Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider. Pity party at 2'oclock anyone?

3 MONTHS LATER:

The sun was bright and warm upon the golden skin of the 15 year-old teen sitting outside the small coffee shop. Blonde hair was tousled by the wind, falling across his eyes lightly. His blue eyes were bright and wide as he took in the surrounding area. With little care he brought his coffee to his lips and took a sip, sighing in content as the warm liquid slid down his throat and warmed his insides. The streets were covered in water as the rain had only stopped a few minutes before. There was the soft till of a ringing cell phone and the teen reached into his pocket, pulling out a slim cellular device and flipping it open.

"'Ello?"

"Hey, where are you?"

The teen smiled softly, the corners of his lips pulling up at the aggravated voice on the other end of the phone.

"At the coffee shop."

"Alex! We have to be at the field in a half hour!"

Alex, so the teen had been dubbed, chuckled. He took another sip of the coffee, rolling the liquid around his tongue for a moment before swallowing. The satisfying taste of cinnamon remained on his tongue.

"Relax Tom. We'll make it."

"We better."

Tom ended the call, leaving Alex to listen to the dial tone for a few seconds. There had been no real bite to the voice, something Alex could tell without even trying. The blonde smiled. He was looking forward to playing football* with the rest of his friends. It had been so long since he had been able to relax and enjoy a good game.

A lot had changed in the last few months. MI6 for instance. Blunt was no longer head of the division, having 'retired' after a few hidden orders came into light. Mrs. Jones was now head of MI6, something Alex found reassuring. He was sure she was behind the sudden appearance of the hidden files needed to force Blunt into an early retirement. She had promised Alex he would be left alone during the school year unless it was an absolute emergency. The woman had also allowed Alex to stay with Ben, which made him like her infinitely more.

Ben had become his formal guardian. They had the papers signed less than a month ago and it had been one of the best days of Alex's life by far. Shortly after the papers had been signed, Ben had shown Alex the new house he'd bought. It was two-stories with enough rooms for each of the K-Unit to have their own. Now the unit formally lived together. Ben was amazing, enrolling Alex in a new school so he wouldn't be tormented by the idiots of Brookland. It was still close to where Tom lived, however, and the boy had already been over many times in the last month.

Tom. That was another thing that had changed for the better. Ben had been the one to get a hold of the teen. He and K-Unit hatched a plan to lock them in the basement together until they resolved their problems. Alex didn't really want to think of the logistics of it all, he was just glad he got his best friend back. He hadn't realized how much he missed the boy's constant curious questions and endless teasing.

Generally speaking, Alex was happier than he had been in a long time. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so light, so enthralled to be alive and breathing in the clean air and feeling the sun warm his face. The teen knew it was mostly due to the K-Unit, Ben in particular. What could he say? The men who had made his life miserable just under 2 years ago were now closer to his heart than he could remember even Ian being.

Alex ran a hand through his hair, pulling it from his eyes slightly. It flopped back into place almost immediately. Smiling slightly at the approaching figure across the street he stood and tossed his coffee into a nearby trashcan. The cup never touched the rim. Pulling on the blue jumper draped on the back of his chair, the teen moved away from the coffee shop. After looking both ways he sprinted across the road, hands firmly tucked into his jeans' pockets.

"Hey Tom."

"'Ey."

Grabbing the soccer ball from his friends hands with a surprise lunge, the blonde teen waggled his eyebrows and took off running.

"ALEX!"

"Catch me if you can, you lethargic twit!"

"Get back here with my ball you bugger!"

Yeah, Alex thought as he ran, things were definitely looking up.

END OF THE STORY!

*Football is, of course, actually soccer.

I hope you all liked the ending. Thank you all for your dedication and constant reviews and encouragement. My reviewers are honestly the only reason I continued this story. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Final chapter, so review as a goodbye?

Eris-R-Renee