MED: Minor Extremely Dangerous (The Stone Chronicles: Book 2)

Chapter 17

MI6 Headquarters. August 6th, 2015. 0800 Hours (London Time).

Emily

The ding of the elevator seemed to resonate endlessly as the doors opened, revealing an unusually empty HQ. I had to rub my arms to shake off the goosebumps that began to form. The silence was eerie: deadly. How appropriate.

I stepped out of the elevator cautiously, noting the slight echo that sounded as my toe tapped the cheaply tiled floor. The place really was empty. It was a Thursday... where was everyone?

They didn't know, did they? They couldn't.

Each footstep seemed to echo louder than the one before it, and by the time I reached the door to M's office, I found myself shaking. Barely, but enough. If I noticed, it was a problem.

I stood still and stared down at my hands. Stop. You can do this. Stop. Now.

I checked my heart rate: fast, but acceptable. I placed my hand on the doorknob and took a deep breath. You've got this. I turned the knob and eased the door open.

There he was; M was scrunched up behind his desk, tapping away furiously at his computer keyboard. I let out a quiet cough, and his head snapped up. His eyes widened (considerably), and he sprung violently out of his chair, "Stone?!"

I nodded, "Hi."

"Wha- Where the bloody hell have you been?!"

"It's... complicated." I answered truthfully, "Where is everyone?"

"When we didn't hear from you or the others, we went into emergency protocols. All nonessential agents were sent home until further notice." M explained slowly, "What happened? It's been hours since the last transmission."

I bit my lip and spoke, "Something went wrong; I'm still not sure what. Dillard and Bostick are dead. Rider and I had to go dark to avoid getting killed ourselves."

"The mission?"

"Accomplished."

He nodded solemnly, "And Rider?"

I pursed my lips, "Taken care of."

He nodded again, this time slower and more deliberately, "I'm sorry, Stone. I really am."

I smiled sadly, "Yeah, well, the dumb bastard tried to kill me himself once we finished so... Guess it was bound to happen."

I saw something flash across his eyes... was that a pained expression? "I'm still sorry, Stone. I know you liked him... more than the other agents anyway..."

I shrugged slowly, "Nothing to do now."

M nodded and knelt down to reach the bottom drawer of his desk, "Let me get your file and we can go through-"

I caught myself rolling my eyes as he bent down. I had my PPK aimed at his head before he even finished his sentence. He didn't even move; I think it was the click that alerted him. "Drop it." I hissed. He obeyed, laying his small pistol on the ground under his desk. I continued, "Get up."

He rose slowly, raising his hands above his head as he spoke, "I'll assume you figured a lot of it out then?"

"Good bit." I admitted, "Terrorists, M? Such an upgrade..."

"So Rider? He still alive then?"

"Very much so, yes. So are Moses and his people. I hope that wasn't too important."

"Stone, listen to me. I didn't want to, but-"

"I don't give a damn what you wanted to do!" I spat, "You tried to kill me, you bloody prick. You made your choice."

"Emily-"

"You're lucky I only called you a prick. Don't push it." I commanded, "So tell me, had Alex succeeded and everything, would you have tried to kill him afterward, or was that just a special me thing?"

M bit his lip nervously, "It depended on his reactions afterward."

I raised an eyebrow, "Huh, guess you had a chance to live then. Congrats on that."

M only had time to frown confusedly before Alex conked him on the shoulder with a gun. He dropped like a brick.

Alex looked down at M, then smiled stupidly at me, "I really enjoyed that."

"I can tell from your dumb face." I replied, "Although I give you credit, you've gotten pretty good at those sneak ins."

"Thank you! I know I'm great, but it's nice to hear you admit it. And you didn't call me Rider! Is this real friendship? I always wanted a friendship bracelet."

I scowled, "Bag."

He frowned back as he handed off his sack, "Killjoy."

"Why does everyone call me that?" I asked angrily as I pulled our secret cargo out, "I'm sabotaging a bloody intelligence HQ, and I'm still getting that shit."

"What is this stuff anyways?" He murmured, obviously avoiding the question.

"A very complex biological agent that causes loss of consciousness and occasionally extreme pain with little to no actual lasting damage." I explained.

"How'd Moses get this stuff?"

"I told him where to look, and his people did their thing. Not that hard, in all actuality..."

He frowned at me again, "How did you know where to look?"

"Remember how I started out in Q department before going field?" He nodded and I continued, "I helped engineer it."

"... Oh." He said simply, "Probably a good thing they went into emergency protocols."

"Yeah, I feel better knowing I don't have to warn Seth to evacuate." I admitted, "He was always scared of this crap."

The red light on the weird little detonation device brightened, and the little sound box began to beep at us. Alex stared at it worriedly, "It's beeping. That's worrying. Emily? Emily, what's the beeping mean?"

"Calm down. It means it's armed and counting toward detonation." I answered nonchalantly.

"Wha- Why should I calm down?! How much time?!"

"I've got more than enough gas masks in case we get stuck in here. We'll be fine."

"How long, Ems?"

I rolled my eyes and looked down at my watch, "Fifteen minutes: starting..." I clicked the button at the top, "Now!"

Author's Note

Hello from LONDON, everyone! On 4th of July. Ah, irony. If that even really is irony... I don't know. I'm too tired.

It's technically Sunday here, but it's still Saturday at home, so I'm gonna claim this is on time. LONDON IS THE PRETTIEST PLACE EVER OMG!

Please let me know what you thought of the chapter by voting and commenting. Please? I notice them, I swear. They make me feel warm inside. Thanks to those who do them.

Monday's update will either be from a train somewhere between England and France or from PARIS!!!!! Yaaaaaasssssss.

Again, votes and comments greatly appreciated. I'll hopefully see y'all on Monday (hopefully).

Hope you all had a great 4th (if you're American). Have an awesome rest of the weekend, lovelies!

Au revoir! ~ Maddie 🇬🇧