DISCLAIMER: I do not own Alex Rider.
Dedication: To all of you guys! Because I wouldn't have been able to continue on without your supportive reviews and helpful criticism. Haha, but a shout out to one of the guests who made me laugh with his/her seemingly psychotic review – not that there's anything wrong with psychotic reviews ;D
Question(s):
To TheAlmightyMuffin, who was confused why MI6 couldn't find Alex/that confusing mess: Haha, I guess I wasn't too clear in the story. I never explicitly stated it, but Alex went off MI6's radar for six months. That's how long SAS selection is. MI6 found Alex again when he formally became an SAS soldier.
AWOL 10
Lynx blinked in surprise, staring at the two units. He awkwardly put down his plate on the table, deciding to play stupid, "Uh… hi? Who's Cub?"
Lion, Tiger, and Panther all stared at each other with undisguised confusion. Next to them, Wolf scrutinized Lynx with a frown that he knew all too well.
"He's Alex Rider!" Panther informed Lynx seriously, "I told you the rumors, didn't I?"
"Sure," Lynx drawled the word. He swiveled his gaze to K-Unit. They were all staring at him, studying him, "Who are you guys?"
Wolf was the first to snap out of it. In an irritated tone, he said, "That's not Cub. Cub has blonde hair."
Eagle acquiesced, returning to his food, "Yeah. Can't even remember what he looked like. Just that he was young."
Snake said nothing. He swept another searching look at Lynx before nodding.
"That's Wolf, Eagle, Snake, and Armadillo," Panther said helpfully, scooting over to make more room for Lynx to sit.
"Hi," he waved awkwardly. He must have looked quite the sight. Lynx had spent two nights at the hospital, nursing a small concussion and various bruises. Most of the bruises were on his face, creating a whole pallet of colors. Red, black, blue – even slight tinges of yellow and green.
Lynx chanced a look at Lion and Tiger, who both looked equally as stoic. Lion was the first to break the silence.
"Where the hell were you?" he snarled, glaring at Lynx with a viciousness that he hadn't seen since he'd first passed selection.
Lynx had an excuse prepared, "MI6 needed a sniper and thought that I was best for the job."
"And how did a sniper," Lion stressed the word, "get like that?" He gestured at Lynx's obvious wounds.
Lynx ran a hand over the bruise on his cheek, "Well, obviously, someone found me and tried to kill me," he replied, in an irritated tone.
Tiger gave Lion a warning nudge before speaking to Lynx, "Welcome back. We missed you."
"Thanks," Lynx sent a grateful smile to him before digging into his food.
"Tell us all about your mission!" Panther demanded, in his usual exuberant voice. He would never tell this to Panther, but Lynx really had missed him. "Did you work with a spy? Who did you have to..."
Lynx gave a playful glare and leaned in, internally grinning as Panther eagerly turned an ear to him. The man was just too easy to play with.
"Classified," Lynx hissed into his ear.
Panther jumped away, looking horrified. He turned to Lion, "He's turned! What did they do to him?"
The rest of the unit laughed. Lynx smirked at his plate, relieved to have turned the attention off of his mission.
A*W*O*L
Lynx found it hard to fit in with the unit in the following week. Sure, he had only been gone for one week, but it felt longer. Maybe it was the fact that part of him had died on that mission, just like in all those missions before it. Soon, the rest of him would die too, and all that would be left would be a soulless shell, doing MI6's bidding.
He couldn't let that happen.
Lynx turned on his side, peering around his hut. It had become a common occurrence ever since he came back. He didn't want to sleep anymore. Nightmares plagued him, and there was the ever pressing matter that someone would attack him in his sleep.
He shut his eyes tightly, letting his mind wander once more. He wanted to fall into a dreamless sleep, but as usual, Lynx's thoughts wandered to his missions and to MI6.
Thump!
Lynx's thoughts were broken when he heard a small noise outside the hut. His senses were instantly on alert.
"Shut the fuck up!" someone hissed quietly on the other side of the door. Lynx didn't recognize the voice.
