Author Note

Thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter! Sorry for the lack of updates for a while, I've lacked inspiration for this chapter and had major writers block, it's like I knew exactly what I wanted to happen in the chapter but I couldn't start it a way I was happy with and it just kept on sounding really bad. I hope you like this chapter anyway. So just enjoy the chapter and REVIEW! By the way, sorry in advance for it being so short, it was the best I could do.

Disclaimer: Everything recognizable belongs to Anthony Horowitz

Dirty Little Secret

Last Time

The new arrival stood up off of the ground after a moment and brushed himself off casually. He stretched and looked around his cell and his surroundings. He seemed very familiar, slightly on the short side, well built, muscular. He moved with a confidence, grace and ease that I was positive I'd seen before.

Almost as if he could feel my eyes on him the man turned and faced me. I'm almost certain that a grin spread across his face. A familiar, deep masculine voice said, "Hello Cub..."

Chapter 14

"Wolf?"

"What's up Cub?" Wolf's voice responded casually.

"What are you doing here?" I paused for a moment, "They didn't capture you to did they?"

Wolf laughed. "I don't get caught Cub."

"Than what the hell are you doing here? I know you didn't come for the food."

"Nice to see you again to Cub," Wolf laughed again. "And no I didn't come for the food, though I'm sure it's absolutely scrumptious."

"Whoa, Wolf knows I big word," I snickered.

Wolf continued like I hadn't said anything, "So how've you been Cub?" he asked as he lent back against the bars of the cell and crossed his legs.

"Are you insane?" I asked flabbergasted (a/n: I love that word! It sounds funny…) "I know you saw what they did to me," I stated factually.

"Right," Wolf said. "Well how's that been goin'? Any better?"

"Yeah a bit…" I trailed off. "So why are you here?" I demanded.

"I've joined Scorpia," Wolf said with his poker face on.

"Yeah, right," I snorted. "If that's true than why are you locked up?"

"The companies better down here," Wolf replied with a shrug.

"No seriously, why are you here? It hardly seemed like you here against your own will," I stated remembering his lack of struggling and protest when the guards had brought him down here.

"I'm here to get you out," Wolf said simply.

"You're serious?"

"No I'm joking. What do you think Cub? Of course I'm serious."

"So Blunt and Jones sent you here?" I asked with a grin.

"Well they didn't want to send me. Said a different agent would be better 'cause I was just shot in my arm and all. In fact, I think they were going to send Snake." Snake was in Unit K with Wolf and me at the SAS training camp. "But I convinced them to let me come instead and to send Snake on another mission."

"I knew you liked me," I said teasingly.

"Get real Cub. You're an annoying pain in the ass that I somehow managed to get stuck with but…" he stretched out the word 'but'. "I'll admit it. You add some excitement to the place." This was Wolf's way of saying that we were friends or 'brothers' which was more like it.

"Oh yeah I'm the life of the party," I said sarcastically. "Just look at me now," I threw my arms above my head but quickly put them back down when I felt the cut on my side break open again. "Ow."

"What did I tell you Cub? If you had just listened to me and let up on the cheeky and sarcastic remarks this might not have happened to you," Wolf 'reprimanded' me in his 'teacher' voice.

I tried my hardest to keep it in but a laugh escaped my lips anyway. "Oh Wolf never try to be a teacher ever again. That was just too funny!"

"I'll have you know that a lot of the people in your school liked me," Wolf replied indignantly.

"Yeah I wonder why." I had heard a bunch of the girls in my school whispering about how –Shudder- 'hot' –Shudder- Wolf was. "So," I said once I had recovered myself. "What's MI6's brilliant plan?"

"Oh you know, this and that," Wolf replied lightly.

"Well that sounds like a sure fire plan. I guess it's a good thing I have my own way to get out than."

"You do?" Wolf asked sounding surprised.

"Yes I do. You see Wolf unlike you I happen to get captured a lot." I frowned. "Not that it's a good thing or anything, in fact it just downright sucks. But from being imprisoned multiple times you learn a thing or two about escaping. Most importantly you learn to think creatively."

"Spit it out Cub," Wolf said impatiently.

I grinned devilishly. "The key to escaping is having a way out."

"I just got myself captured by the elite terrorist organization Scorpia for you Cub. I'm not in the mood for riddles at the moment."

"I wasn't finished," I retorted. "As you can see from looking around your cell, there is no way out of it. The bars are too close together, the window's too small, the floor's cement, the door has a lock."

"And the point of all this is…?" Wolf hinted at me to hurry up and tell him. He never was very patient.

"I was getting there. The door has a lock," I repeated. "And generally in order to open a lock you need a key. But the guards have the keys and I don't have a snowballs chance in hell as to getting those keys away from them, especially in my current state. So I have devised my own key."

"So you have a key?" Wolf asked incredulously. "What did you use?"

"I've noticed that the guards here at Scorpia are not the brightest. Sure they're big, burly and strong which makes them intimidating to everyone."

"Except you," Wolf added.

