20The End of Alex Rider
Okay, since you guys are leaving such awesome reviews on the last chapter, here is a treat for your loyalty to the story. Another chapter!
We will see Mr. Alan Blunt again, for those who have missed him in last Alex Rider story. The chapter will focus on Mrs. Jones and Mr. Blunt, including some answers as to the last chapter, although it will only raise more questions than it will offer answers.
The more you guys review, the more I keep writing. I'm getting excited for this story and I really want to do it. But only you guys can give the power to do it. So please review! ;)
Enjoy!
Chapter Four:
Crossed A Line
Mrs. Jones was on her way out of MI6 headquarters when Smithers came running up towards her. She had barely touched the cold steel of the metal handle of the glass door once he reached her.
"We have a situation," he said.
Mrs. Jones sighed and asked, "What is it now? Has the Prime Minister come to tell us we are shut down?"
"No, it's about something else. One of our agents in the command center just found a distress call about one of our prisons being attacked."
Her eyes widened, but quickly got her act together and nodded.
Following his lead, they came to a elevator and stepped right in. Smithers entered in his security code and the elevator began to go down. Once the doors opened, they stepped out into the command world-wide center, where all activities going on publicly and privately was being watched.
They approached one of the agents, who was checking in on a situation in Russia on her supercomputer.
The agent noticed them as they approached and stood up straight.
"As you were," Mrs. Jones said. "What's the situation that Mr. Smithers says you found?"
The agent sat back down and pulled up a satellite footage of a prison just 50 miles off of Spain.
"About a couple of hours ago, I received word of a distress call from this prison," the agent said. "It's one of ours. But it's also not listed in our profiles or system. The moment I started looking into it a red flag came over it. If I'm not mistaken, I believe this is one of the non-existent prisons."
"All of our prisons are non-existent," Mrs. Jones replied.
"Yes, but even those are listed somewhere in our system. This one was built by someone who doesn't even want our system to know it exists and only one person has the power to do that in this agency."
"The Head of MI6 Special Operations," Smithers answered.
"But last time I checked I'm the head of Special Operations and I never ordered this prison to be made," Mrs. Jones looked at the footage on the screen. Her eyes widened as she came to a realization. "I know who ordered this."
"Who?" Smithers asked.
"Someone I was about to go see. And this time, I'm no longer going for advice, but to get answers."
She walked away from Smithers and the agent, taking the elevator back up to the surface and walking out the backdoor of the MI6 headquarters, getting into her limousine that was waiting for her.
"Mr. Alan Blunt's residents," she told the driver.
The driver didn't need an address for the location. He used to drive Mr. Blunt there once upon a time, when he was head of Special Operations.
While on the way to the countryside, where Blunt still lives in a fancy mansion, Mrs. Jones looked out the window, admiring the beautiful stars in the sky. She always did love looking up at the sky at them when she was a kid. Even now she still does. Some things never change, even for her.
It wasn't long until memories soon came rushing back into her head. Both good and bad. She remembered her two beautiful children, back in a day when she was a completely different woman. Back when she was a mother of two, single, and loving life as it came along. But then came the memories of after. After her children were mysteriously taken from her and was approached by Alan Blunt to join the agency to find her children. A time when she changed forever. Alex Rider appeared in her mind, as he always does. The regret and sorrow filled her heart until there was tears forming in her eyes.
There was one memory that came back to her. One that will always haunt her for the rest of her life. A day that could have changed everything. Whether it was for better or worse, she will never know. Only that it brought both good and bad in the events that came during that year.
Four Years Ago
A 'much' younger Mrs. Jones sat in the chair of Mr. Alan Blunt's office of the old MI6 building. Back then she was different than the woman she would later become after being head of Special Operations in the three years she served as. It always amazed her on how looking back on certain events can really show you how different things could have been.
Mr. Blunt sat his master chair, rubbing his head as he read the file report on Operation: Stormbreaker. They had already lost one of their best agents a few weeks before and Alex Rider was off training with the SAS to take that agent's place in the mission to discover if Herod Sayle is involved with the assassin Yassen Gregovich and also Scorpia, although Alex only knew about certain details of the mission. That he would infiltrate Sayle's home and see what he can find about him and his connection to his uncle's death.
