Eight Hours

Disclaimer: Alex Rider does not belong to me. Anthony Horowitz owns all the rights. *sigh*

The Pleasure Household – 6:15 pm (01:15 GMT)

Sabina tapped her nails nervously on the table, waiting. Alex had been living with them for more than a month, but she had yet to see the boy she used to know. Ever since he had come, he had been an empty shell of a person. Despite her best attempts to get him to interact with anyone else their age, he had barely even spared them a glance.

He spent hours in his room alone during the first week, not talking to anyone. That had been the worst, but Sabina wasn't sure now was much better. Over the past few weeks, Alex had taken to disappearing, wandering off on his own. She had tried to follow him a few days earlier, but he had vanished from sight within only an hour.

The first few times he had disappeared, Sabina and her parents had spent hours looking for Alex, only to find him back at home a few hours later. No one had scolded him, when it was clear that he was perfectly fine. It kept happening over the next few days, and since it was clear that he wasn't getting into any trouble, the Pleasure's decided to leave him alone.

It seemed to be his way of dealing with things. Of the five different psychologists Alex had gone through, none had found a way to break through to him. He refused to talk to them, and any the medications they gave him, he didn't ever take. Eventually, they decided that the only cure was for Alex to work through it on his own. He didn't seem to want help.

In the last week or so, Sabina had noticed that everything Alex did, worked on some sort of schedule. He always got up at the same time, 6:30. He always left the house at the same time, 7:30, no matter if he had eaten or not. He was always gone for the entire day, but always managed to come back at 6:00 on the dot. She had checked every evening, and the only difference was a matter of seconds...

She tapped her nails again, receiving an annoyed glance from her mum. It was fifteen past, and Alex still hadn't come back. Nothing kept him out later, not even when he had been out with Sabina. He worked like clockwork, and was never late. Never.

The Pleasure Household – 7:00 pm (02:00 GMT)

Something had to have happened. Mr. Pleasure had checked all the places that they had found Alex before, particularly the woods that he liked to disappear into, but hadn't found anything. There weren't even any signs that Alex had been out that, even though it had rained recently. No tracks, whatsoever.

By now, Sabina was pacing in the kitchen, really worrying. There were, of course, perfectly acceptable reasons why Alex wasn't back, but right now, the only ones her mind could think of were the worst ones. Kidnapped. Injured.

He had to show up eventually...

The Pleasure Household – 8:30 pm (03:30 GMT)

With all hope of finding Alex gone, Mr. Pleasure called the one number he thought he would never need to call. He had wanted to keep them out of Alex's life.

When the Pleasure's had taken Alex in, MI6 had provided a direct line to the heads office, should anything ever go wrong. They had insisted on taking care of their ex-operative, in the form of an allowance and paying for any medical issues—namely the psychologist that Alex was supposed to see twice a week. In return, they had requested to be notified if Alex ever went missing.

Mr. Pleasure knew that people could be after Alex, but over the past few weeks, the threat had fallen to the back of his mind. Sure, they had taken precautions, but the thought that criminal organizations might be after a mere teenager... it was absurd, even knowing Alex's past. Now though... something had happened, and it could be one of numerous criminal organizations finally catching up with him, or... something else.

The phone call was short. Mrs. Jones, head of MI6, barely heard the words "Alex is missing," before dispatching agents that were situated in the nearby city. While Alex himself might not be working for MI6 anymore, that wouldn't stop people from trying to use him as a bargaining chip. If they were lucky, Alex would have just lost track of time somewhere, and would be back before too long.

The Pleasure Household – 9:00 pm (04:00 GMT)

Sabina took one look at the MI6 agents, before falling down heavily into a chair. It was obvious now that this wasn't going to be something easily fixed. Alex was three hours late, and no one had seen any sign of him since early in the morning.

The agents were already familiar with Alex's file, including all the criminal organizations he had brought down. Even though he was permanently living in the states, MI6 still cared about his well-being. Anyone, anywhere, could come out of his past, at anytime.

After taking a look around the house and the surrounding woods, the agents asked a few general questions, before filing a missing persons report with the local police. His details were taken down, along with what he had last been seen wearing.

