Hello Everyone! Most of you probably don't recognize me and that's because I changed my penname. I used to be anime-lyric.

This story has also been posted before but when I reread all my stories and decided that they all sucked I decided to rewrite this as well. This chapter just has a few edits. If you've read this story you don't really need to read this, just put it on your alert if you like it. If not, please enjoy.

Oh and no KHR! characters this chapter. Sorry :( They didn't come in till chapter 5 last time so I'll try to get to it quicker this time. Till then just treat this like an Alex Rider fanfic.

Special thanks to ephemeral violet. Not sure if she's reading this but I just want to tell everyone…SHE IS THE REASON YOU ARE GETTING THIS STORY BACK UP! BE GRATFUL, DAMN IT!

Edit: Just some spelling things I missed :)

When Alex woke up, the hot California sun was streaming through his window. He could tell that the day might make it up to a good 90 degrees and that his football team would probably be drowning in their own sweat by the end of practice. A loud yell echoed from down stairs and Alex grinned, Sabina had probably just got busted for wearing shorts shorter than the finger tips limit. He swung his feet out of bed and onto the blue and white patterned carpet and stood, brushing some of the Pleasure's cat's fur off his sweat pants.

With a quick stop in the bathroom to brush his teeth, Alex headed down stairs, dragging his backpack behind him. He had forgotten all about his maths homework and was sincerely hoping that the teacher had too. Mrs. White was known for her absent mindedness. As he walked into the kitchen he saw a typical morning scene at the Pleasure's house. Sabina sat at the table scowling at her mom, Mr. Pleasure read a newspaper, most likely looking for his article that had just been published, and Mrs. Pleasure was looking resignedly at her glaring daughter. The only difference was the packed bags by the door.

Sabina voice, raised in anger, broke the silence, "So why the hell didn't you tell me about before we're about to leave?"

Her mother sighed and took another swig of black coffee, "Because we didn't know, Sabina. Me and your dad just found out last night at about 12:00. We didn't want to wake you and Alex so we decided to tell you this morning. I know you've only been here for about a year but this is a great short term opportunity. I'll only be for about 6 months and I'm sure you'll love it there. You don't even have to go to school-"

Sabina cut her off, "Mom, I have friends here and plus Alex…he just got here and wouldn't it be more stressful if he suddenly had to leave? Why can't we just stay here? I'll crash with Tess and Alex can come. You know all of my friends adore him"

Alex pressed his back up against the wall; they hadn't noticed he was here yet and he preferred it to stay that way. Although Sabina acted like she always had, her mom still treated him like porcelain, liable to break at any minute. In a way he might, most nights he woke up at 2:00, shivering form some unremembered nightmare. He would still find himself thinking like a spy, where the closest exit was in case of a sniper attack, how to take down that guy over there at the bus stop who looked like he was hiding something, when to run if the science teacher pulled out a gun. But just because he was more…fragile then before didn't mean they shouldn't inform him about things, important things that could change the course of his life. And from the sound of Sabina's voice this was pretty important.

Mrs. Pleasure's voice took on a slightly apologetic tone, "I'm sorry Sabina but you're too young, maybe being in another country will be good for Alex." She gave a hopeful smile, like Sabina might just except that and go along with it. Even though he had only known Sabina for 2 years, Alex knew better than that.

"Bullshit!" Sabina practically screamed, "How is going to a place that he's never been going to be good for Alex? And me too, did you even think about me?"

Alex decided to step in before the conversation got nasty and stepped away from the wall. "Where are we going?"

Sabina's expression would have been funny except for the rather violent swear word she blurted. "Alex! When did you get here?"

"About 5 minutes ago. Would someone please tell me what's going on?" Alex tone was light but he was secretly rather apprehensive, he didn't need anything to complicate his already complicated life. There had been enough sacrifices to get him free from MI6.

Sabina's scowl was as dark as her recently dyed hair, "We're going to Italy."

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Despite all of Sabina's arguments they were on the plane only 10 hours later. The first stop was to New York with a 30 minute layover. Sabina fell asleep in the hard airport chairs and Alex had to shake her awake much to her displeasure.

The explanation for the sudden trip was a job offer from a news company in Italy. They had heard of the business with the 'pop star' Desmond McCain and wished that Mr. Pleasure could come over and write an article on the local mafia. There had been a gun fight in a small town street and a civilian had gotten harmed. They had thought that making the incident public might make the mafia more fearful of the authority in the future. Alex frankly thought that publicizing would just make the Pleasure family a target for future attacks but Mr. Pleasure was determined. He had told Alex that if a journalist didn't document the truth, no one could.

Their final destination was a small town in the Italian mountains. Alex had been told the people where friendly but almost no one spoke English. This set Sabina off on another rant while Alex just smiled; he had learned Italian from Ian and practiced weekly. He had been told that the Italian we quite welcoming if, and only if, you didn't get on their bad side. Alex was rather good at getting on peoples bad side. It would be just like him to get in trouble with some huge mafia family.

As Alex lost himself in his rather melancholy thoughts, the flights attendants' voice came over the loud speaker. "Well everyone we are arriving in Florence. Please enjoy your stay here or where ever your final destination may be."

The plane took a sudden dip down through the darkening sky and Alex could just make out the red roofs of an average sized town. A cathedral rose up in the center, dominating the sky. The lights from the small boats traveling up and down the river looked like bright pinpricks from the height. Alex leaned over across the aisle and gently shook Sabina awake, "Hey Sab, we're here. Wake up."

The now dark brown haired girl jolted awake with a startled gasp, smacking his hand away. She looked around a few times as if to remember where she was before glancing at Alex apologetically, "Sorry, I didn't know it was you. How long is the bus ride till we get to Crotona? This is going to suck"

Alex smiled slightly, "Only about 5 hours, Captain Obvious, not torturous at all."

She scowled back at him, "Oh thanks so much for that, Lieutenant Sarcasm."

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After finally getting to their destination after a (admittedly torturous) 6 hour bus ride, the entire Pleasure family, plus Alex, was utterly exhausted. Their driver, a tall, dark-haired man named Adamo, opened their door to revel a small house with twisting vines all around the brick doorway. What Alex assumed was a fig tree sat outside in a raised bed overgrown with rosemary. The house its-self sat on a small hill, a dense forest behind it.

Sabina stumbled up to the door like a drunk before turning and calling over her shoulder, "Who has the key? I need sleep, like now."

Mrs. Pleasure smiled and pulled a small brass key from the pocket of her sweatpants. "Your room is on the top floor; Alex's is right next to it. Go up and make yourself at home."

Alex gave a tired sigh before following Sabina up the long white stair case with a wrought iron banister. He had thought that he could deal with jetlag but frankly spending 26 straight hours traveling was beyond even him. He opened the second door on the top floor and only had time to register the tall, floor to ceiling windows and a white carpet before he fell onto the bed, exhausted, and fell asleep.

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Review? I love suggestions and if you have any ideas on where this should go please tell me since I'm rewriting it anyway.