The Bard of the Bodleian (an Alex Rider fanfiction)

Chapter 4: Rescue

Disclaimer: all characters and references to Alex Rider, Mission Impossible, James Bond, Narnia, Marvel and any William Shakespeare play are not our own (we're just big nerds).

Tom couldn't believe his and Alex's bad luck; of course the bad guys weren't stupid enough to realise they were missing a page. As Caliban came back into the room he swung to the side once again hiding himself in the shadows, hoping Alex would be able to handle the other man; he had much more experience in these situations than Tom did. Peering around the door frame he watched as Alex launched himself at Caliban, kicking out with all his strength in a move that made the man curl in on himself, open to another attack. Tom was tempted to cheer Alex on, relieved that everything was clearly under control... until the door once again opened and Prospero and Ariel returned to the room. He saw the shock on their faces at not only Alex's presence but that a kid was about to incapacitate Caliban in a fight. Prospero reached into his pocket and Tom saw the tell-tale glint of silver as the gun emerged, the man curling his finger around the trigger before starting to stride towards Alex.

What should he do? He desperately wanted to yell a warning to Alex, whose spidey-senses clearly weren't working, as he was too distracted with Caliban to notice the other two people now in the room. But that would give himself away. Tom knew that if it were the other way around then Alex would immediately jump into action and have his back, but he also knew how fiercely protective his friend was. Alex was probably more likely to kill Tom for leaving his hiding place in an ill-attempted rescue than the bad guys would. He had absolutely no combat skills whereas Alex had been in plenty of these situations before. He'd have to hope his mate could handle himself here as well.

Slipping his phone out of his pocket he dialled the first two digits of the emergency services- he needed a backup plan in case this took a turn for the worse. He glanced down at his phone again; should he just call the police? No doubt Alex would rather handle this entire thing himself though. Sometimes his friend really was an idiot.

After a moment Tom put his phone away again, carefully watching the scene in the room. Alex appeared to be convincing the bad guys that he was a harmless kid... and apparently it was actually working?! Maybe these guys really were stupid, saying Alex Rider was just a kid was like saying a lion was a playful kitten.

Yet unbelievably they seemed to be falling for it, despite seeing Alex almost take down Caliban! Tom watched as Caliban tied his friend to an old chair, tying the knots tight in a clear attempt to cause Alex pain, before gagging his friend and turning back to Prospero. Suddenly he whirled back around and struck Alex viciously, sending Alex and the chair rocking backwards but not quite falling over. Tom flinched at the strike, wanting nothing more than to run to his friend, but his attention was caught by Prospero and Ariel who had been moving towards the doorway and the spiral staircase. It caught him by surprise, he'd been expecting them to leave through the other door again.

However it was Prospero's shout of "Caliban, leave. Now!" that gave him his chance. Their attention was focused again on their companion, and he had an opportunity to turn and scramble further up the seemingly never-ending spiral staircase. He had to hide until they left. Seconds passed, feeling like ages. Every nerve in Tom's body was screaming at him to get to Alex. Hang in there, mate, he thought, I'm coming.

Finally he heard Prospero, Ariel and Caliban on the stairs, their voices echoing in the confined space, bouncing off the stones.

"He's a kid, not much of a threat. The mission is in no danger."

"We need to move fast though. He might have mentioned he saw something to someone."

"Agreed. Let's grab the manuscript from the exhibition and get to the boat. It's ready and waiting for us on the river, just before Magdalen Bridge...."

Their voices began to fade as they exited the staircase somewhere below him. That was enough for Tom. He stood up from where he'd been crouched on the stone step and raced back down to the room where they'd left Alex, almost slipping on the steps in his haste.

"Alex!" he called, sprinting towards the other boy.

Alex didn't seem to have heard him and for a second Tom was worried his friend was out cold. Yet as he approached he saw that Alex's eyes were open, and breathed a sigh of relief, as he removed the gag.

"Mate, I'm so sorry, I should've-"

Alex blinked, a dazed expression on his face, but met his eyes.

"Tom, it's fine. Can you get me out of here?"

Tom worked on the ropes binding Alex to the chair and after a few minutes of impatient struggling by Alex ("Tom, they're going to get away!"), and cursing by Tom ("God, Alex, will you please give me a chance to untie these knots! Unless you think you're the Hulk and can bust yourself out, then be my guest."), both boys were running back towards the staircase, and the exhibition beyond it.