No more running...

Code Red

"K-Unit. Ready at your position?" Fox's comm beeped. "Copy that. Awaiting commands sergeant."

"Alright. Standby. Open fire on my command. Do not engage. I repeat. Do not engage. Await for my signal. Standby. Sarg out." Fox's com beeped off and they readied their guns. "I hope you're still alive Cub." He mutters.

Alex woke up feeling dizzy. He was really getting sick of the feeling. "Shit." He mutters. It felt like he had been drugged and thrown into a river for good measure.

He heard the clicking of helicopter blades and he realized he was on a helicopter. All he knew was that he was high above the ground. "Oh shit."

"Now, now, Alex. We wouldn't want you making a small fuzz now would we? As you can see, there are five sticks of dynamite strapped to your chest, so I suggest that it is wise you don't make any sudden moves." Kevin sat beside him on the front seat as they veered through the landscape.

Alex looked down to see a timer ticking off. Counting down until to his last seconds of his life. He was about to reply but he found that he was gagged and tied. Brilliant. Just brilliant.

"You know, I was never one to think that MI6 would send a boy of all people. To think that Alan Blunt would be so stupid as to come up with something as absurd as that." He chuckled to himself, as if recalling an old memory.

Alex had made an attempt to get out of his seat, but Kevin had yanked his shirt down so hard that Alex hit his head. "Ah, ah, ah. I wouldn't do that if I were you. Do you see this remote?" Alex eyed the small remote with wide eyes as realization dawned upon him.

"Yes. I know you're looking for this. This is the remote to free your country. You remember Yassen Gregorovich, yes? His brother, Yegor was never as acceptional as his brother. He wasn't assassin material. Too bad we lost Yassen that day. He was a good agent. Too bad he had to die. Did you know that Yassen knew the legendary John Rider? I didn't. I only heard the tale of Cossack and Hunter when I was just a trainee on Malagosto. I was so inspired by Yassen that I had wanted to be just like him. The sharp shooter, smart brains and the whole package. I guess it was just too good to be true. No one could be that good." He sighed. "I'll be frank, Alex. You were very clever to outsmart my agents. A bunch of fools who can't do their job properly. I'll fire them immediately once I take care of you. There aren't many children in this world who are as smart and skilful as you are. You are quite a unique child, I'll give you that."

Alex said nothing. His eyes were focused on the remote in his hand.

Kevin looked down. They were about five hundred feet in the air and were travelling across the glands. "Well, it's time to say goodbye, little Rider. I do enjoy your tricks. Really, I do." He yanked Alex by his shirt and strapped a small parachute to him by force. Alex struggled as much as he could but it was futile.

"You have about twenty minutes until Brooklyn is no more than a pile of Geographical ash." That made Alex even more angrier. Kevin placed the remote on the consol.

He brought Alex to the edge of the helicopter, the door sliding open and immediately, Alex was hit with the full force of the air. "Any last words before I end you?"

The gag from Alex's mouth slipped down his chin and he shot Kevin a murderous look. Kevin shrugged. "Well, they say a look gives you more than a thousand words. Goodbye Alex." Alex clenched his eyes shut and waited for the push but nothing happened. When he opened his eyes, he found Kevin lying dead, slumped on the seat he was just seating in, a pool of blood surrounding him.

A familiar blue eyed Russian revealed himself from the passenger seat. "Yegor? I thought you were dead."

"Kevin should really check that I'm dead before jumping to conclusions." Yegor fished out a pocket Swiss knife from his back pocket and used the sharp blade to cut Alex free. Once his feet and hands were free, there was the bomb to worry about.

"I'll diffuse the bomb. I learned a thing or two on that island." Yegor immedietely set to work and once the bomb was diffused, he threw it out the window along with Kevin's body.

"The bomb!" Alex remembered and he saw the remote on the consol where Kevin had last left it before his death.

There were multiple buttons and Alex had taken a risk and pushed the red one. Immedietely, a voice emerged from a speaker, "Bombs disengaged."

"Thanks, Yegor." Alex said. Yegor smiled. "It was nothing."

They sat on the seats with Yegor in the pilot seat to take control over the helicopter. They had placed on headphones and Alex had the radio immedietely scan for any open channels. "This is Cub! K-Unit, anyone?" Alex had yelled through the radio.

"Cub!? You're alive!?" Fox's relieved voice could be heard from the the other side. "Are you okay? Where are you?"

"We're fine."

"We!? Who else is with you?"

"Kevin's dead. Yegor Gregorovich is with me. He save my life." Alex replied.

"Gregorovich?! As in Yassen Gregorovich the Russian assassin that died months ago? His brother?" Fox asked, incredulous at what he had just heard.

"Yeah. Anyway, we're heading back. Is the rest of K-Unit with you?" The chorus of 'Cub!' had answered his question.

"You have no idea how worried sick we were about you!" Snake's voice said over the speaker.

"Yeah!" Eagle said cheerfully. "I swear I saw Fox tear a little when he found out you were gone!"

"I did not!" Fox protested but the others had burst out laughing. And for the first time since Jack's death, he joined them.