Fifteen

When you're fifteen and your first kiss makes your head spin 'round

Desiree sighed as she resurfaced, kicking viciously to keep her head above the surf. It had been a little more than two months since her return to Australia, and more than ever she was appreciating living in a country that didn't snow. Sure, snow was pretty, snow was fun, especially if you can throw it in the face of one Alex Rider, but it was also bloody freezing! No, the girl was much better suited to the warm Australian temperature.

"Dessi! Oi, Dessi!" A loud voice shouted from the shore, causing the girl to start violently and inhale a mouthful of sea water. Coughing and spluttering, the girl turned to give Jake her best glare, ignoring the fact that he wouldn't be able to see it from afar. "Dessi! We're going! Come on!"

The AIS agent sighed again, before kicking out and beginning her swim back to shore.

It was very rare for AIS agents to have a day off, but that was exactly what this Saturday had been. Jake had taken his entire unit down to Scarborough Beach where they'd spent the day among the surf, among the beach, or in Terry's case, buried in the sand. It appeared that now, as the sun was about to make its descent below the horizon, they would be leaving once again for AIS headquarters. Not something Desiree was looking forward to.

The girl had just reached the shallower waters of the beach when a terrified scream split the air. She whipped around, her hand automatically going to her hip where there was usually a gun or a weapon of sorts before she realised that she was wearing bathers, to see a girl, perhaps thirteen years of age, losing a frantic battle with the waves. Dessi glanced back at her unit, meeting her field partner's eyes. A shared look of understanding passed between the two, and Jake nodded.

Desiree turned and dived back into the water, her well practiced strokes pulling her rapidly towards the drowning girl. From the corner of her eye she could see someone she presumed to be the girl's older brother, seemingly frozen in shock. Grimly the spy ploughed on, hoping to reach the drowning girl before anything worse could happen.

Of course, with her luck, something worse was bound to happen. And it did.

The thirteen year old had tired drastically from her struggle against the waves. She couldn't keep her head above the water for as long, and kept getting sucked back down into the depths of the ocean. Just as she spotted Desiree, the girl lost her fight and was dragged under into the darkness of the waters.

Desiree watched the girl look around and spot her; she watched the fearful eyes widen with hope. And she watched as the girl disappeared from the surface of the waters...and not reappear. Dessi swore quite violently under her breath before she took a deep breath and dived.

Under the water, everything went silent. The waves calmly dragged her in three different directions at once, seemingly begging her to play with it. Like a puppy who didn't know its own strength, the ocean couldn't understand that it was a force to be reckoned with. Dessi squinted through the water, trying to locate the girl in the ocean's depths. With each stroke pulling her deeper and deeper into the water's embrace, the AIS agent was running out of air. Her lungs screamed for oxygen.

A movement caught the girl's eye; turning her head, she saw the thirteen year old struggling weakly against the restraints of the ocean. She seemed to have held her breath; though who knew how long it would be before the girl gave into her struggle and breathed in a lungful of deadly salty water.

Dessi struck out for the girl, ignoring the burning sensation of her oxygen deprived lungs. Adrenalin surged through her body, making up for the increasing drainage of energy from her body. With one last kick, she'd reached the thirteen year old girl.

Wrapping an arm around the body that had stilled at once from her touch, Dessi set out for the surface of the ocean. Time was running out for both of them. She had to get them up fast, before either lost consciousness from the lack of oxygen circulating their body. Already she could feel her vision dimming.

Then suddenly, they broke the surface. Two simultaneous gasps could be heard as they both refilled their lungs with as much air as was humanely possible. For a while they stayed like that, both breathing hard, with Desiree keeping them both afloat. Then the spy set out slowly for the shores, not wanting to push her body to its limit. It had worked hard enough already.

Once they reached a spot where they could feel the sandy bottoms, Desiree let the thirteen year old girl go. She staggered to her feet, before tripping. Dessi had to lunge to catch the girl. She had just steadied them both when the girl's older brother reached them, pulling his sister into a tight hug as the girl broke down into tears, a mixture of fear and relief.

Dessi watched on with a small smile, before turning to head back to where Jake was watching and waiting. Just before she could leave though, a warm hand closed gently around her wrist. Startled, the spy spun around, though the hand remained. The girl looked up into hazel eyes, bright with unshed tears, full of relief.

"Thank you," the seventeen year old boy whispered gratefully, his voice hoarse, "Thank you so much." His sister clung to his side, but she gave Desiree a shy smile as her own thanks.

Not entirely sure of what to say, and figuring that it probably wasn't a good idea to tell them that it happened every day, Desiree just nodded. The boy thanked her again before letting her go, pulling his sister into another tight hug. Dessi took that as her cue to leave, slipping away quietly before making her way over to Jake. She could feel the boy's eyes follow her all the way to the inconspicuous AIS car.

"Played the hero again," Jake greeted her, wrapping a towel around her still wet figure.

"Oh, shut up," Dessi said, though her words were slurred from her exhaustion. Jake grinned, shaking his head before guiding the girl into the car where Terry and Dean bombarded her with questions about her rescue.

Dessi looked out the window as Jake pulled away, and caught sight of the brother and sister making their way away from the ocean. The seventeen year old lifted his head and, catching sight of Desiree's face from the window of the car, waved her goodbye. Dessi returned the wave, though she was unsure if he saw it or not.

Terry watched his unit's youngest member with a grin. "Ooooooooooooo," he said in a teasing tone, "Dessi's got a cruuuuuuuuuuuuush."

"Shut it Terry, before I make you," came the snappish retort.

Terry caught Jake's eye in the rear view mirror. With a grin, both boys burst into song.

"Dessi's got a cru-ush, Dessi's got a cru-ush, Dessi's got a cru-ush!"

Dean rolled his eyes at Desiree, who grimaced before turning to look out the window, blocking out the two from her world. She watched the sun make its slow descent, nearing the horizon with each passing second. It had been two months since she'd kissed Alex. Two months since Alex had kissed her back. She could still feel the softness of his lips, the sweet tingle he'd left. In the past two months, she'd been dwelling on Alex a lot, but now she had to face the facts.

Alex was, and always would be, her first kiss. But there was no guarantee that they would ever meet again. And even if they did, who knew how much either of them would've changed? Perhaps it was time to stop thinking about what ifs, and what could have been. Perhaps it was time to stop dwelling on the past.

Perhaps it was time to move on.

Desiree plays the hero, and meets a very sweet boy along the way...perhaps he'll make a reappearance in the future? Who knows...

Love Chariots99