A man stood in front of me — a white, human-shaped figure against a background of darkness. He had no face; he was merely a white outline. But I still knew who he was.

My father.

He was looking at me with eyes that weren't there. And I was afraid.

I do not know why, but I was afraid to face him. I tried to get away, but the darkness refused to let me move. And so I stayed, watching the strange figure that was somehow my father.

He cocked his head, and I got the impression that he was wearing a sad smile. He had no face, and yet I know he was wearing that sorrowful curve on his lips.

Why?

Why was he sad?

ARAR

"What the hell is this?!" Wolf stared at the papers, not believing what his eyes read. "This is - !"

"What is it?" Fox leaned in, slightly alarmed by their leader's reaction. As soon as they had got into their hotel, Wolf had grabbed the file, and started reading. He had flipped through papers, and read in silence for a solid four minutes.

Then he exploded.

"What are those idiots thinking? Doing this all of a sudden?!" He threw the papers aside, and growled something under his breath.

Fox was the first to pick up the papers. As he scanned it, his eyes widened. "Are they serious?"

Eagle bounced on the bed anxiously. "Hey, hey, what's going on?" He looked from Wolf to Fox, and then at Snake, who was waiting calmly.

"Plans have changed," Wolf growled. His large hands formed into solid fists, then flattened out on his knees. "Without contacting us first."

"Here." Fox tossed the file over to Eagle, who hurriedly snatched them up. Fox met Wolf's gaze somberly. "Why didn't they tell us this before?"

"Probably because we'd object to it," Wolf growled out. He was obviously not happy. "Even though we hardly know the kid, there's no way I'm going to agree to something like this. No way in - !"

"Wolf," Snake cut in mildly. He was sitting on the bed beside Eagle, and was scanning the contents of the file over Eagle's shoulder. "Seems like we have no choice...especially you and Fox."

Fox sighed. "I'll do my part, but I won't like it. What about you, Wolf?" He looked over at the stocky man. "It's either we do it, or we let some MI6 dolts do it."

Wolf abruptly rose from his chair, and stalked over to the door. "I'm going out," he muttered, and left the room.

"He'll do it," Snake said quietly.

"Mmm." Fox rubbed his forehead. It looked like he was going to get a position in MI6 sooner than he anticipated.

ARAR

Alex opened his eyes, and knew instantly, that today was the day. He lay there for a moment, and wondered why he didn't feel scared or nervous. A great man was going to die very soon, and he couldn't seem to care.

Empty. . .I'm empty already. Alex blinked slowly. He stared up at the ceiling, and became aware of Scare moving about nearby. Turning his head, he saw that the man was cleaning out the long barrel of a disassembled sniper rifle.

"Ho?" The man looked up, and met Alex's gaze. "You're awake."

Alex just looked at him blankly. Scare was the one who would fire and purposefully miss the President, making it look like an attempt on the President's life. Alex wondered if the sniper had killed a lot of people.

"So," Scare spoke suddenly, "Are you ready to die?"

It took Alex a moment to register what the man had said. "What?"

Scare smiled slowly, slyly. "I'm just curious. What happens of things go wrong, and you die? Are you ready for it?"

Alex turned his head to stare at the ceiling. "It won't go wrong," he muttered, not very certain in his own words. But then he thought it over. Death. . .it'd almost be a relief from this nightmare. . .

The sniper set his cloth and barrel down, and stood. "Get ready. We're moving out within the hour."

Wordlessly, Alex sat up. It wouldn't do any good to think about it. It would be better if he just didn't think at all. He got up and went into the bathroom, and took a ice-cold shower.

He didn't even flinch. He just closed his eyes, and let the cool water numb him.

ARAR

At 1:30 pm, a group of students pushed to the front of the large crowd that was gathering outside the speech area. A single boy, dressed in the same uniform as the others, seemingly came out of nowhere, and joined the group of students. He mingled with them, and made sure he was at the front of the group.

