Hello my precious...es? This is gonna be the second last chapter of this short series(: I'll wrap it up by the next chapter! Promise! Cross my heart and all that jazz. I'm planning on a continuation(: with murder, politics, betrayal, the government, the mafia, freaking hot Alex & Sarah and sexy scenes(; (hopefully it wont be the standard cliched story) So this sets up the future series! But it depends on the response I get; don't wanna waste my time and effort on something people won't like(:

Anyway, enjoy~

"That's my underwear you git!"

"Oi, you pass me that sock."

"Buggering hell, anyone see my glasses?"

"SHIT hurry up mates, they're gonna leave without us. I'm leaving without you guys if you're late. You can rot in this hell without me."

There was pandemonium in the guys' bunks as they rushed to finish packing.

The three days were up and there were two lorries coming to pick up Alex's classmates anytime now. They should have packed the night before, but being boys, they procrastinated until the next morning.

Alex sat on his miserable mattress, leaning against the metal bed frame, watching his friends scramble with a detached amusement. Tom sat on his bed, beside Alex's, watching them as well, grinning.

"They should have listened to you last night mate. Lucky I did."

Alex glanced over. "Tom, I packed for you."

His friend shrugged, "so? That's what friends are for right?"

Alex turned back when Chris and Jesse plopped themselves on the edge of his mattress. The metal frame groaned portentously. Alex worried for a moment how much weight the flimsy thing could take.

"We're done too, no thanks to both of you."

"I told you two to pack last night."

"Yea, gits."

Alex glanced over again. "You really have no right to say anything." But he smiled.

"FOUND IT." Aaron held up his briefs in triumph after finally finding it under Dash's pillow.

All four of them fell silent, not moving.

"Hey, Alex? Why do you think it was under-"

"You know what Jesse; I honestly don't even want to know."

…~~~…~~~…

Just a little further down the hill, excited chatter filled the girls' bunk. The girls sat on the edge of their bunks, bags packed and placed under their beds.

"Where do you think they're taking us?"

"I don't know. But anywhere has to be better than this place."

"I wonder if they'll get some secret service people to guard us."

"Oooh, I hope we get really cutes ones."

"Oh please, I like my men rugged and buff thank you very much."

Giggles erupted at that comment and more conversation sparked off from there.

Sarah sighed, hugging her bag that she had packed the night before, like the other girls. She wouldn't miss the chatter and noise, that was for sure. Solitude and quiet had always been her preferred choice over company. She wondered what it would be like to stay in the same bunk as Alex. Her mind flashed to her evident lack of self control 2 nights before. He hadn't said anything to her about it, and she was grateful for that. But she feared what would happen between them if they kept working in such close proximity.

They had continued their training in the same manner as the first day. She had treasured every chance for physical contact between them since that night, especially on the assault course. Despite the exhaustion and pain, she wouldn't change it one bit.

"Sarah?"

She looked up, "oh, hey Chelsea, what's up?"

The girl hesitated a moment. "Nothing, I just want to say all the best kay. I'm sorry you have to stay here. The training you have seems really crazy."

Chelsea was always one of the more sensible girls in the class. A little quiet perhaps, but that made her best wishes just a bit more special to Sarah.

"Thank you." And in the way of girls, they hugged.

"I'll just go check if I left anything behind," she said awkwardly, walking away.

Sarah sat again and wished for a window she could look out. She wondered what Alex was doing.

A loud horn interrupted her train of thought.

The squeals emitted by the girls actually managed to drown out the sound of the horn.

"Z'oh my GOSH! Whoo! It's here let's go!"

Despite having everything already packed, they took a tremendous amount of time to vacate the bunks, double and triple checking that they'd brought everything. The group of them fluttered around in the small bunk, looking for things that were already packed. Sarah watched them from the door way, her bag already slung over her shoulder. Years of training had taken away her need to fidget when irked, that wouldn't stop her from ripping out the spines of every girl present though.

