THIS STORY HAS BEEN EDITED COMPLETELY AS OF 11/4/08

A/N: I would just like to inform the general public that my ficwas most definitely the first one about Yassen having a daughter. If anyone would like to argue that, I can prove it through publishing dates. And no, his daughter is not an assassin, spy, or a lover of Alex. A couple things:

First Off, I'd like to say that this fic is absolutely NOT a romance fic. If you see romance in it, I will personally beat my head against a metal pole until I die. That's how much I hate Alex Rider romance fics. Ari does NOT become a spy or an assassin, either. Just wanted to clear that up.

Second, time lines have been a big issue here. For the sake of Yassen not returning from the dead and such, it takes place before Eagle Strike.

Third, I'm editing this story a great deal because I read a very informative article and I want to clean up my stories now.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Alex Rider series. If I did, Alex would not even like Sabina, they would be friends.

It was lunchtime, and Alex found his friends Ari Ivanovna and Tom Harris sitting at their usual table. He sat down and they were soon joined by a few others that didn't shy away from the drastic character change Alex had been going through in the past few months. It really didn't bother Alex, he just wished some people would get over themselves.

"So are we all set to go over to your house after school?" Tom inquired.

Alex nodded and forked some beans into his mouth, cringing at the taste of school food. He was looking forward to spending the afternoon with some of his closest friends. They had been planning this day for a month.

"I can't wait!" Ari chimed in. "I definitely want to play SPUD!" Despite her being Russian, there was very little of it in her voice because she's lived most her life in London.

Tom groaned. "You always want to play SPUD."

She stuck her tongue out.

"Real mature," Tom muttered. Ari took her fork and threw it a Tom.

Alex grinned at his two best friends bickering. They seemed to do it constantly, but it was always good-natured.

"We probably won't have enough people. I only really invited five." Alex said, trying to distract them for a little while.

"What?" Tom laughed. "It's almost my birthday, you should have invited more people!"

Alex rolled his eyes. "I think it's good to have a partly full of people that don't spread rumors about you. Therefore, I only had five people who didn't fit into the rumor-spreading category."

Ari glared at him. "Tell me who it was so I can kill them or I'll beat you up." Of course, she was tiny – her head barely reached Alex's shoulder – so she could never do any harm to anyone. Nor did she really mean to do anyone harm.

Alex sighed. The problem with Ari, sometimes, was she was too quick to judge and way too protective of her friends. It annoyed him when she would talk about killing people that were mean to him. She had no idea. Of course, he felt terrible keeping the truth from his friends, but it was what he had to do. "Don't worry about it, I don't."

Ari sighed. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to the band room to practice my flute for the last little bit of lunch. Do whatever guy-stuff you enjoy." She got up and left.

Alex and Tom began talking about guy-stuff, according to Ari. All too soon, the lunch period ended and it was back to classes for the three.

Alex Rider sat in chemistry, almost drooling onto his paper from boredom. His eccentric teacher looked at the whole class with way too wide eyes before moving onto the next slide.

There was a knock on the door, startling Alex from his daydreaming state.

The door opened and the Headmaster stepped into the lab-like room. "Pardon the interruption," he said. "But could Ari Ivanovna please come with me?"

Faces turned to look at the small, eccentric girl in the seat next to Alex's. The teacher nodded and Ari closed her note-free-doodle-filled notebook and picked up her backpack, following the headmaster out the door.

Alex would have thought nothing of his friend talking to the headmaster if it was not for the man he saw a glimpse of standing right outside the door.

The sight of him made Alex's blood run cold.

It was Yassen Gregorovitch.

The first thought Alex had, was that Yassen was here for him. But then, why would the headmaster have asked Ari to step outside? Alex immediately dismissed the notion that it was about him. Not only was it selfish, but improbable.

Nothing made sense, so Alex got up quietly and got a bathroom pass from the teacher after a lot of begging.

Ari sat in the uncomfortable wooden chair inside the headmaster's office while the headmaster sat in his comfortable office chair behind his desk. Next to Ari sat a tall man who had stayed silent the entire time they walked to the office. Ari couldn't fathom what was going on.

The headmaster decided to break the somewhat awkward silence. "Ari." He began. "This is Yassen Gregorovitch."

"Um, hi," Ari said, looking at the man closer now. Nothing really stood out about him. He had fair hair, and that was about it. He looked like a regular man that you would see on the street, then promptly forget.

