Chapter 2

The America hero

As a child Alfred F Jones loved comic books. His whole room was littered with action figures and the walls decorated with posters of various heroes. Every day he would wrap a makeshift cape around his shoulders and pretended he was a super hero. His neighbours would frequently look out of their windows to see the young boy tear down the streets shouting.

"Have no fear Allstar is here!" He would then proceed to approach any random person on the street and ask them if they noticed any villains around, or if they had any troubles only a hero would be able to fix.

He was a kind, bright and energetic young boy so needless to say he was quite popular around the neighbourhood.

However his hero antics also caused him trouble from time to time. One time he was playing Frisbee with several other kids when one boy threw it too high and it got caught between the branches of a tall tree. The other children were hesitant to climb the tree and retrieve it, but Alfred ran to the front exclaiming loudly.

"Climbing a tree is no problem for a hero!" And proceeded to climb. However once he reached the Frisbee and threw it back down he noticed he was stuck. The other children went to find an adult to help them. But not minutes after they left the sound of an ice-cream trucks jingle reached his ears. Desperate to get to the truck before it left, he started to climb back down. But he lost his footing and fell to the ground.

He broke his leg that day and his mother confined him to his bed. He grew restless quite easily, after all what kind of hero was he if he couldn't even leave his bed. But he got to eat plenty of ice cream so it wasn't all bad.

As he got older his stockpile of hero collectables dwindled. Though his hero attitude never changed, and although it was strange it also made him quite popular. The girls swooned at his charismatic smile and baby blue eyes. It helped that he was the star player on his schools baseball team. His talent on the field and ability to instantly change a games outcome in their favour soon earned him the nickname Allstar Jones.

He loved his life. Everyday was like a new adventure for him. So when his father announced that he was sending him to England to study, rather than get apprehensive over moving to a new country he became excited at the thought. A new country meant new adventures, and it gave him the opportunity to show the Brits how awesome he was.

The night before he was due to leave his mother threw him a farewell dinner. It was just the usual Hamburger and fries though. But he loved hamburgers more than any other food so he was more than happy. And if his nose wasn't deceiving him it smelled like his mother was baking her famous apple pie. He was going to miss his mothers cooking more than anything while he was away.

"Now I don't have to stress how important it is to befriend Arthur Kirkland. His father can provide me with a lot of support when I start a hotel chain in England." Alfred nodded absently while chewing a rather large piece of his burger. His father had been telling him the same thing for the past month now. He honestly didn't know why he needed this guy Kirklands backing. His father was rich enough to start his hotel empire without a stuffy British guys help. But he guessed it was all about 'connections' or so his father kept repeating like it was his own personal mantra. He never really understood it himself.

"If I can get this sponsor it will really help business. Kirios inc is famous all over the world, with its backing I might be able to open hotels all over the world." His father continued. Alfred was only half listening, it was just the same thing over and over again. He honestly didn't care much. His father intended for him to take over when he was old enough but he just didn't care for business's. He wanted to become a hero, such as a policeman or a fire-fighter or his personal favourite join the military. Saving lives and defending his country that would make him a true hero. Though when he told his father this he just laughed and put it all down to 'the dreams of youth' it was so frustrating, why did he have to take over something he really didn't want to? His father had a brother in Canada who had a son around his age, why couldn't he take over? He certainly shown an interest in running a hotel when he spoke about it with him at the last family reunion.

Seriously adults could be so frustrating sometimes, he was only twelve why did he even need to think about running a business yet?

When dinner was over, and his mother burst into tears because her little man was leaving, he headed up to his room. As soon as he entered the eyes of many superheroes greeted him. He loved his posters, they always made him feel so cool, as if just staring into the faces of the heroes he could become one himself. He had packed a few posters already, he just hoped they were allowed posters in the dorm rooms. He glanced around his room, several bags were packed and stuffed into the corner of his room.

He sighed and practically jumped onto his bed, sprawling somewhat haphazardly. He stared at his ceiling where a large mural of his favourite superhero of all time was painted. Allstar, defender of truth and justice. He stared into the sparkling blue eyes of the superhero who sported a dazzling smile, the kind that if real would have girls swooning over him. When he was younger he always pretended he was Allstar, he eventually grew out of it as he got older and developed an increasingly independent streak but he still knew he really wanted to be his own hero. Maybe not in the super sense, although that would be cool, but someone that the people would count on nonetheless. He knew he could do it, he could defend justice after all he was born on July 4th, independence day. His parents always told him that it was a good omen and he was destined for great things. He smirked at that, of course he was destined for great things, he was just awesome that way.

The plane ride was boring to say the least. Being in first class only alleviated his boredom by a little. Every few minutes he slumped back in his seat irritably, He had a small personal TV which he flicked through the channels multiple times. There were a couple of films on but one seemed like a boring romance and the other was a equally boring musical. He didn't watch the film long enough to find out what it was about and he didn't want to either. All he saw was a woman running across some hills singing about them, how could ever find that remotely interesting?

