Warning for some signs of PTSD showing up.

"Your room is the first door on the left. Bathroom is across the hallway and my room is next to yours. I'll be gone from six until five so you'll be on your own for breakfast and lunch. I'll leave some money," Wolf explained.

Alex nodded. Simple enough.

"You can… uh, you can leave your stuff in your room. I have some people coming over. They don't know much about you." Wolf gave him a sideways glance that whispered 'neither do I'. "My unit," he added, unnecessarily.

"Okay." Alex shrugged his bag off his shoulder.

He found the right room easily enough. It was a good size (not small and suffocating, not huge and exposing) and had a window to let in light (a possible escape route?). He put his bag down on the dark blue carpet, watching the dust rise from it. The room hadn't been inhabited for a while. That suited Alex just fine. The door had a lock. He clicked it once, twice, three times. The sound was oddly comforting. (Locks from the inside, not a cell)

Releasing a deep breath, he ran his hands through his hair before leaving the room (his room?) to find Wolf.

Wolf had mentioned guests. K-Unit? Most likely. He poked his head into the kitchen. No sign of Wolf. Sighing, continued his search. The living room, that's where he'd be. Watching TV? Possibly. The door could easily be right next to the TV, Wolf would see Alex before Alex saw him. Not a great option. Another door to the side? Alex shook his head. This wasn't important. Just walk in. (A trap?) Alex almost snarled in frustration, forcing his hand towards the doorknob. His hand closed around metal and he silenced the alarm bells going off in his brain. It didn't even make any sense, why would it be an ambush?

A loud sound rang through the flat.

Shit.

There was movement in the living room. Normal teenager, normal teenager, normal-

"Oh, Wolf, I was just about to answer the door," Alex straight-up lied. Through the small wave of panic, he had figured out what the sound was.

Wolf grunted and pushed past him.

"Sure, you can go get that. Don't mind me."

Wolf opened the door. Alex frowned at the lack of caution (stupid, reckless, going to get everyone killed).

"Snake," Wolf said not quite warmly, but close.

"Wolf," came the quiet, accented response.

Snake. The medic of the group and probably the least hostile towards Cub. Capable soldier. More introverted. Threat levels? Unknown. 20-60%? (ones and zeros). Out of the danger zone.

"This is Alex. He's... " Wolf frowned uncertainly. "I'm looking after him. MI6."

"I'm Snake," Snake said, studying him with a strangely intense gaze.

"Cool. So you're also with the SAS?" Alex asked, faking innocent curiosity.

"Yeah."

The tension in the room grew more noticeable.

"Why don't we-?" Wolf gestured towards the living room.

"I'm starving, you got any food?" Snake asked, following Wolf. Alex trailed along behind, picking the chair closest to the door.

Alex fought the urge to flinch. He doesn't know what it's like to be starving.

Shut up, It's just something people say.

The two soldiers were looking at him expectantly. He'd blanked out for part of their conversation without realising. Stupidstupidstupid.

"Sorry, what was that?" Alex asked. He allowed a tiny bit of the embarrassment he felt to paint itself across his cheeks.

"We're getting takeout," Wolf said slowly.

Alex wondered why that needed his input.

"Yeah?"

"What do you want?" Oh.

"Oh um, anything is fine." Alex gave a shrug. Normal teen, normal teen, normal teen. "Just make sure there's a lot of it, I'm starving-" (no you aren't) "-too."

Snake smiled at him in amusement as Wolf left the room to order. Snake pulled a book off the shelf and flipped to where there was a purple bookmark. Alex studied Snake's body language. Snake seemed quite at ease in his unit leader's home. They weren't just a unit, they were friends.

The doorbell rang, disturbing the content silence that came with books. Heavy footsteps stopped as Wolf opened the door. Automatically, Alex tensed.

Alex listened carefully to the conversation. It was more of a habit than something he did consciously. If Snake was already here...

"Can I use your bathroom?" came the voice of Eagle. Alex's shoulders relaxed.

Wolf grunted in response. There were footsteps and into the room walked Ben Daniels. Ben froze in the doorway

"Alex?"

Despite his surprise, Alex kept his expression smooth, a skill he had perfected.

"Hi." Alex gave a small wave. He pulled his legs up onto the chair so he was sitting cross-legged.

"Wait. How do know the kid, Fox?" Wolf frowned, walking past Ben and into the living room.

Ben's forehead creased.

"Wolf… don't you remember Cub?"

Wolf's eyes widened.

"Cub? You're… " Wolf stared at Alex before sinking into an armchair.

"You're Cub, of course, it makes sense. I thought I recognised you." Snake smiled.

Alex ducked his head apologetically.

"I wasn't sure if MI6 wanted you to know. You know, confidentiality and all." It isn't a lie it isn't a lie it isn't-

Fox sends him a confused blink but doesn't say anything.

"I think I broke your toilet." Eagle pushed past Ben and into the room. "Oh hey, you didn't tell me Cub would be here!"

Alex shifted in his seat, the only sign he showed of his discomfort. Why were Snake and Eagle acting so friendly towards him? Were they trying to get close to him?

Wolf fixed Alex with a glare. Internally, Alex rolled his eyes. Glaring was definitely a very 'Wolf' response. Unfortunately, that meant that Alex had no real indication of what Wolf was thinking. Before he could fully analyse the expression, the doorbell rang for the third time that night.

Wolf looked around at the others. Fox pulled out his phone and frowned like he had gotten an important text. Snake went back to his book. Eagle just grinned and stepped to the side, giving a vague hand wave. Wolf huffed loudly and stood up, heading out of the room.

Alex felt a slight pang of… something. He pushed it aside before it could consume him.

Hey, it's your author here. My name is Jade by the way, so that's how I'll be signing off from now on. So sorry for such a long wait, I'll try to get the next chapter up quickly this time. Thanks for reading, it means a lot to me.

Jade