Disclaimer: I do not own the Alex Rider series.
Claimer: I do own the AIS and all characters from the AIS (e.g. Desiree Swan).
Chapter 9
Jack had been almost hysterical when Alex, Desiree, Tom, Ben and Jake arrived back at the Rider household. Banks had already informed the housekeeper of what had occurred, then had kept Jack under his 'supervision' until the others returned, just in case Scorpia tried something with her. Basically, that meant that she was stuck upstairs in the man's bedroom for the morning, a bad experience for the both of them. School had been cancelled for the rest of the day – maybe even for the rest of the week. The numerous bullets which had hit the school had caused massive property damage, which the MI6 had promised to fix. The only miracle was that no one, besides the boy hit by a rebound bullet, had been injured.
"It's too…I don't know, but it just doesn't feel right," Alex said. The three teens were congregating in his room, "This is Scorpia we're talking about. They train their agents so that they don't miss! I don't know how the only injury was from some guy hit by a rebound!"
"I know, it makes no sense," Desiree said calmly. That was the curious thing about the girl; even after all the panic and chaos, she still managed to remain calm.
"So, what are you trying to get at?" Tom asked. The boy didn't know exactly how ruthless and calculated Scorpia was; after all, the closest he's ever been to them is when they're trying to kidnap him. Not exactly the time they show off all their skill.
Alex and Desiree glanced at each other.
"Well…" Dessi began.
"Scorpia, they plan everything," Alex continued, "Every time they have a, a 'project', they plan each and every stage. They also, well, they can aim. They could probably be able to shoot you through the heart while they were blindfolded and you were running around like a headless chook."
"So…" Tom trailed off, but he thought he could see where they were going.
"So, if no-one was hit today, not counting that kid and the rebound, we have to assume that Scorpia didn't want to hit anyone," Dessi said, "Which means that they had another purpose for the shootout today."
At that moment Ben appeared at the doorway, and gestured for Alex to go downstairs. Mrs Jones had decided to call. Dessi and Tom followed Alex down the stairs, where Alex broke off from them to answer the phone. The two then followed Ben into the living room where the adults were discussing the attack, but before Desiree could sit down, Jake had gotten up and dragged the girl back out.
"Hey, Jake! What are you-"
Jake put a hand over the girl's mouth until she stopped trying to talk. Then he began talking in a very low voice, glancing around to make sure that no-one came out and overheard.
"You know that Scorpia has put a price on your head, right?" He whispered.
"Yes."
Jake nodded. "You were almost hit by a bullet today," he continued.
"Yea, so?" Dessi asked, not entirely sure where her field partner was going.
"Well…" he paused, "Well, what if they found out that you weren't dead? What if…what if-"
"What if they were scouting for me today?" Dessi finished.
"Yeah."
They stared at each other for a moment. After the whole incident with the Scorpia assassin last year, the AIS had set about making it look like the assassin had succeeded. Apparently though, that hadn't worked.
"Dessi?" Alex suddenly appeared beside them, gesturing in the general direction of the phone, "Mrs Jones wants to talk to you."
Desiree glanced at Jake, then left for the phone while Jake and Alex returned to the living room where the others were.
"Hello?" Dessi said into the mouthpiece of the phone.
"Ah, Desiree Swan," Mrs Jones's voice came through, "I'm merely calling to inform you about the situation which occurred earlier today at the school."
"Mrs Jones, I was there so you don't really need to tell me what happened."
"Yes, I'm well aware of that. However, I would like to make you aware of another fact. We have debriefed every student in the school who claims that they were shot at, however so far it does appear that you are the only person to have actually been targeted."
"What do you mean?" Dessi asked, though she had a sinking feeling in her stomach.
"Well, every student who has stepped forwards claiming that they were shot at were also gathered together in a group. You were the only one to be alone when the sniper fired. Thus you see our conclusion that you may have actually been targeted."
Desiree groaned softly, not caring if Mrs Jones heard or not.
"Is there anything you may wish to share to shed some light on why you are being targeted by Scorpia?"
"Um, well, let's see," Dessi said slightly sarcastically, "Scorpia has put me on their hit list, but there's no way that's at all the reason they may be targeting me." Okay, very sarcastically. She already knew that MI6 was aware of Scorpia's…dislike towards her.
Over at the Royal and General Bank, Mrs Jones almost sighed out loud. The girl sounded almost like Alex would in the circumstances. Great, they were dealing with a smart-mouthed teenager. Again.
"We've already figured this out," Desiree continued.
"Look, Desiree, MI6 are only trying to help. If it looks like you are in any danger, we may have to contact the AIS for assistance in providing protection for you."
