DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING!

WARNING: MAY INCLUDE VIOLENCE AND LANGUAGE, BUT NOT JUST YET :D

Startled, Alex awoke.

As he opened his eyes, his vision blurred and it took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the light. He was sat in a plane, which, he figured out, was about to land at any moment. Alex cautiously surveyed his surroundings. All the passengers were strapped into their seats, wearing seatbelts, and the flight attendants were assisting people and casually walking by. Nothing looked suspicious. He turned his head carefully and saw who woke him up: Edward Pleasure.

"Make sure your seatbelt is fastened, Alex!" Edward warned. He nodded and, although he knew he'd already fastened his belt as it had become a habit, he tiredly checked anyways - just to keep Edward satisfied. Alex stretched his legs and arms then arched his back, his head swimming. The last few weeks had been shocking. He replayed the scenes in his head.

Back in Brookland, he had felt a sharp pain and was reminded of the bullet wound in his chest. After that, he caught sight of a man up in the building works who Alex was sure wasn't meant to be there. A split second later, he was quick to dodge a bullet that was fired through the window from the man. Everyone took cover as he helped Tom, who had gotten shot in the arm. He remembered that something didn't seem right then, but he shrugged it off his shoulders as he ran and chased the man, who had led him into a total mess.

After going through the car wash and giving his car a complete makeover, the sniper drove to a helicopter which Alex had attacked once in the air. That lead to another mission which took Alex and Jack to Cairo. He had to infiltrate a school to find out if anything suspicious was going on - but when it came to MI6 missions, nothing was as simple as that. Events which occurred after that came at Alex like a whirlwind, and he didn't want to think about it. He didn't have to. He already knew. Everyone did. Jack was dead, she was gone. The one who stayed by his side, the one who stood up for him, the one who practically raised him - she had died in an explosion. Alex would cry about it, but there were no tears, there was nothing left to live for. He sighed and shook his head, deciding not to think about it anymore. He had a new family now, a family that he was going to live with for real this time - unlike the fake family he had stayed with, with the likes of Belinda Troy and Tom Turner.

Lost in his thoughts, Alex didn't realise the plane had landed and everyone was leaving. He felt like something was bothering him, but Alex stood up then he and Edward picked up their hand luggage and left, an awkward silence creeping in between the two. The silence remained as they went through security and picked up the remaining of their luggage. Edward cleared his throat. "Sabina and Liz will be picking us up. We seemed to have landed quite early so it may take a while for them to arrive; the traffic is crazy and that doesn't help the situation in any way." He chuckled. Alex politely smiled. "Would you like something to eat, or drink? It does seem quite chilly today, despite it being April! How about a nice, warm coffee?" Alex nodded in agreement.

"Yes, thanks." He said, trying to sound as enthusiastic as he could, having not spoken for the whole flight. Edward grinned and lead the way to one of the many busy shops. He walked into one of the quieter ones, which were still loud but much better than the others.

Edward ordered the drinks and gestured for Alex to go and sit at one of the tables at the back. They both took their seats. Just when Alex thought another awkward silence would slip in, Edward spoke.

"Would you like anything else, to eat? Or drink, perhaps?" He asked.

"No, thank you - coffee will be enough." Alex responded quietly, something seemed to be bothering him but he couldn't quite figure out what it was.

"Are you okay, Alex?" Edward said, concerned. He, too, noticed that something to be bothering Alex - and he was curious to find out what. Alex nodded, as though there was nothing wrong. "If you ever want to talk, always remember that I'll be here." Expecting an answer, Edward sighed disappointedly when Alex nodded once again, but he decided not to push Alex any further as he already knew the basics: MI6 had blackmailed Alex into doing missions, which were really dangerous and risky; they had hurt him and he'd lost Jack in his last mission, which he was sure must have scarred him for life. He decided that he didn't want to force Alex for answers, when the time was right, and when Alex was comfortable enough to say, he would speak up.

