70Disclaimer: I don't own Alex Rider. Anthony Horowitz does
Chapter 7
Jag turned to see the new person before turning away again quickly.
"Please don't over react." Alex muttered in Japanese to the man.
The man looked momentarily confused before gasping. It was too late. The man had seen him. Jag, realising this, turned back to him, so that nothing worse could happen.
"Fancy seeing you here!" Jag exclaimed grinning like he was seeing a friend from his past.
"I thought you were dead." The man croaked sorrowfully.
"Mmm, so did I it was a nasty car accident wasn't it?" Jag hinted hoping the man would catch on. He turned to his unit."This man's an old school friend of mine. That's how he knows about my, err, accident 5 years ago. It was all over the school, everyone knew about it. I was away for a while then I went to school somewhere else so that I wouldn't have to deal with the rumours. They all thought I was dead." He quickly explained to his unit; distracting them while the man pulled himself together.
"He knows my full name obviously, Joe Howard, and everything about me up to a point. His name is Ben-"
"Saunders. I think I can introduce myself by now Joe." Ben said winking at him catching on to where this was going.
"Jag, this is Fox. I would introduce him to you but you obviously already know him. He's an honorary member of K-unit. You haven't met them yet." Boar added pointlessly.
"What do you do now that you've left the SAS Ben?" Jag asked grinning from ear to ear.
"I'm just a banker now. Fairly normal job; couldn't stand the action, you know?" Jag would have snorted and rolled his eyes but that would have ruined his cover. Luckily, Cheetah did it for him. Ben looked at him questioningly. Once a spy, always a spy; even when the people around you know who you really are.
"I must have just missed you then. I was a banker before I joined the army 2 months ago." Jag said looking genially interested while Ben just looked mildly amused.
"Oh really? I never realised that you had an interest in economics. Remind me what your A-levels were again?" Ben asked now grinning for ear knowing full well that Alex had only taken his GCSEs last year (and then quit school to work full time for MI6), and managed to scrape a pass grade no matter how much time he had spent doing extra-curricular activities, yet alone taken his A-levels.
"Maths, Physics and Tech. I think you must have confused me with our dear friend Jerry Harris. He's off teaching his younger brother, Tom, BASE jumping in Italy at the moment." Alex said, desperately trying to remind Ben of their 'friend'. Ben's eyebrows raised a fraction but you would not be able to tell unless you were watching. He covered it well.
"You told him that you were alive but not me?" Ben asked looking offended, Alex realised that he thought that he had told Tom.
"I sent you a postcard! It's not my fault that you were too thick to realise that I was still alive! I didn't even have a funeral, did you really think that I was dead?" L-unit looked amused that Jag had just called an MI6 agent thick.
"Yes I bloody well did Al-" Ben cut himself off before redirecting the conversation as though nothing had happened. "I've only just gotten over it! I was planning a funeral for you for next week, if you cared." Ben muttered the last statement so low that only Alex could hear.
"Of course I cared Ben! How could I not? You knew that I had to get away, we'd talked about it before. I couldn't make it obvious that I was still alive or they'd be all over me again." L-unit watched them with confusion now. This was obviously becoming personal now so they left, deciding that they could ask Jag about it later.
Alex dropped the act as soon as his unit had left. He nodded to Ben and they both swept the room for any camera or hiden bug that they could possibely be in the room. They pulled them all out and threw them into the corner of the room before dismantling them the smashing them to pieces and throwing them outside. Neither of them said a word until the 3 bugs and 1 camera they had found had been smashed and destroyed beyond repair. Once they were both satisfied they both turned to each other and grinned.
"It's good to see you Ben, sorry I shouted at you." He said pulling Ben in for a brotherly hug.
"I missed you, but you've got to admit, you were kind of convincing with the scene that you left. You just vanished." They stood there for a moment grinning like idiots, just happy to see each other again.
"Ben," Alex asked nervously, "Did you get my . . ." He trailed off, not wanting to know the answer.
"Yeah, I locked them in the chest of draws in your room. I guessed that you'd want them back at some point." Ben smiled knowing what Alex was talking about. Alex nodded his thanks.
"I knew I could trust you Ben." Ben nodded, already knowing this. He was glad to be one of the few people Alex actually trusted in this world.
"I know that silly. Did you ever doubt me?" Ben said in mock offense while Alex just grinned. "Then question is whether you trust them." Ben sobered hinting at L-unit which had just walked out. "Have you told K-unit or Tom?"
