A/N: Yes, an update of Hold Your Arms Steady! I really hope that you enjoy this, and that you take the time to leave feedback.

The man who called himself a Harry Potter name on every given day was sitting across the table from Yassen. "We have a problem," he said, finally. "Before I start, would you like a lemon drop, Severus?"

Yassen buried his face in his hands. "I don't even know what those are. And you know my name," he added, a distasteful look on his face.

"I know I know your name," he responded. "You can call me Dumbledore for today."

"Just please tell me what the problem is!" Yassen said, exasperated. He closed his eyes, wondering if he could restrain himself from killing the man until he was able to hear the advice. It would be so easy to reach out and snap his neck... Dumbledore, was it? Yassen couldn't even remember the man's real name.

"Fine," the man said, looking upset. "We have received news that British intelligence, the MI6, I think, know where we are. They're offering us a deal: if we let Fox and the other prisoners go, they won't arrest us. However, should we choose not to let them go, then they will bomb the camp."

"How did they find out where we are?" Yassen demanded, glaring at the man.

"I am still working on that," he said, looking put-out that Yassen had interrupted him. "Can you please just tell me what we should do?" He knew what Yassen's answer would be, of course. He smiled inwardly. MI6 didn't have a clue where they were, and they hadn't said anything about not letting them go free. Oops. Oh well, what was one little white lie?

"Damn," Yassen muttered. "Advise me. What do you think is the best option?"

Fox swallowed hard as he was dragged by his arm. He knew that with the way the man was gripping it, he was going to have a bruise whether he wanted one or not. He was roughly shoved into a truck. Someone took the time to blindfold him and tie his arms behind his back.

He didn't know how long they drove. He'd used the time, admittedly, to fall asleep. He was worried. Last night, he'd been left alone in his cell for over four hours, and had been thinking. He remembered feeling hope once upon a time. He remembered that he had a name that had been assigned to him. "Benjamin Daniels" sounded familiar, and Fox thought it was a good as fit as any for what defined hi.

For the life of him, though, he could not understand why he kept referring to himself as Fox. Had it been a nickname from his parents? No, that wasn't right; he knew that somehow. He forcefully exhaled as he opened his eyes.

Obviously, they were still moving. The truck's rhythm sounded familiar to Fox, even though he didn't know why. Tha-thump, tha-thump, tha-thump. It sounded like it was taking him further away from the scene of hope; far away from any home he'd ever known.

Maybe that was why it sounded so damn familiar.

Man, what he wouldn't give to feel hope again.

Wolf was worried. Alex had been in the hospital for twenty-four hours and had not woken up. The doctors, of course, had told him that was good. "He needs to rest, he's been through a traumatic event, and his body needs to heal." The sergeant had stopped by, and had offered to lend his ear to Wolf. Wolf had agreed, and they'd set up a dinner meet for later that night.

He closed his eyes as he laid his head against the white vanilla plain wall. He was grateful that Snake was so willing to take over Alex's care. He didn't believe that he could do it himself. He was furious at Yassen, who had given custody of Alex to his clone. He wouldn't blame Alex if the blonde teenager hated him for life.

"Penny for your thoughts?" a voice asked, and he felt someone sit beside him in the chair. At least these hospital chairs were somewhat comfortable.

"That depends, Eagle. Do you even have a penny?" Wolf said. The two had come back from questioning Fox's parents. Snake had locked himself in their hotel room, saying he had a few leads he wanted to work on. Wolf had wanted to help, but Snake had said that it was something that he wanted to do himself. Plus, it had a lot to do with technology, and Wolf hated messing around with that shit.

He sobered, thinking of Fox, who would always mess up their communications equipment. The man could do almost anything with technology – including blow it up.

Eagle had finished checking his pockets, and placed the two pennies in front of Wolf. "Yes, Wolf," he responded. He shot Wolf a wicked glare. "Come on, we've had this conversation before. I always carry pennies around with me," he said.