Lost in his own thoughts, Alex wondered what it was that was bugging him. He felt his bullet wound twinge and squeezed his eyes shut as he breathed through the pain. He burst his eyes open as he looked around, worry and terror filling him in. He remembered his wound twinge in class, then he found the sniper - he thought he would find another, coming to avenge the loss of Scorpia, perhaps even someone else, but everything looked fine. He tried to think of how long this mysterious thought had been bothering him. It was in the plane! Before he stood up-

"Here's your coffee drinks!" A waitress announced cheerfully, in an American accent, walking up to the table and setting two warm drinks down which were served in bright white cups that lay on a wooden tray. "Enjoy!" She smiled at Alex as she walked away, and he immediately blushed. The two men quietly drank their coffees. Alex didn't like the silence that was slowly descending upon the two, so decided to start a conversation.

"What time is it?" Alex asked. He frowned at the way he decided to kick the conversation off, but let it go. Edward, slightly shocked at how suddenly Alex spoke, held up his arm and shook off his sleeve which revealed an expensive Rolex watch.

"10:15. Liz and Sab expected us to arrive at 10:21 so they won't be too long." He looked at Alex, who seemed satisfied with his answer. Edward decided to push the conversation on. "It would be evening in England right now, you're not tired are you?" Alex smiled.

"No, I slept for a bit during the flight."

"A bit..." Edward trailed off. He smirked and the two laughed. It was the first laugh they'd shared and it made the atmosphere between them a lot more bearable.

Both finished their coffees and stood up, then walked outside, waiting for Liz and Sab.

"So..." Alex unwarily began, quickly thinking of something to say. "What have you been up to lately, Edward?"

Edward smiled, happy that the boy was beginning to talk. He almost regretted the decision of taking Alex in when he hadn't said a word during the flight.

"I've been writing about another person." He said. "Nikolei Drevin." Alex's heart skipped a beat "An interesting man, you might have heard of him; he died very recently, a few months back. Well, I found out some shocking news while he was alive and decided to continue writing even after he died." Edward didn't miss the slight flinch Alex gave when he mentioned the business man's name. Alex noticed Edward was watching him and didn't know what to say.

"Um... I already know... About Nikolei Drevin, that is." Confused, Edward frowned but it suddenly clicked in his mind and all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

"You were involved in this, weren't you?" Edward said, his voice dry. Alex looked away, the movement speaking for itself. "Look Alex, I've said this before but I don't know much about what happened and, to be honest, I don't really want to. MI6, they've put you through a lot. I've heard a few whispers from the CIA but not much has been revealed. A lot of things are classified. All I want to do now is to get you away from all that stuff. You've been put through too much and it's hurt you." Alex turned back and Edward looked into his eyes. "I don't want to see that happening again." Alex nodded, agreeing. He felt uncomfortable, talking about MI6 and his previous life. He didn't want to, it brought back memories... Painful memories.

Just when things were about to get more awkward than they already were, a Peugeot 2008 Crossover pulled up in front of them; it was a beauty. Alex held his breath as he examined the car. The colour was a rich shade of silver, palladium, and the lights at the back glowed red. Although it was quite old, it was still attractive to look at. The split second the car came to a halt, an excited girl jumped out and ran to Alex, arms open wide.

"I've missed you!" Sabina cried, grasping Alex in a tight hug. Alex laughed, wrapping his arms around her.

"Missed you too, Sab!" Alex responded, cheerfully. He broke free of the hug as Liz got out of the car and smiled, his mood lightening up after seeing Sabina.

Liz approached the three, waving at Alex and Edward.

"Alex! Long time no see!" Liz greeted Alex.

"Hey, Liz," Alex greeted in response, "it's good to see you."

"No, it's good to see YOU!" Liz laughed as she pulled Alex into a one armed hug. Edward smirked.

"Let's go home, shall we? Alex and I are in need of some rest after that tiring flight!" He laughed and they all took the suitcases into the car and sat inside; Alex and Sab at the back, Liz driving and Edward next to her.

"Does anyone want music?" Liz asked, loudly, starting up the car.

"Yes!" Sabina desperately shouted. Liz and Edward groaned when she began singing a song unknown to Alex.

"What would you like to listen to?" Edward asked Alex, hoping to listen to anything but Sabina's choice of music.

