a/n: Here's your chapter Mpro1, on Friday, just like I promised! (Even though it's late it is still Friday) Review! –Steph

Disclaimer: Everything recognizable belongs to Anthony Horowitz.

Dirty Little Secret

Chapter 19

Forty-five minutes later, Wolf was being physically restrained by the driver. Wolf, never one to be noted for his patience, was under the impression that showing the "wonderful" doctors his gun would get them to hurry up. The driver wasn't too keen on this idea and had to forcefully make Wolf stay in his chair in the waiting room. He was praying that Blunt and Jones would get there soon; he didn't know how much longer he take Wolf.

Wolf glared at some innocent person that made the mistake of passing to close in front of him. The woman fled like a startled deer.

"Wolf," the driver, whose name was actually Tim, spoke, "calm down."

Wolf growled. "How long does it take them?"

"They are doing their best to make sure that Alex is okay," Tim insisted. "Just give them some time and some space."

Wolf leant back in his chair and crossed his arms over his muscular chest.

Tim watched Wolf's face critically. "He means a lot to you, doesn't he?" he asked boldly.

"Who? Cub?" Tim nodded. "Yes. I haven't had any family since my parents sent me to military school when I was ten. Aside from Cub having saved my life and my career with MI6, he's like a little brother to me. Now, don't get me wrong," Wolf continued with a short laugh, "he's nothing short of annoying on good days and I couldn't stand him at first but he's actually okay. At first I didn't understand why MI6 would possibly want a teenager to work for them, all they do is goof off and take anything seriously. Cub quickly proved me wrong on all accounts. He's really just a boy that wants to be normal but has no hope of ever being normal."

Tim nodded softly and two lapsed into silence, staring at the double doors that led to a hallway and rooms, Alex was in one of them.

Ten minutes later they were startled from their thoughts by a commotion at the door. Wolf leapt up from his chair and turned around to face the Emergency Rooms entrance, Tim was right behind him.

There was Blunt, looking just as gray as he always did and Mrs. Jones, who looked frazzled and was sucking on her always present peppermint with a vengeance.

"What happened?" Blunt demanded as soon as he was in front of Wolf and Tim.

"He went into shock," Wolf said simply.

"Sit," Blunt ordered. He motioned for them all to take a seat. All four adults sat down in the uncomfortable hospital chairs. "What happened? I want to know everything."

Wolf glanced around at all of the other people in the ER's waiting room. They were receiving many curious looks. "Now? But what about…?" Wolf jerked his head to the side to indicate all of the people watching the.

"I do not wait for people to do as I please," Blunt said loudly so everyone could hear him. "I do what I want on my own time. Now, tell me what happened to Alex."

Wolf sighed but he saw that he had no other choice so he began to tell Blunt what had happened, every last detail of it. He spoke softly so that there was less of a chance that he was being overheard. "We got to Brookland Prep and fortunately did not have to look far for Scorpia's men. They were on the playing fields, no one else was there except one class that had gym but they were on the other side of the field, so it could have been worse. They had caught Cub and tied his hands behind his back and forced him to his knees. That man, Jenkins is what Cub called him, had his gun trained on Cub, right between his eyes and was ready to shoot. None of the Scorpia men were looking my way, which was their downfall. I ran up and shot Jenkins…"

"He's dead then?" Blunt asked.

"Very."

"Very well," Blunt said with a nod. "Continue, Wolf."

"By the time they noticed that we were there, it was too late and they were horribly out numbered. Other then that man, Jenkins, there were eight men. Five were killed and the remaining three were captured and are being taken back to headquarters. Cub seemed a bit shocked that we there, by that time he'd labeled himself as good as dead. Thinking back, he did look a little pale and sick but I thought that that was normal for his… uh… condition. He seemed fine after several minutes and walked to the car just fine. It got worse when the car started moving."

Blunt turned to Tim. "You are trained in medical diagnosis, correct?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Describe Alex's condition please," Blunt requested, Mrs. Jones remained silent.

"He was pale and sweating and Wolf reported that he was cold to the touch, his head was hot though. I'd connect that too his shoulder wound. Breathing was irregular and weak and his pulse was rapid. He was clearly dizzy, nauseous, and disorientated. He didn't react to Wolf's voice but he gave the slightest indication that he felt his touch. I was able to recognize his symptoms as those of a typical shock patient, though Alex's were of the extreme variety. I knew that the shock of his accidents and experiences could potentially kill him so, we brought him to the nearest hospital, and by the time we arrived he had lost consciousness. Wolf here did a bloody good job in making the doctor a nervous wreck though." Tim turned to look at Wolf, "Way to not pressure him."

Wolf glared but didn't say anything.

Blunt and Mrs. Jones had taken the new information in strides. Mrs. Jones, however, looked like she was about to be sick.

"And Scorpia?" Blunt continued with his questioning.

"They followed us for a way but Tim managed to loose them," Wolf answered.

"Very well," Blunt said with a firm nod. "We will deal with everything else after we are sure that Alex is alright."

"Sorry," Wolf spoke up again, "but if you don't mind my asking, what has became of the others?"

