Close Protection - Chapter 6 Part 1/2
Title: Close Protection, of a Sort - Chapter Six: The End of a Day, Part 1/2
Fandom: Alex Rider
Pairing: Alex/Sabina sorta
Summary: Alex thinks he's done with espionage, but SCORPIA thinks otherwise. They target Alex and drag others in too. Now he's going to train with the SAS for his 'protection' so needless to say things look rough. Oh, and his class is coming too.
Rating: PG-13
Warning(s): Language, acute angst, violence I suppose
<< Chapter 5
~Close Protection, of a Sort~
Chapter Six: The End of a Day, Part 1/2
Alex walked into the mess. Going inside, he saw he was one of the last of his classmates to arrive. Only one or two of the student groups hadn't come in yet. Alex got into line to be served, then went and sat with his friends. They looked exhausted, Alex saw, as he set down his tray and slid in next to Emma. She looked up at him and gave him a tired smile.
"How'd it go?" she asked.
Alex shrugged. "Alright." He quickly directed the conversation away from himself. "What did you guys do?"
"Well, they really tested our fitness. A lot. They made us run drills for forever." She made a face. "I hate endurance stuff. Then they had us do the assault course."
"That thing is suicidal!" Nick said fervently. "How the hell are you supposed to go that fast?"
"That man, Fox, said that the SAS men do it everyday, sometimes run it continuously," Josh put in.
"Well, I hope they don't make us do that," Tom grumbled. He looked over at Alex. "I don't know how anyone could do it."
Alex gave him a small smile, understanding the hidden subtext. "Lots of practice I'd guess," he put in, subtly answering Tom.
Tom raised a brow, and Alex gave a small shrug in reply.
"So, what did you do, Alex?" Josh asked.
Alex shrugged. “Same kind of stuff as you. They said it was just easier.”
Josh frowned. “They had you run the assault course, when they're so worried about you?” he asked, a tad bit incredulous.
Alex rapidly calculated his response. “Nah,” he said. “They just had me look at it. Said that if they think I'm doing ok in a few days they'll 'let' me do it.”
“Act weak,” Nick advised. “Then you won't actually have to do anything.” He grinned. “You can just laze while the rest of us collapse from exhaustion.”
Alex sighed. “Yeah, but then I'll go insane from boredom. I'm not that weak. I'm practically fine now, but they treat me like I'm dying.”
“Aww, poor Alex,” Emma teased. “He's bored.”
Alex rolled his eyes as the others laughed. “You try being treated like an invalid. I've actually been one for quite long enough, thanks. Besides, our 'leaders' are not too happy at having to cater to my 'illness'.”
Tom clapped him on the shoulder, as he rose to take care of his tray. “Well, I'm sure if you do well enough, they'll let you try harder stuff,” he said, with an ever so light layer of sarcasm.
Alex grinned at him. “Wonderful,” he replied, equally sarcastic.
After lunch, the SAS men directed the teenagers outside to round them up for their next exercise. Alex and his friends went over to where K-unit was conversing.
The men continued their whispered conversation for a moment, before turning to face their charges.
Wolf stepped forward, the others flanking him. Alex couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the presentation. It looked like something out of a bad American western movie. It seemed he wasn't the only one having similar thoughts as Nick nudged him and Tom, muttering, ”Nice posse.” Alex bit back a snort and saw Tom bite his lip. It really did look like one...
Wolf scowled at the three of them, and Alex just sent him his best innocent face.
With a last glare Wolf turned to address them all.
“You lot are going with Snake and Eagle,” he said, gesturing to Alex friends. “Rider, stay here.”
Snake led the other four away as Alex turned to Wolf for his instructions.
Wolf however nodded to Fox, and left. Fox turned to Alex.
“You all are doing survival and medical training now,” he told Alex quietly, as there were still others around. “Unless there's some reason why you can't, now would be a good time to go with the others.”
Alex shrugged. “It's fine.”
Fox nodded. “Right, well they're going to the clearing down by the river...I'd better take you though.”
Alex looked at him questioningly.
“Well, you wouldn't know your way around, would you?” the man reasoned.
Alex nodded, and followed him mutely.
“So,” Fox said, turning to talk over his shoulder as they walked. “I hear you gave the others a bit of a surprise at the ranges today.”
Alex shrugged noncommittally. What did Fox want? “You don't seem too bothered,” he observed.
Fox shrugged. “Can't say I am. People have a habit of picking things up in this business.”
They walked on in silence for a moment.
“Aren't you going to ask me how I learned?” Alex asked, curious.
Fox shrugged. “Why bother? If you were going to tell me, you would have already.” He sighed. “I know you didn't learn it here, and I'm fairly certain it wasn't MI6's doing, which means it was from a more questionable source.”
Alex tensed, but was rather confused. Fox didn't even seem to care...
Fox sighed again. “Look, doing the job we do, there's a lot of questionable stuff we get involved in. That's just the way it is. And unless it becomes a problem, there's no reason for me to know.”
Alex nodded. Fox really was a reasonable guy.
Fox dropped Alex off at the clearing as Snake was just beginning. Snake acknowledged him with a nod and a neutral “Rider.”
Alex returned the nod, and went to stand with his friends.
Snake went back to addressing the group. “Right, Eagle and I are going to be assessing your survival and medical skills today. You have a series of tasks you need to complete as a group. We'll be watching you and assessing what we'll need to cover in subsequent sessions.” He turned towards his comrade. “Eagle?” he prompted.
The other man stepped forward, holding a Bergen. “Right, this is your kit.” He indicated the bag. “You can use whatever's in here to help with the tasks.” He handed the bag to Tom, who happened to be standing closest to him. “So, the first thing you need to do is build and successfully light a fire.”
They waited expectantly for further instructions. He stared back at them blankly. As no one moved, he raised his brows. “Well? Go!” he commanded.
At this they started, and moved off a few paces to huddle as a group as the two men melted into the brush.
“Right, so, fire,” Nick said. “Who knows how to build a fire?”
“I think maybe my dad's said some stuff when we've gone camping,” Emma said with a frown. “But it's always my brother's job, so I never really pay attention...”
Alex was torn for a moment. How much should he reveal he knew? Obviously they couldn't find out the true breadth of his knowledge, but should he pretend to be a complete novice? That seemed like an unnecessary over complication. Ian had always said that the best lies were the simplest ones. And surely there were ways some kids learned basic survival skills, so it wasn't that far fetched for him to have a bit of rudimentary knowledge. His friends could really use the help. So he'd pretend to have some skills. Now he just needed an excuse...what would be an explanation his friends would believe?
In the end, it was Tom who provided the explanation for him. As if sensing Alex's indecision, he spoke up. “Hey, Alex - didn't you go to that wilderness survival camp that one time?” he asked, sending Alex a pleading look, practically begging him to help them out.
Well, there was a perfect excuse.
“Yeah, that one summer,” he agreed. He frowned as if trying to remember. “We need to…gather some wood, as dry as possible. You start with little twigs and stuff as kindling, then you need some sticks and then a few logs. Oh, and pine needles are good kindling too…I think,” he said, adding a hint of uncertainty into his voice at the end.
The others nodded, but no one moved, waiting for the others to go first. Finally Nick raised a brow. “So...shall we scavenge?”
The others grinned and nodded moving off into the nearby woods.
“Let's stick together,” Josh advised. “Less chance of anyone getting lost.” They agreed, and began looking for wood.
Tom stayed next to Alex and bent down next to him to pick up a stick. “Sorry about putting you on the spot like that,” he whispered, “but without you, we'd have been completely screwed.”
Alex gave him a small smile. “It's fine,” he whispered back reassuringly. “And for the record, that was a nice excuse, on the spot like that.”
“Really?” Tom asked, loving the compliment.
“Really,” Alex confirmed.
Tom grinned and got up to look around more.
“I've found a ton of good kindling stuff,” Emma called after a bit.
“Drop it off in the middle of the clearing,” Alex advised her. She complied and they all returned to searching.
After a short while, they had collected quite a decent-sized pile of wood. Mercifully, it hadn't rained yet that day, so the wood was relatively dry.
“That's probably good, don't you think?” Nick asked Alex.
Alex nodded, inwardly cringing at how they were starting to defer to him. He'd hoped to stay low profile.
“So,” Nick said leadingly as they stood around the pile. “What now?”
Emma turned to grin at Josh. “I'm surprised you don't know everything about this,” she teased. “Usually, you're like a walking, talking encyclopedia.”
He shrugged, blushing faintly. “I've read about it,” he admitted, “but someone who's actually done it is going to be loads better.” He nodded at Alex.
“Well, what do you remember?” Alex asked, trying to shift some of the spotlight onto the other boy. “It's been a while since I've done it, and maybe it'll help me remember more.”
“Ok, well, I remember you don't want to suffocate the fire, so you don't want to just make a big pile. You have to let oxygen get to the bottom...” He bit his lip in thought. “You want to start slow with kindling and smaller pieces of wood, lighting the kindling first, then gradually build up to the other stuff. Right?”
Alex nodded, fairly impressed his friend remember all of that just from reading, but then again, that was Josh. “Yeah, that's pretty much what I remember,” he affirmed. “So, let's do this.”