"I don't mind." Alex grinned.

The rest of the car drive home was spent listening to the album of an American band Alex had never heard of, with Sabina singing along to it.

An hour later, they reached home. Everyone got out of the car, worn out from the long drive which was mainly spent stuck in traffic. Even Sabina exhausted herself out and stopped singing. They went into the house, a staircase stood on the left and a hallway to the right. Going straight would lead to the kitchen and dining room, and there were two rights, the first leading to a toilet and the second to the living room.

"You'll be staying in your room you stayed in last time." Sabina informed Alex. He nodded and took his things to his room, which was upstairs, the first left - where he stayed whilst visiting before his mission with Desmond McCain. Going straight, after the stairs, would lead to Sabina's room and the room to the right of hers was her parents, and opposite their room was another set of staircases, leading to the third floor. Opposite Alex's was a bathroom, but he wouldn't need that as he had an en suite bedroom.

Opening the door to his room, Alex set his belongings on his bed. The room was nice. It had a bedside tables, on the right side of his bed, which was covered in blue bed sheets, pillows and a duvet. To the left of the door was another door to the bathroom and ahead of that was a wardrobe, on the left side of the bed. On the right side, next to the bedside table, was a window letting in a bright ray of sunshine in. Ahead of the bed, and to the right of the door, was a desk Alex could work at, which had a brand new computer on it. Alex considered. The Pleasures were very caring, this was originally a guests bedroom yet still it was looking impressive and made you feel like home. Focusing on what he was doing again, he looked back at his luggage. He didn't bring much along with him; there wasn't much to bring, so he barely had anything. The few clothes he had were thrown into the wardrobe and the rest of his things stayed in his bag which he slid under the bed.

Quickly, Alex had a shower and got some new clothes out. He wore Levi jeans with a short sleeved Hollister t-shirt. Feeling refreshed he went downstairs and walked into the dining hall. From there, he had a nice view of the garden, looking through all the glass doors on the far wall. He opened a door to the kitchen, where lunch was getting ready. There were more glass doors on the far end to see into the garden. It brightened up the kitchen and made it look very nice. Alex smiled.

"Do you need any help, Liz?" Alex asked. Liz turned round, surprised, only just realising Alex was there.

"No, thank you, Alex! You go relax in the living room with Sab and Ed and I'll call you when lunch is ready." She said, reassuringly.

"Okay, cool." Alex smiled, and headed to the living room.

"Hey, Alex!" Sabina said, as Alex walked into the living room. There were sofas everywhere but Edward sat in a wooden chair, reading a book that was grasped tightly in the hands of the journalist. The TV was on and Sabina seemed to be watching the news.

"News?" Alex frowned, raising an eyebrow. Sabina laughed.

"I'm not watching it. There's nothing good on so I'm just surfing channels." She gestured to a seat next to her, on the sofa she was sitting on. "Sit down." Alex sat. "What do you want to watch?" She asked, curiously. Alex shrugged.

"I don't think I'm familiar with any of these shows." He said, his eyes scanning the different options displayed on the screen. Sabina laughed.

"I'll find a film to watch." She said and found a DVD then inserted it into the DVD player which was connected to the TV.

As the film began, Alex lost interest. He didn't feel like watching anything. Something seemed to be bothering him and he couldn't pin it down. Replaying the events of that day, Alex considered. He was in the plane and he'd just woken up. Everything seemed fine in the plane, at the time, so what was bugging him? He thought carefully. He was thinking of the last few months, Brookland, Tom, the sniper -

The sniper! It clicked. The sniper was what seemed to be bothering him but what about the sniper? The sniper was shooting at him, he was close but he missed. He remembered that he'd memorised the registration numbers on the car and the helicopter, which the sniper used to escape, and he'd reported them to Jones and Blunt but the sniper was never heard from again. The helicopter he supposedly died in crashed into the Thames but Alex didn't recall any remains being found. He suspiciously thought about what could've happened but gave up. There was no point now, even if he did find the answers he was looking for it wouldn't get him anywhere. His previous life, filled with crime, spies and espionage, was all over now.

