Chapter 62: Epilogue: Christmas

Getting sucked into the Kendrick family holiday celebrations was almost too much for Alex.

They had both been officially released the morning of the 24th, leaving just enough time for Mickey to drive them out to a rental unit just down the street from the Kendrick matriarch. Alex wasn't entirely clear where they were, just that it had taken a couple of hours. It had a been a slightly harried drive, as Mickey was still sporting his sling and probably really shouldn't have been driving, but was medically in much better condition than either Alex or Nico. Upon arrival, Mickey had tried to bow out of being roped in to the holiday season, but Nico had somehow managed to browbeat him into sticking around.

That was when Alex found out that Mickey was just as much an orphan as he was.

Strange to think.

Nico's mother had showed up not even thirty minutes after their arrival and Alex had all but hid in his bedroom. He was given a pass for the evening, but was told in no uncertain terms that he wasn't going to be able to avoid her forever.

Forever being the very next day.

Christmas Day dawned cool and clear.

Alex had very little desire to get out of bed, but knew that just ignoring the day wasn't going to be possible. He threw on a sweater and donned the sling once more, before heading out into the kitchen to try to find some food.

Mickey was already up, puttering around in the kitchen with bags of food spread out across the counter.

"Where'd all this come from?" Alex asked, poking at bag that held a variety of boxed cereals.

"Mrs. Kendrick dropped it off earlier this morning." Mickey shoved some of the perishables into the fridge haphazardly, then started going through another bag full of cans. "I'm not sure when she expects us to eat all this, as I was also told in no uncertain terms that we'll be there tonight and tomorrow for the meals."

Right.

Family meals.

It was a thing that happened around the holidays.

Mickey huffed, looking between the labels of two different cans. "I think she's afraid we'll starve or live on takeout every meal she can't feed us herself."

Though to be fair, she had been told that Nico's unit mates were all dead at one point or another. That they had all miraculously come back to life was probably more than she was prepared to handle. She probably wasn't going to back off any time soon.

If the food was anything like the casserole she had dropped off the night before though… Alex wasn't sure he was going to complain. He just might complain if he had to be social all the time.

There were a few thumps coming from down the hall and a moment later Nico crutched his way into the room. He had been approved for short distance walking, though anything further meant he'd be back to his trusty wheelchair. He paused at the doorway, giving a careful glance at the bags of food, before rolling his eyes and carefully lowering himself into the nearest chair.

"Mum descended; I suppose?"

Mickey snorted. "You could call it that. More like a hurricane, really."

Nico laughed, before running a hand over his face. "She knows I'm almost as bad at cooking as she is. She shouldn't have high hopes for the rest of you."

Bad at cooking.

"She… doesn't cook?" Alex asked, confused.

"Oh, no. That's what Pa is for. He's got a restaurant over in Grimsby. Mostly retired now, but…" He paused, raising an eyebrow at Alex. "What, you thought that was her casserole? We would've been lucky to get away without food poisoning. She's good at making sure other people eat though. Just not her food."

That was a bit of a role reversal. Though it made sense. Even if she couldn't make the food, she made sure that other people had enough.

It was kind of sweet.

In a sickening sort of way.

Mickey set down a couple of bowls and the breakfast cereals. "Well, whatever the case, we've got plenty to eat here. And she said we had to be there by two, or else."

Or else… what?

Alex didn't really want to see what kind of threat the matriarch would carry through with, but Nico's obedient nod seemed to acknowledge that there was no funny business going on.

"I'm half surprised she hasn't berated us for our lack of holiday decoration." Nico paused, then shrugged, paying more attention to the cereal than what was going on around him. "Maybe we're getting a freebie for just getting out of hospital."

Alex snorted. Since they had all gotten released on the same day, he certainly hoped that was enough to win a pass in her books.

The Kendrick household was just what Alex had always imagined having a large family was like. Loud, noisy, argumentative, and boisterous. It was a lot more noise and activity than he had had for the past… year, really. More like the school hallways than anything that had come since.

Mrs. Kendrick – "Susanne, really." – was almost exactly as he had pictured her. Determined and forceful. She almost always got her way. And was more than keen to try prying into where exactly Alex had come into the picture.

Nico was pretty good at playing interference, though even he had had the wide-eyed expression of someone not quite dealing with everything as well as he pretended. More than once, Alex had watched some well-meaning relative come up on his bad side, ask a question without realizing, and Nico had either all but ignored them or flinched away so abruptly that there was a pregnant pause in the conversations.

