11. IDENTITY

By the time Alfie had finished his talk with both Sarah and Kate; Harry had just gotten up and had gone down to breakfast so Alfie was left alone when he began packing up all his things. All his school work, books, clothes were shoved into bags by the time Harry came back with a large grin on his face and was practically celebrating.

"I'm so glad you decided to join dude, I was so scared that I was gonna be stuck in that pigsty of a school for longer," he walked over to his own cupboard and began unloading his clothes into the two suitcases. "Shortest recruitment mission ever."

"If I hadn't been offered a place CHERUB, would you have left forever and never tried to speak to me again?" Alfie asked, sitting on his bed.

Harry froze and turned to look at him. "That's the rule CHERUB has, yes. I don't often like doing it but we're not allowed to keep in contact with people we met from missions. We get suspended, chucked off CHERUB forever."

Alfie nodded in understanding. "What really happened to your parents?"

"My mum got arrested for murder when I was six-years-old and was sentenced to life in prison. My dad looked after us for four years until he died from a heart attack, I was sent to some horrible care home in Manchester until CHERUB found and recruited me." he explained.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Harry smiled. "It's all in the past but we better hurry up or we don't be done in time."

Alfie was already a quarter of a way done, so he remained sat down for a while longer and watched as Harry unzipped his suitcase and bundled a mountain of clothes inside. "Was it some kind of a coincidence that I was happened to be placed in the same room as an agent?"

"Not really, but the timings were a coincidence. I was sent here because I played a mean prank on my sister and caused some substantial damage to her room which CHERUB now has to pay for so they sentenced me to fifty-laps, two recruitment missions and everyday cleaning of the dojo when I get back. This is my last mission and I got here just a day before you...lost your dad," he continued. "Sarah oversees most of the records and files that come through here and she saw yours. She arranged for you to share a room with me so I could monitor you, all the while telling Kate that it would be good for us to talk to each other because we both lost our parents recently."

"And that we would understand each other?"

"Exactly. I'm sorry I had to lie to you but I really had no choice," Harry said. "If I'd told you and CHERUB decided that they didn't want to bring you in for the entry exams they would've flayed me alive."

"Don't worry," Alfie nodded. "I understand."

They continued packing in silence until they were picked up at ten when all the other kids were at school, and taken to CHERUB campus.

~oOo~

It was a miserable October day when Alfie walked down the hallway towards his handler's office. He wore the traditional CHERUB uniform but with a pale blue trainee T-shirt instead of the orange one that represented visitors. He stopped and knocked on the door when he reached it a few minutes later. Allison Cain had been a CHERUB agent herself, retiring at the age of eighteen and attending classes at the University of Manchester before deciding that she much preferred life on campus; accepting the job as a handler four years ago.

Allison had long, curly dark brown hair and kind brown eyes but could apparently be strict as hell when she wanted to be. Alfie gulped nervously as he took a seat in front of the woman's desk, who merely smiled.

She had been shuffling some files on the desk which Alfie guessed had his data and information on it. They discussed Alfie's timetable until he started basic training in a few weeks before Allison said, "So Alfred, have you chosen a name yet?"

He had been informed of this by Harry but hadn't given it a second thought until now. "I have to change my name completely from Alfred Steven Kitchens?"

"Not completely," Allison assured. "You can keep your first name if you want and change the surname or do it the other way around."

"And the surname can be anything?"

Allison nodded. "Providing it matches your ethnicity, yes. For example, because you have both German and English heritage, you can choose either an English or German surname as long as it's a believable and sensible one. Perhaps a celebrity you look up to?"

Alfie had a range of celebrities he looked up to but he didn't potentially want to change his surname to theirs. He was just about to say so when a thought occurred to him. "How about a fictional character? Will that be allowed?"

"Of course," Allison nodded. "Again, providing it matches your ethnicity."

This opened a whole lot of new windows that he could choose from. So many book characters, so many TV characters. He thought of his and his mum's favourite TV show that they used to watch and smiled. "I like the surname Swan," he told Allison with a sudden buzz of excitement. "How about that?"

"That's an interesting one. You're not some Twilight fan, are you?"

Alfie scoffed. "Never in a million years. I got the Swan surname from a favourite TV show of my mum's. She and I watched the first season together before she became ill, it's the surname of the protagonist."

"Well that sounds fine to me and what about your middle name? Do you want to keep that as Steven or change it into something else?"

"How does Alfie Richard Swan sound?" he asked. "Richard was my dad's middle name. I don't want to keep the name Alfred, just Alfie."

Allison nodded, jotting it down. "As long as you're sure that's what you want."

Alfie Swan smiled. "Definitely. I was just wondering about my dad's things. I don't know whether they've finished searching the house yet-"

"The money your dad earned through his work has been put into a savings account for you to access when you turn eighteen and from what we know, once they've closed off the investigation regarding his death, the house will be yours to claim," Allison explained. "When you reach of age, you'll be able to decide what happens with it, whether you want to keep it or sell it will be entirely up to you when the time comes."

"Thanks."

"You'll receive your timetable tonight at the latest. You have medical first, good-luck with that."

"Why?" Alfie furrowed his eyebrows.

Allison merely smiled.

