Chapter 25

They were silent after that. And in those few precious minutes where they were all frozen in shock, I had put on my shirt, grabbed a pair of jeans and thrown on a hoodie. I was fully dressed and downstairs before they even had a chance to react.

"Cub...".

I spun around to face Wolf, my hand on the door.

He frowned, "How... Why... Where are you going?".

"Out" I hissed and he sighed, "Cub... Alex... Just... Just let us talk ok?".

"No" I replied simply and he glared at me, "Listen kid. I'm not here because I actual-".

I was after going outside and slamming the door shut behind me before he had even finished his sentence. Then I ran. I ran and ran and ran as fast as I could away from them. Away from them. Away from Tom. Away from the house. Away from memories and... And away from myself. I just ran and ran and ran.

A while later, I finally stopped, leaning up against a wall to catch my breath. I didn't know how long I'd been running for. But considering when I left it was only starting to get bright, and now when the sun was fully out, I was guessing it was about midday. Which would have meant I'd been running for at least four hours. And I probably had, considering my legs were killing me and I was gasping for breath. Stupid Wolf. Stupid scars. Stupid SAS. Was the hell was everything so fucked up?

A quick movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention and I spun around, facing the dark alley in front of me.

Nothing.

But I could have sworn...

Before I knew what had happened, I felt a bag being placed roughly over my head, and two strong hands gripping my arms.

"Make a sound, and you're dead".

I shivered slightly at the ice-cold voice. It was familiar in a way... Yet different. I didn't know what to think... So I didn't. Instead, I spun around, lashing out with the heel of my foot and pleased to hear the man stumble back a few feet. I quickly tore the bag off my head, blinking a few times in the bright light, before spinning around to face my attacker... Or, really, my attacker's.

There were three of them all together. All men. All with rather sinister looking white masks. And all staring at me with as much venom and hatred as possible.

But they drew attention to themselves. Quite a lot of attention. And there was at least three or four people on the other side of the road looking over at us with interest. They couldn't fight me now. It'd draw too much attention. It'd draw even MORE attention. So they slowly took a few steps forward until I was forced to go deeper into the black alleyway. Out of sight from passer-byes.

Once they were happy we were all hidden, the man in the middle lurched for me. I quickly ducked under him, kicking him forward into the brick wall. We all heard the sickening crack. And we all saw him fall to the ground. Unmoving. Motionless. Dead.

I turned back to the other two, "... Sure ye guys wanna continue?".

The guy to the left of me took a step forward but I held my ground. Slowly, he took another step forward, muttering something under his breath before suddenly punching me. In the stomach. Numerous times.

I stumbled back, gasping for breath, only to be shoved roughly against the wall by the same man, a knife at my throat and a fist on my stomach once again. And jeasus did that hurt.

"Scorpia never forgives. Scorpia never forgets".

His words send a pang of fear threw me and I shivered involuntarily. He just grinned and let go of my shirt, spinning around and kicking me in the chest before I had a chance to react.

We all heard the sickening crack.

He laughed, a horrible, scratchy sound, before tossing the knife to man number. 3 and motioning for him to continue. He did so without reluctance, taking number. 2's place in front of me, sizing me up like I was a bag of meat. I didn't really care. I could barely breathe. And my vision was gone blurry. The only thing stopping me from keeling over right now was my own god damn stubbornness, and the promise of revenge. Sweet, sweet revenge.

I waited until I had caught my breath before looking up at man number. 3, an oh-so-familiar smirk playing on my lips. And I could see him falter slightly. Just slightly. Unnoticeable to the untrained eye. But I WAS trained. I was trained good. Very good. And so I noticed his moment of hesitation. But that split second, was all I needed.

I quickly lashed out, punching him once in the stomach, and then in the throat, blocking off his airways for a split second. But in that split second, he went down, and I grabbed his knife before advancing towards the stunned man number. 2. He hadn't expected me to react. Well, at least, not like this. And so, when I pointed the knife at his throat and demanded in a dead, cold, voice that he let me out of here, it didn't take much for him to agree. Only a few minor cuts and bruises here and there, but otherwise, he was basically ok.

Basically.

I don't know how long later I made it back to the house... It could have been minutes... Hours... Even days for all I'd care... But my chest was killing me, and it was getting harder and harder to breathe... Which could only mean one thing... But I didn't want to think about that right now...

Slowly I stumbled toward the house, pushing open the door and literally falling forward. And I would have hit the floor too... If it weren't for someone quickly grabbing me.

"Jeasus Christ... Alex? Hey, Alex, come on man, you hear me?".

I took a deep breath, wincing and clasping a hand over my stomach. Fuck did that hurt. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to move. It hurt to live.

"Alex? Hey!" They snapped again and I struggled out of their grip, managing to trip and fall again. This time they weren't so quick and I fell back against the wall, sliding down to the ground with a soft thud. And fuck did that hurt too.

I heard someone swear, and kneel down next to me, shaking me lightly, "Come on, dammit!".

I forced myself to look up, letting my head fall back against the wall, and smiling slightly. Tom. Tom would help me. He was my best friend... Wasn't he?

I frowned at the thought, but quickly pushed them to one side as aye started shouting something again.

"Alex for fucks sake where were you? Look at you! You're... You're... You're beaten up! You're half dead for fucks sake! Oh My God... You're beaten up... GUYS! SAS! ANYBODY! GET DOWN HERE!".

"I... 'M alright" I mumbled and for fucks sake it hurt to fucking talk as well...

He frowned, "No. You're not. You're barely breathing. What the hell happened?".

"... Scorpia" I whispered and he froze, before suddenly looking up as Wolf appeared at the doorway.

He also froze when he saw me before quickly rushing forward, "... You're... SHIT! You're hurt! How are you hurt? Where were you? What happened? Actually, no, that can wait, what we need now is a hospital. And a doctor... Or a medic... Tom go get Snake".

Tom nodded numbly before running off and Wolf turned back to be, "You look like shit".

I smirked, "Thanks man... Feels like it too"

"Can you walk?" He asked again and I frowned, before holding out a hand, "Help me up".

He quickly pulled me to my feet and I stumbled forward only for him to keep a firm grip on my arm, steadying me.

"Come on, kitchen".

I nodded silently and he gently pushed me in the right direction, taking half my weight as I slowly limped towards the familiar room.

Familiar room... Familiar name... Familiar story.