THE NEW SYSTEM!!! Right, the new system is where the more reviews I get, the faster I upload. If I get twenty or more reviews, I upload the very next day.

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).

WARNING – This chapter contains stuff that really shouldn't be read by people who can't handle, or are not at the right age to handle, things like torture. You have been warned…You are permitted to skip the first bit if you don't want to read the torture scene. I've tried to make it as not graphic as possible.

Chapter 11

"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!

William walked to the girl, the whip trailing along the floor behind him like some bizarrely obedient snake. He stopped in front of Desiree, who was flinching away from him and not meeting his eye. Reaching out, he gripped her chin and tilted her head up. Crystal blue eyes gazed at him, slightly widened in fear and panic. Smirking, William let the girl's head go.

"You know," he said as he made his way behind her, "If you just learnt how to keep your mouth shut, we wouldn't have to repeat this lesson."

Desiree bit down on her lip to keep from retorting. Although she hated to admit it, she was scared. Terrified. She knew better than most what the man was capable of. And with a whip in his hand, he was even more terrifying.

"So, your punishment…" William trailed off, making a huge show of thinking, "The last time you were here, I believe we made it up to twenty lashes? Well, you've grown quite a bit. And how long since we last met? Ten months I believe? Well, let's add twenty lashes and see what happens, eh?"

Dessi's eyes widened in horror. Fourty lashes?! There was no way she could stand that! The girl gritted her teeth. She was going to stand it, even if it killed her.

The first stroke fell, and it was all the AIS agent could do to prevent herself from making a noise. Oh, God, it hurt! But she knew it would only get worse. The first few strokes would be cushioned by her shirt. The last few would be hell.

The force of the second stroke sent her tumbling forwards before, with a painful jerk, the chains upon which her arms were bound to forced her back again. Dessi gasped, trying to fill her lungs. God, that almost dislocated her arms too!

Stroke after stroke fell upon her back. William seemed to be aiming for her upper back more, probably since it wouldn't kill her as quickly. Desiree gritted her teeth, but couldn't keep herself from crying out in pain. She knew better than to bite down on her tongue though; it was quite common to actually bite off one's own tongue during torture.

She wasn't sure how many strokes had passed before William lashed out and crossed the next stroke against two of the previous wounds. The result was instant and mind numbing pain. The stroke, already painful in itself, caused the other two to flare up as well. Desiree screamed, her body jerking as far away from William as the chains would allow her to go. It seemed that the sadistic Scorpia agent was just waiting for her to cry out. He paused, fully enjoying the sound of the girl's painful screaming echoing off the walls.

At length, her screams died down, replaced with a soft whimpering sound as Dessi tried to catch her breath. She was panting heavily, and she could fell tears running down her cheeks. It didn't help that her screaming had set her throat on fire.

The whip came down again, and again, and again. Desiree screamed, crying out, her body jerking violently in spasms of pain. Her legs shook, refusing to support her weight any longer. Then her knees buckled, and she fell as far as she could before, with a loud rattling, the chains stopped her, almost dislocating her arms in the process. The metal pulled on her arms, bruising them and causing the girl even more pain.

Then the whip came down again. And again. And again. Sending the girl into a whole new world of pain from which there was no escape. Her voice soon broke from her screams. Oh, God, how long had she been in that room?

The whipping stopped. Her blood ran in floods down her back, pooling around her on the ground. She felt faint, dizzy. Probably due to the loss of blood. William walked around so that he could face the fainting girl. Cupping one hand under her chin, he gently lifted her head up so that he could see her eyes.

William leaned forwards so that their faces were millimetres apart.

"You know," the man said, gazing into her pain filled crystal blue eyes, "Each time I see you, you get more and more beautiful. I knew when you were six that you were quite a catch. Shame really, that you had to leave, but still…The offer stands. If I were you, I'd accept it."

"Thank God you're not me," Dessi whispered, her voice hoarse, "And I'd sooner kiss Jake than sleep with you."

Anger flared in the man's eyes and he sneered. "Play hard to get then. It'll be fun breaking you. I've nothing to do. But break you I will. And by the time I'm through, you'd wish you accepted long before."

With that William stood, dropping the girl's head. He replaced the whip up on the wall, and turned to open the door. With his hand still on the door knob, he turned back to Desiree again. "I always end up getting what I want. You should keep that in mind." With that he left.

Dessi watched him go through her peripheral vision, having no energy left to lift her head. She saw the two guards come in to collect her, probably to drag her back to the cell. Squinting at where William had disappeared from, she whispered four almost inaudible words.

