Alex Rider: Contamination

By: Edna Baudelaire

Chapter Three: Smithers to Smithereens

Alex's POV

My heart beat wildly within my chest as I watched Annabelle's shaking form disappear around the corner. My clenched fists trembled as the adrenaline rush I just received coursed through my veins. I should have felt victorious. I got my way. I am free now to drop this mission.

But I can't. This wasn't me. Alex Rider does not drop missions. And Alex Rider surely does not make girls cry. How could I do that to Annabelle? I, of all people, know what it feels like to deal with the death of ones parents. I had to fix this. I had to get this mission back. More importantly, I had to get Annabelle back.

I let out a shaky breathe as I raced out of my house and onto the empty London streets. The dark sky twinkled with starlight and the moon lit up the roads with a dull light, causing eerie shadows to play along the ground. Annabelle was nowhere in sight, but I knew exactly where she would be.

My worn sneakers pounded upon the cold hard pavement as I arrived at the town park. As I expected, the sound of a lone swing reached my ears. Back and forth, back and forth, the rusty metal protested against the light movement. Annabelle sat upon the swing sideways, with one leg dangling and the other curled underneath her body. She picked at her nails as tears slowly traveled down her face, illuminated in the icy moonlight. I slowly walked towards her, millions of apologies swirling in my mind, none of them strong enough to make up for what I had said.

Her head shot up as she heard me approach. Thankfully she didn't try to run as I slowly sat on the swing beside her. I took in a long breathe, articulating what I would say.

"So, have you come to rub my parent's death in my face again?" She spat as she refused to meet my eyes. They remained glued to the ground, where mine desperately wanted to be as well. But I resisted the urge, and tore my gaze away, forcing myself to hold it on Annabelle's face.

"Quite the opposite actually," I said. "I came to apologize. There is no excuse for what I said. It was low and I shouldn't have said it." She glared at me. "Look, I know we got off to a crappy start, but...can we just...start over?"

She brushed some tears away. "Start over?" She asked.

I smiled and held out my hand.

"Hi. My name is Alex Rider," I said. Much to my dismay, she ignored my gesture.

"Alex," she whispered. "I just, don't think this is going to work. We can't work together. We're just too...too different. Two wrongs don't make a right."

"But three rights make a left," I said, and at that, she giggled. She quickly recovered, and the frown returned to her face. She hastily stood up, the swing swaying eerily behind her. She slowly walked over to a slide and plopped on the end of it, shoving her head into her shaking hands.

I got the message. I stayed where I was, plastered to the swing seat. I slowly rocked back and forth, the light squeaking piercing through the silence.

"Alex-" She started.

"I know." I said, kicking the gravel that lay beneath my shoes. "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have treated you the way I did. I was cruel and rude. I said some bad things that I shouldn't have. If you forgive me, we can forget all of that and become a team. We have to, remember? Lives are on the line." She gave me a watery smile.

"I'll forgive you, under one condition," She said. "You have to tell me why you acted the way you did. You didn't even know me and you hated me. Why?"

I sighed, and readjusted my position.

"It's a long story," I told her. She nodded her head.

"Well get to story-telling."

"Last time I worked with a team, things didn't go right." I then proceeded to telling her about Troy and Turner and what happened to them in Skeleton Key. She remained quiet, not uttering a word throughout my story.

"I didn't want what happened last time to happen again. I didn't want to get attached and lose someone else I cared for. I was scared." I looked down, unable to meet her gaze. "I thought if you didn't like me, I wouldn't like you and we would get through this mission without any kind of connection. That way, if you got hurt, I wouldn't get hurt. I completely understand if you don't forgive me. I can't even think of words to describe my behavior today. Just...I'm sorry for everything." Silence. The only thing I heard was the creaking of the ancient swing and the sea of crickets chirping.

"So," she said. "We can really just, start over?" Hope filled my senses.

"If you forgive me." She thought for a moment, which was by far, the longest and most strenuous moment of my entire life.

"I'm Annabelle," she said. "And you are?" I smiled as relief consumed my senses.

