June 10th ; 8:00
Mrs. Tulip Jones was a woman of complicated sophistication.
Her instincts had never been wrong, but often, she didn't voice her opinions. Her opinions were often on mark, but she didn't suggest a course of action. That was Mr. Alan Blunt's job, and she was satisfied with his decision-making skills. Quite.
Except for in the situation of one Alex Rider. From the beginning, she'd been dubious. From the very start, when Alan had him brought into the bank and watched with a gaze that made Mrs. Jones herself shudder, she'd been hesitant, to say the least. When Alex had first launched himself from one thin balcony to the other, many stories up above the city, Mrs. Jones had wanted to call it off. Mr. Blunt, however, had different ideas. He watched the tape of Alex considering the jump and executing it perfectly, his gaze void of concern. Mr. Blunt had the idea long before Ian Rider was killed, actually. Ian Rider often spoke of one talented nephew, and when Mr. Blunt began digging into Alex Rider's information, he became more and more curious. Mrs. Jones watched Mr. Blunt's thought process go from thoughtful to tactical in a single day, and from the moment he told her his plan to assign the mission to Alex, she had nearly protested. But she saw his potential, too. She saw his ability. She saw the way he measured the distance between the balconies, saw the way he measured the risk against the reward. He was visually skilled, and hadn't even recognized his own potential.
Maybe that's all it came down to, the reason she went with such a distasteful act of abuse of power. She wanted Alex to recognize his own ability. She wanted to see this talented human being become great. She had envisioned, she supposed, an international MI6 spy with discipline and skill beyond his years. It had been unrealistic, she now knew. She often found herself regretting ever getting involved. But emotions such as regret and unease had no place in her business; she closed them away.
Mrs. Jones had requested to see Alex and his unit for a specific reason. Mr. Blunt had spoken to her before she made her way up to the military base, privately. He'd informed her of a situation in Bangkok. Recently, a couple of their informants in Thailand had reported odd activity, ranging from illegal drug use and trade, gang fights, and possible human trafficking in the lower region of Bangkok; specifically, near Yan Nawa. Recently, Mrs. Jones had heard that the suspect had moved. To the French Alps, if memory served. When Mr. Blunt gave them orders to look deeper into it, a familiar name had come up in one of the reports. Mrs. Jones recalled the way Mr. Blunt's eyes scanned the page over and over, then stared through it, lost in thought. He'd been silent for a good ten minutes before telling her that it was time for them to put Alex to the test.
She herself wasn't quite sure what that meant... "Put Alex to the test." She'd been aware that her boss had been looking for something over the past few months. Every time she came back with Alex's answers written in private documents in her laptop, Mr. Blunt was eager to take a look. Her best bet was that he was looking for something. Looking for something new or old, that she couldn't tell.
The K-Unit entered the room one by one, Alex at the back. They were in the same room Ms. Jones would meet Alex in every week. It showed; Alex sat at one of the chairs in the middle, looking straight at Ms. Jones, observing. He was calm, orderly, and ready for whatever information she had to deliver. His expression remained blasé.
The rest of his unit was a different story. Each man had varying looks of unease. Soldiers like them likely haven't ever been in these rooms; blank walls, only occupied by a table and a set of chairs. Ms. Jones' patient stance and sharp expression might not have helped much, either. They sat at the chairs and waited.
"Good morning, gentlemen." Ms. Jones greeted pleasantly. She stood, demanding attention, and slid a folder forward, in front of Alex. He held her gaze until it reached his finger tips. "I've recently received clearance by the SAS to send you five on a scouting mission. We've had some trouble with the area ourselves, so we're relying on you to improve our situation."
"'We'?" Wolf repeated, voice gruff. He didn't trust agents, she could tell. She saw it in the way that his eyes followed her every movement.
"Apologies; we being MI6, Military Intelligence."
"Why are you sending a group of SAS soldiers to do your work?" Alex asked, his voice curt. He didn't look up at her until she answered. His eyes were filled with emotions, while his general expression stayed blank. Ms. Jones internally sighed.
