In the Night Sky
Chapter 1
Summary: Alex is starting his time in San Francisco with the Pleasure family, a new house, a new school and a new life. But can he go from international super spy to normal school boy?
He once got thrown into a world he didn't belong and now he's gotten pulled back into a world he's outgrown. Is his wish for normality what he really and truly wants?
Alex Rider is on his toughest mission yet where his cover is an ordinary boy and his objective is to be ultimately normal, will he succeed or will this be his biggest failure of all?
But the biggest question of all, is: Can he well and truly forget not only the past but also the past him; the spy that he's been and might very well still be?
Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider. Simple as that.
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"It's seven am and the sun has risen at Presidio Heights! This lovely-"
A hand shot out of the covers and smashed into the stop button on the radio alarm, a groan emerged as the blob under the covers shifted and another hand wiggled out, it seemed almost reluctant to come out to present itself to the world, or in this case, the organised untidy room of teenage spy Alex Rider. Opps, that's ex -teenage spy Alex Rider now.
A blond hairy head followed the hand and eyes that seemed broken even in the haze of sleep blinked at the offending California sun that was leaking through his blinds. Alex had arrived in San Francisco a week ago and after receiving a bone crushing hug from Sabina, he had tried to settle in at his new home. Key word: Tried.
He hasn't improved much from the state he had been in, and still is in, when Edward Pleasure had gone to retrieve him from London. He barely ever opens his mouth, the only time he does is when someone asks a direct question and he avoids sentence answers, he hardly ever opens his mouth to eat either and the Pleasure family can often find him staring off into his own little world. He hardly ever gets any proper rest and bags have formed under his eyes, to normal civilians, he would appear like a party freak that spends his nights out getting smashed with alcohol instead of studying like a good boy. However the real reason for his tiredness is because of the nightmares that haunt him every night, often he can be found at one or two in the morning bending over the toilet and throwing up his dinner.
The Pleasures don't know whether they should seek professional help for their new family member or to just sit tight and hope for Alex to recover on his own. However they tossed out the professional help option when Alex had firmly but politely refused to see a psychiatrist. That had been the first time he had shown any real emotion and even then it had only been a flicker of annoyance before retreating back behind his blank mask.
Liz had suggested that Alex go to school today in the hopes of bringing back some emotion in him, or well, on his face. She had hoped that contact with more teenagers would help him seem a little less… broken. Edward had questioned her when she bought this up, wondering if that it may be a little too soon since Alex had only arrived a week ago. Liz had replied that he wasn't doing anything at home and that maybe school would be good for him.
So here he was, standing in front of his new mirror and looking at his bare chest, he skimmed over his scars with his eyes and grabbed a shirt just as he heard footsteps walking down the hall towards the – no –towards his room. A second later, the doorknob turned and Edward popped his head in.
"Oh you are awake, good! Liz has made pancakes downstairs and Sabina said that you should get down there soon if you didn't want to miss the bus."
Just as his head disappeared it popped right back with a confused looked.
"Alex, is it just me or does your shirt look inside out?"
The ex-spy swirled his head towards the mirror so fast that Edward hadn't even seen him move.
"Oh. Yea, it is. I, ah – I'm just nervous about school."
Edward smiled and replied with a kind, "Everyone gets nervous 'bout school, don't worry Alex, I'm sure you'll do great."
With one last grin he had retreated to the hallway and shut the door behind him. It was times like these that Alex missed Jack the most. Had it had been her that had seen him with an inside out shirt, she would have known instantly that something was wrong and no matter how much crap about school Alex made up, she wouldn't have believed it for a second because she would have known that nothing as small as nervousness about school would have made him put on the shirt wrong. She would have also known that he had thrown on the shirt just as she headed towards his room.
Alex fixed his shirt and then headed down to the kitchen to get his breakfast. To tell the truth he wasn't overly concerned about school, he had gotten used to the rumours and gossip about him at Brookland that he didn't really care about what his schoolmates thought anymore. Although this was a new school, he knew that he could charm everyone if he tried; after all, he was the world's best teenage spy.
Alex nearly flinch when he thought those thoughts but he only outwardly twitched a little. Inside, he was cursing himself and MI6 in five different languages and quickly pushed his thoughts of spying and anything to do with spying away.
"Hello honey, come here and have some pancakes!"
Alex tried his best to return Liz's bright morning smile but all he managed was a small twist of the lips that he thought was more of a grimace than a smile. But apparently it was a half decent smile or maybe they just ignored it because Sabina grinned and hugged him tightly.
"Aren't you excited for today? You're gonna absolutely love our school!"
He noted how she didn't wait for his reply and that she had said 'our' school instead of 'my' school. He tried to work up a better smile but he really just felt tired of having to constantly try to please the Pleasures. He tried because he was grateful that they had taken him in and he wanted to be nice but he was just so tired of all this and sometimes he wished that they didn't try so hard to be so welcoming.
He said "Thank you." When Liz handed him a plate of pancakes and then he turned to Sabina and said, "So, when's the bus coming?"
The whole family seemed thrilled at his simple question and they all broke into grins. It was the first time that he had spoken without someone prompting and although Alex knew this, he didn't see how it could make them all so happy. Sabina's grin was the biggest and she replied cheerfully, "Well, unless you want to miss it then I suggest you start eating Blondie."
Alex tried for a laugh and at the sight of their grins going bigger, Alex knew he succeed and he mentally gave himself a pat on the back. While he filled his stomach with food, he also mentally prepared himself for school and teenagers - god the teenagers! He felt like groaning and banging his head on the table. He was not looking forward to meeting the stuck up girls and arrogant boys. He filled his mind with calmness so that he doesn't lose control and kill someone, his mind is in a... delicate state at the moment and he has to be extra careful that he doesn't lose it at some ignorant kid who thought they owned the world.
Just as he finished eating, Sabina grabbed his arm and pretty much dragged him to the door. He quickly grabbed his bag which he had packed yesterday and next to him Sabina did the same while shouting, "Bye Mum, bye Dad!" and Alex heard the faint "Have fun kids!" just as Sabina shut the front door.
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So, what do you think? I have just finished reading Scorpia Rising a couple of days ago and then an idea for this fic struck me so I decided to try it and see if people like it. I haven't written much of this, I've only just finished this chapter and I did it in one night so it's not too good.
I hope you at least enjoyed it and please tell me what you think about it and whether or not I should continue. I'll mention right now that this won't be a Sabina/Alex story, not because that I don't like them together but I don't want this fic to be about their relationship but rather to be about what happens to Alex after Scorpia Rising. Alex's behaviour is from the last couple of pages of the book and so is where they live and all, this is just an intro to see if anyone's interested but if you are then maybe you can help me think of a name for their choc Labrador.
If you don't like parts of this or if you think there's something I need to change or improve then please point it out since I'm not that good a writer so I love it when people tell me what they think of my writing and not just the story. So please review!
Ally xoxo