"Hey guys, you don't leave now, the trucks will just leave without you."

They were out in under a minute.

…~~~…~~~…

"That's probably the trucks," Alex commented when he heard the horn.

The chaos had just ceased and majority of the boys had just managed to finish packing. They filed out of their bunks without any fuss and in a surprisingly orderly fashion. They arrived at the rendezvous area just as the girls did, owing to the fact that the girls' bunks were much closer.

"Come on lads," the driver of the first truck stuck his head out the window. "We haven't got all day. Girls in this truck, lads in the other. Hurry up now."

The lot of them scrambled to where they were supposed to go.

Jesse and Chris each threw an arm around Alex's shoulder.

"It's been good knowing you mate." Jesse ruffled his hair slightly.

"We'll miss you. Maybe." Chris snickered.

They each offered Alex a fist bump, before grabbing their bags and making their way to the truck.

"So this is it huh?"

"I think so, Tom."

"You think MI6 will ever let you come visit us normal peasants?"

"I doubt it."

"Yea well…" Tom looked away. "I'll miss you man."

"Same here. You were the only one out of the lot I told about this whole mess. Thanks, for everything."

They looked at one another for a moment, before stepping forward at the same time and embracing each other in a hard hug. Tom pounded his back twice, the way guys do, and stepped back.

"Hope you get lucky with Celine," Alex smiled.

"Dude, it ain't about luck." Tom winked and smiled one last time at his friend, before picking up his bag and walking over to the truck.

"You'll see him again," she appeared beside him suddenly.

"How do you know? You think its fate?"

"No, I think if we survive training and become agents, you'll track him down just to make sure he's okay."

He narrowed his eyes. "Did your mom teach you mind reading as well?"

She laughed and shook her head. "You want to go get our schedule now? It's already 8.30."

"Alright."

They made their way towards the admin block with their bags slung over their shoulders in a companionable silence.

"I can't believe you went to run the standard 7km this morning."

"So did you," Alex accused.

"Better safe than sorry." She retorted, as they reached their destination.

They opened the door and the man at the desk, without looking up, asked, "Cub and Fawn?"

"Yes sir."

"I have your schedule and assigned bunk here."

Alex stepped forward and took the papers from him with a quick thanks. They closed the door behind them ten seconds after they first opened it.

"Well that was faster than expected." She commented.

They stood side by side, studying their schedule together. Their days began at 6.45 in the morning, like it had been for the past few days. After that, they had lessons and training until 8 in the evening. There was a slight deviation in what Alex had been told. Their physical training ended at 3.30, with their lessons beginning at 4.15. Surprisingly, they got Sundays off.

But neither of them were glad at the early end to their day, or the day off. They knew whatever time they had would need to be spent studying or simply resting to restore their strength. The lessons lined up seemed more demanding than the physical training. Alex noted there was a difference in their classes; he had more languages, hers was more math and science. The irony.

"Acting and social etiquette?" He asked, his eyebrows rising.

"It's pretty important in the long run. And speaking of run, we only have ten minutes before physical training, better dump our stuff at the bunk fast."

They hastened, looking out for their assigned bunk.

"There," Alex said, pointing to one not far off.

They sped up and reached the small hut. The door creaked as he opened it and they stepped in. There were two beds at the opposite ends of the hut, the familiar thin mattress and skinny metal frame holding it up. The place where generally two other beds were placed was replaced with a wooden desk and two chairs. It was a simple design but somehow managed to turn out rather ugly. Standard stationary like pencils and plain paper littered the desk. Two lamps sat on the table as well.

"Home sweet home," he heard her murmur.

"Which bed do you want?"

She shook her head, "I'm fine with anything."

"We'll decide tonight then."

They dropped their bags and left the bunk. The option of sprinting to be on time for training was considered, but they decided not to. Whether or not they were late, they would probably have to go through the same torture.