He knelt down and began to construct the fire. Since it'd been a while since he had built one, and also since he was trying to maintain the illusion he'd learnt it a long time ago, he worked slowly, acting like he was really thinking about each step. He deliberately did a few things less than perfect, so that combined with his genuine mistakes from being out of practice, insured that it wouldn't be a suspiciously stellar fire. Still Alex was fairly sure it would light ok.
As he worked, he talked out loud as if thinking it through. This helped his cover, but really he was doing it so his friends could start picking up on what to do. He knew from experience the SAS was not particularly patient or repetitive, and he wanted to help his friends out by giving them a head start.
He made sure though to ask Josh for confirmation a few time, thus transferring some of his authority. Being a leader would put too much attention on him, and he'd be much more likely to slip up.
Finally a few minutes later, the basic fire structure had been constructed..
“So know we need to light it,” Alex said.
The five teens looked at each other blankly.
Nick groaned. “If we have to rub sticks together, I swear I will find the nearest cliff and jump off it,” he moaned.
Alex agreed with the sentiment, but couldn't help but comment, “You know, just shooting yourself would be so much easier. There's got to be guns all over the camp, what with the SAS running the place.”
Nick shook his head. “Far less dramatic,” he said in a long-suffering tone. “You people just fail to appreciate drama!” he exclaimed.
“Well, obviously,” Emma replied. “Why do you think I'm friends with mostly boys?”
Josh rolled his eyes. “I don't think there's cause for suicidal jumps quite yet. We should check the bag to see if there's anything helpful in it before locating the nearest cliff.”
“Lead on, fair friend!” Nick exclaimed in a Shakespearean voice. “You see, that there was the beauty of drama!”
Josh just gave a sigh that truly was long-suffering, walking over to take over to take the Bergen from Tom. Putting it on the ground, he began to pull things out. Alex and Tom bent down to help as well, while Emma and Nick resumed their conversation on drama.
The bag contained quite a lot of stuff: rope, a lightweight tarp, a compass, a flashlight, a pocket knife (which Alex raised his eyebrows at, surprised they'd give one to a group of kids), glucose and water purification tablets, and finally...
“Matches!” Josh exclaimed as pulled it out of the bag.
Alex grinned. He'd been starting to worry that Snake and Eagle had been feeling particularly sadistic and hadn't given them anything to use.
“Oi! Slackers!” Tom called to Nick and Emma as Alex and Josh moved towards the prepared firewood. “We found it - Remember, we were trying to accomplish something?”
Nick and Emma stopped and turned to look at them, Emma giving a sheepish grin. “Sorry, got a bit carried away there with the whole girls and drama issue.” Nick just tried to look innocent. Needless to say, it failed miserably.
Josh handed Alex the matches, saying, “You do the honors.”
Alex bent down and tried to light the pine needles. It caught on the second match. Gently he blew on it, carefully trying to add a few small sticks. It was a tentative business, very touch and go, and for a minute Alex thought they were going to lose it completely, but it managed to pull through and soon they had a crackling blaze.
They congratulated each other, then stood and watched it for a few seconds, before Nick said cheerfully, “Well...what now?”
As if hearing his words (and they probably were listening in), Eagle and Snake materialized, Eagle carrying a bucket of water.
“Not bad,” Eagle commented, before dousing the fire with water. Nick gave an affronted squeak. “What?” Eagle asked, turning to him grinning evilly. “You want to start a forest fire?”
Nick shook his head, intimidated by the SAS man. “Thought so,” Eagle said. “Now, the next task is to construct a shelter.”
Alex frowned. “What kind of shelter?” he asked.
Eagle shrugged, grinning broadly, deliberately unhelpful. “Any type,” he replied vaguely, before he and Snake once again disappeared.
Alex sighed in frustration. “So helpful,” he muttered.
Tom caught it and grinned.
“So,” Emma began. “What do we do?” she asked, looking expectantly between Alex and Josh.
“Well, there're loads of different kinds of shelters, some easier and faster than others,” Alex replied, looking at Josh.
Josh nodded slowly. “Well, we have that tarp...”
“And the rope,” Alex reminded him, an idea forming in his mind.
Josh nodded, catching on. “It would be the easiest.”
“And the fastest,” Alex agreed.
“Right. Let's do it,” Josh decided.
“What are we doing?” Nick stage-whispered to Emma and Tom.
Emma shrugged. “I don't know, but the whole Danny and Rusty (i) thing is kinda freaking me out...though it was pretty awesome...”
Alex decided this would be a good moment to explain. “We're building a shelter, a really easy one,” he clarified.
“Riiiiiiiiight,” Nick drawled.
“So what do we do?” Tom asked, ever-focused.
“We need rocks,” Josh said.
“Not really big ones, just ones heavy enough to hold down a tarp,” Alex added.
Tom, Emma, and Nick went to go look (though in Nick's case there was a lot more fooling around than actual looking going on).
Meanwhile, Alex and Josh were busy constructing the shelter. Taking the rope, they stretched it between two trees that were fairly close together, tying it securely. They then took the tarp and pulled it over the rope. Just as they finished that, the others returned laden with rocks.
“We come bearing gifts!” Nick exclaimed, humming the tune of 'We Three Kings'.
Alex raised a brow, looking at him funny. “You are strange,” he commented.(ii)
Nick grinned. “And that's why you love me.”
“Where do you want these?” Tom interrupted, nodding at the stones he and Emma were carrying.
“Oh, just divide them into two piles on either side,” Alex told him distractedly, still giving Nick strange looks. Shaking his head, Alex moved to help Josh stretch the tarp to the ground at an angle. “Now pile the stones on the bottom all along...that's it,” he instructed Tom and Emma. They moved to the other side and did the same, then stepped back to admire their work.
“Alright, two for two!” Nick exclaimed.
“No thanks to you,” Tom laughed.
“Ah, but without me, this would be so much more boring,” Nick replied.
Shortly after, their two instructors re-emerged, giving the shelter a pass and detailing the next task.
The exercise continued with Snake and Eagle setting a task, and 'Grey Group' (as they had taken to calling themselves, a mix between Alex's title of Black Group and the other four's White Group) completing it, with a little prompting from Alex. The tasks varied greatly, ranging from demonstrating survival skills to basic medical know-how.
Alex thought it went surprisingly well, considering he was the only one with any real experience, and he was holding back. But as Nick said at one point, they worked well together as a group.
“We all have our roles,” he explained.
Alex decided he would bite. “Which are?” he asked, interested despite himself.
“Well, Josh here is the idea person, who has lots of book knowledge and cranial capacity. You, Alex, add the practical know-how and problem solving skills, and provide some direction. Tom is the supply man, and the general laborer. And I provide personality and charm, and keep things interesting,” Nick said sagely, with a surprising degree of insight.
“What about me?” Emma asked, knowing he wanted her to.
“You, my dear, are here so we don't get sued for gender discrimination,” Nick said, grinning.
Justifiably outraged, Emma smacked him upside the head.
As things progressed, the others began to defer more and more to Alex, certainly more than he would've liked. But, he supposed, it was inevitable to a certain degree. He and Josh were the only two who had any idea what to do for most of it, and out of the two of them, Alex was clearly the leader.
There were however a few surprises in talent. Emma had a pretty good understanding of medical matters (she later admitted she was a medical show junkie) and most surprisingly, Nick turned out to be amazing at navigating via map and compass.
“My grandfather is an orienteering nut, and he taught me the beautiful 'art' as soon as I could walk,” he explained. “I've been doing it literally since I was born.”
That's not to say there were no mishaps. While most things Alex could nudge in the right direction, some knowledge would just be too difficult to explain away. Such a case occurred during an evasion task: they were told to get from RV A to RV B, while doing their best to avoid enemy recce. Once Alex had translated this for them, claiming a working knowledge of Bravo Two Zero,(iii) they had set off, following Emma's good suggestion of sticking to the cover of woodland - a technique picked up from her copious movie watching marathons.
However while following a ridge, they missed the whole concept of making themselves less easy to spot, erroneously walking smack on top of the ridge and close together, creating a dense silhouette easily seen by any hostiles that happened to be watching the area.
Alex was forced to just go along with it, as it would have been difficult to explain his extensive knowledge on evading enemy surveillance. His explanation for knowing SAS lingo had been a flimsy enough excuse, albeit a necessary one.
On the whole though, Alex thought they did quite well. He was proud of his friends for working together and pulling through, though this course just reaffirmed more than ever that he was far from an ordinary teen.
At the end, Snake and Eagle gave them a brief critique of their performance. Though they refrained from really complimenting the group, Alex could tell they were rather impressed that the teenagers had managed it. Eagle, he knew, was particularly impressed with how Alex had handled the situation, seen from the grins he was giving him.
As Snake and Eagle were finishing up, Wolf and Fox turned up. Fox led the other four off to 'have some fun', while Alex was told to stay.
As the others left, Eagle turned to clap Alex on the shoulder. “Well done, Cub,” he said. “You didn't slip on your cover at all.”
Snake rolled his eyes. “Eagle, he works for MI6. It'd be sad if he slipped up that easy.”
“Yeah, but still,” Eagle argued. “It's hard to not to mess up around your friends.” He grinned suddenly. “And can I just say, Cub, that you have some very interesting friends.”
“Tell me about it,” Alex groaned.
