Title: Never Say Never
Author: Anne Phoenix
Rating: R

Summary: Alex should have been safe. After all, he was just taking part in a training exercise … right? Right, but in Alex's world, adventure and mystery are never far away.

Warnings: Violence, character death

Disclaimer: Alex Rider fanfictions are based on characters and situations created and owned by Anthony Horowitz, various publishers including but not limited to Walker Books, Puffin Books, Entertainment Film Distributors (UK), and MGM/The Weinstein Company (USA). No money is being made, and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. All non-original characters and locations are used in a non-commercial, transformative manner and fall squarely within the Fair Use exception to the exclusive rights of the copyright owner.

Author's notes: Many thanks to hpstrangelove for beta reading!

NEVER SAY NEVER

Chapter 1

"Once," Alan Blunt had said to Alex before the Stormbreaker mission. "Just this once …"

It turned out that what Alan Blunt had really meant was "once a month" or "once a week" or "anytime we want you."

And as if that wasn't enough, Blunt had now decided that Alex was to rejoin the soldiers currently undergoing SAS selection. Since Alex had sort of completed his endurance training in those two weeks in Wales before the Stormbreaker mission, and had since then survived several dangerous missions for Queen and Country, Blunt reckoned that Alex should be at the same ability level as those soldiers that had just completed their jungle training. Which was very convenient, because it meant Alex could now team up with his old squadron for the final phase of SAS selection. This final phase, also known as phase three, was reputed to be the most gruelling and feared part of training. It focussed on escape and evasion techniques as well as resistance to tactical questioning.

And that's why Alex was here, drawing deep breaths as he mentally prepared himself to enter the cabin. He was not looking forward to this. Gripping his backpack tightly, Alex pushed open the door.

"Oh for fuck's sake," were the first words he heard, uttered by a familiar, bitter voice.

"Hi," Alex replied weakly. "I'm … back."

The soldiers of K Unit stared at Alex with disbelief. They seemed to have doubled in size since Alex had last seen them, bulked out by months of continuous and intensive training.

Wolf glared at Alex, his dislike clear in his dark gaze. Next to him stood Snake, the bulkiest soldier of the squadron. Snake looked more interested than hostile. Eagle, too, seemed more interested than angry. He was a wiry man, and Alex remembered him to be very strong and athletic.

Next to the three familiar men stood a new soldier, a well-built blond man with piercing blue eyes. "What's this all about?" the new soldier demanded. He looked very confused.

Wolf scowled and spat, "Spider, meet the fifth member of our unit, Cub. Cub meet Spider."

The blond man did not look any less confused. "What? Who's ever heard of an SAS unit with five men?"

"Who's ever heard of an SAS unit with a kid?" Wolf replied, giving Alex yet another accusatory gaze.

Alex shrugged as though Wolf's words meant nothing to him, but his heart was thumping wildly against his chest. He was about to take part in the most demanding part of the SAS selection process, and he did not want to have enemies within his own squadron.

"Where's Fox?" he asked simply, hoping to change the track of the conversation. Inside, he felt a bit gutted by the absence of Fox also known as Ben Daniels. He had come to consider Ben as a friend during his Snakehead mission, and had hoped that MI6 would somehow have found a way to put their man back inside K Unit for the duration of Alex's training.

Wolf's scowl intensified. "He got binned, didn't he? Returned to unit and gone back into regular service."

Alex couldn't help but smile at Wolf's words.

"You laughing at Fox getting binned?"

"No! No … I just. I thought … Never mind."

Alex couldn't tell Wolf what he knew; that Fox had been pulled from the SAS to work for MI6. That was classified knowledge.

"How long you here for?" Snake wanted to know, his curiosity finally getting the better of him. He clearly wanted to know what the teenager was doing back in the SAS training facility.

"For the whole of phase three."

Wolf, if it was at all possible, looked even angrier. He turned away and stomped to the end of the cabin. Snake and Eagle looked shocked and Spider looked dubious. "Are you sure, boy? Do you even know what you're talking about?"

"Yeah, I know. I … uh, I've been briefed."

"This won't be anything like those two weeks of phase one you did with us," Snake continued. He sounded uneasy. "That time will look like a walk in the park compared to what's coming. Since then, we've not only completed the final stages of the endurance training, but we've had months of combat and survival training in the jungle in Belize."