There was a snort on the other line. "Don't kid yourself, the AIS would only tell you to tell me to take care of myself. Besides, we don't have any units available for what the AIS calls 'baby-sitting' duty."
Mrs Jones frowned. Geez, the AIS was worse than she thought. Not even Scorpia would leave one of their agents to the mercy of their enemies without putting up some sort of resistance…would they?
"Well then," Mrs Jones said, just so she had something to say, "I guess you all need to be on high alert in case they try something."
"Will do."
Mrs Jones hung up the phone. There was still a trace of a frown on her face as she thought about the girl. Unintentionally, Dessi had revealed more about the AIS than was probably allowed. She'd referred to protection as 'baby-sitting' duty with such resignation in her voice that Mrs Jones couldn't help but wonder whether the girl had been through this before.
Mrs Jones sighed and rested her head in her hands. She'd thought using Alex was bad, sending the poor kid out on deadly mission after mission. But from the rumours which had been floating around the espionage world, Desiree Swan had been put onto the field at a far younger age than Alex's fourteen years old.
What was the world getting to, when countries had to endanger and ruin such young, innocent lives?
That Wednesday seemed to pass extraordinarily quickly. They went out to eat lunch, not because they wanted but because Agent Daniels and Agent Banks had to report to Mr Blunt, so they just all decided to accompany them. All too soon it was night, and the household was waiting for another one of Jack's famous ten-minute meals. Spaghetti, this time. Alex had helped her out in the kitchen, preparing a side dish that went with it, along with some dessert.
Desiree had been so shocked when she found out that the boy could cook, she'd sat down on the dining table, hard, and hadn't moved for the entire time in which the teenage spy was cooking. Alex found himself strangely happy that for that entire time the girl's attention had been fixed on him. Which was probably why he'd ended up making dessert in the first place. Well, by making he meant decorating a ready-made Pavlova base, but that still counts.
"Dinner's ready!" Jack announced, plating the food up onto their assigned bowls. There was an immediate reaction from the living room where Jake, Ben, Tom and Andrew were playing cards. At Jack's words, they'd all scrambled to their feet, thrown their cards down, and attempted to get through the door at the same time. Needless to say, it didn't work, causing a momentary halt before the men could figure out how to enter the dining room.
Dinner didn't take them that long to eat, and that included seconds. The men were eating like there was no tomorrow. Granted, they did that every night but tonight, with all the spaghetti slurping and sauce flying everywhere, it looked so much worse.
Alex brought out dessert – the decorated Pavlova he'd – and set it out on the table. He'd then insisted that the ladies had the first slice, and was rewarded with a brilliant smile from Desiree as she accepted her slice. After that smile, he couldn't really take in what anyone else was saying. Her smile just somehow…carried him away into blissfulness.
What is happening to me? Alex thought foggily, trying in vain to tear his eyes away from Dessi's cheerful face, almost glowing with happiness as she laughed at one of Andrew's jokes.
Once dessert was finished, Alex and Desiree went to wash the dishes. Well, Desiree had volunteered, then Alex had hung back until she'd spotted him and told him either to go away or help. Surprisingly, to both of them, he'd chosen to stay and help.
Afterwards they'd both retreated to the living room where the rest of the household were playing "cheat". Since they were already playing, Dessi and Alex merely sat and watched, both wearing knowing smirks because they could see everyone's cards. When the round ended, the winner was Jack, which seemed to surprise everyone since she was the only one in the room, excluding Tom, who wasn't a secret agent. While Jack did her victory dance around the living room, and the others sulked about their loss, Tom excused himself to go to bed. True, it was only 8:30, but he was so tired after the morning's shoot-out that he could no longer keep his eyes opened. He was also yawning an awful lot; it looked like he would sleep while still standing.
Dessi opted out of playing, content to just sit and watch. Alex however, joined the game. With three MI6 agents playing, Jake and Jack seemed to almost team up as they tried to catch them out. Which made sense, seeing as they were the minority. After a yawn so large that Dessi thought her mouth would never return to its original shape, the girl stood and bid the others goodnight. Not that they heard; they were too interested in the game. Only Alex paid her any attention.
Desiree climbed the stairs, slightly groggy. It was almost nine o'clock. Dessi yawned again. What was wrong with her? Her normal bed time was around ten thirty, and that was if she was lucky! Though she had to admit, recently she'd been getting more sleep than she ever thought possible. And another yawn hit her.
Something isn't right, Dessi thought when she finally reached the landing, I shouldn't be this sleepy. With a slight frown, she thought back to dinner. Had the MI6 agents tried to slip more sleeping pills into her food? No, she'd watched Alex prepare the meal the entire time, and she highly doubted that Jack would try to slip something in. But she was definitely sure that she'd been drugged.
