Hi everybody!!! I've never done this before! I've just enjoyed reading other people's stories but now I've decided to write one myself… reviews would be amazingly appreciated, as it's my first ever story. Thank you!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Alpha Force.

Hex and Alex climbed out of the taxi and collected their bags from the boot. Alex paid the driver while Hex stood on the pavement, staring in awe at the huge mansion and its gardens which lay awaiting their presence.

"Flippin' heck…" he muttered once the taxi man drove off. Alex joined him. There was a high wall surrounding the house, and they could only peer at it through the iron gates.

"So," said Alex, "how do we get in?" Hex looked to the right and spotted a speaker attached to the wall. He pointed.

"You can do the talking," he said, "I'd be ashamed if anyone within five years of our age walked past." Alex grinned and shook his head. He pressed the button and waited for a response.

"Good afternoon, Middleton household," came the reply, a little crackly. It wasn't one Alex recognised. A car drove past and Alex saw Hex with his head down, trying hard not to be noticed, in the corner of his eye.

"Oh – um, hi – we're friends of Amber. We're staying here for Easter." Alex said. Hex was now staring at him intently.

"OK, come on in." Automatically, the gates sprung open and Alex and Hex made their way cautiously inside. Hex laughed.

"If my mates from London could see me now…" he said and shook his head. Alex smiled.

"Yeah… and mine, too." Somewhere in the garden a dog barked, and they saw a huge greyhound bounding towards them. They stood uneasily as the greyhound approached.

"Er… you know anything about dogs?" asked Hex nervously.

"Nope." Said Alex, wondering why Amber hadn't told them about the dog.

"Hey!" called a familiar female voice, and the dog stopped at once. Alex relaxed. It was Amber. She appeared from around the corner of the house and called the dog back to her. Reluctantly, it gave the boys one last glance before bounding off to annoy somebody else. Amber waved, "Hey, guys!" She ran over to them and first hugged Hex, then Alex, "You OK?"

"Yeah, not bad. And you?" replied Alex, picking up his bag which he had dropped when he saw the dog. Amber headed towards the house, followed by the two boys.

"I'm OK. Paula and Li aren't here yet. You had tea?"

"Nope," said Hex, "Hey, you never told us you had a dog." Amber stopped and turned around, a wicked grin on her features.

"Didn't I? I have four." Hex's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"Four?" he turned to Alex, "Is that normal?" Alex shrugged.

"Obviously so, in this household."

They followed Amber in through to a courtyard. She led them to a glass door to one side, where a man was sweeping the ground.

"This is Fred, our gardener. I'll show you the others in a bit. Fred, this is Alex and Hex. They've come from the UK." Fred looked up and nodded at them both. He was at least fifty, with weather beaten skin and kind eyes. Hex and Alex nodded in reply, before glancing at eachother nervously. Gardeners? And there were more?

After meeting Gwen, the cook, and Harry, the cleaner, Amber took them upstairs to their rooms. They were both huge, with a double bed and en suite for each. Hex wasn't used to this at all. This was like a free five star hotel… even looking out of his window he could see tennis courts and an outdoor swimming pool. She's probably got an underground private train, he thought. It was nine o'clock, and the jetlag was beginning to get to him. He'd taken a different plane to Alex, but they'd met at the airport in Boston and taken the taxi from there together. He dumped his bag on the floor, not bothering to unpack, and lay down full length on the bed. Five star mattress, too.

Alex wandered in a bit later. Hex had his hand over his face, but he wasn't asleep.

"Gosh, your rooms exactly the same as mine. Even the furniture's in the same place." He said, running a finger down the side of Hex's wardrobe.

"Mm," mumbled Hex in reply, still not moving.

"Bit different from home, isn't it?" Alex sat down in the chair by the window, and Hex sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"They're like different worlds. You don't even get hotels like this in England." He said, and looked out of the window, "You seen the tennis courts? And the swimming pool?" Alex nodded.

