Disclaimer: I do not own the Alex Rider series.

Chapter 7

"Rider, get to the start! Make sure you stretch adequately!" Jake ordered.

Alex gulped as Dessi gave him an encouraging smile while the rest of K-unit's looks clearly said that they would be praying for his life. Jake, Terry and Dean were too busy reloading to even look up at him.

He debated the situation privately for a second before sighing and standing up. If he went, he would probably get hit, or not make it. If he didn't go, Jake would probably make him by force, and then he'd have some other punishment to worry about.

Suicide either way, he thought…

Stretching by the starting line, Alex was slightly hyperventilating. Just a little.

It wasn't really his thing to get shot at. Sure, it had happened before, and one time he'd even managed to almost get shot in the heart, but this was different; it made him feel like he was willingly going along with getting himself shot.

"Alex, are you ready?" Jake shouted. Gulping, Alex imitated Desiree and waved his arm around his head in a circle, crouching down and getting ready to run for his life.

Jake blew the whistle, and Alex shot off. Immediately they began firing at him. The knowledge that the bullets were made of rubber did nothing to calm him.

When the blind panic left slightly, he realised that they weren't aiming as close to him as they had been when Desiree had done her run. They're going easy on me, Alex thought, not sure whether to feel relieved or insulted. He compromised by putting an extra burst of speed, making sure to follow the hardly visible line which marked his path on the oval.

He finished his run with a couple of near misses. By the end, he had fully felt the effects of his adrenaline rush, and it was only that which got him to the end.

Almost ready to collapse, he dragged his feet back to the centre of the oval where the others waited. Puffing and panting like he'd never done before, Alex dropped to the ground, gazing up at the clear sky. Eventually Jake's words penetrated his haze of exhaustion.

"…to warm down Rider, but otherwise that was quite good," Jake finished, then turned his gaze to Ben, who gulped.

"Daniels, your turn. See if you can show up the teenagers," Jake grinned as Ben muttered darkly under his breath, and his former team mates turned their prayers towards him.

"Good job, Alex!" Desiree said cheerfully, looking down on him, "But you might want to get up. Jake's right about warming down, not just dropping down."

With a groan, the teenage spy reluctantly got up. If truth be told, he could have gladly lay down on the oval and slept, but he didn't really want sore muscles for whatever other torture the AIS decided to put him through.

Why did I ever sign up for this? He thought as the whistle sounded and Dessi pushed his head down so he wouldn't be hit by stray bullets. Why?

They ended that drill at one, even though they hadn't been through everyone. K-unit went a lot slower than Jake had anticipated for, so they'd only managed to fit in Terry afterwards.

"Right ladies, and Dessi," Jake grinned, having used it twice in a day now, "Most of you need to work on your speed. Soldiers, I know you'd rather duck, hide and shoot back, but this is good for your stamina. Daniels, you're a grown man, act like one. Even Rider beat your time. Speaking of which, Rider, that was better than I anticipated. On Thursday, we'll be aiming closer to you to get your speed up."

Jake rattled off his observations, then turned on his unit.

"Phillips, that was a lot slower than last week. Tomorrow you're going to run twice around the grounds in the same time it takes the others to run once, and if that doesn't happen I'm going to want to know why.

"Swan, what the hell did you call that? Because it certainly didn't look like running from where I was standing! You got hit by a bullet! Out on a mission, that would mean you wouldn't be able to keep running, which would mean certain death! You'll be joining Phillips tomorrow morning, and right now you're going to give me fifty push ups. Ben, your turn on now. Terry, shotgun. The rest of you, dismissed for lunch," Jake added.

Alex frowned. That hadn't been very fair on Desiree, and he was about to open his mouth to tell him so when Dessi shot him a warning look that clearly told him to shut his trap. So he turned and followed K-unit until they were out of sight of the others. Then he hid himself behind the closest building and waited for Dessi to finish.

After a while, he noticed that the building he was hiding behind was fairly new. Also that it was about three storeys tall. There were no entrances apart from the main door. The bullet-proof windows were fixed in place. Not only that, when he snuck around to the doors, he found that they could only be opened with a card. His curiosity peaked. What was in that building that made security so tight? He had to get in.

