It was late, they were late. Joe Canterbury was watching the seconds tick by on his menubar rather than write code or email his short list of friends. Tonight's correspondence had been fifteen messages from Paul Roscoe asking 'is spy boy there yet?' and Cass being a supercool Californian, who had only messaged once about how boring his science project was not mentioning the former Mr. Friend at all. His two BFF's were both long distance friends. Another escapee from Point Blanc had emailed yesterday, James Sprintz sending his missive from his boarding school in Switzerland. The German troublemaker was playing nice in the hope his father would let him travel stateside when his term ended. Both teenagers complained of the seven long boring weeks until school was out.

A car pulled up and through the open window Joe could hear his dad thank his driver.

In the light, bright hall of the Georgetown home of Senator and General Canterbury, a slim and petite sixteen year old stopped in his tracks and looked at the mix of art and photographs on the pale walls, which screamed wealth and taste.

The tall American dropped his bags and felt the jarring combination of bone tired and hungry. The kid would be the same, but he had not complained nor asked for anything. "Come on into the kitchen, you need a drink and snack with your meds. We'll slowly move the timing to US time, unless you're a night owl like Joe."

At that there was a tall, slim young man bounding down the stairs, missing the last five steps in an easy leap he mock whispers "Dad! Alex! You guys are so late! Best be quiet, mom has an early meeting tomorrow. She texted you. Loser in the Transport department would not rearrange for her family emergency."

From the huge refrigerator, Charlie Canterbury pulled out two platters of sandwiches, each decorated with luminous post-its stating MEAT and VEGGIE. At the breakfast bar, Alex drank a large glass of ice cold milk, which was the best tasting drink he had had in months. He ate two tuna sandwiches and could not decide if the soya veggie slices were evil or not. He'd prefer straight cheese to the strange faux slices. A colourful array of tablets were then downed.

Dad then ordered "So get to bed, guys. Joe will show you to your room, Alex. Its down the hall from mine and Mimi's room and Joe's is upstairs again. If you are up early you'll meet the beautiful Mrs. Canterbury, otherwise I'm home until Tuesday. Hopefully, I'll sleep, but jet lag normally gives me insomnia so I might be in my office in the basement."

Joe stopped by the guest room reassigned as his new brothers personal space. The room was painted aegean blue, two football posters were on the wall. Alex frowned at the new Chelsea strip depicted on the unfamiliar players. "Get some sleep, bro. See you about lunchtime or so." joe said with a yawn. The orphan carefully checked out this space. The closet had a few generic clothes. The bed was standard with plain dark blue bedding. There were several books, all previously read, obviously passed on by Joe with a stack of computing and gaming magazines. He considered changing into the sleep pants, but he pulled off his clothes to sleep in the nude.

…

It was 4:50 and Mimi sat bolt upright at the sound of crying. She knew Charlie was sleeping in his office not to disturb her. She pulled on her robe and followed the sound to Alex's bedroom. Her basic grasp of Russian she could make out heart breaking pleading of 'No!', 'Please Don't!' and 'father!'.

She knocked on the door and entered, putting on the lights at a low setting and alerting her new son to her presence with "Alex darling, you're having a nightmare. You're safe in Washington, in your new home. Wake up Alex, its OK."

With a gasp, the teen flung himself out of the bed and pushed himself across the floor the corner and questioned "Jack?"

"No, its Mimi, Joe's mom, your new mom. This is your room in your new home. Or as Joe calls it, a place only slightly better than the school from Hell. His favourite pastime is making us pay for our mistake of sending him there. The one good thing was that we all realised what we almost lost."

The boy blinked several times and then was awake enough to register there was no threat nor a spot inspection. He smiled sheepishly and then could not help but cough. He had a handful of phlegm after his second cough. "I just need to wash up. I'll be back in a mo.". As he washed his hands Alex realised he'd just flashed Joe's mom. Rubbing his hand over his face, he could either react like it was a big deal, only it really wasn't. He strode back into the bedroom to the closet and pulled on a t-shirt and sweatpants. His new mother was sat patiently on his bed with her back to the door.

