Disclaimer: "Do I or will I ever own the Alex Rider series"… My magic 8 ball says no (p.s this is set after Snakehead as I have not read all of crocodile tears, only on the first chappy lol)
After is was agreed that after Alex was in a stable enough condition he would go and live with K-Unit Blunt debriefed them and they were free to go. Blunt had even allowed them a period of four months to stay in the country away from active duty so they could take care of him but of course that didn't mean they got out of doing paper work.
Back out in the fresh air which was like godsend after being in that stuffy bank Eagle asked the ever important question "What do we do now?"
"Well I doubt Cub's going to be out of surgery anytime soon so we might as well get his room ready. I'm almost sure he wont be happy about moving in with us but we might as well make him feel as welcome as possible" said Snake glancing at his watch, it had only been an hour since they'd first gone into the bank.
"I guess your right but he isn't having my room" argued Fox.
They all raised an eyebrow at Fox and he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
"You mean you want to move back in?" asked Wolf slowly.
"Just to watch out for Cub, what's safer than three SAS soldiers AND an MI6 agent" he reasoned masking the fact that he had been missing living with the guys ever since that first night in the cold lonely house that was too big for one person. "I'm sure when Blunt said we could have four months that meant me as well!" he added.
Wolf sighed but couldn't hide the smile that his former team mate wanted to come back, they'd all missed him as well but they'd got over it as it was his choice. But now it could be like it used to be…with the addition of Cub.
"Well if you have to" huffed Wolf in mock annoyance, a rare playfulness he used when he was truly happy.
"Oh yeah, K-Unit is back together!" whooped Eagle. "Oh and I don't know about you but I really want to have a shower"
The rest of the day was spent changing into cleaner clothes and sorting out Cubs room. Fox and Eagle volunteered to go and collect Cubs stuff from his house but trust me this was not all in an act of kindness, Eagle was just plain nosy and Fox was curious to see what had gone on in the house. He suspected it had been cleaned but cleaners can't always hide everything.
They went to the front door and surprise surprise, it was locked.
"Blunt or Jones didn't happen to give you a key, did they?" asked Fox cursing himself for his own stupidity.
"Do you know anyone who would trust me with a key?" protested Eagle
"…good point"
Before they knew Eagle had a tendency to lose the most basic things they'd been locked out of their cabin and spent the rest of the night trying to find a way back in but as they didn't know they'd be having to do it they'd locked all the windows so the cabin would at least be 'marginally' warm and no heat could escape. What seemed like such a good plan turned out to be the worst ever. In the end they did a 'cub' as it was now called and Eagle (seeing as it was his fault) had to spend ages trying to slid down the chimney face first. He never wanted to be trusted with anything again.
"There's got be a spare key around here somewhere" muttered Fox looked under the welcome mat which hid nothing.
So they spent the next ten minutes trying to find a spare key but it seemed that Cub and his housekeeper wanted to keep all safety precautions, even if the person who wanted to come in could just bring down the door but still, if it made him sleep easier.
"Come on you're a spy, don't they teach you this sort of thing?"
"Fine fine, let me think…' Eagle looked at Fox expectantly '…I've got it!" Fox pulled out a needle from his pocket.
"Please tell me that's some sort of gadget"
"It is, had it for a mission ages ago and I just sort of forgot to give it back" Fox grinned slyly and Eagle clapped him on the back.
"I knew I'd start rubbing off on you! So, what does it do?"
"Even though it looks like a flimsy piece of metal the tip is so sharp it can cut through glass, you see where I'm going?"
It seemed Eagle didn't so Fox went over the window and drew a circle in the glass, once the slits met each other Fox pushed in the glass and then put his hand through to open the window.
"Coming?"
Climbing through the window they entered the living room which held nothing out of the ordinary, obviously things hadn't taken place there.
"Let's go"
Outside in the hallway Fox did a quick scan trying to find anything unusual, he even checked the ceiling but there was nothing, if there was it had gone. He turned to follow Eagle when he saw a dent in the framework of the door that probably led to the kitchen.
"You go on ahead, I'll be there in a second" he told Eagle who nodded and went upstairs.
Fox entered the kitchen but there was nothing else that looked strange except for a rug that had been placed near the door. It was such a weird place to put a rug that the only reason it could have been put there was to cover it. Also it was totally the wrong colour but Fox wouldn't know that.
He lifted up the carpet and felt disgusted. A dark brown stain that was mixed with what he didn't want to guess was stuck to the floor and he wondered if it had belonged to that housekeeper's of Cubs. And if it did, had Cub witnessed what happened to her, Fox wasn't sure but he was sure he'd be sick if he didn't cover it back up. Yes he could stand seeing that type of thing but when he was off duty and a kid was involved it brought out the horrible reality of it.
