The sun was high up in the air representing noon as soldiers began their work out, some climbing and some crawling under obstacles. Fox, aka Ben, smiled at Alex who grimaced at being back here. He squirmed slightly in the car seat, clutching Button more to him. Fox discovered that the bear really did seem to help Alex and give him some sort of comfort, even if it was subconscious because of the reminder of childhood. He parked the car and unbuckled Alex. Cub walked in front of him with the bear in his arms, unwilling to let it go. He opened the office door and Alex walked in. The Sergeant nearly dropped his papers as he saw the boy and his guardian. That's when the two spies noticed he had Alex's folder in his hands. Sergeant Raven was silent for a moment or two, having been taken aback when he read the file. 11 small missions formed into 8 large missions? Most of them involved the SAS having to clean up, never knowing who the spy was that saved the world so many times. The Sergeant turned to face them, staring at the little boy in front of him.
"Cub?" Sergeant Raven asked. Alex nodded and Raven blinked before coughing and the two took a seat.
"Fox and Cub. You two will be here for four days tops and Fox, you will be training to work on that arm of yours. Speaking of which, how fit have you been staying?" Raven questioned. Considering Fox was Agent Daniels now, he no longer used a formal tone with the fact that they were agents and not soldiers. Before Ben had left, Raven had admitted to him that he was an excellent soldier and would be missed. So naturally, when he got shot and had to be off duty for awhile, Raven requested of MI6 to allow Fox to come back to SAS every now and then to touch up his arm. Today was the first time that Fox would be doing this.
"Quite nicely. A jog in the morning and some push ups every now and then seem to work, though I'll make sure that my arm is improved by the end of these four days." Ben said airily. Raven's lips twitched and he turned his gaze to Alex who stood straight and met his gaze.
"Cub," Raven said after some hesitation, "you are pleased to train with Fox though that will be asking for the impossible with your new body. Instead, I suggest you either just watch Fox or you may follow me to see the other units train. You're an agent's son so the two options are reasonable. Your file tells me you were shot and the previous injuries from your last mission were... scarring yet the physical scars faded when you regressed. Have you had any therapy for these missions you've done?"
"No sir." Alex said flatly.
"I see... Dismissed. Your belongings are with K-Unit and I expect no one but the people in this room to know that you are Cub. Therefore you should not be called Cub here and... Alex... it'd be safer if you referred to Fox as your father of course." The two nodded and Fox took Alex's hand to lead him to the cabin. The sergeant watched this impassively, recalling something similar in his life.
Earlier...
The unit in question were sitting in their cabin, having just been told some interesting news. The leader of the unit stood in front of the other two men. He was Irish with medium black hair and hazel eyes, though his hair was short and had hints of red in it. He was twenty-eight and had a talent in running, his bolded muscled legs giving away this fact. He was average in height at 72 inches and he had a knack for his temper. His name was Derryck Mason aka Wolf... He glared at the soldier on the bed who was absently playing with his army hat while whistling. This man was twenty-seven, the youngest in the group, and had light brown hair that made it look like mouse brown and he had stunning blue eyes. He was french and stood at 71 inches, just one inch under Derryck. He was the most talented in shooting and karate, considering his lean nature and quick movement. He was fluent in french and bore the name Jason McKnight, his codename being Eagle. The last man in the cabin was the medic who was Scottish with dark red hair and green eyes. He had a stern nature about him that was also marked with a caring personality. He was the tallest, at 75 inches, and was the only one married. His wife, Sarah, was a female doctor at St. Dominics and she sent letters to him when he was away at base. He lived near Ben when he was off for break. His real name was Chris Evans though here he went by Snake.
"We're due at front to pick up Fox's bags while he goes to talk to the Sergeant." Wolf said clearly.
"It's too bad he can only stay for four days right now," Eagle said unhappily.
"The Sergeant said he had a surprise," Snake pointed out with a frown. Wolf shrugged and they heard a commotion outside. They checked the time and cursed as they realized they had to go now. They took off for the parked car that was by the only vehicles nearby the Sergeant's office. Right when they got there, a door closed meaning Fox had just entered the Sergeant's office. Wolf sighed in some relief before turning to the blue car in front of them. It looked brand new and they blinked, remembering that Ben used to drive a truck. This was his car though, considering they saw the license plate that the Sergeant told him was Ben's.
"Guess we better get this stuff to the cabin," Wolf grunted and he opened the unlocked door... only to blink in confusion. He stared at it with wide eyes, his mouth partially open. Snake and Eagle peaked over his shoulder.