"They are all being treated for malnourishment and mild dehydration and any other wounds and injuries that they have been inflicted with. There was some extremely mild shock, they shall all live but will be kept in St. Dominic's for about a week," Mrs. Jones spoke for the first time since she had arrived at Bridgeview with Blunt.

The doctor had come up behind them just in time to catch the end of their conversation; it meant nothing to him though. He cleared his throat and he was finally nervous. The doctor instinctively stepped as far away from Wolf as would have been deemed as polite. "You are here on the behalf of Alex Rider?" he asked nervously. He eyed the foursome. There was Wolf and Tim, he'd seen them already. Now, they were joined by a man and a woman who he would have assumed were husband and wife, Alex's parents, had they not been exuding the air that they were. He could not possibly see how either were the young boy's parents or married.

"We are," the man, Blunt, spoke.

The doctor merely nodded. "I have information regarding the patient's condition."

"He's alright, is he not?" the woman with the curly black hair spoke, Mrs. Jones.

"He's alive," the doctor said simply.

"And…?" Wolf prompted stonily.

The doctor's eyes flickered briefly to Wolf and he gulped hard before taking another step to the side, he looked like a crab scuttling along the beach. "His condition has stabilized. We cleaned up his shoulder and his other… uh injuries and gave him shots of antibiotics. He will need to stay in the hospital overnight for observation but if he is good in the morning then he can leave tomorrow."

"Can we see him?" It was Mrs. Jones who asked that question.

"Yes," the doctor answered. "We just moved him to a private room and he is awake. Not too happy about being in the hospital but he's awake."

Wolf grinned wolfishly and shook his head in despair. "Yeah, that's Cub."

The doctor frowned in confusion. Cub, Alex? He assumed that they were the same people so… was Cub just an affectionate nickname? Or… something more? Maybe it was a codename for… something. The doctor shook his head lightly; after all he'd seen in the past hour he didn't think that anything could surprise him anymore.

"Can we see him? Mrs. Jones asked once again, her voice anxious.

The doctor was snapped from his thoughts. "Oh, yes, of course. If you will just follow me." He led them down a hallway and then to the elevator. They took the elevator up several floor and walked down another hallway.

The doctor was slightly intimidated by the long, powerful and silent steps that Wolf took by his side. Even the old, gray man walked with an air of importance. The woman walked the same, like she was someone that could command even the highest person in society. She munched on her peppermint. Once her peppermint was completely chewed and gone, she reached into her simple, black pocketbook and unwrapped another, the wrapping crinkled in her fingers. She popped it in her mouth and began sucking on that one.

"Here we are," the doctor announced as they stopped in front of a door marked 567AD. He pushed the door open before turning back to Blunt, Mrs. Jones, Wolf and Tim; of course, he had yet to actually know their names. "I'll just leave you alone with him for a little bit, there's a button on the wall for you to push if you need anything. A nurse will come immediately." And with that, the doctor scuttled away, carefully sidestepping Wolf, remembering what had happened the last time he had been too close to Wolf, and scurried off down the hall.

Blunt, Mrs. Jones, Tim and Wolf all entered the simple and plain and very white hospital room. A single bed lay against the far wall and Alex lay on the bed, covered in white covers.

Alex had his eyes closed and appeared to be sleeping. Despite the doctors assurances that he was fine, Alex still did look a bit pale, but he was no longer shivering and sweating. His shoulder was bound thickly in a white bandage and, if the covers were pulled away from Alex and his torso and arms revealed, one would find many more bandages. All of the cuts that had been inflicted weeks ago by the knife had been dressed and bandaged, there was not much the doctors had been able to do in terms of stitching the wounds back together because they had already had time to close back together. The scars would always be present and much uglier and crude then they would have been had he arrived soon enough to have them closed properly. But, Alex was so far past caring the tiniest smidgen what he looked like.

Alex was breathing softly and regularly, the blanket atop his chest rose and fell steadily.

"Cub?" Wolf was the first to speak. He watched Alex's face, he smirked. Alex wasn't a very good actor. "I know you're awake, Cub."

"Is the doctor gone?" Alex muttered softly, still pretending to be sleeping.

"Yes, Cub," Wolf laughed.

Alex's eyes cracked open and he looked about the room warily. They opened all the way when he was positive that the doctor was not present. "Thanks God," he said and leant back against the pillows with a sigh, regarding his surrounding with a look of pure disgust.

"Not too fond of the wonderful doctor, Cub?" Wolf asked with a laugh.

Alex shuddered. "Ever since I woke up, he's been asking me if I'm alright and how I felt. He wouldn't leave me alone." Alex spoke clearly but his voice was weaker and quieter then it normally was.

"That might be thanks to your wonderful friends Wolf here, Alex," Tim spoke. Alex recognized the driver's voice and looked over at him, seeing him properly for the first time that day.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked curiously.

"Wolf kind of threatened your doctor," Tim announced with a laugh. Wolf glared at the ceiling. "If I remember correctly he almost gave the poor, elderly secretary a coronary and he said… what was it again? Oh yes, he told the doctor that he would be ruined if you weren't alright."