"No, just you. I'll find a way. Just not right now in front of a whole load of people." Ben nodded before commenting.
"When you say that you 'told' me, you really meant that you would send me an unnamed postcard saying that you'd see me in hell."
"Sounds about right." Alex grinned while Ben rolled his eyes.
"I thought you might actually mean hell. You always say that we'll both go to hell because we've just done so many bad deeds; even if it was for the good of others."
"Firstly, you're an idiot for thinking that. Secondly, we probably will if it exists. Thirdly, I'm not Christian so I don't believe in any of this religious stuff anyway. And fourthly, I ONLY ever say that in front of either Jones or Blunt because I knew that you'd go and show them that postcard. Honestly Ben, everyone knows that this place is nicknamed hell on Earth."Alex said, gesturing around the camp and making Ben feel a little bit of an idiot.
"That and the fact that I broke into our flat to crash and get some supplies the night I got back in England." Alex grinned.
"I knew it! I knew someone had been through your stuff!" Ben exclaimed and Alex just laughed. "Just to burst your bubble though Al, K-unit are coming tomorrow and that disguise of yours ain't fooling anyone. I mean your hairs a shade darker and shorter and the contacts are good idea and all; hell I don't even know what you did to your nose! But if anyone really knows you, you're the same. You still look to young to be in the SAS."
Alex grinned, "I already have that one covered Ben. But is K-unit seriously coming tomorrow?" Ben nodded the affirmation. "Well shit."
"It'll be fine Al. You've dealt with SCORPIA so many times that you can no longer count them on your fingers but yet you're still afraid of telling your unit that you're not dead?" Ben laughed.
"Well yeah Ben; it makes perfect sense." Alex smirked.
"I'm sure it does Al," Ben smiled and then coughed, "to your messed up brain."
Alex just smiled, ignoring the comment and asked, "Are you okay Ben? You sound like you're coming down with something. I think you should go to the hospital." Alex winked.
Ben's eyes widened before he started to protest. It was well known that neither of them liked spending time anywhere near the hospital or even a medic. They were both guilty of hiding wounds (even minor gunshots!) and treating themselves because the hated hospitals so much. It might have had something to do with the fact that they were normally only ever there because of a fatal injury after a mission gone wrong. Or maybe it WAS that mission they did together when . . .
It was too late for Ben. Alex had already collared him around the neck and has half dragging him – half laughing – towards the medic's barrack. There was no hope for him anymore. He was going to get something for that none existent cough. It might have been called revenge though rather than a medicine of sorts.
There was something odd about Jaguar's and Fox's reunion, the sergeant thought. He didn't know what. What they were saying made sense, the more he reasoned what they were saying the more he found himself believing it but then they started talking about bankers.
Everyone knew that every spy working for MI6 covered their work by saying that they were bankers. They even covered the building by saying that it was the Royal and General bank! It all fitted but didn't at the same time. Just like when these 2 soldiers talked.
The sergeant heard the argument which started between them. It was of trust. This was real. He heard Fox slip up. He had it recorded on tape. He would have to go back to hear what he actually heard. It was only because the conversation dramatically changed direction that he even noticed it!
He saw the rest of the unit leave. May be now the 2 'friends' might be a bit more honest with each other now that they thought that there was nobody there to hear them. Maybe he might find out the truth about this Jaguar person was. Despite himself the sergeant smiled with glee. He forgot that good things came before a fall.
Next the weirdest thing happened. They both went completely silent. At first he thought that there was something wrong with the bugs. Of all the times they could go wrong! But then his ear filled with the sound of static and then disappeared. One of the bugs was dead. It had been found and destroyed. Next the camera stopped transmitting. After another 2 rounds of static the sergeant had nothing left to spy on the spies with. Whoever Jag was he was good. He must also be classified, very classified.
Hi guys,
Firstly don't expect updates this quickly as the last one took forever to write! I just felt bad about sitting on it all week when I had already written half of it before I had finished ch. 4.
What do you think of this naughty sergeant? I think its original but please correct me if I am wrong. It certainly puts a slightly different spin on it!
Thanks for the great reviews and you were all right, it was Ben! I have only had one guess for Leopard though. He's not that hard guys!
I now have some chapter names for all bar one, but I am still open for suggestions.
Please tell me what you thought of it in a review and as I always say, they really do make my day!
Cat