"Except me," I repeated smugly. "So they don't notice hardly anything, well not the details at least," I quickly corrected myself because they did notice something's just not the fine print. "So, for example they wouldn't have any idea if say… a fork disappeared from one of said prisoners plates."

"So that's what you did? Stole a fork I mean?"

"Yes," I said with a grin. "What a lock needs to open is a thin object. A bobby pin is the most common example but for obvious reasons I do not have a bobby pin on me." I paused for a moment, "Come to think of it, a piece or wire would work to but I have no way of getting that either."

"But isn't a fork too big to fit into the lock hole?" I grinned devilishly at Wolf and Wolf grinned back. "You took off some of the tines didn't you?"

"Precisely," I replied proudly. I crawled stiffly back over to the bench and pulled the fork from its hiding spot. I pushed myself to my feet and slowly walked over to the door where I again inserted the remaining lone tine into the lock hole. I wiggled it around a bit until I heard the soft yet unmistakable and reassuring click of the lock opening. I didn't open the door again though because I didn't want the noise alerting the guards. I clicked the lock back in place before turning to face Wolf who was standing in back of the bars of his cell that were closest to mine.

"Brilliant Cub!" he complimented. I knew it took a lot for Wolf to compliment someone so I smiled in pride. "But if you have a way out than why are you still here?"

"Well," I said as I tucked the makeshift key back into its hiding spot inside the rotting bench. "I only just tried it for the first time right before they brought you down here. Also, I'm not feeling up to it physically yet, I just need a few more days. Thirdly," I paused uncomfortably before replying softly, "I don't exactly know what to do once I'm out. I've only thought to the actual exiting the cell part."

"Well it's a good thing I'm here than isn't it Cub?" Wolf said to me. "I've got a way to get out of the cell and away from the complex, forever." Heh he just sounded like a cheesy sales man right there. When I pointed this out to Wolf he suggested that I do something that I'm not even sure is even anatomically possible with the fork.

"Alright fine no need to get nasty, I was just making a joke. But how would you get us out?" I asked interestedly.

Wolf patted his side before replying. "Scorpia searches all of their prisoners. So naturally I couldn't walk in here with a gun or anything quite as obvious."

"So what do you have?' I asked eagerly but somewhat annoyed that he wasn't just coming right out and saying it.

"Patience Cub," Wolf chuckled. "This is what you did to me to," he added.

"True," I said grudgingly. "Okay go on."

"You're same logic with the cell door has been applied to this plan to. The door is the only way to go; we've already got that established. But what's the fastest way to get away from this whole place? You can't walk. It will take too long and I don't think any of you are up for walking 30 miles back to home." Wolf acknowledged my family and Jack and Mrs. Jones's family for the first time since his arrival.

"Does MI6 have cars outside?" I asked eagerly. "Or a plane or helicopter?"

"That would be too obvious. There are lookouts and security cameras and features galore in this place. If so much as a squirrel crosses the perimeter than the control room is alerted and I can assure you that whatever Scorpia is lacking in their guards they more than make up for in their security officials."

My heart plummeted as a thought struck me. "Cameras. Of course, how could I have forgotten?" I mumbled to myself. I raised my voice and addressed Wolf. "They're watching us right now aren't they? They know everything that has been going on," I said sickly.

"Surprisingly the answer to that is no," Wolf replied.

My heart rose again. "Are you serious?"

"Deadly," Wolf said. "Do you really think that we would have kept contacting you if we knew there were cameras and junk down here?"

"How would you know?" I asked confused.

"Are you forgetting that tracking chip that MI6 had implanted in your shoulder after you were shot?"

"Of course I don't," I responded. "Oh," I said when I understood what Wolf was implying.

"Exactly. That chip let's Blunt and Jones know your exact location, anyone that has a similar chip who may be around you, how many people you are with or if there is anyone hiding. But most importantly it let's them scan where ever you are for booby traps, cameras, bugs, you name it. It's very advanced technology that was developed in the United States. We're the only two countries in the world that know of its existence."

"Awesome. So what were you planning on doing to get us away from here?"

"Oh right," Wolf said. "The answer to everything is a key."

"You have a key?" I asked incredulously. "How'd you manage to get that one by Scorpia?"

Wolf lifted the end of his shirt up a little, and pointed to a patch that was right on the side. "Right here is a little pouch, the exact same color and material as the rest of the shirt. Unless you already know it's there it is virtually impossible to see or to find. Now inside of that there are a few keys. The beauty of these keys is that they are made from a flexible yet firm material that is undetectable to even the most advanced of metal detectors."

"So it's an actual key?" Wolf nodded. "But how did you know what shape to make it or anything?" I asked confused.

"I take that back," Wolf said. "They're not 'actual' keys, as of yet anyway. You see, they are made from a special, very advanced material. When you receive the key it is just a small, rectangular sheet. You take the sheets and insert it into the key hole and something in its chemical composition allows it to take the shape of lock. Each one only works once though so you have to be careful with it."