That day passed excruciatingly slowly. Seconds seemed to crawl by, and after their bodies were battered and tired, they attended content heavy lessons while struggling to stay awake. Most of their instructors and teachers neither liked nor detested them, but taught them with a kind of unfeeling detachment.

The sergeant pushed them to their limits, not caring whether they threw up or fell. Their muscles continued to scream as they were abused through the hours spent under the sergeant, but the two had learnt to shut out the pain as they did during normal taekwondo lessons. Sessions always ended with them trembling, barely able to stand. But neither of them had ever let themselves cry out loud… or crawl for that matter.

Sarah excelled in every shooting course they attended; she demanded nothing less from herself. But Alex was fast catching up. There was no set ranking system like there was at Scorpia. But should there have been, they would have dominated the top two positions. He found himself finding the feel of the weapon increasingly innate, a fact that he didn't know whether to be afraid or glad about.

There were courses on other weapons as well, bombs and knives, household items. It gave both of them a slight backlash, studying weapons as a form of defense instead of how to kill someone straight away.

Alex found himself struggling with the basics of the two new languages he was learning; Mandarin and Russian. He'd always been a bright student, but the intense training was taking its toll on him. Chemistry, which he'd always excelled at in school, was marginally better, even though he was learning content far beyond what he'd been expected to know at his age. Sarah struggled as well with advanced physics and biology. She was due to start learning Korean also, once a teacher was chosen and background checked. Literature and arts were scheduled to begin soon for the both of them as well.

They ate rushed dinners at night and were back in their bunks by 8.30 to complete their course work. Sitting at opposite ends of the desk, their lamps angled above them, they studied until they slumped over their papers, too exhausted to lift their heads.

In the morning, they rose at 6.30, forcing themselves to be alert instantly, going for their standard run by 6.45, repeating the cycle daily.

On the night of the fifth day, both fell into their own beds at 8.35pm, grateful what they were looking forward to –Saturday night- had finally come, finally.

After a moment, Alex pried open his eyes. He listened for her breathing and found it had become heavy and steady. It was almost pitch black, but he could just make out the shapes of the sparse furniture in the room.

He peeled himself off his bed, stepping lightly over to her side.

She lay on her side, her hair spread out over the lumpy pillow they were provided. Her mouth was slightly ajar, all the tension in her body released as she found refuge from the horrors of reality in unconsciousness.

He kneeled down in front of her and just watched her for a moment. He didn't know what the hell he was doing and felt impossibly foolish. What was he? Some young school boy who couldn't help but trail after the pretty girl in class? He was better than this. At least, that was what he told himself.

Sighing softly, he bit his lip, wondering if the storm inside him would ever let up.

He lifted his hand and gently brushed a stray strand of hair that fell across her face aside, letting his fingers linger over her cheek for a moment.

"Damnit." He stood, jerkily, furious with himself, and marched back to his bed, forcing his mind to clear, hoping to find comfort in sleep.

Across the room, Sarah opened her eyes. She never slept first.

…~~~…~~~…

The next morning at 6.30am, it was still dark. But Alex lay in his bed, already wide awake.

"Alex?"

"Yea."

There was a soft mocking laughter from the other side of the room. "So you're awake too huh."

"Do you want to run?" He felt the energy building in him, waiting to be released as he normally exerted himself first thing in the morning.

"Yes, but I don't think we should. It becomes a habit after a while and we won't be able to carry on normally if it does. Imagine running at 6 in the morning on missions."

He nodded in the dark. It made sense, but he scowled. The SAS men didn't have to worry about habits or cover or false identity or the torment of learning a whole new – make that two whole new- language did they.

"Do you want to start on the work first? We can decide what to do later."

"Okay." Alex shook his head, bemused at himself. Jack would have near wet herself laughing if she knew he was studying at 6.30 on a Sunday. "The mess hall opens from 7.15 to 8.30 today right?"

