Hey guys!!! New chapter for you...will hopefully be as long as the last one but it depends really on how much I want to happen...and how much time I get to write (:

And just cos it got pointed out (thanks btw) I'm gonna tell you all this one teeny tiny important fact most of you won't even have noticed I've shifted the timeline in this a bit so that Fox is still SAS...originally I was gonna have him MI6 (hence the name problem which I've now fixed)...but he is SAS just for the fun of it.


Alex looked at Fox who gave the boy the faintest of smiles.

"14 minutes and 59 seconds, you cut it close there Cub."

Alex turned his head slightly so he could see the end of the assault course from his position on the, currently very soft feeling, floor that he felt like going to sleep on and didn't bother replying. He wasn't overly bothered how far under the 15 he'd been more that he'd actually managed to get under it, besides the shorter his time now the shorter time limit he'd have next time, something surprisingly enough Alex was keen to avoid. Contrary to popular belief he did not have a death wish, or any desire to have to run that assault course again. Shame that Fox didn't seem to care about that particular fact wasn't it?

"Right then Cub, sprint back to the start and run it again. I wanna see it done in less than that."

Alex groaned and forced himself off the ground, coercing his aching muscles into action and started running, half turning and giving Fox the finger when he got told to pick up the pace. He wasn't the one who was going to have to come up with some reason why people he'd already overtaken the first time round were being passed by him again. And only 10 minutes later. Should be fun, heck, maybe he should tell them all that he's a teenage spy for MI6 while he was at it, it was currently better than any other explanation he could come up with. He'd already had some funny looks about his speed the first time.

Ignoring his muscles' protests Alex started pulling himself up over the first hurdle. He was by no means going slow, just not as fast as last time...well until he got up and running. Then of course when he spotted his school mates he'd have to slow down – in simple terms there was no way he'd mange it in less than 15 minutes this time, or if you wanted to get picky 14 minutes and 59 seconds. Halfway through the dreaded thing Alex caught up with the, 'slow', members of the group.

"Alex?" Reece forced out between gasps. "Haven't you done this already?"

Alex put on an annoyed expression, not hard to do considering he was annoyed.

"SAS bastard reckons I cheated, he's making me rerun it." Well it was only a half lie; said SAS bastard was making him rerun it, just not because of cheating.

"Harsh."

Alex nodded then sprinted over to the next obstacle, an absolutely delightful mud crawl. Not that the mud was anything major given the state of his kit already, but adding the fresh mud on top of it was not exactly pleasant to say the least. And to top it all it started raining, not an unusual occurrence at Brecon Beacons but not a very pleasant or welcome one either. Personally Alex was under the impression that whoever decided to build the camp here chose it specifically for that reason alone.

5 minutes later Alex glanced down at the remainder of the course from his vantage point at the top of the wall and saw Fox smirking and tapping his watch. Alex contemplated giving him the finger again but figured the distance meant it would be lost on the man, ignoring that fact Alex did so. The man returned the gesture then held up 4 fingers causing Alex to swear and start moving. Fox was hardly the worst out of the bunch but he'd be in for it if he failed to get himself there within the ludicrously small time limit he had left.

Dropping to the ground gasping for breath Alex shot a glare at Fox who nodded; apparently impressed. Alex just rolled onto his back and tried to catch his breath. Tom looked over sympathetically having gathered that Alex had been made to run the thing twice in the same time limit they had to do it once having been filled in on the fact that these were the same guys that had trained him last time.

"Rider! Get off your ass now! Or else I'm making you run it again." Fox snapped.

Alex jumped up reflexively snapping to attention, cursing inwardly at his actions. Honestly Rider! You're a spy, and you can't even keep your cover in front of this lot! Alex carried on berating himself as Fox smirked softly at the teen's expense. Noticing Alex scowled but didn't dare give the man the finger in front of the rest of the kids, too many awkward questions. At least his exhaustion could be explained by the illnesses MI6 dreamed up for his absences, he could be still recovering – whether anyone would believe him was a different matter. He'd proved he was still in top form at school the week before playing football against a school Alex couldn't remember the name of for the life of him. For at least the 5th time since he'd been told about this delightful visit Alex damned everyone who worked for MI6 to an eternity in fiery hell.

"Right then kidlets, I do believe it is time for you to meet my dear friend Snake for some fun endurance tests. And I don't want any complaints from any of you. You are running there. You have no choice in this matter. I will be following so I will know if you stop. Get moving."

Fox grinned and the 20 exhausted teens started moving. Alex hung back slightly and quietly asked Fox what his time had been.

"14 minutes 26 seconds." The man replied. "Better than Wolf on a bad day."

"And your time?"

"13 minutes, give or take a few seconds. Wolf's still the fastest out of all of us but Snake's pretty close to catching him – 12 minutes 8 seconds, Wolf got his down to 11 minutes 55 seconds."

Alex grinned. "Then I've got 11 minutes 55 to beat before I leave."

Fox stopped in shock and Alex sprinted off taking advantage of the man's momentary pause. Looking at the teen's retreating back Fox snapped back into action and started running, chivvying some of the slower kids along, and shouting at the others to get a move on. Alex smirked and deliberately slowed down.

"Rider!" The man hollered. "Get your lazy ass moving before I come and kick it into gear!"