The headmaster continued when Yassen said nothing and Ari didn't elaborate. "When your mother died at birth, your father couldn't bear the grief. A month later, he realized he could not care for you. His job had him traveling abroad, and he couldn't really take a newborn child with him. So he put you in a foster home, and left.

"Over the years, he has tried to keep track of you, but could not find you up until now." Ari stared at him. Was he saying what she thought he was saying?

"Ari Ivanovna, and well, Gregorovitch too, this man, Yassen, is your father."

Ari felt her eyes grow wide, much like her erratic chemistry teacher. "What?" she breathed, looking at the lean man again. He seemed to be assessing her as well. She cracked a knuckle, a bad habit of hers.

Yassen spoke for the first time. "It's nice to finally see, you. Practically a woman. I apologize for not being able to meet you sooner." His voice had absolutely no accent unlike her own.

Ari felt herself blushing. "It's okay," she muttered.

"And," he continued. He spoke awkwardly, as if he didn't have heart-to-heart conversations a lot. "It would mean a lot to me if you came to live with me. As family."

Ari drew in a breath. It was what she had always dreamed of, finding her father and living with him.

But then, her foster parents were very caring. She loved them both dearly, but they lacked in the bonding quality. They were more friends then family.

But would she want to leave her friends behind? She realized she had no idea where he lived, if she would have to change schools, if she would travel with him, if that was still his job.

"Would I have to switch schools?" Ari asked, biting her lip. She immediately felt like she was implying that she'd rather stay with her friends than get to know her own father. She pushed away the selfish feelings quickly.

"Not at all, I have a house close to this school." Ari felt her heart expanding. It was something she always dreamed of, and now it was coming true.

"Yes, I'd love to live with you. Thank you, Father," she whispered the last word, a little uncomfortable with the word actually rolling off her tongue.

He smiled, and though it didn't look forced, it looked like he wasn't used to it.

Alex felt his heart beat louder and louder as he eavesdropped, not wanting to believe that Yassen was capable of having a child… and Ari couldn't live with him! He was an assassin for crying out loud!

The door began to open and Alex tried to move, but it was too late. Yassen had stepped out and caught sight of Alex, followed closely by Ari. Yassen made no sign of recognition, and Alex did the same.

"Hi Alex! Guess what? This is my father!" she said, pointing to Yassen, her excitement was obvious. It also made her oblivious to the tension crackling through the air between Alex and Yassen.

"And Father… Yassen… Dad…" she couldn't seem to decide which one best fit him. "Father," she decided. She looked up at him to see if he was fine with that, apparently he was. "This is my friend Alex Rider."

Alex tried not to wince, and managed a "Pleasure to meet you," at the man who had almost gotten him killed many, many times. Not to mention killed his uncle, of course.

Yassen nodded in return, his face not showing anything, blue eyes cold.

"So, are you going back to class Ari?" he asked.

Ari giggled. "Look at the clock, silly. The final bell will ring in three… two… one…" Silence. Ari frowned. "That makes me sad!" The bell rang. She grinned.

Students poured out into the hallways, weaving around the three of them just standing there.

"I have to get my stuff from chemistry, but you're still coming tonight, right?" Alex said, glancing at Yassen worriedly.

Ari smiled. "Of course." She seemed to remember Yassen standing there. "Well, what would be the best time to bring my stuff over?" she cringed at the awkwardness and rudeness of the question.

"Since you seem to be busy today, tomorrow is fine. I'll pick you up after school," Yassen said.

Ari let out a happy squeak and hugged them both, which was awkward for both Alex and Yassen. "Okay!"

Yassen nodded. "Good,"

Alex excused himself and walked away, the whole time feeling Yassen's eyes boring holes into the back of Alex's neck.

"That boy seems to attract trouble," Yassen commented dryly.

"Yeah..." Ari muttered. "But he's fun to hang out with. The party tonight will be great!"

"Party?"

"Yeah that's why I'm going over."

"Oh."

"Why? Did you think it was something else?" Ari asked, smirking.

"It doesn't hurt to be protective," Yassen half-joked. Ari grinned. "I will talk to your foster parents tonight while your gone. Is that okay with you?"

Ari nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow then, or if you're still there when I get home."

"Goodbye." Yassen reached out to her like he was going to embrace Ari, but decided on patting the top of her head.

Ari giggled at the awkwardness and stopped at her locker before going to Alex's house.

Who would have thought that our dear assassin would feel awkward? Silly Yassen.