1:40 pm. Four young men, dressed casually, arrived at the area, and stood at the far edge of the milling chaotic mess of people. They spread out, and searched faces with their gazes. Carefully, though, because they didn't want to draw the attention of the Secret Service. Those men stood everywhere in their dark clothing, earpieces, and weapons.

1:58 pm. A dark figure set himself up in a distant window several streets away. He was very careful, making sure that he wore no reflective surfaces. Even the metal barrel of his rifle had been rubbed with a dull, greasy substance to cover the gleaming metal. He propped himself up in the window, and waited.

2:10 pm A black limousine, surrounded by black sedans, pulled up to the scene. The President of the United States stepped out, and was greeted by cheers and screams from the crowds. The Secret Service was kept busy containing the crow, and constantly scanning everything for any possible threats.

2:12 pm Surrounded by his personal guard, the President stepped up to the podium, and smiled at the crowd. The students squealed in excitement, and tried to get even closer. Of course, the ever stern SS (Secret Service) made sure to keep them back. The President smiled at the enthusiastic youths, and took a moment to talk to the SS man who stood beside him like a guard dog.

2:15 pm The President began his speech about the global environment, and how he would do everything in his power to ensure that their great country would work to protect it.

2:20 pm Alex squeezed past a couple of squealing girls, getting himself to the absolutely front. Nearly standing face to face with him was a SS bodyguard, eyeing the students with a wary gaze. Even children did not go without suspicion.

Alex was careful to avoid eye contact, and tried to figure out how he was going to supposedly 'save' the President's life. The podium was about twenty feet away, but between him and it, there were about three SS guards, plus the bullets of a dozen guns. The SS would not hesitate to shoot him, even if he was a child, if he tried to rush the President.

This was impossible. And stupid. Alex risked a glance to the side, and up, where he had a rough guess of where Scare lay in wait. What was he supposed to do? Before, when he thought this whole scenario over, he was sure there was some loophole he could get through. But now, seeing the situation for itself . . .

There was no possible way. He couldn't do it. And so this mission would be a failure, because there was no way he was going to go and commit suicide. He wouldn't do that, would he?

As Alex tried to convince himself of that, it happened. Something slammed into the front of the podium, sending splinters of wood everywhere. A sharp crack split the air, not even a second later.

For a short, short moment, everyone seemed to freeze. Even the President cut himself off in mid-word, and froze. And then the screams began, as everyone in the crowd panicked. They surged away from the platform, while the SS rushed up to surround the President, and create a living shield to protect him.

The students were screaming, and followed the crowd's chaotic movements. Alex, who had been accepting this to happen, remained in place, trying to decide what to do. Should he rush forward, as planned, or should he just go with the crowds?

And then, the students were gone, leaving him in the open. He was caught in the open space between the group of SS, and the fleeing crowd. What should he do? What should he do!? He had to decide, quick, otherwise -

Alex stumbled, his legs suddenly feeling strangely weak. Another sharp crack split the air. More screams. More shouts. More chaotic frenzy.

He fell to one knee, confused. What. . .was going on? What was wrong with his legs? Something felt wet on his chest. He looked down, and saw bright red blossoming on the front of his white shirt. Red. . .did he spill something on his clothing?

The world started a slow spin around Alex. And he realized. He had just been shot. He lifted his head, and gazed in the general direction of Scare.

"Why?" he whispered. Why did you shoot me? He glanced down...it was so red now. So much red...just like their blood. . . just like the trickle out of all those neat little holes... Did he have a neat little hole, too?

No, he thought slowly, sluggishly. He swayed, the screams and shouts and noise all fading away into shrieking silence. Too much blood for a little hole. . .too much. . .

Darkness closed in on his vision, gradually blotting out the edges, slowly consuming everything. The blurry world tilted, and he found himself staring up at the white clouds floating. . . .floating in the. . .sky. . .

Floating. . . .

Darkness swallowed him whole, and he slowly floated into its oblivion.

And Alex Rider died.