The Bard of the Bodleian (an Alex Rider fanfiction)

Epilogue: Guardian Of Books

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).

A few days later, Alex and Tom were sitting on Tom's bed, about to watch Mission Impossible (Tom's choice, apparently he wanted to pick up some spying tips).

"So, you're not mad that I got all the credit for the Oxford fiasco?" Tom turned to Alex for maybe the hundredth time that day. "You did most of the work, you know?"

"No, Tom, honestly." Alex tried to reassure him.

"But Alex, mate, you were the one who jumped off the bridge and fought the bad guys while balancing on a boat-"

"Yeah, and I wouldn't have been able to do any of that if you hadn't broken me out of that room. And you hooked that book from the river before it sank."

"That was pretty cool wasn't it," Tom grinned. "You reckon I should turn in my application to MI6? You should've seen me darting behind each podium, Alex, I was legendary! James Bond has some serious competition."

"No," said Alex a little too quickly. Then correcting himself as Tom gave him a look he said, "I mean, just don't. I'm sure you could, but... no."

There was a moment of silence, broken by Tom, easing the tension.

"The looks on Prospero and Ariel's faces as the police pulled them out of the water," Tom chuckled.

"That was pretty funny. They were so angry," Alex thought back to the time on the river. After he had punted over and expertly stepped onto the bank next to Tom, he had turned to watch Prospero and Ariel, still struggling to stay afloat. It hadn't helped Ariel had been yelling and desperately moving her arms trying to stay above the water, despite Prospero's attempts to help her.

"Do you think we should do anything?" Tom had turned to him.

"Nah, they're alright."

Then the police had showed up, pulling the two bedraggled thieves to the side of the river, and dragging them onto dry land, where they lay coughing and spluttering. Prospero had recovered the quickest and tried to lunge at Alex and Tom, but was stopped by two police officers, who had handcuffed him and marched him to a waiting police car, Ariel following close behind.

"You want to tell us what happened there?" One of the officers had asked Alex and Tom, raising his eyebrows at the two bedraggled figures sat inside the police car.

"They hadn't paid their library fees," Alex said.

Then, as if by magic, MI6 had turned up. Alex wasn't even surprised at this point. They seemed to be everywhere, especially when all the drama had died down. Talk about letting Alex do all the hard work.

Of course they had taken over from there, spiriting Alex and Tom away before anyone could ask anymore questions, and providing a suitable excuse to Mrs Bedfordshire for their absence. Later someone had agreed Tom would get all the credit (Alex had not been consulted), but he didn't mind. MI6 had wanted to keep him out of the papers, he was still a valuable asset to them, and Tom deserved some time in the spotlight. It was all anyone was talking about at school: Tom had prevented a major book heist.

"Why couldn't they have tried stealing something cooler though?" Tom had complained, "Now I'm going to go down in history as the guardian of books!"

Alex had laughed, before throwing an arm over his friend's shoulders. "William Shakespeare would be so proud."

Alex turned to his friend and smiled.

"Mission Impossible?" Tom asked.

"Mission Impossible," Alex replied.

They both leant back, as the familiar theme song began to play.