Becoming Agent Rider

Picnics and Bombs

He sighed and turned towards her. "I'm trying, Sab. Really. I'm not going to another psychologist though." He shuddered, remembering his appointments with the two shrinks. The first one had been so condescending and arrogant, thinking he knew it all, that he actually tried to persuade him that he had a faulty memory! In all fairness, Alex had an unusual childhood. That was still no reason to dismiss his memories as false. It would have been less absurd if the guy had outright claimed he was lying. The second one had been no better. She had been constantly knocking over everything and startling at every sound. Maybe she had been afraid of him after hearing some of his past. He snorted. Whatever it was, she could cross off army psychologist as a career option. Hearing him snort, Sabina looked at him questioningly.

He chose to ignore her look and headed over to a large tree to set up the picnic. "Even if the psychologists were decent, what's the point when they don't have the clearance for me to talk about the things that matter? I can't go spilling highly classified information." Alex chuckled darkly. "Hell, I am highly classified."

They fell silent at this and sat down to eat their sandwiches, salads, and cookies that Liz had packed for them. It was a while before Sabina spoke again. "Alright, so maybe a psychologist doesn't work. You can still go to a party though. Try to have some fun and talk to people." Her bright blue eyes took on a mischievous glint. "Who knows? You might even meet the girl, or guy, of your dreams! Although personally, I think you can do much better than the people at school. The highest I'd rate any of them is a 7 out of 20."

Alex laughed lightly, remembering the time Sabina spent rating every guy that passed by during one of their outings when they were vacationing in the South of France. "Harsh. Would you still rate me a 12 and a half?"

Sabina pretended to think for a minute. "No, you're a 13. But you'll be perfect in 5 years," her words slightly echoing those she had spoken on their vacation. She flipped her dark hair and carried on. "So, what do you say to attending the party with me?"

He gave her a long look before finally answering in the negative, holding up a hand to stop her protests. "I know you're worried but we both know I don't fit in."

She was just about to protest again but it didn't matter. Suddenly, Alex felt a cold, prickling feeling all over his body. The very air around them had gone still, as if sensing the danger, even if the people around them were oblivious and carried on with their day. He scanned their surroundings and spotted the lone man from before that he had thought odd. He was a short Asian with scars and tattoos. He couldn't have been more than 25 years old. It could have been nothing but Alex's instincts were tingling when he saw the man placing something in the barbeque pit. Then, underneath the sleeve of his black t-shirt, Alex caught a glimpse of a red circle tattooed on his arm before it was quickly covered up as the man straightened from his position. Alex froze. He knew that tattoo. And it could only mean trouble.