Nico was only taking a stroll in the streets of London to find the MI6 headquarters for his father, something about taking a vacation of sorts, stop hanging about in the underworld, when he spotted a tall building that should not have been there. Like who makes a huge, tall steel bank in the middle of an area filled with big businesses, glass windows and there was another bank down the street that did not feature terrible art. Seriously, that place was filled with the weirdest pictures like that one of the creepy lady whose eyes follow you wherever you go. He stopped to look at the place, the moonlight highlighting his sharp angles and pale skin, his tousled black curly hair poking out from under a black beanie. He eyed it carefully and noticed something off. All the windows were blacked out.
Nico looked around, all the other building had some sort of light but this one had nothing. A tingly unease filled his stomach as he stepped closer. He gripped his ring, slipping it half way off his finger as his eyes scanned the area. He walked to the alley besides it and looked at the fire exit ladder. Too obvious.
He continued to round the corner when he saw a figure run from him, the light moonlight making it even easier to spot as the silver hair glinted at Nico. He stopped running and took a deep breath before he shadow-travelled in front of the other. The surprise look on the runner's face was hilarious, right before he collapsed from shock into Nico's body.
Nico grunted at the sudden weight on his shoulder and was about to drop the person when the whole area lit up. He could hear the rumble of cars as they parked at both ends of the ally. Nico cursed under his breath in Latin and dropped the body as someone said to put his hand up.
The armed policemen approached the boy while he looked at his feet. They made the mistake of lowering their guns after seeing it was a 14 year old boy. He walked closer letting a couple fake tears run down his face. He gave a couple of sniffles.
"He-he tried to- attack me" Nico stammered as he played the role of an innocent bystander. Nico almost smirked by how easy it was.
Too late to do anything, the leader was knocked out with a quick stab to the neck. The man went down and Nico took off around the corner where he knew there was an escape. He swung up to the rickety metal ladder that hung 6 feet above the cold cement ground, the rusty iron biting into his skin. The sound of bullets ricocheting on the wall grew faint as he slipped past the 3rd floor in no time. He paused to see the cars drive away and the unease came back but he pushed it aside.
'This is probably a monster's nest' Nico reasoned before breaking into the complex at the top because who wouldn't after thinking a place was teeming with monsters. He had to climb so much though, it wasn't really worth it in his eyes. He quickly disarmed the alarm, ripping a couple of wires while he was at it and picked the fire escape door at the top. Thank you Raphael Gray. Nico had a long talk with the ghost and learned all the trades of hacking and programming. (It also help that he could 'transfer' knowledge right into Nico's head. School needs this) He looked around the room to see two people watching him. He cursed once more, he should have check for life signals in the building first. He straighten up and looked them in the eye.
"Who are you?" the man demanded while the woman just stood sucking on a peppermint thoughtfully. Nico glanced over them.
Bulky firearms in their pocket, blades in their sleeves, that cold glint. He also caught the blinking of a red light in the corner that should not be visible a human eye. Probably that MI6 place father was talking about, he was always talking about this Alex Rider kid that was filling the underworld with people that deserves it. He had to expand the fields of punishments because of it. Nico tensed up.
The woman finally spoke. "If you don't answer us, I'm afraid we'll have to arrest you"
Mortals
Nico was on guard but he wasn't too worried. They couldn't possibly do anything worse than the wars and plus he could shadow travel. "Nico"
A surprise flickered across her face before it settled back on a mask.
"Di Angelo right? The newest recruit for the SAS. We didn't expect you to be here so fast" Nico also heard the attached 'and so young' He hid his amusement. Of course not, he had only gotten the mission two hours ago.
"Sit, sit. Peppermint?"
Nico shook his head politely. "I don't really like sweets"
The woman sat crossed legged, her hands folded in front of her. "Mr. Di Angelo. I am fully aware that your father sent you here to be a part of the SAS, however, no matter how powerful your father is, we cannot allow a - how ever young you are- in. The minimum age is 16, so tell me why I should even talk to you about this."
Nico was slightly pissed that she wasn't taking him serious because of his age which was quite hypocritical because he knew they enlisted another teens help a couple years ago. Or was it last? Time seemed to blend in to each other tracking down ghosts. He knew Alex Rider was 14 when he went into the training now two years later Nico was waiting in the same spot. He narrowed his eyes.
"I understand that I may not look like someone who could keep up with your countries training but believe me when I say that you'll be sorely surprised. Plus I'm only a bit younger than Mr. Rider when he came."
A slow grin grew on the woman's face. "Oh you'll do nicely. Here, report to this place in the morning. I don't care how you get there, just do."