"I know," Alex repeated. "But I've also had some extra training since then, okay? And it's not like it's my decision to be here. They want me here and that's that."

"Who are they?" Snake asked. "Military?"

Alex smiled wryly at Snake's feigned disinterest. "You know I can't tell you that."

"Cut the act, Cub," Wolf snapped angrily from the back of the cabin. "Nothing is classified here. They will make you talk, and then you'll run crying back to your mummy."

Alex felt himself tense, but he did not rise to the taunt. He had no illusions that phase three training would be absolutely horrible, but he knew that his extended training with Scorpia had more than adequately prepared him for it. The SAS were the best of the best, of that Alex had no doubt; however, these soldiers here were not yet fully winged SAS troops. In fact, it was highly probable that not all of them would even make it through the final phase of selection. As such, Alex had nothing to prove to them. Alan Blunt had sent him here to learn his limits and if that included resistance to mockery then so be it.

Ignoring Wolf, Alex threw his backpack down on a bunk and pulled out his kit. He had been given a rifle this time, and Alex enjoyed the weight of it in his grasp. He enjoyed the angry exclamations of the other soldiers even more …

XX*OO*XX*OO

K Unit had only just returned from the jungles of Belize, where they had been subjected to intensive combat and survival training. It was a testament to the strength of their teamwork that all four soldiers had made it through the second phase. Normally an SAS squadron would go straight from combat and survival training to escape and evasion training; however, because of Alex's special circumstances, K Unit was given a week to figure out how to integrate Alex into their manoeuvres.

During this week, they primarily practised their four-man patrol. Or, as Wolf called it, their four-man plus one-boy patrol. Wolf, the survival and combat officer, was generally teamed with Snake, the medic. Eagle, the communications officer, worked with Spider who turned out to be a skilled orientations officer. And surprise of surprises, Alex was left to look out for himself. It suited him fine. Alex preferred to work alone.

Although the soldiers of K Unit were at the peak of their fitness, they were also exhausted from their jungle training. Alex knew they had been living off rations and surviving terrible conditions of heat, moisture and creepy crawlies. So while crossing the Brecon Beacons would not normally be a challenging task for the soldiers, their physical and mental fatigue would act as a handicap.

For Alex the training week was an interesting experience of teamwork. Despite being pointedly left out of squadron manoeuvres, Alex nevertheless observed how the other soldiers operated and co-operated. There was something fascinating about the level of trust they held in each other. They behaved like brothers rather than colleagues, and Alex was struck by the observation that any of these men would die for the others. It was very different from his personal experiences on the island of Malagosto, where Alex had always felt that the students would happily throw each other to the lions if it would benefit them personally in any way.

Perhaps, Alex mused, that was the true difference between the good guys and the bad guys: the good guys believed in what they were doing and they believed in each other, whereas the bad guys just did it for money.

During that first week, it was easy for Alex to stay out of the other soldiers' way. Wolf's hostility toward him, however, remained undiminished. Their brief encounter at Point Blanc was never mentioned, nor was the fact that Alex had saved Wolf from being binned during the first phase of training. In fact, Wolf appeared to resent Alex's very existence. Eagle and Spider seemed to follow Wolf's lead in their opinion of Alex. Snake was a bit kinder, or at least he was less hostile, but he was clearly very close to Wolf and thus did not make any moves to interact with Alex.

So Alex spent most of the week silently following hushed orders such as "Stay down!" or "Hurry up!" which he obeyed without question. He learnt the visual communication methods used by the squadron to coordinate patrol and evasive movements, he learnt never to leave his rifle out of arm's reach and he learnt to do as he was told by his older colleagues. For once, Alex felt as young as his years and trailed behind his squadron like a toddler following the older children around the playground.

All too soon the training week came to an end.

The general atmosphere in K Unit grew darker and more stressed. Alex knew that the soldiers were tense at the thought of phase three training starting in earnest. Tomorrow, K Unit would be parachuted into unfamiliar territory, where they would have three days to cross over one hundred miles of rugged terrain. Compared to endurance and survival training, this would have been an easy exercise if not for the hunter unit hunting them down. The hunter unit was a Special Forces squadron that had just returned from active combat duty in Afghanistan – they were the real deal: highly trained soldiers, experienced with tracking and capturing people who did not want to be found.

TO BE CONTINUED

An illustrated version of this story is posted at the AR Archive (see link on my profile!). New chapters are always posted there a few days before they come here!