"Yes, why?"

"Do you mind if we study there later? I want the hot drinks they provide."

Sarah smiled, she hadn't wanted to ask first in case he got the impression she was some weak girly girl. "Of course, no problem."

…~~~…~~~…

They sat at one end of the bench, their books, files and papers stacked beside them on the table and seat. Each had a cup of lukewarm drink that resembled diluted hot chocolate beside them.

Alex had been wondering why he'd gotten the chemistry module instead of physics, with the stereotypical mindset that males did better at that subject than females. But he glanced at her papers and found himself lost in equations that didn't quite seem they belonged on earth.

Sarah suppressed a smile as she noticed him peaking at her work. Because of her upbringing and training, she'd always seen things in a very logical, analytical point of view. Often, physics just felt like common sense to her. The way and reasoning to get answers she already knew. But then again, the work they'd given her was causing her mind to run in circles.

"Sarah."

She looked up. "Hmm?"

He turned a book upside down and slid it to her. "I don't get that sentence, it feels wrong, grammatically." He bit the inside of his cheek, irked with himself that he still couldn't grasp the language structure yet.

"That's the way Chinese is. Its sentence structure varies a lot from English. There are similarities though, for example here…"

The other SAS men who had begun filing in for breakfast watched the two of them from the corner of their eyes. There had been rumours going around about who the two kids actually were and what they'd done before, along with what they were actually doing there. No one had dared to ask their commanding officers though, that would have been a death wish. So they satisfied themselves with watching the pair, evaluating them, still undecided of what to make of them.

K unit was due to be deployed elsewhere soon, and were bombarded with questions involving their mysterious ex unit member. Panther was receiving a large amount of attention as well, due to the small fiasco in the mess hall that one time at dinner.

The two of them continued with their work, both sensing the entire mess hall watching them, but neither caring enough to move away.

By 8.10, the mess hall was cleared, except for the two of them, and the kitchen staff began clearing the trays away to prepare for lunch. Sarah waved to them and they returned the gesture, most of them sending hostile glances towards Alex. They were left alone most of the time, and the men left the lights in the area they were sitting in on, so they could continue their work.

With the conducive environment, they finished all their assignments by lunch time. They had lunch as they revised the lessons for the week.

By 2, the mess hall was cleared except for the two of them again.

Sarah sensed someone behind her and didn't start when a hand landed on her shoulder. "Hi Joe."

He chuckled, "I don't know how you always do that."

"You walk like an elephant," she looked up, smiling at him.

"You two done with your work now?" He waited for nods. "Good, then get going. Walk around or something. Sitting here won't do either of you no good."

They stacked up their materials in hand and left, to return to their bunk, after thanking Joe for letting them camp there.

Once in the bunk, they didn't know what to do again. It was the first time they had so much spare time on their hands and though both of them wouldn't admit it, they were terribly aware of the close proximity they were in.

They settled on conducting their own physical training, to get rid of the excess energy they had. But even after a 5km run, the standard 300 sit ups, 200 squats and 100 pushups, both of them continued to feel edgy and slightly tense. They went to the sparring area, intending to get rid of the tension between them that neither would acknowledge was there.

After the first fifteen minutes, Sarah paused and stepped back. "You know, we're both grownups, let's stop holding back shall we."

Alex nodded, agreeing.

They had both held back, not going full out. If anyone was watching, they would have described it as a… polite spar. Neither friendly nor amiable, but with neither side willing to show their full hand.

However after that comment, they went at each other like rabid dogs. Sarah didn't understand what the feeling building inside her was, but she lashed out with everything she had. Alex matched her, hit for block, block for hit. He grew more agitated with each attack and defense, wondering why on earth he was feeling so aggressive.

Finally, both delivered a powerful roundhouse kick at the same time. Their calves met each other in the air and both spun anticlockwise, returning to the typical feet shoulder width apart stance.