Hanging around the front of a building which you clearly do not belong in, while acting like you do, is quite hard. However, after all his sneaking around last year, Alex had gotten quite good at that. So he casually leaned against the doorframe, folding his arms and giving a show of waiting for someone. A couple of people, he assumed them to be AIS agents, looked at him curiously when they passed. When Alex just nodded as casually as he could at them in greeting, they had shrugged and walked into the building.

It wasn't until a big group of arguing agents neared the building that Alex acted. They group appeared to be two units, arguing over who should be using the shooting range. They were too busy to notice the blonde haired teen who had snuck into their midst, and walked through the doors disguised as one of them.

Really, Alex thought, moving away from the group silently, They call themselves agents.

The inside of the building was extremely modern in decoration. Everything was a shade of white or grey, and everything matched yet clashed at the same time. The floor was tiled, probably so that, no matter how quiet you were, you could be heard.

Directly opposite the door were some stairs which obviously led to the second floor. There was a long corridor to the right, and another to the left, and also a lift. There was also a desk that looked remarkably like the ones used by receptionists; the end facing the doors was taller, so that the computer which was no doubt there was hidden from view. At the moment, the desk was unoccupied.

The corridors probably just led to some offices, Alex thought, seeing the squabbling agents disappear down the left one, So I'll go check out what's upstairs.

Walking casually, acting like he actually belonged in the building, Alex sauntered up the stairs. When he passed those who were going back down, he bent his head slightly to hide his face, though at the same time giving off the impression that he was nodding at the in greeting. This was just too easy.

The staircase came to a halt, and continued at the opposite end of the room. This level had highly polished wooden floorboards. Alex took that to mean that it was slightly more important. And with all the agents running around this level, whatever the security is for must be on the last level. So the teenage spy stuck his hands in his pockets and made his way across the room.

He was actually quite lucky in the sense that no AIS agents wore suits, or anything considered to be halfway formal. It was all casual, ready to train dress. That allowed Alex to blend in quite nicely. It probably helped too, that he didn't seem to look fifteen.

Alex made his way safely across the room, and trailed a couple of agents up the stairs.

It was when he almost reached the top step that he began to feel uneasy. Not because he was trespassing, but because he had a feeling that someone, or something, was watching him. Glancing around, he spotted some places which could well be hiding security cameras. But no, he didn't think it was the potential cameras that were causing the feeling.

Trying harder to make himself less visible than he was already aiming for, Alex made his way out onto the third and top floor. There was a main door, and a corridor just to the right. Alex made his way down the corridor. It was pretty wide as corridors go. There were numerous amounts of doors lining each wall. Many of the doors were opened, and when Alex peeked into one, he saw rows upon rows of shelves filled with files and boxes.

Walking past a closed door, the blonde teen took some time to read the inscription on the door: Maa-MI6. Alex stared at the door. Geez, MI6 would never leave him alone! First ruining his life last year, and now, appearing in Australia.

Glancing around to make sure no one paid him any attention, Alex pushed the unlocked door open and sneaked inside. Making sure to close the door behind him, he turned to find more rows of shelves crammed tightly together. Quickly the boy walked to the end of the room until he came to the last shelf. The entire thing had been dedicated to MI6. The top three levels were crammed full of shelves. The bottom four levels were packed with boxes. Fifty two boxes to be exact. Two for each letter of the alphabet.

Kneeling, he took out the top box of the "S" subdivision and looked inside. Neatly placed into three stackable trays were two dozen or so compact hard-drives. The kind that were about the size of an iPod touch, and yet could hold 300 gigabytes worth of data. Shifting through the hard-drives, one caught his eye. Lifting it out of the box, he examined the label in horror: SK Arms-Skeleton Key.

They knew about Skeleton Key, Alex thought, shivering as unwanted memories flashed before his eyes. Before he could contemplate it further though, he heard the door to the room open. With the ease of practice, he quickly placed the hard-drive back into the box, then put the box back onto the shelf. Crouching low, he snuck around to the other side of the shelves, and crept back to the door.

