Following the incident at the firing range, Stag had been carried unconscious to the infirmary. Sanders had dragged Cub to the infirmary as well.

He briskly ordered Wolf and the recruits back to work as he yanked Cub away from the crowds. K unit obeyed, drilling the recruits for a few more painful minutes before realizing that it was useless. Their focus had evaporated.

Knowing that the Sergeant would want to speak to them soon, Wolf and his team dismissed the recruits and went to wait outside the office barracks. K unit spoke in hushed whispers, trying to get the story in order. Wolf hadn't seen the fight himself - not properly - but he would be the one answering questions.

The call came for K-Unit to come to the office and there they were, lined up and ready for a beating. It reminded Wolf of being sent to the principal's office as a child, a situation he was all too familiar with.

Sanders was worked up like a whirlwind. He paced like a caged tiger, barely looking at k unit as they came to rest in front of him. After a few calming breaths, and a few more laps of the office, the Sergeant turned to them.

"We're bloody lucky that Cub pulled his punches."

Okay... not what they expected.

"Sir?" Wolf asked.

"Cub is fine, not a scratch, actually" Sanders deliberately misunderstood him, "Stag is fine as well, all his injuries were superficial."

Wold nodded, wondering when the questions would come in.

"That's all, you are dismissed."

A moment of shock; they hadn't been asked a single question.

"I got everything I need to know from Cub." Sanders answered their unasked question.

Wolf snapped a quick salute and led his unit out.

"What the..."


Alex heard K unit long before he saw them. By the time they had returned to the cabin, they seemed to have worked themselves into a frenzy.

Alex lay on his bunk, counting the ceiling tiles in habit. He was on 56 when Eagle smacked the door in, distracting him. K unit lined up, looking every bit the interrogation squad.

"What the fuck was that Cub?!" Wolf, ever the fearless leader, was first up to bat. Alex sighed internally and swung his legs off the bed.

"I was defending myself," Alex said wearily. He was so tired of defending himself, physically and verbally.

Not to mention that K-Unit's yo-yo approach was giving him a migraine. From supportive to invasive and back so fast it could turn heads.

"You attacked a recruit! You could have killed him!" Eagle exclaimed.

"Better him than me." Alex grumbled, keeping his expression neutral. He didn't understand why they were so pissed off, but he didn't want to give them any more reason to fly off the handle.

His answer, apparently, did not help his cause.

"Are you kidding me? Are you freaking kidding me? Better him than you? You assaulted a man, Cub!" Snake, usually the voice of calm and reason, was riled up with the rest of them. They were literally taking turns attacking him. It was remarkably civilized, all things considered.

"He tried to shoot me! He assaulted me!"

"You don't know that!" Fox snapped.

Alex looked at Fox in disbelief. Stag had had a gun. Alex knew a threat when he saw one.

"For Christ's sake, I knew what I was doing!"

"What the fuck does that mean?" Wolf's turn again.

Alex rolled his eyes, getting visibly frustrated now, "It means I could have killed him, but I didn't. I barely gave him a concussion."

Alex could have killed Stag with the first nose strike, had he been inclined to do so. They were being so melodramatic. Stag's injuries were superficial.

"You can't have known that! You can't have known that he'd be fine!"

"Except I did, Wolf!" Alex had to shout to be heard. Why didn't they just listen to him?

"How the fuck can you know that!?"

"Because it's my job you moron's!" he yelled, standing to look the soldier's dead on.

"What kind of job tells you that?"

Alex felt a crashing calm, he slumped slightly and lowered his voice to barely more than a whisper, "You know."

K unit fell silent, as if realizing for the first time exactly who they were talking to. It was in that moment they realized they had royally fucked up.

In a normal situation, not that any of this could be considered normal, the offending party would apologize. Once you realize that you're wrong, you admit it. Say you're sorry. Make nice.

But K unit, and especially Wolf, weren't used to being wrong. They were a bunch of emotionally and socially stunted children that didn't know how to apologize.

They did, however, know how to explode. Alex watched the build up of emotions in their eyes.

First, the guilt and realization that they were in the wrong. Quickly replaced by confusion, then anger, then vindictive fury. Alex pictured an old Bugs Bunny cartoon when the characters turn red and steam billows from their orifices.

Just as K unit was about to blow their tops, Alex stood up.

"Just don't."

And calmly exited the cabin.


Alex walked away from the cabin as fast as his legs could carry him. His mind was racing. What was wrong with them? All he'd done was defend himself. They'd seen him fight before, he'd gone off on missions. It wasn't news to them that he could take care of himself. Nor was it news that he was willing to take care of himself.

After everything that had happened in the last few months, (the Arae, the staged kidnapping), he'd thought K unit would want him to defend himself.

Alex had thought that they'd understood. That perhaps in some part of their minds they comprehended even slightly what it meant to be a spy at 14. Had they expected him to just stand there and let Stag run him through? Yeah right.

Alex had been so engrossed in his thoughts that it took him a second to recognize the sound of running footsteps behind him. He halted immediately and spun a 180, not bothering to conceal his scowl.

"What?" He snapped at the soldier behind him.

"Wow there, Cubby. Cool it. Sarge wants to see you in his office."

Alex took a breath. The soldier in front of him, Raven, clearly not the source of his rage. Seeing an innocent face made it difficult to remain mad.

Alex nodded calmly.

"Thanks Raven."

"No problem, kid. Take it easy." Raven replied, patting his shoulder as he passed and jogged off towards the lake.