"Our group of informants in the region we're sending you to have had difficulties edging around and infiltrating the operation. We've deemed the situation too dangerous for the few of them to handle. In all honesty," she glanced around at each of the soldiers, seemingly sincere, "you might be our last hope." She smiled and gestured to the folder. "All the necessary information is in that folder. You depart in three days. We're counting on you." With a small wave and quiet goodbye, she was gone.
Ms. Jones made her way to the waiting, black vehicle, sliding in and dialing the familiar number.
"Inform Mr. Blunt that the information has been passed on to the necessary recipients. I'll keep him updated. Thank you."
She snapped her phone closed, and when the window between the driver and herself slid up, she rubbed her eyes, hoping that her boss knew what he was doing.
June 10th ; 8:15
Alex watched Ms. Jones leave with narrowed eyes and tight lips. She was sending him on another mission... and putting the rest of the unit at stake, too? He could probably convince himself that they really did need the extra man power if he hadn't been as experienced with Jones' skills with manipulation. 'You might be our last hope,' his ass. She'd looked anywhere but Alex during the last part of her finely sculpted speech, and one look at his unit told him that they'd fallen prey to her pretty words. Granted, it'd be hard not to if you weren't used to it.
"Alright, men," Wolf said, standing. The rest of the unit followed suit, Alex still gripping the folder. "Don't overexert yourselves these next few days. We have to be in top physical condition for this." One glance at his unit's faces told him all he needed to know, and he turned, and left. Eagle and Snake followed behind quickly with Panther lagging a bit. Alex hadn't moved.
Flipping open the folder, Alex made his way to the unit cabin. They were excused from any training, but Wolf had made it clear while they walked back that he expected them to run the next two mornings anyway. By the time they got to the cabin, Alex had skimmed through the information.
"Cub, give it here," Wolf held out a hand expectantly.
Alex handed Wolf the file, and he leaned against the wall. He skimmed it as Alex had done, and started over, reading aloud.
"Jerome Argent. 32 years old; French; Caucasian. Definite offenses are human trafficking, drug trade. Homicide as a likely offense." Wolf squinted. "Believed to be the leader of act us..."
"Actus reus," offered Alex. "Latin. It means 'wrongful act'." Wolf grunted.
"Actus reus, then. Odd name for a criminal to adopt, innit? Redundant. He's got a bunker in Valberg. France, that is. Says here he used to be in Bangkok until..." Wolf frowned. "Until recent troubles?" He stayed silent for a moment, thinking hard, before continuing. "He's in Valberg. He's got a bunker near the town, in the Alps."
"What's the objective?" Snake asked from his spot near the door.
"Objective is to find and neutralize the target. Says it doesn't matter what state he's in, dead or alive. We do it how we want. As long as no one but the people involved in his operation are injured or killed, it'll be classified as a success." Wolf nodded. He looked satisfied.
"Weird, though, yeah?" Panther broke the small silence.
"What is?" Snake questioned.
"The entire thing. A couple SAS soldiers to execute a covert operation." Panther specified, looking pensive. "Why send us in? Why not a couple of agents? If they needed the man power so much, take one of us, but a whole team?"
"She said they'd tried basically everything, though." Eagle chimed in, shrugging. "Last resort, remember?"
"Bullshit," Panther shook his head. "We're not trained in this sort of thing. For sneaking around and covering up tracks. We'll do no better than a group of agents thoroughly trained in espionage. C'mon, you don't think it's... weird?"
Alex had to admit that he was impressed with Panther's ability to see past Mrs. Jones' attempt to hero worship them. "I agree." Alex said, hoping to delay the mission. He didn't want these men to do what he had become used to doing. If they had wanted, MI6 could have just excused him from the camp for a week or two. Some excuse about his education, or visiting family. Something. Instead, they chose to put Alex in a group of soldiers and tell them to play spy. It wasn't right, putting lives like theirs in danger. To do what? Prove a point? "We're soldiers, not spies."
A thick silence followed closely behind.
"Cub," Wolf pushed off the wall. "You're not coming."
