Just a Book
"Alex… what's this?"
"Hm?" Alex answered, distractedly as he gnawed on a pencil, squinting at the math problem in front of him. He had always hated maths, and with all his absences, the subject was almost unbearable now. His tutors tried to help him, but with the amount of material he missed, there just wasn't enough time to cover everything.
"This." Jack shoved a book beneath Alex's nose, and he pulled back, glancing at the cover before shrugging, batting it away as he peered down at his math problem again.
"A book."
"'A book'?" Jack repeated, incredulously. "A book that just so happens to talk about everything you went through, in excruciating detail? That reveals every single secret of yours to the entire world?" Her voice had risen by the end until she was nearly shouting, but as Alex failed to respond, she slammed the book onto his desk.
Alex's hand jerked and he scowled, glaring at the pencil mark before grabbing his eraser. "I don't see what you're so worked up about," he said, offhandedly, brushing the eraser shavings off his paper. "It's just a book."
"'Just a book'? Alex! Don't you realize how dangerous this is? To you? Your enemies could—"
"Wait, enemies? What?" Alex turned, giving her his full attention, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"You know!" Jack exclaimed, though she quickly lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Scorpia."
Alex stared at her for a full second, before bursting into laughter. "What?" he gasped, grinning. "You think— That Scorpia actually—" Alex dissolved into laughter, clutching his stomach.
"Alex! This isn't a laughing matter!" Jack chided, exasperated at his reaction. "This is dangerous stuff! If they—"
"Wait," Alex interrupted, noticing Jack's serious tone. "You— You don't actually believe all that, do you?" Jack stared at him, and he continued. "You do know that everything written in that book is fictional, right? Jumping to a flagpole, almost getting crushed in a junkyard, the Portuguese Man-of-War. It's all made up. I'd be surprised if anyone even believed half the stuff in that book." He paused, considering. "I probably should've made it a bit more realistic… Oh well, the reception's been good so far."
Alex stopped, noticing Jack's expression. "Uh… Jack? You alright?"
"I— Yeah," she muttered. "I just—" She shook her head. "If you didn't do everything in those books, then what do you do on your missions?"
Alex shrugged. "Just routine stuff. The usual. I can't say much more 'cause of the OSA, but I can assure you it's nothing as outrageous and crazy as the stuff written the book." He grinned, shaking his head. "I can't believe you actually thought that I— That stuff like that—" He giggled, and even Jack cracked a smile, relieved.
"I'll just leave you to finish your homework then."
"Alright," Alex replied, already turning back to his work. As the door clicked shut behind Jack, Alex cracked another grin before grabbing his MI6 issued phone, sending a quick text message.
She took the bait.
That done, Alex picked up his pencil and went back to finishing his homework.