Drabble 8

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ALEX RIDER

Request: A normal day at the bank


"Dammit!" Lily cursed under her breath as she splashed a bit of hot tea onto her hand. She didn't stop to wipe it off, and instead, scampered towards the large, intimidating bank. She worked there for a few years, but she still felt dread as she entered the Royal and General.

Lily was a special person, even by her world's standards. She was technically a spy, though it wasn't like anything in the movies. Sure, there were spies that liked to run around on building rooftops and crazy computer prodigies hacking secure sites, but Lily spent her days in an office, making up stories. To put it in simpler terms, she made up MI6 agent's cover stories, and she was damn good at it too.

At the front desk, Lily forked her I.D. over to the receptionist, who carefully examined it before nodding and letting her in.

Lily blew red strands of hair out of her face, making her way to the stairs. The blasted elevators weren't working again apparently. At least this way, she would get some exercise.

At this, she paused, one foot suspended above a step. Did she really just think that? Gosh, it was going to come back and bite her in the ass sooner or later.

Sure enough, by the fourth flight, Lily was panting, her legs burning. The tea in her supposedly sealed thermos was sloshing around dangerously, threatening to spill at every stair that she ascended.

"I really hate working here," Lily muttered to herself as she began the slow trek upwards again. Only a couple (more like six) more flights left.

By the time she reached her office, Lily was completely fed up with MI6, and it was barely eight in the morning. More tea had sloshed over her hands than she was ever going to drink. Thankfully, it wasn't hot anymore (due to the malfunctioning thermos). Lily huffed, dumping out her tea in a potted plant's pot. She'd have to get coffee instead, she supposed.

Once she had gotten her coffee ("-no cream, no sugar! That's for wimps-"), Lily settled down, opening the laptop before her. It was a beautiful laptop in her opinion. It might have been the only plus of working at MI6 besides the fabulous pay. Lily knew the maker of the laptop, Smithers, who was now a close friend. Sometimes, the man would call her just to gather some ideas on how to improve his gadgets, which was very nice. The gadget-master and the cover-specialist had to communicate somehow.

Lily smiled as she reached for the pile of folders that she had found on her desk. She never found out who gave her the folders, but there was always a small pile on her desk. That much alone would take her the whole day to get through. She wasn't called the best of the best for nothing. Her work was thorough and ideal for undercover work or long-term undercover work.

She took the first folder, examining the information clearly. This agent was one of her favorites because his age let her imagination roam freely. He popped up on her desk frequently, and Lily assumed that he must be a big deal, even if he only was sixteen.

Lily spent the next thirty minutes reading the mission file, biting her lower lip thoughtfully. It took another hour and a half for her to type up a plausible sob story, which she grinned all throughout.

Ring! Ring!

It was lucky that she had just finished with his file, otherwise, she would have lost her mojo. When that happened, she had to start all the way back at the beginning again.

"Yep?" Lily said into the receiver, quickly saving the Harry Potter fanatic, horseback riding lover onto her laptop.

"Hey Lils," the voice was quite clearly Smithers', "D'you mind coming down for a minute? I have something to show you, and it's important."

Lily frowned, but accepted the invitation. She supposed she could spare the time to go down, provided that the elevators were working again.

She quickly shut off her laptop and slid out of her room, locking the door behind her.

The elevators weren't too far away from her office, so she could clearly see the sign that read: OUT OF ORDER.

She groaned.

An hour later—half an hour had been contributed to walking up and down eleven flights of stairs—Lily was back in her room, groaning from the sheer amount of stairs she had to climb.

Ring ring!

Lily eyed her phone wearily, but answered nonetheless, "Hello?"

"Hey Lily!" A chipper voice greeted her, "Does your offer still stand? I'm in the lobby right now, and I can't lift all this stuff by myself."

Lily suppressed the urge to groan, "Yeah, sure. I'll be right down."

She was positively exhausted after helping her fellow agent. The man had to move crates of informations, making not one, not two, but three trips up and down the stairs to level seven.

Lily collapsed at her desk. The coffee from earlier was cold, sitting innocently in the corner of her desk. She could feel a headache coming on, and she wearily grabbed a second folder to read.

Ring ring!

This time, she did groan aloud in agony before answering, "Yes?"

"Agent Barium? It's Jones. Can I see you in my office?"

When Lily hung up, she let out a muffled scream of frustration, "I really hate working here!"


A/N: Yay! Back at writing these drabbles/one-shots! I'm trying to go through some old requests right now, but if you have any new ones, or if you have any you REALLY want to see, put them in a review! If I didn't write one that you previously requested, it might be a good idea to "resubmit" them, just so I can see/re-read them. It's been a while, lol. ANYWAY, thanks for your awesomeness and support!

And yes. I named her Agent Lily Barium. After Lily Potter... and the element.

-Alice x