Tada! Here I be! Hehe

Warning: MINOR SWEARING. Nothing beyond the S word, and I'm introducing some flashbacks from the last year with his last mission, and a journal entry (so sorry no Jack and K-unit this chapter maybe the next). Also very angsty babbling from Alexs part just to warn you!

Disclamir- hot dang if I owned Alex… yum… fangirl stare

Buzz buzz buzzzzz!

Alex groaned reaching for his wrist blindly his stiff fingers fumbling over the annoying buzzing timepiece till he found the correct switch.

"God, what a dream," Alex sighed bringing his hand to his head rubbing it down his face. "Jack will freak when I tell her this one," he opened his eyes that quickly filled with un-shed tears as he realized that it had not in fact been a dream. He was still homeless living on the streets with his best friend in a coma.

Glancing down at the watch at his wrist, he determined that, as it was six o'clock, he had about an hour before the first students and teachers would arrive. Pulling his jacket on, he peered around the corner and into the silent gym before grabbing his bags and walking hurriedly over to the locker rooms. Jiggling the doorknob, he found it to be locked.

"Of course," he whispered rolling his eyes, he should have seen this happening. The teenager set his school bag on the ground and dug through its contents 'till he pulled out a swiss army knife. He flicked through it till he found a long spine of metal, a lock pick. Inserting the instrument into the key he jiggled it around till the lock clicked, and the door slowly swung inward.

Pulling his bag back up he walked it to his gym locker, a wide box of metal, and putting in his combination, he grabbed a towel, a bar of soap, and shampoo before stuffing his school bag inside. Turning to the locker next to it, he thought for a moment before cautiously entering the combo into the lock, it gave a satisfactory click and swung open. The locker was Tom's (it was obvious from the slightly cluttered locker and playboy magazines hidden under a dirty sock).

On one of the hooks was a bag, or what Tom had called his Parent Survival Bag of Epicness (or simply PSBOE). Grinning at it, he stuffed his own bug out bag into it, having to remove a couple of items out so the bag could actually fit. Grabbing his towel, the blonde walked to the shower.

The warm water felt good on his sore body, especially his shoulders, which were screaming out in pain from having to lug around the two bags all night, not to mention sleeping on the hard gym floor beneath the bleachers. With his eyes closed and head tilted towards the stream of hot water, memories began to flash before his eyes.

one year ago

The room was cold and bare with grey dirty walls, and a dim flickering flourecent light that hung from the ceiling added to the feeling of unease that the room held. Across the room was a one way mirror that reflected the room back staring, always staring. The image was transfixing like he was staring into his own soul.

The figure stared back at him intensly emotionless making him shiver, his stiff wrist twitching in tight cuffs bolted to the table by a large eyelet. Under the metal the skin was red and raw causing spasms of pains to wrack his body constantly.

To his left, the door creaked open and in stepped a tall, rather lanky man in his late thirties (or perhaps early forties) with graying brown hair, his hands clutching at a file. Throwing the file on the table, he sat in the chair opposite from him. The man stared at him closely oberving him, trying to find his weaknesses or his strengths, but he got none of it. With a sigh, he pulled out a two pictures and moved them in front of him.

"They're dead because of you," the man growled at him as the eyes of the dead stared up knowingly.

With a gasp, Alex reached out, turning off the spray of water before leaning against the cold tiles cradling his head. Damn it couldn't he just forget about it all? Rage ran through his veins and with a snarl he punched the wall, accomplishing only a bloody knuckle.

"Shit," it came out as a snarled gasp.

Walking out of the shower he pulled the towel around his waist and ran his hand under the faucet watching as the crismson blood turned pink as it was washed down the drain. The clock on the wall read 6:30, he still had a half an hour or so before he could leave. Pulling his clothes on he sat on a bench and dug out his leather bound journal and his pen. Opening it up to a cleaner page he though for a moment.

