I'd like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all those who offered condolences after my last update. It really meant a lot to log on and find all those messages of support and comfort. Therefor, this chapter is dedicated to Abby, and: Unheard Battle Cry, hunter, ShalBrenfan, 4supernaturalgirl, and RID3RLVR. Thanks so much you guys!
Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure it's been established that Anthony Horowitz owns Alex Rider and all those characters. As I heard no mention of any Cooper family in his books, I feel it's safe to claim them as my own. Take that, Walker Books Inc.!
It took Dinah ten minutes to find Oscar at lunch. Of course, this probably had something to do with the fact that Oscar was always sitting with his best friend Allie, who habitually died her hair blue whenever her natural brown started to peek through at the roots. Blue haired froshmen are few and far between, so Dinah was really looking for Allie, not Oscar.
When she found the two, she sat down (without being asked. I mean, come on, she's his sister, and they're just froshies, she didn't need to be asked).
"Hi!" Allie greeted brightly.
"Yeah, hi. Listen, which one's Alex Rider?"
Oscar looked at her strangely. "Why do you need Alex?" he asked, a little suspiciously.
"I need to ask him a few questions about his family's all."
"Oh, Dinah, I wouldn't do that," Allie said, her smile fading. "He's an orphan. He lived with his uncle, but then he died too about a year ago. It was so sad."
Dinah was confused. "So, who does he live with now?" she asked.
"Some American girl. I think she's technically his housekeeper, but she's all he's got left. Sad, huh?"
"Yeah..." Dinah swore under her breath. There went her "family member in MI6" theory. Of course, this only made her more desperate to find out how Alex Rider was able to get his hands on her dad's file.
"Anyway, which one is he?"
Allie looked at her reproachfully. "You promise you won't bug him about his family?" she asked. Dinah nodded impatiently.
"He's the blond kid sitting next to the guy in the green hoodie, Di" Oscar said, gesturing his head helpfully.
"Thanks guys," Dinah said, then stood up and walked away from where they'd said Alex was.
Oscar and Allie watched her go in confusion.
"What d'you think she wants Alex for?" Allie asked.
Oscar shrugged helplessly. "I dunno. I gave up on understanding Di years ago. Family or no, she's still a girl..." Oscar trailed off when he saw the murderous look on Allie's face. "N-not that there's anything, you know, wrong with that... I mean, girls are, you know, naturally... um, better at everything and stuff, right?"
Allie rolled her eyes. "Points for the compliment, but your horrible delivery hurt your score. I'd give it a solid six."
Oscar muttered (quietly) about the dangers of female moodswings.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Boston, USA, Belinda Juarez was waiting for the arrival of her sometimes-partner Drake Bowen. Both were eager to complete this job for The Snake, their employer, but they had very diferent ways of showing. Belinda became coldly efficient, while Drake went on as if nothing unusual was happening.
Like now. The idiotic man was escorting one of The Snake's greatest liabilities, and he was seventeen minutes late. If it had been anyone other than Bowent, Belinda would have been worried that something had gone wrong. But not with Drake Bowen. The man would be late to his own funeral.
Of course, realistically, he could afford to relax a little. This was, while etremely important, a relatively easy job. They just had to get the man from Boston to London. According to The Snake, who had yet to be wrong about this type of thing, nobody was looking for this man. His company (which was code for government inteligence... judging from the man's accent, most likely MI6) knew he was missing, but wasn't wasting the time or manpower to find him. Apparently they hadn't quite absorbed the severity of the situation. Ah well, hopefully it would come to them soon.
Finally, he appeared, leading the disheveled, confused, "guest". The scientists at Sierpe had really outdone themselves this time. Having spent the last eleven years working with the notorious Mustard Gas of World War One, the chemists had found a way to develop it to the point of perfection. Gone were the painful blisters, and the internal bleeding. Even the vomiting was down to a minimum. These painful side-effects weren't actually gone, but postponed until the third or fourth week of infection. It still blinded its victim from the start, which was wonderful for kidnapping situations.
Of course, it was still lethal, so the victim would only live for four or five weeks. That is, if he didn't cooperate and earn an injection of the newly developed antidote.
Oh yes, Jacob Cooper had better cooperate soon, or he was in for a very nasty shock.