"This is a bad situation we are in, Mrs. Jones," he said. "If Scorpia and Yassen are involved with Sayle, then it can't be anything good. With Ian Rider's death, we have a very short window and Alex is our only hope at finding out if Sayle is planning anything horrible."
Mrs. Jones swallowed and asked, "Permission to speak freely, sir."
"Permission granted," he said. "What's your opinion on the matter?"
"I think we should reconsider sending in Alex Rider, sir."
Mr. Blunt frowned and asked, "Why should I do that?"
"Because we are crossing a line, sir. Alex is a fourteen year old kid, pretty much a teenager actually. We can't start using children to fight our wars for us. We may even encourage future generations to follow our bad example."
"It's just a one time mission only, Mrs. Jones," Mr. Blunt got up from his desk and walked towards the window, looking out towards the city of London. "We use Alex this one time and we protect the very citizens we swore to protect."
"It won't just be one time, sir. Lets for example that he does succeed and brings down Sayle and stops his plan. What happens after? The world will always need saving. There will come a time when we will need to stop another threat and Alex will be the first person we will run to." She paused. "This life isn't for him. John, Ian, all of us have taken an oath to protect the world and England, but that's our choice. We never gave Alex choice. We blackmailed him into this. This life will destroy him. All of the Riders who have been involved with us are dead. Alex is the last and we both know that if he goes down this path, he will meet the same fate."
Mr. Blunt turned around and looked at her.
"Okay, lets say that I do reconsider and decide not to put him on the mission and leave him alone. Lets say I do that and we go in guns blazing to find out what he is doing. Lets just say that I do that and we end up coming up dry or that he wasn't behind anything. Word will get out and the public will hate us for going after a rich and powerful man. Or worse, lets say that he is planning something and by the time we try to stop him, he manages to hurt or kill innocent people. Are you willing to live with that Mrs. Jones? Because I sure am not going to."
Anger rose inside Mrs. Jones. Even her face was turning red. But she kept her cool and controlled herself.
"And lets say that we do send in Alex and he manages to succeed," she replied. "But what about after? What will life be like for him once it is all said and done? Men and women have gone through this kind of state, some can live with it and some just can't. What happens if we ruin this boy's life?"
"What does it matter if we fail to protect the lives of millions?" Alan spoke right back. "I took an oath to protect this country, by any means necessary. Alex Rider is a weapon and I will not miss an opportunity to use him to stop threats against both this country and this world. Peace always comes with a price, Mrs. Jones. I'm making mine and so is Alex. My word is final and that is that! Now, leave the matter be!"
Mrs. Jones wanted to speak right back at him. But she held her tongue and nodded. She got up from her seat and walked right out the door of his office. A part of her wanted to go to the Prime Minister and tell him anything. To do something in order to save Alex's life from this. But a part of her knew that Alan was right about one thing. That millions will die if they fail.
She made her decision and vowed to live with it, no matter what.
Present Day
"We're here," said the driver as he opened the door for Mrs. Jones.
Gently shaking her head, she got out of the limousine and turned towards the driver.
"Keep it running, I won't be very long."
The driver nodded.
She walked right up the concrete steps towards the giant mansion. She knocked on the huge wooden door and a woman answered.
"Mrs. Jones, what a pleasure," greeted Mrs. Blunt.
It amazed Mrs. Jones that she was still married to Alan after all this time. Either was truly in love with him or was just in for the money.
Smiling at her, she asked, "Is your husband home? I'm afraid I need to speak with him."
"Well, it beats secret service men coming. He's in his office, writing his next book. I'll company you to him."
Mrs. Jones kept her smile on and walked with Mrs. Blunt down a series of hallways. They soon came to a large office that almost resembled a library because of how many books there are.
Mr. Blunt had his back towards the two women, his fingers on the keyboard and his face in front of the computer.
"Honey, Mrs. Jones is here to see you."
Alan stopped writing and turned around. He no longer had grey hair but white instead. He even allowed a beard to grow out, although he has been keeping it from growing to far.
"Thank you, honey, you may leave us," he said.
Mrs. Blunt smiled and left without another word.
"Please, take a seat, Mrs. Jones," Alan present a seat just a couple of feet away from him. "I'm guessing you are here for advice. What can I help you with?"
Mrs. Jones nodded and took her seat.
"I'm here bout two things actually, one of which just happened recently today."