Mickey had disappeared into the hubbub at some point, but seemed to be adapting a whole lot better than either of them. Considering he had been held captive for longer than Alex this time… He was performing remarkably well.

After two hours of being stared at by the cousins, aunts, and uncles, Alex had escaped out onto the back porch and into the fresh air.

There was no telling when someone was going to catch up with him and try to pry into his life once more. He hadn't even given out his last name, just that he was Alex and would be staying with Nico for the foreseeable future.

But everyone wanted more than that.

He pushed one of the rocking chairs into the corner, out of sight from the window, and settled in for a bit.

If he could just regather his thoughts… He might be able to…

Who was he kidding?

He had no desire to go back in and brave the horde. Even if there was food involved.

That he was here for Nico was a surprising realization. Because Nico wouldn't leave him alone and so… he couldn't leave Nico alone either.

"They're a lot to take in, aren't they?" Nico crutched his way across the porch, having apparently found another door onto it that Alex hadn't noticed. He had also abandoned his wheelchair at some point.

Alex looped an ankle around the other chair, not a rocker, and pulled it closer, out of sight from the door. He figured Nico wasn't going to just waltz on by, but they could at least hide out from the others for a bit.

"I haven't seen most everyone since, well… February." He lowered himself carefully down into the chair, setting the crutches to the side. He kneaded at a muscle in his leg for a long moment, before relaxing. "Mum kept most everyone out of the loop the past several months, so… They're all curious about what happened and why my parents are so tight lipped about it all."

Just because they were curious didn't mean they were getting any answers. The official line hadn't quite been settled on – part of that was going to depend on what news Cameron and Jacobs brought back from Central Command. MI6 was officially out of the picture, Alex Rider well and truly dead, but the final word on what was happening with S-unit… that was still hanging over their heads.

Nico nudged his leg, catching his gaze. "Hey, how're you holding up?"

Alex shrugged. That was the question of the week, wasn't it?

Everyone had been so focused on just getting out of the hospital, that Alex had forgotten what things were like afterwards. After the action. After the stress. After the healing.

When the nightmares returned and it became clear that there really wasn't a true escape.

"No one's going to begrudge you needing your time or space."

Alex huffed, casting a glance toward the revelry going on inside.

"Mum? She knows that we've all been… in a lot of bad places the past year. She's just trying to keep everything as normal as possible – which for her is feeding you until you're stuffed and surrounding you with family." Nico rubbed a hand across his chin. "Though maybe… Did you have a big family?"

The question is so seemingly out of the blue that Alex answered without hesitating. "No, it was just Uncle Ian. And… Jack." It didn't hurt quite so much now. Time faded all wounds, and all that. Would the guilt ever go away? Probably not, but that wasn't important.

Nico nodded, as if unsurprised. Right. It had probably all been in one of his files at some point.

Alex blew out a long breath, shoving his hand into his pocket and hunkered down lower in the chair. "It's been a long year."

"That, my friend, is a massive understatement." Mickey appeared around the corner, looking slightly haunted, but had a couple of blankets tucked under his arm. "Is this where all the cool kids are hiding out?" He shoved a blanket at each of them, before making a space on the ground in between the two chairs.

Nico raised a careful eyebrow. "Mum?"

"Hmm."

Alex buried his hand in the knit, poking his fingers through the weave. A year ago, he had been ignoring the holiday in his own apartment, all alone. Trying to keep up with enough coursework so that the teachers wouldn't try to deny him taking the end of year exams. It hadn't mattered much in the end.

How many weeks had he spent in the past year as a prisoner? Three weeks in January. Five weeks now.

How many weeks had he spent in the hospital? Days, weeks, months…

First one mad man and then another.

And now they were just, poof, gone.

All evidence erased and he was months behind any of his age-mates. It had been nearly five months since he had last looked at his coursework. No sane school would take him in. Not with a record – or lack thereof – like his. He would have no chance—

"Hey." Mickey's hand touched Alex's elbow, pulling him out of his spiraling thoughts. "Take a breath."

Alex gulped in a couple of breaths, not realizing he had frozen in panic. He tried to unclench his fist, relax his body. Because, really, there was nothing he could do about it now. It had happened. It was over.

"What's bothering you?"

