Mistaken

Terence Reyes, otherwise known as Wolf, was a short, well-muscled man. Despite his height, he was a well respected man, as he commanded three others in his unit. He was easily a great leader. However, he was a snappy man, especially when it came to a specific six-foot six-inch teenager, who towered well above him, charming every person that came within a five-foot radius of him.

Cub, also known as Alex Rider (really, what a ridiculous name), had grown well since Wolf had last seen him. He'd remembered the young teenager as small, immature, and socially awkward, but he seemed to have outgrown this. He had grown taller and lithe, and the fact that he was still alive told Wolf that he was good at what he did.

The two men were in Dublin, taking the bus downtown. Though it seemed like a mundane task, they were tracking a very specific target–one that was known to take the very same bus every morning.

The rest of K-Unit were connected to them via earwig. Wolf had learned how to tune them out long ago, ever since Eagle had begun humming 'Hedwig's Theme' from Harry Potter. Cub seemed like he was enjoying the older man's melody and was tapping his fingers along with the beat on the edge of his seat.

Wolf scowled, "Stop that, will you?"

When Cub didn't cease his movements, but began to hum along instead, Wolf glared daggers at him, "Cub, I'm warning you-!"

"How adorable!"

It was an unexpectedly high pitched and warbly voice that came from across the aisle. Both Wolf and Cub's heads swung to look at the source of the noise.

Across from them sat a small, elderly lady. She wore thick glasses on the end of her nose, and her eyes seemed to be magnified under the lenses. She wore a bright blue colored robe, which oddly looked like a bathrobe. Strange beads, strung with some kind of braided yellow string hung from her neck. Her hair was frizzy, held back by a pink hairband. In her hands, she held what Wolf could only describe as a crystal ball. He decided the woman was looney.

Beside the elderly woman sat an equally old man. He wore similar glasses that made his eyes bug out. Tufts of ginger hair stuck out of his nearly bald head. He looked equally as looney as the woman, holding a stack of cards in one hand.

"I can sense your auras," the woman told the two, her eyes focusing on Wolf as she raised her crystal ball up to his eye level, "peer into the future, young one, and tell me what you see…"

Wolf growled in annoyance, listening to Eagle, Snake, and Trout laugh in his earpiece, "No thanks, lady." He tried–really tried –to keep the sarcastic, biting tone out of his voice, but the elbow to his side from Cub told him that he didn't manage it.

"Now, don't be silly, little lady," the man interjected, shuffling his cards and peering at Wolf through his thick lenses.

It took a moment for Wolf to register why Cub was choking on his own laughter and another moment for him to register the hearty chuckles from his own unit over the coms system.

"Did you just call be a lady?" Wolf managed to choke out, his voice unnaturally high as indignation colored his tone.

"It is your natural form," the woman said gravely, waving a hand in front of her crystal ball. "Discover yourself, little one. Peer into your future. Discover your future with the young man beside you."

Wolf wasn't sure what was going on. Cub, on the other hand, had promptly began a coughing fit. Wolf's ears were assaulted by the clash of noises both from Cub and his unit.

"Yeah Wolf. Your natural form!" Eagle jeered.

Wolf tried to mutter back, "shut up!" but Cub elbowed him in the side, all humor suddenly falling from his face.

"What?" Wolf snapped, whirling to face Cub, but the younger man wasn't looking at him.

"He's here," Cub leaned closer to Wolf and muttered in his ear. "Third row on the right. Keep an eye on him. He's getting off in four stops—plenty of time for me to—" he gestured toward his small black backpack and stood, pressing past Wolf and heading for the bathroom.

Wolf watched him go. There was something about Serious-Cub that he liked. Cub was dangerous, a fact that Wolf forgot whenever he acted like a mini-Eagle. He could tell it was all a mask, though. There was more to the Cub that always met with K-Unit.

"You can't deny the attraction," the elderly woman told him, stroking her crystal ball with one hand. "Soon, you will succumb, like all the others."

"Others?" Wolf questioned, not bothering to face her as he subtly watched the target itch the back of his head.

The woman laughed airily, but didn't reply. Wolf frowned, taking his eyes off of the target for just a moment in order to glare at the woman, but when he turned his head, both the elderly man and woman were gone. Furrowing his brow, Wolf looked around, only to find himself the only passenger on the bus. He was alone. No Cub, no target, no K-Unit. Wolf stood, reaching for his hidden handgun, only to find that it was gone. He looked out the windows, noting that the bus was still heading straight with full force.

There was no driver.

Wolf shouted in alarm and ran forward, hoping to reclaim the wheel, but the bus was heading directly into a wall, and he knew he wouldn't make it—

"Reyes, you friggin' idiot. Stop kicking me," a sleepy voice jerked Wolf out of his nightmare. He was breathing heavily, sweat drenching his olive-green SAS t-shirt. He sat up, peeling off the shirt. He crushed it into a ball and threw it, feeling a bit better after that bit of violence.

A groan of annoyance, then the body next to Wolf shifted to face him, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Wolf sighed, running a hand through his short hair.

Brown eyes and a perfectly symmetrical face met his, "You know that I can tell whenever you're lying, right?"

Wolf scowled, "I hate it whenever you do that."

"Were you dreaming about what happened on the bus last week?"

There was a pause before Wolf started spluttering.

"You've succumbed to my charms," there was a moment of silence before Cub began giggling like a little schoolgirl.

"Why you—"

"Shut up, Wolf," Cub rolled his eyes and scooted closer, "and put on your shirt. It's in the negatives out there."

Wolf didn't move.

"You know…" Cub said, his words slurring together as sleep overtook him, "the oracles have a shop, back in Dublin. I'll take you to see them when we get back."

Wolf wanted to sock him right in the jaw, but the younger man was already asleep, clutching the blankets to his chin. He rolled his eyes, grabbing a new shirt, "Damn it, Cub."

A/N: So I wrote this a reaaally long time ago, and never posted it. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I wrote this? Anyway, hope you guys liked it xD

-Alice