"You sure we have the right car?" Snake asked in disbelief. This was because right in front of them in the backseat was a child car seat with blue sport patterns for a child and next to it were two bags. One had to have been Ben's, with the Daniels word on the side stitched in and the black design. The one next to it was red with Pokemon designed on the front, and in small letters you could see the name ALEX on the strap.
"Maybe Fox just left it there when he drove. He could be borrowing a car," Eagle suggested.
"Then why would he borrow a car that obviously the owner has a little boy? Wouldn't she or he need it?" Snake asked dryly. Wolf coughed to get them back on task and they decided on just taking the two bags with them. Eagle happily volunteered to take the child bag. When they reached the cabin, they put it on the empty bed and all sat on their own beds. They wondered about the incident until they heard the door quickly open... and in walked something that made each soldier taken aback in the cabin. Laughter drew their attention even more.
In walked a small five-year-old boy with blond hair and brown eyes. He was probably around 38 inches and was currently panting. He wore small denim short with a red T-shirt. The boy turned around and the unit stared as Ben ran in, stopping to laugh at the boy who smiled a little at him.
"Why must you be so fast Al," Ben said between breaths.
"Sorry," the kid simply said, shrugging his shoulders. His voice was a little high-pitched like any other child's and he had an anxious air about him. The little boy turned and stopped as he faced them now, gazing at the three men in wonder. Probably because each soldier had their mouth's open in shock. The fact that there was a little boy in front of them was the only thing that could cross their minds. Ben straightened himself and scooped Alex up, ignoring the boy's indignant yelp, and closed the door. Ben walked over to the bed with the bags and sat down before the three broke out into questions.
"Woah. Easy guys! I'll tell you one thing at a time," Ben laughed as he sat Alex down next to him who clutched his bear to him and looked at the three silently. Wolf blinked as he recalled that look from someone else almost a year ago, but couldn't quite place it. His eyebrows knitted together as he thought about it before deciding to just ask Ben about the kid next to him who was leaning against Ben's side.
"Whose the kid?" Wolf asked, sitting up straight.
"Alex Daniels, my son." Ben said proudly, ruffling Alex's hair who glared at him for a moment or two.
"How old is he?" Eagle asked, now bouncing on his bed, "And why is he here with you!"
"I'm five," Alex cut in, "and I wanted to see the army." The unit noticed he did not stutter over words and he talked clearly. They blinked. He clearly understood everything and responded more maturely than most children.
"The Sergeant gave me the okay and I couldn't leave him for four days." Ben admitted. Snake nodded and soon they were catching up with each other. Fox told them of his Snakehead mission, though not any details, and he mentioned he worked with Cub. Alex listened distractedly, playing with the DS that Ben had bought him on the way here so that Alex had something to do. His phone was in Ben's bag so no one would wonder why a five year old kid had that sort of thing. This led to Eagle wondering out loud what Cub was doing. No one except Ben noticed Alex stiffen. Ben discreetly put a hand on Alex's back, as he had rolled onto his stomach on the bed.
"Last I heard, he was MIA," Ben recalled with a frown. That was Alex Rider's status as he was currently Alex Daniels.
"And here I was thinking he was with his rich father," Wolf said with a huff.
"His parents died when he was one," Ben said with a pointed look. He began to absently run circles in Alex's back who blinked up at him.
"Then who was his guardian?" Snake asked, surprised.
"His uncle who died when he was 14 and then his caretaker." Ben said with a sigh. They were quiet for a moment before Wolf stood up with a loud comment of dinner. They all stood up and Ben whispered something to Alex who nodded quietly and allowed himself to be lifted up. Leaning tiredly against Ben's shoulder, Alex continued playing Mario on the DS. It kept him busy and he didn't feel like talking anyways. They walked to the Mess Hall where it grew quiet as they all spotted former soldier Ben and in his arms, a little boy. The group got their trays and Ben slid into a seat at their table, placing Alex next to him who concentrated on his DS more than the food in front of him. Ben finally told Alex to pause it and the boy grumbled but did so. When he noticed most of the soldiers staring at him, Alex felt an intense notion to hide under the table, but he stubbornly ignored the ridiculous feeling and focused on eating the grub. Ben shook his head in exasperation before he ate his own, passing conversation between Snake before he noticed one of the soldiers walking over to them. It was the leader of A-Unit who trained with Ben and them, Lynx. Alex stopped eating to look at the man as he slid into a seat in front of them.
