Disclaimer: I don't own Alex Rider


True to their word M16 left Alex alone. Scorpia never recovered from their embarrassment and had been disbanded a year later.

Now four years later Alex had just finished his A-Levels and was now waiting for his results. He had actually managed to get decent GCSE's ranging from A's to C's.(All passes)

It was the beginning of July. Alex and his mates/friends decided to go paint balling. There ended up with twelve of them going. There also happened to be twelve on the 'opposing' team. They looked to range from mid-late twenties. The two teams had already been suited up before they met each other. In an hours time they would get a five-minute breather and the two teams would be mixed up.

Game one began.

"Alex, Tom and Sam (girl), you go round and flank their right. Chris (girl), Liz and Nick, you flank their left. Jen, Ollie and Luke you stay at base while Em's, Laura and I patrol round base." The 'military strategic' Jamie told them. Everyone listened to him when it came to these things. He might rabbit on and act like he was better at these things but everyone knew that he didn't mean it. His father was a General.

"Sir, Yes Sir!" The teenagers replied grinning, before leaving to do as ordered.

Alex Tom and Sam 9short for Samantha) made their way round to the left hand side. For teenagers they moved surprisingly quickly and quietly. They had gotten to the opposition's base just to make out the end of their plan.

"Wolf, Eagle, Snake and Fox you will be left here to guard base. Remember to go easy on the brats, they don't know what they've gotten themselves into. Move Out!"

The three of them quickly his themselves as four men passed where they had been seconds before.

Sam was the only other one apart from Tom to know all about Alex's past. Even though she met them at the beginning of sixth form (16 – 18 non-compulsory education) the three of them where always together and it was only at the last Christmas that Alex got the courage to tell Sam about it. While a lot of people would be mad that it had taken so long to tell them Sam understood. She had her own secret, which she told them after warning them of the consequences if they ever told any one or any one else found out. Over half a year later and they were still the best of friends.

"How about some pay back Alex?" Sam whispered.

"I'm up for it." Tom whispered, excitement clear in his voice.

The three of them scattered and just as the old 'K' Unit had set up guard they released chaos. Each of them where hidden behind trees and as they had watch where the men had gone they knew where to shoot. Every ten shots the would move to another position but made it so that there was always at least two people shooting.

Wolf was no impressed when he got hit with a paint bomb curtsy of Alex. All he knew was that a boy with shortish blond hair had aimed it though. It was also not even fifteen minutes into the game.

The barrage suddenly stopped ten minutes later as Tom spotted some of the other men coming back with 'prisoners'.

Alex, Tom and Sam quickly hid themselves, but made sure that they could see the reactions of the other men when they saw their 'guards' covered in paint.

"What happened here?" One of them asked.

"What does it look like happened?" Wolf growled.

"That you got ambushed by a bunch of kids." Another replied.

"Where are they then?"

"They stopped just before you came." Eagle muttered.

"Just wait until Hawk finds out about this." One of them sniggered before they put their prisoner's In the base.

For the next half hour Alex, Tom and Sam would come out of hiding to shot at them before running back to a different hiding place and from there crawling to a yet another hiding place. They made there way back to base just before the end of the first game. By know the opposition had caught plenty of glimpses of them but never caught them.

Both teams got together at the starting point again and took off their masks so that they could get a drink. Everyone noticed three people with a huge dent in their ammo and hardly any paint on them. Alex and some grazing his elbow, Tom had some splattered on his arm while Sam had managed to not get caught with paint but was covered in mud from all the times she had flung herself into the bushes.

The old 'K' Unit who had had most of the ammo of these three watched them intently as they took off their face masks. Tom took his off first, followed by Sam. Some of the men snickered when they realised that a girl had been part of the little elite team as they had named the three of them. It was only when Alex took off his mask that the four mean showed shock.

"Alex?" Wolf and Fox of them asked. While Eagle and Snake where barely heard to say "Cub." Alex just grinned.

"How do you know them Alex?" Jamie asked. Alex and the four men tensed slightly. The other men who had heard 'Cub' knew who he was and also tensed.

It was Sam who answered though. "A couple of months back when Alex, Tom and I went to the cinema and saw them snogging with some girls. We told them to either stop or leave. At the end of the movie Tom made the mistake of mentioning Alex's name."

Everyone seemed to relax and the nine who didn't know anything about Alex's past where none the wiser. Although all the men where wondering why she made the story up.

Two hours later and they where taking a lunch break.

Alex and Sam where sitting together as all the others had split into pairs. Eagle seeing this couldn't help but come ever to tease them with the rest of 'K' Unit following. While the all the teenagers where unaware, the rest of the men where watching in amusement.

"Hey Alex, got a girl friend." Eagle asked sitting down.

"We're just friends, normally Tom's here but his gone to chat Jen up." Alex to him, knowing that it was no good.

#Gasp# "Alex, your not afraid of our love are you. Do you not remember those walks in the moonlight and those candle lit suppers." Sam cried. She even managed the sobbing for a while before she caught the look of horror on Alex's face. She then really was crying. Crying with laughter that was.

"Even got a sense of humour." Eagle carried on.

"Why Alex?" Fox asked.

"Pay backs annoying isn't it." Alex commented, grinning like a mad man.