Her senses instantly went onto alert, or at least, as alert as they could get in the state she was in. It was then that Desiree froze. She'd just walked past Tom's closed door when she swore she heard a faint scuffle. One that didn't come from turning in bed. Slowly, she opened Tom's door to check whether or not the boy was alright.
A sudden bright light shone in her eyes, startling a shout from her.
It was then that the full affects of the drug took over. With a soft gasp, Desiree collapsed.
Just before she lost consciousness though, she could just make out the shadowy figure of Tom, bound and gagged, guarded by two other men. The boy didn't look like he'd been hurt; he just looked more scared than anything.
And then, the girl blacked out.
It was dark. The household, like the ones either side and all those down the street, had all its lights lit up. Its occupants were in the living room, talking cheerfully, laughing, relaxing. They wouldn't see this coming until it was too late.
Gathered around the house were ten men, all dressed in grey. They were the top ten men who graduated from Malagosto. They were all ruthless in their own way, persistent and heartless. Bringing them together would ensure that the mission would be completed.
The assigned leader signalled for the men to move in. Creeping cautiously through the snow, they surrounded the house, each taking their allocated spot. There was another signal; the three men nearest to the guest bedroom began to scale the wall, with a little help from their new covert weapons.
The first man peeked cautiously into the window. There was that black haired kid. He was already asleep. Perfect. The man proceeded to use a laser to cut through the closed window. In a matter of seconds, the three men entered the temporary room of Tom Harris. The boy was sound asleep, though he should be waking in approximately fifteen or so minutes.
The men smirked at each other. When the household had gone out to report to MI6 and then stayed out to have lunch, the men had rubbed a sleeping drug onto the plates which were assigned to Tom and Desiree. The drug was a loose white powder like substance until it was sprinkled with some water. Then it turned translucent, see-through, invisible. It also tuned sort of sticky, which allowed it to stay on the plates. When met with food, the drug would dissolve, and thus be eaten, where it would then set to work.
The drug basically induced sleep. Due to it being something the body does naturally, sleep is the easiest state to medically induce in a human being. This drug knocked out its targets for fifteen minutes, though on non-adults it may be longer.
The men set about tying Tom up, slightly harder than it seemed due to the boy's dead weight. That done, they carefully opened his jaw and placed into his mouth a gag. They couldn't risk the boy waking up and alerting the rest of the household, but they couldn't hurt the boy. Well, not yet at least.
One of the men glanced at his watch and signed something to the others. Twenty minutes left. Twenty minutes until the girl should be coming upstairs.
The thing about drugs is that the more you take, the more you've been exposed to, the less effective it is. The AIS requires all its agents to undergo 'DPIT' (Drugs and Poisons Immunity Training). Basically, that's when they force their agents to take numerous drugs and poisons in increasing doses until the agents are able to become relatively immune to them. However, with ever increasing technology comes ever increasing drugs and poisons with different chemicals, and it isn't exactly possible to be immune to them all. The drug Scorpia used was definitely new.
They had tested the drug on one of their prisoners, forcing him through the same program the AIS uses before giving him the new drug. It had taken a bit more than twenty minutes before the drug actually took affect. Thus they predicted that in a teenage body, it should take only about twenty minutes.
After about fifteen minutes, Tom woke up, slightly groggy from his induced sleep. Seeing the strange men, his first instinct had been to shout. However, that was until he realised that he'd been bound and gagged. And that made him scared. Sure, in the past weeks there'd been numerous attempts to get to him, but at least he wasn't so helpless then.
Someone yawned. The three men looked up, staring intently at the door. One of them pressed a button on his watch. It would send a signal out to say that target two had walked into their reach. It would signal for the other men surrounding the household to move in.
One of the men took out a flashlight, and scuffed his foot on the floor. If what was said about this girl was true, then she would be able to recognise that there was something off about the noise. Sure enough, they heard soft footsteps approach the door, before it was gently opened.
The man flicked his torch on, startling a shout from the girl.
Abruptly, her eyes rolled up and she fainted. The drug had taken affect. The three men moved quickly, one of them grabbing the girl and the other getting the bound Tom. Downstairs they could hear the scraping of chairs; no doubt the agents protecting the house had heard the girl shout. Then with a loud bang, the front door burst open. At the same time, the kitchen window shattered. And in stormed the remaining seven Scorpia agents.
The three agents escaped through the window with their hostages, running into the night where they had previously parked a getaway car.
Finally, revenge was in their grasp.
Dessi and Tom got kidnapped! What will happen now?
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Love Chariots99
