A Day in Baghdad
Four soldiers sat around a small table in silence. In the centre of that table lay a plain white envelope. From the way they were all staring, it might've been some sort of bomb just waiting to explode in their faces if they made one wrong move.
Every other second, glances were exchanged asking for explanation, or perhaps trying to force someone to speak using sheer willpower. But they were all quite stubborn and no one wanted to make the leap first.
And so another minute passed.
"...okay. This is getting ridiculous." Ah, Foxy-boy to the rescue. "What the hell are we even doing?"
The rest seemed to consider the question. Eagle spoke.
"Well, this...this letter. It's about Cub."
Eyes were rolled.
"Obviously," said Snake.
"And...and, well, it's got to do with Cub!"
"You're repeating yourself, Eagle." Wolf commented, with the air of one who was used to such things.
"So what are we supposed to do?" Eagle asked, a bit lost. The heat of the Iraqi sun had gotten to him, most likely. It had been a rather hot year.
Fox gave him a wry stare. "Well, we couldstart by opening the envelope. Just a suggestion, you know."
"Very true," Snake agreed solemnly.
Wolf forwent the opportunity to speak in favour of actually carrying out the actions. The captain of the team should lead the way, after all. He took the envelope from its resting spot and pulled out his pocket knife. Feeling like he was under a spotlight that had magically materialized right above him, he flicked the blade open.
The satisfying sound of paper being sliced open permeated in the otherwise silent space, only disturbed by occasional muffled laughter travelling through the tent walls.
A page was extracted from its protective pocket and the rustling as it slid out only served to heighten the soldiers' anticipation.
As Wolf carefully unfolded the letter, his unit leaned forward, more than ready to begin the exciting task of reading.
"Hey, guys. Anyone feeling up to a game of – oh."
The tent flap had opened and the soldier at the entrance found himself gazing upon the members of unit K huddled around a small table in a darkened corner with furtive expressions on their faces. He couldn't see what they were focussed on, but as soon as he'd spoken, their heads had snapped up and he was hit by four intense glares. A strange sight, indeed.
"I'll just, uh…I'll just leave you to it, then."
Hawk backed out slowly and walked, unnerved, back to his own tent. He would be distracted for the rest of the day, and when his unit made an enquiry, the poor bird would only be able to shake his head with a strange look in his eyes.
K-unit paid him no mind as they returned to the subject of their scrutiny.
The letter was flattened and Wolf deliberately placed it back on the table. Finally the words were displayed before them and they wasted no more time.
K-unit,
On behalf of my employers, I deeply regret to inform you that your teammate, known to you as Cub, has been hospitalized.
A breath was drawn, sharply.
He was admitted with a severe case of appendicitis and has undergone surgery. Please rest assured that he is receiving the best treatment possible at our affiliated state-of-the-art facility and will make a full recovery.
Our condolences,
J. C.
There was no signature.
K-unit lifted their heads from the plain, computer-generated script, confused.
"That's it?" Eagle choked.
It was rather anticlimactic. But there were other things to worry about.
"What's this about appendicitis?" Wolf growled. "I thought he was shot!"
"Unless he got appendicitis after he got shot," Snake snorted.
Fox scoffed. "Right, and they would tell us about the appendicitis but not the bullet wound?"
"I was joking!"
Wolf put a hand up.
"Alright, men. We know that this is likely a cover up story for the event that Snake and Eagle witnessed. We also know that Cub is most likely at St. Dominic's, from what the letter said. What's the plan?"
It sounded a bit like Wolf was briefing them before a mission. Fox couldn't help but mock him. Standing, he snapped a salute.
"Sir!"
Wolf dragged him back down and cuffed him around the head, which did nothing to wipe the smirk off his face.
"We know Cub survived," Snake said, ignoring his teammates' antics. "This is the best news we can get."
"Yeah," Eagle nodded, "it's probably the best anything we'll ever get, too. What else can we do about it?"
"Send a get well card?" Fox suggested, still grinning. Eagle and Snake chuckled in amusement.
"Well, I'm off." Stretching, Snake stood up. "See if B needs another player in that poker game of theirs. I can hear them complaining all the way from here. Coming?"
"Eh, why not?" Eagle rose with him, dragging Fox along.
Wolf left his seat as well, thoughtful. "I'll be there in a few." The others didn't have time to wonder before their unit leader was gone, a pen in hand.
A week later, Alex Rider sat up in his hospital bed and spotted a new nondescript envelope on his bedside table. He picked it up. The return address was from Baghdad, of all places.
Curiosity piqued, he drew out an equally nondescript card.
Dear Cub…
He grinned.
Author's Note: So this is obviously a quite short and light-hearted take on how this little "event" might have gone. I have no idea how Wolf found out about Alex's "appendicitis" in the books, and if there was a letter, how it would've been written. So forgive me.
This is also unedited, so please do point out any mistakes.
I have BlueRoseUK to thank for inspiring this little fun piece and also a rewrite of Coincidental. A review out of nowhere for an old fic and poof!
So, drop me a line? Were you at all entertained, or did I waste my time? ;P