"Oh, don't remind me," Wolf moaned as he closed his eyes. Eagle could be insufferable sometimes. And yes, he did remember that conversation.

Flashback

"Penny for your thoughts, Wolf?" Eagle said as he sat on his SAS camp bed. The bed was nicely made, for once, as Eagle had gotten his ass chewed out by the sergeant that morning for having his bed unmade.

"That depends," Wolf said, dryly. "Do you even have a penny?" He hoped Eagle didn't have a penny – then he'd have to share his thoughts.

"Yeah," Eagle responded, nodding. He dropped to the floor and reached his arm under the bed. When he pulled his arm out, it was covered in dirt, but it held an emerged container. Wolf sometimes really wished they had wood floors. Then again, who really cared about formalities, anyway?

He opened the canister, and handed Wolf a penny. "Here," he said, "now you have to share."

Wolf stared at his comrade as if he had finally lost his mind. Not that Eagle had ever necessarily had it to begin with. "Please tell me that jar isn't all pennies," he said.

"It is," Eagle said with a nod as he put it back under the bed.

"Why the hell do you have a jar of pennies under your bed?"

"I'll tell you if you promise to share," Eagle said in an obnoxious, sing-song voice.

"Fine," Wolf grumbled. He really was curious.

"Because it makes people have to say what they're thinking and feeling. If I'm offering a penny for their thoughts, shouldn't they get one?" Eagle asked with a smile. He grinned as he ducked out of the way of Wolf's well-aimed swipe.

End flashback

"I can't even imagine being in Snake's shoes right now," Wolf said finally, after a few minutes of silence. He was impressed – who knew Eagle could be quiet for five minutes? Looked like he could. He'd have to remind Eagle of this time during events when they were in the field, and about to be shot at. Oh, wait, they weren't technically in the field anymore. Regardless, it would be a good blackmail tool. "I mean, my clone had Alex's custody, remember? You thought he was me? Well, actually, you didn't think he was me," he added hastily, remembering how Eagle had been the first one to notice he was missing.

Eagle shrugged.

"Anyway, I just keep thinking that I feel like Snake is more of a leader than me," Wolf confessed honestly. It sounded dumb, even to him, but it had been playing on repeat in his mind over and over again. "I mean, my clone didn't handle Alex's custody very well at all, from what you told me."

"I think you need to carefully consider something, Wolf." Eagle shot his friend a grin, then sobered quickly. "Look, Wolf, your clone was working for Scorpia, right?"

"Yeah," Wolf said with a nod. He'd met the man before he'd been cloned, and even though Wolf had to admit he was pissed Yassen had cloned him, the man looked much better in his skin than he had previously. Of course, with the condition the man's body was in, he could have adapted to a fourteen-year-old girl's body and been just fine. Which was saying something.

"He probably had orders from higher ups to keep Alex under control and not to let Alex squeal anything until they were able to recapture him, Wolf. I mean, you can't compare yourself to that dude. You're a good guy and the other dude is – well – he's a criminal," Eagle finished lamely.

"Good point," Wolf added. Sometimes Eagle had some good thoughts. He would remember this for the future, so as not to kill his comrade.

"And Wolf, as far as the whole custody of Alex thing goes – look, I'm not ready for a kid. You know I'm not. Fox, well, I mean, he's out of the question because he's missing. And you, whether you're willing to admit it or not, were really hurt by Yassen. You need time to heal from that, Wolf."

"So was Snake," Wolf responded, "and so were you."

"I agree," Eagle said with a nod, "but let's just be serious here. You're the leader, but Snake's always been the most mature or all of us."

"Your point?"

"He's a lot more ready to handle raising a kid from puberty on. I mean, come on, do you really want to have the sex talk with Alex?"

Wolf burst out laughing at the absurdity of Eagle's statement, and for a minute, even though Fox was missing, everything was right for the K-Unit team.

And then Alex's heart monitor flat-lined.

Challenge: Will we survive this fiction with everyone in tact? Or will someone die? And if someone dies, who will it be? And what will happen to Fox?