Sorry it's taken so long for me to upload this chapter. I was in a sulking mood since I've been slaving over this story, which has now officially had over 2000 hits, and yet only 2.65% of my readers have reviewed. Do you all hate this story or something?
Anyways, while I've been brooding, I've figured out an awesome new system for updating. The more reviews I get, the faster I'll upload the next chapter. If I get 20 or more reviews, I'll upload it the next day! So please review!
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 10
Alex looked at his cards, then at the ones Ben had just put down. There was no way that Ben just put down three fours. After all, he had two of the fours. Alex grinned at Ben.
"Cheat," he said smugly, and was rewarded with Ben's blank mask dropping into a scowl.
The MI6 agent groaned as the others laughed at his misfortune; the pile of cards had actually gotten quite high, so that now Ben had almost more than half the deck in his hands.
"I hate this game," Ben growled.
"Just because you're losing," Banks said, grinning.
Ben rolled his eyes and glared at Alex. The boy gave him a cheeky smile before reinitiating the game, putting down two cards. Before anyone else could make a move, a shout shattered the silence that went with the game.
Jake leapt up, Alex following. They both recognised that voice – Desiree. Before any of them had time to move, the front door burst open. Ben and Andrew leapt to the feet, spinning to face the intruders just as the kitchen window shattered and more identically dressed men rolled into the house. There were seven of them, seven men who almost immediately took up a stance right in front of the staircase, effectively blocking their path to the upstairs. Alex moved to block Jack, shielding her behind him. Ben, Andrew and Jake jumped into action, leaping for the Scorpia agents.
It was complete and utter chaos after that. The seven Scorpia agents were too good. They moved too fast to catch, and lashed out with blows that were so hard they knocked them through the air to the other side of the room. It wasn't long before Andrew collapsed. Ben was knocked unconscious not long after that. Jake fared slightly better than the two MI6 agents only because he had Desiree as his field partner, and the girl was freaking fast. Not as fast as fully trained Scorpia agents though.
It was seven on one. Jake positioned himself so that the agents would have to get past him to get to Alex, whom they would have to get past to reach Jack. The Scorpia agents leapt towards Jake. The man blocked the rain of blows, deflecting them, dodging them, desperately trying to avoid them, all the while trying to land his own hits. There was a slight opening with the man on his right, and he took it. If he could knock the man out, it would only be six against one; not much better, but still better than nothing.
Jake shifted his weight slightly and lashed out. He hit his target, and the man crumpled to the ground, unconscious. The others quickly closed in the ranks, one of them kicking aside their fallen colleague so as to not step on him in the fight.
Alex stood in front of Jack, blocking her in case the agents wanted to get to her. Which meant that he could only watch the fight blossoming in the house. He winced with sympathy for each blow Jake took, knowing that he was protecting Alex. The teenage spy bit his lip in worry. If two MI6 agents couldn't stop them, and the AIS agent was only barely holding on, what chance did a sixteen year old school boy have should they decide to come his way?
No, I will not allow these killers to get to Jack, Alex thought firmly, tensing up as his body prepared to fight, Over my dead body will they get past me.
He was never given a chance to come true with his vow. At that moment, one of the remaining six agents landed a blow on Jake's chest that effectively threw him backwards. He landed hard on his back, the wind knocked from him. The six agents ran out of the house, not even bothering to get to Alex.
The teenage spy frowned, leaving Jack and rushing after the Scorpia agents. Not the best idea, really, running after assassins, but he'd done more idiotic things in the past. Alex got out of the house in time to see a car take off, the six agents crammed inside.
"Alex?" Jack stood behind him, supporting a slightly limping Jake, "Alex, come back inside, it's freezing."
Alex nodded and walked through the open doors. The lock had been ripped right out of the frame. The boy bent forwards for a closer inspection, and found that some sort of foam had been poured into the keyhole which loosened the lock enough for the door to be kicked open.
"They just left their team member here," Jake said with disgust, his voice slightly hoarse. Alex shook his head slightly, attempting to close the door. Well, it sort of worked. Alex went over to check on the two unconscious MI6 agents. Ben was just stirring, though Andrew still looked out of it. Poor guy, he'd been the most injured out of the lot of them.
Jack was currently helping Jake up the stairs. The man had a sinking feeling about the attack. It was a distraction. He couldn't help but remember the first thing those agents had done when they'd broken in; they'd blocked the stairs. And only two people had gone upstairs. The one they were meant to be protecting, and the other a high priority on Scorpia's hit list. Great.