Alex stared at him incredulously. He took in his unit's expressions and realized they all thought the same. Why did they think Alex had just been specifically told to sit in? "Yes, I am." Alex replied calmly. "That's been made clear."
"No, it hasn't," Wolf insisted, eyebrows furrowing in irritation. "Nothing's been made clear about you coming with us to confront a murderer in France. You're staying here. Or wherever they put you."
Alex felt himself growing increasingly frustrated. "Wolf, I'm going. Why else was I to attend the meeting with you? If I had been meant to stay here, they'd not have told me anything." Alex reasoned.
Unconvinced, Wolf growled. "You aren't coming."
"I am." Alex retorted defiantly.
"Why don't we ask the Sergeant, if you're so inclined to be proven wrong?" Wolf bit out, and left before Alex could protest. Alex hadn't planned on protesting, anyway.
June 10th ; 9:00
Alex wouldn't go into detail if he were asked to explain the confrontation, but he could summarize it. It began with Wolf growling, per usual, and expecting to be proven right. The Sergeant had looked between them and closed his eyes. He'd said that Alex was to accompany them, as he was a valuable asset. No doubt, M16 had predicted the issue would arise. It all felt to scripted to be the man himself. To put it simply, Wolf wasn't happy. He stormed out of the office, spitting curses, and Alex almost followed suit, before the Sergeant grunted his name.
Alex glanced at the man and stepped back in front of his desk, eyes curious. "Sir?"
"Rider," the man sighed, "I'm going to be frank with you, kid. Your unit doesn't know who you are. If you weren't under the strict orders from M16 to keep quiet about your identity, I'd have made you tell them months ago. I don't like it. An ignorant soldier is a dead soldier." The man stared at him hard. His eyes were gray. His mouth was a thin line. "Understand?"
Alex swallowed and nodded. He did. He understood perfectly. "Will that be all?"
"Yes. Dismissed." The Sergeant waved his hand. Alex thought to himself that he'd like being a soldier more than he liked being a spy. The simplicity of the dismissal was refreshing.
When he returned to the cabin, Wolf wasn't there. None of them were, he'd thought, until Panther ambled out of the bathroom.
"Cub." He said, surprised. After a moment, his expression settled back into one of uninterested inquiry. "Snake and Eagle went to get breakfast, since we missed it."
Alex nodded. "I'll get some, too." He turned to leave when Panther called out to him.
"I have to ask you something, first."
Alex eyed Panther skeptically. "I probably won't answer."
"I'm asking anyway." Panther leaned against the bed next to Alex. "Are you capable of completing a mission like this?" Panther paused and specified, "Do you think you're on par with a couple of soldiers that have been training for longer than you have?"
Alex stared at him. An ignorant soldier is a dead soldier. "Yes."
Panther looked surprised that he'd answered at all. After a moment, he nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Okay. One more question."
Alex nodded. He supposed they'd held off their questions long enough, and with only Panther here, who had been curious since the start, Alex couldn't do much harm, could he?
"Have you done things like this before?"
Alex's lips tightened, non speaking.
"Cub," Panther urged, looking frustrated.
"That's not information I'm allowed to disclose." He turned to leave when Panther grabbed his arm. From there, everything spun out of focus.
He wasn't sure what he was doing, honestly. Looking back, he wasn't even sure it was him. His leg came up and his foot struck Panther's jaw. His body spun, and he tugged Panther's arm behind him, pulling hard. There was a pop. Alex dropped Panther's arm with a breathless gasp. "Shit."
Panther stumbled toward a bed, sitting in a defensive posture. Seeing Alex's equally stunned expression, he lowered his guard a bit. He stared at Alex until the boy looked away.
"I didn't mean to." Alex sounded desperate, even to himself. "I'm- I didn't..."
"I'm fine, Cub. Just... what the hell was that?" He saw guilt in Alex's eyes and quickly amended. "No, but- I'm fine," Panther assured, and a moment later, he stood. The man walked to the door and put his hand on the frame. He didn't move for a while. Not until he heard Alex sit on one of the beds. Alex had his head in his hands, and he didn't look up when Panther spoke. "I guess I got my answer."