Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider (sadly nobody thought of that when picking out a present for my birthday). Anything else you recognize is also not owned by me.

Originally this was supposed to be the epilogue to 'XYXX' but it didn't feel right. Anyway, I edited it a bit so those of you interested in Alex's return to Brookland and Tom finding out about Chris/Alex's relationship can satisfy their curiosity. (;

There are a few bits I took for Chapter 17 in 'How To Ruin Your Last Holiday', too. Can you spot which?

Enjoy!

PS: I'll post a new chapter for 'Unleashed' tomorrow. I am only posting this today because it was already written and I just had to edit it slightly. Friday I have to take my first part of the A-levels, so I really have to study today.

One Shot: The New Girl (~2380 words)

The day after the last chapter of 'XYXX'

A black Mercedes with tinted windows swerved into the parking lot of Brookland Comprehensive. The driver got out carefully and opened the door behind the driver's seat. When he straightened his back again, he was holding a pair of crutches in his hands. Then he proceeded to open the passenger side and handed them to a person hidden from the extremely curious eyes of most of Brookland's pupils.

A very beautiful, unknown teenage girl whose leg was in a brand new cast appeared from the inside of the car. She was wearing the school uniform.

A new student in the middle of the school year?

The girl smiled lightly at what the onlookers guessed to be her older brother when he said something no one else could hear. Then they vanished inside of the principal's office.

Mr Bray was his old self. His tie was a bit crooked to the left, his suit had an unidentifiable stain on it and his shoes were in dire need of a cleaning.

Alex had dyed her hair the same shade as Ben's because she didn't want to have to answer curious questions. She was going to enjoy her last year of school and no one would keep her from it.

Not a team mate-turned-traitor (aka Robin).

Not some stupid transformation.

Not even Scorpia.

She had two entire months off; how in the world was she supposed to be patiently waiting for her leg to heal in some boring hospital room and not go crazy? School was so much more interesting. Especially since she was the new girl not Alex 'Bad Boy Extraordinaire' Rider.

"Do you have any questions, Mr Daniels?" Mr Bray asked then.

Alex had tuned him out, knowing his whole welcome-to-the-faculty-speech already by heart, letting her mind wander to this afternoon. She had a date.

Her real first date with Chris.

He wouldn't tell her what they were going to be doing as a way to avenge her making him believe she was dead.

Talk about 'complicated' in relationships.

Now, though, she was back in the stuffy office with the two older men.

"Not at the moment, no," Ben assured the principal.

"Aleksandra, do you have any questions?" Mr Bray wondered.

"No, I met one of the pupils in the park a few days ago. He pretty much told me anything I needed to know," Alex lied convincingly.

It had been over four weeks since her telling Tom about the transformation, but Mr Bray didn't need to know that. Tom had visited her in the hospital, though. He had berated her for fifteen minutes straight until she threatened him in no uncertain terms what would happen if he couldn't shut his mouth in the next ten seconds.

It had worked.

Again.

"Ah," Mr Bray looked relieved. "Who might this particular pupil be?"

"A Tom Harris or something like that?" Alex acted a bit unsure.

"Tom? If you don't mind, I will call him here to show you around school. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. My door is always open."

"Thanks, Sir." Ben and Alex left the stuffy office together.

He grinned and hugged her, before his 'parent-persona' kicked back in. "Be careful. Don't carry too much weight around. No flirting with boys. Pay attention in class," Ben rattled off, before changing to Russian. "No fights. No snooping around. No playing around with guns, knives or any other weapons in class. Do try to make a few friends. Preferably female ones. Tom is annoying..."

"I love you too, Dad," she interrupted him, smiling.

He stared at her before a happy grin appeared on his face. "I love you, too, Al. Just be careful, okay? It's been just a week since Germany."

"I always am."

"Chris is picking you up after school. Before you ask - no, I don't know what he plans for your date."

A disappointed look crossed her face which she knew would melt his resolve like butter in the summer sun.