"Over my dead body."


The briefing had gone on longer than Alex would've liked. Since he pretty much knew about the whole situation, the boy just sat back in his rather uncomfortable chair and zoned out. It was almost two in the morning when Blunt actually got into the plan of how the scouting would take place.

And now, it was a little past noon time. The boy had fallen asleep in the back of the van. Well, granted they all fell asleep except for the driver and the navigator. You can't be expected to stay up all night, then go scouting in enemy territory without any sleep, and still be expected to live. It just didn't happen. So naturally Alex fell asleep.

It took them almost an hour to reach the place where Dessi and Tom were being held. The red dot on Smithers' monitor hadn't moved from the general area once. When they arrived, Alex had been roughly shaken awake by Agent Crawley. The boy gritted his teeth in frustration. What he wouldn't give for Ben, or Andrew, or even Jake to come. But no, he was now surrounded by six MI6 agents who, with the exception of John Crawley, he didn't know at all.

In fact, Alex had no idea why Mr Blunt had wanted him to go at all. His instructions while the others were inside, were to just stay in the car and keep radio contact with everyone. And to keep an eye on the red dot that was Desiree to make sure they weren't being moved. Alright, maybe it's a pretty important job, but that didn't stop Alex from getting bored within the first five minutes of the other agents leaving for their respective tasks.

There was one agent who'd been assigned the same job as him. Agent Rose Allende. Alex was extremely happy she wasn't one of those MI6 agents for gawking at him merely because he was doing their job better than them, while still being underage. Once Blunt explained about him, she'd glanced at the boy, gave him a small but warm smile, and then turned back to Blunt instead of continuously staring like the rest of the agents had done.

Rose had deep brown hair that had recently been cut; it now hung just above her shoulders. Her eyes were hazel, and she was about two centimetres shorter than Alex. She wasn't very old, early twenties maybe, as compared to the other agents who were at least thirty. She was also very friendly, and talkative, and Alex hadn't yet felt awkward in her presence at all.

"So, this your first scout mission?" She asked, typing away on her laptop.

"Yeah. You?" Alex was busy trying to get the headset working while keeping an eye on the red dot that was currently stationary on the monitor.

"Nope! This would be my…third, I believe," Rose said cheerfully, still furiously typing away on her laptop. Alex had no idea what she was supposed to be doing, having zoned out right after Blunt had explained his task.

For a while they worked in a comfortable silence. Then Rose let out a soft "Ha!" of triumph and the teenage spy craned his neck to look over her shoulder; she'd managed to pinpoint the location of all their agents, representing them as blue dots. Alex smiled at the women's enthusiasm. At that moment, his headset crackled to life, indicating his success.

"All agents, this is base. Do you copy? Over," Alex said, testing the headset as well as how well the earpieces and microphones which the other agents had been given were working. By now, they should all have reached their preset scouting locations.

"Base, this is Centipede," Agent Crawley said, and even over the airwaves Alex could hear his annoyance at the code-name he'd been given, "Copy you loud and clear. Over."

"Base this is Ruby, copy you loud and clear. Over," Agent Garnett said.

"Base this is Iguana, copy you loud and clear. Over," Agent Ibsen whispered.

Base this is Whiskers, copy you loud and clear. Over," Agent Alving replied.

Base this is Moose, copy you loud and clear. Over," Agent Creelman hissed. He was extremely annoyed that a teenager had been placed in charge of communications. The man seemed to trust Agent Rose Allende, and no-one else.

"All agents, this is base." Rose had come over and put on her headset; she now spoke to the other agents. Alex let her, since he pretty much had no idea what he was meant to be doing, "Report current status. Over"

"Base this is Centipede. Successfully stationed and waiting. Over."

"Base this is Ruby. Successfully stationed and waiting. Over."

Alex zoned out slightly as he waited for all the agents to report in. Really, this was taking way too long. The boy fidgeted in his seat, knowing that each moment they took was another moment out of Dessi's life. And he still had no idea how he was going to rescue Tom. Wasn't life so great sometimes?

The teenage spy zoned back into the report in time to hear Agent Allende say, "All agents, this is base. Move out and good luck. Over." Rose took of her headset with a small sigh, and gave Alex a reassuring smile.

"Well, we have a few minutes of peace before things get hectic," Rose said, her eyes glued to the screen of her laptop where the blue dots of her fellow agents converged upon the building at a rather slow rate. Alex nodded.

