CHAPTER TWO
Wolf grumbled as he walked down the dark alley way, muttering under his breath. Had the SAS member he was calling left his phone off? He must have, because there was no new news from Snake. Grumbling, Wolf flipped open his phone and called again.
Nothing. But of course. Maybe he should try calling Eagle. Cringing at that thought, he sighed, thinking that the fourth time would be a charm. He didn't dare take a break from walking even though he was dead tired; the alley he was in was not in the best of neighborhoods. He hadn't been to the neighborhood before but could tell that the number of vacant windows indicated that it wasn't the best place to be. His car had broken down half a mile back, and he, being stupid, had thought it would be a great idea to go down a dark alleyway...
What the hell had he been thinking, anyway?
Wolf stopped dead in his tracks as he saw the man with the gun. All of his instincts from SAS took over - even though he was on break. He started backing quietly out of the alley, dialing 9-9-9 on his cell phone. There was no way that man had a legitimate reason to be with that gun in that alley -
Wolf blanched as he saw the body.
DAMN! What had he stumbled into?
Moving backwards as quickly and as quietly as he could, he blanched again when he saw the man get up and rise.
"Hold your position!"
Wolf did as he was told, hastily dropping his phone to the floor as he raised his hands. He hoped his 999 call had gone through.
"Sorry - I was just walking through the alley." Wolf hadn't brought his weapon along with him. He had been out for a short drive; he was on break, he hadn't felt the need. He really did need to learn to keep that thing on him at all times; even Eagle was better at that then he was. His heart pounded at a million miles per minute; his blood pressure steadily rising.
"Who are you?" This. Was. So. Not. Good. At. All.
Wolf swallowed hard. What should he say? Should he say he was SAS, or not? Sometimes that worked for you and sometimes that worked against you; Wolf knew that all too well. "I'm nobody, man," Wolf responded. He attempted to sound fearful as he backed away ever so slightly. He kept his hands raised, but kept his mind ever alert.
"Nobody... you got a name, nobody?"
Dammit. The scenario he had been hoping to avoid. Should he give his code name and risk revealing he was SAS? Should he give his real name? He wasn't on active duty right now... well... he was on break from active duty... the stupid lines were so blurry behind this that it was pathetic.
His dilemma was solved for him as another man entered into the back of the alley. "Christoph, let's go! They want us to leave now. This place will be crawling with cops in minutes!"
The other man stopped when he saw Wolf, hands raised. "Who the hell is he?"
"Trying to figure that out," the man said, keeping his gun pointed firmly at Wolf.
"Bring him with us. We don't have time for this shit!"
The man steadied his gun. "Well, mate," he said, "looks like you're coming with us."
This was really not what he wanted to be doing. Regardless, Wolf followed them towards the car, hesitating ever so slightly. He was about to get in the car when the chloroform was shoved under his nose and everything went black.
Alex groaned as he made his way back to consciousness. He had been allowed to drink some tap water last night and was given a bottle to keep with him, so he felt much better. The door opened and light flooded in, and Jeff glared down at him. Inwardly, Alex winced.
And yet, in a way, it was easy to act his part. Although he did not and would never do drugs, he was now a foster kid. After all the work he had done for MI6, they had abandoned him here.
"Get up." Jeff grabbed Alex by his arms and dragged him up, physically hauling him towards the table. He shoved him down and Alex looked at the brown, worn table. There was a plate of food there. Although Alex was starving, did not want to risk the ire of one of Jeff's beatings. "Here's your breakfast," he said gruffly. "You didn't say a word to anyone yesterday, so I am going to give you that as a reward."
Alex nodded his thanks, hoping that he didn't seem ungrateful to Jeff. He swallowed as he reached for his plate, and he could feel his stomach rumble in hunger. He slowly grabbed a piece of toast from the plate and munched on it slowly. Even though he wanted to devour it, he knew his stomach wouldn't be able to handle all the food at once.
Too soon he finished the first piece of toast, and wished he had something to drink, as it was dry. He took a huge bite out of the second piece of toast, and noticed that it was burnt. It tasted horrible, but he wasn't going to complain.
Jeff was suddenly standing in front of the table, with a glass of water. Alex hadn't even registered that he had left. He finished off his toast and grabbed the water.
He was mid sip when Jeff startled him out of his thoughts with, "The water's drugged."
Alex spit out what he had already consumed. He started coughing and choking. He set the glass down and glanced at Jeff just in time to see a fist come his way.