Tom's door was opened, a huge chunk of his window missing, cut out by a laser. Jake gritted his teeth. The boy's bed was empty. They'd definitely used the attack as a diversion, so they could get the boy without retaliation.
Jack looked around worriedly. It was she who found the note they had left on the floor before escaping with the two hostages. Jack picked it up and quickly read it, her eyes widening. Then she thrust the note at the AIS agent, who skim read it, chewing on his lip. Alex thudded up the stairs after being satisfied that Ben and Andrew wouldn't die on them. He found the two in Tom's room, Jake reading some sort of note. Jake looked up and wordlessly handed the piece of paper to him, his eyes revealing nothing. Alex frowned and started to read.
We have the boy. He will not be harmed unless our demands are not met. The boy will be set free as soon as Alex Rider gives himself up to us.
As for the girl, you're too late.
-Scorpia
Alex swore violently under his breath. They had Tom. And Desiree. Well, at least he knew that Tom would be safe for now. As for the girl, you're too late…Too late. Shit, they were going to kill her. But no, knowing Scorpia, Dessi would probably get tortured until she begged for death. Then, they would make her death as painful as possible.
Alex trembled. He was not going to let that happen.
Ignoring the other two, he went into his room and pulled out his new touch screened phone, the one Ben and Andrew had gotten him for his birthday. His finger hovered over the two emergency buttons; alert MI6, or call Mrs Jones? He settled for 'alert MI6', not feeling in the mood to talk about what happened.
Jake and Jack were making their way back downstairs. Alex joined them, phone in one hand, Scorpia's letter in the other. He found that Ben and Andrew had both fully recovered consciousness, and were waiting for them in the partially destroyed living room. Jack helped Jake to sit, the man wincing slightly when Jack's hand slipped across the side of his rib cage. He'd probably broken some ribs. Alex gave Ben and Andrew the note, then told them he'd just contacted MI6, before sitting down in the shocked silence.
Jake rested his face in his hands so that no one could see his expression. His field partner had been kidnapped. She was probably going to be tortured for useless information or just purely for the fun of those killers. And in his injured state, there was barely anything he could do to save her.
Desiree woke up to find that she was complete in the dark. With a jolt, she sat up, tensed. There was a slight tinkling sound, and the girl felt the charms on her bracelet dance around. She had been lying on cold hard concrete floors. There were no windows to let in light. She couldn't even see the door, which only meant that it was built into the frame to minimize the chances of escape. Joy.
There was a soft mutter beside her, and the wall thudded. Dessi froze, before recognising the voice that was now colourfully swearing under his breath.
"Tom?" She whispered.
"Dessi?"
"You okay?"
Tom snorted lightly. "Dessi, we're stuck in God-knows where for an extremely long time. You've been out of it for the majority of that time. Do you think I'm okay?"
"I suppose not."
Tom drew in a deep breath. He'd never been stuck in this situation before, and though he was trying to remain as calm as he could, it was hard to ignore his nerves. He had an active imagination, which although was an awesome thing most of the times, it didn't really help when his mind was putting together all the different things that could be done to him. It didn't help that he knew what Alex had been through on many of his interrogations.
"What's going to happen?" He asked as evenly as he could manage.
Desiree paused, unsure what to tell the boy. From what she already knew of him, Tom was not easily terrified. But nor had he ever been captured and held. In the end she decided to tell the boy the truth, or at least what she knew to be the truth from her previous experiences.
"Well," she began, "It's almost certain that they'll leave us in here for a while; builds up our nerves, you know. Sometimes, it's the thought of an event, rather than that event itself, that causes the most pain."
"And in this case, that event would be…?"
Dessi sighed. "Probably torture."
"Even me?" Tom's voice had gone quite small.
"Um…I can't say. Probably not though. They need you in one piece, otherwise they won't get to Alex."
"How do you know they're trying to get to Alex?"
Dessi grinned slightly, though it couldn't be seen in the dark.
"How do I know?" She said, "Well, it's obvious they drugged our food. We were the only two to be even remotely tired. Now, I know why they want me, but as to you…no offence but you really don't know anything. Like, information that would be useful to them. And the only thing that is against you, is the fact that you're Alex's best friend."
"I'm not really following. I mean, why don't they just get Alex? Why are they trying so hard to get me?" Tom asked.
"I'm just guessing here, but I'm thinking if they went straight for Alex, he would put up a fight. If they went for you, Alex wouldn't fight at all for fear that they would hurt you."