~oOo~

After finishing up with Allison, Alfie met up with Harry who offered to show Alfie to his room in the main building. It was strange seeing his friend dressed in the CHERUB uniform with a grey T-shirt and was still taking a while to get used to. "I finished basic training when I was ten," he explained as they stood in the lift. "Haven't got a good mission yet, though."

The other grey shirt in the lift, a girl who Alfie discovered was Harry's twin, rolled her eyes. Her name was Harriet and she shared her brother's blonde hair and brown eyes. "I wonder why that is," she said. "You can hardly last two minutes without getting into some kind of trouble."

Harry frowned. "That's not true."

"Oh really?" she chuckled. "I was in your group for basic training and I've gone on two successful missions and it's all because I actually behave myself. I'm bound to be getting a navy shirt soon, just one more mission I expect."

"Well you're just a show off." Harry mumbled.

Harriet turned to Alfie and offered him a smile. "You must be Alfie," she said, holding out her hand to which he shook. "It's nice to meet you. Hopefully he won't get you into trouble."

"I should be fine," Alfie grinned. "I know what not to do."

"I can show you to your room if you want," she insisted, as the elevator doors opened and they stepped out into the hallway. "And the rest of the campus too, I'll be better at explaining things than my brother."

Alfie glanced at him. "Is that okay with you?"

Harry shrugged. "Sure," he said and grinned as he stepped back into the elevator. "Try not to bore him too much Harriet."

Harriet looked as though she was about to say something back but the elevator doors dinged shut and Harry saluted at them as his amused expression disappeared from view. Instead, she sighed and started dragging Alfie down the hallway before stopping.

"This is your room," she gestured to the door. "Do you have your key?"

Alfie quickly shuffled through the pockets of his trousers before grasping one of the keys Allison had given to him and shoved it into the lock of the door. It opened immediately and he let out a whistle of appreciation as he took in the room. It was like the same one he had woken up in before but better with the same type of double bed and thick duvet and a pile of freshly pressed CHERUB uniform along with all of Alfie's belongings were packed neatly into bags against the wall. A decent sized TV with a DVD player followed by a new computer and desk, kettle, mini-fridge and a microwave.

Connecting to the room was a bathroom, with a long towelling dressing gown draped over the door and multiple piles of different sized towels and flannels ready for the large bath that accompanied the room. There were several unopened packs and bottles of soap, shampoo, deodorant and an electric toothbrush sat up by the sink. "This is like some fancy hotel apartment," Alfie gasped. "Are you sure we're in the right room?"

Harriet laughed. "This is definitely your room; I have one of the same floor. This is your place of home for the next seven or eight years."

"I feel like I don't deserve all this..."

"We're risking our lives on missions, they're hardly going to place us in mud shacks are they?" Harriet chuckled and placed a hand on Alfie's shoulder. "Come on, there's a football match beginning on the Astroturf in a few minutes, and I wanna join in."

Alfie was stupid to worry about what this football match on the Astroturf entitled. Nobody really took the game seriously and each team was a mixture of boys and girls of all ages. Alfie joined Harriet's team and they all basically sprinted around the pitch until the sun was beginning to descend below the horizon. He had managed to get one goal in the entirety of the game and had even met a new friend. A red shirt that was his own age was accidentally sent flying towards Alfie when the ball was unexpectedly kicked towards his feet; they both went tumbling towards the ground in a heap.

The girl burst out laughing. "I've only known you for less than an hour and I'm already falling for you."

Alfie grinned, brushing sand off of his trousers. "What can I say? I'm a charm."

The girl held out her hand to which Alfie shook. "My names Grace," she told him with a kind smile once they were both off of the ground. "I'll be starting basic training with you in three weeks."

"Alfie Swan." he replied before the girl disappeared off into the building.

Harriet returned to Alfie's side a few minutes later, looking as though she just did several laps around the Astroturf. Her face red from the exertion. "I see you've met one of Caitlyn Rosa's younger siblings. I'd be careful there."

"Wait hold on, she's the sister of the girl who kicked my arse during the entrance exams?" he gaped.

"The one and only," Harriet smiled. "But don't worry too much; Grace isn't as mean as Caitlyn is."

Dinner was spent in the canteen with Harriet, Harry and three other kids from the same floor level as him called Frankie, Aaron and Scott. Alfie grabbed a plate of fish and chips but merely ate a few of the chips while the others all practically inhaled the long range of Chinese and Indian food. Frankie was halfway through her korma when she noticed Alfie's lack of eating. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"He's probably just nervous about basic training," said Scott. "After all, who can blame him?"

Alfie frowned. "How bad is basic training?"

"Oh it's terrible," Harry grinned. "Worse one-hundred days of your life."

"Don't listen to them Alfie, they're just trying to make you scared," Harriet interrupted them with a quick glare to Scott and her brother. "You'll be fine, everyone believes that you're going to pass on first go if you keep up with the fitness and you know...eat."

Alfie grinned meekly at her and continued to eat half of his fish before placing his knife and fork down with a triumphant smile. "See, I ate, big deal."

"It will be a big deal once medical get their hands on you, they'll sentence you to a diet to make sure you eat."

When Alfie got back to his room that evening he spotted a timetable that had been slid underneath his door and remembered he was supposed to collect it from Allison but had completely forgotten. Luckily his handler remembered otherwise he would've been late for the majority of the things on his timetable tomorrow which unfortunately started with medical.