"I'm guessing you are about the Operation: Division that is happening," Alan said as he poured himself a glass of whiskey. "I must admit that I admire the government's need for more security and willing to go so far in order to protect the world."
"You always were the one who was willing to cross a line, no matter what it was," Mrs. Jones shook her head no when Alan moved the glass of whiskey towards her, signaling if she wanted some.
"In this business, there is no such thing as crossing the line," Alan took a drink. "I support the idea of this agency known as Division to exist. They will be able to do whatever it takes to do what needs to be done."
"By kidnapping, murder, even conspiracy against its own governments. Sounds more like treachery to me."
"Always by those who wish for nothing to change."
Mrs. Jones folded her hands together. "Do you think they will pass it?"
Alan thought about it for a few seconds and replied, "Most likely. The era of spies and assassins are now over. With the destruction of Scropia, government agencies have taken inspiration from Alex Rider to bring down criminal and terrorist organizations, even if they didn't know who Alex was. Now, the world is at peace, crime on a global scale is at low and the life of being an assassin has gotten a lot harder. True, there are some organizations out there who are still kicking and doing some bad stuff, but there will always be crime going on, even in cities. But what gets me the most is that no one knows, except for a select few, how it all started. It started with a fourteen year old boy, who took on assassins, businessmen, spies, and even the great Scorpia itself, and he brought all of them down. He proved that anything is possible."
Mrs. Jones closed her eyes as he mentioned Alex's name. Just hearing it never brings closure, especially with him still out there, somewhere.
"In speaking of which, have you managed to find Alex?" Alan asked.
Mrs. Jones looked at him and shook her head no.
Alan nodded and poured himself some more whiskey.
"We definitely trained the boy well. Staying in the shadows against MI6 and the CIA, a very hard thing to do. He always manages to impress me. If only he had become a full-time spy and never been discovered by the Prime Minister, we could have made even more progress."
"What we did to Alex was wrong," Mrs. Jones spoke back at him. "There is a reason he went dark on the world and us. We ruined his life and now he is in the wind, with no way of finding him."
"We did what we had to do to protect the world, Mrs. Jones," countered Alan.
"It still doesn't make it right. I should have stood up to you a long time ago. Even if it cost me my freedom, I should have. I live with this guilt and I can't even make it right. We crossed a line, Alan! One that we have to live with for the rest of our lives."
Silence filled the room. Both thinking about the words that were spoken.
"What was the second thing that you wanted to talk about, Mrs. Jones?" Alan asked.
"We just received a distress call from a secret prison of ours earlier today. It was attacked and a prisoner managed to escape. In fact, he was the only one."
"Oh, anything exciting to add, because it sound more like a problem that you handle on your own-"
"A prison 50 miles off the coast of Spain. One that isn't on any records of ours."
Alan's expression quickly changed and his hand that was holding the glass of whiskey was beginning to shake. Fear was in his eyes, something Mrs. Jones has never seen before and it scared her.
"How long ago did this happen?" he quickly said, putting his glass down.
"About a couple of hours ago," Mrs. Jones replied. "Why? Why is this prison so important? Who escaped?"
"Listen to me very carefully, Mrs. Jones. You need to put this as your top priority! And I really mean it! If you manage to find the prisoner who escaped, do not arrest him! Kill him! Something I should have done years ago!"
Mrs. Jones stood up.
"I'm not doing anything until you tell me what is going on! Now tell me, who is this man and why is this important to you?!" she ordered.
Alan stood up and began the story, "A long time ago, almost twenty years to be exact, John Rider discovered a man within the ranks of Scorpia, someone who was given a very important mission. This was a time when John was still undercover and hadn't been discovered yet. He was learning about the organization and the people who ran it. This man wasn't part of the inner circle, but he was important in some way. He had no identity, because he was never born with any records or anything kind of evidence of his existence. He never took on an identity, which is why he didn't have a name when he was imprisoned. John gave us the information about this man and helped us capture him. We prisoned him on that island and had a man known as the Interrogator torture him for information as to what his mission was."
"Did you succeed in getting that information?" Mrs. Jones asked.