"Ah, I think I get it," Tom said. He sat down on the floor, "So why do they want you?"
"I don't think you want to know," Dessi replied darkly.
"Why not?"
Desiree barely bit back a groan of frustration. Honestly, she had no idea how Alex put up with the boy sometimes. He could get so…annoying.
"You just don't," she said with a firm finality in her voice.
"And why not?"
"Tom! For the love of God! Stop asking!" Dessi exclaimed.
"Okay, okay! Calm down!"
The girl almost snorted. They were trapped in a cell, with no means of escape. Hell, it was so dark they couldn't even see their own hands if they waved it in front of their faces. They were being held in God-knows where. Scorpia had them in their grasp. They would be intent on knowing what she knew, and she knew that they could become extremely forceful for information.
Yep, she could definitely calm down.
It was now nearly eleven at night. They were at the Royal and General Bank. Or the headquarters of the Special Operations, MI6. Whichever one you want to call it. Currently the group of them were seated in Mr Blunt's office, while the head of the SO sat opposite them thinking over a thousand thoughts and his second in command stood behind him, her face perfectly impassive.
Blunt mulled over the events of the night. How the Scorpia agents had managed to get the two teens upstairs on their own was slightly beyond him, though he did have a suspicion. However, he was slightly more lost as to why they would take Tom as opposed to Alex. Sure, the note spoke of a trade, but it would've been easier to just grab the teenage spy. Why go to all that trouble?
The group were waiting for someone. That much had been told to them. The problem was that whomever they were waiting for was either taking their time, or hadn't been informed by Blunt that they were needed. Alex wouldn't put it past the head of the SO to make him wait for almost an hour in silence then claim it was an exercise designed to practice his patience.
Alex gritted his teeth in an effort to prevent himself from groaning in frustration. His best friend would be alright once he gave himself up. But Dessi…Alex couldn't help but remember the way her crystal blue eyes would light up when she was happy…or her highly contagious laugh…the feel of her hands around his…
The door opened behind him, effectively snapping the teenage spy out of his thoughts. Alex, Jack, Jake, Ben and Andrew spun in their seats to see Mr Smithers bustle into Mr Blunt's office, a palm sized monitor of some sort clutched tightly in his hand.
Mr Blunt looked up. "Ah, Mr Smithers. Good, good."
Smithers handed Blunt the monitor. Mr Blunt and Mrs Jones both leaned in to examine the two unmoving red dots present on the screen. Jones straightened up again as Blunt tapped the apparently touch screened monitor with a finger. The screen split into two, one half still showing the two red dots, the other listing what appeared to be GPS locations.
"Thank you Mr Smithers," Blunt said, not even bothering to look up at his gadget expert. Smithers looked like he expected no less, and turned to leave. Before he was completely out the door, he winked at Alex and jerked his head discreetly to his wrist. Then he closed the door.
Alex frowned for a moment before dropping his eyes to his wrist. There was nothing on it. Oh, maybe the other wrist? The boy shifted so he could see his other wrist. There was nothing there either. Well, only his watch…
"…the longest hand on the watch is a very powerful explosive, the shorter hand less so. The seconds hand releases the sleeping gas, the same one as in the charm bracelet. You have seven seconds after removing the hands before they either blow up or knock you out. There's also an inbuilt tracking device on yours too. MI6 has some new policy nowadays…"
Suddenly, the boy understood. There was an inbuilt tracking device in his watch! There was one in Desiree's bracelet too! They could actually track the girl! Even such a little shard of hope raised Alex's previously sunken emotions. They had a chance, they had a chance now to save her.
Blunt raised his head to look passively at those gathered before him.
"We will be sending out scouts to access the extent of the security which surrounds Agent Swan and Mr Harris. No, we can't just send in the troops," Blunt said, correctly guessing Alex's next comment, "Though we have GPS locations, we don't know where they are being held. It would be a waste of lives," he added, though his tone of voice suggested that he really didn't give a damn.
"Agent Wood," Blunt said, nodding to the injured Jake, "You will be taken to St. Dominic's immediately. There is nothing you can do in this state," he added when Jake opened his mouth to argue. The AIS agent snapped his mouth shut, "Agent Banks and Agent Daniels, you will both be taken to St. Dominic's for a check up. Miss Starbright will accompany you. Mr Rider, you will wait here while we assemble the rest of the scouts, and then you will all be debriefed as to-"
"Alex is coming with us!" Jack cut in, "I'm not letting you send him anywhere. He's not going as your scout or whatever you said! Not after tonight!"