Dinah found Jude rather quickly, as he was in his usual throne-like lunch table at the center of the junior courtyard. He was absent-mindedly talking with Parker and Brad, while staring (ahem I'm sorry, I meant glaring) At Courtney Allaway, who was sitting on the grass on the other side of the courtyard.
"Hey, Jude" Dinah sang, knowing he hated references to the Beetles song that bore his name. Of course, she needed his help, so maybe pissing him off wasn't the best way to go...
"What do you want, Dinah?" he asked, irritated.
"I need you to scare someone for me." Dinah told him straight out.
"Aw, is the tennis team giving you a hard time again?" Brad asked with a grin.
She shot him a glare.
"I thought this was what the bodyguards were for." Parker pointed out.
"Yeah, well, I don't think they'd have the desired effect on this kid." Dinah explained. "So are you gonna come with me or not, Jude?"
Jude sighe theatrically. "Fine, if you insist. See you guys later," he said, taking his backpack with him, in case lunch ended before he could get back.
"So, who is it?" he asked as they walked.
In four cars outside four schools, the four members of K unit sat chatting into their newly-acquired earpieces. They'd given some sort of "greater communication equals greater protection" bull to the MI6 supply guy. Of course, in reality, sitting in a car by yourself for six hours was just plain boring. Much better if you could talk while you were there.
Although, after the first three and a half hours, they'd run out of things to talk about. So, now Snake was listening to some talk radio thing about the moral implications of the current fight against terrorism. Eagle was singing one of the moronic never ending songs. Wolf was reading over the files Cub had given him... again. And, judging from the sounds coming over the earpiece, Fox was... flirting?
"Hey, Fox, focus, okay?" Wolf said into his mike. All he got in reply was:
"Yeah, I totally know what you mean. It's impossible to go to any South Indian restaurant and order something without coconut oil. You get a much better variety witht the North Indian cuisine."
"Definately, I mean, I don't always feel like curry, you know? I need some choices."
The girl laughed.
"So, I know a really nice North Indian restaurant in Chelsea, if you're interested..."
"Yeah, I think that'd be great. Here's my number..."
Wolf shook his head. Leave it to Fox to get a date while on duty.
"Fox" he barked once the girl had gone.
"Sorry, Wolf. I can't help it if the ladies think I'm foxy."
"Oh, that has got to the the most horrible pun I've ever heard you say. And you've had some bad ones," Eagle groaned over his earpiece.
"Guys, do you mind?" Snake practically whined. "They're about to interview Walter Wolfgang."
After Dinah explained the whole story, starting with Wolf's mysterious phone call, Jude was much more enthusiastic.
They walked up to Alex's table, purposefully not looking over where they knew Oscar and Allie were sitting.
Dinah sat down across from Alex comfortably, while Jed placed his hands on the table and leaned down, it a surprisingly intimidating highschool version of good-cop/bad-cop.
Of course, they'd used this routine many times when punishing one (or two) or the younger Cooper children. They rarely had to use it on those outside their family.
"Can we talk to Alex?" Dinah asked the kid in hoodie.
"You can try," he shot back, smirking.
Jude arched his eyebrows, not smiling at all, and just stared at him.
The kid smiled nervously. "Yeah, bye Alex," he gushed, and practically ran away.
"Bye Tom," Alex said quietly, watching his retreating friend in amusement. He then turned to the brother and sister.
"How can I help you?" he asked calmly.
Okay, so that was it until the 23, I think. I know it seems a little slow, but I swear it's just the calm before the storm.
In fact, just as a sort of incentive to remember me during the next 2 weeks, here's what I promise will happen by the next update:
1) Everyone will meet Alex.
2) Gun shots will be heard, and bullets will be dodged.
3) Joey will learn a new word from Eagle.
4) Dinah and four of her siblings will meet the infamous Alan Blunt.
And, just to keep you busy, I have a couple things I'd like you to put in your reviews:
1) Should Alex and Dinah eventually get together (I'm violently opposed to Mary Sues, but I think I could manage realistic relationship between the two...)
2) Should I focus more on the mystery with Jacob Cooper's disappearance, the friendships, fights, and romances of the Cooper children, or the akwardness of living with four members of the SAS?
3) I just made The Snake up on the spot... any character suggestions would be most appreciated!!!
Thanks, and have a great 2 weeks!!!