Alex Rider: Trouble Never Stops

Unexpected Perks

Alex's POV

When Alex woke up, he looked out the window to see that they were in his house's driveway.

"This is your stop, Cub." Wolf said from the front seat.

"Is Jack home?" he asked, still foggey from the long night and short nap.

"Yep. Fox says Jones wants to see you tomorrow, at noon."

"Alright. See you... eventually, then."

He got inside, and saw the clock read just passed 3 in the morning. Despite getting home over an hour and a half ago, Jack was still up, waiting for Alex to get back. When Alex walked in the door, she immediately greeted him with a hug and an order to get right to bed. Alex happily obliged.

Later that morning

Alex slept for a total of 7 hours, getting up around 10:30. He knew that Jones didn't want to see him till noon, but he wanted to do something else first.

Jack was still in bed, so he had toast and cereal, and then went upstairs to dress and get ready to leave. It was a little after 11 when he started biking to the Royal and General.

He parked and locked his bike with the chain from the small drawstring bag he brought (there were some things he left there yesterday), and went inside. The receptionist and Alex have seen each other plenty of times before, so, with a nod and smile, he passed her, and went into the elevator.

Instead of going to Mrs. Jones' office, he would be going to see Mr. Smithers. The man has helped Alex with many things before, expecting nothing in return, and he thought there could be something more Smithers could do for his youngest customer.

Luckily, Smithers was in that day, fat suit and all.

"Alex! Good to see you safe and sound. I heard everything went well last night?"

"Of course. Eagle said the tracker worked perfectly"

"Good! Some things that you brought with you yesterday are in the bag over there" He said, pointing to a table to the left of the room.

Alex went over and to the small bag, and checked that it held his small pistol, knife, and a few odd gadgets. He simply put the bag in the bigger bag he brought with him.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Smithens sacked

"Actually, I was wondering...if there was something that Jack could have...that would keep what happened last night from happening again. Something for her to have while I'm away at school."

"I see. Something defensive to help her out of a tight spot, and a tracker or SOS signal so we can help her easier."

"I guess, yes."

"Well, I have something that I've given many ladies here, and with a little alterations, it may work for Jack"

"When could you have it by? Would you give it to her?"

"I can have it done by this evening. If you are planning on staying the rest of the day, and going back to school tomorrow, you can come pick it up, or I can have it delivered to your house."

"I can come pick it up. What time do you think?"

"I'm sure it will be done by 5."

"Alright. I guess i'll see you then."

After that goodbye, Alex went back to the elevator and went up to Mrs. Jones' office. He was only 5 minutes early, so he figured he should be ok.

He went up to the door and knocked lightly. After a few seconds, he heard Mrs. Jones' voice saying "come in." The door was unlocked, and he went in to see her sitting at her desk, seemingly just having been on her desktop computer.

"Alex, take a seat. I'm glad to see everything went well last night. We got the official report from wolf, but i wanted to check in with you to see if there was anything you wanted to add."

"I'm sure Wolf told enough. I was knocked out in the car, and woke up in the basement. Chase came to meet me shortly after I woke up. He didn't tell me much, but it was pretty obvious. He wants to free some of his friends and restart Scorpia, or start something similar. He just wanted me to stay out of the way. Then him and a big man, Harrold, wanted to know if you were tracking me."

"Alright, nothing too surprising."

"Chase got away last night, right? Is anyone looking for him?"

"He did, but we should be able to find him soon. I'm sure Agent Danials would be willing to lead the search."

"I think he would be a great choice." Alex said with a smile.

"Now, there is also the matter of compensation. I believe some time ago, we agreed that you get paid in some way for any work you do for us."

"This one really wasn't a mission, I just had to help Jack."

"Of course, but it still took you away from school, and you did get somewhat hurt. I was thinking that instead of giving you payment, I could give you something you would otherwise buy yourself. I was thinking that now you will mostly live about 2 hours away, you having a car would make days like yesterday easier for all of us."

Alex tried his best to hide his excited optimism as Jones reached into a drawer in her desk and pulled out a set of car keys with the BMW logo on them.

"Can I trust you with it? It's in the car park out back" (AN- in the U.S - a parking garage)

"You can trust me, Mrs, Jones, you know that." Alex said with a smile, excitedly taking the keys.

"I would say I hope to see you soon, but we only see each other when there is trouble. So, have a safe trip back to school, Alex" she said as Alex started to leave

"Of course, Thank you!" Alex said, closing the door behind him.

He immediately set off to the back door that led to the car park. He went in and saw that the BMW wasn't an uncommon car of choice for MI6 agents, along with many other expensive, luxury brands.

He pressed the unlock button on the key and listened for the sound of his new car. He found it to the left side, a few rows back. It was a 2012 (It is now 2014 (1996+18)) series 3; it was simple, sleek, and very similar to the one Ian once had, except Alex's was black instead of silver.

Getting in the driver's seat, even as he felt the aches of the cuts and bruises from last night, he couldn't help think this job might not be too bad after all.