Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider

Chapter 3

"It was the face of a blond angel, of a fifteen-year-old boy. The boy was as beautiful as Eve."

Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five

Alex leaned against the wall of the observation room, arms crossed defensively over his chest. He was stone-faced, refusing to acknowledge the people around him. Beside him, Jones stood, unmoving and stiff. Her face was schooled in a neutral expression as she watched the scene in front of her. Byrne was also there, his usual casual posture now rigid. The rest of the officials were in another room, watching Aegosokovia's interrogation on a big screen, like some kind of sick movie.

"Tell us what the IA wants," the interrogator growled. The questioning had gone on for hours, and the man—Alex couldn't identify his accent—had resorted to extreme measures. It made Alex's stomach twist and turn, but he stayed.

Aegosokovia laughed loudly, blood spittle flying from his lips, "I already told you. They want to kill everyone."

The man was unrelenting, "But what for?"

Aegosokovia made a jerking motion like he wanted to shrug, but he was held down by straps and buckles. The most he could do without straining against the bonds was to wiggle his toes. "For money? For pleasure? I don't really know. I get both when I shlick!" He made a noise, and Alex was sure that if he had a hand free, Aegosokovia would draw a finger across his throat, that stupid shit-eating grin on his face.

The interrogator sighed and glanced over to the one-way mirror, the very definition of hopelessness seared onto his face. Alex would have felt bad for the man if he hadn't been watching him torture Aegosokovia for hours.

Jones moved toward the window, breaking the quietude in the room. She rapped her knuckles softly against the window, catching the interrogator's attention, who began to head for the door.

"Wait!" Aegosokovia called out, "Send in Alex. I have something muy importante to tell him."

Alex watched the bound man with narrowed eyes, trying to find one—just one—weakness that he could use against him. It was all in vain, of course, because the last couple hours were exactly that: trying to find Aegosokovia's weakness.

"Go," Jones didn't look at him. She was staring at the man too, her usual blank face replaced by an uncharacteristic frown.

Alex took another moment to study the man before exiting the observation room and entering in the interrogation room.

The room was cold on Alex's skin, but Aegosokovia was drenched in sweat. It stunk of body odor and metallic blood. Alex did his best not to breathe in too much, but it was futile.

"You called?"

Aegosokovia was grinning happily up at him, somehow managing to look happy while bleeding from his face, "Alex! It's so nice to see your handsome face ag-"

Alex was impatient. He cut Aegosokovia off sharply, "Cut the crap. Tell me what you want to tell me."

"Ow, I'm hurt," to his credit, Aegosokovia did put on a very hurt expression that momentarily made Alex feel bad. A teasing grin replaced it a moment later, and Alex's mask hardened once more. Aegosokovia whispered dramatically, "You have to come closer, Al, li'l pal. Closer, closer."

Alex didn't move. He stared, unimpressed, at the assassin.

"Okay," Aegosokovia sighed, "I suppose I'll have to tell you," he looked around, as if checking for any eavesdroppers, though he knew well that there were people standing in the observation room. "The IA really wants you. They want to take you and do really naughty things."

Alex gritted his teeth at Aegosokovia's tone. It was like trying to talk to a petulant child that thought he was just as knowledgeable as an adult. "Like what?"

Aegosokovia shrugged as best as he could, "The little baby has finally broken away from its mother," he smiled brightly, "and when mommy was killed, little itsy-bitsy IA vowed to destroy the one who caused it."

Alex's eyes widened before he could control his body's reactions. He stepped closer, muscles tense, "This is happening because of what I did to SCORPIA?"

The other man laughed. It sounded forced and spit gurgled at the back of his throat, "Smart too! The whole package, huh? You have the new SCORPIA on your hands, Al. Why don't you spend your last living days with the man of your dreams?"

Alex barely contained the huff of annoyance that was making its way to the surface. Aegosokovia seemed to spot it, though, and he laughed again, winking suggestively at the spy.

From the other side of the one-way mirror, someone rapped sharply, calling for Alex's attention. He gave Aegosokovia one last glare before exiting, making sure to shut and lock the door completely after him.

"Conference room. Now," Jones was already out there, her stoic face set in determined lines. "We have to discuss this."

She turned sharply and marched away, her heels clacking and slapping against the white-tiled floor. After a moment, Alex followed, looking back to see if Byrne was going to come too.

"Get in," Jones motioned as she stepped into the elevator. It was pristine and cold. It seemed even colder now that Jones was occupying the space. It was like she was sucking the life and the warmth out of the air. Alex stepped in after her.

They were silent for most of the ride. Even the peppy elevator music couldn't mask the obvious tension in the atmosphere.