"I honestly don't know anything," Ben assured her.

"Oh, well. It was worth a try. See you later, then," Alex shrugged.

"You too."

She hugged him again, just when Tom came around the corner.

Tom's eyes widened partially when he took the scene in front of him in.

"Try to protect her from the other boys, will you?", Ben asked Tom.

"I will," her best friend promised, mock-saluting.

Ben sighed resignedly and left.

Alex grinned, slightly insecure. She looked different, felt different but Tom would forever be her best friend. Nonetheless, the current situation was a bit awkward.

"Hey, Tom."

"Hey, Al. Is it okay if I still call you that at school?"

"Sure. It doesn't really matter anyway. There was a ... leak and the enemy knows about this. So, you can call me Al, Alex, Aleksandra or Daniels. Whatever floats your boat."

Her best friend grinned. "Even Princess?"

"No. No one calls me that without risking dire consequences such as castration..." she trailed off threateningly, simultaneously noticing for the first time there was an exception to this rule.

Tom blanched at the threat. "So... what class are you having now?"

"Same as before," Alex mumbled absentmindedly.

"Hey, do you want to meet up after school? We haven't really talked in forever, except in that hospital."

Alex looked slightly sheepish. "Actually, I have a date later."

"Don't tell me...!" Tom stared incredulously at his best friend who grinned playfully.

"Well, then I won't. I am Ben's younger sister to the public, just so you know. And we met a few days ago, in the park."

"Okay... Are you going out with Eagle?"

"His name is Chris."

"So you are?" Tom's grin widened. "What happened to your 'I-can't-believe-I-flirted-with-Eagle'-tirade?"

"Well, let's just say, this dart changed me more than I like. Plus, Scorpia happened," Alex muttered.

"Again?"

"Yeah. Turns out, Robin was a traitor. He sold me out to them so they captured Ben as leverage..."

Alex told Tom about the mission, leaving most of the embarrassing or gruesome details out. There was no way in heck she was telling him about her make-over.

The rest of the day seemed to fly by. Alex had to give a short introduction speech for every 'new' teacher she had which annoyed her to no end. The other students seemed to ask hundreds of questions, clearly interested in her private life.

Especially her relationship status.

And most of them were boys.

Of course, Tom found that amusing to no end. He teased her mercilessly during lunch every time someone asked for her number, gave her his or invited her to another party. Tom grinned, clearly enjoying the attention he was getting, introducing his 'new' friend to everyone. Secretly he counted the numbers she had been given by boys – and some girls.

128. Not bad for the first day back in school.

Alex still seemed to attract males like honey would flies. Even some of the younger teachers were glancing her way when they thought no one noticed.

Rumors spread within minutes that Alex, the new girl, was from an infamous Russian family that had ties to the Mob until they wanted out. They needed to flee the country - which ended in her breaking her leg - and which also accounted for the increased security measures at school.

Talk about random.

Tom dutifully reported anything new to make Alex laugh. She seemed to do that a lot more lately, he noticed.

By the end of the day, Alex was the most popular girl with the boys but the least with the girls. Most were jealous about her effortlessly getting the guys to stumble over her without even trying. Well, some of them were in for a cold shower - of course only metaphorically speaking - when the last bell rang.

Alex changed quickly in the girl's bathroom (which still felt weird) into a new summer dress she had brought for her date. It was bright red and had a faintly similar cut as the red evening gown for the masquerade. Only without the slit in the side. The spy put on a little bit of makeup and matching flats - all of the other girls in the bathroom were curious why she changed - and an anxious grin started to stretch on her lips.

Hobbling back to her locker, Tom had promised to wait there, she noticed a bit of commotion at the end of the hallway, close to the entrance. The teen rolled her eyes as soon as she saw the cause for all the havoc.

Alex hugged him and without warning he bend down to kiss her softly. Tom cocked an eye brow in surprise, mouth open, forgetting how to form coherent words. After all, he knew Alex had been a straight guy only a little over a month prior.

