Chapter 25

"Confronting Mr. Jones"

Mr. Jones scowled nervously when he saw Dr. Director standing in the doorway of his office. He could tell that she was upset with him about something and was aware that he would be receiving whatever discipline that Dr. Director was thinking about enforcing. Could it be that maybe there was something in the investigation he failed to take heed off, could it be that they got the wrong individuals and that the true criminals had escaped to Pakistan? He didn't know, but he was about to find out.

"David, we need to talk about something important," said Dr. Director, sternly as she stepped into his office. "From what I here, you bashed Agent Possible for not following protocol during the raid in Bloomsbury, am I correct?"

"Yes, ma'am," replied Mr. Jones. "She was not following the protocols that you enforced when dealing with dangerous criminals. By discarding her SWAT armor, she was not following the proper procedures…"

But, Dr. Director intervened and raised her hand to silence Mr. Jones. True, she did enforce certain protocols, but they couldn't be used all the time. In her mind, she thought what I did was indeed justified. I needed to defend myself and Dr. Director knew both me and Ron more than this guy ever did.

"Don't lecture me about proper procedures, David," she interrupted, slamming her hand on his desk. "Agent Possible did everything in her power to try and fight Abdullah, which includes making the sacrifice of shedding her SWAT armor. By doing so, she most likely prevented a suicide bombing that would have killed everyone either way. Instead of thanking her, you berate her for not following protocol? What kind of a branch leader are you?"

"A branch leader who always follows the rules," snapped Mr. Jones, trying to defend himself. "Even if they have to be broken at times and believe me, these rules had to be broken if there was any chance of survival."

Mr. Jones could tell that he was going to be overruled by his boss. Still, he was very much the boss of this branch and he could object to what Dr. Director was trying to tell him. He had always been someone who followed everything by the book, but those times had resulted in something happening to the agents under his watch.

"But, there is something about you that is alarming," remarked Dr. Director. "You always believe that following everything by the book will get you the victories that we all desire. Do you know what your problem is, David? You are not willing to be flexible in your actions."

"I beg your pardon?" gasped Mr. Jones, rising to his feet. "I'll have you know that I have been mostly flexible in everything that I have done…."

"…Without throwing a temper tantrum about it," interjected Dr. Director. "Because that is what you did in front of Agent Possible. Don't you know what happened during the raid? She was nearly raped and killed by Abdullah Ali. Let that sink in for a minute!"

But, Mr. Jones was not going to listen. He didn't care about what would happen to me and all that matter was him keeping the world safe and he would be getting all the credit for it. In his mind, we were nothing more than workers for him and his leadership was nothing like Dr. Director's.

"Well, that was her own fault," replied Mr. Jones. "Agent Possible would not have been in the situation that she was in if she followed the rules that I and all the other branch leaders enforce."

"Perhaps you forget," retorted Dr. Director. "That Agent Possible's psychological scars from what happened during the raid will never go away. I'll have you know that she had been in a similar situation last year where she was stripped to her underwear and then almost killed. And it wasn't during a mission, David, it was during a date that she was having with Agent Stoppable."

Mr. Jones took in what Dr. Director had said and that he realized that these stories were nothing more than to just make him see what a bad leader he was. He still thought his actions were in the right and there was nothing wrong with that.

"Are you trying to use that story to get me to apologize, Betty?" sneered Mr. Jones, taking a sip of English tea. "Agent Possible is responsible for her own actions. Why should I apologize for that?"

"Because you are nothing more than a reckless individual who wants to just take his paycheck and piss off home," snapped Dr. Director. "The truth is, David, you run this branch like a dictatorship, discarding all of the rules and procedures that we have worked together to protect ourselves and the people we are sworn to protect. But, it is most likely that you are not willing to be a part of this team."

Mr. Jones' eyes widened at this, knowing that Dr. Director was going to take drastic measures to remove him from this position and that all of his faults and behaviors was exposed.

"Therefore," said Dr. Director, rising to her feet and ripping off Mr. Jones' Global Justice badge. "I hereby remove you of your positon as director of the Great Britain branch of Global Justice and you are to be reassigned to a new position effective immediately. Furthermore, you are to apologize to Agent Possible and Agent Stoppable for your behavior towards them. Do I make myself clear?"

The now ex-head of the British branch of Global Justice sneered in disgust as he walked out of his now former office while Dr. Director looked on with satisfaction, knowing that his removal from this position would at least give me a sense of closure.

Once Mr. Jones had gone, Dr. Director reached down to the telephone and placed it to her ear, dialing a random telephone number. It took a moment for the other side to be reached, but eventually another voice was heard on the other side.

"Agent Wonka," she said into the phone. "Can you come to the Crowne Plaza St. James in a few minutes? There is going to be some changes to our British branch of Global Justice and that they are going to involve you."

So, it seemed that Charlotte's brother was going to get his chance of a lifetime in the middle of a sweeping change of aviation security. At the same time, Ron and I were making our way down to London's Heathrow Airport where there was nothing but disorder, catastrophe, anarchy, chaos, moral disintegration. In short, it was a ghastly mess…