Disclaimer: Do I own Alex Rider? I wish!

Of Death and Revelations

Registration at Brookland was an uneventful process. Ten minutes to chat to mates before classes begun as the teacher took attendance. Last week, however, the class was surprised by the return on the class's biggest mystery. The return of Alex Rider. He had gone missing in Venice, much to the frustration of Mr Grey, who had vouched for him to be allowed on the trip. For him to just disappear on the last day had been a personal insult to the man.

Everyone knew the story of Alex Rider though – or they thought they did at least. He had been the perfect student: smart, athletic, and witty. But after his Uncle's death he had completely changed. He started skipping school, taking drugs, even completely demolishing the science lab! Therefore, when the teacher, Mrs Pine, called out 'Mr Rider', no one was too surprised at the few seconds silence before she moved on with a small sigh.

Tom was the only one who knew anything near the truth about Alex Rider, but even he decided not to worry about it too much. 'He's probably away saving the world somewhere' he thought to himself, surprised by the small amount of spite in his thought before shoving it back. He had always been a slight bit jealous of Alex, no matter what his best mate told him otherwise. 'But he'll be fine. He's always fine.'

The next day they got a call from St. Dominic's – slightly surprised at receiving a call from such a high-class hospital over Alex – explaining that Alex was suffering a left-over bout of illness from his previous case of pneumonia.

Of course the doctor was legitimate so they had no option but to accept that as the truth, no matter how much they thought otherwise.

It was two weeks before the were contacted again, however this phone call was slightly different than normal…

"Hello, this is Mary Ward from St. Dominic's Hospital. Is this Brookland High School?"

Miss Bedfordshire sighed softly before responding, "Yes, is this about Alex again?" She tried her hardest but couldn't quite manage to keep the exasperation out of her voice. That boy…

"Yes, I'm dreadfully sorry to have to inform you but Mr Rider passed away late last night. The pneumonia caused too much stress to his already weak immune system. He passed away in his sleep."

She let out a small gasp before a dry sob heaved up her throat as the woman on the other end continued to speak, the condolences not even reaching her.

"I'm… I'm putting y- you through to the… the headmaster now. He'll need t… to…" she couldn't manage to get further as the tears overwhelmed her and she just diverted the call straight through to the headmaster's office. She hunched over her desk, ignoring the looks from the students sent to the office, as well as the comforting hand of Miss Cawood, on her break. She had always had a soft spot for Alex and it had pained her when he had started to go down hill yet she had assumed the worst of him when he had started missing extended periods of time, like the rest of the school. Oh how she wished she could take it back now!

Tom was sitting in French, his last class of the day, when Miss Lewis gently tapped on the door, informing Madame Coquerelle that the headmaster had called an urgent assembly and that they were to go to the assembly hall immediately, with their bags, for school was finishing early today.

Tom noticed the grave look on her face but pushed it aside as he and the rest of the class cheered, pushing their stuff in their bags again, having only got it out five minutes beforehand.

He walked to the hall with David, deciding on when to meet up that weekend for a game of football. It had been hard for him after Alex's many disappearances, he was his only friend, but David had been great, inviting him out with his other friends all the time. Most of the school was seated by the time their class arrived, most gossiping loudly, glancing frequently at the teachers. Many of them seemed grave as they talked quietly on the stage and, even from a distance, it was clear Miss Bedfordshire had been – or still was – crying.

Tom's heart raced, wondering what on earth could have happened to cause such a reaction within the school. Unless someone had… Mr Perks had been off for a week… He sat down, numbly, staring as the headmaster took his place at the centre of the stage, waiting for silence. It was still over a minute until he got it.

"All of you are so young," he started out, "But I can see in each one of you amazing and caring minds. Whether you're academically talented, athletic, or even just slightly more caring than the next person, each of you has something that they can be proud of about themselves. And each of you has so much potential that I can see blooming already."

He paused, taking a deep, steadying breath before ploughing on, his voice wavering slightly, "However, it isn't always the case that I am able to watch as you develop into your true selves… sometimes a life can be ended long before their time and unfortunately we are at a point where we have to say farewell to another young mind who we have known in our time at this school."

He sighed, taking several moments to run his hands through his hair, allowing the teenagers to share concerned glances, trying to guess who he might be talking about.

"I received a phone call earlier today from St. Dominic's hospital and I have to inform you that Alex Rider died last night from pneumonia."

Tom choked on his breath. It couldn't be! The illnesses were just a cover! Unless he'd died- NO! He wasn't dead! It was just MI6 trying to cover up an extended absence! He'll be back in a few months! He had to be…

The headmaster continued, his eyes scanning over the reactions of his pupils. "The pneumonia took its grip over his weak immune system and eventually he passed away. I'm going to ask you all to stand now, and participate in a two minutes' silence in memory of Alex Rider before you are sent home for the day."

They all rose, and Tom could only stare numbly at the back of the girl in front of him, only managing to sit at the end when David pulled him back into his seat.

They were dismissed as a group, none of the teachers quite able to order them into any sort of order. Mr Trough, the history teacher, came over to his seat when most of the students had left, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder and leading him to the office.

"The headmaster wants to speak with you before you go Tom, it shouldn't take too long."

He could only nod dumbly as he was steered through the doors.

Alex was gone.

Very short, I know! But I really wanted to get the reaction from the school in a chapter of it's own and there wasn't much else i could write about it!