"You are early.", Alex whispered against her boyfriend's lips.

"I was kicked out by Luke (Wolf). He said to tell you hi and 'You better tell me how to shut him up if this goes any further,'" Chris grinned, drawing quotation marks in the air.

Alex giggled. "I don't think he will like my method."

"I don't think I will like him using your method either."

He had taken her bag and books so she could solely concentrate on walking.

Alex laughed again. Tom smiled to himself. She (or he?) had not been this relaxed in years. At least not in school.

"So, how bad is it?" Chris wanted to know.

Alex decided to not play along, acting all innocent doe-eyes. "How bad is what?"

"How many hormone-crazed teenage boys do I have to beat to a pulp?" Chris clarified.

"Not that many..." the spy answered cautiously. (Honestly, she had lost count at some point during lunch.)

Unfortunately, Tom had heard the question. "128, I believe was the last count," he grinned mischievously.

Chris surprised him by looking relieved. "Oh, then it's okay. I thought at least two thirds of the male population at this school would be tripping over you by now."

The blonde snorted. "Well, I am new. And I haven't exactly made an effort. No use risking Ben to go all overprotective big brother on me," Alex retorted. "Plus, I happen to still...recover from that exercise with Monkey."

That reminder stopped Chris' amusement effectively until he guessed her reasoning. "Still?" A grin spread on his face.

Tom had no idea what they were talking about. His 'devious' plan (to cause a bit of a ruckus to see how Chris would react) obviously had backfired. The two just flirted harder now.

"Well, you know me," Alex flashed Chris a stunning smile from underneath hooded lashes. (Tom saw then and there why so many boys tripped over themselves to get to know her.) "I just can't get enough of those high heels. A week ago, you kind of liked them too."

Tom couldn't believe what he was hearing - or seeing for that matter. Alex wasn't anything like this before the last mission. And what was that about high heels? Why would she say something like that?

To his surprise, the SAS soldier actually blushed faintly.

He is so whipped...! Tom thought.

"How couldn't I? Do you remember who had this brilliant plan of flushing the mole out and then kiss-"

Before he could finish his defensive rant, she stood on her toes as well as possible with the cast and kissed him square on the mouth. She slapped him playfully on the biceps.

"Shut up, Birdbrain," the spy ordered.

"As you wish, Princess," the soldier replied, throwing her flirtatious attitude right back at her.

Tom couldn't refrain from chuckling about their open display of affection (it showed that they had known each other far fairly well after all those years) at the very least. Alex acted her age for once, as much as possible for her. Her eyes shone with something deeper though. It seemed to melt the serious orbs into more of a hot chocolate tone.

"Don't call me that!" she half-heartedly protested, but for once failed at masking her emotions completely.

Tom was surprised.

Chris had noticed the change as well. And he knew she seriously liked him too then and there.

"Well what am I supposed to be calling you?" he teased, grinning happily.

Alex rolled her eyes at him. "I don't know! Think of... something! But I protest in advance against 'babe', 'darling' and 'hon'. Those sound seriously wrong if you heard them from Jay before."

Tom wondered if they even noticed that they had reached what looked to be Chris' car.

Who is this Jay?

Apparently they did notice.

Alex hugged her best friend. "Bye, Tom!"

"See you," Tom replied. Adding a low: "He's good for you."

Alex grinned happily at him and waved as they drove off.

Tom continued to chuckle. He was happy for his best friend. Not even Alex's former girlfriend could help to lighten those brown eyes up as much. Tom was curious what would happen if they had a long-term relationship. (He ignored the possibility for both of them to die within the year.)

It could prove to be very very interesting...

Needless to say, 128 and another hundred hopeful dreams were effectively smashed the same day.

Chris' looks, car and everything else they could think of was discussed eagerly though.

Tom found himself targeted by a rising number of questions from everyone, earning himself a significant amount of female phone numbers ("In case she flirts with one of our boys.")

Needless to say Tom approved fully of their relationship.