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 web page thing about whether or not it should be Dessi/Alex or Dessi/Tom. Make sure you guys vote, or just tell me in a review!!!xox

Chapter 5

"Alex! Very long time no see!" Smithers exclaimed, "How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks," Alex said with a genuine smile. Smithers was the only person Alex felt genuinely cared about him in MI6, "I'd like you to meet Desiree. She's here from Australia to help protect my friend."

Alex stepped aside slightly so that Smithers could see the girl. The man's eyes lit up almost immediately.

"Hello! Well met, well met indeed!" Smithers said, shaking the girl's hand.

"Thanks," Dessi smiled.

"You know, when Mr Blunt said we'd have a female visitor, I was extremely happy! It's one thing making gadgets for Alex, but I'd always wanted to try making one for a girl! You are lucky enough to be my guinea pig!" And so saying, Smithers turned to a cabinet and began rummaging around for something.

Dessi shot Alex a worried look. She didn't like the sound of being a guinea pig, but Alex glanced at her calmly, clearing telling her with his expression that the man was trustworthy.

"Ah!" Smithers exclaimed, "Here we are!" In his hand he held a silver bracelet with what appeared to be small clip-on charms. He handed it to Dessi, who closely inspected each of the four dangling charms that was attached to the bracelet. The charms were all different shaped; flower, water droplet, pointy leaf, and what appeared to be a sun.

"Oh, it's the four seasons!" Dessi said.

"Exactly! I decided to model it on the Australian weather system, rather than the weather we have here. The flower and leaf are pretty self-explanatory; spring and autumn respectively. I've heard that summer in Australia is extremely hot," Smithers said.

"You have no idea," Alex muttered, thinking back to a couple of weeks ago when he was in Australia. Dessi shot him an amused look before turning back to the gadget expert.

"Exactly! So, I've made summer in the shape of a sun! And finally, since there's no snow in Australia, or at least none in Perth, winter is represented by the water droplet, which is supposed to be rain!" Smithers finished, grinning.

"Err…thanks," Dessi muttered, not sure what to do. Smithers seemed to sense her hesitation, for he burst into laughter before continuing.

"Oh, I didn't give that to you as a keepsake!" He said, "It's actually a weapon, since MI6 doesn't let you two carrying guns around."

Dessi's eyebrows raised, and she threw Alex a look of shock. Alex nodded to confirm Smithers statement, and the girl turned slowly back to the man.

"Three of those charms are actually explosives. Completely harmless if you leave it on the bracelet of course. But once you remove it, those things will explode in ten seconds exactly. Each charm has the potential to blow up an entire room, so be careful with it. The force of the explosion is directional, and will only explode through the side of the charm that is engraved. So if you want to blow up the floor, make sure to place it upside down. I got the idea from the explosive earring I made for Alex, back when he was due to infiltrate Point Blanc Academy," Smithers added, smiling at Alex.

"Anyway, the only one of those charms which isn't an explosive is the water droplet. If you remove that charm, in ten seconds an extremely powerful sleeping gas will be released. Just be careful you don't breathe it in yourself! You'd be knocked out for at least two hours!" Smithers said with a grin, "Also, contained inside the clip on the bracelet is a tracking device. I hope you don't mind, but MI6 reckons we're going to need it. So, as soon as you put the bracelet on, the tracking device will start and won't stop until I tell it to, even if you remove the bracelet. So, do you like it?"

A smile slowly began to form on Desiree's face. Her crystal blue eyes lit up as she looked at the silver bracelet in her hand.

"This is so cool! Thank you!" She said.

"No worries at all!" Smithers replied before turning to Alex.

"Now Alex, I was going to make you another exploding ear-stud, but I've noticed that your ear piercing is gone. So, I've resorted to an exploding watch system. Here you go," he added, handing over a watch with leather bands rather than metal.

"Does it explode if I try to take it off after I put it on?" Alex asked shrewdly, remembering the earring he'd been given before he went to Point Blanc Academy. Smithers burst into laughter, and Dessi wasn't quick enough to bite back a smile.

"Don't be silly boy! I wouldn't do that to you!" Smithers chuckled, "No. See the pin on the side which, on normal watches, is used to adjust the time? Well on this one, if you push it in, like this," Smithers said while demonstrating, "Then the glass protecting the actual watch pops open. See? Now, the longest hand on the watch is a very powerful explosive, the shorter hand less so. The seconds hand releases the sleeping gas, the same one as in the charm bracelet. You have thirteen seconds after removing the hands before they either blow up or knock you out. There's also an inbuilt tracking device on yours too. MI6 has some new policy nowadays…"Smithers trailed off with a hint of a scowl.

Alex grinned at the man.

"Thanks for these," he said, putting on his watch, "I'm sure they'll come in handy."

"No worries! I just want to make sure that the two of you are safe! Now if you don't mind, I have to get back to my work. Good luck with your protecting of Mr Harris!"

Recognising a dismissal, Dessi and Alex left, to find Ben, Jake and Tom waiting for them outside.

"Ready?" Ben asked as Tom and Jake glanced at the pair curiously.

Alex and Dessi nodded.

"Okay, let's go."

The three teens were gathered in Alex's room after dinner. They worked on their homework together, so that it would be done quicker and they would have more free time over the weekend. It turns out that Desiree wasn't actually that bad at school, despite missing out on education for almost eight years of her life.

"Um," the girl started, breaking the silence after nearly an hour of solid working, "Can someone help me with this? I'm not sure I quite understand how the play repeatedly subverts the paradigm of feminine submission…It's slightly confusing actually."