He got knocked to the floor, and he covered his body as Jeff violently kicked him. He failed to notice in his haze that Jeff had put the water on the table. The next thing he registered was that Jeff had wrapped his meaty hand around his arm biceps. "You're going to get to go on a little tour today, Alex. And I need you compliant. Drink the damn water, or I'll force the pill down your throat. Trust me when I say that you won't like that. Monotaro almost had to be sent to the hospital the last time I did that."
Alex went over his options. Well he could either drink the water, and suffer the consequences, or have Jeff likely kill him by forcing it down his throat. He mentally sighed as he slowly nodded. Jeff kept a hold of his arm as he stood up, bringing Alex with him. Alex almost threw up the food that he had eaten.
Jeff handed Alex the glass of water and let go of his arm. Alex closed his eyes and downed the water. Now that he knew about it, he could taste a slightly gritty taste in the water. At least he now knew what to look out for when his water was being drugged. He breathed a silent sigh of relief when his body didn't collapse on the floor and his face didn't turn green after he finished it.
Alex sat the empty glass on the table and wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand. He glared at Jeff for only a brief second before he turned his gaze towards the floor.
Jeff smiled. "Now that you're prepared," he said, "I think we're ready."
Jeff walked out of the kitchen and told Alex to follow. Alex was in the midst of following before he caught sight of the apple, which was sitting on the counter. He grabbed it and stashed it away in his jacket pocket. He didn't know when he would get food again, and he didn't know how his body would react to the drugs.
Alex needed to be prepared for anything in this crazy house.
Wolf sighed as he sat up. He was in a basement somewhere, and one guy had came down to see if he was still alive. He told him to stay put, and the boss would be down to see him soon.
Wolf wondered how he was supposed to escape. The basement really had nothing in it: a bed, which Wolf had occupied the whole time, a small dresser in the corner, and that was it. There was another door, on the other side of the stairs, but it was locked under a huge deadbolt, so Wolf didn't even try to open it.
Other than that the basement was dark, dingy, damp and... just generally disgusting. His only hope was that K-Unit would notice he was gone and that they would come rescue him. He had just awoken from what he presumed to be a drugged sleep. He was surprised to find he was not tied, which to him, meant that he was not in a place where he could easily be found or could escape easily. The basement didn't even have a window!
He would have to keep it a secret that he was SAS, he decided.
Suddenly, someone opened the door. Their boots clicked on the floor and Wolf winced; dammit. That wasn't good.
"You are needed. A potential buyer is here to see you. You will be respectful at all times and you will not say a damn word unless spoken too. Got it?"
Wolf gritted his teeth, mentally debating whether to scream that slavery was against the law or to go along with the man's orders. He decided that being compliant now would allow him to surprise his captors when he broke away later.
"Got it," he said.
Alex observed the huge house before him. It was dingy and dirty on the outside, he didn't want to know what it was like inside. What he didn't know was that on the inside, it was much nicer - for some people.
He walked up the steps behind Jeff. He was told on the car ride there that he was to keep his mouth shut and to pay attention to what was being said as it would only be said once. Jeff had mentioned something about respect and tolerance, but Alex was thinking about when he could escape. Though he didn't get a very specific getaway because his mind kept going back to what Jeff was saying.
Alex thought it to be the drugs- they made his focus foggy on little things -but when someone was talking, like Jeff, he found his mind focused on what he was saying. Even if he tried, and oh did he try, he couldn't block him out. It was utterly impossible.
Alex blinked as they were inside already and Jeff told him to stand off to the side, and out of the way. Perhaps the drugs let his mind wander when someone wasn't talking. He sighed softly, wanting to know how long the side effects would last for.
He stood next to the living room door, watching Jeff talk to Matt...wait Matt? What was Matt doing here? Alex found himself confused and worried, remembering Monotaro's flash of fear when he'd seen Jeff. Why wasn't Matt doing anything about Jeff, who was talking about trading something? They were too far away for Alex to hear them clearly. He shifted his feet when Matt looked over at him.
He had that crazed look in his eyes, and that stupid smirk plastered on his face. Alex knew before he got out, he would be sick of seeing Matt, the supposed 'social worker'.
"Oh, Alex, how great of you to join us," Matt said to him. "Come over here."
Alex found his feet moving without him giving it a second thought. He tried to resist but his body obeyed. Once he got closer, he stood next to Jeff. In his opinion he was far too close to this stranger, or his foster father, but his body wouldn't move an inch.
He waited for Matt or Jeff to say something, but when no words were exchanged Alex was going to ask what was going on. However when he opened his mouth he found himself unable to form words.
