Disclaimer: If I owned Alex Rider, the clone would have come back right after Point Blank ended, and the whole thing would be so ridiculously cliché that you all would probably hate my guts for it :P

Chapter 3 Essential Gossip

What a wonderful day, Alex thought, morosely as he sat alone at his desk, his head resting in his arms on his desk. His head was aching from lack of sleep, his temper was short from weariness, and the fact that there was a noticeable absence of any students sitting any closer than two desks away from him was not helping matters one bit. What a wonderful, amazing, perfect, great day.

Upon entering homeroom some five minutes earlier, Tom had been immediately stolen away by a few of their classmates who wanted to discuss some major event that had happened in the news. Alex didn't know or really care what event as the boys had made it quite clear that they only wanted to talk to Tom. For his part, Tom had been hesitant to leave Alex alone and had done his best to include Alex in the conversation. But due to lack of cooperation on both sides and the suffocating awkwardness, Alex had simply excused himself and wandered over to his desk to kill time until the teacher, who was currently very late, arrived.

He did his best to not dwell on it, but it was difficult not to feel resentful as he watched Tom and the two boys chat animatedly. If things had been different, he would be there as well, chatting about whatever, not a care in the world. Last year, he had been like that. But somewhere between then and now he had turned into an outsider; someone who stayed on the sidelines and simply watched others socialize, not because he wanted to, but because no one aside from Tom was willing to talk to him.

There were some positive points about that though. For instance, he didn't have to think of any cover stories for his absences other than the overused 'I've been ill'. His classmates were more than happy to construct their own theories about him, and none were in the very least flattering. It had offended him quite a bit when it first began, and it still hurt now, though he was now a bit accustomed to it.

It simply wasn't fair though. He could just never get a break, not at school, not in the real world, nowhere. But, then again, life was never fair. That was one lesson his uncle had made sure he had learned by heart. Working with MI6 had only driven that lesson deeper home. Actually, just surviving to this point had made it impossible to forget that the world was one messed up place. Sometimes it made him wonder why he even bothered with saving it.

Alex blew at stray lock of hair that was obscuring his vision. He idly noted that he would have to get his hair cut soon; it was getting too lengthy and would soon be falling into his eyes all the time, something that would not be a good idea when he went on his next mission.

He frowned suddenly. Why had he had thought 'when' and not 'if'? Why was he thinking about new missions? For that matter, why had he even briefly contemplated the idea of going on another mission? There was absolutely no way that he would ever do anything for Blunt again. All of that spying business was far behind him now. Very, very far behind.

Besides, he had just taken a bullet to the heart. Surely that granted him a few years, if not an entire lifetimes, worth of rest? Didn't spies, even averse ones, get sick leave or anything? He had a sudden mental image of a secret agent, whose appearance was oddly similar to that of James Bond, attempt to take on a bad guy while sporting a pink nose that dripped and a voice that sound as though a whole pack of frog had taken residence in his throat. Alex couldn't suppress a smile as mental Bond sneezed right in mental bad guy's face, much to the disgust of the said bad guy. Now, that was a true hero: saving the world with a bad cold as backup.

If only spying was like in the movies, where the bad guy always got caught and the hero always got the beautiful lady and a happy ending. But in reality, the bad guys didn't always end up behind bars, and the closest thing to a beautiful lady that he'd ever had was Sabrina, and even she was gone now. And, he thought looking around the classroom, acutely aware that many people quickly turned away before their eyes met, he sure did not have a happy ending. Not even close.

He yawned tiredly and wished that he'd taken the time to grab some coffee before heading out. The teacher was so late that it wouldn't have mattered if he'd taken a few extra minutes to finish his pancakes as well. He closed his eyes, resting his head on his arms, fully intending to take a quick nap and not think about anything until the teacher decided to grace them with her presence. It wasn't like he had anything better to do at the moment after all.

"Hey, Alex!" The sudden call jolted Alex unwillingly out of his thoughts. He opened one eye as he turned his head slightly to the left to see Tom heading back to him, now hauling a newspaper. "Have you seen the news? He's struck again!"