Alex tried focusing on the film, but his mind drifted away in boredom. It seemed as though Sabina was also regretting her choice of film and Alex smirked at the thought of that. The 50" TV screen was filled with dogs chasing an unfamiliar man, who Alex had no idea where he came from.

Finally, like an angel calling from the Heavens, Liz's voice called everyone for lunch. Sabina and Alex stretched as Edward marked a page in his book and closed it.

"Do you want to finish the movie later?" Sabina asked, silently pleading that Alex would say no.

"Up to you." Alex responded, already certain of what Sabina would say.

"I'd rather not." She grumbled, turning the TV off and standing up then made her way to the dining room, with Alex and Edward following closely behind.

On the dining table, lunch was served. Four plates of rice and curry filled the noses of those who had just walked in. On either side of each plate, was a knife and fork - reflecting of the gleaming lights in the room. Crystal glasses with rich designs stood grandly next to them, and they were filled to the top with ice cold coke.

"Well, take a seat everyone! The food isn't going to eat itself!" Liz cheerfully said and took her seat. Sabina sat opposite her mother, whilst Alex took his seat next to Sabina and Liz, Edward opposite him.

They all began eating and Sabina filled everyone in on the latest news on what was happening in school. Half of the things she was saying wasn't making any sense to Alex, she was going on about what seemed to be her friends and teachers.

"You'll be starting school soon, Alex." Edward interrupted Sabina. She glared at her dad as he grinned at her.

"Yes, you'll be going to the same school as Sabina." Liz said. Alex nodded.

"When will we start?" He asked.

"Next week - that's when the school reopens after the break." Edward answered. Sabina curiously examined Alex.

"You're not nervous, are you?" She asked, almost cheekily.

"I'm not nervous." Alex responded, annoyed. He wasn't. Nor was he scared or worried or anything like that. In fact he was curious, curious to see how it would work out. After all this would be an American school, with American accents, and soccer and the rest. He was wondering whether he would fit in or not. Hopefully everything would go well, there was no reason why it shouldn't...

"It'll be fine, Alex." Liz said, reassuringly, as if he was nervous - even though he clearly said he wasn't. He nodded his head, irritably.

"Shall I help clear the plates away?" Alex said, changing the subject.

"Thank you, Alex." Liz responded, taking her and Edward's plates and cutlery to the kitchen, Alex following with his and Sabina's. Edward and Sabina followed shortly after, with two glasses each, and they all helped Liz tidy and wash up.

Later that day, the Pleasures and Alex were going for a walk. Liz had suggested it and Edward had agreed, saying it was a good chance to get fresh air and a bit of exercise. Although Alex wasn't too keen on the idea, as he was hoping to rest after lunch and perhaps get in touch with Tom, he didn't object. Neither did Sabina, however she did moan about it.

It was really warm and much more brighter to how it was when he'd bought the coffee with Edward, Alex thought. There were more people out, and some were even walking their dogs and taking their kids out. The roads, Alex noticed were much wider than those in London and the buildings were way taller. He was beginning to like the idea of living in San Francisco. The city was a beautiful place. He'd been here before and visited loads of places. It can't be that bad, he thought.

"Ice-cream, anyone?" Edward asked, gesturing to a nearby ice-cream bar.

"I do!" Liz said.

"And me!" Sabina shrieked.

"What about you, Alex?" Edward asked. Alex nodded his head.

"Yes, thanks." Edward smiled. He turned to the girls.

"Chocolate?" They nodded their heads, eagerly, looking like desperate puppies. "Would you like chocolate too?" Edward asked Alex. He nodded politely. "Okay, cool. I'll go and buy the ice-creams, you lot can wait out here." He said, walking off. Liz's phone rang and she excused herself and she went to take the call, leaving the two teens alone.

"So Alex!" Sabina said, "are you enjoying America, so far? If you have any questions you can ask me!" He smiled.

"What's the name of the school that we'll be going to?" He said, the first question that popped into his mind.