Alex breathed out a snort at Nico's uncharacteristically blunt question. "School? Life? Everything?"

Nico frowned, before reaching across and unceremoniously poking Alex in the ribs. "You literally just got out of the hospital. You're nothing but skin and bones. Maybe wait another day or two before all that existential dread sets in, hmm?"

Alex curled protectively over his ribs – which yeah, had a distinct lack of fat on them – and shot a glare in Nico's direction. Easier said than done – especially when his life felt like it was entirely unmoored. Once again.

And like it or not, he was without MI6 at the ready with convenient cover stories – that only held up to scrutiny once or twice.

"Besides, your friend made sure you had an appropriate doctor's note detailing why you've been out of traditional schooling. There's time before you have to make any decisions, but you have options."

Options.

That was what everyone seemed focused on now.

Options.

"Not the only one going back to school," Mickey muttered, sounding somewhat resigned. "At least you get to avoid the applications and personal statements for a while." He said personal statements, as if it were a curse word. "Once Cameron and Jacobs get back… it'll be a house full of diligent students."

The corner of Alex's mouth curled at that. After all being reunited, it seemed that no one really wanted to step away. Even though it had been more than two months – an eternity – since they had all shared a house, it was one piece of normality that Alex was looking forward to getting back.

Oddly.

"Boys," Mrs. Kendrick stepped out onto the porch, seeming a little hesitant to interrupt them. She placed a gentle hand on Nico's shoulder – on his bad side.

To his credit, Nico only flinched slightly at her sudden appearance.

"Food's ready." She pressed on, pretending she hadn't startled Nico at all. "I pulled up a couple of chairs for you by the big window."

"Right, thanks mum." Nico sent a pointed glance in Alex's direction, before situating the crutches under his arms and staggering to his feet. Mickey was faster to his feet, placing a steadying hand on the small of his back. "I, for one, am famished."

Alex was a little slower to his feet. He didn't really want to go back inside to the hoards. But food… He floundered for a moment for what to do with the blanket, but Mrs. Kendrick solved that for him by plucking it out of his hand and piling it with the other two.

Nico crutched his way back inside, followed by Mickey. And Alex really didn't want to get left alone, so…

Mrs. Kendrick touched his elbow lightly, gaining a slight startle, but she smiling gently in his direction. "I know you can't tell me what happened, but I just wanted to thank you for giving me my Nico back. When he thought you all were dead…" She gave him a watery smile. "I though we were going to lose him too."

Alex swallowed down a lump in his throat. Because they had all thought each other dead at one point or another. And it had felt like a failure on all their parts.

"You're all very good for him and I think he's good for you too. Just… take the time you need to get better. And when you're ready, us Kendricks are more than used to expanding the definition of family." She gave him another smile, before pointedly holding the door open for him.

Alex went inside, not quite sure what had just happened. Or what, exactly, she was alluding to.

He passed through the kitchen – now thoroughly empty – and into the main set of rooms. There was a happily flickering fireplace next to one table, while the other was across the room and pressed against the main window.

Yeah… probably best to stay away from the fire…

"Alex!" Nico waved Alex over, motioning to the empty place he had saved between himself and Mickey.

Alex slid into the seat, noting that they were far away from the screaming younger cousins and the far too inquisitive older aunts and uncles. He was even on Nico's good side. There was also a notable lack of poppers present.

"You good?" Nico murmured, pouring himself a glass of whatever the non-alcoholic drink was for the evening.

Alex took a deep breath, glancing around the room full of festive revelry. "Yeah… yeah I think so." He wasn't on his own this time. It wouldn't be perfect, immediately. But… he had others. Others that had an inkling of what he had gone through.

"Happy Christmas, Alex," Mickey said, tipping his glass in Alex's direction.

Yeah, Happy Christmas…

A/N: Merry Christmas everyone! Thank you for sticking through it all with me. I started writing this many years ago, when I was going through a rather traumatic patch in life. And then I committed what I see as the cardinal sin of a fanfic author – I seemingly abandoned the story for several years. But I came back and finished it, and I'm rather proud of the output. So, whether you were around before this got rebooted or not, I'm so happy that you read along and have been enjoying the ride.

I'm also rather excited to announce that I got bit by another plot idea back in March and in November wrote just over 100k words towards a new crossover Alex Rider story. So, keep your eyes open for something new on the horizon!