“That Nick kid in particular. A guy after my own heart,” he said mock-dramatically, clasping his hand over his heart.
“You don't have a heart,” Wolf said grouchily, ignoring Eagle’s mock indignation, instead turning to look at Alex levelly for a moment. “Go report to the Killing House for combat assessment. We'll meet you there, in Red one three,” he ordered.
Alex nodded and left.
As the building loomed before him, Alex couldn't help but feel a vague sense of unease. His previous experience with the Killing House had been less than pleasant, to say the least. This is where Wolf had tripped him, in an attempt to get Alex binned. Seeing the building again, there was something quite foreboding about it.
Alex entered the building and went to the room Wolf had directed. In the SAS, a building's sides were coded based on color. Red 1-3 told him to go to the front of the building, the 1 indicated the first floor, and the 3 told him which room.
Alex stood in the room waiting for Wolf. He looked around, getting a little impatient as the moments ticked by. He went to a window and looked out at the ground. Where were they?
Suddenly he saw the shadows on the wall next to him moving. He heard the rush of air of the blow coming towards him and without even thinking, he stepped aside and swung around to face his attacker, immediately driving a fist towards their stomach.
It was blocked, as if the person had been expecting him to do just that. Alex looked up at the person and to his surprise found Wolf staring back at him.
Wolf, not giving him time to recover, quickly attacked again, driving a punch toward Alex's chest, following with one to his stomach.
Alex automatically twisted away from the first and blocked the second, but his mind was struggling to come to terms with this new development. What the hell was Wolf doing? Randomly attacking was low for even him...He couldn't still be holding a grudge...
Wolf was closing in on him, the punches coming faster. Distracted as he was, Alex narrowly escaped one to his shoulder. However, Wolf still managed to clip him in the arm and Alex winced in pain. Finally giving up any pretense of understanding, Alex shouted, “What the fuck?!”
Wolf didn't even pause, merely grunting, “Combat assessment,” before directing a kick at Alex's thigh.
Alex dodged the kick. So this was another test?
Alex aimed a roundhouse kick at Wolf. It landed, but Wolf didn't even flinch, merely bringing his fist around towards Alex's ribs.
Alex darted out of the way, but wasn't quite fast enough to completely miss the following strike, though he was able to twist away so it hit his shoulder instead of his neck.
Wincing, he was thankful that neither of them was hitting very hard, this being practice. Wolf especially was holding back, otherwise, the blow would have hurt a lot worse.
He aimed a kick at Wolf, dodging the following jab. Wolf swore as the kick connected and returned to attacking Alex with multiple punches, coming in fast and hard.
Alex was occupied dodging the blows, when a punch came towards his ribs from the opposite direction. Not seeing it until too late, Alex managed to twist at the last second, narrowly missing the hit, but bringing himself right into Wolf's fist.
He winced as it made contact with his side, hissing in pain and backing up to give him a few seconds to recover and assess this new development.
Snake had seemingly been the owner of the punch. That was all he had time to see before they were on him, Wolf attacking with a hard punch towards his ribcage. Alex dodged that, feeling a slight prickling of unease. He was fighting two larger, better-trained men.
He saw Snake's foot coming towards him in a leg sweep, but was unable to counter it, occupied as he was blocking Wolf's jab. He felt his legs being swept from under him, and knowing that he was going down, immediately released Wolf's arm, allowing him to drop and roll, surging back up to deliver a back kick.
He heard an expletive as his foot made contact with something soft, probably a stomach. Quickly, he followed it with a reverse knife-strike, aiming for the head he knew was likely to be leaning forward. He was not disappointed as he heard an even worse curse as his hand hit flesh.
He whirled around, bringing his hands up to guard against the inevitable blows. He wasn't disappointed. While Wolf was still recovering, Snake was quick to move in to attack him.
Alex barely avoided Snake's onslaught. The man was much faster than Wolf, but at least he didn't hit quite as hard.
He struck out with his fist, but Snake reached out and grabbed it, effectively stopping the blow. Not wanting to give Snake the opportunity to throw him, Alex quickly lashed out with his foot at the man's knee, causing him to stumble and loosen his grip, where Alex was able to twist away.
Wolf had recovered, coming into attack Alex anew. He directed a kick towards Alex's stomach, which Alex was able to dodge. Alex retaliated and then drove his elbow towards Snake in the same motion. Snake countered and attacked Alex fast and hard, bearing down on him.
Alex failed to see Snake's punch coming towards his stomach. It hit him full force, causing him to double over in pain. From there, it was easy for Wolf to throw him to the ground.
He hit the ground hard on his back. Vulnerably lying there looking up, he saw the hard-faced men closing in on him. A dull sort of terror gathered in the pit of his stomach.
Suddenly he saw not the two men of K-unit, but rather the twisted face of Conrad leering down at him. He felt the panic of being seconds from death on the conveyor belt. Blindly he lashed out, desperate to escape.
He heard a cry and again he was looking up at Wolf. Snake had stumbled backwards and was clutching his stomach, apparently the one Alex had hit.
Barely pausing to register this, Alex took the opportunity to surge to his feet. He backed away shakily. What the hell just happened?
Snake recovered quickly, and the two were on him once more. The fast dance of hits, blocks, and twists continued, Alex attempting to hold his own, though outmatched. He was constantly kept twisting, turning, dodging blow after blow. Suddenly a kick hit him from behind. He spun and lashed out with his elbow, hitting Eagle. Quickly, he reverse knife handed Snake and back round-housed Wolf.
All three men were on him momentarily, dealing out blow after blow. Alex swore as he dodged them. The fight was now three against one, and the odds were severely against him. He twisted away from a punch from Wolf, instead getting caught in the face by a right hook from Snake.
The force of the blow snapped his head around. Alex looked up and saw Sunthorn's freakish face. He was in the Muay Thai ring. The crowd's jeers were a dull roar in his ears. Alex dodged the Thai man's dangerously quick attack, desperately defending himself.
A blow to his shoulder snapped him back into the present. K-unit was bearing down on him.
It had happened again! What the fuck was happening to him?
The three men attacked quickly, and cohesively. Alex was barely avoiding the blows.
He felt fear rise up, threatening to overwhelm him. He never lost control. No matter what, he always kept his head. It was how he survived. Now…
Wolf swung a punch towards his shoulder, while Eagle lashed out with a kick. Alex blocked and twisted. Forcefully, he pushed the panic down. He needed to concentrate on the fight, if he had any chance of holding his own. He maneuvered himself so his back was to the wall, trying to secure as much cover as he could get.
Snake kicked out and Alex blocked, striking out at him, and then twisting to hit Eagle, following through with a kick at Wolf. Wolf dodged, instead lashing out at Alex.
The blows rained down faster and faster. Alex was barely keeping up with them. Just as soon as he was able to beat back one man, the other two were on him.
The edge of a hand scythed down, hitting Alex. He saw Nile, closing in to make the kill. Panicking, he struck out in a brutal uppercut, desperate to protect himself.
There was a yelp as his hand made contact. Alex saw Wolf in front of him clutching his chin.
Snake and Eagle attacked him. Alex, breathing hard, narrowly avoiding the blows and returned them, the lingering terror causing him to lash out with more force.
The men countered, unconsciously hitting harder in response to Alex's more brutal hits.
Alex meanwhile, was struggling to get a hold on himself. He couldn't focus, couldn't stay in control of his mind. The panic was there again, stronger and more insistent.
Snake threw a fist towards his head, missing by less than an inch. Alex kicked out at him, while trying to block a strike from Eagle.
A fist slammed into Alex's cheek, but in his adrenaline-fueled state, it barely even registered. Instead, he just delivered a vicious kick to Wolf's ribs.
He was being slowly, but surely driven back, becoming more and more desperate with every inch of ground lost.
Finally, they forced him into a corner. Alex felt his back brush the walls. He was trapped. They closed in on him. He struggled to overcome his panic and find a way out of the situation, but his mind refused to cooperate. He couldn't breath. Panic overwhelmed him. He didn't know what was happening to him.
Kaspar's ghastly face loomed in front of him, hatred in his eyes, inches from Alex's face. He felt the hands on his neck, the dizziness, the approaching unconsciousness.
Blindly, driven by real terror, Alex lashed out brutally, driving the side of his hand towards Kaspar's windpipe. His hand hit something and there was a cry. Alex couldn't see, couldn't breathe. Dimly, he was aware of Snake and Wolf backing away, shouting at him to calm down.
Wolf and Snake turned quickly towards Eagle, who was on the ground clutching his throat. Snake knelt beside him, checking him over. Wolf looked down worriedly at his comrade. “What the fuck, Cub!?” he shouted angrily.
Alex vaguely registered his name and Wolf yelling. He couldn't think. He was shaking, slowly sliding down the wall. Images flashed in front of him. He couldn’t breathe. He felt like he was going to die.
Not getting an answer, Wolf yelled “Cub!” swinging around, ready to murder the kid. He stopped taken aback when he saw Alex's small framed huddled at the base of the corner, shaking. “Cub?” he said again, this time more urgent and worried.
