Title: Joy To The World Author:hpstrangelove Wordcount: 1464 Fandom: Alex Rider Pair/Character: Yassen/Alex Rating: G Prior Days: Dec01, Dec02, Dec03, Dec04, Dec05, Dec06, Dec07, Dec08, Dec09, Dec10, Dec11, Dec12, Dec13, Dec14, Dec15, Dec16, Dec17, Dec18, Dec19, Dec20, Dec21, Dec22, Dec23, Dec24 Beta: One of the nicest persons in the world, joanwilder Author’s Note: BIG, BIG Spoiler for Book 4, Eagle Strike. Thank you to all of you who have stuck with me for these twenty-five days as I’ve given my spin on Yassen and Alex, Jack, Alan Blunt, and Mrs. Jones. I have had a great time delving into their personalities and motivations. I hope everyone has a great Christmas, and if you want more of Yassen and Alex, check my Livejournal after the first of the year. I plan on writing more of Avoidance, which takes place six years from the end of this series.
The scent of brewing coffee and frying bacon permeated the air, making Alex’s nose twitch and his stomach growl. He buried himself deeper under the covers, not wanting to come out of his cozy cocoon, even if it meant he could satisfy his gnawing hunger.
He began to stretch, marveling at how well rested he felt. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d woken up feeling this good.
Slowly, he opened his eyes. Bright sunlight bathed the room in a warm glow. For a moment he was disoriented, not recognizing where he was, only knowing that he wasn’t in his own room.
Then the memories of the previous day came flooding back, and he groaned. He was so embarrassed. How was he ever going to face Yassen again after breaking down like that?
He pulled the covers up over his head, wishing Apparition were real and that he could just Disapparate directly into his own bed, in his own room, in his own house!
“Good morning, Alex, or rather, good afternoon. Welcome back to the land of the living.”
Alex pulled the covers down slowly, until they were just under his chin. “What time is it?” he asked in a raspy, sleep filled voice.
“It’s just after one. You’ve slept the morning away,” Yassen replied with a smile.
Alex had never seen Yassen smile like that before. It made the man look so different, so – normal. It was strange to think of him like that.
Yassen was cooking on a camp stove set on top of the table. Alex climbed out of bed to see what else he was cooking beside the bacon. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“You needed the sleep. You had a very emotional day yesterday, and your body needed time to recover. We don’t have to go anywhere, so I let you sleep.” Yassen had taken the bacon out of the pan and placed it onto a plate, then started cracking several eggs into the pan and scrambling them.
Even stranger than seeing Yassen smile, Alex thought, was seeing him cook!
“It will be a few more minutes until everything is ready, if you want to take a shower. There are some clean clothes in that drawer over there. The jeans might be a bit long, but we’re close to the same size.”
“Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll be quick.”
Alex showered and changed, and when he exited the bathroom he found that Yassen had moved the stove from the table and had their food set out on plates and ready to eat.
It was one of the strangest and best-tasting meals he’d ever had. Yassen cooked almost as well as Jack. They ate in silence, but it wasn’t as strained as Alex had expected it to be. He actually felt quite comfortable with Yassen, even – safe. He grinned at the thought that here he was, sitting with one of the world’s top assassins, and he felt safe.
“I’m glad to see you smile, Alex. I hope that you will be happier, now that you have some of your grief out of your system.”
“I was just thinking, you know, about us, sitting here like this. It seems weird, but it feels – nice.” Alex flushed, embarrassed by what he’d admitted, and looked back down at his plate, unable to meet Yassen’s eyes.
“It is nice, Alex. I’m glad that we are able to be, well, maybe not friends, but at least not enemies, for one day.”
Wanting to change the subject, Alex looked over at the Christmas tree. “So, why do you have a tree? I wouldn’t have expected you to have one.”
