A/N: ok, so I get the feeling the story is going downhill. I'm sorry. Well, this is the penultimate Chapter.
Actually... that just gave me an idea after a re-read the cliff hanger. Might give you an alternative ending. Anyway, here's the chapter.
DISCLAIMER: Do I really need to say it? *sigh* I do not own Alex Rider. I am not making any money from this.
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It was two months later and the summer holidays had ended.
A lot had happened in the last two months. K-Unit had moved in with him, though how that had happened, Alex was still unsure. It had taken some getting used to but Wolf, Snake and Leopard had commandeered Jack and Ian's old rooms and the spare room and Eagle had eventually graduated from the sofa to Ian's converted office. Alex was surprised to find he didn't mind. Actually, in a few weeks, Eagle was moving back out. He was getting married to Wolf's sister, though Wolf was constantly grumbling about it, saying he wished he had never introduced them. They all knew that he was secretly happy for them though - just Wolf, being Wolf, would never admit it.
The chances of all four of them being in the house were remote anyway. Frequently, when they got some leave, the SAS agents would scatter to all corners of the country to visit family and, at one point or another, Alex had been dragged to visit all of them, much to his embarrassment.
And if all of them were there, then Alex escaped over to Fox's or Tom's. His class had returned just a few days after him, as he had found out from an enthusiastic Tom. Mrs Jones must have thought the danger, for them at least, had passed.
All of them had been sick to death of army life, and Alex guessed that if the government ever did set up an initiative like that, it would do more harm than good.
He didn't really mind having K-Unit there though. For one, it meant that he wasn't always the one to do the washing up, something he had found he now had a distinct distaste for. For another, it meant that he was never lonely. Mrs Jones had offered to give Jack a British citizenship, but Alex had refused, realising that she was probably safer where she was. She was coming back for Christmas though – she had promised.
There had been no word from Scorpia either. Mrs Jones, who had taken over as head of MI6 after Blunt's disappearance, thought that they had given up. After losing five of their best assassins to him personally and having several more put in a high security prison, Scorpia had realised that it wasn't worth retaliating against the teenaged spy.
Jackal had been released, though, after an order was found in Blunt's desk instructing him to kill Alex. The man had asked Mrs Jones to pass a letter on to Alex, where he apologised and explained his actions. Apparently, Blunt had threatened his job. Luke was going away for a while, planning to travel and then maybe rejoining the normal army – possibly the RAF. He didn't want to be part of the SAS. They were too closely linked with MI6, and Luke's trust in his superiors in that department had been severely shaken.
Meanwhile, Alex had been seeing Joan once a week, and went to Brecon Beacons to train on the weekends – Mrs Jones had decided that, yes, he was an agent but he still needed a semblance of a normal life. Apart from that, he spent his time as a normal teenager, playing footie with Matt and going to the cinema with Tom. He had even been on a few dates with Ellie, though they had both decided that it was better if they just remained friends in the end. She could be friends with someone with secrets, but if Alex wanted more, she would demand more honesty than he could give.
Mrs Jones insisted on taking him out for a meal at least once a week. At first, Alex had been reluctant at best, but he had quickly come to look forward to the meals because they were fascinating. Mrs Jones had begun to educate him in the workings of MI6. He had the second highest security clearance in the firm and she frequently asked his opinions on the matter at hand. And, apparently, it had paid off as she had kept on asking him. According to Fox, the rumour in MI6 - among those who actually knew Alex existed – was that she was grooming him to be her replacement when she retired. Alex wasn't sure if he believed this or not. He was, after all, fifteen. But on the other hand, rumours started by spies tended to be a lot more reliable than normal. After all, they were spies for a reason.
And now it was the start of September and Alex was sitting in Mr Bray's office.
"The thing is, Alex," said Mr Bray cautiously. "I don't know if I can accept you back... after you left here as you did... You would never be able to catch up with your classmates to take your GCSE's"
Alex smiled, "Actually, sir. I took them independently at the start of the summer."
It was true. All those exams that Sensei had made him take had turned out to be actual public exams. Alex now had as many qualifications as he could want, with near perfect marks thanks to Aikema's tutoring.
Alex had nearly cried when he received the letter. He had thought he would never get out of MI6, but with one week, Aikema had given him the opportunity to do anything he felt like.
"And so what would you do for the next year?" asked Mr Bray, curiously.
