"I'm sorry Alex. The bomb was too powerful. You were lucky to survive."

Tom. Tom was dead. Tom, Sabina, Jessie and Mike. His best friends. What would he do without them?

"What about the agent?" His voice was raspy and sounded...odd.

"Dead." Mrs. Jones looked at him sadly. "And so are you. Legally, I mean. Alex Rider died in the blast just like all his other schoolmates. We're going to relocate you to a new home here in London. You're 18 now .Old enough to live on your own. We'll pay anything that needs to be paid. "

"They'll find me .Scorpia never forgives. Scorpia never forgets."

He was already forgetting their faces. What kind of a friend was he?

"They won't recognize you, Alex. You probably won't yourself." She held up a mirror. "I told them to. I saw a picture in your desk…"

He stared at his reflection. Black hair ...for Tom. Curly hair for Sabina. A straight nose for Jessie. A great smile for Mike.

Tom. Sabina. Jessie. never could forget their faces now, not with them staring back at him every time he looked in a mirror.

"Thank you." He gave her a sincere smile ."Thank you"

"No problem. What would you like your new name to be?"

"I want to be called…."

Alex sat up with a start. He shook his head, and stared out of the window. He had had another nightmare…the same one he had had every night for the past 7 years.

. .

He shook his head. They were gone, and he had new acquaintances now. But no friends. He had learnt his lesson. He had tried to be rude and cold-hearted, drive everyone away. The pain which would always catch up with him would be easier to bear if there were no friends or family members they could use as leverage. Hopefully, it would be a long time before they found him, and by then he'd be dead. Hopefully. He smiled. He had actually completed full MI6 training with top honours, and received payment for all the missions he'd been on. The money was all in a hidden trust along with his inheritance from Ian, and his actual account had a little money plus whatever he owned. An agent was even checking up on him in guise of being his brother!

He had picked a first name that Jessie and Mike had wanted to name their first kid .Of course, Tom wanted to name his kid that too and then Sabina said that Tom would never find some one willing to have kids with him, and then Alex had jokingly said they should name their kids after him 'cos he would probably be dead by then and…..His eyes teared up as he remembered their reaction. Sabina had thrown her arms around him and hugged him tightly ,Jessie and Mike had stared at him in horror, and Tom...Tom had said "Not if we die first bud. Then you'll have to name your kids after us!"

Alex fell back into his pillow with a dry sob ."Well," he thought "I'm never going to have kids, so the least I can do is visit their grave tomorrow." He pulled the blankets over him and cried himself to sleep.

"I want to be called…. Sherlock."