A/N: Sorry it's late, yada yada, don't have much time, bye!
The unit drove off to Ben's house. Wolf was driving and Ben sat next to him, in the front passenger's seat. Snake sat behind them with Lynx. Alex and Eagle occupied the seats at the very back, which Wolf had kindly pulled up for them. It was times like these that Wolf appreciated his investment in a seven-seater.
Ben calmly turned up the radio. Nirvana blared from the speakers. Alex grinned at Wolf from the backseat.
"Since when were you a head-banger, Wolf? If you had told me earlier, we could have collaborated our music and had some punk rock sessions!"
Wolf scowled. He changed the music. A sudden flow of soft jazz surged out. Wolf sighed happily and leant back in his seat. Ben looked at him in disgust and leant forward to change the music again, to pop. Alex cried out in horror.
"No, Ben! Not this! Anything but this! Change it back to Nirvana!"
Wolf slapped Ben's hand away before he could touch the radio. Then Wolf changed it to Billy Joel. Ben kicked Wolf, making the car swerve a little. While Wolf was still in shock, Ben calmly put Capital FM on. By now, Lynx and Eagle had joined Alex in screaming for different music. Snake slumped back in his seat, muttering, "How did I get stuck with this stupid, childish unit?"
By the time that they had reached Ben's house, Alex's throat was hoarse, Eagle and Lynx were indulging in fisticuffs, Wolf was red with anger and Snake was close to crying. The only calm person in the car was Ben.
He opened the door and walked out of the car before opening the back doors and prising Lynx and Eagle off each other. Then he grabbed Alex and hauled her off Lynx's back and gave Snake a hand up. Finally, he turned to Wolf and gave him a bottle of water.
"Water will help you cool down, Wolf."
Wolf flipped the bird at Ben before going to wait by the front door. Ben helped Snake towards Wolf, chucking all the way. At long last, Ben opened his door and they all walked in. Alex began to talk.
"Right. We're finally here, so we need to discuss- Oof!"
She was knocked down by a chocolate brown tornado. A huge tongue lolled all over her face and she fought to heave it off her. Eagle bounded over and knelt down.
"Hello, Angel! Who's a beautiful puppy? Is it you? Is it you?" he gushed as the little tornado, which turned out to be a pug, panted happily. Eagle halted his petting when he became aware of the stares of disbelief being directed at him.
"What? Angel makes me soft," he said in defence. Lynx cocked his eyebrows and picked up Angel, who was wallowing in the attention she was attracting. Then he walked into the sitting room, muttering about the incompetence of his unit.
Eagle brushed his trousers and helped Alex up. "He can talk about incompetence, but in all honesty, he's the childish one!" he mumbled petulantly. Ben clapped him on the back and headed towards the kitchen, with Wolf in tow. Alex gave Eagle a quick kiss, and then walked into the living room to join Lynx.
In the living room, the unit members sat around a coffee table, which had a huge map spread out over it. Alex was wiping off the puppy-drool with a towel from the kitchen. Angel was sitting happily on Alex's lap. She was obviously taken to Alex.
"Okay, then," started Ben. "We all know what's been happening with Alex, right? Alex wants to find out who this guy is. He's escaped from jail, Mrs Jones hasn't exactly got much out of him and we only have the coppers on his trail. But he's a rubbish assassin. Doesn't compare to his older brother, Nile. We want to find out just what this guy is up to. Mrs Jones is talking bullshit. Agreed?" he said calmly. Lynx had taken on the job of writing all the details down on a pad of paper. Wolf was sitting in the corner, nursing a cup of tea and a biscuit. Eagle was content next to Alex.
Snake, however, was frowning. He leant forward with a worried expression on his face.
"Should we really be going against the head of MI6? She probably has a good reason for telling Cub not to go after the assassin."
Alex snorted. "Snake, this 'assassin' couldn't hold a gun against me. He wasn't that dangerous," she immediately said. But Snake wasn't convinced.
"If he isn't that dangerous, why do you want to go after him? He most likely won't cause any trouble because, according to you, he isn't up to it," insisted Snake.
Alex threw her hands up. "He has outside help, and we don't know who the outside help is! That person could be lethal, maybe even more so than Nile himself!" she stated. Snake sat back but still didn't look certain. Ben glanced at them. Then he turned to Wolf.
"Wolf, you are Alex's guardian. What do you think we should do?" he asked. Wolf jumped out of his trance. Then he took a sip of tea, clearly thinking over his answer. Finally, upon seeing the impatient look on his ward's face, his face split into a wicked grin.
"I think that Alex knows what she's doing. And if she gets it wrong, she has her SAS unit to back her up. And that is a big 'if'," he said casually. Alex looked at him indifferently. But inside, she was feeling… warm. Wolf had trust in her abilities. What's more, he was counting her as one of K Unit. It was "her unit". She felt… wanted.
Alex was snapped out her happy bubble by Lynx, who was waving his hand in front of her face.
"You want to give us a description of this guy?" he said impatiently. Alex mentally groaned.
"And who are you? Sherlock Holmes?" she retorted. Lynx rolled his eyes.
