Streets ran into streets as Alex pushed himself on, feet taking him where they felt they should go in the absence of thought. In his head, secluded from himself, Alex knew it was wrong, knew he shouldn't be moving, knew he had to find someone to contact. But still his feet took him down residential roads and down alleys.

Absently, he realised that he was suffering from blood loss. Or shock. Or maybe both. Snake would know; if Snake was here.

In his head, Alex grimaced, Three's word echoing again and again in his head. He found himself slowing, still wary of the numbness that had long since descended. All sense of perception, and all sense of time paused as he stood their, one foot stretched as if to take a step as the floor grew.

Alex lay there for a while, watching the barren crossroads where he'd stopped. The orange lights above glowed, slowly dimming as time which did not exist passed. His hair moved, his vision hazing, focusing on the non existant wind that stirred it. The last thing he saw were the shoes.

The Sargeant stood on the landing strip, Eagle beside him as the carriers engines turned themselves off, slowly ticking away as they cooled. The first ones out the craft were the rest of K-Unit, which didn't suprise him; the fact that there was a dead silence did.

Wolf strode straight up to him, fearlessly. "How fast can you get us freedom to move around countries without being stopped by intelligence agencies?"

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

Snake put a hand on Wolfs, shoulder, stepping forward. "We believe Cub was taken from England. He's abroad somewhere, and we need to find him."

"He wasn't with you?" Eagle asked, voice broken.

Fox shook his head. "He was. Three took him though, just before we were about to get murdered. He'll think we're dead."

They were silent for a minute before the Sargeant turned sharply. "I'm going to have a word with MI6, see what I can do. That damn kid'd better be grateful."

Wolf's face darkened. "We're coming."

The man paused, looking over his shoulder. "And why would you want to do that?"

"Because those-"

Snake cut him off. "They knew were Cub was, and never bothered to step in. You haven't seen what he's hiding. He was assassinated."

Behind him, there was the intake of breaths and the spreading of murmers as the other units stood and listened, ignored by the group. The Sargeant turned round fully.

"You have got to be taking the-"

"He's not." Fox muttered. "Alex is actually lucky he even survived. Missed his heart by 2 centimetres."

They were all quiet as they waited for the man to process this. His voice was quiet when they spoke again. "How long ago?"

"A couple of months, maybe?" Snake shook his head. "He wouldn't tell us about it."

The Sargeant turned away, striding towards his office. "Those-"

"We just need permission." Snake said, catching up to him easily. "We'e getting him back Sarge, with or without 6's help."

"More likely the latter with Wolf's temper." Fox murmured, smiling slightly.

Eagle snorted quietly beside him, following them into the cabin that was the Sargeants office. Behind him, several of the units clustered, listening whilst trying to look like they belonged.

The door shut over, the Sargeant pulled the phone closer, leaning over the desk almost threateningly as it dialed. There was a click as the receptionist picked up.

"Royal and General, how may I help-"

"Get me Blunt."

She was quiet for a minute before replying. "I'm sorry, but there isn't a Mrs Blunt here, are you sure your calling the right-"

"Oh for-"

"Sargeant." Snake cut in."

"-sake." He looked up. "Army reference 774, delta bravo 6."

"I'll patch you through."

He growled as the phone cut off. "Stupid sons of-"

Fox coughed loudly. "They're going to know we didn't get Alex."

"Course they are." Wolf growled. "And I bet they know where he is as well. They just don't blood well give a-"

"Sargeant." Blunts voice entoned from the phone. "What is it this time?"

"I want to know, what the-"

Snake coughed, eyebrows raised as the Sargeant, gradually grew angrier and louder as he shouted profanities down the phone.

"-and why the hell he was assassinated!"

There was a beat of silence before Blunts voice, colder than ice crept out. "May I remind you, that I have the ability to take away your standing. What I do with my agents is none of your concern."

"Well when you bloody well lump him in an SAS training camp, he bloody well becomes my concern!"

"I don't think you quite understand, Sargeant. You have-"

"I have everyright! To question the treatment of a child! I'm sure, that there are other people who would be disgusted in the way that you have treated him."

"Alex is not a secret to those in power."

"What about the people? I'm sure, no matter where you go, people will be disgusted in how you've treated him."

They were quiet for a minute, before he replyed. "What do you want, Sargeant?"

"I want Cub, back, and in safe hands."

"Because you God damn know where he is." Wolf growled, from beside Snake, all presence of respect towards Blunt long since gone.

Blunt ignored Wolf. "That's not going to be possible. Scorpia will never leave him alone. You should have guessed that by now."

"Then give me permission to get him back. I don't care what you have to do, I want teams out there, looking for him. And now."

"You won't find him."

"Well somebody's got to bloody well try!" He roared, slamming his fist down on the desk. The phone line was cut as it bounced of the desk and landed on the floor with a crack.

Fox sighed. "Well, I think we kinda got what we wanted."

The Sargeant growled and sat in his seat. "I don't know why you decided to work with them, Fox. There are plenty of other things I'd rather do."

He shrugged in reply. "It's useful at times."

"Other than that, they're a load of-" Wolf growled, ignoring the way Snake elbowed him and spoke over him.

"We want to be one of the teams that goes out."

The Sargeant frowned. "In my head, I know that you shouldn't. You're too attatched." He cut off their protests with a wave of his hand. "And yet I find that I don't care. You'll be one of the teams that search."

Fox and Snake let out a small sigh of relief, smiling a little at each other. Wolf just nodded, stepping out the way as he passed him to the door.

With a growl, he threw it open, startling the men out there. "What the hell do you think you're doing! This isn't a mothers meeting! Get moving!"

K-Unit filed out, past him, following the men. The majority headed towards the mess hall, speaking in low voices. Cougar and his unit walked over.

"We'll give you a hand." Lemur said, seriously. Beside him Lion nodded.

"What he said."

Snake nodded gratefully. "Thanks."

Fox shook his head. "Are you sure though? This won't just be a simple search and rescue. The chances that we make it out alive are more than halved."

Lemur shrugged. "You need someone to go with you. Don't see why it shouldn't be us."

He shook his head grinning. "I'm going to remember you said that when you're cursing us to hell."

Cougar sighed loudly. "Don't you just love my unit."

Eagle grinned, clasping him on the shoulder. "Course we do Horse, I mean, if it all goes wrong, we'll just throw you at the enemy and take off in the other direction-"

Wolf slapped him up the head. "Don't be mean."

Tiger, the units communications expert sighed, looking at his watch. "If we want to eat, we might want to move."

"Ah, Tiger." Eagle said, moving away from Wolf with a smile. "Always thinking about his unit."

He shrugged, moving away without another word. Wolf stepped beside Cougar silently as the two units headed towards food.

"How come you ended up with the clever, quiet unit?"

"Because you got Eagle. Otherwise, you would have been fine."

He snorted, pushing open the door that swung closed after their teams. "I don't know. I think the Sargeant just took one look at us and decided to make our lives hell."

Cougar laughed. "You just have that effect on people."

Wolf smiled a little, as Cougar cocked his head.

"You never used to be like this." He murmured as the two stepped to the line."

Wolf sighed. "I know. The kid's managed to change all of us. God knows how."

Cougar grinned. "Thank God for that. I don't think the old you would have let me live."

He shrugged, taking the food with a frown. "The damn kid just had that affect on people."

Wolf turned away, heading towards the table where the two units were seated. "And God knows we owe him for that." He muttered, almost to himself.

(A/N) So who found Alex then? Who's got him now? Let me know what you think! R&R!