"It's not my fault," another voice whispered back, "Someone left their boot over here."
"Hurry up and pick the lock, idiots," a third voice commanded.
Lynx kept his eyes closed, listening as the doorknob turned and the door opened a crack.
"Why do we have to be the ones to abduct them?" the second man questioned under his breath.
The first man spoke again, "because the Sergeant ordered us to. Now, shut up!"
Lynx relaxed, recognizing that this was probably just a routine RTI – resistance to interrogation.
"Give me the towel," one man snapped, entering the hut, "make sure they're properly knocked out."
Lynx tensed slightly as slow footsteps approached his bedside.
"Sorry, mate," the muttered lowly before pressing a rag to Lynx's mouth and nose.
Lynx's eyes flew open, his natural instincts taking over his body. Whatever was on the towel, he didn't want to breathe it in.
Strong arms pinned him down, and he found himself running out of air. He needed to breathe – he needed oxygen.
"Oh for fuck's sake, just breathe it!" the man didn't bother to lower his voice anymore.
Lynx struggled for a few more slow seconds before more hands forced his flailing limbs down. His instincts to live eventually won, and he was forced to take a breath.
He wasn't very sure what it smelled like, but the scent reminded him of clean, white hospitals. He hated hospitals.
"Come on… keep breathing," the voice soothed.
Lynx breathed in again. He found himself dizzily spinning away into a pit of darkness.
When Lynx awoke, he wasn't sure where he was, only that time had passed. The moon had shifted positions and the sky had only slightly lightened, signaling that it was late morning or afternoon.
He looked around his surroundings. He was in some sort of barn, complete with the musty scent. The ground was hard cement, bit of hay strewn on the ground. There was a single door, obviously locked.
In a heap beside Lynx, the rest of of J-Unit lay, still out cold. The more Lynx studied the three, the more he thought that it was the most relaxed the three had been. Satisfied, he turned to inspect the barn again.
There was a small tray in front of the padlocked door. Moving closer, Lynx found that it was four rations and four water bottles. He snorted to himself. At least he knew the Regiment still cared.
"Ugh," Lynx turned quickly at the sound, but relaxed as he saw Panther clawing his way out from the pile, "I hate RTI."
"You can say that again," Lynx acknowledged, turning back to inspect the barn.
"I hate RTI," Panther repeated, struggling to stand, "Longest twenty-four hours."
"What do they do exactly?" Lynx questioned. He, of course, had experienced many different versions of it.
In Lynx's peripheral vision, Panther shrugged, "Anything that resembles real torture. The Green Jackets aren't too picky."
Lynx nodded, circling back to sit beside Panther and the two unconscious men.
"I wouldn't bother waiting for them," even in the darkness, Lynx could see Panther's gleaming teeth, "Last time, Tiger broke someone's nose, and Lion dislocated someone's arm. They're more careful now – larger dosages and all."
"Well, that's just great," Lynx grumbled, noting the camera monitoring them on the wall, "they get to stay unconscious longer."
Panther shrugged, and they sat in silence, waiting for the Green Jackets to make their appearance. It didn't take long.
Within the next couple minutes, Lynx picked up the sound of heavy combat boots. He exchanged looks with Panther.
There wasn't much Lynx could do except stare at the door, listening to the Green Jackets muttering amongst themselves before unlocking the door.
"Good mornin'!" Panther greeted cheerfully as the first Green Jacket made his way in, stomping loudly. Honestly, how did they keep up with that?
"Shh, Pan!" Lynx flashed a sly grin at his friend, as the soldiers simultaneously frowned in unison, "I think they woke up on the wrong side of the bed."
"It would explain the hair," Panther agreed. The Green Jackets' frowns deepened. It seemed like they didn't like the fact that they had next to no hair.
"And the dried drool," Lynx added, "Not their fault, though."
"Enough!" the first man stalked forward. He was the classic unit leader, resembling Wolf. He turned and nodded to the other soldiers, "Bags?"
Two of the Green Jackets approached and jammed the cloth over Lynx and Panther's head.
