I know! I know! Don't hurt me! I know it's been ages. I don't really have an excuse except to say that I just wasn't in the mood for writing AR. I do however, have the nicest reviewers in the world, and I really appreciate everyone who's been sticking by me so far. You are all awesome! Those of you who are confused about what Alex did, don't worry you haven't missed anything. This chapter will probably confuse you more, but look for my note at the end and I'll explain. I hope this was worth the wait!

Previously (Since it's been so long): Ben showed up unexpectedly to escort Alex back to camp. Alan Blunt and Tulip Jones are waiting to confront Alex for something he did that made Alan very unhappy. Alex seems happy to see Ben, but that just means S-Unit is even more confused than they were before…

Chapter 10 -Unexpected Consequences

"Despicable! Unfounded! Immature! Completely unbecoming to an agent with your experience and history! To think I..." This was minute 15 of Blunt's tirade. I had to be proud of my accomplishment, I had finally gotten Blunt to snap and show some emotion for once. It was a moment to savor.

The whole troop was still standing behind me a few feet back, unwilling to enter the sphere around me, in fear that some of Blunt's hostility would be shot in their direction should they stand too close. To tell the truth, I had been a little underhanded. But, I couldn't resist relishing the moment. It's not every day someone was able to pull a fast one on Blunt. I had done the impossible. Even our greeting from the get-go had been just another thorn in Blunt's side.

20 minutes ago...

I entered the camp's base with Ben, his lackeys, and S-Unit close on my heels. Now that we were close to reaching our destination, it seemed that Ben preferred I take the lead. He seemed to grow more tense the closer we got to Blunt.

The mood seemed to permeate our surroundings as we walked. I couldn't even hear the wind over the sound of the combat boots trailing behind me. Someone really needed to teach these soldiers how to walk silently.

A few men were scattered across the grounds in various poses of relaxation or exercise, but more than a few curious eyes followed our group silently as we made our way to the main complex. The two guards at the door shifted subtly in what seemed to be relief as we came closer.

I entered the building, and was instantly shown into the sergeant's office by a harassed looking recruit. The only people in the room were Blunt, Jones and the sergeant, who all abruptly stopped their conversation the moment I entered.

"Alan, Tulip, absolutely swimming to see you." I'd gotten in a more snarky mood the longer I had been made to move within the restricted boundaries of my 'keepers'. Everyone in the room was instantly on alert, and glares were leveled all around.

"You would address the heads of MI6 so informally?" The sergeant looked nonplussed and completely out of his element, as if unsure where to turn for direction. My unit suddenly adopted a more stiff posture; having just realized who the 'Blunt' Ben had been referring to really was. It's not every day that you meet someone who outranks you by legions. They probably thought it was some kind of honor. Fools.

"Oh, I think Alan knows he doesn't deserve much of my respect." I paused to enjoy Blunt's outraged expression before turning back to the sergeant. "And as for Tulip...well, I think we lost all formalities the day I tried to kill her, don't you?" I turned to her as if questioning whether she would disagree. I had to admit, being in control like this was rather liberating. The rest of the room's occupants, now more confused than ever, grew even tenser with my last proclamation.

"Really, Alex. That was uncalled for." Jones, ever the voice of reason, obviously felt it was time to bring the room back into their control. "You have a lot of explaining to do young man. Your attempt on my life aside, you really aren't in any position to be rebellious." She had a point. I sighed and sat in a chair resignedly, waiting for the reprimands I knew were coming. It didn't take long...

Back to present...

"...You won't be going anywhere without an escort for the duration of your stay here if I have anything to say about it! Agent Daniels is being called off-duty for the task. I hope you realize how foolishly selfish you've been, and if you weren't so damn valuable, I'd personally wring your neck for your unseemly actions and unsavory attitude!" I had been in the middle of a yawn, when Blunt's recourse finally hit me and made the situation suddenly more serious and less amusing. Ben would be staying to fill the role of my personal guard-dog? 'Unexpected consequences,' indeed.

I turned to Ben to gage his reaction to all of this, and saw a resolved expression grace his features as he looked at nothing on the opposite wall. That could have meant anything. Blunt seemed to finally have run out of steam to the present company's utter relief. He was now content to slouch back and glare at me with hate-filled eyes. Jones looked relieved herself at the tirade's end, and took over the proceedings.