Nico accepted the piece of paper and glanced at it, memorizing the paper just in case it got destroyed or something. You never know, monsters seems to love ripping clothes and flesh to shreds. He nodded and tucked it in his pocket. "I shall be there" and he jumped out the window. He saluted as he free fell the 30 floors that he had climbed earlier. He grinned as the woman's shocked face peered out of the window. He waited until there was no way she could see him and shadow travelled away.
~ Just a line, whatcha looking at? ~
Nico was pissed, he walked the last distance to the gates and was immediately shot with a tranquilizer. He woke up as they tried to drag his body through the gate. Key word tried. He flipped over and pushed the last of the grogginess away before kicking the legs of one guy out and twisting around to grab the punch that was coming from behind. He flipped the person over his shoulder and heard an oomph from both guys. Nico looked at the two people who was dragging him. Newbies. He snorted and straighten his jacket before marching in, his eyes scanning behind the fringe of hair that covered the broken black glass.
5 different wards, a mess hall, multiple rooms and some courses that looked so easy he rather go climb the lava wall in camp half-blood. At least there he has a chance of not making it either by the red hot lava or grinding stones that clashed together. Nico was greeted by an incredibly fit sergeant. They both eyed each other and he sighed. "Not another fucking kid, wasn't it bad enough with cub?" Nico picked up on the murmuring. Nico reached out to shake the person's hand.
"It's not my job to ask questions, but if it was I would ask you why the bloody fuck are you here." A flicker crossed his face. ""There are five units operational here at the moment," the officer went on. "You'll join K Unit. We don't use names. I have no name. You have no name. If anyone asks you what you're doing, you tell them nothing. Some of the men may be hard on you. Some of them may resent you being here. That's too bad. You'll just have to live with it. And there's something else you need to know. I can make allowances for you. You're a boy, not a man. But if you complain, you'll be binned. If you cry, you'll be binned. If you can't keep up, you'll be binned. Between you and me, boy, this is a mistake and I want to bin you." The just like the other boy was left unsaid but Nico knew.
He felt like the sergeant had said this before. Nico nodded and was about to head off when he was stopped.
"You won't be the only one. The others are Wolf, Fox, Eagle, and Snake and one more is coming. You'll be-"
The sergeant stopped to actually look at the boy. He saw a young, handsome in a gothic way, boy who shouldn't even be able to wake up at 10 nonetheless 5. But then he saw the eyes, the pain that filled the dark abyss and the sadness that lay hidden beneath the cold. He almost shudder.
"You'll be devil, selections are after your tests because for some odd reason, you don't have a file. Have you even completed the 39 months? Whatever, be ready."
Nico kept a blank face but beneath he was stewing. How dare he, if it wasn't bad enough that he was constantly reminded at the camps, now this fucking place. He nodded once more and left before anything else could happen. As he left he could hear the sergeant ask for his file from whoever was in there now.
He approached the bunker that held the unit he was now a part of. He took a deep breath and rapped on the door twice. The person who opened the door was short and muscular with square shoulders and black, close-cropped hair. He had a handsome face, made slightly uneven by his nose, which had been broken at some time in the past. Nico could already tell this wasn't going to end well.
"What the actual fuck!?" The person stormed back in while leaving the door open. Nico frowned and shifted his weight on to the other foot debating on whether or not he should come in. It was quickly solved for him.
"Get the fuck in here!" The guy yelled. Nico walked in to see 3 more people. One was looking at him with a medical book in his hand, another was jumping on the bed while trying to escape the grip of the third person to get to Nico. His keen eyes could spot the dog tags. Snake, Eagle and Fox. Wait, Fox? Nico remember being debriefed that Fox was with the MI6, why was he here?
"Lets get this over with. I don't know why they keep sending the useless people here but I don't care. I will get you binned the moment you screw up."
Nico scoffed. Wolf's eyes narrowed before he marched up to the shorter male
"I'm sorry I didn't quite catch that."
Nico managed an amazing feat, he manage to not roll his eyes. He just brushed past and went to the very end where two empty bed stood. He pause before dumping his very light bag on the bed. The hyperactive Eagle manage to get free and was now bouncing over.
"Hello! Don't mind Wolfie, he's just being a butt. I'm Eagle, that's Snake and that's Foxy. Yours?"
Nico grimace as he was unpacking, he hid it though, that person was just too energetic. "Devil"
Silence
Nico looked up to see them all stare at him.
"No really! What's your code name?" Eagle asked, a wide grin still on his face.
"That is it." Nico snapped before throwing the now empty bag under his bed and kneeling down to retie his combat boots. He wasn't wearing the uniform of course, that ugly brown atrocity. Erg, makes him want to vomit.
"Why do you get that name? We all have animals" Eagle whined, Nico opened his mouth to answer but someone else did for him.
