Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider but I do own everyone else.
By the way. I've never been to New York, I know very little of it's police force and I've never robbed a bank. So, please excuse any wrongness that is present in this story. Thanks
The next morning Alex came into the kitchen to find Grey Fox with a scowl on her face as she intently looked over a set of blue prints that were spread across the counter while she was eating her breakfast, which consisted of a plain piece of toast, mindlessly. She didn't look up as Alex entered and he worked around her to make his own breakfast. Alex continued on as if she wasn't there either. He sat at the table and began to eat his cereal. A few minutes later, Cane came in dripping wet and wearing nothing but his boxers. Grey Fox spared a glance before returning to what she was doing but with her scowl more pronounced. When the man looked like he was going to get settled down to breakfast, Grey Fox turned and snarled at him.
" Go get some clothes on." She said with annoyance, her accent was slightly more obvious than usual and she turned back to her work. " And get that stupid grin off of your face." She called after him as the man mumbled something that sounded like it rhymed with the phrase 'Clucking Bell' and left the room. When the sound of his footsteps faded away, Grey Fox turned to Alex and sat down opposite him at the table. " Don't worry," She told him with an almost apologetic smile. " He won't be here long. As soon as we finish this job, I'll kick him out."
" I'm coming with you on this job?" Alex asked.
Grey Fox let out a good-humoured laugh. " Of course, how else are you going to learn?"
Alex frowned. He had still to find out what the job was exactly and from what he knew about Grey Fox and her work, it usually involved people getting hurt-badly.
" What kind of job is it?" Alex asked though he wasn't expected for her to tell him.
Grey Fox tapped her temple with her index finger and leaned in closer to Alex.
" It's a good one, I swear." She whispered across the table. " It's a bank robbery."
" A bank robbery?" Alex echoed.
Grey Fox nodded curtly as she seemed to switch to her business face. " Evergreen Bank. It's one of the most secured banks in the city. However, it has one or two major flaws." She explained with a little smile and Alex couldn't help but wonder if it was wrong to enjoy a job as much as Grey Fox did. " The worst is that it shuts at nine o'clock every night. Now I'm not just talking about lights off, I mean a complete lockdown, every two metres has iron walls so thick that nothing can get through. It's almost impossible to get into the bank itself without not only alerting the authorities but getting yourself a one way ticket to the nearest maximum security prison." A small smirk appeared on Grey Fox's face. " Normally, this would be a problem. But thanks to the next flaw in the system, it's no such thing." As she was speaking Cane came back in to the room, this time fully dressed and he sat down to listen in to the conversation. " The whole bank," Grey Fox explained, " Is run by computers. The security lock down has to be sent through the main system and so, as you can imagine; the signal can be blocked. That's how we're going to get into the bank. Unfortunately, that's the easy part. But no matter, we'll pull through," She said as she looked over at Cane, " we always do in these things."
Grey Fox looked back to Alex, " Anyway, this whole job requires someone who's a computer whiz. I, unfortunately, can do little more than download illegal music off of mine, let alone hack into a bank's mainframe so you and me are going to go on a little visit to a good friend of mine." She got up and started to roll up the blue prints of the bank. Cane followed her with his eyes.
" You want me to come?" He asked as he stretched in his chair. Grey Fox grinned and looked over her shoulder.
" After what happened last time?" She said with a laugh, " I think he'd probably shoot himself before we even opened the door. No, I think it's best he doesn't know you're involved until after I've got him on board."
" Suit yourself." Cane drawled lazily, " It's just as well, I suppose, I've got stuff of my own that I have to do." He got up and left the kitchen.
Grey Fox turned to Alex, " Alright kid, let's go."
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The hacker's building was old and smelt a bit funny. But either Grey Fox didn't notice or she didn't care as they took the stairs (because the lift was broken) up to the fifth floor. While Grey Fox didn't care about the dilapidation herself she did notice that Alex seemed to be looking around.
" A lot of people in the business like to live in places like these," She explained in a quiet voice, so that no one might be listening would hear. " It keeps them on a low profile, you know? Also, you'll find a lot of people who will live in flats that have very old, or slightly out of touch people as the super. It's handy to have someone who can't clearly say if you were in the building or not at a certain time. In places like these though," She gestured around with her hand, " No one cares; it saves time in befriending old ladies and telling them about your whereabouts. It's important to know these things," She told Alex, " after all, half the underworld probably lives in buildings like these and if you ever have to find someone; this is the type of place you'd want to look out for."
" But you don't live in a place like this." Alex pointed out quite rightly.
Grey Fox smiled, " True enough." She agreed, " But I prefer the nice places, even if it's a lot more work to maintain. Besides, not many people know who I am or what I look like so I don't have to take quite as many precautions."