They stood there, watching each other, panting heavily.

"I want to shoot." He was surprised that he meant what he said; he missed the release one felt when the gun recoiled in your hand after being shot.

She nodded, and they both strode down to the shooting area.

There was already a unit there, practicing in their free time before their next lecture started. The SAS men didn't get a day off like they did.

They both grabbed a .22 LR Beretta each along with a handful of magazines from the storage area and stomped to the free targets. With rough, hostile motions, both loaded their guns and began shooting at the same time. For some reason it annoyed Alex. Who the hell did she think she was, beginning at the same time as him? He forced himself to focus, hitting only the bull's-eye at every shot. When he heard a quiet click, he pressed the unload button, reloaded, and began shooting again. Before her.

She grew increasingly agitated. This wasn't a game for goodness sake. What was he competing with her for? She reloaded her gun, faster than him, she noted, smirking, and began firing again.

The staccato sound of their shots became more frequent as they increased their firing speed.

They slammed down their empty magazine at the same time as they reloaded and began shooting again.

Finally, their last shots rang out together, as they ran out of bullets. Empty metal shells littered the vicinity they were in, but they were oblivious to their need to clear up as they grabbed the blank magazines and guns, dumping them violently in the storage area before stalking out together.

"What the freak was that." One of the men stated, when they'd stomped out of ear shot.

"Never seen any shit like that before man. They look like they gonna kill each other or something. Didn't even notice we were here."

There was a laugh from one of the guys. "You boys are pathetic. How long it been since you all got some?"

"Oooh."

"Gross shit. They just kids man."

"They look about 16, maybe 17 to me. Older than any of you when you first got some I bet."

"I don't know 'bout you. But that sexual tension right there? Turned me on man." He laughed. "Wish my babe was here. Boy what I'd do to her."

…~~~…~~~…

Sarah stood under the shower head, letting the freezing water cool her off.

What had she been thinking? Wait, she hadn't been thinking. Where did all that irritation at Alex come from? They'd been working together amiably. She liked that he didn't feel the need to fill silences with incessant chatter, in fact he seemed like he liked their silences as much as she did. He'd done nothing to offend her in anyway. So why was she so agitated by him?

She winced as she thought of the way they'd sparred just now. If she'd attacked him as forcefully as he did her, he was definitely feeling the effects now. She glanced down at herself. Bruises were beginning to form, littering her body, especially her arms, which had blocked most of the blows. But regardless of the pain, she had to admit it felt great to go all out against him.

In the male toilets, Alex stood under the shower head as well.

What had he been doing the last few hours? The questions that filled his mind were similar to those that filled hers.

He massaged his forearms. They were starting to feel sore already. He didn't bruise easily, but he wondered if she did. But he wouldn't regret going all out against her. He had to admit, she held her own. It was comforting to know they would be able to cover for each other in the future without him having to worry about her. A mash of voices outside interrupted his train of thought and he hurried to wash the last of the soap suds off himself.

…~~~…~~~…

Dinner was a pretty solemn affair. They kept their distance from each other, keeping up an amiable front. They sat opposite each other, at the same table they sat at during breakfast and lunch.

The beef wasn't bad, which meant it actually tasted like beef. Alex commented on it and that was the end of any conversation.

Then they returned to their bunk and retreated to their own, safe world while they sat on their beds and read the notes for the next day's lessons.

Alex found it increasingly hard to concentrate with Sarah just that few feet in front from him. She sat cross legged, her hair bunned up with the usual pencil. A few stray tendrils fell across her face, as if daring him to stride over and brush them aside for her. She wore a loose long sleeved shirt and her own shorts, but her legs were covered by thin, ratty blankets. She shifted slightly and the blanket slid to the side a little, revealing a thin strip of skin. There was a slightly uncomfortable tightness in Alex's pants, he wondered if it'd shrunk when he washed it.

Focus, he told himself. And to his credit, he did try,