"Because sergeant wanted to name him that"
Everyone froze. The first to recover was Fox.
"Al-Cub!" Fox shouted before scrambling off his bed to greet the teen. Nico watched Wolf's reaction. He noticed the tension now in his shoulders. Nico figured something happen between them.
"You're new, I'm Cub, and you must be the devil Sergeant was talking about." Alex walked over and held out a hand. Nico grasped it and shook lightly. He could feel the bumps from where the skin healed over.
"Nice to meet you, Cub" Nico replied, nodding his head. Alex grinned and turned around only to be tackled by Eagle. Nico managed to snatch his ring off the bed before Alex landed on his bed. Nico watched in amusement as Alex was being greeted by his old teammates. Nico waited quietly, drawing his jacket closer to his body as he watched. They were like a big family, even Wolf joined in to tease Alex.
Nico started to slink away towards the restroom when he heard Alex talk.
"So what do we have next? Been itching to do something"
A snicker most likely from Eagle.
"We got the assault course in ten, get ready kid" the last bit was thrown at Nico.
He rolled his eyes. If only. Nico could feel the shadows trying to reach out for him as his anger grew. He took a deep breath and tried controlling the shadows to still.
"Scared?"
Oh, they mistaken his breathing for fear.
"Never"
Scoffs.
"Whatever, hurry up, I'm not getting binned because you have to take a piss."
Nico slipped past the door and into the bathroom. He quickly open the hot water and watched as the freezing water turn tepid at best. He growled under his breath before checking to see if the others were looking. They were still catching up with Alex. He quickly scribbled a note and sent it on its way with a burst of hellfire. He quickly rinsed his hands and went out. He leaned against the main door while the others for their shoes on.
Nico watched carefully as the other units did their business around him. Thankfully they haven't spotted him but he knew it would only be time. Everyone would want to watch the new person fail at their "hell" course. Nico almost snickered. Hell for the devil. Perfect match.
Nico marked down the hand to hand combat and shooting range as a place he might want to visit. Wolf sneered.
"Brat, your turn. Try not to make a fool of us"
Nico walked to the startup line, the rest of K Unit lined up to the left of him. The right was always to worst place to be. Everyone travels slightly to the right and being trapped behind the lines is not something Nico wanted to do.
He took off as the sergeant whistled. He quickly scaled the wall and took off towards the net. Alex was a couple meters behind him. Nico launched himself off the edge and waited until the last humanly second to grab on to the rope before it was too late to prevent a Nico pancake on the ground and the force being too much for his shoulder. He timed it perfectly. He got the farest without dislocating his shoulder. Nico scrambled down and dropped down just as the net moved again from Alex landing on it. Not as low though. Nico crawled through the mud, cheating just slightly by gripping the shadows instead of slipping around in the mud. What? They didn't need to know. He quickly got through the swampy area and was faced with the last stretch of land. He knew better than to rush across it. He looked at the ground to see almost invisible lumps of grass. Most likely low level explosives but he didn't want to take the risk of blowing off his legs and important bits. He casted his senses to the ground and under it, the pieces of metal glowing in his mind like the mines they were. He could feel that there were darts going fly above his head, like there always is.
He leaped over the first section of bombs and landed on a clear patch before using to same momentum to launch himself above the next one. He could hear a higher pitch whistle that was certainly not the wind rushing past his ears. He dropped and rolled as a wave of darts flew over his head and almost hitting Wolf and Alex who were at the start of the bomb land. Nico faced the land again and stopped. There were too many to jump, he'll have to go slow. He could see holes now, something that didn't register when he was casting. He was quite curious about what it was so he edged his way towards one, avoiding another mine that was armed and ready to blow.
He bent down to examine the hole, he had time, and the others were still trying to make their way to him. Nico nudge a stone to the edge and did a backflip away when a pillar of fire erupt. Nico couldn't help himself and started laughing, unknowns to him, everyone else shuddered as they watch the boy laugh at almost being roasted alive. Nico's eyes gleamed dangerously, he like this. Not every day that you face bombs, darts and fire (unless you were trying to get into Bunker 9 without Leo). He looked back to see the other two getting a bit too close for comfort so he naturally felt the urge to show off but he pushed it down. It was better to be underestimated than over.
He reached the end with time to spare and watched as Eagle leaped away from an explosion. He could feel the glares of the other soldiers as he stood there waiting for the others to finish. He fisted bump Alex when he finish then was glared at by Wolf. Fox didn't really care besides saying that he was cool and Eagle tried to hug Nico, only to have a knee to the stomach. Nico wrapped his arms around his jacket and gave a sorry smile.
"Sorry, I don't like to be touched."
Wolf glared at him. "And how do you expect to do team activities?"
