Alright guys. yashendra2797 here. Wait a minute. Now I know how you must be feeling. No, I don't? Umm. Well you have to realize something guys. Studies have been real hard, and I am posting this at the heyday of my exams. (Don't say I never did anything for you guys!) But don't worry, this story is complete and the sequel (yes there's a sequel!) will be complete by January (read February). This story, titled 'Flaws' after the Bastille song, is the first in a series, that's different from the other series out there. What I wish is that Flaws will lead into a more expansive universe that will include one-shots, sequel Alex Rider stories and sequel crossovers. So Flaws will initially have two different and independent sequels. The first will be a standard Alex Rider story, the second will be a rewrite of 'The Wounded Teen' (Alex Rider/Doctor Who) with a better name. But both will be independent of each other, sharing only their origin, ie. this story. As this story is complete and typed, I will be updating weekly.

So regarding TWT. I just checked the last date on which it was updated. It is July 2012! DAMN! I'm really sorry about that guys, but see the thing was that I wrote and completed it on paper. I then finished typing it on my seriously dysfunctional laptop. Which crashed. Therefore, I lost the will to type it again... Anyway. I learned my lesson. Now I'm using Dropbox. But you don't want to hear me rambling do you? On with the story-

Flaws

Prologue

"We're really sorry Alex..."

"We should have known..."

"What should we do now...

"At least SCORPIA is dead..."

Alex heard their pitiful excuses, although his brain barely processed them. He was sitting in the chair at Mrs. Jones's room at Royal and General Bank lost in his own thoughts and meandering in the feelings that he had kept bottled up inside. Until he could cork it no more. "Who gives a shit! Jack's dead all because of me. It was I who took her to Egypt. I who let us get caught and I who let her down at the end. She trusted me, depended on me and I LET HER DOWN!"

If Mrs. Jones looked surprised, she didn't show it. Instead, she looked towards her receptionist cum assistant and said- "Get me Joe Byrne on the line". Then, she nodded towards her second in command who left the room. She the turned over to Alex and said- "I don't have to tell you how sorry I am about this snafu. Believe me, if we had known about what SCORPIA planned for you we wouldn't have even thought to send you there. Obviously, given the diplomatic issues concerned..."

Alex scoffed. "After all that has happened, all you are worried about are the diplomatic issues? When the fuck will it ever get through to your head that you guys just screw things up. Every time you have came into my life, you have fucked it up bit by bit. Well now are you happy? You have officially and diplomatically screwed up my life and fucked every single piece of it."

This time Mrs. Jones was taken aback. She had seen the teen's eyes when he had come in. They were cold and dark. Brutal like the eyes that had seen too much. She hadn't seen the complete mission report but her assistant had given her the mission briefing that contained a one page gist of the entire mission. The entire mission read like a Robert Ludlum novel with elaborate conspiracies and attack after attack from both sides. But the one thing that stood out in the brief was that Alex had shot someone. And if that wasn't bad enough, the person he had shot was a boy that looked exactly like him. It was now, that the entirety of the situation that struck her. For the first time in her career she felt at a loss for words. Fortunately, she was saved out of talking further with Alex when her assistant's voice came up on the intercom-"Mr. Byrne is waiting for you on line 4. Need anything else ma'am?"

"No, thanks Martha." she replied and pressed a button on the telephone.

Alex sat calmly in his chair, a sharp contrast to his earlier demeanor. He caught brief stitches of conversation through his trained ears.

"Hey Joe, how are you doing?"

"Same old. I assume that... ...call has to do with Alex?"

"You didn't become head of SO without your deductive abilities."

"How's he doing?"

"Not bad considering..."

"Yeah. So what... ...need?"

"I believe Alex has a friend in San Francisco. Sabrina was it?"

"You keep away from Sabina!" shouted Alex his cheeks puffing up in rage.

"Oh we don't mean her any harm Alex." said Mrs. Jones. "I was wondering if you would like to move over to SF with the Pleasures. If it's fine by Mr. Byrne, of course"

Alex was completely surprised. However he instantly recovered and shot back- "Why? So that you get another bargaining chip for when you want to use me again?"

"No Alex. I am giving you a chance. To leave it all behind. To start anew."

Alex paused and thought about it for a moment. Then he said- "OK. I will agree to this. But I have two conditions."

"Which are?"

"One, I want protection. Not just for me, but even for the Pleasures."

"That can be arranged. And?"

"I want a document, signed by the PM and you that neither you or any of your partner agencies will ever try to recruit me again."

"That will be difficult. But I can twist a few arms and pull in a favor or two."

Alex nodded. Mrs. Jones went back to talking to Joe Byrne. Alex droned off, lost in his thoughts. However the one question that was on his mind persisting him was- 'Will they ever leave me alone?'

Hope you liked the prologue! Review!

-Yashendra Shukla