"Alex, I'm thoroughly disappointed in your behavior. Alan is right to be upset. Your actions were completely uncalled for. I hope you'll take this time with agent Daniels to re-evaluate where you want to be headed in life, and what will make that path easier, or more difficult." She looked like an admonishing schoolteacher, and her familiar peppermint smell only enhanced the elusion. I sighed heavily once she finished, pausing in thought, and then spoke quietly.

"Jones, you know more than anyone that I have little choice but to do whatever you ask of me; but don't think for one second I'll be making this any easier on either of you." My soft and firm conviction caught her off guard, and I stood and leaned forward, placing my hands of the desk. I looked between her and Blunt, preparing what I knew needed to be said. "I blame myself for her death...more than you can ever imagine. But, don't you think for one second that I don't know both of you are really responsible for everything that's happened to me in the last year, and for the almost the entirety of my life before that. She would still be alive if not for the events that you set in motion long ago. At the heart of everything, both of you are personally responsible...and you know it. That said, I'd think carefully before casting any more stones. You created what I am, and now you have to deal with the consequences." I gave them both one final look of determination, as both now looked as equally shocked as all the others. I stood, and then quietly turned to leave. The others parted as I drew closer.

"Alex, I-"

"No!" I turned back to face Jones again, who looked like she was trying to grasp at something only she could see. Blunt was alternating between anger, and looking like he'd been punched in the stomach. "No." I restated quietly. "You wanted a child easily bent to your will, one who was easy to manipulate and twist to whatever task you saw fit. But, you've lost your leverage. The moment Jack died you lost the only important hold you had on me. As my legal guardians I am restricted on some level, but you no longer have anything to blackmail me with. I no longer have any reason to follow your every command. You don't like it? That's just too damn bad."

I didn't give them a chance to respond as I turned and continued with my exit.

"If you're going to be following me like a lost puppy for the rest of forever, Ben, you might as well start now." I said this over my shoulder without looking towards him to acknowledge whether he was coming or not. I was fairly certain he would.

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Everything was swimming in my head like some dream I couldn't fully comprehend that lay just out of my grasp. Cub was becoming more of an anomaly than even I thought possible, and retaining any sense of control or leadership over him seemed even more impossible than it was when he first entered my unit.

It seemed that as soon as I unveiled one part of him, another piece of the puzzle was added and what I had already constructed came crashing down.

Being woken up by a teenager holding a knife to someone's throat was not exactly on par with standard procedure. Waking Boar and Coyote was the only sensible action considering that I wasn't really sure how to diffuse the situation on my own. Cub had been fiercely disturbing in his collected manner, especially considering we now knew he was a mere fifteen years old.

And then, a whole new factor had been added in the form of a man who obviously knew a lot more about Cub than any of us did, even if their greeting was more than a little confusing. First, cautious hostility, and then, puzzling affection? It didn't make a lot of sense, but finally we had someone around who obviously knew a little about our mysterious teenager. He even knew the kids real name: Alex. At least that little bit of information could be gleamed from their conversation. It was surprising that I could remember that at all, given how shocking the sight of Cub actually laughing had been.

The most interesting part in the whole situation was that Cub had obviously caused some kind of trouble for someone in a lot of authority. Cub's comment about only having four guards come to escort him was intimidating as well. Exactly how much trouble did Cub usually cause?

Needless to say, the proceeding hike was tense for a number of reasons. The jovial companionship of yesterday was dispensed with in light of unknown trouble. It was an utter relief to see the camp coming up in the distance, even if the tension seemed to automatically jump up a couple of notches now that the our destination was in sight.

I'm not sure if we were expected to accompany Cub and his...posse, but I wasn't about to miss this for the world if there was no objection. Cub looked surprisingly calm for someone being brought in under...charges, a little annoyed perhaps, but still undeniably calm.

If I had been surprised before, it was nothing compared to the shock of discovering who the people Cub and that Ben person had been referring to as 'Blunt' and 'Jones' really were. How on earth did Cub manage to cause trouble on that kind of scale? Hearing that Cub had tried to kill the Jones woman was even more unsettling. The more details that came out, the more I was learning that when it came to Cub, there was no end to the surprises.

