Here's another chapter up, sorry for the delay.
Shark gave a shaky nod and whimpered. Dimitri fixed him with an icy glare and Alex couldn't resist shuddering again.
Gone was the quiet, passive, Russian boy. This boy was a cold killer.
Dimitri rose with disgust and kicked Shark hard in the ribs. Shark screamed in pain and a loud resounding crack sounded throughout the hall.
"Two ribs for each rib of Mikhail's you broke," Dimitri said. "Next time you will not get off so easy."
Dimitri left the hall and Mikhail staggered after him. K-unit followed and saw Mikhail standing alone outside, clutching his side.
"You need to go to the medical ward," Snake said rushing forward.
"Het," Mikhail said. "I am fine."
"No you're not. The intestinal damage could be life threatening," Snake said. "As a medic it's my responsibility to make sure you receive proper care."
"Look man, there's some stuff the medic unit shouldn't know," Mikhail said quietly. Snake raised an eyebrow.
"Let's talk somewhere more private," Snake said and he led the way to their cabin. Alex and the rest of K-unit followed to the cabin.
Once they had all reached the cabin and shut the door Snake turned to Mikhail.
"Okay, sit down and let me take a look."
Mikhail hesitated and glanced meaningfully at the rest of K-unit.
"We're a unit, we don't keep secrets," Snake said. Mikhail sighed.
"Fine, but this stays in the room," he warned. "You should say nothing to Dimitri, either."
"Why?" Snake asked curiously. "You are brothers, surely he is concerned."
Mikhail sighed, but instead of answering with words he reached up and gripped his shirt, yanking it over his head with a sharp hiss of pain.
K-unit froze at the sight. Snake was sitting still with the medical kit open in hand, Eagle gaped at Mikhail, and Wolf paused mid-step to his bunk.
Mikhail smiled weakly at the unit.
"What happened?" Snake demanded.
Mikhail's torso was covered with scars. Methodical marks from a whip marred his back and he had several bullet scars on his shoulder. Over his heart the letters M. A. were ingrained with scar tissue. His ribs, splotchy red and purple, looked mild in comparison.
Mikhail shrugged noncommittally.
"We did not have an easy life in Russia," Mikhail. "The details are classified."
"No," Wolf said. "We're a unit, and we need answers. Is Dimitri like this too?"
Snake sighed and pulled out his bandages.
"We worked for a certain Russian organization in Russia. Dimitri and I were recruited at a young age and we would go on missions. It was not a pleasant experience. We left, end of story."
"It was not the bloody end of the story," Wolf scowled. "How did you get all those scars?"
"They were from various occurrences," Mikhail said. "The bullets were from a mission that went particularly poor, and the lash markings were one time when I failed and was captured," Mikhail explained.
"And the letters?" Wolf asked. Snake stepped back from Mikhail to check his work and nodded with approval.
"Are none of you business," Mikhail replied, his voice, for the first time, sounding as cold as Dimitri's.
"Mikhail..." Fox murmured. Mikhail sighed.
"Het. Leave it. There are some questions I will not answer."
Wolf glared at Mikhail but fell silent.
"We have training now," Fox warned. Wolf nodded and they all rose.
"Not a word to Dimitri," Mikhail repeated. K-unit nodded with disapproving looks.
Alex frowned at Mikhail. The letters on his chest had seemed familiar. Alex was certain he'd seen them and eagerly waited for a chance to question Mikhail in-private. After their next training session Alex would get his chance when the unit had psychologist appointments.
Dimitri joined K-unit with a look of indifference as they walked to the obstacle course. Once they reached the course they were greeted by the emotionless sergeant.
"It's team course running today," the Sergeant said. "Units have been running this course all day, and all unit members must finish to count. Of course, with three such well-behaved kids I'm sure you'll have no problem," he added sarcastically.
"Well, come on kiddies, get started," he bellowed.
K-unit took off with a run. Fox quickly scaled the wall with the help of Wolf lifting him to the top. Wolf helped Eagle and Snake up. Alex stood last, waiting for all others to go. Mikhail, with his height, managed just as well as the other unit members. Dimitri approached and received a lift from Wolf but was too short to reach the top. When Dimitri neared the top and fell short because of his height Fox reached down to offer a hand and Dimitri jerked away and fell off of Wolf's support entirely.
"What the bloody hell are you doing?" Wolf demanded.
"Sorry," Dimitri muttered and got back up, this time accepting Fox's help and making it over the wall.
Alex completed each phase last and watched the Russians carefully. Dimitri and Mikhail dragged the whole team's score down. They were quick and agile and would surely have finished the individual course in record time. Yet, every time there was a team exercise, the Russians would jerk away from help as if expecting an attack.
The unit neared the end of the course in a poor time at best. They approached the final obstacle: the lake. They were to swim across the lake and reach the other end. The unit started to remove their shoes and shirts but the Russians paused.
"You can leave your shirts on," Fox said knowingly.
"That's not the problem," Mikhail shrugged uncomfortably.
"What now?" Wolf demanded. Mikhail looked uneasily at Dimitri and Dimitri merely shrugged in response.
"We, er did not live a normal childhood," Mikhail explained. Eagle rolled his eyes with a grin.
"We do not need your life story in the middle of a course," Wolf said. Alex thought back to what he knew about the Russians, and decided that he'd rather know now than later. The letters M. A. were still ingrained in his mind. Alex knew little about the actual happenings in Russia, his first experience with that country coming from meeting Yassen for Stormbreakers. Alex stiffened in realization. He knew those letters because he'd seen them on his very first mission. When Yassen shot Sayle and saved his life he left in a helicopter. The letters on that craft were M. A. Whatever M. A. was it probably included secrets to Yassen's whereabouts.
"That's not what I'm trying to say," Mikhail muttered in response to Wolf. "I'm not trying to tell you our life story."
"What then?" Demanded Wolf.
"We cannot swim."
AN: Another chapter done. Thanks for the reviews! I hope I've made Dimitri not-perfect enough. Yassen is coming! Chapter after next is my goal for him, promise.
Major thanks to where I got the free program that lets me upload without word.
LovesWritingJ: Thanks, I love making badass characters. They're so much more fun to write about.
Albany: Gracias por la revisión. Alex tendrá un papel más importante y más allá de los rusitos se explica. No he hablado espaniol desde el cuarto grado, lo siento si esto es difficil de leer.
Mainn: Thanks for the review. Eventually I'll go back and edit earlier chapters and fix that gun. If you notice anything else that's a problem please let me know!