Alex laughed brightly. He could imagine the doctor quivering under Wolf's stare. Alex stopped laughing when his shoulder jarred painfully. He gritted his teeth against the fresh pain. He looked at Wolf instead of saying anything about his shoulder. "I knew you loved me," he stated, easing himself back against the pillows.

"Don't get to cocky, Cub," Wolf warned. "Remember what happened the last time," he warned.

Alex recalled when Wolf had chased him through the SAS training camp and it had ended in Wolf sitting on his back. "Good luck sitting on me here," Alex retorted cheekily.

"I'm not going to ask," Mrs. Jones laughed lightly.

"You don't want to know," Wolf told her.

Mrs. Jones smiled lightly before turning back to Alex, a worried expression taking over her features. "You are sure you are all right, Alex?"

"Yeah, I'm better then before at least. My arms though but I guess that's expected," Alex answered with a grimace.

"Yes, that is natural," Mrs. Jones agreed softly.

There was silence for several minutes so Alex jumped in and asked the question that he had been wondering about ever since they had entered his room. "And the… the others, they're all right?"

"They are at St. Dominic's and shall be there for the week," Mrs. Jones told him. "They are all fine though, or, actually, they will be fine. They don't have any serious injuries; they are just malnourished and dehydrated. Given time they will be as good as new," she assured Alex.

"That's good," Alex murmured, relaxing against his pillows and closing his eyes. The darkness was comforting and he was very tired. He opened his eyes again after a moment though, knowing that there was more that he needed to know. "And what's going to happen to me now?"

His question didn't receive an immediate answer. Blunt cleared his throat gruffly. "I'm afraid that you cannot stay in London anymore, Alex," he said.

Alex sighed; he supposed that he had already known that he had just hoped it wasn't true. "And my friends?" he asked with increasing dread.

"They are all fine, health wise that is," Blunt continued. "But, you cannot see them again."

"Where will I go?" Alex asked softly, suddenly feeling all of the things that he had been through in the past month or so catch up with him.

"You will be moved to Arizona, in the United States of America," Blunt said. "You will receive a new name and a new identity. You will go to school and start a new life, you will be available for us to use in the case that your services are necessary," Blunt said, "we will only use you if it is completely necessary though and not right away. During winter vacations and summers you will come back to London to receive your training."

Alex sighed. "And… everyone else?" he still was not quite sure how he should address them.

Mrs. Jones picked up the answers now. "Miss Starbright will return to Boston, (?) to be with her family. Your mother and father will also receive new names and identities and backgrounds but they will still pose as your parents. Ian, Susannah and Alex, your cousin, shall be just who they are, your uncle, aunt and cousin, though with new names and identities too. As for my family…" Mrs. Jones smiled here, "they will stay here in London with me."

"Your father and Ian will need a year at the least to rest. They will then be returned to training for several weeks at a time. Whether or not they continue working for us in unknown but it is our duty to them to help them recuperate. That cousin of yours could make a fine agent for us," Blunt mussed. "But, now is not the time for that discussion."

"I suppose it's no use arguing to let me stay?" Alex asked wryly.

"No," Blunt said firmly, "you cannot stay here in London. It is not safe. Scorpia should not be able to follow you, they will try to but we may be able to strike a deal with them. Scorpia are not the most willing or compliant of people but everyone has their price," Blunt said knowledgably.

Alex would have laughed at Blunt's comment if he had not been so tired.

"Then I guess I have to go," was what he said instead.

"It won't be so terrible, Alex," Mrs. Jones assured him, her maternal instincts towards the teenager kicking in once again. "You will make new friends and you will have a chance to start over. Going back to your school would have been too complicated for a number of reasons."

"Yeah," Alex agreed with her, knowing that what Mrs. Jones had said was true. He still wasn't excited about leaving England but... he hadn't been overly excited about seeing his friends and Brookland Prep again either. He shuddered just thinking about it. He had thought that the stared and whispers had been bad before, he could just about imagine what it would be like if he ever went back.

He was asked several more questions and after a few more minutes, the room and its occupants once again lapsed into silence, all lost in their own thoughts.

"So," Alex tried to say lightly, breaking through the intense silence, everyone turned to watch him expectantly, "Arizona, huh? I've heard its hot there."

a/n: it's S-H-O-R-T and it S-U-C-K-S. Oh well. It's not really short, the number of words is about the same as usual, and it's just that the paragraphs in this chapter are a bit longer and more complex. I picked Arizona because I spend a lot of time out there and know it better then London seeing as I have never even been to London. I have finally decided what I am going to do. This is the last official chapter of DLS; there will be an epilogue though. There will also be a sequel that currently has no name. It will be up in September at the earliest, maybe later. It will basically go by what I originally had planned and Triple Threat will go by a new idea now. So yeah, even though this chapter was super horrible I'd still like reviews! I'm really excited about starting the sequel because I think that it will be good, reviews can get it up faster –hint hint— and I don't feel like editing so whatever, sorry for the mistakes that are sure to be present. –Steph