DISCLAIMER: I do not own CHERUB

Author's note: I know it will seem like a bit of a jump from the end of the last chapter to this one, but trust me, you're not missing anything. You would be bored out of your wits by the seventeenth word.

Chapter eight

James took a month off work to mourn Kerry.

When the month was over, his first order of business was getting Ada into CHERUB. It wasn't easy convincing Lauren, but she had finally, and reluctantly, agreed, mostly because Ada was intelligent and already fluent in two languages.

And that was how he came to be helping Ada unpack.

He lifted a few t-shirts out of the nearest cardboard box and started hanging them up inside the small wardrobe.

"CHERUB is much nicer than that childrens' home," Ada was saying absently as she slotted Nintendo DS game boxes into their places on a shelf.

James had explained CHERUB to her a few nights previously. Ada had taken a liking to him immediately, and she almost thought of him as her uncle.

"Yeah, I thought that too when I first came here," James told her, closing the wardrobe, "but when you get your grey shirt you won't have to share a room anymore. Which reminds me, who is your roommate?"

"I don't have one yet." Ada pulled out a long white objects from the bottom of the cardboard box she was unpacking.

"What's that?" James asked.

"I don't know," she shrugged, handing it to him. James took the object and looked at it for a long moment, even though he already knew what it was. He traced the silver lettering on it sadly.

"Do you know what it is?" Ada asked, unpacking more games.

"Yes," James said hoarsely, "it's a bracelet I bought for your mum not long before she..."

"She died," Ada said tonelessly.

James just blinked at her. She was a remarkable five year old.

He opened the box and took out the silver Thomas Sabo bracelet. He looked at the tiny VW camper van for a moment, fighting back tears.

"I think you should have this Ada," he said finally, holding it out to her, "it was special to your mum. She'd want you to have it."

"Ok," Ada said, holding out her wrist. James fastened the bracelet for her. It was much too big, but not so big that it slid off her hand. It did look bare though. James would have to buy her some more charms.

"Your mum was a great person, Ada," James said sadly, "and I have to get back to work."

______________________

Gwyneth found James in his classroom. She'd thought he would be there, he usually was these days. These days being the weeks since Kerry's death

Gwyneth had been good friends with Kerry. Her death had been a horrible blow. She knew James understood how she felt, and she'd been wanting to talk to him for a while but, just like everyone else, he hated her.

"James?" she asked haltingly, stepping into the classroom.

"Oh, hi Gwen," he said, looking up only briefly, "what do you want?"

"I just wanted to-," now that she was here, Gwen didn't know what to say. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to stop tears from escaping. A moment later, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright, Gwen."

She looked up into his eyes. He was so kind, and so smart. She could see why Kerry talked about him so much.

"I never meant to hurt anyone you know," she said quietly.

"What d'you mean?" James asked.

"When I blackmailed Lauren. It was a stupid idea and I never thought of the consequences...but by the time I realised it was too late and I couldn't just back down and..." she was crying in ernest now, "and Kerry thought it was all her fault and I never got a chance to apologize to her before she," Gwen took a deep breath, "died."

James looked at the distraught woman. She had been a much hated person among his colleagues for blackmailing Lauren, but behind her confident, cool exterior was a sad little girl on the verge of a breakdown.

He hugged her, and to his surprise, she hugged him back.

Ok, I know that was short, but I got a lot of 'please update soon'.

This story will finish soon, but I'm going to do a sequel about Ada's time at CHERUB. Maybe there will be a third part too, who knows? I'm just kind of seeing where the story takes me just now.

As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed, and keep the reviews coming!