Hearing the change in his teammate’s tone of voice, Snake looked over at Alex. Seeing him, he swore. “Shit.” He got up from beside the recovering Eagle to go over and crouch in front of Alex. Placing his hands on Alex's shoulders, he attempted to soothe the boy. “Alex, it's okay. Look at me.” Alex looked up at him, the terror and fear all too easy to read. “Calm down, Alex. You're safe. It's okay. Breathe. It's gonna be ok.”
Slowly, the words penetrated Alex's mind. The calming voice helped, and he began to slow down his breathing. Eventually, he looked up to see Snake's concerned face in front of him.
Snake sat back. “You ok, now?” he asked.
Alex swallowed, then nodded.
Snake reached down and helped him to his feet then gave him a final, reassuring nod, before getting up to go back over to Eagle.
Alex stood there shakily, avoiding everyone’s eyes, while trying to get a hold of himself and figure out what the hell had just happened. He had totally lost control, and in front of K-unit, no less. Worse, he’d hurt someone.
He looked guiltily over to where Eagle sat against the wall massaging his throat. Eagle looked up to meet Alex’s eyes.
“Jesus Cub,” he exclaimed hoarsely. “Did you have to hit so hard?”
Alex looked at his feet, feeling a flush rising to his face. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, embarrassed.
“It’s fine,” Eagle said, looking rather bemused. “Just...holy shit Cub.”
Alex didn’t reply, just looked awkwardly at his boots.
There was a highly uncomfortable silence for a long moment as the three men stared questioningly at Alex, and Alex studiously avoided their stares. It seemed no one really knew what to say.
Finally, Wolf took the initiative, falling back on his usual method of blunt leadership, and demanded, “What happened?”
“Nothing,” Alex muttered, embarrassment, frustration, and confusing combining to make him irate.
Eagle and Snake stared at him, incredulous, while Wolf turned a disapproving glare on him.
“I’d say viciously lashing out during a training fight then sinking to the ground shaking uncontrollably rules out the possibility that ‘nothing happened’,” Snake said, tone stoically even.
Alex just shrugged, staring determinedly at the ground. It was bad enough that K-unit was there to witness his surprising loss of control. He was certainly not going to make it worse y sharing any more details about the embarrassing event. What would they think of him if they knew a basic practice fight caused him to mentally implode? Besides, it wasn’t like he really understood what happened, himself...
“Cub, stop the heroic idiocy,” Wolf snapped impatiently, mistakenly identifying the source of Alex’s reluctance as misplaced heroism. “Heroes get killed. And worse, they get those around them killed. When you’re in the field and something happens, you don’t mess around covering it up. You tell your teammates immediately, none of this stoic crap,” he reprimanded sharply.
Alex returned the glare in kind. “I don’t think that’ll be much of a problem seeing, how I almost exclusively work alone,” he said, offended by Wolf’s lecture.
Wolf looked slightly taken aback, but stubbornly asked, “You never have teammates?”
Alex shrugged. “I have twice. The first were a pair from the CIA. They got killed at the beginning of the mission - skewered underwater. The other one, an Australian, turned out to be working for Scorpia, and ended up betraying me,” Alex said, the remembrance of Ash leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.
All three men looked even more taken aback at this. But Wolf, being the stubborn arse he was, refused to back down. “What about backup?” he demanded.
Now it was Alex’s turn to look at Wolf incredulously.
“Backup?” he questioned, morbidly amused. “You think I get back up? I’m lucky to get something to protect myself with.”
Wolf frowned. “You had us at Point Blanc,” he reminded Alex, the others watching with interest.
“Alright, fine, on rare occasions I get backup. Of course, they rarely manage to actually help,” Alex said sarcastically.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Wolf growled, perceiving an insult to his team.
Alex sighed. “Well, look at Point Blanc…not that it’s your fault, but MI6 ignored my distress call and didn’t send you in when I sent it. If I hadn’t escaped when I did, I’d have been dissected alive. Even with Fox in Australia, he couldn’t help me until I’d already escaped the transplant lab!” Frustration with both the current situation and with his career made him reveal more than he normally would.
Wolf stared, his face going through a variety of emotions. “Dissected?! Transplant lab?!” he asked in a strangled voice, clearly asking Alex to tell him otherwise.
“Yea,” Alex answered shortly. He didn’t really want to talk about it. Damnit, why did he have to open his mouth again? From the looks he was getting, he doubted the men were going to be inclined to drop the issues.
As if reading his mind, Eagle overcame his apparent shock, to yell “What?” Face hardening, he demanded, “Explain!”
Alex sighed. He really didn’t want to get into it, and he doubted running his mouth after signing the Official Secrets Act would be a good idea. But it was clear not answering was not a viable option, either. He decided to explain the situation, but to keep it minimal, just give them the absolute necessary details. After all, information was power and these men already had far too much power over him for his liking.
“I was caught and they realized I was a spy, so they were going to use me as an experiment for their biology class as a dissection,” Alex succinctly explained. “The other time, I was captured, and my opponents decided instead of just killing me, they might as well make a profit out of me.”
Eagle raised a brow. “That’s it?” he asked quizzically. “You’re so...nonchalant about it.”
Alex shrugged. “That’s what happened. I escaped, and obviously they didn’t succeed in either case. I have bigger problems to deal with, now, thanks.”
“I suppose that sort of thing happens often,” Eagle said sarcastically.
Alex shrugged again. “Yeah.”
There was a pause of thrown silence as the men stared at Alex, nonplussed.
Then Snake spoke up for the first time. “No wonder you had a panic attack.”
Alex looked at him questioningly. What was he talking about?
“Earlier,” Snake clarified. “I think that’s what happened to you. I don’t suppose you have a history?”
At this Eagle rolled his eyes, apparently recovered enough from shock to be sarcastic again. “Yes, because MI6 would definitely use someone who had panic attacks every time he got in a fight,” he drawled.
Snake ignored him, instead just looking to Alex.
“No,” Alex said slowly. “I’ve never had a panic attack before.”
Snake frowned. “Do you have any idea what the trigger was?” he asked, quickly switching into medic mode. “Not the fight itself, probably…”
Alex paused as if in thought. And the truth was, he was thinking, just not about what the trigger was. He had a pretty damn good idea that it was the flashbacks. He had felt his control slipping away, and he had panicked. To someone use to having control over himself, loosing it was terrifying.
No, the real question was what to tell Snake. The man was there watching expectantly. On one hand, Alex felt he should level with him. Snake was a trained medical officer, and Alex wasn’t sure how to deal with this on his own. Having flashbacks was almost certainly not a healthy thing.
But something stopped him. He didn’t really want to tell these men - who he, albeit grudgingly, respected - that he was mentally unstable. What would they think of him? Moreover, this was personal. He didn’t really want to tell anyone. And though he might respect K-unit, he simply didn’t trust them. But he had to tell them something….
“I just…when you backed me into the corner, it reminded me of a different fight. Let’s just say that fight wasn’t combat assessment,” he said, rather sarcastically. There, he answered the question and he hadn’t lied.
Snake gave him a long, piercing look, under which Alex shifted uncomfortably. Then he nodded pensively, and Alex internally relaxed.
“Right, well-” he began.
The door opened and in walked Fox.
“Hello,” he said brightly, grinning at them all. Turning to Wolf, he said, “I let the kiddies go to clean up.”
Wolf nodded, then turned to Alex.
“The brats are showering before dinner,” Wolf told him. “You can go join them now, if you want.”
Alex hesitated briefly, and Fox saw it. “What?” he asked.
Alex just said, “I'd rather not shower with them.”
Wolf frowned. “Why not?”
“I...well, it's just, I have a few scars left over from missions. I'd rather not have someone see them and started asking questions,” Alex explained carefully.
At this Snake frowned. “Scars?” he asked. “Maybe I should check you over myself...”
“No!” Alex said quickly. They looked at him strangely. “I mean, they're fine, just from some cuts and stuff. I got burned a few months ago, and it's healed, but you can just see it a little bit.”
Snake was still frowning, but he nodded. “Well, maybe you can wait a bit, then shower after the others have left. Just say we kept you longer or something. Besides, it’ll take you a bit to walk over there.”
Fox nodded, adding, “They only have 7 minutes to shower anyway. And Tiger’s in charge, so those’ll be some quick showers.”
Both Eagle and Snake nodded appreciatively, as if this explained everything.
Alex shook his head and decided not to ask. Instead, he said, “Right. I’ll just go then.” Rather quickly he walked from the room, wanting to get out before anyone could ask him any more questions.
Once safely outside, he stopped.
Wearily he leaned back against the wall closing his eyes, allowing himself to collapse with exhaustion following, tension release.
Well, that had gone well. Not. He snorted, wondering whether it was possible for that to have gone any more abysmally than it had.
Not only had he managed to have his first mental breakdown, but he had done so in front of K-unit, the last people he'd want to see it. Worse, he had let his emotions control him and had said far more than he ought to have.
He moaned, frustrated with himself, lightly banging his head back against the wall, wincing at the slight pain.
Now the K-unit was going to have all sorts of difficult, unwanted questions - questions which never would have been an issue had he retained one modicum of intelligence and kept his mouth shut. With his luck, they'd probably start digging around in places where they were most unwelcome. He sighed in irritation.
Well, there was nothing he could do about it now. He'd just have to be more careful in the future.
He sighed again and pushed himself off the wall. With a renewed resolve to keep his mouth firmly shut, he walked off slowly to the showers.