Nico gave an equally fearful glare. "There is no need to touch any of you to finish it. It's better is you don't."
The rest of them looked at the boy. He avoided their glaze while his landed on the mess hall. "Ooo, what's for lunch?"
He bounced off to the mess hall and left the surprised group as he tried to not flicker. He hide in the bathroom as he took an ambrosia pill, Will had stuffed them into his bag to help with the fading and injuries that he may receive. He took a deep breath as the new energy flooded his system. He eyed the bottle once more but tucked it in his bag again and toss the worn out lump of fabric under the bed after tucking an extra in his pocket.
~ Just a line, whatcha looking at? ~
He shadow-travelled into the mess hall and sat down after receiving his meal of goop, goop and more goop. Nico had worst but this was pretty bad too. He played with his food, twirling his fork in the pile of green lumps as K Unit entered. Eagle saw Nico first and almost tackled him once more but remember what Nico had said earlier. He sat as close to Nico as possible but couldn't count as touching. Nico edge just a bit to the right and eyed Eagle's grin slightly scared.
"So Devil, how old are you?"
"Classified"
Silence.
"Come on! Seriously? Don't be like Cub!" Eagle started bouncing and shaking the table where Fox finally join them with Alex. Nico faced Alex and mouth 'help me!' which got Alex to start laughing.
"Tell us!"
Nico took a sip of water and looked at him straight faced. "But then I'll have to kill you"
Snake spat his mouthful of water onto Wolf who then started glaring at all of them. Fox was choking on his bite of my mush. Alex full out laughed at the hurt look on Eagle's face. Nico looked down at his food and shifted the lump once more before laying down his fork and linking his fingers together.
"But I will tell you this, I am younger than Cub when he came in" Nico stood up and stretched. He turned around to leave before stopping like if he just remembered something then turned his head back. "Oh, and the Green Jackets are right outside the gate. Better watch out."
He exited with a creepy laugh and headed towards the shooting range. He had learned how to use a gun from Simo Häyhä in the underworld. Nico was pretty damn accurate he liked to say but sometimes, just sometimes he had to manipulate the shadows just a tiny bit to make sure the person on the other end died painlessly. He wasn't cruel.
He climbed up the rafter that held the Kevlar in place between each cubby for the snipers. He sat there watching the others shoot the cardboard cutouts. He could see perfectly fine as the first team got kidnapped near the forest for RTI and grinned wickedly. He dropped down onto the back on Eagle as he walked under and they both fell to the floor in pain.
"The hell!" Eagle yelled as he tried to free himself from Nico. "Devil, where the devil did you come from?"
Nico just groaned and rolled off. "Damn Eagle, you need to eat more, you're too boney. Ow"
Wolf scoffed before ordering the guns they were using.
"Like you're one to talk Devil! You're all bones!" Eagle exclaimed before getting up and offering a hand to Nico. Nico ignored it and got up, brushing the dust off his clothes and looking at the others. "What?" He raised an eyebrow and the others stopped looking at him.
"Okay squirt. This is a gun, do not point it anyone, keep the safety on and for the love of god listen to me!" Wolf shouted. Nico started and looked at him. He was too busy watching a group of new people get shoved in the infirmary by the Green Jackets. That was quick.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah" Nico sassed. Wolf narrowed his eyes and Snake step forward to prevent him from pummeling Nico. Wolf tossed the gun at Nico's turned back as he looked at people placing up round targets, not the human figures. Nico's hand shot up and caught the piece of metal before it could go over his shoulder too far.
"Thanks"
In the same move, he flicked the safety and empty the clip into the target. He tossed the gun back and went to pull the target in. When the quarry came back on the string, it was still waving slightly from the amount of force that just ripped through the cardboard. One hole. Slightly off center. Slightly bigger than the bullet he used. Nico was quite displeased with himself but he couldn't
"You missed 14 times! And the one you hit wasn't even on center." Wolf growled, grinning slightly at the chance to bin the boy. Nico growled his displeasure.
"I did not miss 14 times! Each one hit the mark!"
He could see the disbelief in the other's head. He rolled his eyes and snatched the rifle back and quickly loaded a clip. "I'll shoot slowly, yeah?"
He unloaded the clip once more into the target allowing a couple of seconds between. This time he hit directly in the middle and the others watched in morbid excitement as bullet after bullet slid into the hole made by the first. He could feel Hades' pride in his chest as the last bullet when on its way for a perfect shot. He spun around and took a bow before rudely shoving the rifle into Wolf's arms.
"Any problems?"
Alex broke out in a grin and wrapped an arm around Nico's shoulders and just as quickly let go after he felt Nico stiffen. "I like you Devil!"
"Welcome to hell as they say," Nico said, looking him straighten in the eye.