"Can I ask you a question?" He asked. Rose nodded, though her eyes never left the laptop.

"When Blunt first introduced me," Alex said, "You were the only one who didn't stare at me like I was an alien. How come?"

"Did you want me to stare at you like you were an alien?"

"Oh, God no!" Alex responded hastily, recalling the extreme awkwardness and agitation he'd felt, "Not at all! But I'm still curious, you know?"

Rose smiled. "Yea I do know, actually. Before you came, I was the youngest agent at MI6. I joined when I was nineteen," she added, "And back then, I was getting all these stares. You'd think spies would learn not to stare…Anyways, when Blunt introduced you, I sort of understood how you felt with all the staring and gaping."

"Oh," Alex said softly. Well, at least the two of them had something in common. And it sort of explained why the woman looked the youngest out of all the agents he'd seen. Well, maybe with the exception of Jake… "How old are you now?"

Rose raised her eyebrows. "You know it's rude to ask a woman her age?" She said, though Alex could see the corners of her mouth twitch upwards.

"Yeah, I'm just curious though."

"I turned twenty-two three weeks ago." Okay, she was slightly older than Jake.

"Base, this is Whiskers. I'm in position, requesting radio silence. Over." Alex hurriedly gestured at the headset, and Rose jammed hers back on as the boy replied with an affirmative. Soon the other four agents had reported in and had requested radio silence so that they wouldn't be disturbed. Alex and Rose would still be able to hear what was going on if they so choose, but unless it was an emergency, they had to refrain from talking to the agents for fear of getting found out.

"Now the wait begins," Rose whispered softly, her eyes never leaving the laptop screen as the blue dots began their search of the building to try and locate Tom and Desiree, as well as to scout out any guards they may have to deal with during their rescue attempt.

Alex gritted his teeth, briefly crossing his fingers for luck. He was hoping that this would go quickly and efficiently. He didn't really want to think of what could happen if they didn't find the two teenagers in time.

For the next hour and a half, Alex and Rose sat with their eyes glued to the computer screen as the blue dots searched the entire house for the missing teenagers and potential threats. Occasionally they would get back a whispered report, usually along the lines of "Weapons storage in east wing" or "Explosives detected, just off north entrance". It wasn't until Agents Crawley, Alving and Garnett reported in that Alex felt the beginnings of butterflies in his stomach.

"Infiltrated guards; awaiting return of hostage". Subconsciously, Alex started biting his nails, trying to rid himself of his nerves. If those three agents were caught out, they would be so dead. And probably a very painful dead too.

"This is it," Rose muttered softly, her eyes glued on the three blue dots that were now stationary, marking the position of the guarding room located just outside the cell.


The two guards dragged Desiree's limp form through the long corridor. The girl couldn't even be bothered to struggle. She could feel her wounds throbbing, and each time the guards pulled on her arm, another one of her whip marks would tear further apart, sending a searing pain throughout her body.

They reached the guard room, where the three guards still sat and kept watch on the cell. Dimly, Dessi was aware that these three guards were different; they had a slightly less rigid posture, and seemed less alert than their previous colleagues. One of them looked slightly familiar, but another throb of pain shooting up her back jerked Dessi away from that line of thought.

The grating sound of the bolts being drawn shook Tom out of his fitful slumber. The boy lifted his head off his arms to see the doors being wrenched open and a figure being shoved inside and a bucket of something being set on the ground, before the door was snapped shut and the bolts done up again. The figure collapsed onto the concrete floor and lay limp and unmoving. Tom ventured closer and gasped in horror.

Desiree lay on the floor on her stomach, her clothes completely drenched in blood. She was barely stirring, seemingly bordering unconsciousness. The back of her shirt was in tatters. There was a spreading bruise on her cheek in the shape of a hand, probably from when William had slapped her that morning in the cell. Tom swallowed, trying not to vomit. Just to have something else to look at, he looked across at the bucket, dragging it closer to him.

The bucket was filled with water. There was a towel too. Tom took the towel out and wrung it to get rid of excess water. He had a feeling that the water had been left to clean the girl's injuries. Even if it wasn't for that purpose, he was going to do that anyway.

Gently, Tom peeled back Dessi's shirt, revealing her bloodied back. He hissed softly in sympathy. As softly as he could, he wiped away the blood, soaking it up with the towel, before washing the piece of cloth and repeating the process. Somewhere along the line, Desiree fainted completely, lulled by the soft touch. Her heartbeat slowed as it does during unconsciousness, slowing the amount of blood that was being pumped around the girl's body.