"Up," someone forced Lynx up onto his feet before prodding him forward.
"Ow!" Panther yelped from beside Lynx, "Gosh, you people are horrible at guiding."
Lynx was shoved forward. He couldn't tell where he was going, though it was fairly obvious that J-Unit was being taken to a location where they could be tortured in peace. He didn't really like going in blind, but it was only a practice run. It wasn't the real thing.
Behind him (or in front of him, Lynx couldn't tell), the others had fallen silent. It was quite eerie, he decided. He didn't like it. He stayed quiet nevertheless, imagining the scolding that Tiger and Lion would give him afterwards.
He was roughly shoved sideways. He stumbled and fell to the ground with a sharp 'oomph!'. The bag over his head was ripped off of his head.
Lynx blinked blearily up at his captor, who was giving him the ugliest sneer he'd ever seen. He looked around, searching for his teammates, but they were nowhere to be seen. That explained the lack of noise, didn't it?
"Now," the Green Jacket looked smug as he talked, "I suppose you know the rules. Talk when I ask, and I'll stop torturing you."
Lynx glared back at the man, giving him a sneer of his own.
"What is your name?" The Green Jacket snarled, getting up close and personal with Lynx. He gripped Lynx's shirt in a tight fist, glaring at the soldier.
Lynx blinked owlishly at the soldier for a moment before asking innocently, "was your mother a hippopotamus or an alligator? I can't quite decide. You look a bit like both."
The Green Jacket snarled angrily, spit frothing at his lips.
"Just kidding, mate. You look kind of like a rabid squirrel. Can I help you?" Lynx smirked at the soldier's expression.
He wasn't smirking a moment later when the Green Jacket promptly punched him in the face.
"I talked!" Lynx protested, cradling his cheek, "You said that after you asked a question, I should talk!"
"Answer the fucking question," the soldier snarled at him, "I don't want your irrelevant shit. What is you name?"
They went on like this for what seemed like hours. It seemed to Lynx that the Green Jacket never tired of inventing new ways to torture him. It wouldn't leave Lynx incapacitated, but he was sure it was going to hurt like hell for another week or so.
Lynx retaliated with short, witty remarks that seemed to frustrate the soldier to no end. It was amusing for him, but the amusement didn't last long as the soldier whacked him with something or shouted murder in his face.
It seemed like hours before the Green Jacket finally hauled Lynx upright. He was bloody and bruised, but somehow gathered enough energy to spit into the Green Jacket's face. It didn't go unpunished, and a moment later, Lynx was the proud owner of a newly broken nose.
"Get up," the Green Jacket sounded resigned as he shoved the bag over Lynx's head once more.
"Only for you, darling," Lynx sniped back. He was shoved harshly towards wherever he was being lead. It only took a couple minutes for them to reach their destination. It was quite easy to hear Panther's shouts of 'FREE THE OPPRESSED!'
As soon as the door opened, Lynx was shoved inside, and the door slammed shut behind him. He could hear the lock being put back on the door.
"Lynx!"
Someone – or someones – rushed over to him, untangling him from the bag on his head.
"Ugh, you look horrid," it was Panther, who gave him a grin. It was slightly bloodied, but somehow, Lynx didn't care. He was just glad to finally get away from the Green Jacket. He would never admit this, but the man's punches hurt.
Lynx poked his tongue out, tasting the metallic tang of blood, "Could say the same about you, mate."
He was helped up by an oddly stoic Tiger and a furious Lion. Lion didn't seem angry at Lynx in particular, but it was hard to think otherwise when the look was directed at him.
"They kept you a whole half an hour longer than the rest of us!" Lion raged, pacing around Lynx, examining the extent of his injuries, "What did you say to them? Something stupid, huh? Stupid kid. You should have just shut your mouth!"
Lynx rolled his eyes, escaping Lion's glare as he shuffled to the side, "Do you think we can get out of here? There must be something that we can use."
He paced over to the door, which was delightfully unguarded. The Green Jackets were probably hanging around somewhere close. Lynx couldn't risk talking too loudly.
