The island was perhaps a ten minute boat ride away. It felt much longer to Alex, for he could see the island before the others. He was dreading whatever Eagle would do, especially now that he'd become one of the elite law-enforcement agents. Even though showing Eagle his wings would solve the problem, he didn't like the prospect. Somehow, Alex didn't think Ben or Snake would like that solution either.

As the small watercraft approached the island's small dock, the waves evened out from their previously choppy state. The boat slowed as it approached the shore, and Wolf and Bear, who were sitting in the back, rowed the rest of the way so that seaweed would stay untangled with the motor. The boat landed.

"Everyone out," the pilot ordered. Taking the supplies with them, the six-person group stepped onto the sandy shore. They stood there until the pilot cocked an eyebrow. "You gonna set up camp or what?" He gunned the engine without waiting for an answer and left. Alex watched the boat vanish over the horizon, wishing it would take him with it.

Wolf started moving toward the woods, where the sun didn't reach the grassy foliage beneath. He waited for the rest of the group to join him before saying, "Which half do you four want?"

Bear looked at Snake and Eagle for an answer, glancing momentarily at Alex. After a minute, the youngest asked, "Are we allowed to explore first?"

Wolf grunted, "Yeah. That question wasn't meant for Cub to ask, though." Bear suddenly found some plant by his feet quite interesting; the others blushed. "Meet here at or before sundown. You can leave the supplies here. Fox and I will camp on whichever half you don't, so get cracking." He sat down under a large tree, and Ben followed his example.

"Right, then," Snake chirped. "Who's leader?"

Bear volunteered, and Eagle nodded. Alex shrugged; so long as it wasn't Eagle, he could hide his wings easily for the time being- the others had no reason to corner him.

"Snake and Cub can go left, and Eagle and I will go right along the bank, checking for good camping spots. We can meet on the other side of the island, then head back through the woods to look for water. Okay?" Alex breathed an internal sigh of relief. After a few scattered nods, the group parted.

The island was a long oval, and they had landed at one end. Alex walked slightly behind Snake, following his eyes but not entirely sure what to look for.

The sound of the waves filled the silent pair's ears until Alex spoke. "Eagle felt my wings."

"I know. I'll have a word with him in private, just let him know not to bother you about it. I won't tell him the details, though."

"Thanks."

A couple minutes passed, and once Snake stopped and marked a tree with his knife. Alex didn't bother asking why, but Snake told him it was to mark distances; they had apparently walked about a half a mile. "Keep track of the number for me, will you?"

"Sure. One."

Snake half-smiled and walked on, but his demeanor grew apprehensive when he spoke again. "You know, now'd be a good time to start teaching you to fly. I'd bet this island is at least a couple miles long, so we've got maybe a few hours."

Alex didn't reply, but took his jacket off all the same and tied it around his waist. It felt nice to open and relax his wings; in order to properly hide them, he kept them tense at all times. His new trainer eyed the unnatural appendages as they spread out to their full length, but politely looked back into the forest when he realized he was staring. Still, his eyes darted back curiously, and eventually a question popped out.

"Do you know what kind of wings you've got?"

"Hummingbird."

"A hummingbird flaps its wings very quickly, but like all birds, it flaps them in a sort of figure-eight. Maybe you should try it." He'd slowed his pace to let Alex catch up and pass him, checking the woods all the while.

Alex flexed his wings in the suggested pattern, almost curiously. The sensation was a different one. "Not bad. Can you take flight?"

"No."

Slightly taken aback, Snake nodded. "MI6 probably picked me because of my ornithology degree. If you've got any questions..." He trailed off, waiting.

"How do I land?"

His quick question brought Snake a little relief- he was in familiar territory. "Just keep flapping, really, and try to slow down as you come down. Lean back, so that when you hit the ground you won't face-plant. It'll probably take a lot of practice. In plane flight, it's often considered the hardest part. But you know, you're a bird. Well, not exactly..." Alex disliked the slip-up but ignored it.

"Nevermind- I'll aim for the water. So, take-off?"

"Hang on." Snake swallowed, stopped again, and marked the second tree. "That's one mile." He stepped away from the trees into the sunlight, though it didn't lighten his expression. "Take-off, right? Run as fast as you can, and flap your wings. Keep your feet running no matter what- don't stop until you're several feet in the air. You might hit a downdraft." He nodded once, mentally rechecking his explanation. "That's about it."

"Alright." After a pause, Alex sprinted. As his wings pushed down, he felt like the wind was lifting him. And pushing backward, too. His army boots were making lighter, closer impressions.

Suddenly, the ground seemed to drop away, and Alex was airborne! He pumped his wings harder and harder, seeking to climb into the sky, which was rapidly tipping back.

A few seconds later, Alex was lying on his back, facing the sun. One second he'd been in the air, flying, and the next, on the the ground, winded.

"Hey, are you alright?" Snake had jogged up, concern evident until he got near enough to see that the flier was fine. "That was a spectacular take-off." His awe voiced itself.

"Except I didn't take off."

"Well, aside from that, it was amazing." He offered his hand. Alex took it and was pulled to his feet. "You're flapping your wings the wrong way- what you just did was perfect for landing, though." Snake bit his lip, as if worried of seeming overbearing, but let his eyes roam over Alex.

Alex shook the sand from his wings and shuddered under the scientific gaze. When Snake seemed content to just look at him, he added, "We should probably keep going."

"Yeah." They continued walking. The bird-expert stepped alongside the bird-boy and the tree-line, analyzing both.

Alex was closer to the water, and now he could study the way the water hit the beach. The sandy depths were visible, even to a human eye; the water was clearer than most ocean shores. It was certainly clearer than Snake's feelings toward him. One minute, he was friendly; the next, awkward and unsure. It was like Snake couldn't decide if Alex were to be treated like an untrained animal, a child, or a student.

