Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider or any of the original characters or plot, they belong to Anthony Horowitz.
A/N – Hiya everybody! Thanx to those of you who reviewed. I managed to write another chapter. Please tell me what you think.
2. The Decision
Alan Blunt was, quite frankly, shocked. He had been slightly surprised when Claire had walked into the lobby just as he was discussing her with Mrs. Jones, but for her to propose exactly the same idea as he was going to put to her? The chance of that had to be a thousand to one. Alan Blunt was very rarely shocked, because he always prepared himself for any eventuality. Maybe he had overlooked something this time. He decided to run another background check on Claire very soon. The things she had said did make sense, but he was surprised a teenage girl had had the intelligence to put together a random sequence of events and come up with a very plausible and in this case correct solution. Maybe she would be very well suited to undercover work. He made a note to himself to make sure weapons weren't as obvious about the place. If this girl could discover what it was, who else could?
He glanced across at Mrs. Jones who sat there, a hard look in her eyes focused somewhere over his shoulder. She was pointedly ignoring him. Her opinion on the matter – even if neither of them had expected it to be brought up in quite this way – was more than clear. One thing Blunt had conceded to her in their many 'discussions' was that Claire was to be given a choice as to whether or not she would work for them. Which as it turned out wouldn't be a problem at all. Not like Alex Rider, who they had blackmailed and bullied into very reluctant and bitter service.
Blunt did actually regret what had happened to the boy. They had dragged him into this world, and it had gotten him killed, broken his heart and forever scarred his perception of the world and his family before that. Alan had often felt sorry for Alex. It wasn't an emotion he ever showed, or spoke about, but the boy had lost his entire family to espionage work. It was quite the anomaly that the Riders had all been involved with the service, and they had all gotten killed for their troubles. Scorpia had taken both his parents, and in the end him, and Yassen, once connected to Scorpia, had taken his uncle. The boy had been thrown into this life before he was ready. When he was assassinated it seemed to be the Rider legacy catching up to him.
If Blunt had believed in such things. He shifted his gaze to Claire. She met his eyes steadily, and he wondered once more who this girl was. Not many people could meet his gaze for long.
'I do not know how you discovered it, but yes, you are correct. And I believe there is a place for you here.' She gave the smallest of smiles.
A/N – please review! Sorry bacon, but I didn't have time 2 wait until you replied. Its only a short chapter, and I get limited net time.
