Disclaimer: I do not own the Alex Rider series.

Claimer: I do own the AIS and all characters from the AIS (e.g. Desiree Swan).

IMPORTANT NOTE: I'm doing a poll on my page thing about whether you guys prefer Alex/Dessi or Tom/Dessi. Please vote, or tell me in a review!!!

Chapter 4

Jake and Dessi woke them up at 5:35 the next morning. It took a while for Alex and Tom to convince the two that there was no use going out for a run, since the entire place was covered with snow. It didn't help that both Agents Crawley and Daniels were yelling at them for waking them up at the crack of dawn. Needless to say, breakfast was an awkward affair, Alex, Tom and Jack finding themselves in the middle of a glaring contest between the MI6 agents and AIS agents. It was a relief to finally be ushered out into the car.

"The plan is that one of us stays with you all the time. Also, you don't go anywhere without telling us. No sneaking off. No evasion techniques. I'd rather you hate me than be killed," Dessi said as Ben drove them to school on Friday. Jake was coming along to help Ben guard the school.

"Des, Tom's thick, not suicidal," Alex sighed.

"Hey!"

Desiree bit back a laugh. "No wondering off on your own," she added before letting it drop.

"And remember, don't mention my last name," she said as they neared the school.

"What was the last name MI6 used anyway?" Tom asked.

"Harwood," Jake said from the front seat.

Tom raised an eyebrow. "Desiree Harwood. Not too bad."

Ben parked the car, and all five of them got out. After wishing Dessi luck, the AIS and MI6 agent went off to join the increased guards patrolling the school. Desiree surveyed the guards, her eyes quickly picking each one out from where they were hiding. Her eyebrows rose slightly as she counted their numbers, and she glanced questioningly at Alex. The boy answered with a shrug.

"You know, I actually feel quite excited today," Tom said as they walked into school, "Some ruthless criminal organisation is after me. I'm being protected by two underage spies. One is a boy who has his own fan-club, and is able to best assassins with his awesome fighting skills. The other is a girl, a typical Australia beauty, able to hold Alex off for three whole rounds. They should so make my life into a movie."

Alex snorted. "And the winner of the century's worst movie is…Tom Harris: My Life."

Desiree choked, trying to hold in her laughter. Seeing the murderous look on Tom's face didn't help. That's what she loved about the two friends. One's life was in danger, the other thinks it's his fault, and yet the two could still joke together, and act like everything's all normal.

"Hey Alex!" A high voice shrieked.

Alex groaned as the footsteps of Cindy Rills echoed behind them.

"Hey, Cindy," he muttered, not bothering to stop or turn.

Cindy shouldered past Tom, pushing him into Desiree and almost knocking them both over. She linked one of her arms though Alex's, ignoring his vain attempts to dislodge her.

"So, how're you doing?"

"Fine," Alex droned. He'd almost memorised the morning routine which the cheerleader had set.

"You still up for tomorrow night?" The girl asked, swinging her waist-length hair around and accidentally smacking it across Desiree's face. The girl glared daggers at the back of Cindy's head, and Tom put a restraining hand on Dessi's shoulder.

"Sure," Alex muttered.

"So, who're you bringing?"

That made Alex stop. He hadn't actually given the planned movies any thought until now; there was too much going on, from the attack at his house, his window being fixed by MI6, picking up Desiree…

Alex glanced questioningly behind him at Tom and Dessi. Both understood his question, and both of them nodded.

"I'm bringing Tom and Desiree," Alex said, making it the first official sentence he'd actually ever said to Cindy.

Cindy froze. "Who's Desiree?"

"Me," Dessi said.

The cheerleader spun on the spot, dragging Alex around with her. In silence she glared at Dessi, looking her up and down, taking in everything from her haircut to her, or rather Jack's, clothes, to Jack's bag.

"Who're you?" Cindy asked, frost in her voice.

"Uh, Dessi," the girl said.

"You're new."

"Wow, really?" Dessi exclaimed sarcastically, "Thank you for pointing that out, I never would've figured it out if you hadn't told me!"

Cindy darkened in anger, and she glared at the girl. Her green eyes bore into Dessi's crystal blue ones. Dessi glared right back.

"You better watch yourself," Cindy hissed, "I can make your life a living hell. I can fix it so that by the end of the day, you'll be so scared you'll wish you were never born."

"Is that a threat?" Dessi asked, her voice low. The two boys looked on anxiously, unsure how to break up the fight, "It's not a very a good one." Dessi took a step closer, her face now millimetres from the taller girl's, "You know, I've stared death right in the face. I've been through pain you couldn't possibly imagine. I've seen things that would give you nightmare for the rest of your life.