"Ashton High." She responded, surprised that he did ask a question but at the same time slightly displeased that he had chosen a rather dull question. There was a topic she'd been dying to discuss since she found out he'd been coming and decided that it was a good time to talk about it, get it done and get it over with.

"Erm, Alex..." Alex looked at Sabina, patiently waiting for her to say what was on her mind. "You see how you've moved in with us," He nodded. "and Dad's basically adopted you," he nodded again, unsure of where she was going with this, "we're technically siblings now." Alex blinked. What?! He'd never thought about that! And now that he considered it, Sabina was right. He was technically her brother now.

"Oh.." He responded, speechless, "what does that mean..?" He looked at Sabina, waiting for her to respond and the bite of her lip said everything for itself. "You think we should break up?" He asked, emotionless.

"No!" She said, angry. "No..." She repeated, calmly this time. "I don't know. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I want to, but we're siblings and it doesn't seem right, you know?" Alex nodded in understanding.

"Yeah..." he said, "I get it. Don't worry. But hey, look on the bright side - at least we're with each other and not on either side of the world anymore." He laughed, dryly, trying to brighten up the situation. Sabina smiled.

"True." She said, and chuckled lightly, herself, just as her mother came walking towards the two.

"That was the school on the phone." She announced to the two teens. "We've just sorted out small bits and pieces, phone number, address, etc. You'll be starting school at Ashton High next week! How do you feel?" Alex considered.

"I'm feeling really excited." Alex said, sounding enthusiastic - more than he really was. "I'm also quite curious, to see how it turns out, because I doubt it'll be the same as Brookland." He added, speaking more truthfully.

"Ashton isn't too different to England!" Sabina said. "It's just a few things that are different, like the accents." Alex laughed and turned around to see Edward walking towards them, holding two chocolate ice-creams in either hand. Edward handed Alex two ice-creams, one of which Alex gave to Sabina, whilst Liz took hers from Edward. They all ate their ice-creams and walked home.

Once the Pleasures and Alex reached home, the ice-creams had been finished off and they entered the house. Alex hopped up the stairs and took a quick shower, then sat on his bed and decided to have a small nap before dinner. He hadn't done much but still felt like having a rest. Suddenly, a thought struck him and he leaped of the bed and dived under it. He scrambled for his bag and snatched his phone out of it. Turning his phone on he saw that his iPhone's lock screen was filled with messages and missed calls - the one's at the top, most recent, from Tom. He felt guilt rush him, he hadn't spoke to the boy since he'd ran from the school, chasing the sniper. Snapping up back to reality Alex saw his phone turn blank. He frowned. He tried turning it on again, spastically clicking the lock screen button and home screen button but no difference was made. His hand starting shaking. All his contacts, everyone from England, his only memories of his old life, Brookland, everything was saved in his phone - it couldn't stop working now! After a moment's of panicking he was rewarded with his phone displaying a dead battery, asking to plug in a charger. Alex sighed in relief and searched his bag for a charger. Once he found it, he stood up and kicked the bag back under the bed, charger in hand. He jumped onto his bed and plugged his charger into a socket which was above his bedside table.

The waiting of five minutes in total isolation was finally over when Alex's phone turned back on. He was relieved that his phone connected to the open Wi-Fi that the Pleasures had. He opened his 'Whatsapp' app and entered the Brookland group that Tom created a while back. He considered what lie he should make up. After a minute's consideration he texted:

'Hey guys, sorry for having kept you worried and leaving Brookland without any notice. Jack had some family problems in America and took me there with her. All is good and I'm okay, but her dad is ill and she needs to stay to look after him so I'm staying with her. I'll be starting school here as well so I probably won't be seeing any of you any time soon. Hopefully I'll come round to visit but I can't be too sure.'

Alex read the text over and over again. It seemed convincing so it'd do. His heart seemed to skip a beat as he clicked send. He sighed and read the texts he'd received over the long period of time he hadn't checked his phone. He remembered how he'd almost destroyed it in the explosion on The House of Gold in Cairo, where it had been drowned with water. Fortunately, he'd managed to get it repaired in England - just before he made his way to America with Edward.