The analytical study was unnerving, too. Snake was a scientist; it was to be expected. But even so, Alex had had enough of people treating him like an object. He pushed down the beginnings of anger and tried to calmly isolate the problem.

Maybe Snake was just unsure of what to do. If Alex was Snake, he'd be pretty lost about now. Plus, Snake didn't really know him- he wouldn't know that Alex didn't like to be studied, nor that Alex hadn't changed too much since his 'operation'. That was probably it.

Now to remedy that.

"Snake?"

"Yeah?"

"Please don't look at me like that. It's unnerving."

"Sorry."

"I'm still human- you can treat me like a student, if you like."

Snake's eyebrows arched. "Alright." He paused, searching for the right words. "Erm, you need to fix your take-off.

"When you bring your wing down, you can push the air forward or backward. Like this," he explained. He held his arm upwards behind him, and brought it down low in front. "That would push the air forward and down, making you go up and backward. Moving your wing in this pattern makes the feathers tilt backward. That's what you were doing.

"Conversely, you can do this." Alex's eyes followed the arm; this time, it went from high in the front to low in the back. "Again, I can't show you, but your feathers sort of cup the air, giving you more lift. Plus, you can channel the air behind you- that way, it'll push you forward.

"On the upstroke, you probably should bend your wing more. When you want to go forward, angle your wing so the air will slide off the back to propel you; that's where the figure-eight comes in. Reverse the horizontal motion when you're landing, but you don't want to catch much wind on the upstroke anyway, or it'll push you down. Got it?"

Alex blinked. "Um, I think so."

Snake read the expression adorning Alex's face correctly. He reworded quickly. "Basically, flap from high-forward to low-back on the down-stroke and low-forward to high-back on the upstroke when taking off."

"Ah, right." Alex looked expectantly at Snake, who didn't notice right away. He was still looking for good camping spots.

When he did look at Alex again, he asked anxiously, "What?"

"Should I try again?"

"Of course!"

Ben sat next to Wolf in the small clearing. It felt like an eternity had passed since the other four had left. Wolf hadn't made any move to do anything; in fact, Ben thought he might even be sleeping. He cleared his throat, trying to get Wolf's attention.

"Yes?" Wolf didn't even look at him.

"Do you know how Cub got that bruise on his forehead?"

"He said he walked into a door."

"Alright." Neither really believed it, but there wasn't another explanation readily available. Ben paused, then asked, "When do I start training with you?"

"Honestly? I don't have a clue as to what the sergeant wants me to do with you."

"He said that you're to teach-"

"I know what he said, but you were there during the survival skill training." Darn him, he was right. "And we haven't learned much more than that. Mostly a bit more on how to select a campsite. It's really easy- basically, look out for things that might fall; get a specified spot, if there is one; pick an open area that won't collect water, is flat, and is open enough for cooking; and make sure there's water nearby."

"Hm." Ben privately thought most of that was common sense. "What supplies did they give us?"

Wolf bothered to open his eyes, at last. "No idea. Just survival stuff. Our things are here, and theirs, there. Have a look."

Ben started riffling through their supplies. It was mostly standard issue- food, water, a tent, a first aid kit, that sort of thing. He pulled out a walkie talkie, and Wolf added, "At sunrise, the sergeant will give us instructions for what to do with the others."

"Do you have any idea what we're to do? That accented official said three days here, right?"

"No, and no. That's what the walkie-talkie is for; the supplies are for three days, as is the declared time, but the exercise will last longer. The walkie-talkie can also be used for emergencies."

Finally, Ben broke out into a smile, realizing just how serious both of them were being. At training before he'd left, he and Wolf had been friends- that is, as good as friends can be when you're training under confidential identities in competitive circumstances. For obvious reasons, handing out personal information was a no-no, but the boundaries were less clear now. Maybe Wolf would turn out to be a more friendly guy; besides, Ben had to spend at least three days with him. Might as well get to know him.

"So- how've you been, Wolf?"

"Fine, thanks. You?" Well, Wolf had always been a bit formal.

"Not bad. You been on any missions?"

"I can't confirm or deny that." And he's professional.

Discouraged, Ben plowed on. "Well, how was the rest of training?"

"You did it too; all agents complete it at sometime. You know." But Wolf wasn't rude without reason.

"Is something wrong?"

The mask was well placed, but the hidden contempt was somewhat visible anyway. "Do you know how old Cub is? Too young for this. He doesn't belong near the military."

So that's what it's about, thought Ben. "He's in his teens."

"Too young." There wasn't a real answer to that, but Ben felt a need to defend himself.

"He started before I met him again."

Wolf frowned deeply. "You mean you've seen him after the first time we met too?"

"Yeah, I have." Ben replayed what Wolf said in his head. "Wait, you've seen him too?" Wolf seemed to hesitate. "Oh, come on, Wolf. If I wanted to sell him out, knowing he exists is enough."

"Yes, on a mission." Wolf paused. "Are you his father?"

Ben half-smiled. "Not biologically."

Wolf rolled his eyes. "I meant, do you look after him? You're obviously too young to father a teen; you're what, twenty-two? Twenty-three?"

"Twenty-four. I look after him now."

"'Now'? What's that supposed to mean?" Wolf studied Ben suspiciously, trying to discern a clue.

"It means what it sounds like," Ben answered quietly, completely blank-faced. Wolf squinted, as if the man before him was blurry.

"Well then, Fox, we have nothing to say until the others return."

Ben sighed. It looked like their time together would be tense and uncomfortable.

AN: Sorry. Life. Can't do weekly. Thanks!

Please do not review.