On to Part 2 >>
Fandom: Alex Rider
Pairing: Alex/Sabina sorta
Summary: Alex thinks he's done with espionage, but SCORPIA thinks otherwise. They target Alex and drag others in too. Now he's going to train with the SAS for his 'protection' so needless to say things look rough. Oh, and his class is coming too.
Rating: PG-13
Warning(s): Language, acute angst, violence I suppose
<< Chapter 5
~Close Protection, of a Sort~
Chapter Six: The End of a Day, Part 1/2
Alex walked into the mess. Going inside, he saw he was one of the last of his classmates to arrive. Only one or two of the student groups hadn't come in yet. Alex got into line to be served, then went and sat with his friends. They looked exhausted, Alex saw, as he set down his tray and slid in next to Emma. She looked up at him and gave him a tired smile.
"How'd it go?" she asked.
Alex shrugged. "Alright." He quickly directed the conversation away from himself. "What did you guys do?"
"Well, they really tested our fitness. A lot. They made us run drills for forever." She made a face. "I hate endurance stuff. Then they had us do the assault course."
"That thing is suicidal!" Nick said fervently. "How the hell are you supposed to go that fast?"
"That man, Fox, said that the SAS men do it everyday, sometimes run it continuously," Josh put in.
"Well, I hope they don't make us do that," Tom grumbled. He looked over at Alex. "I don't know how anyone could do it."
Alex gave him a small smile, understanding the hidden subtext. "Lots of practice I'd guess," he put in, subtly answering Tom.
Tom raised a brow, and Alex gave a small shrug in reply.
"So, what did you do, Alex?" Josh asked.
Alex shrugged. “Same kind of stuff as you. They said it was just easier.”
Josh frowned. “They had you run the assault course, when they're so worried about you?” he asked, a tad bit incredulous.
Alex rapidly calculated his response. “Nah,” he said. “They just had me look at it. Said that if they think I'm doing ok in a few days they'll 'let' me do it.”
“Act weak,” Nick advised. “Then you won't actually have to do anything.” He grinned. “You can just laze while the rest of us collapse from exhaustion.”
Alex sighed. “Yeah, but then I'll go insane from boredom. I'm not that weak. I'm practically fine now, but they treat me like I'm dying.”
“Aww, poor Alex,” Emma teased. “He's bored.”
Alex rolled his eyes as the others laughed. “You try being treated like an invalid. I've actually been one for quite long enough, thanks. Besides, our 'leaders' are not too happy at having to cater to my 'illness'.”
Tom clapped him on the shoulder, as he rose to take care of his tray. “Well, I'm sure if you do well enough, they'll let you try harder stuff,” he said, with an ever so light layer of sarcasm.
Alex grinned at him. “Wonderful,” he replied, equally sarcastic.
After lunch, the SAS men directed the teenagers outside to round them up for their next exercise. Alex and his friends went over to where K-unit was conversing.
The men continued their whispered conversation for a moment, before turning to face their charges.
Wolf stepped forward, the others flanking him. Alex couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the presentation. It looked like something out of a bad American western movie. It seemed he wasn't the only one having similar thoughts as Nick nudged him and Tom, muttering, ”Nice posse.” Alex bit back a snort and saw Tom bite his lip. It really did look like one...
Wolf scowled at the three of them, and Alex just sent him his best innocent face.
With a last glare Wolf turned to address them all.
“You lot are going with Snake and Eagle,” he said, gesturing to Alex friends. “Rider, stay here.”
Snake led the other four away as Alex turned to Wolf for his instructions.
Wolf however nodded to Fox, and left. Fox turned to Alex.
“You all are doing survival and medical training now,” he told Alex quietly, as there were still others around. “Unless there's some reason why you can't, now would be a good time to go with the others.”
Alex shrugged. “It's fine.”
Fox nodded. “Right, well they're going to the clearing down by the river...I'd better take you though.”
Alex looked at him questioningly.
“Well, you wouldn't know your way around, would you?” the man reasoned.
Alex nodded, and followed him mutely.
“So,” Fox said, turning to talk over his shoulder as they walked. “I hear you gave the others a bit of a surprise at the ranges today.”
Alex shrugged noncommittally. What did Fox want? “You don't seem too bothered,” he observed.
Fox shrugged. “Can't say I am. People have a habit of picking things up in this business.”
They walked on in silence for a moment.
“Aren't you going to ask me how I learned?” Alex asked, curious.
Fox shrugged. “Why bother? If you were going to tell me, you would have already.” He sighed. “I know you didn't learn it here, and I'm fairly certain it wasn't MI6's doing, which means it was from a more questionable source.”
Alex tensed, but was rather confused. Fox didn't even seem to care...
Fox sighed again. “Look, doing the job we do, there's a lot of questionable stuff we get involved in. That's just the way it is. And unless it becomes a problem, there's no reason for me to know.”
Alex nodded. Fox really was a reasonable guy.
Fox dropped Alex off at the clearing as Snake was just beginning. Snake acknowledged him with a nod and a neutral “Rider.”
Alex returned the nod, and went to stand with his friends.
Snake went back to addressing the group. “Right, Eagle and I are going to be assessing your survival and medical skills today. You have a series of tasks you need to complete as a group. We'll be watching you and assessing what we'll need to cover in subsequent sessions.” He turned towards his comrade. “Eagle?” he prompted.
The other man stepped forward, holding a Bergen. “Right, this is your kit.” He indicated the bag. “You can use whatever's in here to help with the tasks.” He handed the bag to Tom, who happened to be standing closest to him. “So, the first thing you need to do is build and successfully light a fire.”
They waited expectantly for further instructions. He stared back at them blankly. As no one moved, he raised his brows. “Well? Go!” he commanded.
At this they started, and moved off a few paces to huddle as a group as the two men melted into the brush.
“Right, so, fire,” Nick said. “Who knows how to build a fire?”
“I think maybe my dad's said some stuff when we've gone camping,” Emma said with a frown. “But it's always my brother's job, so I never really pay attention...”
Alex was torn for a moment. How much should he reveal he knew? Obviously they couldn't find out the true breadth of his knowledge, but should he pretend to be a complete novice? That seemed like an unnecessary over complication. Ian had always said that the best lies were the simplest ones. And surely there were ways some kids learned basic survival skills, so it wasn't that far fetched for him to have a bit of rudimentary knowledge. His friends could really use the help. So he'd pretend to have some skills. Now he just needed an excuse...what would be an explanation his friends would believe?
In the end, it was Tom who provided the explanation for him. As if sensing Alex's indecision, he spoke up. “Hey, Alex - didn't you go to that wilderness survival camp that one time?” he asked, sending Alex a pleading look, practically begging him to help them out.
Well, there was a perfect excuse.
“Yeah, that one summer,” he agreed. He frowned as if trying to remember. “We need to…gather some wood, as dry as possible. You start with little twigs and stuff as kindling, then you need some sticks and then a few logs. Oh, and pine needles are good kindling too…I think,” he said, adding a hint of uncertainty into his voice at the end.
The others nodded, but no one moved, waiting for the others to go first. Finally Nick raised a brow. “So...shall we scavenge?”
The others grinned and nodded moving off into the nearby woods.
“Let's stick together,” Josh advised. “Less chance of anyone getting lost.” They agreed, and began looking for wood.
Tom stayed next to Alex and bent down next to him to pick up a stick. “Sorry about putting you on the spot like that,” he whispered, “but without you, we'd have been completely screwed.”
Alex gave him a small smile. “It's fine,” he whispered back reassuringly. “And for the record, that was a nice excuse, on the spot like that.”
“Really?” Tom asked, loving the compliment.
“Really,” Alex confirmed.
Tom grinned and got up to look around more.
“I've found a ton of good kindling stuff,” Emma called after a bit.
“Drop it off in the middle of the clearing,” Alex advised her. She complied and they all returned to searching.
After a short while, they had collected quite a decent-sized pile of wood. Mercifully, it hadn't rained yet that day, so the wood was relatively dry.
“That's probably good, don't you think?” Nick asked Alex.
Alex nodded, inwardly cringing at how they were starting to defer to him. He'd hoped to stay low profile.
“So,” Nick said leadingly as they stood around the pile. “What now?”
Emma turned to grin at Josh. “I'm surprised you don't know everything about this,” she teased. “Usually, you're like a walking, talking encyclopedia.”
He shrugged, blushing faintly. “I've read about it,” he admitted, “but someone who's actually done it is going to be loads better.” He nodded at Alex.
“Well, what do you remember?” Alex asked, trying to shift some of the spotlight onto the other boy. “It's been a while since I've done it, and maybe it'll help me remember more.”
“Ok, well, I remember you don't want to suffocate the fire, so you don't want to just make a big pile. You have to let oxygen get to the bottom...” He bit his lip in thought. “You want to start slow with kindling and smaller pieces of wood, lighting the kindling first, then gradually build up to the other stuff. Right?”
Alex nodded, fairly impressed his friend remember all of that just from reading, but then again, that was Josh. “Yeah, that's pretty much what I remember,” he affirmed. “So, let's do this.”