"Excuse me?" Blunt said, raising one of his eyebrows. Though his expression remained impassive, it was quite obvious what he was thinking.
"You're not sending Alex anywhere!" Jack repeated, her voice rising slightly in volume, "He's not going to be risking his life when you have so many others who are willing to go!"
"Jack," Alex mumbled softly, though his housekeeper apparently didn't hear him. Ben had laid a hand on the woman's shoulder in an attempt to get her to stop talking.
"You hear me?! You're not sending Alex out to risk his life again! He's been through enough in the last few weeks, and not to mention everything you put him through two years ago! I won't stand for it!"
"Jack," Alex said again, slightly louder though. Jake gently grabbed Jack's arm to restrain her, since she looked like she was about to lunge at Blunt.
"So you can forget about debriefing Alex! You hear me?!" It appeared that the night's events had finally caused the American to snap. Before she entered the territory of hysteria, Alex stood and placed himself in front of her, blocking her view of Blunt. Gently, he pulled her up, and guided her outside. Jake, Ben and Andrew looked at each other, surprised. What the heck caused Jack to act like that?
Blunt cleared his throat, causing the three agents to snap their heads around and look at him. "You three are dismissed. Please escort Miss Starbright downstairs to the lobby; there will be a car waiting for you. And make sure Mr Rider stays," Blunt added. The agents nodded and left.
The head of the SO turned to Mrs Jones. "Please ask St. Dominic's to give Miss Starbright a check up. I believe she may have gone into shock."
Mrs Jones nodded.
"Get Agents Crawley, Garnett, Ibsen, Allende, Alving, and Creelman to the Debriefing room. Inform Agent Rider that he will be required to attend, though I'm sure that we do not need to force him since it is his friends in danger. And place Units K, D, M, B and F on standby, code alert red," Blunt finished his instructions and waved his hand. Mrs Jones understood that to be her dismissal, and quickly left the room.
Blunt sighed and turned to look back at the monitor, watching the two red dots. The one further down was Alex's, and it appeared that he'd stayed in the building. The other was Desiree's. That was the only clue they had about where she and Tom were being held. Blunt stood, ready to go and brief the rest of the agents for the scouting mission. As he left the room, a thought passed through his head. He knew that he only though this because if the two were killed before they could move in, then MI6 would undoubtedly lose one of their best agents. Nonetheless, as he closed the door, the thought passed through his head.
I hope we're not too late.
Okay, apparently the cell which she and Tom were being held in actually did have a window. If you could call it that. The window was on the ceiling. It was heavily tinted, and looked to be bolted onto the roof to ensure that there would be no escaping from that root. The two teenagers couldn't see it, but from the outside, the window was actually disguised as a solar heating panel. The disguise was necessary; there was simply no other way to make the window secure without raising suspicions.
The tinted window was at least letting in enough light for the two to observe their rather bare cell. Tom had just woken up from his rather fitful sleep, his muscles aching due to the hard concrete floor. Desiree hadn't slept at all; she knew that Scorpia could, and probably would, use that time to start whatever they had planned, and she didn't want to be caught on her unawares. So far, no-one had come for them.
"Sleep well?" Dessi asked, her voice soft and slightly hoarse.
Tom shook his head, kneading his cramping muscles with soft whimpers. "I've never slept on concrete before," he said.
Dessi smirked humourlessly. "I take it you don't want to repeat that experience?"
"I'll let you know if I survive," Tom replied.
There was a loud and harsh grating noise. The two teens snapped up to see the door being drawn open; it had apparently been bolted shut from the outside, thus the noise. Dessi inwardly sighed in annoyance. Trust Scorpia to place so much security on their cells.
Three men walked in, two obviously guards for the man they flanked. Dessi took one look at him and froze. It was William Smith. The American CIA agent turned Scorpia agent.
"You!" Dessi snarled. Before Tom could blink, the girl lunged from her sitting position towards the man. She never reached him. The moment she'd leapt to her feet, the two men flanking William moved. They darted forwards and caught the girl mid-lunge, each grabbing one of her arms, before flinging her into the wall.
The wind was knocked out of her when she hit the wall, though she managed to keep her head from being hit. Dropping to the floor, she glared up with hate at the man standing before her. He didn't so much as flinch when she lunged for him, knowing that his guards would intercept and restrain the girl.
