Alex Rider and Eagle, sitting in a chat room with nothing to do…

## break ##

Eagle sighed. He was bored. Well, that was no surprise there. Unless people were shooting at him he was almost always bored. He took a deep breath and pondered his situation. What was he going to do? There had to be something that he could do. He glanced at his computer that was in his room and his house and booted it up.

He logged onto his favorite group chat. There were always interesting people there. It was unique, because he could get connected to anyone in the world. He really could get connected to just anyone. He had no control; the servers decided it.

In other words, fate decided who it was. Eagle was big on fate. It was something that drove Wolf absolutely up the wall, but Eagle didn't mind. He liked annoying the crap out of Wolf.

At least Wolf didn't usually beat him up.

Gingerly, Eagle reached and felt the bruise on the side of his cheek. That was… usually.

## break ##

Alex Rider was bored, there was just no other way to describe it. Deciding to have a little randomized fun, he logged onto Omegle, a chat room where you could get hooked up to totally random strangers. It was an awesome way to kill time.

Unless you got someone who wanted to get in your pants or wanted to get you to visit a website. Alex rolled his eyes at that as he typed on the web address, and then hit the "start a chat – text" option.

You're now chatting with a random stranger! Say hi.

He always hated this part. After typing hi he never knew what to say. He deliberately typed in the words, "hi."

Stranger one: 21/F/Horny

Alex groaned as he quickly hit disconnect. He had no desire to read sex chat. None.

He tried "start a new conversation."

Stranger one: "M or female, USA?"

USA? Alex rolled his eyes. Clearly they were after one thing and one thing only. He hit disconnect on that too.

Start a new conversation… he hit that button again. The problem with Omegle was that sometimes the eightieth time was the charm. This time, he was finally the person to respond first.

Stranger one: Hi!

Stranger two: Hi!

Then there was that ever so stereotypical silence.

Alex quickly deduced that he was stranger number one, since the other person in the chat was number two.

Stranger two: What's your name?

At least it wasn't "what's your ASL," Alex thought. He pondered quickly – what should he call himself? He certainly wasn't going to give out his REAL name on the internet. There was no way for that.

He quickly typed, "CUB. What's yours?"

EAGLE: Your parents named you after a bear?

CUB: Yes, that's exactly what happened. Alex groaned and rolled his eyes. He sincerely hoped this person was bored and had nothing better to do.

Stranger two: Odd. I knew a kid named Cub once.

Alex stopped. No way. There was no way. He had never given out this nickname to anyone. He had hated it, detested it even. He had refused to talk about his time with K-Unit with either Jack or Tom and had buried it. Sure, he'd used his nickname a few times on here, but he highly doubted that anyone would place it.

CUB: Yeah, so what, his parents gave him the weird nickname?

Alex had to wonder the functioning of this man's mind.

Stranger two: Nah. We met him at this training camp in the Wales. You ever heard of Breacon Beacons?

Alex almost swallowed his tongue. Yes, he had. Oh, God, yes he had. What did he say to this, though? He couldn't give it away.

CUB: Yeah.

Stranger two: Do you know what HAPPENS in Breacon Beacons?

CUB: Hell, I'm guessing.

Alex smirked at that. All of the people had agreed that camp was hell.

Stranger two: Bing! Bing! Bing! Bing!

CUB: So… you know my name, what's yours? What can I call you? It's only fair that I get a name.

Stranger two: But you didn't give me your real name.

CUB: Are you sure that you got sent to Breacon Beacons?

Stranger two: Fine! Everyone calls me "Eagle." They say it's part of my charm. Well, all except for Wolf, that is. But he's not really charmed by anything, except by Snake. I think he and Snake are going together.

Alex choked on the bite of bagel that he had just taken. There was no way in hell. After not seeing the K-Unit for two years, he'd met up with Eagle randomly in a chat room? What on earth?

He had to play along though. He had to get back at K-Unit. He could probably learn some great blackmail material. He had no idea that Wolf was gay – or bisexual, rather. Wolf had been pretty into girls when Alex had left.

CUB: Wait, Snake's a guy, right? I always thought Wolf liked girls.

EAGLE: …. Well, I don't know. Fox thinks he does. But I think he likes Snake.

CUB: Why on earth?

EAGLE: Because he looks at Snake nicer than he did me. And he said something to that Cub kid about liking Snakes.

CUB: You do realize that the man who is called Snake and Snakes are two entirely different things, right?

EAGLE: One has an S on the end, that's all I know.

Alex grinned wickedly, wondering how long he could keep Eagle going before Eagle guessed who he was.

CUB: You don't understand. "Snake" is a human. Or so I'm assuming. Snakes are not human. Not last I checked. What is it with all of your weird nicknames?

EAGLE: Well, I probably shouldn't tell you this… but we're part of a specialized unit force.

Alex grinned. He had to give himself away then, he wasn't going to keep up his position much longer. He had no doubt that if he had been talking to any of the other members of the K-Unit he would have been found out a long time before this.

CUB: K-Unit, right?

EAGLE: Whoa, man, you're psychic! You remind me of that Cub kid! He always figured me out!

You still haven't realized who I am yet? Alex asked, literally taking the keyboard and using it to hit his head.

CUB: I'm glad I remind you of that Cub kid. You want to know why?

EAGLE: I always like to know secrets. But Wolf says I can't be trusted, so I don't get to know too many. Why?

CUB: Because I AM Cub!

EAGLE: Holy shit! From Breacon Beacons, Cub?

CUB: No, from Hell.

EAGLE: Well, same place, really. So why are you on here?

CUB: Because I'm bored. Why are you on here?

EAGLE: Because Wolf says I can't have any more caffeine tonight.

CUB: I feel sorry for Wolf putting up with you.

EAGLE: Everyone says that. You really shouldn't though. We have to put up with him. Hey! How are you doing anyway? Did you get your problems straightened out with your daddy?

CUB: …

My father? Alex thought. He would never send secure and classified information over insecure servers, so he would have to keep it quiet. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to mentally plan what to say. It would be best just to go along with Eagle's ruse for now, he decided.

CUB: Yeah, I guess. He stopped sending me there anyway.

EAGLE: Well, that's good! They have bad food. And Wolf can be mean on an empty stomach.

CUB: Eagle, Wolf is mean on a full stomach.

EAGLE: Hey! Can we, like, meet up some time?

Alex groaned. No way, he did not want to revisit his past any more than he already had. He swallowed hard and grinned, a revenge plan already forming in his mind.

CUB: You do realize that you're a thirty-year-old who just asked to meet up with a sixteen year old in real life, right?

With that, he promptly hit "Disconnect."