Since the last mission my life has, of course, been a living hell, and the recent events in life threatens to surpass the last mission by miles. I can't believe she is gone, I can't believe that I am alone and homeless to boot. Because one stupid bastard had to go and literally set fire to my world. If and when I find out who did this then I don't know what I'll do... But I'll do something.

I have learned many things these past two years, and I have many contacts still out there. I'm fed up with the way the world treats me. I'm done, its time I taught all of these arseholes a lesson.

The entry made him smile as he shoved the book back in his bag and walked out of the locker room through the gym and into the lot to join the other students walking into the school. Most of them stared at him with a loathing pity, even they weren't as heartless to be glad he had lost everything that he owned. Trying to ignore the looks of people he continued into the school and into the office.

"Oh! Alex!" came the startled yell of Ms. Bedforshire, as she stood and pulled him into a tight hug. "How are you holding up dear?" her dark eyes looked him over through her thick-lensed glasses.

"I'm fine Ms. Bedforshire," he whispered, at a loss for words at her kindness, something he hadn't felt in weeks.

"You have someplace to stay yes?" Taking a mental deep breath, he smiled brightly up at her.

"Yes ma'am I have, I just wanted to come in and say that at the moment I may not have a uniform for a week or so." The woman nodded, jotting it down on a piece of paper.

"I'll tell the headmaster, I'm just glad that your ok and putting it all behind you."

"Yeah, I'm really putting it behind me," he thought grimly, still smiling up at her as brightly as possible. The smile felt slightly sickening on his face, but he kept it there.

"Now, off to class with you!" Giving her another room of his trademark smiles he walked out of the room and down the hall to his form room waiting for class to start. Pulling out his journal, and (thankfully blade-less) pencil case, he began to gently sketching a likeness of Jack on the paper.

The simple drawing brought a few tears in eyes, that he wiped away trying to concentrate on the picture before him as carefully as possible. It was the bell that starled him out of his thoughts, looking up he watched as the latecomers Adam, Rachel and the rest of their crew slid in.

Briefly, he caught Adam's eyes, the taller boy paled slightly before turning away hurrying to his seat. Alex stared after him through the corner of this eye. It was strange. Normally, he would have gotten at least a couple of death glares and muttered curses by now.

Mrs. Jones was normally a very patient sensible woman, who always sat up straight, never slouched, and always kept herself looking as spotless as she could. Today however she sat slumped over her desk wearing the same clothes as yesterday, her hair stuck out oddly from her hand running through it so often and her make up had smudged, adding to the bags under her eyes.

Tulip Jones was not in a good mood, she had spent the entire night with Mr. Smithers trying to figure out how to handle the Rider problem. With Alex pretty much burned, it left the teanager in a position of danger should the information be leaked, putting the boy, MI6, and the rest of the government at risk.

At least nothing had happened yet, all reports had stated that Alex had spent the night in the school and was now sitting in his form room. Lifting her head from her stiff arms she looked through the window. Mrs. Jones wouldn't let Blunt get away with what he had done.


Sorry this just seemed like a good place to stop for now. The story is slowly building up with what four other back stories? Yeash. Any way thanks for reading hope you enjoyed it! So this and the last chapter have both been betad by the oh so wonderful Marie Elaine Cullen. She rocks so go and read her stuff becuase she is awesome!

Reviews, Thank you everyone! I'm going to try and do everything by PM and only reply here to those in Anom. Though to Mainn please get out of my head! AHHHHH! Bookdancer technically they are in the story. *wink* CHiKa-RoXy and alex rider1998 thank you it means alot to here that you love this story to call it the best, when there are defiantly better stories on her! CoughMariecough Jakol mwahahahahahaa! ALBANY putting my spanish to the test. Much gracias la espera ha terminado!

Oh and TheWall pointed out something that I'm seriously face palming at the moment. The problem of the two Mrs. Walters, lets say there related, and that Alex is taking geometry and Algerbra two which is possible in America. I'll try in the future to go back in a fix that...