Yassen sipped his coffee, then answered, “I was nineteen. It’s complicated, and you don’t really need to know the details, but the organization that trained me to become an assassin requires their students to work with an experienced partner for their first year out in the field. My partner had been one of my instructors at the school, and he was the best, far better than I could ever hope to be. I admired him, and was greatly honoured when he’d picked me to evaluate and mentor. I was very nervous on our first assignment, but things went surprisingly well. Until the very last moment. He ended up saving my life, though, and gave me this,” Yassen said, pointing to the scar along his neck. “With one bullet, he shot and killed both a black widow spider and a notorious drug dealer.”
Yassen took another sip of his coffee, then continued. “We spent our first Christmas together, here in this very room in fact. I’d never celebrated Christmas as a child, but I could see the decorations in the shop across the street, and the workers would go outside and stand by the front door, singing Christmas carols. My favorite carol was Joy to the World. It seemed to capture the meaning of Christmas best, at least the way I’ve come to understand it. I guess my partner could see how fascinated I was by everything, so one day he brought a little tree back to the room. This one,” and Yassen lifted his chin toward the tree on the table, “isn’t exactly the same, but it’s close enough.”
Yassen smiled, but this time his smile was accompanied by sadness in his eyes. “I’ve bought a little tree like this every year in memory of that very first one.”
“What happened to your partner? Is he still alive?” Alex asked. He shivered at the thought of a second assassin, deadlier than Yassen, out there somewhere in the world.
“MI6 betrayed him. He’d been captured, but they’d agreed to exchange him for a kidnapping victim that my organization had in their custody. The exchange went bad. MI6 got their man, but they shot my partner in the back before he could get to safety, and killed him.”
Alex couldn’t help but feel a bit relieved that he’d never have to face this other deadly assassin, but he could see how much the loss of his partner still hurt Yassen after all this time. “I’m sorry,” he told Yassen, not sure of what else to say. “I can tell he meant a lot to you.”
Yassen looked at Alex and said quietly, “I loved him. He was my entire world. But what’s worse, I’d made him a promise the night before he was captured, and I wasn’t able to keep it. I’ll never forgive myself for letting him down.”
With a sigh, Yassen got up from the table and took the dishes into the bathroom to wash.
~*~
The rest of the day went quickly. They lounged around on the sofa, Yassen talking about his days growing up in Estrov, Alex telling Yassen about his last Christmas with Ian in Gunpoint, Colorado. Once it began to get dark, Yassen drove Alex back to the end of his street. He’d told Alex he knew MI6 was watching his house, so he couldn’t drop him off directly.
“How do you know I’m being watched,” Alex asked.
“Because I sent Alan Blunt and Mrs. Jones a Christmas card. Let’s just say, MI6 should not be calling on you for assistance anymore, at least until you’re of age.”
Alex looked at Yassen in disbelief. “How did you manage that?”
“Don’t worry about the details. Just be happy that you can go back to school and not worry about being sick anymore.”
“Well, I know Alan Blunt. I’ll believe it when I see it, but if it’s true…” Alex turned to Yassen and said, “I know there’s more going on here than you’ve told me. I don’t know what it is, but one day, promise me that you’ll tell me.”
Yassen looked thoughtful, then replied, “One day, Alex, I promise that you’ll know everything.”
Alex opened the door, but before he closed it, leaned down and said, “Merry Christmas, Yassen, and thank you. I enjoyed our – truce.”
~*~
Yassen had stopped at the cemetery on the way to his hotel. He’d come close to telling Alex the truth about his father, but he knew that the boy was too young to understand everything right now. As Yassen stood looking sadly at Ian’s grave, he thought back to that last night he’d spent with John in Malta. It was as if John had known he was going to be captured the next day.
I let you down, John, Yassen thought sadly. You asked me to watch over your son if anything were to happen to you, and I failed. Not only that, I ended up killing your brother because I was sloppy and didn’t take my time to formulate a plan the way you’d taught me to do! I’m so sorry for causing your son such pain. I can’t bring Ian back to him, but I promise you, John Rider, I will be there to protect Alex from now on.