i dont own any rites to the alex rider stories or this one, it belongs to TheUlmuri
Part X: Rock Bottom
Half an hour after the soccer game's violent end, the last of the players and spectators had cleared out; leaving the school was tranquil and quiet. Even the teachers had finished and packed up for the day and the school had taken on the kind of eerie stillness that only deserted public buildings were able to achieve. Katie Windsor stood in the nearly empty parking lot, looking between the only car in the lot-Alex's black Aston Martin DBS-and the school.
After a long drawn out moment, Katie crossed the lot, slipped into the school and began wandering down the deserted halls, peering into classrooms as she went. No one had seen Alex since he had stalked off the field at the end of the game and she was worried. Even from her position in the stands, she had seen the changes that had come over Alex during the course of the match and when she had seen him at the end, it was evident that he had reached his endurance point. What she had heard of Brent's assessment of the situation afterwards had done nothing to ease her worries.
Katie slowly made her way through the deserted school, walking slowly through the different wings and searching unsuccessfully for some evidence of where Alex had gone. She eventually found her way the rebuilt science block and was ready to give up when she noticed the little used staircase at the back of one of the chemistry classrooms that lead to the school's greenhouse and she instantly knew that that was where Alex had gone. She cautiously approached the stairs and slowly ascended, suddenly nervous about what she would find at the top.
None of the biology teachers had bothered to clean out the rooftop greenhouse when it had fallen into disuse and the remaining plant life had thrived when left to its own devices. The various vines and trailing plants had created a dense and tangled web of leaves and vines that made it difficult to move through the space. Sunlight filtered greenly through the canopy of leaves, but the dense vines that climbed the walls and ceiling gave the space and eerie feel and blocked most of the early evening light. Katie, examined the net of vines that hung down from the ceiling carefully, noticing that they had been recently disturbed. She listened intently and her breath caught when she heard a repetitive and methodical metallic noise cut sharply though the unsettling quiet of the rooftop.
"Alex?" she called out softly, knowing better than to try to sneak up on the teen spy. The clicking continued as if she hadn't spoken and there was no response from the bowels of the green house. "Alex?" she called again, moving deeper into the tangle of vines, disturbing much more of the plant life than Alex had.
Katie finally pushed through the vines into a clearer space towards the back of the green house. Alex sat Indian style with his back against the far wall. His head was bowed and his anger had fizzled out, leaving his shoulders hunched in uncharacteristic defeat. He held his Sig-229 in his lap, repeatedly locking and unlocking the safety on the firing mechanism with his thumb as he stared intensely at the weapon as if it held all of the answers the he was looking for. He didn't acknowledge her presence, but Katie knew that he was aware of her. She halted on the edge of the cleared space, not entirely sure of how to proceed.
"Alex?" she said again tentatively. The clicking stopped for a moment and Alex finally looked up at her. She drew in a sharp breath as she finally got a clear view of his face. Alex's emotionless mask had finally cracked and his expression was tired and worn. He seemed to have aged in the last hour and his face was drawn, the dark circles under his eyes that betrayed his exhaustion were finally evident as his emotional defenses laid in ruins. He glanced at her fleetingly, before he returned his attention to the gun in his hands and occupied his thumb on the safety once again.
"Somehow, I knew you'd be the on to find me," he said monotonously. While Brent had always been the most perceptive of his friends, Katie was the most likely to act on her perceptions and intervene, while Tom usually adopted a policy based on giving him space.