He looked almost...bored. I mean, the kid was being screamed at by the head of one of the most prestigious government agencies in the world and he looked bored. It was obvious that he didn't see either of these people as being legitimate threats, and that he had a strong sense of familiarity with them as well.

The only thing that seemed to snap him out of his air of indifference was when that Blunt fellow told him that Ben would be staying to keep watch over Cub for an undisclosed amount of time. I might have sighed at the prospect of another unknown person gracing my team if I hadn't been stuck in my stupor of unbelief.

And then, unbelievably after all of that, Cub gave an ultimatum of his own. What was this about blackmail? As powerful as these figures were, it was clear that Cub had true command of the room now. He issued his own warning… and then walked out. Just like that. No admittance of guilt, no defense of his actions, not even a respectful goodbye, just a cold glare and a calm exit.

The rest of us followed as if we were sheep following a shepherd. None of us wanting to be left alone with the man Cub had just snubbed. I couldn't be sure, but something gave me the feeling that we might be seeing the head of MI6 again.

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It had been a long time since I had felt this angry. But then again...Blunt and Jones always seemed to bring that out the worst (and best) in me.

I wasn't too aware of my surroundings as I stormed across the campgrounds. Oh, I knew that Ben was following me a few feet back, but other than that, I didn't really care. They have some nerve...

Really, it wasn't that big a deal. I had just wanted to push some of Blunt's buttons. I had succeeded too. I was sure that agents everywhere would be praising my name if they knew...

Well, anyway, their treatment towards me wasn't really anything new. I guess I should have been grateful that MI6 wasn't already clamoring to send me off to the far reaches of the world again on another suicide mission. Then again, assigning a personal babysitter to watch me was not exactly in good form either. Suddenly I almost...almost felt like the whiny teenager I was supposed to be. I had the appalling urge to stomp my foot and rant and rage at the unfair nature of the world in general. They were treating me like a child, so why couldn't I act like one?

It was that thought which started it. One minute I was storming towards S-Unit's hut, and the next I was standing stock-still and laughing at the heavens. I couldn't seem to help it, the laughter just rolled through me as if I had been holding it back all along.

All at once, the absurdity of the whole situation hit me like a ton of bricks. I was constantly being put in life threatening positions by those two without an ounce of adult supervision at all. But, do one small (ok perhaps not that small) thing to irritate them, and all of the sudden I was too irresponsible to be left to my own devices. It was absolutely ridiculous! I swear the world has it in for me.

And it was that last thought that brought me shockingly back to reality. I sighed, and let the last of my chuckles roll through me. This was my life. Since when was it ever easy? Time to do what I always do...accept things for what they are and move on. So I had a personal guard, so what? At least it was someone I knew and trusted. I could have been someone worse, someone like...Crawley. I cringed at the prospect. Just what I needed, another blindly devoted MI6 agent watching my every move. At least with Ben, he had met me before getting involved in the organization. That had to count for something.

Once I had finished laughing at how ironic my increasingly difficult life was, I became aware that I had, once again, drawn unwanted attention. Ben had come to a standstill as well, and was looking at me in an almost wary manner, as if I had finally lost my sanity. He isn't far off. There were a few other men scattered around the complex giving me strange looks as well. Oh well, there goes my good reputation...

Without giving any explanation for my behavior, I once more set off in my previous direction, resuming my stoic expression.

I entered the hut and immediately turned to face Ben. There were definitely some things we needed to get out on the table. He still looked cautious and confused by my earlier behavior.

"Alex, I-"

"I would prefer 'Cub' while we're here, if you don't mind. I'll extend the same courtesy to you as well, Fox." If I was going to maintain even a fraction of anonymity here, his cooperation was vital. My unit had already heard my first name, but that didn't mean they needed help putting all the pieces together.

"Very well." He didn't seem at all surprised by the request. "I know you must be upset by this Cub, but there was nothing I could do to change his mind."

"Upset? No, not really. Surprised? Definitely. But then again, you did warn me didn't you? 'Unexpected consequences', remember?" I gave him a small grin to show I was sincere.

"Al- Cub." He took a step forward tentatively. "Are you alright?"

I couldn't help the raised eyebrow that the question garnered. "Absolutely. Couldn't be better." And the winner of the self-denial award goes to... "Honestly, Fox. It might even be a good idea to have a fellow agent around. Although, I am slightly surprised that you were their first choice in babysitters."

