Ok, ok, I know its short! It was something I just 'did' on spur of the moment. It's not particularly exciting, but it does try and set the scene for the next chapter, 'try' being the operative word! Also, remember Alex is meant to still be pissed at Blunt and MI6 in general.

Sunday, 28th November, 21:38
Nyon, Switzerland

Blunt had decided that Alex needed some pre-mission warm-ups in a training base before he went back into the field. Alex had agreed with him and was secretly glad to be given a chance to get back into his 'spy' role. He was in Switzerland only a few hours after the conversation.

Alex looked at the folder in front of him, despising it and what it meant, but he had to read it, for the girl…

The fact was he'd been reading it all day and could probably quote the whole 5000-word document inside without trouble. He felt that he had to read it, even if it was just an attempt jump-start his brain into realising where he was and what he'd got himself into…again. Plus, he didn't want to muck this one up; it would be the girl who would feel the mistake, not him.

He got up from the desk and walked over to the window of his apartment. The Swiss secret service had been nice enough to lend him a state-of-the-art, luxury apartment, right in the heart of a sleepy town near Genéva, a city that handles over a quarter of the world's wealth every year. A place where the secret service might well have operations.

Alex had wondered why he'd been sent to Switzerland, but Mrs. Jones had been quick to inform him that the main training base was in the hills of the Alps. The Swiss are known for their cuckoo clocks, chocolate and cowbells, but they are also known for their nuclear bunkers. The government openly claim that there's enough space in their alpine bunkers to house the entire population of Switzerland with space left over. In fact, there was so much space left over, that they'd given the project an entire bunker complex in the Alps close to the city of Genéva.

Named 'Camp Jackson', or CJ for short, it was the main operations and training Head Quarters (HQ) for the UNITI project, 'UNITI' standing for 'UNited International Training Initiative'. Apparently, any reference to children would make the whole project 'un-PC'. Alex could hardly believe that they'd name the project UNITI simply because it was 'wrong' to have any reference to children, but have children risking their lives under the name… How dare they!

Alex watched as the snow fluttered down over the sleepy town, the medieval castle looking picturesque in its cape of white. From where he stood, Alex could see tourists walking round in their luminous ski jackets, taking pictures and sliding about on the icy stone paths. Turning away, hewent back over to the file, opening it on his bed to read it yet again...

Name: Trista Mathews
DoB: 15th March
Age: 17 years, 8 Months
Hometown: San Jose, California, USA

The fact that she was an American seemed strange to Alex. Since the UNITI project was mainly a British-led operation, surely Blunt would want a British agent as the first into action for the precise reason that it might fail. At least that way it would be a British casualty with British lead training. This way, the Americans were directly involved, and you really don't want the Americans pissed off with you!

As it was, Trista was a very experienced martial artist and had an almost perfect score in most the training exercises. In a school she would be the 'model pupil', an inspiration for the rest of the team, extremely smart and a born leader. Alex would even say that she was probably more skilled than himself in terms of qualifications and expertise. But being an agent in the field needs more than pure skill, it needs a clam head and a focused mind, with just a smidgen of luck. And that can't be learnt in a great hurry!

Closing the dossier Alex walked into the kitchen, his footsteps echoing off the newly tiled floor. The 'modern' style meant there was hardly any life to the place, and therefore a perfect apartment for someone about to take life to 'collect their thoughts', or something like that...

Looking round the place, Coke can in hand, Alex spotted little details dotted around the place where other 'tenants' had left their mark. A large painting covered a series of long, thin holes in the plaster, the mark of a knife being thrown into the wall at some time. A stain on the carpet, definitely wine, and no agent Alex knew would be clumsy enough to knock over a glass of wine. This meant that either Government officials used this apartment as well, or someone was 'interrupted' during a meal. Most shocking of all were a series of holes in one wall, badly concealed by a large plant. Alex would guess they were holes from a handgun calibre bullet. Not wanting to think what it meant, Alex just decided to get some rest.

Walking back into the bedroom he threw the dossier onto a nearby desk, stripping to his boxers. Getting into bed he clapped his hands, turning the lights of in a way he'd wanted to be able do since he was little. One of his last thoughts that night before he fell asleep was;

"Well, at least something came out of this trip!"

Reviewers corner:

Dani: Ok, I will be updating soon. I know this isn't much so your just gonna have to hold ur horses for a while!

Lady-Firehair: Well (blushes), its not quite 'that' good I'm sure. Especially this chapter, but hey I'm just winding up to a mission, so I can be a bit borin for a while! If you love Alex soo much, then you better read what I'm about to write at the end of these notes, you might just have something to say!

Laine7727: Scorpia was a major terrorist organisation that Alex had to deal with in the last (latest) book. I can't really say mush more without giving away the story, but I think it should be out in the US now, although I wouldn't bet on it. I have a nasty habit of loosing bets like that! Lol

Lily-Evans-Personified: lol, Alex was a child spy in all of the books, that being the main storyline, so although id live to lay claim to the idea, I can't. That's all Horowitz's doing, and I dare say even he got the idea of a child spy from somewhere…

Julia: You have no idea how lucky ur on this chapter! just as I was about to crate a new chapter, msn told me I had a review (email alert thingy). So, SO, lucky! Neway, thanx for that! I'm trying hard with the tenses, I'm surprised nobody's picked it up before; this chapter was all over the place (probably still is lol). And yeh, I particularly liked the guilt trip, i think it sums up Alex relationship with Blunt extremely well!

Ok, again, sorry its so short and borin, but I just did it, trying to get some of the borin bits out the way. If you're still reading I'm impressed (honestly I am)! But quite glad coz I'm about to ask ur advice.

I was wondering if I should add a little romance into this fic.I wasn't originally going to, but if you guys wanted me to I could probably do something, and before you ask; yeh, I've done romance before. It's just an idea, so if you have any thoughts on the matter email me (email on Profile methinks) or simply review with your suggestions. I'll probably reply via this reviewer's corner thingy, that is, unless somebody tells me they don't want to be 'talked about'. Hey, it's your choice!

Happy reviewing!