He knelt down and began to construct the fire. Since it'd been a while since he had built one, and also since he was trying to maintain the illusion he'd learnt it a long time ago, he worked slowly, acting like he was really thinking about each step. He deliberately did a few things less than perfect, so that combined with his genuine mistakes from being out of practice, insured that it wouldn't be a suspiciously stellar fire. Still Alex was fairly sure it would light ok.
As he worked, he talked out loud as if thinking it through. This helped his cover, but really he was doing it so his friends could start picking up on what to do. He knew from experience the SAS was not particularly patient or repetitive, and he wanted to help his friends out by giving them a head start.
He made sure though to ask Josh for confirmation a few time, thus transferring some of his authority. Being a leader would put too much attention on him, and he'd be much more likely to slip up.
Finally a few minutes later, the basic fire structure had been constructed..
“So know we need to light it,” Alex said.
The five teens looked at each other blankly.
Nick groaned. “If we have to rub sticks together, I swear I will find the nearest cliff and jump off it,” he moaned.
Alex agreed with the sentiment, but couldn't help but comment, “You know, just shooting yourself would be so much easier. There's got to be guns all over the camp, what with the SAS running the place.”
Nick shook his head. “Far less dramatic,” he said in a long-suffering tone. “You people just fail to appreciate drama!” he exclaimed.
“Well, obviously,” Emma replied. “Why do you think I'm friends with mostly boys?”
Josh rolled his eyes. “I don't think there's cause for suicidal jumps quite yet. We should check the bag to see if there's anything helpful in it before locating the nearest cliff.”
“Lead on, fair friend!” Nick exclaimed in a Shakespearean voice. “You see, that there was the beauty of drama!”
Josh just gave a sigh that truly was long-suffering, walking over to take over to take the Bergen from Tom. Putting it on the ground, he began to pull things out. Alex and Tom bent down to help as well, while Emma and Nick resumed their conversation on drama.
The bag contained quite a lot of stuff: rope, a lightweight tarp, a compass, a flashlight, a pocket knife (which Alex raised his eyebrows at, surprised they'd give one to a group of kids), glucose and water purification tablets, and finally...
“Matches!” Josh exclaimed as pulled it out of the bag.
Alex grinned. He'd been starting to worry that Snake and Eagle had been feeling particularly sadistic and hadn't given them anything to use.
“Oi! Slackers!” Tom called to Nick and Emma as Alex and Josh moved towards the prepared firewood. “We found it - Remember, we were trying to accomplish something?”
Nick and Emma stopped and turned to look at them, Emma giving a sheepish grin. “Sorry, got a bit carried away there with the whole girls and drama issue.” Nick just tried to look innocent. Needless to say, it failed miserably.
Josh handed Alex the matches, saying, “You do the honors.”
Alex bent down and tried to light the pine needles. It caught on the second match. Gently he blew on it, carefully trying to add a few small sticks. It was a tentative business, very touch and go, and for a minute Alex thought they were going to lose it completely, but it managed to pull through and soon they had a crackling blaze.
They congratulated each other, then stood and watched it for a few seconds, before Nick said cheerfully, “Well...what now?”
As if hearing his words (and they probably were listening in), Eagle and Snake materialized, Eagle carrying a bucket of water.
“Not bad,” Eagle commented, before dousing the fire with water. Nick gave an affronted squeak. “What?” Eagle asked, turning to him grinning evilly. “You want to start a forest fire?”
Nick shook his head, intimidated by the SAS man. “Thought so,” Eagle said. “Now, the next task is to construct a shelter.”
Alex frowned. “What kind of shelter?” he asked.
Eagle shrugged, grinning broadly, deliberately unhelpful. “Any type,” he replied vaguely, before he and Snake once again disappeared.
Alex sighed in frustration. “So helpful,” he muttered.
Tom caught it and grinned.
“So,” Emma began. “What do we do?” she asked, looking expectantly between Alex and Josh.
“Well, there're loads of different kinds of shelters, some easier and faster than others,” Alex replied, looking at Josh.
Josh nodded slowly. “Well, we have that tarp...”
“And the rope,” Alex reminded him, an idea forming in his mind.
Josh nodded, catching on. “It would be the easiest.”
“And the fastest,” Alex agreed.
“Right. Let's do it,” Josh decided.
“What are we doing?” Nick stage-whispered to Emma and Tom.
Emma shrugged. “I don't know, but the whole Danny and Rusty (i) thing is kinda freaking me out...though it was pretty awesome...”
Alex decided this would be a good moment to explain. “We're building a shelter, a really easy one,” he clarified.
“Riiiiiiiiight,” Nick drawled.
“So what do we do?” Tom asked, ever-focused.
“We need rocks,” Josh said.
“Not really big ones, just ones heavy enough to hold down a tarp,” Alex added.
Tom, Emma, and Nick went to go look (though in Nick's case there was a lot more fooling around than actual looking going on).
Meanwhile, Alex and Josh were busy constructing the shelter. Taking the rope, they stretched it between two trees that were fairly close together, tying it securely. They then took the tarp and pulled it over the rope. Just as they finished that, the others returned laden with rocks.
“We come bearing gifts!” Nick exclaimed, humming the tune of 'We Three Kings'.
Alex raised a brow, looking at him funny. “You are strange,” he commented.(ii)
Nick grinned. “And that's why you love me.”
“Where do you want these?” Tom interrupted, nodding at the stones he and Emma were carrying.
“Oh, just divide them into two piles on either side,” Alex told him distractedly, still giving Nick strange looks. Shaking his head, Alex moved to help Josh stretch the tarp to the ground at an angle. “Now pile the stones on the bottom all along...that's it,” he instructed Tom and Emma. They moved to the other side and did the same, then stepped back to admire their work.
“Alright, two for two!” Nick exclaimed.
“No thanks to you,” Tom laughed.
“Ah, but without me, this would be so much more boring,” Nick replied.
Shortly after, their two instructors re-emerged, giving the shelter a pass and detailing the next task.
The exercise continued with Snake and Eagle setting a task, and 'Grey Group' (as they had taken to calling themselves, a mix between Alex's title of Black Group and the other four's White Group) completing it, with a little prompting from Alex. The tasks varied greatly, ranging from demonstrating survival skills to basic medical know-how.
Alex thought it went surprisingly well, considering he was the only one with any real experience, and he was holding back. But as Nick said at one point, they worked well together as a group.
“We all have our roles,” he explained.
Alex decided he would bite. “Which are?” he asked, interested despite himself.
“Well, Josh here is the idea person, who has lots of book knowledge and cranial capacity. You, Alex, add the practical know-how and problem solving skills, and provide some direction. Tom is the supply man, and the general laborer. And I provide personality and charm, and keep things interesting,” Nick said sagely, with a surprising degree of insight.
“What about me?” Emma asked, knowing he wanted her to.
“You, my dear, are here so we don't get sued for gender discrimination,” Nick said, grinning.
Justifiably outraged, Emma smacked him upside the head.
As things progressed, the others began to defer more and more to Alex, certainly more than he would've liked. But, he supposed, it was inevitable to a certain degree. He and Josh were the only two who had any idea what to do for most of it, and out of the two of them, Alex was clearly the leader.
There were however a few surprises in talent. Emma had a pretty good understanding of medical matters (she later admitted she was a medical show junkie) and most surprisingly, Nick turned out to be amazing at navigating via map and compass.
“My grandfather is an orienteering nut, and he taught me the beautiful 'art' as soon as I could walk,” he explained. “I've been doing it literally since I was born.”
That's not to say there were no mishaps. While most things Alex could nudge in the right direction, some knowledge would just be too difficult to explain away. Such a case occurred during an evasion task: they were told to get from RV A to RV B, while doing their best to avoid enemy recce. Once Alex had translated this for them, claiming a working knowledge of Bravo Two Zero,(iii) they had set off, following Emma's good suggestion of sticking to the cover of woodland - a technique picked up from her copious movie watching marathons.
However while following a ridge, they missed the whole concept of making themselves less easy to spot, erroneously walking smack on top of the ridge and close together, creating a dense silhouette easily seen by any hostiles that happened to be watching the area.
Alex was forced to just go along with it, as it would have been difficult to explain his extensive knowledge on evading enemy surveillance. His explanation for knowing SAS lingo had been a flimsy enough excuse, albeit a necessary one.
On the whole though, Alex thought they did quite well. He was proud of his friends for working together and pulling through, though this course just reaffirmed more than ever that he was far from an ordinary teen.
At the end, Snake and Eagle gave them a brief critique of their performance. Though they refrained from really complimenting the group, Alex could tell they were rather impressed that the teenagers had managed it. Eagle, he knew, was particularly impressed with how Alex had handled the situation, seen from the grins he was giving him.
As Snake and Eagle were finishing up, Wolf and Fox turned up. Fox led the other four off to 'have some fun', while Alex was told to stay.
As the others left, Eagle turned to clap Alex on the shoulder. “Well done, Cub,” he said. “You didn't slip on your cover at all.”
Snake rolled his eyes. “Eagle, he works for MI6. It'd be sad if he slipped up that easy.”
“Yeah, but still,” Eagle argued. “It's hard to not to mess up around your friends.” He grinned suddenly. “And can I just say, Cub, that you have some very interesting friends.”
“Tell me about it,” Alex groaned.
“That Nick kid in particular. A guy after my own heart,” he said mock-dramatically, clasping his hand over his heart.