There were few leads. According to latest intelligence from MI6 Headquarters, there were no ransom notes, and none of the organizations Alex had managed to take down, were showing signs of activity. Dead trails.

"Is it possible that he might have run away?" One of the agents asked.

"What? No!" Sabina immediately responded. "He was..." She couldn't say happy, because he hadn't truly been happy since he came. "He was settling in here."

"Or we thought he was." Mr. Pleasure mused. "Sab, it's always a possibility. And to be honest it's better than the alternative."

"Has he been acting strange over the past few weeks? Out of the ordinary?" The agent asked. "Maybe he became quiet all of a sudden."

"No... he barely talks to us." Mr. Pleasure said. "And he likes his space. He's actually been more relaxed over the past week or so. His nightmares haven't been quite so bad."

"He doesn't have a mobile, does he? Or is it switched off?"

"He won't touch mobiles. It seems to trigger something. He'll normally have his iPod though. If he had a mobile though... we'd have tried calling him long ago."

"Does he have any money? Cash, or virtual?"

"He has some cash. Not much though. No credit cards or bank accounts though."

The agent seemed to catch onto something. "Have you ever had your credit card go missing? Or a couple of checks?"

"Well... a few weeks ago I thought I lost my card, but it was right there in my wallet a couple hours later. Why?"

"If he's runaway, then there should be some sort of trail to follow. If there are any out of the ordinary purchases on the card, it might lead us right to him."

Mr. Pleasure checked the latest statement on one of the computers, confirming that there were some out of the ordinary purchases, including one charge to an online flight booking service for nearly $1500.

"He's traveling." The agent said, already pulling out a phone. "If we're lucky, we can catch up with him before he gets too far."

Mr. Pleasure stared at the screen. "How will you know where he's headed?" He was still trying to comprehend the fact that Alex had left them, voluntarily.

"I have some contacts. We'll find him."

The Pleasure Household – 12:20 am (07:20 GMT)

They found Alex.

It had taken hours to track down everything. He had flown from the local airport to New York City. Analysts at MI6 had searched CCTV feeds at the airport to confirm that he had proceeded with his flights. No one put it beyond him to slip out of the airport instead of heading to his final destination.

They didn't even know why Alex was heading back to London, but footage had confirmed that he had boarded the plane and had not disembarked. Truthfully, there was no reason for him to go back, but clearly, he was.

His flight was less than an hour away from landing in London, and MI6 had dispatched a group of agents to get him. He was still younger, and it wasn't safe for him to be on his own. Even if it meant dragging him back to America, they weren't going to let his enemies get their hands on him.

The Pleasure Household – 1:40 am (08:40 GMT)

All of the Pleasure's were up, waiting for the phone call, confirming that the agents had gotten Alex. Sabina was still in shock that he had actually left. She had known that he wasn't adjusting as quickly as everyone had thought he would, but she hadn't thought he was truly unhappy. She hadn't thought that he would actually leave.

The phone call came later than they had expected. It was supposed to come right after his flight landed and the agents had him. No one expected him to come without some kind of fight, but that was Alex for you. They were just aiming to get him with as little of a scene as possible.

Sabina watched the agent in the house take the call, and noted the perceptible change in atmosphere. It hadn't all gone according to plan. The agent turned back to them, with a serious expression. Sabina was almost afraid to ask.

Mr. Pleasure was the one to break the silence. "Did they get him?"

The agent shook his head slightly. "The plane landed with no problems, but just after it docked to the terminal, a bomb exploded. More than half the terminal was destroyed. No survivors. I'm sorry... Alex Rider is dead."

Undisclosed Location – 11:15 am (09:15 GMT)

Halfway around the world, a teenager stepped off the plane into the humid air. He glanced around, before smirking to himself. He was out. He put the headphones from his iPod in, before walking through the foreign airport.

His first steps into a new life.

A/N: My first AR fic, and I'm relatively new to the fandom. I think I got the time zones correct... *shifty eyes* Feedback is much appreciated.

S.B.L.