"No. Even by the time I was forced to retire, the Interrogator couldn't break him still. I thought about letting you in on the secret, but I decided that it was better to leave him in his prison and rot in his very own hell. The man is killer. He has murdered countless people, some of them women and children for Scorpia during his time with them. This man is a monster, worse than Yassen Gregovich. The only other information John managed to recover was who gave him his mysterious mission."
"And who was that?"
"Julia Rothman."
Julia was once a high ranking member of the organization of Scorpia. A woman that John was forced to get close with and manage to make her fall in love with him to gain both her trust and the organization's. Alex faced off against her during Operation: Invisible Sword and managed to stop their plan to kill innocent children, which resulted in her death and the first failure of Scorpia.
"And unfortunately, our dear old Ms. Rothman is dead and in the grave. Is there anyone who can tell us about this man?" Mrs. Jones pressed on.
"Not that I'm aware of," Alan said. "I would try to talk to the surviving imprisoned Scorpia members. Zeljan Kurst, Dr. Three, anyone who was aware of his mission. And trust me, only the high ranking members knew about this guy. John Rider only found out about him through Julie and it wasn't an easy task. But the important thing is that you find him and kill him. It will be the best thing you can do right now."
Mrs. Jones took out her phone and began to dial headquarters.
Alan came forward and his hand on her shoulder as she began to head out.
"Make sure you find Alex as well," he said in a serious voice.
"Why?" Mrs. Jones raised an eyebrow.
"Because this man will come for vengeance. John maybe dead, but that won't stop him. He will come after Alex and he will kill him. Find him and have him go after this threat. If anyone can stop him, it's Alex Rider."
Mrs. Jones hesitated, and then said, "I won't bring Alex into this. He's suffered enough already."
"But he's already in this, Mrs. Jones. This man believes that the sins of his father must be passed on to him. Even if you put him in protective custody, it will do no good. He needs to put an end to this threat once and for all, or else he won't be safe ever. Alex is no longer on the grid, so he's in capable conditions to do what he needs to do in order to stop him." He paused and sighed. "I know that I've become a monster over time. What I said to you three ago about 'those who fight monsters must take care not to become one themselves', I meant that as a warning to you, so that you don't become like me. I may support this Division operation, but I'm glad that you don't. You still have that innocent side of you and I'm happy for that. But please, if there was a moment when Alex needed to do something for himself and not just for the world, it's right now."
Mrs. Jones took his words in and nodded.
"There's also one more thing," Blunt began. "There is another reason why this man wants vengeance against the Rider family. It's more than just his imprisonment. When John captured him, he killed his-"
Suddenly, a small noise came from the window and Alan's voice stopped. His eyes closed and he fell to the floor. Thunder sounded in the background as rain began to fall. Mrs. Jones knew that a sniper was shooting at them and ducked as another bullet came from the window. She positioned herself right next to the desk and got down real low. More bullets came as the glass broke completely. Soon there was nothing but silence.
Mrs. Jones slowly moved towards Alan, her body completely on the ground, crawling. She touched his throat and felt no pulse. Just by the look in his eyes she could tell that the bullet had hit his heart.
Alan Blunt was dead.
A part of her didn't know how to feel about it. She had known him for a very long time, longer than she knew her own children and own husband. She never agreed with a lot of things he had done in his life, but he was the closest person to a friend.
Mrs. Jones pulled out her phone and dialed MI6 Headquarters.
The sniper quickly disarmed his sniper rifle and started running into the trees, disappearing from sight in case someone might have saw him. He took out a phone and dialed a number.
After a few rings a voice came over the line.
"Is it done?" asked the one known only as the prisoner.
"Yes, it's done," the sniper replied. "The target is down and confirmed dead. I also should note that there was a woman there as well. I wasn't able to get a clear shot on her. I had to leave before she or anyone else pinned my position."
"The mission was a success and that's what counts," replied the prisoner. "Move on to the next target. Operation Clean Sweep is a go and I want to stay on schedule."
"Yes, sir," the sniper hanged up and kept moving, allowing the rain and the trees to provide cover.
Okay, some of you might be kinda mad that I just killed off a (sorta) main character. But I had to keep it interesting somehow. I really wanted this chapter to at least some answered questions as to what is going on. I hope you like how I did this chapter and that it was exciting in some way.
Once again, I apologize for any grammar errors or any errors involving words or sentences, I'm not perfect.
Please leave reviews on what you thought about this chapter. I really want to know.
