Alex panted heavily as he raced down the corridor chased by a knife wielding thug. His mission had gone to hell only a few hours ago resulting in his cover being blown and a price on his head. "Alec Freewinter" had been somehow traced back to MI6 due to Alex's so called backup being bribed by Mercury Enterprises, the army supplier he had been investigating, resulting in Alex being forced to flee for his life.
Fortunately thanks to his watch from Smithers with hidden USB ports, programs of questionable legality and over a terabyte of inbuilt storage, MI6 had been alerted and were sending an extraction team to meet him at the front gates. His escape sorted, Alex skimmed over the computer files, copying them onto his watch. His mission complete, He uploaded a virus, uniquely designed by an agent posing as an employee, onto the system. Within seconds half the compound went into blackout, triggering numerous alarms and tightening security. Alex quickly erased all traces of his presence and left, walking towards the well-lit end of the compound, his path to freedom.
If it hadn't been for that guard who had spotted him on his way out, Alex would have most likely gotten away scot free. With the luck of the devil he managed to disarm the guard, sending his gun sliding under a door Alex knew to be locked from his days undercover. After a brief exchange of blows Alex realised he was heavily outclassed and worse the guard had a knife strapped to his hip, one mistake would give him an opportunity to unsheathe it. Not liking his chances, Alex feinted to the left, raised his right leg as if preparing for a roundhouse kick, turned on his left heel and ran in the opposite direction. Alex raced down the corridor, hoping to reach the car from MI6 before he was captured, or worse.
Alex ran, the guard slowly but certainly gaining on him, finally coming to an intersection. He snapped his head to the left and right before racing to the left .The factory floor was this way, as well as the designated rendezvous. Ducking into the first door he came across Alex gave a relieved smile. This was the workshop, filled with tools and bits of half-finished machinery to repair and replace that on the factory floor. He glanced around quickly, his eyes scanning the room for a weapon. The saw on the bench? A last resort perhaps, to unwieldy for anything but a surprise attack, maybe the short metal pole on the worktop? A definite maybe. The sledgehammer on the floor in the corner? What on Earth was it doing here? Unfortunately it would be too big to take out a skilled opponent with, due to its weight slowing it down. There, so close to the door that he almost missed it, a modified hammer, long handled with a decent sized head, probably custom made to fix up the machinery, the hammer was smaller than the sledge hammer but the handle was long enough to give him the advantage of reach and light enough that he could adjust his swing easier.
Hearing footsteps approaching the door cautiously Alex grabbed the hammer and hefted it over his shoulder. He hid behind an oversized drill press, deliberately with his foot in plain sight. He heard the loud footsteps of the guards soften as he opened the door and knew his position had been given away. He turned his body slightly and inched further behind the machine. As the guard drew closer Alex's grip of the hefted hammer tightened. As the guard rounded the corner, knife in hand, Alex smashed the hammer down, bone splintering beneath the hammer with a sickening crunch. With barely a glance Alex was out the door and running to the rendezvous, the guard passed out from the pain from his mutilated shoulder.
[Break]
Alex sighed. Jack was not going to be happy. Alex had reached the car from MI6, but not before a stray bullet had caught him in the arm. It was just a flesh wound and would be healed up in no time, but all the same it was a gunshot wound. And that was not something that Jack would be pleased with.
He stepped out of the bank. At least the mission had been a success. With the information he had supplied them, Blunt had claimed he had saved the lives of several agents and hundreds of civilians, unknowing that Mercury Enterprises, their employer, was about to sacrifice them for the sake of testing a bio-weapon. Hailing a taxi staffed by a retired agent Alex got in for the drive home, ignoring the twinge of pain from his shoulder as he settled back into his seat.
[Break]
"You got shot!?" Alex winced at Jack's high pitched squeal.
"It's okay, it'll be all healed up by the end of the month, I'm okay!" He tried desperately to ward off the coming panic from Jack, knowing his efforts would most likely be futile.
"No you're not, you got shot! What if they had aimed a little higher, You'd have had a bullet in your head, a little to the side and it would have lodged in your chest!"
"But it didn't! I'm here Jack, I'm safe", his voice was calm, meant to soothe Jack.
"You got lucky. And for how long? How long before they send you out again?" Her tone was desperate, pleading him to reassure her, to say it was over, that there would be no more missions. Alex saw the unshed tears in her eyes, how close she was to breaking. He had been lucky to have her. But he'd be sent out again soon. Alex shrugged. He knew that sooner or later he would die on a mission, it was inevitable. Maybe it was time for Jack to return to America, to her parents. To her life.
He held her as the tears started to fall.
[Break]
The harsh light of his cell phone was the only light in the room. He squinted into it reading the conversation again as if to reassure himself that everything was okay.
"Hey Tom, just got back. Will be at school tomorrow."
"Yuss! See u there! Meet u out front. U ok?"
"I'm okay :)"
Everything was back to normal again.
Or so he thought.