"Free holiday…" he muttered, "It's a lot busier than Northumberland – I guess it's kinda similar to London because there's a lot of buildings and stuff,"

"But it's like being surrounded by a million Ambers. I get kind of claustrophobic." Said Hex. Alex laughed out loud.

"Yeah, it's exactly like that!" At that moment Amber entered with a frown on her face.

"I thought you two were sleeping off the jetlag," she said, hands on hips.

"Well, I was, until Alex interrupted me…"

"Hey! Don't blame me!"

"It was your – "

"Guys!" Amber interrupted, "If your awake, then I was just going to tell you that Paulo and Li have arrived. And then tea's ready."

"OK." Amber left. Alex and Hex stood up wearily and followed her down the wide steps, where Paulo and Li were waiting at the bottom.

Li grinned when she saw Alex and Hex climbing down the steps. They looked exhausted from the flight.

"Hellooo!" she called. Alex muttered something in reply, but Hex didn't say anything. They reached the bottom and Paulo clapped Hex on the back.

"Good flight?" he asked. Hex shrugged.

"It was OK." The four newcomers followed Amber into the dining room where a long table was laid out with knives and forks. Unsure of what to do, Hex and Alex hung back, but the other three took seats and so they joined them. There was an awkward silence for a bit, until Paulo began,

"Er… not to be rude, but, where's the food?" Amber burst out laughing.

"It's coming, you moron!" The tension was broken, and the five friends started catching up on everything that had happened during the last six weeks they had not seen eachother. Five minutes later, Gwen entered holding five hot plates. She put one in front of each person, humming a tune to herself.

"Thanks, Gwen," said Amber. The others mumbled their agreement, and Gwen came in again holding a bowl of – the others didn't know what – but it smelt lovely all the same. Gwen set it down on the table with a tablespoon and stood up.

"Enjoy," she said, and walked out.

Paulo woke up to the sound of… silence. It was strange. He was used to being woken up by the cows on his ranch wanting to be milked. He stood up, wondering if anyone else was awake, and went into his en suite to get ready. He was still full from last night's dinner. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was sure filling. And it was definitely delicious. He'd have to ask Amber's cook for the recipe.

They were all here in Boston not for a mission, but to spend Easter together. He hoped nothing would come up, as they had all been hoping for a peaceful time away from the exams and stress at the age of fifteen and sixteen.

An hour later they were all sat in Amber's living room, lounging on the huge sofas and drinking lemonade with ice cubes clinking around the top. The sun was streaming in the glass doors leading to the balcony, and the clock showed half past eight. They were all early risers.

"So what do you guys want to do today?" Said Amber. No one said anything.

"I dunno, I dunno what there is here." Li finally said. She glanced at Hex, who was reaching for his palmtop, "No palmtop here, OK? Or I might have to confiscate it…"

"What?" said Hex, his eyebrows raised. Li grinned.

"No anti-social behaviour either. Got that?" Hex was about to protest, but then, on remembering Li was a martial arts experts, withdrew into his seat.

"If you want, for today we can just go to the park so you can get to know the place a bit." Said Amber, cutting in.

"Fine with me," said Alex, looking around at the others. Paulo agreed, Hex nodded and Li jumped up.

"Then let's go! She called, and bounded out of the room.

"Wait, Li, you don't know the way…" yelled Amber and ran out after her. Hex shook his head.

"So it's possible to get lost here? Why didn't I guess?" The three boys stood up and found the girls waiting by the kitchen door. They followed Amber to the front door, where they met John, Amber's uncle.

"Hey, guys!" he kissed Amber on the cheek, "I only just got back. You off somewhere?"

"Uncle? Could you give us a lift down to the park?" said Amber, her eyes twinkling. John Middleton sighed in exasperation and threw his hands up into the air.

"OK, then. In the car, you lazy lot." He led them out to a sleek black car with tinted windows and climbed in the driver's seat. Amber got into the passenger seat.

Alex glanced at Hex, Li and Paulo.

"I think I'd prefer to walk," he said, and they bundled into the back seat.