The agent who had walked in didn't even notice that he wasn't the only one in the room. He'd also left the door wide open, making it easier for Alex to sneak out. Pausing, he breathed a quick sigh of relief before heading back to the staircase. One close call was one too many for him, and in a building full of spies, that could've been the last thing he ever did.

Just as he was about to turn for the staircase, a rather familiar head caught his eye. The man looked about thirty, maybe thirty-five. His dark brown hair was extremely short. Why he looked so familiar though, was beyond the teenage spy. Maybe he was at a past assignment?

Quickly he hurried down the stairs, just in case the man saw him. Wracking his brains as he tried to remember where he'd seen the man before, Alex didn't realise that he was being followed until someone grabbed his shoulder when he was halfway towards the stairs that would take the boy to freedom.

Alex spun around, and came face to face with one of the men in the canteen whom Anna had shouted at yesterday.

"You're not meant to be in here," the man snarled, "This is a top security building, and I doubt you have an ID. What are you doing here?"

"I just…came because Desiree sent me," Alex said, making it up on the spot, "She said something about some file or other, but I can't remember what she wanted, and I sort of got lost…"

The man glared at him, then said slowly, "You know what, kid? I don't believe you. That girl never sends messengers. Reckons no-one is trustworthy. So why are you really here?"

When Alex didn't answer, the man's face twisted into an ugly scowl. Grabbing his shoulder again, he steered Alex down the left hallway and into one of the rooms, knowing that the boy wouldn't try anything while he could attract the attention of others.

Kicking the door shut behind him, the man shoved Alex into the room.

"Come on, kid, why are you really here?" He asked again.

Alex kept his mouth shut, his brain working furiously at the chances of him getting past the man. They weren't looking too good.

"You here to spy on us or something?" Apparently, silence just made the man more angry, "Well we know how to deal with busy-bodies like you."

Reaching out, he was about to grab Alex when the boy twisted away. The man seemed to have expected the move though, and lunged for the kid with lightning speed. Alex was knocked into the wall, pinned against it by the taller agent.

"I've sparred with Swan, I know all the dirty moves you kids use to win," he whispered nastily into Alex's face. The boy could smell his lunch, and it wasn't a nice smell.

"You should really try some breath fresheners. They actually work," Alex offered, trying to distract the man. He was rewarded with a punch to his cheek. Alex bit back a groan. His cheek felt like it was on fire!

"I don't like smart-asses," he snarled, raising his hand again.

Suddenly the door was thrown open.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" Desiree shouted from the door.

After she had finished her fifty push ups, Desiree headed off to lunch. She had a few questions that she wanted to ask Alex, mostly about what his life was like. Nothing too serious; she didn't want to be overheard, and in a room full of spies, that was sort of difficult.

When she arrived at the canteen however, it was to discover that K-unit had arrived without Rider. They were at lost about where the kid could be. They were all pretty sure that he'd left the oval with them though.

Instructing Anna to keep Alex in the canteen should he arrive, she and K-unit split up to find the boy. After retracing her steps back to the oval, she'd found a slight footprint in the sand next to the Intelligence Surveillance Building (ISB) that had been her first major clue. One of the footprints was slightly twisted, as if the walker had suddenly turned in mid-step.

Oh, please don't tell me that Alex managed to get into the ISB, Dessi found herself thinking as she hurriedly got out her ID.

Letting herself into the building, she rushed over to the desk that Alex had earlier seen. It was still empty. Rolling her eyes at the timing some people had, she logged into the computer that was there. Pulling up footage from the security camera mounted just above the doors leading into the ISB, she fast rewound it until it was playing footage from approximately one that afternoon. Playing it on fast forward, she spotted the teen hanging casually outside the doors, then join the arguing units four and seven.

Desiree groaned, and logged out.

Great, she thought, there's a teenage spy loose in the ISB, and I have to find him.

Knowing that no-one in their right minds would search the ground floor, she ran as fast as she could up the stairs, weaving and dodging through the confused agents. At least that was one good thing about being small.

Arriving on the second floor, she took off, deciding to search the right hallway first. Rushing through, occasionally opening a couple of doors and peeking in to find some very confused agents, she found that he wasn't in the right hallway.