"So what are we going to do now?" Alex asked, watching the numbers above the elevator doors slowly increase.

Jones waited for the doors to ding and slide open before answering with a cryptic, "Let's talk with the other representatives first."

Alex had no choice but to follow the curt MI6 director out of the elevator and towards a nondescript office door. He knew the rest of the representatives were there, no doubt arguing over what Aegosokovia had said moments before.

As soon as Jones flung open the door, the noise in the room died out. Alex stood behind her cautiously, waiting to see what she would say.

"I think," the director of MI6 said tightly, "that we would all agree in our course of action. Operation Salvation must be brought back."

There was a faint murmur of agreement. Somewhere in the back of the room, an accented voice muttered, "who died and made you commander?", but didn't protest any further.

"Excellent. We'll begin gathering our soldiers immedia-" Jones' commanding voice was cut short by a wailing siren.

A woman in the midst of the crowd pushed her way forward, scanning the screens that were supposed to display the interrogation rooms. The screen was fuzzy, glitching. She turned to glare heatedly at Jones, "Something's gone wrong. The IA agent—"

The room was instantly filled with panicked voices. They were checking their bodies, searching for a weapon, which, of course, they didn't.

"Everyone, let's handle this calmly—" Jones tried to interject, but her voice was drowned out by the rise of the other official's voices. "Excuse me—"

Alex's lips curled into a frown. He stepped forward, his shouting barely containing his irritation, "Listen!" His voice was drowned out by the din.

Alex exchanged frustrated glances with Jones before he pushed away from her, delving into the crowd to reach the woman.

"What happened?" He asked harshly as soon as the woman was within earshot. She wore a headset, and Alex determined that she was part of the tech crew.

"I don't know!" the woman shouted over the panicked officials, "One second, the IA guy is sitting there, the next, the screen goes fuzzy and the alarm is sounding. He escaped!"

Alex cursed under his breath, already having guessed that much. He glanced back at Jones, who was trying to gain control over the panic. They locked eyes, and with a tiny, nearly imperceptible nod, Alex set off for the exit.

He didn't have any of his usual weapons on him, so Alex was forced to compromise. He slipped past the crowd and through the door that he'd come in from. Before him, the hallway stretched out before him, challenging him. Alex had to find Aegosokovia fast, and he was at a disadvantage. He didn't know the buildings. He didn't know the nooks and crannies in the building.

Alex passed by an office as he moved silently down the hallway. Without a real weapon, he had to get creative. He armed himself with a pair of scissors.

The alarm came to an abrupt halt, but Alex ignored this. He knew that the danger was still out there. Aegosokovia and his IA buddies were definitely not rookies. Or, they were already gone. Alex's mind turned to the alternative, but he quickly pushed it away. He was going to get this bastard. There was no one who could stop him.

The elevators had stopped working when the alarms were sounded. Alex diverted his path to the nearest stairwell. There was only one way up and one way down.

The front doors were also locked, and a quick look at the windows lining the outside of the buildings told Alex that there was no way of getting out except for the roof.

With his pitiful excuse for a weapon and an inhuman degree of anger, Alex darted up the stairs as quickly as he could, his hackles raised and his senses on alert.

It didn't take him long to reach the roof, thanks to his paranoia in college. He'd kept up with his fitness and training, even though he had vowed not to return to the espionage world.

Nevertheless, he was panting as he reached the last flight of stairs, but the familiar rush of adrenaline was pushing him forward. Above the rushing of his blood and the pounding of his heart, Alex heard the unmistakeable noise of helicopter blades, chopping the air evenly.

Alex raced to the door, slamming into the push bar as hard as he could. When it didn't budge, he staggered back, panting. He surged forward again, and this time the door broke free, swinging open to reveal the helicopter already hovering a good ten feet above the ground, and a smug Aegosokovia, visibly waving at him from the cockpit.

Alex snarled, the muscles in his arm preparing to launch the pair of scissors at the helicopter. As if knowing what he would do, Aegosokovia gave a grand gesture, kissing his fingertips and blowing them back to Alex.

Alex couldn't do anything except watch the IA agent fly away.

A/N: Hello everyone! This was uncomfortable to write because I'm suffering a little bit from writer's block. Anyway, it was my birthday yesterday, so you better leave good reviews! Lol, just kidding. Y'all can do whatever you want, but reviews would be really awesome. Thanks to everyone who reviewed for last chapter! Keep 'em coming... I love to hear feedback and things that I can improve in!

Oh yeah, and if you could all hop over to my profile page, I have a poll up regarding SpyFest and other activities. It would mean a lot for you to take it really quickly. Thank you! HUGS AND KISSES FOR EVERYONE.

-Alice x