No news was meant to be good news, after three days Alex still had not heard anything about the internship. Alex read his emails and James Sprintz had sent through an invite to Point Blanc Academy Class of 2004 Reunion. September 10th in Paris. James had booked a small boutique hotel for the weekend and was offering to pay for a first class Eurostar ticket for Alex. This was also to celebrate James' 19th birthday. Alex thought back to the party he had attended in LA last February, when he had met another of his former classmates, one he only really got to know during the debrief and medical assessments after the SAS had stormed the cliff top eerie.

Alex thought back to a chance encounter that had reintroduced him to the Point Blanc alumni.

...

Alex looked at the young man across the room. He had definitely met him before. Then it struck him, it was a face that haunted his dreams, six boys with the same mannerisms, matching voices and laughs. All well behaved, studious and utterly creepy.

It was a week until Alex's eighteenth birthday, he could not believe it, here in California and there was a reminder of his old life.

The boy across the room was surrounded by a crowd of friends and could not be more different than his doppelganger at Point Blank. Alex had only interacted with James Sprintz in any meaningful way at the school from Hell, but Alex had not contacted him since his accident. Cassian looked at Alex and a flicker of recognition passed across his face. They only really met for a few hours after all the captives had been released.

Alex ducked his head, Cassian was coming over to talk.

"Alex? Alex Friend or was it Rider?"

"Alex Fletcher-Smith. I was adopted in 2002. I ran through three sets of guardians after Point Blanc." Alex looked at the young man noting all the differences from his evil doppelganger.

"You still in therapy? I am. I still have nightmares about that fucking place. It was a total wake up call about my chosen path in life. I was not going to end up a twisted fuck like Grief or Miss Stomachbag." Cassian then asked the million dollar question. "Are you still working for MI6 then?"

" Right, yes I am still in therapy. No, I got a medical discharge from MI6 in October 2001. Normal life suits well enough."

"So did you hear the rumour about Tony Fletcher's son. I heard my mom gossiping that he tried to top himself and his father brought him to LA to keep an eye on him."

Alex smiled at the mess of lies still following him. "So glad the rumour mill is working as well here as it did in London. I had a bit of a hiccup regarding life choices in December and I'm grounded until my trust fund kicks in."

"21?"

"No, 25. I deserve it for running away and making really really bad choices. Now, I'm here and cramping Tony's style."

"Tony?"

"Tony Fletcher my father."

"So whats with the Smith?"

"Umm, don't spread it around but Tony's gay. He and his partner adopted me in October 2002. His partner was Jonathan Smith, he died in January last year. Hence Tony working like a man possessed to get over his grief. They'd been together since 1987. Tony was doing his own thing and I did mine. I bummed around Europe without a care in the world after the Paralympics. Had a serious love affair, a couple of casual relationships. I got really fucked over by my last lover so I'm back in therapy. Tony thinks I'm a serious head case and next week I'm 18. I could just walk out of his life. Not that I'm going to. We both made serious mistakes last year. We are family. Sometimes you have to make stupidly awful fuck ups to realise that. So don't go spreading around about Tony being a Friend of Dorothy. It could put a dampener on his career."

"So medical discahrge, huhh? What happened?"

"Can we go somewhere we will not be overheard and I'll tell you."

Cassian's room was huge. The state of the art digital sound system started to blare out some serious dance music and the two seventeen year olds reconnected with the past three years. Cassian's hand moved to touch Alex's trouser's and traced the hard plastic and metal of the prosthetics.

"Both legs? A shark? CIA? Shit Alex. I've just been expelled from two schools and been arrested for possession once. I'm on court appointed therapy and rehab. I get that drugs aren't the solution now. Well all things in moderation. I am not an addict and I only use sparingly and not in public. My mom's been a lot more hands on. She gets I had a hard time with her being such a go getter. I know women execs have to work three times as hard to get anywhere. My dad's still a grade A jerk. I no longer bother with him. Mom's present boyfriend is a baseball coach. He's great. He has two kids. I like having siblings you know. So Alex, show me your legs. I want to see what that shark did to you."

Alex pulled out his shirt and dropped his trousers. He then sat on the bed to take off his prosthetics. Cassian's hands traced the scarred flesh with such gentleness, Alex shivered.

Cassian smiled a cocky grin and looked at Alex's flushed face. "Your lover's were male weren't they."

"Yeah."

"I'm turning you on aren't I." Cassian looked at Alex with cool penetrating stare, weighing him up.

Alex with nothing to loose lay down pulling Cassian on top of him.

...

Well, he'd dated Cassian for a couple of weeks, casual sex at every opportunity. Cassian James had sent out the word to the other graduates that he'd found Alex Rider. James had been in contact with Sabina Pleasure and his old friends reconnected. This would be the first time since 2001 that he'd met all of them. He had talked and emailed James Sprintz the most since then.

Tony had been half pissed at Alex for dating, worried at Alex's emotional rollercoaster and blaze attitutude to physical relationships. Tony had ranted long and hard about just fucking people and not getting to know and dating them first. Alex got his papa was worried, but thats what parents did.

Alex replied to James, Yes he would be there. What do you get a billionaire's son for his 18th birthday. It was then that the doorbell went. Alex rented the spare room of the flat owned by Mel and George, both worked in the city. It was midweek so Alex was home alone as usual.

The courier at the door handed Alex a plain envelope, which he had to sign for. Inside were instructions. Alexander Fletcher Smith was required at SIS Headquarters Friday morning at 7, for a weekend of team building and basic training. Alex groaned, he could just bet it was at Brecon. Shit!