As Tom continued to wipe away the flow of blood, he noticed how it slowed. The slowing of her heartbeat was giving her blood the chance to clot, covering the open wounds on her back. That could only be a good thing. Soon, the blood flow thinned enough that, for the first time, Tom was able to see exactly what caused had the massive outpouring of blood in the first place.

And it wasn't a pretty sight.

Layers upon layers of whip marks criss-crossed the girl's back, digging into her skin. The places with the heaviest bleeding appeared to have been caused by the whip ripping several centimetres into her flesh. Tom tried very hard not to vomit, trying to stem the blood flow from the open wounds. How the hell could whips rip into flesh so badly? Or maybe he just wasn't paying attention during history when the teacher had been talking about whips.

"Oh, Dessi," he whispered, dropping the cloth into the now deep red water. He tried to cover the girl up as best as he could, but that was rather difficult with the back of her shirt in tatters. Tom bit his lip in worry. He knew that when a person was unconscious, their body heat can plummet dramatically, especially after a shock of some kind. He was pretty sure being whipped for hours on end would be counted as a shock. Making up his mind, Tom took off the jacket the Scorpia agents had been kind enough to thrust at him, and laid it gently on Desiree's back. There wasn't much he could do about the coldness of the concrete floor, but the jacket would be something.

Tom leant back against the wall. He really hoped that Alex would get them soon. Who knew what they would do to Dessi the next time they came.


It was 1:45 pm. All five agents had retreated from their various scouting positions. None of them had been discovered. And for that, Alex let out a deep sigh of relief. Now they all gathered in the back of the van, listening as each individual gave their reports. Alex zoned out again. He knew he shouldn't have, but he also knew that Blunt would be repeating everything they were saying when he briefed the rescue unit.

The boy jerked back into reality when he heard Crawley mentioning Dessi's name. "…guards dragged Desiree back, and she was a bloody mess. Looked like she'd been tortured. Whips would've been my guess judging by the state of her shirt. There was a trail of blood behind her…" Crawley shuddered slightly.

None of the agents saw Alex freeze. They were all too intent on the details of the scouting. Alex's brown eyes widened slightly in horror, and he stared at a point just above Crawley's head, replaying what the agent had just said. Desiree's being tortured! And he had no idea what, if anything, was happening to Tom. They had to get them out!

With a sinking feeling, Alex realised that it would be at least another four hours before the two captured teens got any help. He didn't know how long his friends could hold up for, but four hours seemed to be pushing it.

Rose looked up as Alex tapped her lightly on the shoulder. She'd been intent on Garnett's description of the cell in which Tom and Dessi were being held, having snuck in after Desiree had been dragged back in. Rose looked at Alex, who whispered into her ear that he needed to "go behind a tree since they didn't put toilets on the van". Despite the situation, she cracked a small smile, and moved slightly to allow the boy to get out of the van.

Agent Ibsen took over the report, briefly indicating the areas which he found guards patrolling. There was a lack of security cameras; Scorpia knew well the threat they could pose if their enemies managed to hack into their security system, so the criminal organisation were apparently not taking any chances. It wasn't until Agent Creelman began talking that Rose checked her watch and realise that a certain blonde haired boy had yet to return.

"Hey, where's Alex?"Apparently she wasn't the only one to realise, when Agent Alving looked up and saw that the boy was gone.

"He said he was going to, um, empty his bladder," Rose replied.

"How long ago did he say that?" Agent Garnett asked.

"Fifteen minutes ago…"

At once the six agents were out of the van. They kept low, trying to avoid suspicion since they were still within viewing distance of the place where Scorpia were holding the two teens. The MI6 agents began a systematic search, calling out Alex's name as loudly as they dared to. After five minutes they met up again. The news was grim.

Alex Rider had gone missing.


Cliffy!!! Sorry about that, but it seemed like a good place to end it.

Anyways, how did you all like that chapter? Was it good? Did it suck? Please enlighten me with an awesome review!!!

Also, how was the torture scene? Hopefully not too graphic or anything. This is my first shot at writing torture stuff, so please let me know how you liked it, and how I can improve it!!!

Don't forget to review!

Love Chariots99

IMPORTANT QUESTION THINGIE: I have an idea to finish this story off with a dinner dance in Alex's school, but since I'm not from England, I have no idea how they operate. So, anyone who is from England, or who actually knows about this stuff, can you please tell me…would schools actually hold this kind of events for year tens/elevens (whichever one Alex is in)? Also, would it be like formal dress, or just neat/casual?