"My name is Alex Rider and I look forward to working with you, Anna." I got up and held out my hand. What came next was unexpected. Annabelle jumped up and wrapped her arms about my body. It took me a moment to come out of my senses and hug her back. Her hug was warm and genuine. I couldn't remember the last time I really embraced someone.

Her head rested upon my chest and stopped just below my chin. The sweet scent of her shampoo filled my nostrils, enticing my senses. Before I knew it, the hug was over.

"I promise not to be rude to you ever again," I said, holding up my right hand. "Scout's honor."

"And I promise never to kick you in the groin or punch you in the face ever again," she said, holding up her hand, identical to mine. I grinned.

"Come on," I said as I checked my watch. "Smithers should be here soon. Let's get back home." We both headed back to the house, just talking. Talking about our interests, our dislikes, our preferences. For a little while at least, I felt like a normal teenage boy. A normal teenage boy walking home with a beautiful girl who sent tingles up his spine.

...

We arrived back at the house a little past eight o'clock. I noticed immediately that a black sedan was parked in our driveway. I smiled.

"Smithers is here," I announced. We walked inside to see a massive man sitting at my kitchen table, facing away from us. Smithers was chatting away with Jack, who noticed our entrance. I saw her glance quickly at Annabelle before setting a couple of bowls on the table.

"Dinner," she said before turning away again. I made a mental note to myself to talk to Jack about Annabelle later. Then, Smithers swiveled around in his seat.

"Alex!" He bellowed. "My dear boy, it's so nice to see you again! And, hello. Who is this?" He hopped off of his stool and shuffled over to us.

"Hi Smithers," I said as I politely shook his hand. "This is Annabelle." He took her hand.

"Pleasure," she said as she smiled kindly.

"So I understand you work with the ISS?" Smithers asked.

"Yes, I do—"

Smithers and Annabelle continued small talk while my mind wondered. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Her smile was so authentic and stunning. Her laugh was contagious. I found myself grinning just hearing it. I got a flashback of her rosy cheeks, covered in tears that I caused. Guilt coursed through my veins.

"So am I going to show you your new gadgets Alex, or are you going to stare at Annabelle all night?" Smithers voice broke into my thoughts. I instantaneously blushed and looked away. We sat down at the table, Jack at one end while Smithers, Annabelle and I huddled together at the other end.

"Here is your first gadget," Smithers said as he laid two pairs of shoes on the table. One pair was noticeably smaller than the other. I picked up my pair of black dress shoes as Annabelle grabbed her heels. I saw the look of disdain on her face.

"I have to wear heels?" She asked.

Smithers smiled. "Don't worry. There's a button on the side that adjusts the height of the heels." Annabelle smiled graciously. "Now, these are not just any dress shoes. I have been working on these for 10 years. They fly."

"What!" Annabelle and I shouted in unison. A huge grin spread across my face as I searched for concealed buttons.

"Its voice activated. We will set them up later. They also conceal a tracking device and a cell phone," Smithers replied proudly. I quickly kicked off my normal shoes and slipped on my new "gadget" shoes. Perfect fit.

"The next group of gadgets is for Miss Annabelle." Smithers cleared his throat. "It's a series of...um...feminine products," Smithers blushed. "Would you like me to explain them here, or later on in private?" Annabelle chuckled.

"Here. They might come in handy."

"Alright, well this may look like a tampon, but if you push uh...this part in...that you...uh...normally would, it shoots a sleeping dart. It can shoot at a 500 foot radius." Annabelle's eyes widened as she took the "tampon" and examined it.

"This next gadget is quite clever," Smithers said as he smiled. "What does this look like to you?" He slid a container between the two of us. I opened it and felt my cheeks turn red.

"Birth control?" I asked.

"It looks like birth control but really, every capsule contains a small bomb, big enough to blow up a room."

"Wow." Annabelle's eyebrows rose. "I'll have to remember not to take any of these."

"Yes, we wouldn't want a bomb to go off in your little stomach. Now, once you take one of these pills out of this container, you have 3 minutes until it goes off." Smithers said as he reached for another gadget.