They were working on an essay set by the English teacher on a play called 'Ghosts' by Henrik Ibsen. They play was really controversial during its time of release, due to all the feminist issues which Ibsen tackled, issues which the society didn't really want to face.

"Well, Ibsen subverts this ideology by portraying the shattered remains of the life led by Mrs Alving, who is shown to have been forced by society to obey the path of duty…" Tom explained while the Aussie girl stared at him with slightly gaping mouth.

"Wow, hold on!" Dessi exclaimed, throwing her hands up, "Can you say that in a language I actually understand?"

"Sorry, but I'm actually just reading it off Alex's essay," Tom said, trying to see his friend's essay upside down.

"Hey!" Alex laughed, hiding his essay.

There was a small knock at the door. They looked up to see Jack leaning against the doorframe, gazing at the three. Alex looked up at Jack, who motioned at him to get to the phone, and mouthed the word "Bank". Alex got up with a slight frown and exited the room, followed by Jack after she gave the remaining two a reassuring smile. Tom and Dessi looked after him worriedly.

"I wonder what they want," Tom said, "We were over there just this afternoon."

"They probably forgot to tell him something or other," Dessi said, shaking her left wrist slightly and making the silver bracelet tinkle.

"Maybe…"Tom trailed off doubtfully. From all the stories Alex had told him about MI6, he wasn't sure that they were the type to just forget about something.

After a minute of silence, Alex came back into the room. There was a slight expression of shock plastered onto his face. He sat down hard on the floor, while Tom and Dessi scrambled up into a sitting position.

"Alex? Are you okay?" Tom asked.

"Yea…" Alex's voice was slightly hoarse.

"What happened?" Dessi asked softly, afraid she might offend him somehow.

Alex gazed at the girl, then at his best friend. Both were looking at him without blinking. Their expressions were so similar that the teenage spy couldn't help bursting out into laughter. If anything, that made the other two even more worried, and they now looked at the laughing boy as if worried for his sanity.

"Al, what the-?"

"Your expressions are hilarious!" Alex laughed, while Tom and Desiree glanced at each other, slightly bemused.

"Are you going to tell us what they wanted?" Tom prodded his friend slightly.

Alex nodded, fighting to get himself back under control.

"They," he began, then paused for added suspense. It didn't go down so well with the other two, and Alex suddenly found both of his pillows flying through the air at him. He ducked, then started to laugh again.

"Alex…"Tom trailed off warningly.

"Okay, they called to wish me…a happy birthday!" Alex finished before dissolving into fits again. Dessi had a small smile on her face, while Tom looked extremely confused.

"I thought your birthday was on Sunday?" He said. Alex nodded rapidly, still laughing, "Then why did they wish you a happy birthday today?"

"It's actually MI6 policy to inform their agents of…special occasions two days prior. Either to remind them or to look like they didn't forget," Dessi said. When Tom turned his gaze to her, she sighed slightly before saying, "Don't ask how, but trust me, I know."

"How come they've never said happy birthday before?"

"Well, there could be a couple of reasons. Alex was in hospital last year," Dessi counted them off, "They hadn't sorted out their computer system, they didn't see him as an actual MI6 agent despite all he's done for them…"

"Okay, I uh, I think I get it," Tom said, cutting the girl off.

"Good because I was running out of reasons." Dessi had a grin on her face. By then Alex had recovered, and was listening in on the conversation with a slightly worried look on his face.

"Do you think that means they'll want me for more missions now?" Alex asked.

Desiree frowned at him thoughtfully for a while, as if deciding her answer.

"Well, it could just be that they don't know how to apologise for the trouble they've caused you," she started, "But then again, maybe they're expecting you to join once you graduate. There's still time for you to back out," she added hastily, "You know too much as it is, and they can't exactly threaten you anymore."

"They can't?"

"No. Not unless they want you to spill the beans about what they've put you through."

"I'm just going to take your word on that," Alex said. It appeared that he didn't really believe her, and Dessi thought that perhaps he had good reason not to. But then again, he didn't know everything she knew about MI6. They definitely didn't want the boy as their enemy.

"So…are we still up for the movies tomorrow?" Tom asked, deciding that it was time for a subject change. Alex's expression changed from worried to depressed in the space of two seconds.

"We have to don't we?" He said glumly, "I sort of promised. You guys don't have to go if you don't want to though."

"Oh, no. We already said we'd go, didn't we," Tom said, "And we're not leaving you alone with that ghastly girl. Who knows what she'll do when she finds out we're not there to protect you."

"Don't worry Alex," Dessi said with a soft smile, "We'll keep you company and protect you from that, ah, 'ghastly girl'."

Alex grinned. Tomorrow night was looking slightly better.

"Thanks guys. I didn't really want to be stuck alone with Cindy."

"We know," Tom said cheerfully, "Now back to 'Ghosts' and its feminist issues!"

Dessi groaned. She was starting to hate homework.

Hey all! Just thought I'd say that I actually have studied 'Ghosts' by Henrik Ibsen, so everything I said about the play is true, and I wasn't making anything up. Don't worry, I know what I'm talking about!

Now, how did you like the chapter? Was it good? Bad? I promise there'll be more action in the next chapter…I know this was a bit boring. But even so, please REVIEW!!!

IMPORTANT NOTE: I'm doing a poll on my web page thing about whether or not it should be Dessi/Alex or Dessi/Tom. Make sure you guys vote, or just tell me in a review!!!xox

Much appreciated! See how I updated twice today? It's all for you guys!

Love Chariots99