"That's impossible!" I exclaimed at the unreality of it all. "How is that even possible?"

"I don't know," Wolf shrugged. "But I can guarantee that it works."

"Wow," I said as I gathered that Wolf was fully serious about what he had just told me. "So how does it work?"

"I don't know exactly. After the demonstration I basically grabbed a few and left. But like I said it is made of a specially modified material that allows the sheet to take the shape of the key required to open the lock. Other than that I only know that it was designed but the chief engineers of America's CIA and our British Military Intelligences. Again it is a new discovery that no other countries are yet aware of. Imagine the havoc it could create if it were made available to people like Scorpia or to places like Iraq, people like Osama Ben Laden, terrorist organizations or companies or even to your local city thieves, robbers or murderers. Even if it was made available to the general public. If the highjackers that flew the plane's into the Twin Towers of September 11th had had these than there wouldn't have been any need for the planes. That day could be recreated in every country all over the world multiple times."

I was silent as I digested this simple objects significance.

"On a lighter note," Wolf continued after a moment of silence, "I have a few of them and they are going to provide us with our way out of Scorpia."

"Okay so you can use them for anything?"

"Correct," Wolf nodded.

"Well than…" I trailed off racking my brain for an answer. Than it hit me, "I've got it. Cars."

"Exactly," Wolf said with a grin.

"That's brilliant!" I exclaimed. "I love whoever invented these things!"

Wolf laughed.

My heart sunk again as reality hit. "But wait, can't Scorpia just follow us? And besides if the complex is as well guarded as you've just told me than how will we even make it to the cars alive?"

"We go fast," Wolf said simply. "Obviously that will be more difficult for some than others, particularly those who have been in here for longer but we'll manage. If you really want out than you'll make it. The key is determination and if you have determination than you'll be alright. And besides," Wolf said, "All of Scorpia's cars have guns in them so we'll be safe once we make it inside one of the cars."

"Great!" I exclaimed excitedly. "So when are we leaving? Now?"

"I thought you said you needed a few more days Cub?" Wolf asked me.

"Fuck it, let's go now! I want out and I think that if my family and Mrs. Jones's can make it out than I'll be fine. They've been in here for up to 15 years! All I have is some measly cuts and bruises." I felt Wolf's eyes on me. "Okay," I sighed. "Maybe they're not 'measly' but I'll be fine."

"You're strange Cub," Wolf told me. "But no we're not leaving now."

"What?" I asked in shock. "Why not? You have a sure fire plan to get us out! It makes my plan seem like cow shit in comparison."

"You're plan was great Cub, especially for you having limited resources. Not many people are able to think like you," Wolf paused. "But on the other hand maybe that's a good thing. We don't need anymore Alex Rider's in this world. You're plenty," he assured me.

"I'm not the only Alex Rider. There's actually another me," I said giddily.

"What are you talking about Cub?" Wolf asked slowly like I was insane.

"I have a cousin named Alex Rider. He's my Uncle Ian's son and was kidnapped before I was born. I was named after him. He's over…" I looked around. "Somewhere in that general direction," I finally settled on and gestured with my hands to the front of my cell.

"Yes I know that already Cub," Wolf said. "Hello by the way," Wolf addressed everyone else. There were a few 'hellos' or 'hi's' in return before Wolf turned back to me. "But I highly bet that he is saner than you."

"Whatever. So when are we going?"

"A few days," Wolf reported back to me.

The smile was whipped from my face. "What? Why a few days? Can't we go now?" dread filled my body at the thought of having to spend even one more night in this place. One more day where there was always the possibility of being called and dragged up to see that man again. The possibility of being tortured some more.

"I know what you're worrying about Cub. I'm not going to say don't worry about because they are all valid concerns but I can say that it is necessary to wait a few days."

"Why?" I asked tiredly.

"Because right now Scorpia is going to be keeping a close watch on me for the next few days. They know that I know you and that I work for MI6 and they are probably suspicious that I am here to break you out. While their concerns are valid I can't let them know that just yet. And besides, we need a few days to devise an escape plan; we can't just saunter through the halls like blind mice. Blunt and Jones are working on a way as we speak and should report it back to me soon."

"Okay," I said. I wasn't happy about staying longer but I knew that everything that Wolf had just told me was corrects and that they were all issues to take into concern.

"Good. So do you have anymore questions?" Wolf asked me.

"Yes I have a question," I replied.

"What is it Cub?" Wolf responded.

I grinned widely. "Yes… can I drive?"

Dirty Little Secret

4 days later

"Cub?" Wolf's voice called out to me.

"Hold on," I said to my parents. I had been talking with them. I turned to face Wolf who was kneeling in back of the bars on his cage that faced mine. "What?"

Wolf's hands were loosely holding onto the bars in front of his body and a wolfish grin spread across his face as he spoke. "It's time."

A/n: yes I'm done! I'm actually quite pleased with how it turned out. So in the next chapter they escape… finally. I hope you liked it. REVIEW!