" Compared to that, you're just a frightened misinformed girl who seeks attention at school because you think that you don't get enough at home. You're an only child, you've never known what harsh reality is like. A 'living hell' for you would be the equivalent of a day at the beach for me. Now get out of my sight before I make you."

Cindy spun and left, flicking the shorter girl across her face with her hair. She would never admit it, but Dessi's tone, her glare, and her words scared her. There was something about that girl. Something different…

Dessi scowled at the cheerleader's retreating back for a moment before turning to the gaping boys. She raised her eyebrow questioningly, and Alex cleared his throat.

"What was that?" He asked.

"I hate bullies," Dessi answered coolly.

"Riiight..."

"Well, that was fun! When's our first class?" She asked, breaking out into a wide smile.

Tom looked across at Alex.

"Remind me not to get on her bad side."

"Hey Alex!" Another voice shrieked.

Alex groaned, and Tom and Dessi exchanged sympathetic looks before bursting out into laughter. The teenage spy glared at the two.

"Thanks for the support," he muttered.

Word travels fast around school, especially one with an efficient gossip chain like that of Brookland. It took the rumour of Alex being a druggie all but a day to be spread; it took about two hours before the entire school knew about the new Australian girl who had shouted down Cindy Rills, yes, Cindy Rills as in the head cheerleader.

As she tailed Alex and Tom from class to class, Desiree noticed a discerning number of girls staring at her, their mouths agape and their eyes burning with something close to jealousy. There were an equal number of boys who swaggered up and tried to introduce themselves before being turned away by the glare on Alex's face.

"Do people normally stare?" Dessi asked in an amiable voice as they ate their lunch.

"No. It's just because you're new, and people have nothing better to do with their lives," Alex muttered and Tom nodded, his mouth too full for him to even think about speaking.

Desiree picked slightly at her food. She wasn't used to the stares, and it was getting hard to concentrate on finding potential threats when she could feel hundreds of eyes boring into her back. It was making her slightly nervous, not to mention extremely annoyed and frustrated. After so many missions, most spies developed an instinct that seemed to warn them when someone was watching; she knew that Alex had, and she knew that she had as well. But that instinct was pretty much useless now if everyone insisted on staring.

"Alex, I'm going to need the bathroom," Tom sighed, standing up from his lunch.

"Why are you telling me?" Alex asked. He'd been in a very bad mood all morning, so naturally their plan of protection slipped from his mind.

"Uh, Alex, the plan?"

"Oh, right, sorry. Des, will you be alright for a while?" Alex asked.

Crystal blue eyes lit up in mirth. "Alex. What's the worst thing that could happen to me? My lunch spilling? The table collapsing on my legs? Someone starting a food fight?"

"Okay, I get it," Alex said, and followed Tom away.

It seemed that many people in the cafeteria had been waiting for just that moment when the Australian was out of the watchful eye of Alex Rider. Immediately a group of girls drifted over, arranging themselves on the neighbouring tables.

"So…" a hazel-eyed girl with curly brown hair began, "I heard you were the new girl."

"You heard right," Dessi replied, not even bothering to keep the boredom out of her voice.

"How do you know Alex?"

Luckily the three of them had discussed it last night, just in case.

"I would be his late uncle's associate's daughter," she lied. She'd had to use the excuse of being someone's daughter so many times that it no longer hurt, though it still did twinge slightly if she thought about her first steps in life.

"Do you mean you're the daughter of a spy?"

"Do I have to justify that with an answer?"

"Amanda, leave the poor girl alone," a new voice joined in. Suddenly the gathering of girls began giggling and swooning, all seemingly eager to catch the eye of the three boys, two flanking the one who appeared to be the leader.

"I haven't said anything though," Amanda pouted.

Dessi rolled her eyes and turned to study the newcomers. The one who appeared to be the leader had light brown hair that fell into his deep blue eyes. The boy on his right had darker hair and dark, narrowed eyes. The remaining boy was blonde, with sky blue eyes a shade lighter than that of Tom's.

"I'm Braedon," the light brown haired boy said, noticing the Aussie eyeing them, "These are my mates, Brody," the dark haired one, "And Liam," the blonde, "And who might you be?"

"Dessi."

"Ah. You're the new girl who shouted down Cindy this morning, aren't you?" Braedon asked.

"Sure, why not," Dessi replied, deadpanned. She just wasn't interested in this, and was subtly hinting with her eyes for the boy to get lost.

"You know, your eyes are really amazing," the boy apparently didn't get her hint.

Okay, time for a more direct approach in getting rid of him. "Seeing you walk away from me would be pretty amazing."