"It's important to know who we're dealing with!" he persisted. Alex thought back to the carnival, when she was sitting next to Jerry on the Ferris wheel. She thought back to the man sitting behind her, who was seemingly harmless. He was black, like Nile. She couldn't identify signs of vitiligo, the disease that blotched Nile's dark skin with white. He wasn't as handsome and attractive as Nile. He was thin, awkward and gangly as opposed to muscular and fit. The only similarities were the small points, such as the eyes and the mouth.
She told this to Lynx, who was scribbling furiously on his pad of paper. Ben was pursing his lips in thought.
"And Mrs Jones has told you nothing about any DNA tests, any markings whatsoever?"
Alex shook her head. "That's why we have to go back to London and find out."
Ben nodded in affirmation. Then he pulled out a sheaf of papers from his bag. He handed all the sheets to everyone in the room.
"I knew that you would want to investigate, Alex. That is why I have taken the liberty of copying down Mrs Jones' schedule, as well as the deputy head, Miss Carlisle. I have found a window in which neither Mrs Jones nor Miss Carlisle is around the cell that was occupied by the assassin. It's a small one, though. We're going to have to be quick. We only have fifteen minutes to search, not including time to break in and out."
Alex grabbed the schedules. She saw the window that Ben was talking about: the next Thursday. She got her phone out and looked through her calendar.
"Ben, that's a school day. What am I going to do?" she asked frantically. After her experience at Brooklands, she was wary of skiving. But Ben smiled.
"It's only one day. We can say you have a doctor's appointment," he calmly replied. Alex sighed.
"Hm. How are we supposed to break into the MI6 cells? They'll know who we are," she said. Ben motioned towards the papers she was holding.
"Read through those, all of you. These are your cover stories. Although I highly doubt that we'll be questioned, we must be prepared. We're all maintenance men."
Alex sifted through the facts that Ben had told them.
"You've really thought this through, haven't you?"
Ben nodded, pleased with himself. "Well, no one messes with my little sister and gets away with it!" he declared. Alex raised her eyebrows at that.
"'Little sister'?" she questioned.
"Yeah," replied Ben. "I think that's what you are to all of us. Actually, I think Wolf is a bit more parental. And Eagle is more, um… romantic," Ben told her. Alex was happy at that. But then, she spotted something in one of Ben's speeches.
"Wait a minute. Maintenance men?"
Ben looked sheepish. "Oh, about that…. How do feel about a wig and fake sideburns?"
"Alex, stop fidgeting. If you move again, your eyebrow will fall off!" sighed Matt. Then he looked confused at the absurdity of his statement. Sighing again, he continued to paste on a thick, bushy brown eyebrow onto Alex's own one. Then he gathered up her hair and twirled it into a bun. He pushed in many sharp pins, generating squawks of indignation from Alex. Finally, he covered it in hairspray and stuck on a short red wig.
Alex moaned as she looked at herself in the mirror. Then she glared at Matt.
"How come you have to do my disguise? Why can't Ben do it?" she demanded. Matt gave her a shit-eating grin.
"Well, it was only after I got on my knees and begged him to let me sort out your disguise. After all, who would pass up a chance to dress their girlfriend up in men's clothes?"
Alex glowered from under her moustache and lunged at Matt, toppling him over onto the bed. She got on top of him, raising her fist to punch him in the shoulder, when she spotted something in his words.
"'Girlfriend'?" she asked him. He blushed, then pushed her off him, pinning her to the bed.
"Well," he began as he leant in to her, "I am going out with you. Sort of. You're all right with that, aren't you?" he smirked into the crook of her neck. Alex shuffled a bit.
"Um, y-yeah, I suppose. Matt, w-what are you doing?"
Matt moved closer into her. "Having a nice time with my girlfriend."
"A-and what if someone walks in on us again?"
Matt paused where he was. "Then they'll have to accept that I have a thing for men with red beards and moustaches," he grinned. Alex looked momentarily confused. Then she realised that he was talking about her disguise. Laughing, she pushed him back and sat up again.
"Come on," she said fondly. "We have to go."
They walked back downstairs in friendly silence. Ben spotted the pair and led them back into the living room. She saw that everyone else had got into their disguises. Snake had donned a long black wig, tied back into a ponytail. Lynx was wearing a wig that was bleached blonde. His look was complete with a couple of piercings in his ears. Ben had gone redhead like Alex. The most hilarious was Wolf, though. His head was covered in some kind of material which made him look bald. Stick-on tattoos snaked their way up his arm. His face was beetroot- red in fury. Alex stifled a laugh behind her hand before turning to Matt.
"Where's your disguise?" she questioned him. He shrugged.
"Fox didn't give me one. He said that I have to stay here and give you directions," he replied, simply, laughing at Alex's indignant expression. She frowned and turned to Ben, who was calling her name.
"Now that we all have our disguises," he began, gesturing at everyone, "I want you to take your files. Learn each and every fact. On Wednesday afternoon, the day before we go to London, we're meeting at Wolf's. Eagle will give you a test on your character. Obviously, you now know how to put on your disguises. It will, hypothetically, be faster to get them on and off on Thursday. We've been over the plan; does everyone know what they're doing?"
