"Yay CHILI, my favorite," Eagle yelled, clearly happy by the turn of events. "No body ever cooks for me."

Alex set about doing all the preparation and gathering ingredients, which luckily Wolf had the basics. It took a while as Alex had no idea where anything was so once in a while Wolf would point him in the right direction but the three men left most of the actual cooking part to Alex. He turned his back on them and amerced himself in his work. They made their way back into the living room and settled in front of the TV, watching a football match, with the sound drifting into the kitchen.

Alex got a big pot out and started mixing all the ingredients together and after half an hour, the smell of chili started to spread throughout the apartment. After a little longer, while the chili simmered, a timer went off that Alex had set as the finishing time. He went hunting for some bowls to serve the chili in and after a little searching he found some.

"It's ready," Alex called into the living room and didn't have to wait long before the men were in the kitchen. They each picked up a bowl from the table and made their way over to the pot to serve themselves up some chili. They all settled into the living room again as there was not enough room for everybody to sit and eat in the kitchen.

Alex followed them into the living room and settled onto the floor leaning against the corner of the sofa in a comfortable position. There was silence as everybody dug in.

"Man, you are so lucky Jamie," Eagle spoke up first. When could he ever keep his mouth shut now? "At least you got a kid who can cook…well" He laughed and shoved some more chili into his mouth as fast as he could. The other guys were so busy that they didn't reply besides Wolf pausing to give a grunt in agreement. Seriously, you would think these men were starved and hadn't eaten in weeks from the way they shoveled their chili down.

Personally, Alex wasn't that hungry, so he ate his chili slowly while slightly paying attention to the football match on TV. K-Unit had finished their meal before Alex had barely made a dent in his. Eagle, being stupid in a silly way, as soon as he finished he jumped up and ran back into the kitchen like there was a prize for getting seconds first.

"So have you found a replacement for Ben yet?" Alex asked once everybody had settled back into their seats with seconds. Alex himself was only half way done and didn't think he would eat any more. The new environment was not helping his appetite.

"You know, I don't know how you know his name," Wolf said

"You're avoiding the question," Alex accused.

"Well, so are you," Wolf shot back.

"Fine we did a mission together like two weeks ago," Alex answered, "You're turn."

"Hey that's not very substantial," Snake interjected, maybe because he was interested in the mission that got his former team member shot.

"You never said it had to be," Alex replied, "Plus, I'm pretty sure you're more interested about me than I am about the new member, so you can't really bribe it out of me." He had a strong point so Wolf told him some.

"His name's Cobra. Don't know anything real about him. He's smart but a little aggressive. Sort of annoying actually." Wolf spat off all he knew about the guy, which wasn't much.

"You'll meet him soon. He's coming over sometime in the near future with these guys," Wolf continued, indicating to Eagle and Snake.

"Do all you always spend so much time together in your flat?" Alex asked Wolf.

"Not usually. Eagle and Snake wanted to meet the new kid I was taking in and it being you gives them more reason to be around. Apparently they like you Cub," Wolf stated rolling his eyes at his team mates.

"Of course we like Cub, why wouldn't we?" Eagle popped in, "After tens days in hell it's nice to meet again in heaven." Everybody rolled their eyes at Eagle's comment. He was so stupid and goofy.

"Shut up Eagle. No one likes to hear you talk," Snake shot back hotly, but with a joking tone.

Alex just barely finished his chili before he thought he would explode, so he picked up some bowls and headed towards the kitchen to clean up. Wolf picked up some stuff and followed him.

"Hey you guys get in here," Wolf called, "You're doing the dishes." Both Eagle and Snake groaned as they made their way into the kitchen. "Alex, let's go watch some TV while these clowns clean up. You cooked." Wolf filed out of the kitchen and Alex followed right behind him.

"Hey, what about you Jamie?" Snake called after them, "Why do you get off the hook?"

"My house," Wolf called back, oh so full of himself. They watched football in silence while the two boys did the dishes in the kitchen. It took longer than Alex thought was necessary, but a little while later they too came to join Alex and Wolf in front of the TV.

"So where do you go to school, Cub?" Eagle started. Ah could that man not keep the silence for longer than five minutes. And Alex really did not want to have to stave off another interrogation.

"I'm going to bed," Alex said getting up. He was just going to avoid the whole situation together. It was approaching nine thirty so it wasn't too early to be going to bed. Plus he was exhausted from all his lack of sleep.

"Aw come one Cub, no fair," Eagle whined at Alex's evasive behavior. "At least answer my question, Jamie and us should know where." It made sense so Alex decided to answer.

"Brooklands," Alex replied and then turned and went to his room leaving the three men to stare off after him.

Alex didn't go to bed right away, as he felt he could get some more work done before tomorrow. Also he had learned that if he was up to the point of collapsing from exhaustion he normally didn't have nightmares. And he had school tomorrow so he had a chance to turn in any missed work. He didn't actually go to bed until ten thirty.

Alex had heard Eagle and Snake leave at about ten, followed by Wolf turning down the hall towards his own room.