So that's what they were talking about, he thought sitting up and yawning again. There was no need for Alex to ask who 'He' was. Even Alex, being so out of loop with the latest gossip due to his long absences, was aware of the individual who seemed to be on every school child's lips since his appearance some four months ago.

Though, personally, Alex did not see what was so appealing about a thief. They broke the law and selfishly stole priceless artifacts for their own greed. What was to admire about such people? However, very few of his classmates seemed to share his opinion, judging by how often his latest heist was brought up in conversations. Apparently, the fact that no one had seen his face, knew his name, or even how he managed to elude the police every single time, without any casualties, made him some big hero to a majority of the school. This blind admiration was just one more thing that separated Alex from his peers; he didn't trust or admire anyone that he personally did not know and deem as worthy of respect.

"They've even got a picture of him this time" Tom continued, plopping down in the empty seat next to Alex. "It's a bit blurry, but still, we know what he looks like now! And, they've given him a name as well: the Phantom!"

"Nice name." Alex said, unimpressed. What sort of corny name was that; did the guy think he was the Phantom of the Opera or something?

Tom took a swipe at Alex's head with the newspaper only to miss as his friend ducked at the last second.

"That's not his real name." the boy shot back, a bit put out by his friend's reaction. After all, it wasn't everyday when a picture of the thief appeared in the news. Surely that deserved some sort of reaction? Then again, this was Alex he was talking about. "That's just the name they've dubbed them with."

Alex raised an eyebrow inquiringly. "'They'?"

Tom rolled his eyes. "You know, reporters, cops, society, they."

"Ah, those 'they'."

Tom took another swipe at Alex. This time, not only did he miss, but his paper was confiscated as well. Alex was getting a bit tired of having to dodge it every five minutes. Tom wasn't too mournful about the loss though; at least Alex would look at the picture now. Plus, the paper was now his friend's responsibility to get rid of before the teacher showed up.

Alex unfolded the paper and glanced at the first page, not intended to look longer than a few seconds. He had little interest in the thief, but Tom would likely not stop bugging him until he looked at the article. It was then that Alex saw the picture of the thief, or more specifically, the thief's eyes. He immediately tensed, his gaze drawn to it. He recognized those eyes; he had seen them countless times since he was 'recruited'. Those were a killer's eyes. One's with no remorse, no compassion, nothing that defined the owner as human. Just small ink orbs of vast emptiness.

"Alex?"

It wasn't that surprising that he noticed the eyes immediately since the long awaited picture seemed to consist mainly of a close up the thief's covered face, the only bare skin revealed was around the eyes. But even in black and white, it was that feature that jumped out at him. An involuntary shiver crept down his spine.

"Hey, did you fall asleep?"

There was no way that this man had not killed anyone on any of his heists. Alex was willing to bet that the papers were not printing the whole truth. They probably didn't even know the whole truth, it would be just like Blunt to keep something like murder hidden from the public. Alex did not bother to delude himself into thinking that something like this was kept under wraps due to concern for the public; they likely did not want the public to begin criticizing the government for not apprehending the thief sooner.

He only faintly noticed that Tom had given up trying to talk to him and was now riffling through his bag. He was too caught up with analyzing the picture in front of him.

Keeping information from the public was not the best plan, In Alex's opinion. Once the public found out the details that were initially kept from them, the government would not be spared. They should just devote more effort into finding the thief's identity in the first place. It shouldn't be that hard since they now had a picture, albeit a fuzzy one. Maybe there were less blurry ones in different magazines, he'd have to some research and then…

Alex abruptly stopped that train of thought and shook his head in an effort to clear it. No, he told himself, it's not like it my problem. Let the adults do some work for once.

He placed the newspaper on top his desk and ignored it. He really needed to stop thinking like a spy. The missions he was usually sent on involved saving the world from some egotistical, delusional freak. According to the papers, the only thing this thief seemed to be interested in was priceless artifacts. There was no way that Blunt was going to shove this whole mess on him and expect him to fix it, Alex decided as the teacher rushed into the room twenty minutes late and hastily started to begin the day's lesson.