The door was loose, and Lynx could see a gap, just big enough for his hands, that revealed the outside air. It was nearly dark, the perfect time to get out of that barn.
Whoever had decided to use this place as the RTI headquarters had obviously not factored in the fact that not every soldier's hands weren't the same size. Lynx, being younger and smaller than most soldiers, could, with some difficulty, reach the padlock on the other side. All he needed was a pin or something…
He glanced around, making a beeline for a small stack of junk: mostly hay. The others looked curiously at him.
"What are you doing?" Lion had stopped his little rant to turn his attention back on Lynx.
The soldier shrugged, moving on to the next pile of junk, "Finding a needle in a haystack," he told Lion, looking up to give the three a mischievous grin, "Go on. Help me."
They tried to pry Lynx for more details, but he was too paranoid to reveal his plan. They could hear him, Lynx told them lowly as they searched, it was best not to say anything until afterward.
"How's this?" Tiger questioned after a half an hour of fruitless search. He held up a piece of sharp hay.
Lynx took it from him, shrugging, "No harm in trying."
He knew it wasn't going to work. The hay was too soft to unlock it. As he worked, he was proven right. A moment later, the four were at it again.
"What's this?" Panther was holding up a blunt piece of nail, "This won't work, will it?"
Lynx didn't dignify it with an answer.
It was completely dark now, and Lynx couldn't see anything. The others had given up just moments before, but he was still feeling around, pressing his fingers on the ground and testing everything he could.
He was getting frustrated, and the rest of J-Unit seemed to be able to tell.
"Hey, mate, come and take a break," Panther called over to him, "Let Tiger check on your nose."
Lynx's nose was doing just fine. The blood had finally stopped flowing. However, Lynx was irritable. His nose throbbed painfully, but it wasn't doing anything besides distracting him.
"Just a moment," Lynx spotting a small crack in the barn walls. A surge of hope went through him as he noted the splintering wood.
It took a few tries and a few splinters to get the desired length of wood, but fifteen minutes later, Lynx had himself his very own lock-picking device.
Lynx had done this a thousand times. It had started with his uncle and had continued well into his years as a spy. He made a face at this thought and pushed it out of his mind. He was a soldier now. He was Trevor now, not Alex or Cub or whatever the hell he had been.
He heard the others stand, most likely trying to peer curiously at what he was doing. Lynx was at the door, his smaller hands fitting through the crack between the door and the doorframe. He reached for the padlock, inserting the piece of wood into the part where the key was meant to go. He fumbled with it for a few moments before he finally gave a small jiggle and the lock unlocked.
Lynx carefully removed the padlock and withdrew, cautiously opening the door.
"Brilliant!" Panther hissed from behind him. In the faint moonlight, Lynx could see the grin on his face. Even Lion looked on appreciatively, and Tiger gave him a grunt of approval.
Lynx grinned back at the three, "I dunno about you, but I certainly want some proper sleep."
The rest of J-Unit agreed, and within the next ten minutes, Lynx was back in his bed, snuggling deep within the folds of his blankets.
Ha... how was that K/J-Unit reaction? It sucked, yeah, but nothing was really working for me... so HAHA in your face! Lol, just kidding... (ish). I'm so mean...
So... Hi? I'm kind of late, I know. You guys must hate me. SORRY! But not really. But I am. Haha, not sure what I'm saying. I'm back doing odd bits of writing at 1 AM. Anyway, this is my holiday gift to you! I'm not sure if you guys get offended if some of ya don't celebrate Christmas. But MERRY CHRISTMAS! So, hope you liked. Leave a review. Come by my house for some cookies. I'll be doing homework, practice SATs, ect. You know, the regular. On Christmas Day. Toodles!
FACT: J-Unit was purposefully all named after the big cats. I decided on the "big cats" after a long debate with myself on why I shouldn't name them after fish/sea-life. (I wanted to be able to call them a "mini school of fish", but...)
-Alice (follow me on Twitter at dalekchung for bits of miscellaneous junk)