've told us Hex." Hex twisted his mouth

"I know but how could I? Look what happens?" His dad sighed and came and sat down on the end of Hex's bed.

"I've never heard your mum so distraught" he said "Well angry distraught anyway. The last time she saw fit to call me over was when you went on that boat trip and went missing. You know she doesn't call me over lightly. This really hit her Hex." Hex sighed

"I know. I know she wants to know what's going on but Alpha Force was special – is special. It wasn't something I could just out and say about". His dad raised his eyebrows

"I understand that but it was wrong Hex." Hex didn't know how to reply so he sank back and stared down at his duvet cover. After several seconds of silence he found the one thing he wanted to say, the only thing he could say.

"Please let me carry on". He looked up at his dad, staring at his, willing the only answer he wanted. A small smile twitched on his dad's lips as he stood up.

"We'll see".

As his dad left the room Hex grabbed his palmtop and started it up. A small smile crept onto his face. It wasn't a no.

A/N: This fic was edited since 15/04/08. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, it is much appreciated - Elle xx