When Alex finally thought he was tired enough to fall asleep, he changed clothes and crawled into bed. He didn't fall asleep as he was starting to miss his own house. He wasn't homesick or anything, but he wanted the familiarity of his house in Chelsea. It had been his one safe place where he could be himself with no one gossiping or trying to kill him. But he knew that it was just a matter of time before someone did; try to kill him that is.

He heaved a sigh and decided he would have to live with his choice. And soon he was asleep.

*

His worst dream by far was remembering his time with Sarov. It all started in the water with the great white. As the shark came towards him he felt all the fear and flight instincts.

Next, Alex was almost minced by the sugar processing machine. The whole scene felt so real and he could hear Conrad's laughter hanging over head as his feet got closer and closer to the blades.

And the beat of his heart as Sarov held a gun to it after his first escape attempt. The speed getting faster and faster.

And the fight with Conrad as Alex was almost strangled to death. Then Conrad's mangled body when it got pulled away by the huge magnet.

Last, and the most emotionally scarring, was when Sarov pointed his gun and shot himself right in front of Alex. Alex had stared in shock at Sarov as he fell to the ground and couldn't look away. Just staring at the body sent shivers down his spine and he heard his name being whispered, "Alex…Alex…Alex," until he was ripped out of his dream.

He woke and felt pressure on his upper body, and his eyes met Wolf's. His mind went into temporary panic mode and his hand rose up and hit Wolf in the chest where he would be winded. Wolf backed up trying to get his breath back, while Alex sat up and realized what was going on. He was able to take in Wolf's pained expression and settle down his heart.

Wolf looked at him after he was able to breathe again, "God Cub, seriously," he said with anger lacing his voice as he did not appreciate being attached in his own house.

"What are you doing in here?" Alex said rather accusingly. He liked his privacy and did not like Wolf in his room while he slept.

"You were thrashing around, so I came to see what the hell you were doing, but you were still sleeping. I tried to hold you down and wake you up so you wouldn't hurt yourself," Wolf explained. Alex did not like this situation as Wolf was giving him an inquiring look that told him he would have to explain himself.

Alex realized the state he was in. He was sweating and his breathing was a little heavy. His pajamas clung to him and he felt disgusting. He got up to go take a shower as it was an excuse to ignore Wolf and his questions.

"Where are you going?" Wolf growled as he was not used to being ignored and he wanted his answers.

"I'm taking a shower." Alex stated simply without looking at Wolf, walking in to the hall.

"It's two in the morning," Wolf pointed out like Alex was crazy.

"So," Alex shot back and closed the bathroom door, leaving Wolf to stare after him. Wolf was put out at being totally ignored and shut down. He had a right to know what happened now that the kid was living with him.

Wolf decided to go back to sleep for the time seeing as he would not get any answers at two in the morning. He was tired himself as it was.

Alex took his shower quickly and get dressed into clothes that he would wear to school the next day. There was no point in trying to go back to sleep as he was wide awake now even though it was the middle of the night.

So Alex sat down to do what seemed to take up all his free time now. He did catch up work. The good news about not being able to sleep at night was that he was catching up at an alarming rate. He went through piles of work a day.

He set to work for the next three or four hours and was finally able to be up to date on half of his current classes. Although he would rather get some sleep, being closer to catching up took a load off his mind.

At six o clock he went into the kitchen and started some coffee and breakfast. He wasn't really hungry after the nightmares he had that night but he made enough for Wolf. At six fifteen he heard Wolf walk down the hall and start the shower. By six thirty he was dressed and in the kitchen getting a plate for the eggs Alex made. Alex went straight for his second cup of coffee this morning and sat down next to Wolf reading the newspaper.

"So," Wolf started towards a conversation, one that Alex hoped was not about last night, but oh what wishful thinking on his part, "Did you even go to bed after you showered? I saw you're lights still on at three."

"No," Alex replied, avoiding Wolf's eyes. He couldn't really lie to the man as he would know.

"Figures," Wolf said, "At least that explains the massive bags under your eyes."

"Yah, well you're ugly too," Alex shot back, as he did not take being talked about kindly.

"No need to be snappy," Wolf said, "Do you want to talk about it?" Wolf was trying not to be insensitive by not trying to sooth his curiosity. He was trying to genuinely care, which Alex appreciated dearly, but he was not going to reveal his inner workings to this man, who he had not spent more then ten days with.

"No," Alex stated flatly, and Wolf looked like he might press him a little, but the look Alex shot him daring to question further, told him he was losing the battle.

"So what did you do for four hours?" Wolf continued not asking directly about the issue.

"Homework," Alex stated in his one word answers.

"You seem to have a lot of that," Wolf pointed out, "You were working on it all day yesterday. How can you have so much?"

"Missed school for missions," Alex replied succinctly.

Wolf looked like he was going to say more but Alex stood up to retrieve his bag and all his homework from his room for school. It was now seven thirty and school started at eight so Alex left, with a quick bye to Wolf before heading out the door.

AN: I sort of proofread this chapter, but I'm not good at proof reading. I'm slowing down the updates. Yesterday I think I put up three chapters but today I am only putting up one.