Alex readjusted his path to take him to the office of Sergeant Mathias Sanders.

"So, Cub. How are you enjoying your stay?"

Sergeant Sanders looked like he knew exactly how he'd been enjoying his stay, but Alex decided to tell him any way.

"Awful. Just awful. You guys are the worst hosts ever."

Sanders raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"Oops. I meant awful sir," Alex said with as little sarcasm as possible. The look on the Sergeant's face told him he hadn't quite pulled it off.

"Well, then. Must be your lucky day kid. MI6 sent this over for you, joint Op. with the CIA. They said it was urgent."

"Isn't it always?" Alex picked up the manila folder that Sanders had flicked towards him.

"Read it on the helicopter out, Cub. You've got places to go."

Alex frowned at the folder, quickly opening to the first page to find his destination. Morocco, sounds like fun. He flipped it shut again.

"Why now?"

"Because you're needed now. Anyway, after the recent... Altercation... I think it's best if you go off the radar for a bit."

"Anything I'll need?"

"Just your go bag. Everything else will be provided by a..." The sergeant glanced at his notice. "... Mr. Smithers, I believe."

Alex gave a brief nod. Sanders gave a return nod, and Alex took that as his cue to leave. He gave a half sarcastic salute and spun on his heel. Just as he put his hand on the doorknob, Sanders called out.

"Oh and Cub." Alex froze and glanced calmly over his shoulder. "Don't forget to inform your unit."

Alex let a grimace spread across his face.

"I'd rather not, sir. K unit has been less than welcoming now a days."

Sanders smirked knowingly. "They're still your unit, Cub. It may not be ideal, but it is protocol. Let them know you're going."

"Sir, yes sir."

The door clicked shut behind him.


With an indecipherable calming breath, Alex swung open the door to K Units bunks. He strode in full of fake confidence and mock bravado.

The other members of K unit where sprawled stiffly on their respective bunks. As Alex walked in, they jerked up, mouths opening with words on the tips of their tongues. Alex cut them off before any noise could be uttered. He didn't want to hear what they had to say, whether it be apologies or more incrimination's.

"I'm leaving. Urgent mission sanctioned by MI6, it can't wait."

He snatched his go-bag from under his bunk and powered out of the room.

"Cub- wait!"

"It can't wait."


Wolf felt like shit. Physically, mentally, and hell, even spiritually.

He couldn't believe what an absolute douche he was, yelling at Cub. In the moment, it had been the logical thing to do. Cub, a small 16 year old kid, had provoked a fight with a man with a gun. And somehow, little Cubby had actually just whooped a grown man's (not to mention army veteran's) ass.

Wolf was surprised to say the least.

Now that he'd had a chance to calm down, however, it was hard to stay mad at Cub. From what the other recruits (those close enough to see the fight) said, it wasn't Cub's fault. Yes, maybe Cub had let his mouth loose when he should have kept it shut, but Cub hadn't started the fight

Wolf realized that he had, for lack of a better term, fucked shit up. Now Cub was gone off to who the hell knew where, and they probably wouldn't hear from him for weeks on end.

Wolf sighed, he realized now that Cub was right. But, as usual, it was too little too late. In hindsight, Wolf probably knew that Cub was innocent when K unit brutally ripped into him. It's easy to be mad at someone when they're right in front of you, harder when they've been sent on a highly classified mission for an indeterminable amount of time in some godforsaken part of the world.

"Wolf?"

Wolf looked up from his spot on the ground. He was sitting in the dry mud, the same place he and Cub had had their first proper heart to heart. Wow, when had he become so sentimental?

"Yeah Eagle?"

Eagle shifted nervously. "We gotta go. Recruits need supervision on the assault course."

Wolf sighed, picking himself off the dry ground and dusting himself off.

"Let's go."


Alex vaulted up into the helicopter. He was barely given a second to buckle in before the pilot was whiring the engines and they were high in the sky.

He clutched the op. folder to his chest, tucking his go-bag under his seat. He didn't really mean to, but he found himself gazing down on Brecon Beacons.

He watched the helipad shrink to the size of a tea saucer, saw the barracks fade to mere specks on the hills. The sound of guns and shouts was easily drowned out by the roaring helicopter blades.

For a moment, Alex felt vaguely guilty, though he wasn't sure what for. Maybe he felt bad for leaving K unit in such haste. He probably wouldn't see them for a few weeks at least.

Alex shut down that line of thinking, focusing instead on the fading hills. The training camp slowly faded, surrounded by dense trees. Alex turned away from the shrinking park and flipped open his file. His sole focus was the mission.


Wolf felt miserable. The longer he stayed out with the recruits, the shorter his temper became. He was snappy and irritable and he knew it.

The recruits at least had the good sense to avoid Wolf like the plague, which was a blessing in itself. But even K unit had tread around Wolf like he would explode at any moment. Not that they were wrong. In Wolf's black mood, he could combust at any time now.

As if to add insult to injury, it was a beautiful day. The sky was clear, the horizon visible for miles, the sun beating down pleasantly. It was a blessing of Mother Nature, especially this close to the end of fall and the start up of winter. Yet Wolf could enjoy none of it. All the clear skies meant was that Wolf got a front row centre seat to Cub's retreating helicopter. It flew off towards the horizon, winking out of existence as Wolf observed.

"God," Wolf whispered to himself. "Just let Cub come out of this okay. Kid deserves a break."


Next: Morocco is less that beautiful this time of year.