Chapter 14
The seconds, minutes, and then hours, all passed in a blur.
All I could do was sit there in that horribly uncomfortable hospital chair, and let the tears silently fall as I stared at Ben.
The only noise in the room was the steady humming of the heart monitor.
Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep...
I glanced up as the door opened, and none other than Mrs. Jones stepped in, her face as blank as always.
When she saw me however, her gaze softened.
Just that little bit.
"... Alex" She finally said.
"Mrs. Jones" I replied curtly, before turning my attention back to Ben.
He'd been unmoving for... Just so long.
"... How is he?" She asked quietly and I frowned, "Since when do you care about your agents?".
I could feel her glare on me, before suddenly a file landed on the small table next to me, "Your next assignment. It's in Mozambique. The presidents daughter has be-".
"Fuck off jones" I replied quietly, cutting her off.
She froze, "... Excuse me?".
I turned and stared her straight in the eye, "Fuck. Off".
She suddenly turned furious, "Alex Rider. If you think that you can speak to me li-".
"You need me more than I need you" I snapped, interrupting her as I stood up, "And it's your fault my partner might not survive this. So you can shove your mission, shove MI6, and shove this job. I'm not leaving Ben. Never. Ever. Again".
She shrank back slightly against my anger.
I rarely ever lost my temper.
But when I did, it was kind of scary.
And that, along with the fact she knew I seriously wouldn't think twice about 'accidentally' injuring her, plus the fact I was almost 6ft 2 and she couldn't be any more than 5ft 6 or 7, made me, in the current situation, have the upper hand.
I calmly walked over to the door and opened it for her, "Good day, Mrs. Jones".
She shot me one more vicious glare, before storming out, leaving the file behind her.
Once she was gone, I sank back down in my chair by the bed.
The Colonel was right.
MI6 only agreed to let me out so they could send me on another mission.
To Mozambique.
Something about a presidents daughter...
Probably got kidnapped.
Again.
I felt someone put a hand on my shoulder and I automatically reacted, jumping up, spinning them around, and locking their arm in place while I held them against the wall.
"Jeasus Christ, man, let me go!".
I frowned.
That voice sounded very like...
Same dark hair too, I noted.
And the same anger issues.
I let him go and stepped back, turning my head to the side as I stared at him, "... Wolf?".
He turned back around to face me, dusting himself off, "Well I'm not the tooth-fairy?".
"You could have been the Easter Bunny" Someone piped up and I glanced over to find Eagle grinning at me from the corner.
"Or Santa Clause" Someone muttered and I looked over at the door as Snake stepped in.
Wolf shot them both a glare before turning back to me, smirking at my surprised reaction, "And I thought spies were supposed to notice everything".
I smiled slightly, "We do. But, ironically enough, St. Dominic's is the one place we can let our guard down... Even though I remember a particular incident a few years back where four masked guys broke in and shot the receptionist in the head before kidnapping me and trying to cut off parts of my hand".
"... Now THATS a story I want to hear" Eagle eventually replied and I smirked, "Let's just say, I was hear recovering from an assassination attempt when they decided to kidnap one of the other patients... And it ended with a 14 year old me working for the CIA...".
Eagle pouted at the fact I wouldn't share any details but didn't press me to explain any further.
Snake glanced back out into the hall before closing the door after him and taking the other remaining seat in the corner while Eagle came over and sat down next to me, leaving Wolf to lean against the wall a few feet away.
Snake glanced up at me, "... I'm sorry, but I have to ask. What did you do to piss off Jones?".
I smirked, looking back up at them, "She gave me another mission".
"And?" He asked and I nodded towards the file on the desk, "And I politely to take it... If you get rid of the politely".
He grinned, "You tell her to get the hell out?".
"I told her to fuck off and never contact me again" I replied and he whistled, before suddenly reaching up and grabbing the mission file, "Mind if I read?".
"Be my guest" I replied and he happily opened the first page, before frowning and glancing up at me a few minutes later, "This the level you always work at?".
I glanced down at the file, "... No. Normally it's higher. Actually, this is the first time it's been any lower... That's just the presidents daughter. I usually get the president".
He stared at me, "Normally it's higher? You permanently work at a level higher?".
"It's my job" I replied and he looked back down at the papers before turning back to me, "But... The only other level that's higher than this, is...".
He trailed off and I nodded.
He swallowed, before trying again, "... Is a suicide mission".
I shrugged, "95% of my missions are suicide".
I heard Wolf abruptly stand up before walking over to sit down in front of me, at the edge if Bens bed, "95%?".
"Well... Yea" I said simply and he swore, standing back up and going over to Snake, glancing through the file, "... This doesn't even an extraction point".
"Nor will it say anything about pulling me out if something goes wrong" I added, "It's just the way it is... And not even the Queen herself is able to change it".