“You don't have a heart,” Wolf said grouchily, ignoring Eagle’s mock indignation, instead turning to look at Alex levelly for a moment. “Go report to the Killing House for combat assessment. We'll meet you there, in Red one three,” he ordered.
Alex nodded and left.
As the building loomed before him, Alex couldn't help but feel a vague sense of unease. His previous experience with the Killing House had been less than pleasant, to say the least. This is where Wolf had tripped him, in an attempt to get Alex binned. Seeing the building again, there was something quite foreboding about it.
Alex entered the building and went to the room Wolf had directed. In the SAS, a building's sides were coded based on color. Red 1-3 told him to go to the front of the building, the 1 indicated the first floor, and the 3 told him which room.
Alex stood in the room waiting for Wolf. He looked around, getting a little impatient as the moments ticked by. He went to a window and looked out at the ground. Where were they?
Suddenly he saw the shadows on the wall next to him moving. He heard the rush of air of the blow coming towards him and without even thinking, he stepped aside and swung around to face his attacker, immediately driving a fist towards their stomach.
It was blocked, as if the person had been expecting him to do just that. Alex looked up at the person and to his surprise found Wolf staring back at him.
Wolf, not giving him time to recover, quickly attacked again, driving a punch toward Alex's chest, following with one to his stomach.
Alex automatically twisted away from the first and blocked the second, but his mind was struggling to come to terms with this new development. What the hell was Wolf doing? Randomly attacking was low for even him...He couldn't still be holding a grudge...
Wolf was closing in on him, the punches coming faster. Distracted as he was, Alex narrowly escaped one to his shoulder. However, Wolf still managed to clip him in the arm and Alex winced in pain. Finally giving up any pretense of understanding, Alex shouted, “What the fuck?!”
Wolf didn't even pause, merely grunting, “Combat assessment,” before directing a kick at Alex's thigh.
Alex dodged the kick. So this was another test?
Alex aimed a roundhouse kick at Wolf. It landed, but Wolf didn't even flinch, merely bringing his fist around towards Alex's ribs.
Alex darted out of the way, but wasn't quite fast enough to completely miss the following strike, though he was able to twist away so it hit his shoulder instead of his neck.
Wincing, he was thankful that neither of them was hitting very hard, this being practice. Wolf especially was holding back, otherwise, the blow would have hurt a lot worse.
He aimed a kick at Wolf, dodging the following jab. Wolf swore as the kick connected and returned to attacking Alex with multiple punches, coming in fast and hard.
Alex was occupied dodging the blows, when a punch came towards his ribs from the opposite direction. Not seeing it until too late, Alex managed to twist at the last second, narrowly missing the hit, but bringing himself right into Wolf's fist.
He winced as it made contact with his side, hissing in pain and backing up to give him a few seconds to recover and assess this new development.
Snake had seemingly been the owner of the punch. That was all he had time to see before they were on him, Wolf attacking with a hard punch towards his ribcage. Alex dodged that, feeling a slight prickling of unease. He was fighting two larger, better-trained men.
He saw Snake's foot coming towards him in a leg sweep, but was unable to counter it, occupied as he was blocking Wolf's jab. He felt his legs being swept from under him, and knowing that he was going down, immediately released Wolf's arm, allowing him to drop and roll, surging back up to deliver a back kick.
He heard an expletive as his foot made contact with something soft, probably a stomach. Quickly, he followed it with a reverse knife-strike, aiming for the head he knew was likely to be leaning forward. He was not disappointed as he heard an even worse curse as his hand hit flesh.
He whirled around, bringing his hands up to guard against the inevitable blows. He wasn't disappointed. While Wolf was still recovering, Snake was quick to move in to attack him.
Alex barely avoided Snake's onslaught. The man was much faster than Wolf, but at least he didn't hit quite as hard.
He struck out with his fist, but Snake reached out and grabbed it, effectively stopping the blow. Not wanting to give Snake the opportunity to throw him, Alex quickly lashed out with his foot at the man's knee, causing him to stumble and loosen his grip, where Alex was able to twist away.
Wolf had recovered, coming into attack Alex anew. He directed a kick towards Alex's stomach, which Alex was able to dodge. Alex retaliated and then drove his elbow towards Snake in the same motion. Snake countered and attacked Alex fast and hard, bearing down on him.
Alex failed to see Snake's punch coming towards his stomach. It hit him full force, causing him to double over in pain. From there, it was easy for Wolf to throw him to the ground.
He hit the ground hard on his back. Vulnerably lying there looking up, he saw the hard-faced men closing in on him. A dull sort of terror gathered in the pit of his stomach.
Suddenly he saw not the two men of K-unit, but rather the twisted face of Conrad leering down at him. He felt the panic of being seconds from death on the conveyor belt. Blindly he lashed out, desperate to escape.
He heard a cry and again he was looking up at Wolf. Snake had stumbled backwards and was clutching his stomach, apparently the one Alex had hit.
Barely pausing to register this, Alex took the opportunity to surge to his feet. He backed away shakily. What the hell just happened?
Snake recovered quickly, and the two were on him once more. The fast dance of hits, blocks, and twists continued, Alex attempting to hold his own, though outmatched. He was constantly kept twisting, turning, dodging blow after blow. Suddenly a kick hit him from behind. He spun and lashed out with his elbow, hitting Eagle. Quickly, he reverse knife handed Snake and back round-housed Wolf.
All three men were on him momentarily, dealing out blow after blow. Alex swore as he dodged them. The fight was now three against one, and the odds were severely against him. He twisted away from a punch from Wolf, instead getting caught in the face by a right hook from Snake.
The force of the blow snapped his head around. Alex looked up and saw Sunthorn's freakish face. He was in the Muay Thai ring. The crowd's jeers were a dull roar in his ears. Alex dodged the Thai man's dangerously quick attack, desperately defending himself.
A blow to his shoulder snapped him back into the present. K-unit was bearing down on him.
It had happened again! What the fuck was happening to him?
The three men attacked quickly, and cohesively. Alex was barely avoiding the blows.
He felt fear rise up, threatening to overwhelm him. He never lost control. No matter what, he always kept his head. It was how he survived. Now…
Wolf swung a punch towards his shoulder, while Eagle lashed out with a kick. Alex blocked and twisted. Forcefully, he pushed the panic down. He needed to concentrate on the fight, if he had any chance of holding his own. He maneuvered himself so his back was to the wall, trying to secure as much cover as he could get.
Snake kicked out and Alex blocked, striking out at him, and then twisting to hit Eagle, following through with a kick at Wolf. Wolf dodged, instead lashing out at Alex.
The blows rained down faster and faster. Alex was barely keeping up with them. Just as soon as he was able to beat back one man, the other two were on him.
The edge of a hand scythed down, hitting Alex. He saw Nile, closing in to make the kill. Panicking, he struck out in a brutal uppercut, desperate to protect himself.
There was a yelp as his hand made contact. Alex saw Wolf in front of him clutching his chin.
Snake and Eagle attacked him. Alex, breathing hard, narrowly avoiding the blows and returned them, the lingering terror causing him to lash out with more force.
The men countered, unconsciously hitting harder in response to Alex's more brutal hits.
Alex meanwhile, was struggling to get a hold on himself. He couldn't focus, couldn't stay in control of his mind. The panic was there again, stronger and more insistent.
Snake threw a fist towards his head, missing by less than an inch. Alex kicked out at him, while trying to block a strike from Eagle.
A fist slammed into Alex's cheek, but in his adrenaline-fueled state, it barely even registered. Instead, he just delivered a vicious kick to Wolf's ribs.
He was being slowly, but surely driven back, becoming more and more desperate with every inch of ground lost.
Finally, they forced him into a corner. Alex felt his back brush the walls. He was trapped. They closed in on him. He struggled to overcome his panic and find a way out of the situation, but his mind refused to cooperate. He couldn't breath. Panic overwhelmed him. He didn't know what was happening to him.
Kaspar's ghastly face loomed in front of him, hatred in his eyes, inches from Alex's face. He felt the hands on his neck, the dizziness, the approaching unconsciousness.
Blindly, driven by real terror, Alex lashed out brutally, driving the side of his hand towards Kaspar's windpipe. His hand hit something and there was a cry. Alex couldn't see, couldn't breathe. Dimly, he was aware of Snake and Wolf backing away, shouting at him to calm down.
Wolf and Snake turned quickly towards Eagle, who was on the ground clutching his throat. Snake knelt beside him, checking him over. Wolf looked down worriedly at his comrade. “What the fuck, Cub!?” he shouted angrily.
Alex vaguely registered his name and Wolf yelling. He couldn't think. He was shaking, slowly sliding down the wall. Images flashed in front of him. He couldn’t breathe. He felt like he was going to die.
Not getting an answer, Wolf yelled “Cub!” swinging around, ready to murder the kid. He stopped taken aback when he saw Alex's small framed huddled at the base of the corner, shaking. “Cub?” he said again, this time more urgent and worried.
Hearing the change in his teammate’s tone of voice, Snake looked over at Alex. Seeing him, he swore. “Shit.” He got up from beside the recovering Eagle to go over and crouch in front of Alex. Placing his hands on Alex's shoulders, he attempted to soothe the boy. “Alex, it's okay. Look at me.” Alex looked up at him, the terror and fear all too easy to read. “Calm down, Alex. You're safe. It's okay. Breathe. It's gonna be ok.”