Two boys snorted from behind the wall of girls. The girls looked around in confusion, before parting to reveal Tom and Alex standing with their arms folded, Tom with a smirk on his face, and Alex with a glare that could peel paint.

"Ah, our resident James Bond," Braedon exclaimed. Some of the gathered girls giggled at this statement, and Dessi quietly stood from her seat in case she needed to restrain Alex. Or to save Braedon from Alex, though she hoped she wouldn't have to do that.

"Piss off, Braedon, she doesn't want to talk to you," Alex snarled. He'd had a rough history with Braedon; the boy and his gang had been the first to start the rumours of 'Alex the Druggie', and still tried to give the spy as much trouble as possible.

"Don't talk to me like that, druggie," Braedon sneered.

"You shouldn't really talk to him like that," Dessi muttered quietly.

"Oh, and why not?" Braedon asked, turning to look into the girl's crystal blue eyes.

"Because you are under MI6 protection for as long as Alex wants you to be. The minute he tells them otherwise, you would find yourself out in the snow, pleading for the mercy that no-one would give you before what would undoubtedly be your very painful death. Plus he could rip you to shreds in about three seconds," Dessi said, glaring up at the boy, "So, you know, by all means if you feel you can handle Alex's enemies with no protection, be my guest and keep insulting him. Until then, I'd suggest you keep your mouth shut."

There was silence. Braedon's mouth hung wide open in shock. Never in his life had a girl spoken to him so forcefully, and with hatred and annoyance. The only feminine contact he's ever had was with swooning girls, and girls cueing up to worship him.

Brody and Liam stared at their leader, then at the new girl, then back again. Tom sniggered at the situation; Alex broke out into an appreciative grin. The surrounding girls appeared confused as to where to look; they compromised by trying to stare at all the boys, without any luck. Amanda gazed at Alex.

In the end, it was Dessi who broke the silence. She crossed her arms, and leaned forward slightly, her eyes narrowed in dislike.

"I suggest you leave now," she said quietly. Braedon all but bolted, dragging Brody and Liam back with him to their table where another two boys were waiting for their return. Desiree turned her glare on Amanda, who visibly flinched, "You should leave too."

The brown haired girl stared at her for a moment, then nodded and walked away, squeezing past Alex and Tom. Just before she was gone, though, she paused next to Alex and, standing on tiptoe, pressed a kiss on his cheek. Alex froze.

"I'll see you soon," she whispered with a wink, before leading the rest of her friends away.

Alex glanced behind him, making sure Amanda was out of range, before hastily wiping his cheek with his sleeve. Tom bit back a snort, and Dessi turned to sit back down before anyone could see the smile on her face. Sometimes, the spy acted way too much like a child.

"Don't worry, mate," Tom said, choking back a laugh, "I'll protect you. I'll make sure no-one ever kisses your cheek again." The boy then had to duck as Alex took a swing at his head.

They passed through the rest of the day without further incidents. Or any attempts to get to Tom. There was just a new level of hostility, as the anger between Alex and Braedon was renewed. It was a relief for school to be over; Braedon had spent the time he had when he was in Alex's classes trying to annoy the boy as much as possible, and Tom and Dessi had spent the time restraining Alex from doing anything stupid in retaliation.

Ben and Jake met the three at his car.

"How was school?" Jake asked as they all piled in.

"Exhausting," Dessi sighed. She'd been through training, missions, torture, and certain death, and yet she felt like that one day at school had completely and utterly drained away all her spirit and energy faster than all her previous experiences.

"You'll get used to it," Tom grinned, noticing how the girl was almost falling asleep on her feet.

"Is it like this every day?" She muttered, turning her head slightly so she could get comfortable.

"Well, depends. Sometimes it's worse. I'd say that Monday's going to be worse, since we started so many fights today. But don't worry," Tom added hastily as Dessi groaned, "It's the weekends now! Two whole, blissful days with nothing to do-"

"Except homework, catch-up work, and going to the movies tomorrow," Alex said, "I don't even know which is worse."

They lapsed into a short silence. Dessi took that time to try and fall asleep. It didn't work too well when Alex broke the silence.

"Why are we going to the Bank?!" He exclaimed when he suddenly realised they weren't heading for his house.

"Blunt wants to see you," Ben replied, smirking slightly. Dessi and Jake traded a look.

"But I don't want to see him!"

"That doesn't really change much, Alex."

Alex sighed and sunk as far as he could into his seat. He knew that this probably wasn't about a mission or anything, but there was still a sense of foreboding which was always present when he was in the vicinity of the Royal and General Bank.