The fifty-four year old veteran senator's eyes had been drawn to the lines of scars on this boy's back, from his thighs to shoulders; proof Alexei Sarov had whipped his son into submission. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, Sorry for waking you. It's strange that people notice my nightmares here. Valentin and Dimitry just slept through them." The bad dreams had been an occasional occurrence, with his change in circumstances, they had been regular over the past three weeks. "It's just change has affected me. I was not happy by a long way in Siberia. I need to find my feet, to trust you and hope this works out; as the last two years have shown me hope and trust are two things I cannot afford."

The radio alarm on Mimi's bedroom started blaring out the local news. "I have a full diary this morning. Will you be able to go back to sleep?"

The teenager shrugged and then was truthful "Not a chance."

Understanding her own inability to sleep in once awake, she proposed "Rather than wait hours for Joe to get up or Charlie to get over his jetlag, you could join me for a breakfast on the go and see just how tedious the majority of public service really is. The only good thing is we should be home for lunch and Connie has promised her chilli bean soup and toasted cheese quesadillas."

Knowing Joe was vegetarian, Alex wondered if most food catered for their fussy son. "Sure, we should get to know each other." The general had talked a lot about his wife and son, giving their new family member the low down of how things worked in the Canterbury household. Joe's mom was a bundle of energy about work, home, her husband and son. Joe, their only child, had come as a surprise after fifteen years of marriage. Two years ago, the pair had separated, leading to Joe's bad behaviour and the decision to send him to boarding school. The career driven pair had learned a hard lesson and family was the most important thing in both their life, as the politician. When Joe had returned hime both had asked Joe if he wanted them to resign their responsibilities. Joe's distant indignation crumbled as he realised the Point Blanc business had hurt his parents as much as himself. Not a fairy tale ending as all had to work hard, talk things through and each understand the dynamic. Now, he was part of this family and he was going to have to try hard to integrate and thrive here. He could not coast, drift along or despair.

The small independent coffee shop offered a wide selection of drinks, pastries and breakfast options. Alex looked at the selection and picked hot chocolate and a granola yogurt pot mix. As the strangers who were now mother and son sat back in the car, Alex knew he had to make this work, these people were offering him the real deal, not the mountain of lies and deceptions of Sarov and his uncle. "Charlie talked a lot on the flight over. I know his reasons for inviting me here. I have to ask, because this isn't an easy task as I'm not OK, physically nor mentally. Why did you choose to invite a stranger, a dangerous stranger, into your family?"

Rather than start the car, Mimi smiled and looked at this frail young man, one used to orders, hard choices and no affection. "It was an easy choice, on my part. You needed a lifeline, a choice of a normal-ish life. Joe came back from France telling us of the brave, selfless actions of a British kid working for their government after a tip off from Michael Roscoe. We owe you so much. That whole situation at Point Blanc sucked, but what your government did to you was unconscionable. Then the CIA dropped the ball and don't get me started with that bastard Sarov. As a minimum, I hope you can accept room, board, a chance to finish your education and firstly and most importantly enough care to get well. This is with no expectations from us. We are offering you family, which means we will give you space to find your own path. Families are not about perfection, fitting a mould or an easy ride. At least this one isn't."

Alex knew he had to play his part, try and open up and break down his walls. He was too used to hiding everything. "I warn you, I'm trouble."

"So am I. Watch and learn this morning." Mimi was a political animal and a mother bear with a new child to protect. She was going to cut no slack to this lobbyist who would not rearrange due to her family emergency. Her choice to invite Alex along was the right one. Hopefully, they would not hurt this guarded and paranoid ex-spy and get him to realise he could relax and live.

…

It was after 3 before Joe ventured out of his room. The kitchen was empty, but their were voices from the basement. The lanky teen went down to his parent's offices, to see his mom and Alex sat looking through their calendars.

Mimi smiled at the vision of her night owl son. "Hi, Joe. We're just going over plans and pressing appointments. Alex has a full day with the hospital and dentist on Monday. Are you coming with us?"

"Sure, sounds fun. The dentist, my favourite." He said sarcastically.

Alex grimly knew that it would be months of doctors, dentists and shrinks.