After a painfully slow eight hours the captain announced that they would soon be arriving in London. He looked out the window at the ever approaching city below. He felt abit disappointed, he was expecting England's capital city to be as grand as New York, or Washington. But as big cities go it wasn't so bad, looked slightly gloomy though but he assumed this was because of the weather. The sky was a dark grey and the rain fell in a light drizzle, giving the landscape a slightly misty look.

He remembered that when he got off the plane a man named Laurintes or something like that, was meant to meet him. He guessed the guy was foreign with that difficult to pronounce name. But he was a housekeeper at his fathers holiday home in Britain. He was assigned to be Alfred's retainer during his stay in the UK. He had never met the guy but apparently his father seemed to think he was trustworthy enough to entrust his only son to.

After the plane landed and he went through the tedious passport checks he headed to collect his luggage.

Standing by the conveyor belt was a young man holding a sign saying Jones. He made a beeline for him. As he got closer he noticed more features about the man, he was very young, probably not much older than twenty. He had shoulder length mousey brown hair and crystal blue eyes. When the young man caught sight of Alfred he waved and approached him.

"Alfred Jones? I am Toris Laurinaitis, ill be serving you during your stay in England." He had a accent that Alfred couldn't quite place. He sounded European, not that Alfred was ever very good at guessing where people are from by accents alone.

"Great! Do we have time to look around first? Its my first time here, I wanna get loads of pictures!" He held up his digital camera for effect.

"Its getting late young sir, but as long as your not too tired tomorrow ill be glad to take you on a tour of London, but keep in mind you start school the day after."

Alfred felt dejected after spending eight hours alone on the plane he wanted to explore the city he had heard so much about, but he guessed it was getting late.

Toris grabbed a big trolley and set all of Alfred's suitcases onto it. Although Alfred offered to help Toris shook his head telling him it was fine and his job. Toris led Alfred to the car park, where he approached a large shiny black Bentley. Alfred took a moment to admire the car. He never took a lot of interest in cars but even we was wowed by this design.

"it's a vintage 1958 Bentley series S." Toris explained noticing Alfred's fascination with the car. "Although its not the most modern of designs its very comfortable, and its quite a popular wedding car over here in England."

Alfred ran his finger over the smooth surface. His father loved cars, and had quite a collection at home. But he always had a soft spot for British made cars, now Alfred could see why.

The inside was just as lush, mahogany leather seats, wooden headboards. A cocktail table was built into the back of the front seat. Alfred sank into the seat as soon as he sat down. It was so comfy not to mention warm, it was really making him feel sleepy, he felt his eyes start to droop before he fell asleep, head resting against the window.

Toris eventually finished loading the car and climbed into the front seat. He glanced back at Alfred who seemed to have fallen asleep. Chuckling he started the car pulling out of the car park and driving though the busy streets of London.

Alfred opened his eyes tiredly, how long had he been asleep? He glanced out of the window but didn't see anything but darkness.

"Oh your awake? We're driving through the countryside, not much to see now but its beautiful during the day. I don't know how much you've been told but we're staying at your fathers cottage, Your parents sometimes stay here when they visit England but want to stay somewhere quiet. I'm the housekeeper there, I live there all year round. But if theres anything I can do for you don't hesitate to ask."

"I thought I was staying in London?" Toris laughed lightly.

"Your going to school in London, you'll be boarding there most of the school year. But during certain public holidays you'll be stopping here." Alfred nodded absently. He never been to a school that had its own dorms before. He wondered if he would have to share with anyone.

"I have another question, where are you from?" Toris glanced at him from the front view mirror.

"Lithuania." He responded. Alfred blinked a few times.

"Where's that?" Toris chuckled amusedly.

"I'm used to people not knowing where it is, it's a northern European country." Alfred tried to recall all the European countries he knew of, but found out he couldn't think of many, Geography was never his best subject. He settled back down in his seat staring out of the window.

He could just make out the dark outlines of trees by the side of the road and occasionally another car would pass them, but other than that it was quite deserted. Alfred shifted uncomfortably. It was kind of spooky, it seemed like the perfect setting for a ghost story, or an urban myth.

Eventually he noticed some lights in the distance. Toris pulled into a driveway leading to a big yet cosy looking cottage. He climbed out of the car and stared at the building in front of him as Toris busied himself with Alfred's luggage.

It was a very modern looking home, with brick walls and a tiled roof. Leaves were covering the whole side of the house, looking as if they were trying to swallow the cottage. It seemed that Toris took very good care of the garden, there were planted pots placed around the side of the perimeter.

Toris walked ahead and unlocked the door, beckoning Alfred to enter. Alfred stepped into the house and glanced around. The front door led straight into the living room. The walls were all whitewashed and the floor was made of polished wood. There were a couple of dark chocolate coloured leather sofas and one large armchair surrounding a small wooden coffee table. In the far corner was a stone fireplace and a basket full of logs sat next to it.