That left either the left hallway, or upstairs.

Blanching slightly at the thought of having to search in all the rooms upstairs if Alex decided to look around, Desiree took off to the opposite hallway. She had just peeked into the second room when a strange thump echoed through the wall. Slamming the door shut, she rushed to the third room, throwing the door open to find Alex, pinned against the wall in a stare-down with Agent Harvey, who had raised his fist as if he were about to hit the boy.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?"

Harvey noticeably paled at the sight of Desiree, and immediately let Alex go, taking a couple of steps away from the boy.

"I found him in here, wondering around. He's spying on us, Agent Swan," Harvey said, his voice extremely close to a whine.

Desiree glared at him for a full ten seconds before saying, "It's his job to spy, just like it is yours." Her tone had quietened, though that seemed to make her more deadly, "And for your information, you idiot, I sent Alex in here to get a file. He was probably 'wondering around' because he got lost, right Alex?"

Alex stared at her for a second or two before breaking into a smile.

"That's what I tried to tell him, but he wouldn't listen," he said, enjoying the torture at Harvey's expense. After all, the man did just hit him.

Desiree's glare turned, if at all possible, colder and more deadly. At that moment, she could probably have given Wolf a run for his money.

"He told you, and yet you still found the need to interrogate him?"

"I thought…I was sure he was lying! You've never sent out anyone in your place, and, and," Harvey stuttered, flailing under the gaze, his voice extremely high pitched, "I swear I meant him no harm! I just…just…you know, security and all-"

"Get, out," Desiree said. Her voice was so quiet that it might have been lost in the noise from the hallway, but Harvey saw her lips move, squeaked slightly and rushed out the door, Dessi moving aside so he could pass.

Then she turned to Alex, and all her previous deadliness seemed to just melt away.

"Alex, we were all so worried!" She exclaimed, rushing forwards and grabbing his wrist before proceeding to drag him out of the room, "No-one had any idea where you were, and oh I'm so glad I found you!"

Trying not to protest to being dragged down the stairs, after all, the girl did just save her life, the two exited the building at top speed. Once outside, she turned to face him, and her eyes widened when she saw the bruise that was already forming on his cheek.

"I'm taking you down to the medical centre. Come on!" She said, before dragging him off again.

"Dessi, wait, stop dragging me!"

The girl stopped, and seemed to realise that she was still holding onto Alex's wrist. With a slightly sheepish grin, she dropped it, then motioned in the direction they should go.

"That was pretty impressive how you managed to get into the ISB," she said, quite cheerful now. Apparently, it wasn't only Anna with multi-personality syndrome.

"Er, how did you know?" Alex asked.

Desiree laughed. "For a spy, you didn't seem to notice any of the security cameras!" she exclaimed.

"I don't normally have to deal with them," Alex admitted.

"Really?" Dessi asked. She knew of course, from his file. But Alex didn't know that she had his file, so she played it innocent.

"Yea, usually its actual people that I have to deal with."

"Huh. We have to deal with both," she provided.

"Right…"

"So, where did you learn to shoot so accurately? I know you said its classified, but just a hint? A small clue?" Desiree asked hopefully, glancing up at the boy.

"Well," how could he refuse a clue, "Um, it wasn't exactly, uh, legal…"

"Ah," Dessi's eyes lit up, "So not MI6?"

"Er, how did you jump to that conclusion?" Alex asked, slightly concerned about the recognition in her eyes.

"Because," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "The head of the SO, um… Blank? No Blunt! He follows every law to the dot. Well," she corrected herself, "Except the one that makes it illegal to employ minors." She grinned.

Alex had to smile back. That was so true, he thought, not even bothering to wonder how she would know about Blunt. His thoughts strayed back to that room, filled with things about MI6 that he probably didn't ever want to know.

"Well, here we are!" Dessi exclaimed cheerfully. They had arrived on the edge of the grounds. Alex recognised the place; he had run around it just that morning.

Desiree was pointing at the entirely white, single storey building. Alex had wondered what it was when he'd passed it earlier. Now he knew.

"Okay, let's get your face checked up!"

Love Chariots99 (yes, I still love you all).