Absolutely no way.

*~~ͽͼ~~*

"Sir, are you sure you shouldn't inform Alex about this?" Mrs. Jones asked, sucking nervously on a peppermint. "He probably should be notified if—"

"No." was the blunt reply. "It is best that he is not informed. Alex is sure to resent this."

And of course, the best way to get around that is to not ask him, Mrs. Jones could not help thinking. It really amazed her sometimes, just how insensitive her boss could be. Even when he was trying to help, he did it in such a cold, aphetic manner, that one could not help taking offense.

And Alex was sure to take much offense at Blunt's current solution of their predicament. Mrs. Jones knew that she would if she was in his shoes. She personally had no doubt that Alex Rider was innocent of any wrong doing. Despite the fact that they had never had any heart-to-heart talks, she knew him enough to be certain that Alex would never do half the things the thief had done.

Something about that thought brushed the back corners of her memories. She was getting the feeling that she was missing something, but for the life of her, she couldn't remember what. And not knowing all the details was a dangerous thing in her line of business, which was why she was so adamant that Alex be told that there was a thief with the same facial features as his running around.

"Sir," she started again only to be caught off.

"Mrs. Jones, if you do not cease this senseless badgering," Blunt said, his voice cold enough to freeze a dessert. "You will be removed from your position and assigned elsewhere until this is over."

A fancy way of saying that she would be demoted. Needless to say, Mrs. Jones shut her mouth.

"This is the best course of action," Blunt continued, closing the folder he had been reading. "We have no way of knowing if Alex Rider is not our burglar nor do we really now if he is truly innocent of any wrong doing. He could be a double agent for all we know. He certainly has no love for his job."

Mrs. Jones could not help but feel surprised at the fact that Blunt was admitting that Alex hated him. She wasn't even sure most of the time Blunt was aware of how Alex felt about him. He certainly didn't act as though he knew. Or, more likely, he didn't care.

"And until we know for sure, he shall be treated accordingly." He concluded, effectively ending the conversation when he picked up the phone and began dialing the number to send his plan into motion.

Mrs. Jones swallowed the rest of her peppermint. Well, at the very least, Blunt hadn't decided to simply throw Alex straight into jail.

*~~ͽͼ~~*

Being part of the SAS meant being trained to do things that most people could only dream of doing. They could scale a wall just as quickly as a monkey, stalk through the wilderness with the stealth of a fox, and maneuver underwater just as easily as any fish.

K-unit could do all that and had done so on many an occasion.

But there was one thing that they had not yet been assigned to do as the job was usually reserved for higher ranked agents. They were to be sent on an intelligence and protection mission. That part wasn't as unusual for they had been sent on such missions in the past. It was that fact that they were being assigned to the middle of London that startled them. Usually their intelligence missions took place in areas far from society, nearly always out of the country as well. For some reason they had yet to discover, out of all the more qualified units, they had been deemed the most fit for this particular job.

Yes, being part of the Special Forces was a hard life, but an exciting one as well. One could never say that it got boring. Hopefully, each member of the K-unit would remember that once they became aware of the finer details of their latest assignment.

*~~ͽͼ~~*

Alex scowled heavily as he walked out of homeroom a good ten minutes after everyone else. The teacher could be late all she wanted, and no one said anything. But if he was just a little too caught up in his thoughts and had a newspaper on his desk when she decided to finally start teaching, he was landed in detention. He had half a mind to notify the dean of Miss Bernie's continuous tardiness but dismissed the idea as it would gather too much unwanted negative attention to himself.

He sighed as he paused in front of the Maths door. Class had started five minutes ago, meaning one more detention to add to his growing list. Just what he wanted. He continuously risked his life to save the world just to attend detentions. It was what every sane person in the world did, of course.

At least the day can't get any worse, he thought before realizing that he had just jinxed himself. Alex sighed.

Just great.

*~~ͽͼ~~*