Alex shrugged.
"PE, Drama, Humanities, ICT and Electronics?" he suggested, smiling slightly.
"Can you guarantee me that you will actually attend classes this year and not disappear for weeks at a time on unexplained absences?"
Alex bit his lip, his smile vanishing. That was the one thing that wasn't going to happen.
"I can't help it if I'm ill, sir," he said quietly.
"Alex Rider!" snapped Mr Bray, apparently losing his temper. "The entire school knows that you're not ill! They say you were put in prison last term. We had the police here over the incident with your former guardian!"
"I don't have a criminal record, sir," pointed out Alex, calmly, though he flinched inwardly at the mention of Jack.
Mr Bray frowned. "Be that as it may, my ultimate duty is to protect the pupils of my school and another incident like that..."
He trailed off. He felt guilty for doing this to the child, he really did, but his duty was to the majority - at least in this case.
"I understand, sir," said Alex quietly.
"I'm sorry, Alex."
"It's fine, sir," said the boy abruptly. "It's... it's fine."
But Mr Bray could see in his face that it wasn't fine. His entire countenance had gone blank, as if he had just shut down completely. It worried Mr Bray more than he cared to admit.
He opened his mouth to speak but before he had a chance, the door was flung open. Alex took in the sight of two men clad in black, urgent expressions painted onto their faces.
"Hardingham? Jackson?" exclaimed Alex, as he recognised them. "What are you doing here?"
"We have intelligence on Blunt, sir; we think that he is on his way here."
"For me?" asked Alex questioningly, ignoring the 'sir', for now.
"We believe so, sir, yes. Mrs Jones requests that you accompany us to headquarters. We have two units of SAS outside the building to apprehend him."
Mr Bray looked from the two men to his former student and back again.
"Intelligence? SAS? What on earth is going on here?" he exclaimed.
Alex looked at him and frowned.
"Would you mind if we continued this tomorrow, Mr Bray? As you have heard, I have places I need to be."
"I... err... yes. Of course," said Mr Bray, completely confused.
Alex nodded politely to his former headmaster and moved towards the door.
"Alex," called Mr Bray as he reached it.
"Yes, sir?" asked Alex, turning back.
"Are you... in trouble? If you are – if it's not your fault – you know we will help, don't you?"
Alex smiled slightly. "I'm always in trouble, sir; it's part of being a Rider."
"I don't understand," admitted Mr Bray.
"You don't need to. Just trust me when I say that we would all be in a lot more trouble if I didn't do this."
"Sir, we really need to go," said Jackson, eyeing the entrance hall nervously.
"Of course," said Alex, inclining his head. "And drop the sir, will you? It's not like I'm your boss!"
"Not yet, sir," smiled Jackson.
Alex rolled his eyes. Mr Bray stared.
The three agents left the room and Mr Bray followed, feeling pulled along in their wake. There was a commotion in the school yard.
"He's here," said Alex.
"And he has an entire yard of school children to take hostage if he wants," said Hardingham, worriedly.
"It seems he does want," scowled Alex as the crowd parted. "Why didn't you evacuate the playground?"
The two agents shifted uncomfortably.
"He wasn't supposed to get that far, sir."
"You call that brat 'sir' now?" came a disgusted voice from within the crowd. "I thought I taught you better than that."
"Blunt," said Alex calmly as his former boss came into view.
He didn't look good. In the two months since he had left MI6, he had changed utterly. His once pristine grey suit was scuffed, with his shirt hanging out and his tie loose around his neck. His hair was bedraggled, a far cry from the short cut he had always previously had and his expressionless expression was replaced with one that Alex had seen all too often on the faces of men like Herod Sayle and Damien Cray... madmen.
He looked at the girl with the gun pressed to her head.
"Jess," he said, his heart sinking.
She glared accusingly at him.
"Let her go, Blunt."
Blunt withdrew a second gun and pointed it at Alex, the barrel right between his eyes, then roughly pushed Jess away. She fell to the ground and scrambled away, but Alex didn't even spare her a glance. He was too focused on the barrel between his eyes.
"I have to say, Rider," said Blunt, "You don't seem especially scared considering you are about to die."
Alex shrugged, projecting a calm facade, even as his heart pounded.
"I died the day you first blackmailed me, Blunt. It was just a matter of time."
Blunt clicked the safety off the gun.
"Goodbye, Alex."
***