He bristled at that. "They didn't select me; I volunteered." Ok, now that's surprising. Ben wasn't usually one to take the easy jobs. He turned away to look anywhere but at me. "I'm still not up for regular duty with my injury and all. Bullet wounds take a long time to recover from." His voice had gotten quiet, before he became more upbeat. "Besides, I figured that if you were in some kind of trouble, then I'd still get a piece of the action, you know? Trouble seems to follow you like a loyal dog. And I would rather have me watching your back than someone else."

Oh. My expression softened for a moment. It was always unnerving to hear about the differences between myself and other agents. First day out of the hospital after my bullet wound and I was back on the job. The same didn't seem to apply to the adults in the organization. It was depressing to think how little I actually meant to them. Still, Ben at least had just expressed some concern for me, and that had to mean something. My quiet response was all I could muster. "Always watching my back, aren't you, Fox?" He turned back to protest, and then saw my small smile and his expression cleared. Another second and he responded.

"Well, I need to protect my investment, don't I? What's the point of taking a bullet for someone, if they don't live long enough to reap the benefits?" It was nice to be teased like a normal person, especially by someone who knew me so well. His amused smile soon gave way to confusion. "But, really Cub, what did you do to make Blunt so furious?"

It was my turn to smile and turn away. I walked over to my bed and flopped down on my back. I put my hands under my head, sighed and then answered. "I'm afraid that's one secret I'll be taking to my grave. And, if you know anything about me and secrets; that's saying something." I could tell without looking that Ben wanted to push the issue. I cut him off before he could get too riled up. "Don't worry about it, Fox. Blunt's wrath will cool just as fast as it ignited; and, once it does he'll be embarrassed by his reaction in the first place. Don't give too much thought to it. I don't."

I heard him sigh, before finally walking towards his own temporary mattress and depositing his bag underneath. Wordlessly, he flopped down in a similar position to mine. I guessed this was as good a time as any to ask something I had been curious about myself.

"So, who were those three other goons with you anyway?" I heard him snort at the inquiry.

"Newbies." It was obvious from his tone what he thought about that. "Blunt seemed really confident that I would be enough to convince you to come in, but he wasn't willing to send me in on my own. You could take the best of them on your worst day and they'd be dead pretzels before they even got a hit on you. Haven't been out long enough to get their hands dirty, if you know what I mean. I would have preferred to get you by myself, but Blunt insisted." He paused and then continued with a smile. "Then again, it was rather convenient to be able to use one of them as a guinea pig. I knew better than to sneak up on you, but they didn't."

"Yes. I'm often underestimated, aren't I?" I could tease Ben about this, because he knew he had also underestimated me at one point. This seemed to be all the opening he needed to change the topic.

"So, how do you like the new unit?" I could tell that he had been wanting to ask this question for awhile. His curiosity seeped into his tone. "You seem to be getting along with them better than you did with any of us the first time around." I thought carefully about my response before answering.

"They're not so bad. Lion is too observant for his own good though. I'd keep my eye on him, if I were you. Blunt would love to sink his claws into that potential if he knew about it. Boar and Eagle could be best friends if they ever met, and Coyote..." This was a tough one. "He's learning. He's a lot like Wolf actually, but he catches on quicker. Strong as an ox, but doesn't always see what's right in front of him until he gets kicked by it." I paused and then raised my voice a little louder. "Of course they all like to listen in on conversations that are none of their business." Ben gave an amused chuckle and sat up to face the members of my unit as they sheepishly walked into the room, but I didn't even turn my head in their direction.

"How did you know we were listening?" Coyote sounded like he was struggling to take in my last comments. Perhaps my evaluation of them surprised him.

"It's my business to know." I left it at that. I had realized we had unwanted listeners early on in the conversation, but hadn't thought it was important enough to rat them out until now. It had taken Ben a few minutes longer to realize they were there, but his change in topics towards my unit members had been a dead giveaway. They seemed genuinely surprised that we knew they were there, interestingly enough. But then again, they didn't know they were trying to spy on a spy. It was actually rather amusing. I was so often the one trying to eavesdrop on conversations myself, that being on the receiving end was rather ironic.

