Alex Rider: A Billionaires Paradise

Bandages and Bank Loans

Alex was sort of annoyed with MI6. Yes, he did legally work for them now, but they had been careless. Alex had been played with, with false trails, false phone calls. The guy had known about him the entire time. Maybe he had been tipped off by a double agent, or maybe he recognised alex. Either way, they hadn't prepared enough, and it could cost alex his career. They had driven down a motorway, and Crawley had stopped to get alex a sandwich. The food at SAS was nutritious, but alex was still hungry. Alex hadnt hesitated to devour the egg-mayo sandwich. He was careful not to spill any crumbs, under Crawley's inspection. After a while alex began to recognise the roads. When he was younger, he had gone to a martial arts center, only a few miles off a slip road. Ian had driven him along this bit of road twice a week, and alex could even have told Crawley how to get back into London. Thankfully, they weren't abducted by a circus truck. They arrived back in London, and Crawley pulled over to a stop, only a few minutes walk from royal and general bank. MI6 had increased security since alex had gotten shot. This included thermal imaging, of the people walking around, and even Xray at the doors. Alex and Crawley walked the rest of the way to the bank, and the only dangerous thing, was when they crossed the road, not using the traffic lights. They walked in, talked to the receptionist, before continuing to the DEPOSITS & LOANS corridor. They were thermally imaged through the walls, and alex could sense that there were at least seven hidden cameras in this corridor. From there, they took a lift up to the fifth floor, where they went over to Mrs Jones office. Crawley opened the door, and alex walked in.
"Alex! I heard about the mission. We are completely to blame, and we take full responsibility. We should have researched more. I'm glad that your not dead."
"Yeah, you might want to check up on the people working here. Mr Rykowski knew exactly who I was from the start. He was practically play around with me from the beginning."
Mrs Jones unwrapped a mint, and slipping it into her mouth, continued.
"We ran a full investigation. It appears that your reputation went ahead of you. We believe that you were recognised by one of the gaurds. He worked for the Grimaldi brothers."
"And you forgot to mention that to me before?"
"We didn't know that they had that many guards. We're sorry that you got hurt. We have arranged for you to go to St. Dominic's. Hopefully it doesn't go like it did last time."
"Have you told Jack yet?"
"No. We thought that it would he best if you told her, as she doesn't generally like us."
"If that's all, I'd like to see jack."
"Just call us, and we'll get a taxi to your house."

Alex hobbled back to the street, leaning against the walls of the lift on the way down. He called a cab, and he could barely think all the way home. Jack would be furious. Although she knew that it was what he did, when he had gotten shot, he could tell that she was holding back anger, mostly out of pity. But what would she think now. Alex predicted some yelling, some crying, and a few desperate attempts do get him to quit MI6. Yep. An accurate forcast.

"ALEX. WHY ARE YOU LIMPING!?" Alex had barely shut the door, when jack began to yell.
"I'm ok jack. Really."
"What happened alex. Tell me."
"Ok. I got shot in the leg, I have minor ligament damage, and I'm going to have to go to St. Dominic's."
"SHOT IN THE LEG. Really alex, you need to tell MI6 that you'd rather go on missions that don't get you shot."
"It was my fault mostly, I wasn't careful."
Alex lied, for the safety of MI6.
"I only did a short course on ligament damage, and I know for a fact that you're more hurt than just "minor". Alex. Tell me the truth."
"I was recognised by a guard, and I realised to late that I was being toyed with. They shot me in the leg. Plainly they missed what they were aiming for."
"Every time you go on a mission, you come back with another bruise, or another scar. Broken ribs, bullet wounds, bruises, cuts, concussion. You've had everything. Please, for my sake. Quit."
"If I don't  heal fully, I probably will quit. But, I was made for this Jack. It's the oly thing I've really ever done. Hopefully I'll heal."
"Is there anything you need? Food, clothes?"
"I could do with some jeans. Trust me, the food at St. Dominic's is nearly as good as your scrambled eggs."