The unit nodded. Ben smiled.
"Until next week, then."
"Mr Byrnes, I think my guardian has spoken to you, but I have a dentist appointment today," stated Alex. Mr Byrnes looked up from his computer screen. He signalled for her to wait and tapped at his keyboard. Then he smiled at her.
"Yes, Alex. Make sure you explain to Mrs Madon in your drama lesson where you are going. It is drama that you will be missing, correct?"
Alex smiled back at him and nodded. Mr Byrnes gestured for her to sit back down, so she slumped in her seat next to James. He immediately started chatting to her.
"Hey, Alex, guess what? I was at this party yesterday and guess who I saw? Kaya Freeman. And guess who she asked out? Me! I said no, though, she's such a bitch…"
Alex let his mindless blab wash over her, her mind concentrated on the upcoming break in. As she was sitting through maths, she couldn't help but think back to the days when she was fourteen. She had hated Alan Blunt for making her go on missions, missing school and getting bad reports. And yet, here she was, planning on taking time off school to follow up some madman who wanted to kill her! Sure, it wasn't even for a whole day. But it was bothering her. Maybe Snake was right: it would have been better to let MI6 deal with it.
She shook the thought off. No, Ben had gone to great lengths to plan this out. It was mapped out to the tiniest detail. It would be a waste of effort to abandon ship now.
By the time drama came about, Alex was mentally prepared. Fifteen minutes into the lesson, she walked up to Mrs Madon, asking to be excused. James gave her a thumbs up as she left the classroom. She took a deep breath and gathered her bags, then walked outside. Wolf was standing by his car, a '69 Mustang. Alex smiled and took the bag in his outstretched hand. Then she climbed into the back of the car as Wolf kept watch outside. She quickly changed into the clothes of a caretaker and put on her fake facial hair. When she peeped outside the window and caught Wolf's eye, he got in the driver's seat and she clambered over to sit down next to him. He turned to her.
"We'll go to our house and meet Snake, Fox and Lynx. Then we'll get the train to London."
Alex nodded her consent and he sped off.
That was how the five of them landed outside the Royal and General, dressed in orange uniforms and armed with mops and buckets. Lynx had earphones plugged firmly in his ears. They would carry any messages and directions that Eagle had for them. They walked inside and Alex strode up to the desk.
"Watcher. We're here to clean up one of the rooms upstairs," she said, pouring on the Cockney charm. The secretary looked up glumly from her desk. When she saw the foreboding image of a beefy, angry redhead, which was hiding Alex's thin, wiry frame, she shied away.
"W-we need a p-p-password for access to the u-upper f-floors, sir," she stuttered. Alex could immediately tell that this was the woman who had called her to the bank when "AG" had escaped. Ben leant forward conspiringly.
"Star-Spangled Banner," he whispered dramatically. She nodded, signalling for them to go up. When they were about to reach the stairs, she called out, meekly,
"Wait! None of you are called Cub, Fox, Lynx or Wolf, right?"
Alex looked at the four men and rolled her eyes.
"No, we're not, ma'am."
The secretary nodded again and let them up.
"Ok, we have fifteen minutes. Scour the room. There might be something that those trainee dolts missed," Ben muttered.
"Why did she not hire professionals?," asked Alex, referring to Mrs Jones. Ben shrugged his shoulders. They began searching the room. Wolf took the corner by the door and Ben took the corner opposite. Lynx and Alex looked where the assassin was standing and Snake searched the places that were left. There search was quickly halted by a cry of delight from Snake. They all crowded around him, apart from Alex.
"Look! A piece of a handkerchief! It has a name on it! 'Felix Griffiths'. That must be the guy who broke out 'AG'. Cub! We've got it!" he exclaimed. Alex, however, was decidedly unimpressed. She carried on inspecting the chain that held the assassins arm to the wall.
"Alex? What are you doing?" asked Ben. Alex ignored him, while taking out some equipment from her pocket. Ben shook his head and went back to congratulate Snake, who was proud of his find.
All too soon, Lynx heard Eagle's voice in the earphones.
"Lynx, I've hacked into MI6's communication system. They haven't yet worked out that something's wrong, but my guess is that you don't have a lot of time. I suggest that you clear out, if you've got what you're looking for." Eagle sounded grave.
Lynx conveyed this message to the rest of the group. Alex, who had just stood up, nodded her head, swiftly leading them outside. They walked at a brisk pace downstairs, nodding at the workers they passed. They were about to walk out of the door, when:
"Stop where you are!"
The group simultaneously turned around, catching sight of the guard who had called out to them. The scary-looking man walked straight towards them. Alex held her breath in suspense. Busted…
"I've been conducting an experiment to see if redheads are really more tempered than blondes. May I take one of your hairs?" he asked her. Alex smiled weakly and plucked a hair from her beard. Once the guard was satisfied, they turned and ran.
Mission accomplished.
The amount of times I have rewritten this! Thanks to Aiyana for a lovely review, up to 50 this time, please? Hope u like, got to go!
Ta ra etc
(sorry for spelling mistakes, as u can probz tell, I'm rushed!)