"If you go upstairs your room is the door to the left. You have an en-suite bathroom, but there is also a toilet downstairs if you need to use it." Toris motioned towards the hallway just past the living room. Alfred headed towards the stairs at the end. He glanced into all rooms as he went. There was a kitchen and dining room combined to his right, and what seemed to be a study to his left. There was a door just beyond the stairs with what he assumed was the toilet.

Upstairs led to a narrow corridor with only three rooms. He went into the one to his left as he was told.

His room was quite plain. The wallpaper was ivory and the carpet a royal blue. A wardrobe and chest of drawers were set up on the far side of the room and on the other a small four poster bed with a small bedside table on either side. Other than a few decorations such as the large mirror planted on the wall and a large potted plant the room was quite bare. Alfred was itching to hang up his posters on the wall, but he guessed he wasn't staying in this room for long, might as well save the posters for school.

He sat on the end of his bed. Although the cottage was quite pretty, it was so boring. He hoped that London was more lively, otherwise he would die from boredom.

Albert smiled charmingly at the waitress as she led him to his table. Along the way she kept shooting him shy glances. She shown him to a table located in the VIP area, where each table was spread out, perfect for private conversations, as long as you were reasonably quiet.

Albert noted there was always one noisy fool in the VIP lounge, someone who loved to hear the sound of his own voice. Always going on about his accomplishments loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear. It was boring, tiring and showed how insecure the person was. The truly powerful people didn't need to show off.

He barely glanced at the wine list before ordering himself a French red wine he was quite fond of. The waitress brought it out to him somewhat keenly. He stared at her as she pored him a glass.

"Thank you my dear." he purred. The waitress blushed, she wasn't very attractive. Albert would call her plain at best. But these kind of people rarely received any kind of attention from anyone, she was so used to being ignored the fact that she was being thanked by this handsome man was enough to make her mind feel like mush.

Just then a man looking so much like him, but younger and infinitely more innocent approached the table. James Kirkland, Albert's younger brother. Apart from the fact his face was slightly more round than his brother and his eyes held none of his brothers coldness they could be twins. His blond hair was combed back neatly and his baby blue eyes seemed to clash with his otherwise serious appearance. He sat down without a word and ordered a glass of white wine to be brought over.

Albert smirked. James always had to be the complete opposite of him, even something as trivial as ordering wine, it was quite cute really.

"So what did you want to see me about Albert?" He asked somewhat stiffly. The two brothers relationship had always been rocky. When Albert called him asking him to meet him for dinner he was instantly suspicious.

"Hello to you too James. I almost think your not happy to see me." He was bating him, and Albert knew he wouldn't react, James always tried to be calm around Albert and it was amusing though somewhat juvenile to try and see how much his brother could take before snapping.

"Its actually about your new student." James raised his eyebrow at this.

"You mean the American, Alfred Jones?" Albert nodded.

"That's the one. I want to make sure he shares a room with Arthur." James eyebrows raised even further at this.

"May I ask why?" Though he wasn't expecting a straight answer.

"You may, His father as you should know if you keep track of your own students backgrounds, owns a very large chain of hotels in America and Canada, He's looking to open a chain here in England. Of course opening a business in another country is risky. So he is looking for a company to sponsor him."

"And if you sponsor him you get a cut of his profits." James finished.

"Correct, 35% actually, his son is going to study here at your school so how perfect will it be if he became friends with Arthur?"

So it was all about money. It was a shame that both these boys were being used in their fathers business games, but they weren't the first and they certainly wouldn't be the last. Still he was surprised his brother would receive 35% that seemed like a bit much. But he didn't bother to ask, his bother never spoke about his company with him. James couldn't shake of the itching feeling there was more to it than just sponsors.

"35%? Seems like a lot of money." Albert chuckled unpleasantly.

"Robert Jones is quite a business man, he knows a good deal when he sees one." James waited for Albert to finish, but he never said anything more. James knew there was an ulterior motive somewhere, but it looked like his brother wasn't going to share said motive with him.

"I'm sure I can arrange something. Arthur has a room to himself so It wont be difficult to move Alfred in with him." He sighed. He learned long ago to go along with his brother, no matter how much he disliked it.

"Good I knew I could count on you Little brother." He said little brother with as much venom as he could muster. James grimaced Arthur had better make sure he became friends with Alfred, he hated to think what would happen if he disappointed his father. Just thinking about it made him feel very sorry for his nephew, very sorry indeed.

A/N: Well thats both the main characters introduced, so now the story can move onwards! All reviews and faves are appreciated :)

Also if anyone is willing to beta this fic or even knows someone who will please let me know. So far my friend and boyfriend have been checking for spelling or grammer mistakes but sometimes it best to have a stranger go over your story. So if anyones interested just PM me!