"Hey Fox, hows MI6 working out with yah?" Lynx asked.
"Pretty good Lynx." Fox said simply. He paused, then flashed a grin, "Not much of a team-effort thing. More along the lines of every man for yourself taught there." Lynx laughed and then looked at the kid curiously. Alex had to resist the urge to hit the man. What he couldn't help himself was... he opened his mouth.
"Do I have something on my face?" Alex asked sarcastically before he paused. Ben choked on his food and so did quite a lot of people. Here they were, thinking this kid was unbelievably shy and innocent, when he says something like that. Lynx glared at the kid while K-Unit looked at Alex in amusement.
"He's your kid, right?" Lynx asked. Ben nodded.
"You better teach the brat some manners for his betters," Lynx said and turned bright red at Alex's next comment.
"Funny. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed? I thought it was better manners NOT to stare. Did you not learn about manners?" Alex couldn't stop himself from saying. Ben groaned and put a hand over his charge's mouth while Lynx turned beat red and glared darkly at Alex. The Sergeant was chuckling silently from his spot at the staff table while the soldiers all stared at the kid in disbelief.
"You better watch yourself kid." Lynx threatened.
"You really feel the need to threaten a five-year-old boy?" Sergeant Raven's voice cut in, walking over to them. Lynx faltered.
"Because he doesn't have the brains to threaten someone his size," Alex added, wrestling Ben's hand off his mouth. Ben face palmed himself while his unit stared at their former teammate's son.
"Lynx, get your ass to the assault course with your unit. Fox, take your son back to the cabin to rest or you can take him with you to the Shooting course to WATCH your assessment. K-Unit, head to the killing house. You've got some touching up to do. Dismissed," Raven ordered and they all stood at attention. Cub barely stopped himself from doing the same thing. Ben slipped Alex back into his arms and carried him to the cabin, leaving everyone.
"Why can't I go with you to see you shoot?" Alex asked, wriggling in Fox's arms.
"You just shot your mouth out to a soldier, despite my silent warning," Fox said exasperatedly.
"He is not my better," Alex stressed out.
"Alex. You're FIVE right now. He's like in his thirties. Please think before you say anything. Did you do this on missions too?" Fox asked as he sat Alex on the bed in the cabin.
"Yes..." Alex admitted. Fox groaned loudly and just ruffled Alex's blond hair before he ordered Alex to get dressed in his other pajamas (these were just blue and plaid designed) and in bed. He'd be back later after his assessment to tuck Alex in and that he could stay up until then. Once making sure Alex did as he asked, Fox left after a quick hug which left Alex in a flinch for a moment or two. Alex shook his head and laid on his back, staring at the ceiling, before he took hold of Button and grabbed his phone from Ben's bag. He spent about an hour texting before growing immensely bored. Feeling the strongest and strangest desire to, he hopped off the bed and left the cabin in search of the shooting range. He had never been there considering he didn't learn to shoot here. As he was crossed a path, he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see Lynx smirking quite evilly at him. Alex felt slightly ridiculous having to look up at this man in his pajamas while clutching his stuffed bear.
"Well. Well. Well. It seems we have a little boy lost." Lynx began. Alex stared at him before he suddenly found Lynx's fist connect with his face before he could blink. Alex blinked in shock and Lynx seemed to still as he realized what he just did. He would have continued though if it hadn't been for a tired looking Ben and K-Unit walking towards them. Alex hatched an idea and, immediately putting his fists next to his eyes, he screwed his eyes up, sniffing, and began to tear up. He applauded himself mentally as he began to fake cry so realistically that he indeed looked like he was bawling like a real child. The slowly forming bruise was proudly displayed on his cheek and Lynx gulped at Ben's sudden murderous face.
"I can explain!" Lynx screamed, sticking his hands in the air and jumping back from Alex. The four men stepped forward menacingly as one, reminding Lynx on just why they were one of the best units in the SAS even if Fox no longer was apart of the unit. He glanced down nervously. Alex continued to fake cry and this seemed to make the men angrier, thinking Alex was really crying. Lynx was screwed.
Author's Note: Those who think this one isn't 'darker' better take note of the quote mark I put around the word. It's not as fluffy as Everlasting Changes was I meant, where Alex hardly thinks like a 14-year-old. For the record, one of my guy friends boldly called my dad, daddy, to his face. Reaction? Priceless! He's 15. I'm going to try to write all four days out instead of skipping. Should be fun. Don't know all of what Soldiers do though.
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