William gave a signal, and the two guards split. One went for Tom, blocking the boy so he couldn't interfere. He'd been given strict instructions not to touch Tom unless it was absolutely necessary. The other guard did not have such instructions. He went over to the panting girl and hauled her up to her feet by grabbing her hair. To the girl's credit, she didn't let even a whimper escape her lips, though William noticed the flash of pain that crossed her eyes before she turned her glare on him again.
"Well, well, well," William said, walking closer towards the girl as the guard restrained her arms, "Desiree, Desiree, Desiree."
Dessi raised an eyebrow. "Why, why, why, are, are, are, you, you, you, repeating, repeating, repeating, everything, everything-" She was abruptly cut off with a cutting slap across her face and a forceful knee to her stomach. Dessi gasped in pain, doubling over as much as she could without dislocating her arms from their position behind her back.
William reached across and grabbed her hair, wrenching the girl's head up. "I don't know how many times I've had to tell you that I don't accept cheek. Maybe another lesson is in order," And so saying, the man let go of Dessi hair and nodded at the guard, who then proceeded to drag the girl out of the cell. Dessi fought in vain to stay on her feet; the guard had her in a hold that could easily dislocate if not break her arms if all her weight was on it.
The man guarding Tom left, following the other guard. William turned to the boy, who cowered slightly away.
"You are safe for now," he sneered at Tom, "But don't even bother trying anything. Just stay put like an obedient little puppy, and we'll let you out as soon as your friend pays us a visit." With that, William turned and left. The heavy doors were closed, the bolts slid back into place. Tom dropped to the floor. He was locked in again. Now they had Dessi.
But something didn't add up. What was with the girl's behaviour? Why did she lunge for that man? And why did he talk like the two had met before? A part of the, well, conversation for want of a better word, came back to Tom – "Maybe another lesson is in order". Another lesson. She'd been through this before. Tom sighed, dropping his head into his hands.
Why were the lives of spies so very complicated?
Desiree was dragged out of the cell and down an extremely short corridor, all the while fighting not to have her arms broken. They appeared in a room with a table and three chairs. All three were occupied with more guards, who looked up as the group entered and left. Dessi glanced back; all three guards were equipped with guns and knives. The girl knew that they didn't need those weapons to kill any intruders or escapees; their level of attention, not to mention their postures, were enough to tell the girl that the three were trained killers, able to kill with their hands alone.
There was another corridor, though this one was much longer and had closed doors lining the wall. The girl knew only too well what lay behind those. Dessi was dragged through a door near the end of the corridor. William entered and slammed the door shut behind him.
"You may remember this room," William smirked gesturing towards each corner of the rather small room. Dessi's crystal blue eyes darted around, and to her horror she realised this was the exact room she'd been in before. The wall opposite the door had weapons which ranged from small knives at the left to long, dangerous swords on the right. The wall on the left held numerous electrical devices. The wall on the right held a riding crop and a whip. Directly above where the girl was standing, in the middle of the room, were two chains.
William strode forwards and grabbed Dessi right arm, forcing it above her head so that the chain could be attached to her arm. That done, he grabbed her left arm and bound it the same way. The chains were relatively long, so currently were quite loose and allowed the girl's arms to rest on her head. That was as far as they stretched though.
"Dismissed," William said to the two guards. Both nodded and left. Dessi knew that they would be standing right outside the door, trying to hear her scream through the slightly sound proof walls. Sadistic bastards, she thought.
Desiree eyed William warily. She knew what the man was capable of. And even worse, he did this for amusement. The last time…no, don't think about the last time!
"So…" The man said, smirking, "What shall we do? Ah!" William moved to the right wall, taking down the whip. He caressed the handle almost like it was a loved one. The man looked up at Desiree. To his satisfaction, the girl's crystal blue eyes had widened in fear, though she tried in vain to hide it.
Ah, she still remembers about last time, William thought in glee, Well, after this she won't forget this time either!
And that's chapter ten!!!Wow it was long!
Sorry it's taken so long for me to upload this chapter. I was in a sulking mood since I've been slaving over this story, which has now officially had over 2000 hits, and yet only 2.65% of my readers have reviewed. Do you all hate this story or something?
Anyways, while I've been brooding, I've figured out an awesome new system for updating. The more reviews I get, the faster I'll upload the next chapter. If I get 20 or more reviews, I'll upload it the next day! So please review!
VERY IMPORTANT NOTE/QUESTION/THINGIE:Do you guys want me to write the torture scenes or just describe her injuries? I don't know what you guys prefer reading…please let me know so I don't end up offending you or something!
Love Chariots99