Disclaimer: Anthony Horowitz created Alex Rider; therefore I do not own him.

Thanks to ijitgirl for the suggestion of going back to the present, I appreciate the idea and I hoped I was able to make it work.

~Chapter 4~

Present:

Snake sighed in relief and came to the conclusion that he needed to remove his shirt to try to find the problem; and gasped in horror at what was revealed underneath that innocent fabric. Bear, Eagle, and Wolf were instantly at Snakes side and blanched at what they saw.

Cubs' torso was littered with cuts, bruises, and scars; including a bullet wound right over his heart.

Each member of K-Unit was completely speechless; all of them wondering what kind of monsters could do that to a child.

Snake, being the medic of the group, quickly noticed that the majority of the lacerations were incredibly recent and still had stitches in them, some of which had reopened and were now bleeding sluggishly. Lifting the sixteen year old into his arms, planning to bring him to the infirmary, the Scot noticed blood where Cub had previously been laying; turning the teen over, it was plain to see where the red liquid had come from. The young spy had even more cuts and scars on his back, including a multitude that looked as though they were caused by a whip. Shaking his head Snake told his unit, "There is too much damage, he needs a doctor. I'll bring him to the Infirmary. Wolf," he turned and addressed his leader, "you need to go and report to the Sergeant."

The medic's calm orders knocked Wolf out of his shock. Feeling grateful that Snake was taking charge while his mind was reeling, the shorter man nodded his head and left to do as he was instructed.

As their leader left, Snake turned and started his walk to the Infirmary; Eagle and Bear were lost and decided that while they might not necessarily care for kid, they would follow the Scottish male and ensure that their unorthodox fifth member was alright.

"Where is your unit Wolf?" The Sergeant barked.

"Sir, Cub passed out during the exercise and the unit is bringing him to the Infirmary now," the Hispanic adult breathed out, the Sergeant's harsh demeanor being the only thing keeping the usually stoic man together.

"Why did Cub pass out soldier?" He questioned suspiciously.

"Snake checked him over when I got him out of the water and it looks as though someone recently used him as a cutting board and whipping boy, sir," Wolf responded in a respectful but anxious tone.

"I was hoping I was wrong…," the Sergeant muttered to himself, not intending for the other to hear him.

"Sir?"

"Go check on your teammate Wolf, I have to make a few phone calls," he declared as he dismissed the distressed man.

"Yes sir," Wolf replied with a questioning inflection in his voice, but the harsh man just kept whispering to himself as he walked back to his quarters. Deciding to think about it later, Wolf turned and headed towards where his fifth K-Unit member was laying, unconscious and in pain.

Sergeant Calvin Serway sat at his desk in his quarters and mumbled to himself in a low voice, "I should have known it was him. Who else could it have been?" Pulling a file from his desk, the Sergeant looked through M-Units' mission report and subsequent psych eval, which they all failed.

Mission Report:

"Our orders were to infiltrate a well hidden Scorpia bunker. The deputy head of MI6 herself gave us our instructions, stating that they had been looking for this building for six months. We were to go in, kill or capture whoever we could and look for any captives Scorpia might have been holding. There were many guards that we had to kill, but it seemed as though the higher-ups knew we were coming and had scattered. We cleared the entrance and moved down to the basement where there was an influx of guards; they were obviously holding someone important. After emptying the underground, we saw a door with heavy locks going across; Wasp shot the locks off and we walked in and I had to take a step back. It was like walking into a medieval torture chamber: stone walls with manacles, blood, both fresh and old, staining the walls and a tray filled with a multitude of torture instruments, all of which looked as though they had been used recently. What was worse was there was a young boy hanging from a set of rusty manacles on the wall; he was so small and covered in welts and lacerations, I wasn't even sure if he was alive, but then I looked closer and I could see shallow breathing. I had Wasp and Panther cut him down, while I called for emergency transport, and he almost died, it took Badger almost two minutes to bring him back while the rest of us just watched absolutely horrified that anyone could do that to a child."

