Disclaimer: Not my characters. Ok.
YAY! back
The car sped away and out of London. It was standard MI6 transport; dark and highly polished with tainted windows. Alex sat fidgeting compulsively, watching the identical houses flash by as they left the suburbs. He was making a substantial effort not to look at the boy on the other seat.
"Where are you taking me?" he demanded.
The driver said nothing and kept his eyes on the road.
Artemis gave a relaxed laugh which made Alex want to punch him.
"Really… you thought we'd be told?"
"We? I'm not going anywhere with you!"
Silence again. Artemis took it to assess the situation.
He didn't know where he was headed. He didn't know what would happen there. What he did know was that he was sat in a car travelling at high speeds away from the city with a boy he had known for a maximum of two hours. Things didn't really look his way.
From the corner of his eye he noticed Alex was watching him and he smiled inwardly. Then shook himself.
They arrived and some ridiculous hour of the morning. Having fallen asleep, Alex found himself prodded awake by the expressionless driver. He grunted something about resting and flushed slightly, avoiding the eye of a smirking Artemis.
Judging by the star-splattered sky he guessed they were in the countryside somewhere.
"You'll be staying over there," the driver spoke for the first time. "I've been told to leave you here. Someone will come in the morning".
He got back into the car and drove away.
Alex was beginning to think he was dreaming.
"Well…" Artemis began, glancing over at the illuminated building the driver had directed them to. It was some kind of hotel, he could determine that much. "Personally I'm not in the mood to trek across several miles of countryside."
He set off in direction of the building. Alex nodded and followed.
The woman behind the reception desk was on her first ever shift. She had been told that barely anyone checked in or out at this hour, and on that advice had unpinned her garish nametag and settled herself in front of a portable TV set with a large mug of coffee. When two tired and confused looking boys stepped through the revolving doors she nearly spat a mouthful out.
"Oh- oh good evening!" she gushed, hurrying to re-pin her tag and glide over to the desk on her office chair.
Artemis took control.
"Good Evening Miss…" he studied her nametag. "McGreggan. I believe we have a booking under Rider?"
"Rider?" The woman entered the name into a keyboard and looked up at the monitor.
"With a Y or an I?"
"I," Alex interjected.
She looked up, embarrassed. "I'm afraid not... anything else it could be under?"
"Fowl?" Artemis suggested.
"Nothing for that either I'm afraid."
"Look we've been sent here by-" Alex began.
"Oh! Wait a moment," the woman noticed a neon post-it note stuck to the desk. "A booking was made a few hours from London, but no name was left…"
Alex threw himself down on the bed with resigned exhaustion. Long Day.The fact it was rock hard and that he had just battered his nose quite badly hardly seemed to register.
Artemis went straight over to the phone.
"What are you doing?" Alex called over, his voice muffled through the pillow.
"Calling for help".
He picked up the receiver and waited for a dialling tone. Nothing. He began to type in a long number. He waited a few seconds before a familiar voice filtered through.
"Hello… am I speaking to Artemis or Alex?"
Artemis froze for a few seconds.
"You're smarter than I thought," he admitted.
"Good Evening Artemis. How are you finding the Hotel?" Mrs Jones asked.
"I've been in better."
There was a quiet cough at the other end.
"I'm sure. I trust Edward has explained the situation to you?" she continued.
"Only that you have sent someone to collect us tomorrow morning."
"Yes… I'd say about 10 o clock. Oh, and Artemis… there's no point trying the other phones. They are all blocked. As for escaping, we have surveillance."
"I wouldn't dream of it," he said grinning, and replaced the receiver.
He turned back to Alex who was now sat up and staring in confusion.
"Who was that?" he asked impatiently.
"Mrs Jones. They've blocked the lines."
"Oh…"
Artemis sat down on his own bed and glanced over nervously. "Er.. about earlier… I just thought I had better apologise."
Alex studied his companion for a moment and nodded.
"Well as long as that's cleared up…" he leaned over and turned off the lamp, plunging the room into darkness.
Alex allowed himself the smile he had been fighting off and closed his eyes.
Awwww…