Chapter 5: Alex Gets Captured

By: cuby18

Alex slowly woke up. He needed a couple of moments to identify the foreign feeling until he realized he was well-rested, something that had been a foreign concept lately, and should have – in retrospect – be the first sign that something was off. However, it wasn't until he tried to stretch his arms that he realized his movement was even more impaired than usual in the mornings due to Yermalov's remedial lessons. He opened his eyes and saw that he was lying on the concrete floor in the dark, gloomy room, with one of his hands secured with a chain. It looked just like any other room he was held in after being captured on a mission and that thought finally jogged his memory.

He remembered being called to R&G, his ankle bracelet taken off, and then he was debriefed on some new gang? or something that started amassing influence and MI6 wanted him to spy on. He was about to refuse and do so using new curse words he learned from Ross when they promised him a week off school after he came back. It was so different from their other tactics that he was left speechless for almost a whole minute, but when Blunt confirmed Jones' words, he was in. It didn't matter anymore that he was on a verge of collapsing since they grabbed him before he had a chance to drink his energy drink, they were promising a chance at getting a full night sleep, and that was just too good of an opportunity to pass. So, he accepted the mission. Everything after that is more or less a blur. There was Smithers, he recalls, he changed into something less noticeable than his school uniform, a car took him to another part of the town... he also remembers something about trying to enter some building through a tunnel when there were some movements behind him and the next thing he remembers is waking up. The more he thinks about it, the more it sounds like the blurriness is due to his fatigue (he never got a chance to finish that drink after all), and he isn't even sure if his capture was due to his opponents being smarter than usual, or just a result of him collapsing in that tunnel due to exhaustion.

He groans. He just knows he'll never hear the end of it if Ross or God forbid Yermalov ever catch wind of it. If anyone asks, they had a knock-out gas to fill the tunnel with if you didn't enter the correct code after entering. Yes, that should work, he could also blame MI6 for sloppy data collection. He's on the verge of congratulating himself for a job well-done when he realizes there is yet another problem he didn't consider – namely the fact that he missed his detention (and remedial lessons). The plan was for him to take a quick look around, plant a bug or two and then get the hell out of the building. Then MI6 would pick him up and take him to a secure location where he would get to rest for a bit before teachers inevitably found him again. He didn't believe he would get a fortnight off school, the Good Doctor would never permit it, but he dared hope for a couple of days at least.

That was almost enough for him to forget that he should concern himself with other more important stuff at the moment – namely getting the fuck out of wherever he was being held and putting as much distance as he possible between himself and everyone else.

He sighed and started planning. He might as well put those remedial lessons to good use.

Especially since it was the first time in a while he was truly awake and not running on caffeine when attempting them. Also, it could only help his case when they find him – at least he could prove he listened to them. Always a good thing when dealing with people. At least Countess liked to say it was a fool-proof way to endear yourself to people, and she should know.

Meanwhile at Brookland Comprehensive…

The teachers were gathered in a conference room for breakfast and mandatory weekly debriefing. Or, they were there for debriefing, but D'Arc was late as usual, meaning they had time to gossip. And there was nothing better to gossip about than their favorite student.

"So, anything new on Mr. Rider's front?" asked the Countess.

"Rider hasn't shown up in two days," complained Ross.

"It's Monday, Gordon. There is no school on the weekend." Jet rolled her eyes, fed up with his incessant complaints.

"There is for him. And he didn't show."

"Why didn't you say anything then?"

"And give up a chance for my first free weekend in months?"

"He could have died!"

"If he did then he wouldn't be worth my time anyways."

"If anything managed to kill him while he was playing truant he would deserve it," Yermalov coldly stated.

"It doesn't seem like him," suspiciously said Jet. "Are you sure it wasn't you who didn't show up?" The latter was aimed at Ross who ended up on the receiving end of multiple suspicious pairs of eyes.

"You all know I take my responsibilities seriously," he said, offended. "When have I ever avoided my responsibilities?"

Here everyone scoffed. He blushed. "It was one time! I was poisoned!"

"You were hungover," was Yermalov's response. "Everyone knows that."

"So, if you weren't drunk and he didn't turn up at all... It might mean something is amiss. Did anyone see him today?" Jet interrupted them.