Matt smirked and glanced at Jeff. "I see you drugged him."
Jeff nodded, "Yes, I thought it would be best. After all, he needed to know who was in charge."
"A smart move regarding a newbie," Matt commented. "Which brings me to why I called you here in the first place. How about a trade. I found a slave that would be perfect for selling drugs. Well with Alex being new and all, I thought I would offer to take him off your hands for a while?"
Jeff thought for a minute, too long in Alex's opinion. He had to say no, and he can't do this. Slavery is illegal! Alex thought. But then again, Matt could be nicer than Jeff. Though Alex doubted that. After all the permanent smirk and the look in his eyes told Alex he was not to be trusted.
"Who is this potential salesman?" Jeff asked.
Alex felt the blood flow slowly leave his face...Shit, he thought, he's actually thinking about it!
Matt snapped his fingers and one of his followers, forced or on their own free will, went around the corner. "I don't know how much help he will be. He hasn't said much, and he seems to know when to give up and that he can't escape this. He hasn't given me a name, though that is not of an importance. I was going to give him his slave name anyway, regardless if you took him or not."
Alex wondered who this 'slave' was. No scratch that, this human being who was in the process of being forced into this lifestyle. What had they done to him to make him give up, and automatically not try to escape. Alex knew that he was probably going to die, but he was a child. With the threats that rained down on him every hour of everyday, Jeff made sure that Alex knew his place in this new life. Hell, the look on Monotaro's face proved that he thought the same thing.
But if this person was an adult, why was he giving up so easily? He could probably fight his way out, if he had the tactics and muscle to give a damn. Alex frowned slightly at how easily defeat came to him. If he wanted to care about his life, he would take the small things and turn them into something he could use.
He would keep looking up, and attempting to find ways to escape. Whoever this person was, he would help them too. They didn't need to think life was over this early on, that something could easily change. Alex would make sure of it.
The person came back and brought another on tow. Alex was staring in thought at his feet, dreading to see the look of submission covering the man's face. He didn't want him to know that he was responsible for the trade off, that he could possibly ruin his life even more.
Despite his want to look at the floorboards beneath his feet, his head tilted up when Matt started to speak again.
"He is obviously fit, however he probably hasn't taken any drugs. Though we could change that if you want. What's Alex's name?"
Alex didn't bother to hear the response that Jeff gave. Though he did hear a short brief, Bear, he blocked the rest out. Or as well as he could manage. He was in shock, as standing before him was no slave. He was probably thinking the same thing about Alex. The only thoughts that went through his head where: Wolf! What the hell is he doing here? Where is the rest of K-Unit? Did they manage to get captured too?
Dammit Wolf, you let yourself get captured...and if what Matt tells us is true... You have already given up. Where is the Wolf I used to know? The one that didn't back down from a challenge...the Captain that wouldn't leave his team for anything. Certainly the person that wouldn't give up in a situation like this.
Alex roamed Wolf's face trying to look for the answers...but he couldn't find anything. His face was hidden of all emotions, and he truly did look crushed. So what happened to the person I used to know, Alex thought, his mind working frantically. But without Wolf giving anything away except defeat, and he came up with nothing. What the hell did they do to you, Wolf?
"Hmm, I don't like that name...Bear, it sounds like such a big burden for this little brat. How about..." he looked at Wolf. "What do you think?"
Wolf just stared at Alex, his eyes. Alex hoped he saw the small spark of light. The hope that filled his heart, letting him know that things weren't over. But when he looked into Wolf's eyes, he saw shame and regret. The hope slowly diminished, and when Wolf spoke for the first time that Alex had heard in years; that hope fell right to the floor.
"Cub," Wolf said shortly. His voice was so different, so beaten.
So when Matt asked him the same question, he found himself locking eyes with Wolf. The emotion was deadly, the blackness that engulfed Alex's soul. Everything that he had learned in the past few years, couldn't help him now. His mind was blank...he couldn't think of another way to put their situation. He answered Matt's question fairly quickly, the response on his tongue at once.
But when he said "Wolf" he felt as though he was dragging Wolf down with him. Not talking to him as a person anymore...no now 'Wolf' was a slave. So was 'Cub', and nothing could change that.
'Cub' found himself falling. He knew for sure now that he would not be able to escape, to be trapped in this 'life' for the upcoming years. Alex Rider couldn't do anything for them. If Wolf was empty and out of options, so was he. He had no way to know that Wolf was only playing the part of the broken person to be able to escape easily, and was simply stunned to see Alex present.
Alex Rider was a dead man, and soon 'Cub' would be too.