They walked in silence until they got to the fifth floor. Grey Fox walked down the corridor, passing by numerous doors that were in various states of disintegration. They finally came to one of the last doors down the corridor and Grey Fox stopped at it.
" When you're dealing with someone like Stevie here, you have to be particularly tactful." She told him as she knocked on the door.
Behind the door, Alex could hear a muffled voice telling them that he was coming. The door opened and the man, who was know to be known as Stevie took a look at Alex then at Grey Fox, paled and shut the door in their faces with a slam.
Grey Fox looked mildly agitated but made no move. " That was rude…" She muttered to herself and she took a deep breath.
She took a step backwards. " Okay. Tactful time is over." She said as the annoyance finally showed quite plainly on her face. She brought her leg up and kicked the door in. The hinges creaked under the strain and then snapped as the door swung somewhat lopsidedly open and then fell to the ground.
" Stevie." Grey Fox said sternly as she walked into the flat. Alex followed. " Stevie!" Grey Fox called out again as she wandered through the house. They eventually found the hacker in his bedroom, fumbling with his gun, trying to make himself look fierce. Grey Fox raised her eyebrows in amusement and her mouth quirked up into a lopsided grin that she seemingly tried, and failed, to hide.
" Gunplay," She told Stevie with the amusement obvious in her voice, " Is two thirds about acting. And Stevie, you ain't no actor. Put the gun down and we can talk like civilised human beings."
" There's nothing civilised about killing people." He spat at Grey Fox in an attempt to insult her, but the woman's grin just grew.
" On the contrary." She said cheerfully, " It's been the one thing that all the great civilisations of the world since the dawn of time have been doing; I'm just following their legacy. It is however, unfortunate that you are unable to do so. You must feel so left out, being unable to pull the trigger." She goaded him, which succeeded quite brilliantly as the slightly porcine-like man turned a shade of pink.
" Watch me." He snarled and he pulled the trigger.
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" How many times do I have to tell you to take the safety off before you try and shoot?" Grey Fox asked Stevie some time later as they all sat in the sitting room. Stevie somewhat miserably, with his hands holding his head. " And besides," Grey Fox continued on cheerfully, oblivious to the man's gloom. " You shouldn't have aimed for my shoulder. That would have only slowed me down. You should know well enough that when you're dealing with someone in the same class as me you should always shoot twice in the heart and once in the head. Really, it's a wonder you got this far without killing yourself."
" What do you want?" Stevie sighed as he looked up at his tormentor. He still wasn't sure that Grey Fox wouldn't kill him later for pulling a gun on her; it was quite possible (probable even) that she was just toying with him and would still take her revenge after she put him through hell.
" It's about time you asked." She said without the cheer in her voice. She switched so readily between emotions and accents that it was no wonder people thought she was crazy. " I need your expertise." She told the hacker.
" For what?" He asked suspiciously.
" Evergreen Bank has a lot of money in it these days." She said somewhat cryptically.
" Are you crazy?" Stevie said incredulously. " You have no idea how many traps and alarms are connected to them, it's cyber suicide to even attempt it! Not to mention that the authorities would be alerted immediately."
" There's always a back door." Grey Fox said, unconvinced by the hacker's excuses.
" Back door or not, it's almost impossible." He still tried to convince the mercenary though he knew it was pointless. He had met Grey Fox three times before and while she paid an unbelievably generous amount for the work he had done; it was alas dangerous and not at all what he wanted to get involved in. He was much more used to hacking into college kids boyfriends or girlfriends computers, sometimes he would go as far as to look into a husbands work computer if his wife suspected him of having an affair or indeed vice versa. But the day that Grey Fox came into his life, he was shoved head first into a world that was more dangerous than he cared to deal with. It was the last time he ever wished for anything more exciting in his life. In short, Grey Fox was bad news for anyone who got involved with her.
" You will do this Stevie." She said almost lightly but there was a dangerous undertone in her voice.
" No I won't." He almost shouted back.
" Yes you will. The pay is good and I know as well as you that you're good enough to do it."
" If I'm good enough than someone else will be too." Stevie argued.
" True enough." Grey Fox agreed, " But my time is short and you are the nearest."
" No. I won't do it, you can't make me."
Grey Fox raised her eyebrows at the challenge. " Fair enough… But tell me; what do you think of my newest protégé?" She asked.
Stevie's eyes narrowed. " He looks fine, why?"