Slowly, the words penetrated Alex's mind. The calming voice helped, and he began to slow down his breathing. Eventually, he looked up to see Snake's concerned face in front of him.
Snake sat back. “You ok, now?” he asked.
Alex swallowed, then nodded.
Snake reached down and helped him to his feet then gave him a final, reassuring nod, before getting up to go back over to Eagle.
Alex stood there shakily, avoiding everyone’s eyes, while trying to get a hold of himself and figure out what the hell had just happened. He had totally lost control, and in front of K-unit, no less. Worse, he’d hurt someone.
He looked guiltily over to where Eagle sat against the wall massaging his throat. Eagle looked up to meet Alex’s eyes.
“Jesus Cub,” he exclaimed hoarsely. “Did you have to hit so hard?”
Alex looked at his feet, feeling a flush rising to his face. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, embarrassed.
“It’s fine,” Eagle said, looking rather bemused. “Just...holy shit Cub.”
Alex didn’t reply, just looked awkwardly at his boots.
There was a highly uncomfortable silence for a long moment as the three men stared questioningly at Alex, and Alex studiously avoided their stares. It seemed no one really knew what to say.
Finally, Wolf took the initiative, falling back on his usual method of blunt leadership, and demanded, “What happened?”
“Nothing,” Alex muttered, embarrassment, frustration, and confusing combining to make him irate.
Eagle and Snake stared at him, incredulous, while Wolf turned a disapproving glare on him.
“I’d say viciously lashing out during a training fight then sinking to the ground shaking uncontrollably rules out the possibility that ‘nothing happened’,” Snake said, tone stoically even.
Alex just shrugged, staring determinedly at the ground. It was bad enough that K-unit was there to witness his surprising loss of control. He was certainly not going to make it worse y sharing any more details about the embarrassing event. What would they think of him if they knew a basic practice fight caused him to mentally implode? Besides, it wasn’t like he really understood what happened, himself...
“Cub, stop the heroic idiocy,” Wolf snapped impatiently, mistakenly identifying the source of Alex’s reluctance as misplaced heroism. “Heroes get killed. And worse, they get those around them killed. When you’re in the field and something happens, you don’t mess around covering it up. You tell your teammates immediately, none of this stoic crap,” he reprimanded sharply.
Alex returned the glare in kind. “I don’t think that’ll be much of a problem seeing, how I almost exclusively work alone,” he said, offended by Wolf’s lecture.
Wolf looked slightly taken aback, but stubbornly asked, “You never have teammates?”
Alex shrugged. “I have twice. The first were a pair from the CIA. They got killed at the beginning of the mission - skewered underwater. The other one, an Australian, turned out to be working for Scorpia, and ended up betraying me,” Alex said, the remembrance of Ash leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.
All three men looked even more taken aback at this. But Wolf, being the stubborn arse he was, refused to back down. “What about backup?” he demanded.
Now it was Alex’s turn to look at Wolf incredulously.
“Backup?” he questioned, morbidly amused. “You think I get back up? I’m lucky to get something to protect myself with.”
Wolf frowned. “You had us at Point Blanc,” he reminded Alex, the others watching with interest.
“Alright, fine, on rare occasions I get backup. Of course, they rarely manage to actually help,” Alex said sarcastically.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Wolf growled, perceiving an insult to his team.
Alex sighed. “Well, look at Point Blanc…not that it’s your fault, but MI6 ignored my distress call and didn’t send you in when I sent it. If I hadn’t escaped when I did, I’d have been dissected alive. Even with Fox in Australia, he couldn’t help me until I’d already escaped the transplant lab!” Frustration with both the current situation and with his career made him reveal more than he normally would.
Wolf stared, his face going through a variety of emotions. “Dissected?! Transplant lab?!” he asked in a strangled voice, clearly asking Alex to tell him otherwise.
“Yea,” Alex answered shortly. He didn’t really want to talk about it. Damnit, why did he have to open his mouth again? From the looks he was getting, he doubted the men were going to be inclined to drop the issues.
As if reading his mind, Eagle overcame his apparent shock, to yell “What?” Face hardening, he demanded, “Explain!”
Alex sighed. He really didn’t want to get into it, and he doubted running his mouth after signing the Official Secrets Act would be a good idea. But it was clear not answering was not a viable option, either. He decided to explain the situation, but to keep it minimal, just give them the absolute necessary details. After all, information was power and these men already had far too much power over him for his liking.
“I was caught and they realized I was a spy, so they were going to use me as an experiment for their biology class as a dissection,” Alex succinctly explained. “The other time, I was captured, and my opponents decided instead of just killing me, they might as well make a profit out of me.”
Eagle raised a brow. “That’s it?” he asked quizzically. “You’re so...nonchalant about it.”
Alex shrugged. “That’s what happened. I escaped, and obviously they didn’t succeed in either case. I have bigger problems to deal with, now, thanks.”
“I suppose that sort of thing happens often,” Eagle said sarcastically.
Alex shrugged again. “Yeah.”
There was a pause of thrown silence as the men stared at Alex, nonplussed.
Then Snake spoke up for the first time. “No wonder you had a panic attack.”
Alex looked at him questioningly. What was he talking about?
“Earlier,” Snake clarified. “I think that’s what happened to you. I don’t suppose you have a history?”
At this Eagle rolled his eyes, apparently recovered enough from shock to be sarcastic again. “Yes, because MI6 would definitely use someone who had panic attacks every time he got in a fight,” he drawled.
Snake ignored him, instead just looking to Alex.
“No,” Alex said slowly. “I’ve never had a panic attack before.”
Snake frowned. “Do you have any idea what the trigger was?” he asked, quickly switching into medic mode. “Not the fight itself, probably…”
Alex paused as if in thought. And the truth was, he was thinking, just not about what the trigger was. He had a pretty damn good idea that it was the flashbacks. He had felt his control slipping away, and he had panicked. To someone use to having control over himself, loosing it was terrifying.
No, the real question was what to tell Snake. The man was there watching expectantly. On one hand, Alex felt he should level with him. Snake was a trained medical officer, and Alex wasn’t sure how to deal with this on his own. Having flashbacks was almost certainly not a healthy thing.
But something stopped him. He didn’t really want to tell these men - who he, albeit grudgingly, respected - that he was mentally unstable. What would they think of him? Moreover, this was personal. He didn’t really want to tell anyone. And though he might respect K-unit, he simply didn’t trust them. But he had to tell them something….
“I just…when you backed me into the corner, it reminded me of a different fight. Let’s just say that fight wasn’t combat assessment,” he said, rather sarcastically. There, he answered the question and he hadn’t lied.
Snake gave him a long, piercing look, under which Alex shifted uncomfortably. Then he nodded pensively, and Alex internally relaxed.
“Right, well-” he began.
The door opened and in walked Fox.
“Hello,” he said brightly, grinning at them all. Turning to Wolf, he said, “I let the kiddies go to clean up.”
Wolf nodded, then turned to Alex.
“The brats are showering before dinner,” Wolf told him. “You can go join them now, if you want.”
Alex hesitated briefly, and Fox saw it. “What?” he asked.
Alex just said, “I'd rather not shower with them.”
Wolf frowned. “Why not?”
“I...well, it's just, I have a few scars left over from missions. I'd rather not have someone see them and started asking questions,” Alex explained carefully.
At this Snake frowned. “Scars?” he asked. “Maybe I should check you over myself...”
“No!” Alex said quickly. They looked at him strangely. “I mean, they're fine, just from some cuts and stuff. I got burned a few months ago, and it's healed, but you can just see it a little bit.”
Snake was still frowning, but he nodded. “Well, maybe you can wait a bit, then shower after the others have left. Just say we kept you longer or something. Besides, it’ll take you a bit to walk over there.”
Fox nodded, adding, “They only have 7 minutes to shower anyway. And Tiger’s in charge, so those’ll be some quick showers.”
Both Eagle and Snake nodded appreciatively, as if this explained everything.
Alex shook his head and decided not to ask. Instead, he said, “Right. I’ll just go then.” Rather quickly he walked from the room, wanting to get out before anyone could ask him any more questions.
Once safely outside, he stopped.
Wearily he leaned back against the wall closing his eyes, allowing himself to collapse with exhaustion following, tension release.
Well, that had gone well. Not. He snorted, wondering whether it was possible for that to have gone any more abysmally than it had.
Not only had he managed to have his first mental breakdown, but he had done so in front of K-unit, the last people he'd want to see it. Worse, he had let his emotions control him and had said far more than he ought to have.
He moaned, frustrated with himself, lightly banging his head back against the wall, wincing at the slight pain.
Now the K-unit was going to have all sorts of difficult, unwanted questions - questions which never would have been an issue had he retained one modicum of intelligence and kept his mouth shut. With his luck, they'd probably start digging around in places where they were most unwelcome. He sighed in irritation.
Well, there was nothing he could do about it now. He'd just have to be more careful in the future.
He sighed again and pushed himself off the wall. With a renewed resolve to keep his mouth firmly shut, he walked off slowly to the showers.
On to Part 2 >>