It would be Jake and Dessi's first time inside the headquarters of MI6, and though Dessi would never admit it, she was quite nervous. It wasn't every day you meet the head of the Special Operations, after all. She was also quite apprehensive. AIS had tapped into the Perth International Airport security footage after Alex had left. They'd seen the boy smashing up something small, which only Dessi knew what it was. The girl wasn't sure whether to be thankful or not that Alex smashed up her USB, which contained her file on it. She'd also never mentioned that she knew the boy had destroyed it.

I hope Blunt doesn't feel the need to interrogate me, Dessi thought with a sigh.

The five of them rode up the elevator in silence. Alex and Dessi were both worried, though about slightly different things. Ben was slightly nervous; he usually was when he had to meet with Mr Blunt. Jake was hiding his nerves better than the others, though he wasn't too sure how he'd react if MI6 tried to pull something with his field partner. Tom was just completely indifferent, since he knew Blunt wasn't exactly interested in him.

"Ah, you've finally made it," Mr Blunt said as they walked into his office. Mrs Jones was already there, standing behind the man's table. The man gestured at them to sit, although only Tom took the offered seat.

"Mr Daniels, wait outside please," Blunt said, and Ben exited the office again.

Blunt turned to examine the teenagers. Harris, the seated boy, looked completely bored. Alex's face was impassive, just the way he'd trained it to be. The twenty-one year old Blunt figured was Jacob Wood, the AIS agent. He wasn't as elusive as his field partner though, and they knew a fair bit about his family if not about him.

Then he looked at the new girl, the one he'd never seen before. He knew who she was, but there had never been a face to match the name.

"Ah, you must be Desiree Swan," Blunt said, and the blonde girl nodded once, "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"I'm not sure I could say the same, sir," Dessi said.

Alex almost choked. Tom did choke, and he turned to look at the blue-eyed girl with an open expression of shock. Mrs Jones stared at the girl with wide eyes, having never heard anyone be so…forthright with Blunt. Jake remained impassive, though he figured the girl would have said something like that.

Dessi held the head of the SO's gaze until he dropped it. Her crystal blue eyes blinked once in triumph, before blanking over all emotions once more.

"Well, be that as it may," Blunt said, being the first to recover, "I am very interested to meet you. I'm sure that you are well aware of your…ah…non-existent status. I'm wondering if you could shed some light on that."

Dessi looked at him impassively for a moment before responding. When she'd left Australia, the Director had warned her that MI6 would try and get some answers. She'd been given permission to answer questions within reason. So she decided to answer this one.

"Well, sir, I was born without a birth certificate due to an unfortunate circumstance at my birth. I've never been enrolled at school, nor been registered on the government census. Nor have I ever applied for a passport, sir."

"Then how did you get into the country?"

"Sorry sir, but that's classified."

"I see…" Blunt trailed off and stared hard at the Aussie girl. She was so similar, and yet completely different to Alex. It was obvious that, like Alex, the girl was Australia's secret weapon. But they'd gone to great lengths to protect her identity. Blunt sighed.

"Is there anything you can tell me?" He asked.

"Not really, sir, no," Dessi replied, refusing to look away from Blunt.

"Very well, then. Alex, please accompany Miss Swan down to Smithers. He is our covert weapons specialist, though I have no doubt you already know that," he added with a look at the passively staring blue-eyed girl.

Desiree didn't respond at all to the badly veiled question; she merely turned and walked out of the door, Alex trailing her until they reached the elevators again. Then Alex burst into laughter.

"That was awesome!" He chuckled, "Did you see the look on Blunt's face? I can't believe you actually told him you didn't want to meet him! That was hilarious!"

"Are you done?" Desiree asked with a grin on her face. It was fun watching Alex act like a child. It reminded her that there was still hope in the world.

"Yea," Alex said, still smiling, "Come on, let's go see Smithers. I wander why he wants to see us? Probably got some gadget or other…"

"Hope it doesn't blow up," Dessi muttered as the two entered the lift.

"Don't worry!" Alex said, "They don't blow up without good reason!"

"That's supposed to comfort me?"

"Um…well, yes."

And that's the end of chapter 4! Stay tuned to find out what Smithers wants…I'll have to think up more gadgets now!

Anyways, how did you like the chapter? Was it awesome? Did it suck so bad that you wanted to chuck your computer out the window? Please tell me in a Review!!!

IMPORTANT NOTE: I'm doing a poll on my page thing about whether you guys prefer Alex/Dessi or Tom/Dessi. Please vote, or tell me in a review!!!

Remember anonymous reviews accepted! I just won't be able to personally answer you!

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