Note: Okay, a few things I'd like to acknowledge…
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Wait, at this point shouldn't you know that this will include spoilers if you haven't read all the books, let alone Scorpia Rising, considering it's been 4 years since Alex was involved with MI6?
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1) I DIDN'T KNOW JACK STARBRIGHT DIED. I came across a summary for "Scorpia Rising" and, well, I'm torn. I did mention Jack in the second chapter but—being the perfectionist I am—I guess I'll have to make that Alex's roommate or something so that Miss Starbright really did die. SOB. So yes. "Jack" from here on out will be some guy Alex rooms with unless specified it's the girl Jack. Please please please remember that!
2) People have favorited this story! Yay, thank you! I would like to see a review from you folks though, you know, to tell me why you are amazing and like it enough to keep updated with it(:
Sorry for the long notes and if my chapters get long, sorry about that too. But I hope the story's appealing enough that you don't care! I own nothing but the products of my imagination and if you review, I will truly love you forever. Seriously. You don't realize how much one small comment can mean to me. Now for what you actually clicked the link for…
Chapter Four - Ubi Bene, Ibi Patria (Where You Feel Good, There Is Your Home)
-Alex-
I didn't know what to do with myself. I was standing in the middle of the guest bedroom—my room—feeling at lost. Joseph and Margot had left me to settle in and Addie was nowhere to be found. I didn't feel entirely comfortable sitting in the chair or on the bed… I didn't feel comfortable touching anything. Everything felt alien and an insane part of me feared that if I laid a hand on something, I'd be blown to pieces, having set off a trap meant for intruders.
Intruders. Was I an intruder? Though I preferred not to dwell on it, I knew that I was the subject being discussed earlier when Addie had come home. I knew that the Daniels family was just as apprehensive about my presence as I was. Clearly, I was disturbing their space and although Joseph and Margot were making an effort to make me feel at home, I wasn't sure about Addie.
No, she hadn't come off outright rude but it was apparent she would take time adjusting to me as well. From what I'd seen so far, she was that "independent character" Mrs. Jones had described to me and it was only because she'd spoken. If Addie had been a schoolmate of mine back home, I never would have guessed she was a secret agent, especially if I never talked to her. Instead, I probably wouldn't have thought her to be anything more than the one girl that girls wanted to be and hang around and boys wanted to date. She could pass for one if she tried what with her looks, house, and the Audi Coupe and Range Rover in their driveway. These people definitely weren't entirely low-key.
Something made me gravitate towards the hall and approach the next room. Underneath the sullenness and anxiety, I felt like I at least had to try to be on good terms with Addie. If I had to protect her (the thought was still freshly bitter in my mind), what good would it be if we disliked each other?
She was sitting on her window seat, her leg propped up on a bunch of fluffy pillows. I noticed that her cast was adorned with colorful signatures and messages. She seemed to be staring out the glass while her fingers braided her hair, nimbly and swiftly.
"When do you get it off?"
Addie jumped and her head whipped around. Her eyes changed quickly: first they widened with surprise, narrowed in suspicion, and then clouded over with something else. She glanced away, quickly tying the braid. "They say I can probably have it off in two weeks. But I'd still have to go through physical therapy." I hadn't paid much attention before, but now that I really looked, I could see some of her other injuries: there was a fading bruise on her jaw and stitched cuts on her hands. I knew all too well how that felt.
I nodded, realizing too late that she still wasn't looking at me. Then she asked, "Is this your first time here?"
Thinking she meant Virginia, I replied, "Yeah, it is." It's wonderful how welcoming some of the people are here, I said silently. I knew it was harsh, so I added, "I haven't gotten to look around much, though. After arriving at the airport we went straight here."
Addie smiled a bit and shrugged. "That's okay, I know you have this case to work on but I'm sure you'll get to do some sightseeing on the side. There's plenty of that with being an agent, eh?" She looked up at me.
I found myself smirking. An inside joke for spies… great. I decided to ask a question that seemed proper enough to keep the conversation going, from her side at least: "Have you been working for the CIA long?"
And that did it. Though things were still a bit awkward between us, asking something she was comfortable with was the right way to go. We were both agents so she couldn't have felt like she was revealing top secret material, and both of us thought that it would help us get to know each other better. What Addie didn't know was that I already knew plenty about her. As I listened, I compared the information coming out of her mouth to the information I'd seen on her files. The only thing she never came close to mentioning was Joshua Daniels, her brother.