"No," answered the Countess. "He also wasn't there during the roll call." She shrugged. "I just thought he was late due to yet another 'remedial lesson'," she finished sarcastically.

"Since it appears not to be the case it would be prudent to find him. We can't have him skiving off, our reputation is bad enough without us losing a student on top of it."

"You don't think it's his revenge for all those detentions where Yermalov tries to kill him? Or for Ross not letting him blow stuff up anymore? After all, he was the reason we had to relocate, all because Rothman tried to kill him once. Yermalov's attempts happen regularly." Jet appeared slightly concerned.

"What about the ankle bracelet?" Yermalov finally asked to move the conversation away from his completely professional teaching techniques. They were just jealous he got the most time with Alex one on one.

"Says he's at some bank."

"MI6 then."

"They sent him on a mission without asking us first?!" Jet was indignant. "They can't have us train him and then undermine us at every step!"

"We're not exactly on the same side, Jet."

"Clearly, since we don't approve of child endangerment."

"Yermalov beats him up every day, I don't think we have the moral high ground," The Countess calmly said and took a sip of her tea.

"Right, we're going to find him," Jet was determined to get Alex back as soon as humanly possible. He was the only student ever to do her extra credit! She wasn't about to lose him because of MI6's sloppiness.

"He'll be fine, Jet," groaned Ross. "He's got experience with these things."

"Then you can stay here and coddle the other kiddies, Gordon."

Gordon sent one last look at his bacon. "When do we leave, again?"

"Now."

"What about the other kids?"

"I don't know, have Nile come in and do a guest lecture?" Jet was already gathering her bag.

"On what?"

"Knives."

"The parents are not going to be happy about that."

"Sounds like D'Arc's problem. Now are we going after Rider or not?"

The decision was unanimous. When they encountered Dr. Three in the hallway he simply fell in step with them.

"I already informed Nile of his new assignment. D'Arc should be sending out notifications to parents and students alike about how we're having a week dedicated to Africa."

No one asked him how he knew what was going on. They were a terrorist organization with infiltration as one of their specialties, it would be surprising if he didn't know everything that went on in the school. And no one was stupid enough to tell him not to come with them. The last person that opposed him ended up helping him demonstrate his new techniques to students. It was also the last thing they did. And while the consequences might not be so dire while they had their current batch of students, their self-preservation and common sense wouldn't let them test the theory.

D'Arc just rubbed his temples when he received his latest instructions. It was way easier when he had to manage Malagosto, students there knew not to question their instructors if they wanted to survive their training and there were no parents that would hold them accountable for anything they did. But London private schools? Parents had more influence than the teachers here, all due to tuition. That was just another proof Malagosto's system was superior; with graduates paying for the schooling they had already completed, there wasn't anyone complaining about how their money was being spent. But these parents...

He resigned himself to spending the next couple of hours composing something that would make them accept newly reinstated 'African studies and African days' as something legit. He sighed. He missed the days when the only paperwork was what the Board demanded from them.

Nile was a bit apprehensive when he received his last assignment, but hey, they needed him to wave his swords around for a bit. Yes, he was supposed to make it educational and about Africa, but it was for kids, they wouldn't care about that stuff, as long as he kept them properly engaged it should do the trick.

The whole auditorium was enraptured in the performance on the stage. Nile was dancing among several dummies, demonstrating different ritualistic ways to behead, main or just disfigure someone, his actions accompanied by occasional: "This technique was developed by this and this tribe... this is the way that tribe executed the first colonials that arrived into their village... This is the original purpose of this spear... The perfect way to kill a tiger is to slice like this..."

There were moments during the presentation when students looked at him slightly apprehensively, but they were largely enjoying their time off, despite the Principal's off-hand comment about some exam coming up and how they should look up some stuff beside knife techniques. No exam could distract them from watching Nile throwing his knives while blindfolded and then cutting the fruit he was juggling until it was ready to be mixed into a fruit salad that they were served for lunch.

All in all, the day was a resounding success. D'Arc just hoped the teachers would be back by the next day because he was running out of stuff Nile could realistically demonstrate before it became obvious weapons demonstrations were the only African thing he was even remotely familiar with.