Wolf was not having a good day. It started with waking up at 3am and now this. He had just been blackmailed into going to the park with snake eagle and fox.
It was all part of their plan to "uncover the mystery known as cub" but heaven knows why the park. The universe hated him.
So when cub came back home, wolf told him. He expected some sarcastic remark, but the kid seemed lost in though and only nodded.
10 minutes later saw them walking to their nearby park.
Alex looked at wolf slyly.
"Why are we going to a park?"
Wolf grumbled something incoherently
"What was that?"
"I said eagle forced me"
"Eagle!" Alex laughed, "how did he force you?"
"I prefer not to say."
"He blackmailed you!" Alex exclaimed. "What with?"
"How did you even know he blackmailed me?"
Alex tapped the side of his nose. "The cub knows all."
"Isn't it supposed to be the owl?"
"Whatever, so what did he blackmail you with?"
"If I told you, what would be the point of going now?"
"Fair point. So why are you even going? Don't you soldiers have stuff to do?"
"Were on leave"
"Why?"
"Because eagle has to go and get himself shot on our last mission."
Alex winced.
"Don't worry, it was only a flesh wound."
"Again, why the park?"
"When you're bored out of your wits, even the park becomes interesting."
"You guys are bored? Shouldn't you be like enjoying your break."
Wolf was about to answer but was saved by eagle.
"CUB. WOLF." Came a loud voice from the park up ahead.
Both wolf and cub groaned simultaneously. They looked at each other in surprise, then quickly away.
"YOU MADE IT. Now we can eat"
Wolf mumbled something along the lines of 'typical' and then followed eagle to where he had set the picnic.
"Never in my life" Alex said, "did I ever dare to imagine that one day I would be sitting in a park, having a picnic, with four elite British SAS soldiers. Never" cub shook his head in disbelief, and missed the glares sent to him by snake and wolf.
"It was all eagles and foxs fault. They forced us to" snake said.
Eagle ignored this comment. "We were wondering-" eagle began, but was cut off by snakes pointed cough, "I was wondering" he amended, "if you would tell me more about yourself, since we're going to be spending a lot of time together."
Alex sighed inwardly, he knew there was a catch, there always is a catch.
"Well I am 16, I go to brookland comprehensive, I am the best of the best, I don't like broccoli without salt, and I don't like ducks. Anything else you want to know."
"Dude, how can you not like ducks?" Eagle exclaimed.
Alex looked eagle square in the eye, "don't dude me, I don't like ducks, never have, never will, end of story."
Eagle was about to respond but was cut off by snake, "anywayyyy..., we were hoping we could get to know each other, you know, as friends.
Friends?
Alex you can't.
Friends?
There is a reason you cut ties with Tom and Sabina.
But they're back?
And you are going to send them away. Don't be selfish Alex, you know you can't have friends, they will get hurt.
But they are soldiers.
Soldiers who don't understand what they they are going to be up against if you allow them to get close, so stop being selfish, and damn yourself, for you have no other choice.
"...Cub, are you all right?"
"No"
"What?"
"No I don't want to get to know you"
"That does it!" Wolf shouted, hitting the ground with his fist.
Alex looked at wolf startled.
"What?"
"You are going to explain to us what is wrong with you"
"Hey! That's offensive!"
"I don't care. It's happened enough times to make it a point of concern, and I want to know right now what is causing it."
"Causing what?"
"You zoning out, completely out of the conversation, and then coming back in like everything is normal." Wolf paused for breath. "Haven't we already had this conversation?" He said.
"We did?" If wolf didn't know any better, he would say cub truly was confused
Wolf sighed and buried his face in his hands.
"Please explain what the hell is wrong with you?"
"Nothing is-"
Alex drew in a sharp breath, almost as if he had been punched. He felt if in his bones, in his muscles, in his blood.
He felt it,:the lie.
He wouldn't lie. He couldn't lie.
So what was wrong with him?
If wolf was right about what was happening then that meant-
That means nothing, wolf is delusional.
But what happened last time with Tom and Sabina-
Nothing happened.
There is something wrong with me.
No there isn't.
There is.
There isn't.
There is.
"Cub?"
"There's something wrong with me." The words escaped his lips before he could stop them. They were said in barely more than a whisper, but holding truth so raw, it hurt.
"What is it Alex?" Ben said, knowing, from experience, that Alex in this state of mind, would have no control over his words, and would say the first thing that came to his mind:The truth with no filtration.
"What's wrong with you?"
"I... I..." Suddenly cub's eyes cleared, became focused again.
"There's nothing wrong with me." He said with shoulder's set, and chin lifted, almost like he just won a battle.
Every member of k-unit felt surprise at the unexpected disappointment. They knew they were on the verge of a breakthrough with cub, but lost it.
Suddenly cub stood up, "I'm going for a walk"
And k unit watched him leave.
"That's the strangest kid I've ever met" snake said, summing up all their thoughts concisely.
"Any theories" he asked, looking towards fox and eagle.
"I believe" eagle said slowly, piecing his thoughts together, " that our little cub is bipolar."
"What?" Wolf exclaimed.
Eagle nodded gravely. "His sarcastic, egotistical self, is one, and that" he gestured to Cubs vacated seat, "is the other."
Fox looked thoughtful. "It's almost as if his two personalities are in conflict."
Fox snapped his fingers. "I got it, it makes sense. You have one sarcastic cub, and the other one, which we've only heard 1 sentence from. When they come into conflict about something, he zones out. You ask a question, and his two sides go to war. I'm guessing that his sarcastic self wins all the time. But something happened this time, something different, which gave lee way to his other half. But it wasn't enough, and his sarcastic self dominated his whole."
"It's scary" eagle commented.
"What is?"
"His other half. Did you see his eyes in those moments? They were haunted, desperate, caged"
They nodded, but before any of them could respond, cub popped back in.
"Hey guys, can we go?"
"why" eagle said, "we only just got here."
"There are these two people here, who stopped me, and stared looking at me in this weird way, like they knew me, and it's creeping me out."
Wolf took the opportunity when he saw it, "then we should go straight away"
"I agree" snake said.
"Well it looks like it's two against three" wolf said. "Majority wins. We're leaving."