Dinner came and went much faster and smoother than I'd expected. It was almost funny that it was a classic American meal of burgers and fries. Joseph had tried to be funny and poked fun by asking if I'd ever had such a course. We'd all managed to maintain a chat between bites about me, Joseph and Margot in the field, a bit about Addie (in and out of the field), and me again. I attempted to steer the conversation away from me, since there were many things I didn't want to think or talk about. As a result, I learned that Margot had been an excellent agent; she worked close to the head of the CIA. Joseph had been—and still was—a tech whiz that worked in The Directorate of Science and Technology ("directorate" was the CIA's fancy way of saying "branch", according to him). Now they had sort of "retired", Margot working behind a desk and Joseph only going in some days. Secretly I knew it was because of what happened to their son. Like me, Addie had grown up practically training for this lifestyle doing martial arts, learning other languages, participating in sports, but never actually started doing real spy work until sixteen… And neither of her parents mentioned Joshua.
I couldn't sleep that night. I was full from the two burgers and handfuls of fries that I'd eaten but my mind was reeling. I was lying on my back, staring up at the blank ceiling while the sky outside was darkening. I had done the same thing on the plane here, wondering what Addie and her parents were like and thinking about Castillo, but now that I was here and had met them… There were new worries and questions fresh in my mind.
Tossing and turning onto my side, my eyes landed on the suitcase standing in the corner. The edge of the folder I'd been given earlier stuck out of one of the pockets. After my mission had been explained to me, I didn't look through the contents much. I knew I was never going to close my eyes so instead of thinking about, well, everything, I got up and grabbed it. I had to stop sulking sooner or later and if I wasn't going to sleep, I might as well use my time.
Taking a deep breath, I sat down at the desk and turned on the lamp. Then I opened the folder and began to read.
-Addie-
The next morning, I embarrassed myself. I'd fallen asleep late the night before because of my preoccupied brain and gotten up minutes before my alarm went off. I felt like a zombie. After grabbing my towel and heading to the bathroom, I had been stupid enough to just open the door—
"Oh my God." Alex was completely naked except for the towel wrapped around his waist—one of my towels that Mom must have given him, I noticed briefly. He'd obviously just gotten out of the shower because his blond hair was damp and ruffled like he'd towel-dried it. Against my will, my eyes strayed to his torso where a scar stood out over his heart. I recognized what kind of bullet wound it was, if it even was from a bullet. Awed, I was going to ask how he got it when he said,
"You didn't knock."
Feeling guilty not just for walking in on him but staring at his chest, I glanced up to meet his eyes. They were dark brown, amused but not angry like I'd expected. I felt the blood rushing up to my cheeks. "I-I know…" I stammered. "I didn't mean to. I'm sorry—"
"It's okay, I was just leaving," he said, shrugging. He grabbed his clothes and politely squeezed past me. I hoped he didn't notice how I stepped away from him like he was infected with something. As he passed by, a whiff of something clean and fresh wafted through the air and I couldn't stop myself from breathing it in as I shut the door behind me.
Why hadn't I checked to see if the light was on? Why did I forget that we had a guest living with us? He did say last night that he'd get up before me. I tried to get the image of Alex's sculpted arms and chest out of my mind as I did my morning routine. That scar was peculiar and shiny against the skin had looked so tough and hard after years of brutal missions… I turned the handle in the shower all the way to the left in hopes of burning away these unwelcome thoughts.
It wasn't until later that it occurred to me that the only reason I'd walked in on Alex was because he hadn't locked the door. This very fact floated around in my mind as I went to the kitchen, dressed in cut-off shorts, a zip-up hoodie, and a worn pair of Adidas, hungry for food. I saw Alex sitting at the breakfast bar and was relieved to see him fully clothed in a sweatshirt and jeans. Then I realized that he was eating a plate of what Dad called his "famous toast and eggs." The funny thing about it was that by "famous" he meant "only" because it was all he could cook besides microwave stuff. Being a tech whiz didn't necessarily mean knowing how to operate the stovetop.
Alex and I didn't say much besides quiet "Good morning" and Dad was the one that talked all the way to school. He made sure Alex understood the information he'd been given (coincidentally, he had all the same classes as me) and assured him that he'd like my school and friends. "See ya later, kiddos," he called as Alex shut the door to the Audi.
"Ready?" I asked him, nervously eyeing the blonde-haired girl approaching us from behind him. He nodded, shifting his backpack from one shoulder to the other.