Grey Fox grinned. "Because he's one of the best ones I've ever had; he's so astute and a very quick learner—eager too. Like, just yesterday I thought him this great way to… how should we say, 'make people easier to deal with' and he seems to understand it well enough. But now..." Grey Fox shrugged and opened her arms, her face conveyed regret that she did not feel. " He asks me to let him try it out. I tell him no, of course, I say this to him again and again but he will not listen. What should I do? I have been faced with this predicament for quite a few days now and frankly I am tiring of it. You say that you will not work for me? That is fine but if you do not work with me then you can still be of use to me." Grey Fox said with a shrug. She looked over at Alex. " Alex, show him that move I taught you. It seems that you'll finally have your guinea pig."
Alex was just about able to hide the surprise on his face. "Alright." Alex thought to himself " I'll play your game."
Alex stood up abruptly, making his stance look cat like. " Are you sure? I'm really allowed to use 'the claw of doom'?" Alex said and somehow Grey Fox managed to swallow her smile and she gave a curt nod. " But remember, " She told him as seriously as she could, " Don't let go until after he stops screaming because sometimes the body involuntarily jerks. You might hurt yourself."
Alex nodded and began walk forward with all the grace of a dancer just like Yassen Gregorovich used to.
In all fairness to Stevie though, he didn't lose his cool until Alex raised his hand in a claw like manner high above his head.
" Whoa, Whoa, Whoa!" He said quickly holding up his hands as he jumped up off of the chair and retreated away from the creepy teen. " Keep the kid away from me and I'll do it. But this is the last time—okay?"
Grey Fox stood up with the most triumphant grin that Alex had ever seen her show. " Marvellous." She said happily. " Meet us in the Spider's Parlour tonight we'll discuss it then. Come on Alex"
With that, they left the apartment. Outside, Grey Fox beamed down at Alex. " That was brilliant." She said, half laughing. " God, his face…" She shook her head. " And the 'claw of doom'? What was that?"
Alex couldn't help but laugh too. " I didn't know that I would have to pretend to be the next super killer when we went in. Next time give me some warning and I'll come up with something better. How come he was so scared though?"
There was a slight look of pride on her face. " Because he knows what my kids can do."
They made their way down the stairs. " He's a good man though, Stevie I mean." Grey Fox said after awhile, quite unexpectedly. " He a coward, but he's not a bad guy."
Alex didn't know why she said that or how to react to it so he didn't say anything. They went back to the apartment in silence.
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That night, Alex found himself in the Spider's Parlour with a group of people he had for the most part not met before. Grey Fox was in her element; she was going from person to person, speaking quietly and quickly; explaining things about the oncoming job.
Half way through the night Stevie showed up looking less than happy about the whole situation. Cane sauntered over to him as soon as he showed himself and draped his arm around him as he led him over to the bar to torment him. Alex was sitting on the bar too, talking to Hawk when he wasn't busy.
" Everyone, I'll give you a brief overview on the details in the back room now." Grey Fox said some time after everyone had arrived.
In the back room everyone gathered around the desk. Grey Fox had maps and blue prints spread out across the desk.
" Our job, as most of you know is to finally rid Evergreen Bank of its burden of keeping all that money safe." There was a few mutterings of amusement and she continued. " This is one of those rare opportunities in life where we can finally use the phrase 'divide and conquer'. This," She said as she pointed to a map. " Is the map of the city and these markings in blue are all the minor banks in the city. And this one in red is Evergreen."
" Why do you have the others marked?" Someone asked her suddenly.
Grey Fox half looked at the person and grinned. " Because we're going to rob them too."
There were a few murmurs of disbelief and a few of astonishment but no one else spoke. "Yes, I know. Don't worry; it's all part of the plan. The goal of these is just to make a distraction. It takes exactly seven and a half minutes for the cops to respond to and arrive at any bank in this area." She said as her finger ran over three bank markings, " In this area it takes roughly eight and here it takes eight and a half. There are twelve precincts in the Bronx and they don't usually like to ask for help from the other sections of the city. If we do this right, which means that there will be a group of people breaking into each bank with ten-minute intervals then there will be half of the police force will be out looking into those banks. This will give us a highly weakened police force and it will give us more than enough time to get in, get out and leave safely. Now, I don't want any of you getting caught so when you break in, make sure you trip the alarm and get out of there as quick as possible, Hawk will tell the teams the details for that part of the mission. I'll explain the details to the group who are coming with me into Evergreen and Stevie; I'll talk to you now. The rest of you are dismissed."
The room cleared out until there was only Grey Fox, Stevie and himself left. Alex decided that he too should probably leave. Anyway, he was sure he had a coke left around somewhere near the bar. At least looking for it would give him something to do. Alex shook his head. The situation was bizarre; he, a MI6 agent, was going to rob a bank with a group of mercenaries, assassins and thieves. To think, most kids his age thought that going on holidays twice a year was amazing.