"Well, guys, I might as well introduce you to my old unit member and fellow comrade since it looks like he's going to be around for awhile. You can call him Fox." I gestured towards Ben without getting up, who proceeded to nod to the others. "This is Lion, our fearless and annoyingly observant leader; Boar, who's as strong as his jokes are weak; and Coyote, whose loyalty is far-reaching even in light of his inaccurate judgments." All three turned to glare in my direction, before Ben's laughter captured their attention.

"Come on, Cub. Play nice." I chuckled before responding.

"This is me playing nice." I finally turned to look at the group. Lion looked sheepish and a little flattered, Boar looked confused, and Coyote looked grouchy. Not much different than usual really. However, Lion wasn't looking at me.

"You got Cub to laugh." His blatant statement was enough to stop everyone in their tracks, myself included. "I've never even seen him so much as smile before today." My game face was back on in an instant. How could I be so stupid? Letting my guard down was a terrible idea, even for someone like Ben.

Ben looked between the two of us in confusion before a semblance of understanding crept in. "Cub has... good reason not to smile."

"Yes... I know." Lion's quiet admission was enough to spark a reaction from me.

"I'm right here, you know." I could tell that the topic was making me nervous, because my sarcastic side was rearing its ugly head. Most of the time, that served me well; but right now it just seemed...pathetic.

"So, you were in Cub's original unit?" Lion had the grace to look at least slightly cowed. It was a perfectly understandable inquiry, so I chose to be accommodating.

"Yep. Those were the good old days. Didn't seem like it at the time, but still true. Though that's really not the reason we know each other so well." I was being a little too careless lately, and getting too close to discussing issues I didn't want to touch.

"I'm sure it would have been interesting to know Cub back then." Lion was fishing again, and everyone noticed. This time Ben came to my rescue.

"Don't think too much on it, Lion. Cub's already been in your unit longer than he was in ours. I'm sure you know him as well as anyone does by now." There he goes, teasing me again. No one knew me that well. "Let's hope that when Cub leaves this time, that his last day here won't be like his last day with us."

"So sure that he's going to leave?" Lion was on a roll. He cut straight to the heart of the matter. Ben and I exchanged a silent communication before he responded. I tried to communicate my need for him to be careful.

"Cub has a way of always doing what you least expect."

I was laughing on the inside.

And there you have it! Finally an update for all of you wonderful people! Well, I know some of you are very confused, so here's the answer to some questions:

What Alex did: I know you were hoping to find out, but I've decided no one's ever going to know except Alex, Blunt and Jones. If any of you are Calvin and Hobbs fans (which by the way are the best comics ever!), compare this to the 'noodle incident', which is often talked about but never explained. To be nice though, I'll give you a few examples of what it might have been –1. Alex spilled some embarrassing secrets about Blunt on the agent database. 2. Alex exposed a disturbing truth about a high ranking government official and sent it to the media without consulting MI6, putting Alan in a really bad position. 3. Alex erased his existence and changed a lot of records when he broke into the sergeant's office. 4. (my personal favorite) Alex interfered with Alan's personal life and went on a date with his granddaughter. If none of those suit your fancy, then just use your own imagination. It could have been anything.

Updates: I'll be honest; I've kind of lost my inspiration for this story. I still have a lot of ideas of where to take it, but I'm not sure how often I'll be posting because I haven't been in the mood to write lately and that is important for me. Since I have so many people wanting me to continue though, I've come up with an idea. I saw on another authors profile that their fans had submitted artwork to go along with his story. I thought it was really cool to have pictures to go along with the words, but unfortunately, I have no artistic talent myself. So, I decided that if I get at least three people to send me a picture of a scene from this story (it can be any scene from any chapter) I promise I will post the next chapter (which I haven't started yet, but this will make me start). I will also put the artwork on my profile page so that everyone else can see it. It can be any style you want as long as it is from my story. You can even include dialog if you want, just make sure you tell me which chapter the picture belongs with. I'm not sure if any of you will want to do this, or if any of you are artists, but I thought it might be fun to try. I'm not sure if the website allows files like that to be sent over the private messaging system, but I guess we'll find out. If anyone figures out how to do it a better way, let me know.

I hope everyone is willing to stick with me on this, in spite of my prolonged updates. Please review!