i dont any rights to the alex rider bookds, or this story, it belongs to TheUlmuri
Epilogue: Endgame
Alex walked down the busy London street, weaving through the crowds of people who were spending the Sunday afternoon enjoying the sun that had managed to peek through the city's near constant cloud cover as he made his way to his destination.
Four weeks had passed since graduation and for the most part life had returned to normal. Alex was forgoing university to start working full time for MI6 immediately; secure in the knowledge that he had the means and the ability to study what ever sparked his interest on the side whenever he wanted to or had the time. Katie would be attending the Imperial College in London, majoring in aeronautical engineering while Brent had signed on to play with Arsenal, a premier league football team based in london while working towards a degree in criminal profiling. Tom had decided to pursue his interest in cars, somehow securing an apprenticeship at a body shop that specialized in custom vehicles.
After a long internal debate, Alex had decided to sell his uncle's house and move into modern, upscale apartment at the top of a high-rise in Central London. He didn't need the extra space the house provided and the apartment afforded him a fresh start away from all the memories that the house in Chelsea held. It was also advantageously closer to his work.
It had taken nearly five months of emotional turmoil, but Alex had finally been cleared to return to active duty, and he knew that the call could come at any time. He was expected to return to Brecon Beacons at the end of the month for his annual training brush up-that was if he wasn't put out on assignment first.
Despite the fact that his life had, for the most part, returned to business as usual, there was one more thing that Alex felt he had to do to put the events of the last couple of months in the past and move on with the rest of his life. His left hand slipped into his jacket pocket, grasping the piece of paper that held the key to allowing him to do just that as he turned down a side street, following a route he had walked many times before.
Muffled rock music greeted Alex's ears as he stepped off the street and entered a small, clean tattoo parlor. Drawings and photos of the owner's work adorned the walls and the glass case beneath the front counter held hardware for a wide variety of piercings. A black leather couch and two matching chairs offered comfortable seating to waiting clientele and tattoo magazines and binders of sample work were laid out on a modern coffee table constructed of metal and glass, ready for visitors to look through for inspiration.
The man behind the counter looked up and smiled as Alex came to stand across from him. He was tall, tan, and well muscled with short, light brown hair and blue eyes. Both of his arms were covered in sleeves of colorful ink, which also peeked out of the neckline of his dark green tee shirt and crept up the side of his neck. His intimidating appearance contrasted sharply with his friendly demeanor. "Alex," he greeted. "Long time, no see."
"Hey, J," Alex replied. "Do you have time for me today?"
"It's been pretty quiet today," the tattoo artist replied. "I've got about four hours until my next appointment, so depending on what you want, I may be able to fit you in. What did you have in mind?"
Alex slid a folded piece of drawing paper across the counter, "I want it on my left bicep," he said as Jay curiously unfolded the page to reveal a hand drawn picture of an anatomically correct heart, wrapped in thorns.
"Did you draw this?" Jason asked, admiring the detail in the artwork.
Alex nodded as Jason studied the piece.
"It's amazing." Jason continued. "Based on the level of detail, I think that this will take around two hours so we can go in the back and get you started now. Was there anything else you wanted?"