There were an uncountable amount of texts from Tom, all of them saying basically the same thing: text back because he was worried. Alex decided to briefly tell him what really happened:

'Sorry for not replying, Tom. MI6 sent me to Cairo, with Jack tagged along, to keep me safely away from England, but I was almost killed and Jack, unfortunately, didn't make it out alive. Sabina and her parents adopted me and I'm living with them in San Francisco.'

Alex's heart sank when he mentioned Jack. It was a painful memory. He tried not to think about her as he pressed send on his phone. He didn't feel like sleeping anymore, so he leaned over his bed to pull out the headphones from his bag and he stuck them into his phone. He didn't fall asleep, he couldn't after he'd thought about Jack. So he just closed his eyes and listened to loud tunes on his phone...

Just when he thought he'd dozed off, something vibrated and Alex was alert and awake. He'd thrown his phone and headphones on the bed and jumped out, positioned in a fighting stance - with his arms out and feet apart. He heard the vibration again, and turned his head to his bed where he saw his phone lighting up. He'd received a message, and more were coming through. Alex ran a hand through his hair and over his face. After all his missions, he'd always been alert and protective and cautious, scared that someone would attack - he was still trying to get used to the fact that everything to do with MI6 was all behind him.

Frowning at the time, he wondered why it had taken everyone so long to reply. Then he remembered that he must've been texting at a late time for what it would've been in England, and it must've been about 6 'o' clock - the time everyone would be waking up to get ready for school, on a Friday. In America, San Francisco, it was Sabina's holiday therefore she was still at home. He unlocked his phone to see who had texted back, early in the England morning. He first checked his private conversations, on Whatsapp, where Tom had said how glad he was to know that he was still alive. Alex then checked the Whatsapp group, where he'd gotten texts from James and some of his old mates, those of which he used to hang out with while he was still normal. Looking at the time, Alex saw it would be dinner soon so announced on the group that he was going to eat dinner. He locked his phone and left it to charge on his bedside table.

Surprisingly happily, Alex went downstairs to see Liz, Edward and Sabina in the living room. Edward was reading that book of his whereas his wife was more up-to-date with society and was reading off of her kindle. Sabina seemed to be in her own world on her phone.

"Hey, Alex!" Sabina greeted him, as he walked in and took a seat next to her before she could offer one. "Dinner will be here soon, we ordered pizza."

"Cool!" Alex said, cheerfully. It seemed that talking to his old friends had put him in a brighter mood. He just wished that he could see them again. "How long will it take?"

"A few minutes, maximum. Mum ordered while you were upstairs, so it shouldn't take too long." Alex nodded. "Do you want to watch something? There's not really anything else to do, at the moment." She smiled.

"Okay," Alex agreed, "as long as it's not that movie we watched earlier!" Sabina laughed at that and turned on the TV. They watched until, exactly 8 minutes later, the pizza arrived. Liz got up and went to get the pizza. She returned with a warm cardboard box along with four plates for the four of them.

"Extra cheesy! Just how we like it, and it's your favourite, Alex!" She said. Alex laughed, silently appreciating that she remembered. They exchanged jokes as they ate, and laughed a lot.

When the last of the pizza was finished off, Sabina groaned in appreciation, her stomach full.

"I'm exhausted! I'm going to bed!" She announced.

"But you've hardly done anything!" Liz laughed. Sabina huffed at that.

"I'm tired, too." Alex said.

"Great! We have two." Liz joked. Alex chuckled and followed Sabina out of the room, and upstairs.

"Good night, Alex." She said, as she opened the door to her room.

"Night, Sab." He replied, entering his own. He sighed as he thought about how his first day in America had been. Not too bad, he considered. It could've been worse - much worse. He brushed his teeth, with a toothbrush that had been left in the bathroom for him, and decided to go to sleep - as he hadn't gotten the nap he was wishing for earlier. Once he'd rinsed his mouth, Alex tucked into bed and fell fast asleep.

Sorry for the rather boring chapter; things will get exciting soon, I've got it ALL planned out :)) I've decided I'll be posting one chapter a week, as they're going to be quite long. I might post more if it's short but I can't guarantee anything just yet!