"Hi Addie," Kylie greeted, the cheeriness in her voice reminding me of my dad's. Her bright eyes went to Alex and widened the slightest bit. "Who's your friend?"
Before I could introduce him, Alex beat me to it. "Hello. I'm Alex." He gave her what looked to be a smile.
"Oh. Hi Alex." Kylie smiled back and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, something she never did. "I'm Kylie."
"He's an exchange student," I jumped in. "He's staying with my family for… a little while." I saw that some students around us were also taking notice of the new kid. That's how it was here—people knew when someone was a transfer, exchange student or anything of that sort. Arianna called them "fresh meat." Did she mean that sadistically? I had no idea.
We headed inside, Kylie oohing and aahing at the answers Alex provided to her questions. A few more friends of mine met up with us and all got to meet him and, of course, were all fascinated by the fact that he was British. Actually, that was probably why everyone kept asking him questions, even repeating some, just to hear him talk. You would've thought we'd never had an exchange student by the way people swarmed around him. The one thing that bothered me though was that he didn't seem upset by it. During dinner last night he had seemed a little fidgety about discussing himself and his life… Now, he responded to people with ease and calmness. Maybe it was because they were asking the wrong questions; they weren't prodding him about any of his missions since he was just an ordinary guy to them.
My teachers were the only ones that weren't as infatuated with Alex as everyone else. For once, I was thankful for the busyness with the lesson plans and taking up any time that could be used to get to know him. But I had to admit that I was envious when he had a fluent conversation in French with Madame Landry during third period. Having started learning the language when I was eight, I had always been the most fluent in AP French. Now I wasn't the only one who could have inside jokes with her.
"Are you okay?" Derek asked me later once the bell rang for lunch. I took my time answering his question and gathering my stuff.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, looking at him. "Why?"
Derek nodded towards Alex who was waiting by the door as two girls stopped to talk to him. "He's definitely gotten a lot more attention than any other exchange student has in the past four years."
I gazed at him while he wasn't looking at me, remembering the thing we'd had last year. He was still cute and had that sensitivity most boys seemed destitute of. So far, he was the only one that had taken notice of my unusual silence today. "Sure, but it doesn't bother me," I lied. "It's better than people ignoring him."
He didn't appear to be convinced but didn't push it. My group of friends and I took our lunches and went outside to sit in the square and enjoy the sun. I didn't have any classes with Arianna in the morning so I wasn't surprised when she pulled me aside—well, dragged considering my leg—to grill me about "the British guy."
"He's living with you?" The incredulity in her voice made me clamp my hands over my ears. I glanced around to make sure no one was giving us strange looks, especially Alex.
"Yes," I hissed, "but seriously, Ari, keep your voice down!"
Her manicured nails dug into my arm as she gripped me. "But Addie! He is divine. If I were you, I'd be sneaking into his room at night…" She ignored my groans and continued, "Have you even seen him with his shirt off yet?"
I frowned. Did she have to ask that? Maybe she'd read my mind. I didn't want to lie to her, yet… "Why does it matter?" I asked, trying not to sound defensive.
"He hasn't seen you shirtless, has he?"
"What? No! Are you insane? Why would he?" I blushed at the thought.
Arianna eyed me. "Because you're pretty, Add, and all hope is lost if he likes you." Sometimes I wondered why this girl had become one of my best friends. It was probably because she supplied the crazy teenage girl stuff I occasionally lacked. I was flattered that she called me pretty, yes, but also a bit peeved that she'd think I was competition, let alone that Alex was some prize to be won. I wanted to tell her that he'd never have time for a girl with the mission on his hands, but it wouldn't have been any use.
"Chill, Arianna," I sighed. What was the point in saying I hadn't seen him with his shirt off? I told her about this morning and immediately wanted to take it back when her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open. She looked like she wasn't breathing. "Are you breathing? Arianna, it's not that big of a deal…" I could see she was trying not to scream.
"Details! Details, details, details!" She nagged me as I turned on my heel to walk away. I didn't want to be the reason why everyone thought someone was being murdered during lunch if she did scream. But I saw that there wasn't much to walk back to; Alex was busy talking to a small group and others were hurriedly doing last minute homework. I looked at Arianna and her pout and rolled my eyes. "Well, okay, he only had a towel on…" She squealed and I sighed.
It was going to be a long couple of weeks.