"Now Annabelle, or shall I say, Alyssa?" Smithers recalled. "There is one thing you would never leave home without. Your snuggle bear." He pulled out a raggedy teddy bear that had one ear chewed off, one eyeball popped out and stitches covering its body.

"Aww!" Annabelle said as she picked it up and hugged it. "He's so cute!" I smiled and shook my head. I felt a sharp slap on my shoulder.

"Hey! I've got nothing against stuffed animals!" I said as I put my hands up. Annabelle grinned as she started to examine her snuggle bear.

"This teddy bear is equipped with a security system. In his one good eye is a video camera. You set this bad boy anywhere and you can watch secret meetings and well...anything! I bet your wondering where the screen is." He slid two pairs of sunglasses across the table. "Put these on and press the button that goes behind your ear." I quickly slid the glasses on and felt around for the button. Once I found it, a transparent image filled my vision. I could still see Jack across the table and Smithers in front of me. But now, I could also see myself and Annabelle. I was looking through the bear's eye. I could see Annabelle waving her hands around wildly and chuckled.

"It's a pity the two of you are not eighteen yet. MI6 has forbidden me to give you any fatal weapons." He shook his head and stood up. "There might be a couple of surprises waiting for you in Australia." I walked him over to the front door.

"Thanks for everything Smithers." I said as I shook his hand.

"You're very welcome. And it was very nice meeting you Miss Annabelle," He said as she appeared at my side. She gave him a quick hug.

"It was nice meeting you too."

"Well I'll be off now. Thanks for dinner, Jack!" He called out towards the kitchen. Jack appeared in the hallway and waved quickly before running back in the kitchen. A fire alarm went off.

"Did she forget to turn off the stove again?" I asked as I shook my head.

"It's OK! I got it under control!" Jacks voice traveled from the kitchen. We all laughed and then watched Smithers open the door and wave goodbye one last time. As the door closed, Annabelle cleared her throat.

"Wow. You guys get the coolest gadgets. In the ISS, we got nothing." She said as she held up her snuggle bear and laughed.

"He is pretty cute," I said as I took him into my hands. The raggedness of this bear was genius. It looks as if Annabelle had been dragging it around since she was little.

"Come on, we still have to go over the files." She said as she started to walk past me, towards the stairs. As she walked by, her body brushed mine. We both stopped and she turned around.

"Oh, uh...sorry," she said, sheepishly.

"Don't be," I said quietly. Time stood still. Our faces got closer, and closer. Her eyes closed, and our lips barely brushed.

Next thing I know, pain. A huge explosion shook my bones. The windows exploded and glass cut across my body. Instinctively, I put my arms around Annabelle and forced her to the floor. Heat and fire seared my back as shards of glass cut across my arms and neck. I could faintly hear Annabelle screaming, but her voice was drowned out by the sound of the explosion. It was over as quickly as it started. I could still hear fire crackling and a few pieces of glass falling to the floor. I could hear Annabelle's shocked breathing; I could feel her racing heart; I could feel her trembling beneath me. My senses kicked in as I quickly stood up and examined what had happened.

Outside the broken window, I could see a massive ball of fire sitting in my driveway where Smithers had parked his car. I helped Annabelle up and made sure she wasn't hurt. She was trembling and frightened, but not physically harmed. She blinked a couple times, trying to become the professional assassin she was. Once under control, she looked up at me.

"Smithers."

We rushed outside to the ball of destruction that was once a black sedan. Annabelle was the first to find the body. I heard her scream, but she seemed distant. My legs felt like jello, refusing to carry me over to where she was. My hearing was temporarily shut off. It was like I was in a dream. The ball of flames crept closer, even though I was really stumbling towards it. The heat from the engulfed car played across my face and burned the skin on my chest that was exposed. I coughed uncontrollably as smoke filled my nostrils and lungs. I looked inside the incinerated car to see the body of someone who was once a jolly, happy man. A man who was my friend. The next thing I saw was blackness, and a lot of it.

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Edna B.

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