Thinking he should discuss it with Cub when they take him to the flat he went after Eagle to get a look at Cub's room. He went inside to find Eagle opening each draw looking more shocked by the minute. He couldn't see why though, it looked like any teenage boys would, blue theme with a few Chelsea football posters.
"What's wrong?" Fox asked.
"It's... it's tidy!"
Fox scoffed. "Just because you seem to make it look like a tornado's hit your room all the time doesn't mean everyone else's has to look that way"
Eagle huffed but continued. "How many teenage boys room have you seen that looks this tidy and so… I don't know, boring?"
Now Eagle mentioned it the room did look boring, like Cub hadn't bothered to make it look like his own. Other than those Chelsea posters and a picture of a man and a younger Alex there was really nothing to give away Cub's personality. Sure he'd met him but anyone else wouldn't have a clue. It was kind of creepy. [1]
"Maybe that's just how Cub likes it, now lets just get this stuff back home"
Home, it felt good saying that and soon he would also be able to get a better insight in the boy that is Alex Rider A.K.A Cub.
"Do you think he'll like it?"
"He'd better or I'll give him a piece of my mind"
"Who wouldn't, it looks just fine"
Once Fox and Eagle had got back from Alex's house they had set upon the task of preparing his room even though it might be ages until he could actually see it but as they didn't actually know how extreme the injuries were they were just going to make it in case. It was even kind of fun designing the room but you'd never catch Wolf saying it, just let Eagle for him. And it defiantly wasn't him who said posters looked wonky and then straightened them.
The room itself had nice light green wallpaper with a dark green carpet and a summer leaves bed covers and all the necessities a room would need. It was a bit small and had been extremely dusty from lack of use but that's what cleaning supplies were for. They had put up the posters and also added the pictures, they'd also managed to find one with a pretty red headed woman in it and they were pretty sure it was Cub's housekeeper. It even said her name on the back, Jack. Well at least Jack could rest in peace knowing Cub wasn't alone.
"So we're visiting him tomorrow right?" asked Snake.
"We might as well start this parental thing right away"
Alex's POV
No, not again, please not another one. For a while Alex had been free of the terrifying nightmares but it seemed his luck had run out for now. This time he was with a different man, it was the very man who had ordered his capture. He'd hoped he wouldn't have to see his face again but it seemed his mind had other ideas.
"It isn't much to ask Alex, really. Just tell me, what is the password?"
The interrogation had started when the man had realised Alex could hold valuable information but the truth was Alex didn't. Right now he wanted the password to MI6's computer files but when did he really think Alex would have been told that? Maybe it was just an excuse to torture him more, he wasn't sure but the torture would be inevitable anyway.
"I've already told you, I don't know!" he shouted, his lungs and throat burning from the lack of water.
"But are you sure Alex, they didn't tell you anything, I can hardly believe they would keep so much from their best agent" his interrogator said picking up a surgical knife and wiping it with the edge of his shirt.
"Nothing I swear, they don't trust me"
"Well, until they decide to 'trust you' as you claim to say we'll just see how you find this"
He was coming closer and closer and Alex, bound tightly to a chair, could do nothing to stop him. The glint of the knife becoming brighter and brighter….
The nightmare had thankfully ended before he could relive the pain again. How much longer must he have them, to see everything over and over again. But at least this one was over…until the next one came.
I just want to say now a MASSIVE THANK YOU to all of you who have reviewed and given so much support. I know I haven't replied but all most of you would get was a thanks :3 and I do appreciate them but instead I'll do them all here as well as answering any questions you have. So once again THANK YOU to all of you and all of you who have added me on your favourite lists and what not, it means a lot.
Now I would just like to comment on how these quick updates won't last, it happens on all my stories then I end up getting writes block or something and even though I sort of have a plot… its very vague so anything can happen. Also I have changed the layout for Alex's nightmares and I might have one in each chapter if you like that idea, it makes for longer chapters and gives you an insight on what happened to Alex. So you want one in each chapter or near enough (whenever night and sleep comes).
I seem to have also managed to make getting into a house as long as possible but at least I gave you a nice long chapter, even if it is a filler and could be quite boring but next time should get better. Ah I liked writing it anyway, go K-Unit humour and Wolf being OOC!
That's all for now and next time K-Unit visits Alex at the hospital (I want him to be awake but after the injuries I've given the poor boy I don't know how realistic that would be, I'm all for letting K-Unit take him now…ooooh a plot bunny has just jumped on my head for that chapter!) :3
[1] I forgotten if I says what Alex's room looks like so I made up my own for him.