-Hawk (Leader)

"I didn't even know where to start; so many bones were cracked and broken. When Wasp and Panther cut him down from the wall, he went into shock and stopped breathing. I had to perform CPR and while doing the chest compressions, I could feel a few ribs moving and I just had to pray that one wouldn't pierce a lung. Thankfully I was able to resuscitate him where he then fell safely into unconsciousness. I glanced up at Hawk to ask how long the transport would take and he had gone completely white and had a repulsed look on his face, I turned my gaze to Wasp and Panther and while they were equally horrorstruck, one could feel the anger coming off in waves that someone could do this to a child."

-Badger (Medic)

"After shooting some Scorpia guards, we shot the lock on the door and walked in the vilest room any of us had ever seen. It was like something you would see in a Saw movie or another gruesome and gory horror movie. Those monsters had a boy, a child, chained to the wall, bloody and broken. I wanted to leave the room and find more guards and Scorpia agents to shoot. All I felt was overwhelming anger; anger at Scorpia for doing this to a child and anger at the intelligence agencies for putting someone's child in this sort of danger. I knew the boy needed help though so while Hawk was calling for emergency medic transport, Panther and I, as carefully as we could, cut the poor boy down. We were all hoping that that he would make it, but then he stopped breathing. Luckily Badger was able to bring him back. I swear when Badger looked up at us, he had tears in his eyes. I know we were all thinking, 'how could anyone do this to a child?'"

-Wasp (Shooter)

"We were all pretty anxious when we received this mission. To have a chance, as small as it may be, at Scorpia is every SAS soldier's dream, to hurt a powerful terrorist organization. It was nothing like we had all imagined, all of the high powered members had already gone, and all that was left were guards. We rather easily dispatched them all and moved lower through the building. When we got to the bottom, there was one heavily locked door. Wasp shot the locks off and we all entered. It was horrible, they had a young boy chained to the wall; he was covered in blood and puss. He was thin and emaciated, barely clinging onto life. We could hear his shallow and raspy breathing in the soundless chamber. Hawk told Wasp and I to cut him down, but when we did, he stopped breathing and Badger was just barely able to bring him back. I don't understand how someone, even a terrorist, could do this to a child. I wish the ones that did that to the boy were here so I could make them experience the same pain he did."

-Panther (Survival)

Psych Evaluation:

"All four members of M-Unit, Hawk, Badger, Wasp, and Panther, have been traumatized by what they saw on their mission. They all suffer from vivid nightmares, many of which cause them to wake-up and expel anything that is in their stomachs. Hawk has mentioned graphic flash-backs of seeing the young boy and Badger constantly wonders what would have happened if he hadn't been able to resuscitate him. My personal belief is that all four member of M-Unit need an extended leave and continued therapy."

-Dr. Stella Namhart, Ph.D.

Sergeant Serway thought back to how angry he had been when he received the phone call stating that Cub would be coming back and how much crap the boy had had to deal with from the other soldiers, when he had probably seen and experienced more than any of them ever would. Many would assume that being the Sergeant of an SAS camp you would have to uncaring in order to be hard on the soldiers, but that simply isn't true; the reason that they are so tough is because they care and are trying to make sure all of their men will survive no matter what they are put through.

The phone suddenly rang, breaking Calvin out of his reverie. Shaking his head the Sergeant answered, "Sergeant Serway."

"Sergeant, Snake reporting, the doctors need Cub's medical file. They tried to give some standard pain medication and he had an allergic reaction that almost killed him," the usually calm Scot sounded borderline frantic.

"Why doesn't the station already have his file?" Serway questioned.

"I asked but all they have is a one-paged folder where all of the important information is marked out, even Cub's age."

"Alright I'll see what I can find, in the meantime tell the doctors to tread carefully," the Sergeant stated and then barked, "And keep it together soldier!"

"Yes Sir!" The medic answered.

Calvin looked around files in his office and realized that he never received any paperwork on Cub. The first time he, along with everyone else, thought that Cub was a troubled kid whose rich father wanted to get inline and it was all off the books therefore no file. At least that was what they all thought. Now it was becoming clear that K-Unit's unorthodox fifth member didn't have a rich father and was in more trouble than he could probably handle.

Picking up the phone, Serway dialed the number to the Royal & General Bank.

A/N: I'm sorry this took so long. At first it was writers block, but then I started working on this and my family and I moved from Singapore back to Virginia and for awhile I didn't have internet. This is the longest chapter next so I hope all the readers forgive me. Thank you for your patience and for reading and reviewing.

EDIT: changed two months to six in Hawk's mission report.