Still smirking Alex sped up slightly, enough that Fox couldn't scream at him but not enough that he'd tire himself out. Endurance tests were never fun and Snake seemed to take a sadistic pleasure in wiping everybody out, and then making them work some more. Alex swore that it was an entry requirement for the SAS, and so far not one soldier in this camp had managed to change his mind, either time he'd been here.


"Right then kiddies. I've been told you're all incredibly fit little superspies. I've also been told by your delightful Mr Large, that you guys can do pretty much anything with lead on your backs. So guess what? You guys are getting backpacks with 15 kilos of lead in them and then you're off on a 10 mile run. But just to get you warmed up I want 50 press ups with those lovely packs on your backs. So, get going!"

Recognising an order when they heard one the CHERUBs grabbed a pack each and started on their press ups. All of the lads there could easily manage 50, but cold as they were and with an extra 15 kilos on their backs the slightly weedier of the group struggled towards the end whereas the stockier kids like James managed them a lot easier. Seeing James done Eagle smiled and walked over to him.

"Was that 50 Adams?"

"Yes sir." James practically screamed.

"See here's the funny thing, I don't think it was. So you wanna know what I think Adams?"

"What sir?" James said knowing perfectly well what was coming.

"I think that you need to do another 50 for me. And I'm going to count them personally this time."

Knowing from experience with Large James bit back his retort and started on his next 50, however once he hit 45 Eagle, who seemed to have taken a leaf out of Miss Speaks' book*, put a heavy boot on James' back and pushed down. Hard. Grunting James stubbornly carried on, pushing against the man's weight forcing the muscles in his arms to work overtime until he managed number 46. Eagle it appeared wasn't happy that James hadn't given in so kept his foot on the teen's back as James struggled to complete his last 3 press ups. Unfortunately for the pair both of them were incredibly stubborn bastards and neither of them were giving in.

5 minutes later James had finally managed to get in his final three press ups and was gasping for breath. Despite being impressed, by the kid's determination if nothing else, Eagle refused to show it in front of the kids; after all they might think he actually liked them (!), so just sent them on their run instead. After he was certain the kids were out of earshot Eagle turned to Wolf and spoke.

"Well, at least one of these supposedly fantastic kiddies is halfway decent."

Wolf merely raised an eyebrow at the man and jogged after the twenty teens. Thinking up ways to prove that these 'superspies' weren't all that they were cracked up to be Eagle followed suit, albeit a bit slower due to the intense thinking giving his brain a much harder work out than normal – not that that was an overly hard thing to do.

A bit further ahead the CHERUBs were muttering among themselves about the "evil bastard who needs to get laid". James only half listened to all the comments as he ran, he was more interested in trying to keep upright after the hell his muscles had gone through after Eagle's 'fun'. Looking to the side he saw one of the Brookland groups going over the assault course. At first glance it looked no worse than the one back on campus but after a closer inspection it proved to be a fair bit longer if not all aerial based like the one the CHERUBs were used to. Gathering from his experience so far James tried to take in as much of the course as possible and work out ways to make it easier, and theoretically faster.

Noticing some of the other CHERUBs looking at him he indicated the course and told them what he was doing. Seeing the sense many of them copied the idea whilst trying to keep up their pace. Hearing the crunching of boots behind them they quickly tore their eyes from the oversized adventure playground and sped up trying to keep as much distance between themselves and the two SAS soldiers as possible. If they were like Large, which so far that seemed to be the case, if they caught up then there'd be hell to pay. Hell normally comprising of countless sit ups, press ups, squats and, if there was anywhere to do them, pull ups. Of course this would be SAS hell so was undoubtedly going to be 10 times worse.

Seriously wishing for his own broken in boots James pounded over the only bit of hard ground he'd come across on the track feeling the blisters forming and knowing he was going to be in agony the entire time they were here knowing that there was no way he'd manage to get hold of some better boots while they healed. Thinking about it he probably could nab some off someone else but there was no guarantee they'd be any better and at least these would only stink of his own feet.

However long it was until they finished their run, none of them had watches on, the CHERUBs were all very much looking forward to a 10 minute break. Unfortunately for the CHERUBs they were currently at an SAS camp where the idea of free time was a foreign concept. As Wolf and Eagle arrived the 20 teens stopped their quiet muttering and stood waiting for instruction.

"Right then my dear angels. I think it's time you lot had some fun on our assault course. And don't bother getting rid of the packs – they stay with you."

Some of the CHERUBs who'd removed their packs consequently bent down and forced them back on straining already sore shoulders.

"Right then." Wolf said. "Follow me, and anyone who stops running will be running the assault course until they puke. Clear?"

"Yes sir!" The 20 CHERUBs shouted, scrambling to follow Wolf as quickly as possible before punishment began.


*I finally got hold of a copy of DARK SUN (amazing things charity shops are!!!) and this bit just screamed at me to be put in here so it did...:) lol

Anyways, hope you liked and it IS as long as chapter two I am so pleased with myself! And that I've managed to stick to my updating schedule for once!!! I normally don't...although to get this written I have ignored my CHERUB fic which only needs one more chapter...I'll do it tomorrow...

I was gonna put in the other group's endurance test but I decided that given that I'm going over Alex doing it anyway there's no point. I don't have a character in that group to focus on anyway.

Ldf x