The Little Soldier

By Kiamii

"We head back to camp," Wolf said firmly. He then proceeded to draw out a strategy in which they would be able to complete the exercise and get the civilian boy back to his uncle, though the last part was somewhat reluctant to return the quiet child to the man who neglected him so much. Glancing at the sleeping boy lying next to their sitting spots every now and then, they figured out rations and pathways that they revised with the mind that a child was now with them. They surprisingly didn't mind this. Perhaps it was because the other units weren't around to witness this? Or perhaps because Alex was so young and wasn't at fault for being there.

The soldiers retired to bed soon enough with Alex deeply lost in his own dreams, curled up beside Snake who kept an arm around the boy protectively. Sleep didn't come easily for him so he had volunteered to keep watch tonight instead of letting Eagle.

Snake was a man of honor and he had never, even in his wildest dreams, imagined finding a child while training at the SAS camp –more specifically, the wilderness—looking for his neglecting uncle. He brushed a stray lock of the dirty hair from the child's face and studied him for a second. Alex was different than even his cousins whom he babysat for, or his sister's daughter. They were loud and moved a lot even in sleep. Alex remained peacefully quiet and still.

It was unreal.

Could it have been the fault of the boy's uncle? Snake wondered about this and mused for hours into the night. His army boots scuffed into the moist dirt as he poked the fire with a stick absently, his eyes drifting towards the boy who slept next to him. He remembered how he currently had status of an uncle to a little girl, but he couldn't imagine leaving his niece all alone in the wilderness for anything, especially at Alex's age. His mind churned unpleasantly until he was relieved of his shift by Fox. He stood up and yawned, carefully lifting Alex up and handing him to Fox before retiring to bed himself.

As the morning sun rose from the horizon, Alex began to stir awake to Fox's surprise. He had expected the young lad to remain asleep until noon like most, but he had woken up without any help. He shifted the boy he was holding and watched as the kid awoke.

"Morning there Alex," he said in a chirpy manner. Amongst the four soldiers in the unit, he was the morning sort of person while Wolf and Eagle hated rising earlier than needed. Snake tended to get up sometime after Fox, but he was asleep now.

Alex looked at him sleepily, looking confused as to where he was before reality came back to him. He smiled shyly at Fox and wriggled around until he was set on the soft earthly ground.

"You hungry kid?" Fox inquired to which he got a small nod in return. Grinning, the soldier set about getting breakfast served to the child, finding it amazing as Alex sat still and merely watched him in fascination. When questioned about this, the boy blushed and mumbled his answer.

Apparently that damn uncle of his had once showed Alex how to cook on a fire and this had been during their vacation that he was now lost on. The more Fox heard about this Ian guy, the more he disliked him and how he was raising his uncle. He didn't even have kids and he was willing to say he could do a better job!

Fox served the orphaned boy and watched him politely eat. He smiled a little before prodding the boy to eat as messy as he'd like. Alex had looked at him in awe upon those words, making him feel slightly uneasy. After finding out the reason why, he sighed heavily. That uncle apparently was more into beating Alex into some sort of…

Soldier.

The words hit Fox for a second before he could comprehend the word. It did fit in his mind. Alex was expected to survive when on his own. Fox peered at the shy boy in a new light. He couldn't believe he had thought this but the way Alex was already behaving it was as if he was a part of their team, just inexperienced and a child prevented him from probably being here now. He was a child and that was the problem.

"Hey Alex," he began, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" This got the boy's attention who peaked at him in surprise before smiling widely as if telling a secret. Which –Fox mused—he probably was. The thought wasn't pleasing whatsoever and Fox pushed the thought aside as best as he can.

"I wanna be a police man and stuff." He giggled, "To catch the bad guys!" Fox smiled at the innocent words though he frowned as Alex began to chatter about having to keep it a secret since when his uncle Ian had found it, Ian had been amendment about Alex being a police officer for some reason. Alex suspected that his uncle wanted him to be a banker like him, to the five year old's horror. Fox did chuckle at the boy's reaction to what he thought his uncle wanted him to be, though the banker part had him curious. What kind of man was this guy? He didn't question Alex any further and let the boy talk as much as he wished, finding it amusing as Alex didn't talk about anything and everything, he talked about one topic and switched when he felt he was done. Fox was learning a lot about the lad as the minutes and hours ticked by before Wolf began to stir awake. He was greeted to the sight of Fox holding Alex on his lap, trying to show him a magic trick apparently which was failing horridly. Smirking, the soldier stood up silently and swiftly walked over to them, leaning by Fox's ear and whispering in his dark voice, "Remind me to never let you become a spy. You suck at subtle tricks and hearing."

Fox jumped as if electrocuted to Wolf's amusement, yelping loudly enough to snap Eagle awake as he stood up, holding Alex in his arms who was giggling at the action. Wolf leaned over and lightly tapped Alex on the head, causing the boy to giggle even more so. Wolf shook his head, a smile quirking on his lips slightly before he turned to Fox, his smirk pronounced once more at his teammate's scowl. He shrugged and went to kick Eagle the rest of the way into the land of the living while Snake began to wake up as well, tired but awake. The soldiers packed up their supplies while Alex watched quietly, making a few comments here and there about how Eagle wasn't doing something right, to the other three men's amusement as Eagle muttered about "ruddy brats" and their "know-it-all selves". Eventually they were ready to head towards their destination and with Alex perched on Eagle's hip this time, his foot wrapped neatly in a wrap for the time being, the unit set out among the rising sun, hoping to make it to their campsite early.

Author's Note: That's it for this chapter. I was surprised people were even interested in this story. I'll update every now and then, got Exams coming up and a lot of other things of course. This isn't my main priority unless the reviews for it are a lot which means I'll have to update before I get reviewers trying to throw darts (or monkeys *cough*) at me again. Review and tell me what you think then? Like it? Love it? Meh it?