The room was cold, that was for sure. The unit sat on their bunks in the half light of dusk, waiting for a signal, any signal, that would allow them to go to their team member, where ever they were. They were tense, knowing that they had to find Alex, that his life depended on it.

Eagle sighed, uncharacteristically serious, leaning back against the wall as he thought of what he knew about Cub. In the end, it boiled down to very little. Despite being the youngest, he and the kid had been frosty, to begin with. It made sense, when he looked back on how they'd treated him, but it still hurt to think that at the start, the kid had been unable to even talk to him.

Across the room, Snake thought about the scars he's seen, not for the first time, and wondered if Cub had ever been in this kind of situation before. Whilst he hoped he hadn't, there was always the small part of him that suspected he had, and the marks he had been left with did nothing to help. The idea that the cut on his arm from the bullet- not even four days ago- had been left as it was, made him feel that the kid wouldn't think about any of the wounds he's received until he was forced to.

Besides him, Fox seemed almost relaxed, head in a book which was not odd in itself, but with what was going on, seemed out of place on the soldier, the spy.

Wolf looked over to him with a slight growl. "How can you be so calm?"

He looked up, seeing eveyones gaze on him. With a small smile, he raised his hand, showing the heavy tremors that racked his body. "It's more of a case of what I want you to see." He explained lightly.

Wolf nodded, accepting this without a second thought as he looked carefully at the man holding his book. His knuckles were white and tense, whilst foot tapped against the floor with out a tune. There was an underlying tension seeping through his figure, as he stared, watching the man turn back to the book.

Eagle sighed, flipping round to lie on his bunk and stare at the ceiling. his hand stretched out to grip the metal bar of the headboard. The cot in the corner of the room was a desolate reminder, leaving the group with the ever present reminder of exactly what had happened to its occupant.

On the desk beside Eagles head, the clock ticked itself away, become louder and more noticeable in the silence as they waited for something that may or may not come. Their attention was drawn to it, as time passed slowly, seconds taking minutes taking hours to pass.

There was a thump outside, and the door opened, revealing a startled Cougar with his unit behind him. K-Unit let out a sigh, not realizing they'd even taken a breath at the shock.

Lion smiled a little behind his unit leader. "Thought you'd want a distraction."

Fox chuckled a little, putting his book down before pulling out a small box from under his bed and pushing it towards the center of the room and revealing a pack of cards.

"I don't mind some better opponents than this lot." He replied with a grin, moving to the floor as the others entered the room, door closing behind them.

Cougar sighed with relied almost as he passed Wolf without getting mauled. Behind him, his unit smiled, each of them moving to find their own space in the suddenly small cabin. Tiger, the quieter of the group moved aside to sit on a bunk to watch the game of cards as the others settled around the table with Fox and Eagle.

On the other side of the room, Wolf pulled out his gun and began to clean it, dismantling it as he did so. The material he cleaned it with was no more than a rag that had seen better days, and still he rubbed the barrel down as though it was new.

As he dealt, Fox looked round the faces, head cocked to one side. "What's the other reason then?"

"The other reason?" Cougar asked, looking at his hand briefly without expression.

He shrugged. "There has to be something other than causing a distraction for you to want to play cards with us."

Lemur shook his head. "There isn't."

"Are you sure?"

There was a beat of silence before Cougar whined and gave in. "Fine! The Sergeant asked us to!"

Lion elbowed him in the side harshly, causing him to moan. "What was that for?"

"Telling."

"Well he never said it had to be a secret." The man grumbled as he drew another card.

Lemur raised his eyebrows. "I don't think he wanted them to know either."

Cougar pouted a little, glaring slightly at his team mates. "It's okay for you! It'd be me they'd chew on, not anyone else! I mean, look at Wolf! I'd rather not face his wrath!"

The mentioned man snorted, not looking up from his gun. "Whatever you say."

Eagle rolled over slightly, so he could see the cards from his position on the bed. "I think he has a point. I mean, look at that ugly mug! I think I'd rather face the Sarge that have to spend time with him!"

Fox snorted. "You're not any better looking."

Eagle turned to him. "Well at least Wolf looks better than you."

"Ooh, you hurt me so much."

"You know sarcasm is the lowest form of wit."

"Well its still up there." He drew his own cards, looking round before revealing a flush. Across from him, Lion grumbled and revealed his own hand, which was slightly less impressive.

Eagle shook his head. "Wow. You astound me so much. Allow me to lick your boots oh great- ow!" Eagle rubbed his forehead where the boot had hit him. "I didn't mean literally!"

Snake sighed. "Don't hit him too hard. I don't want to explain to the Sergeant why you have a concussion. Because I'm certainly not dealing with it."

Eagle pouted slightly. "That's mean!" He turned his head to Lion. "You're a medic- you'd help me wouldn't you?"

"No way in hell. If you get hurt, its your own fault!"

There was a high pitched whine from the bed as the group turned back at their card game. Lemur grinned a little.

"Now I know why the lot of you are always fighting."

Fox shrugged, looking over at Snake and Tiger. "What can we say, we just hate him."

"Only your mother could love you!" Eagle shouted over, head back against the pillow.

"At least she does!"

Wolf sighed as the two continued to bicker, looking up only to catch Snakes amused glance. The medic mouthed something, and Wolf couldn't help but nod as he watched the two younger members distract themselves. The other unit watched on, grinning and occasionally throwing in their own retort, taking jabs at both Fox and Eagle.

Tiger leant in closer to Snake, as the 'argument' got louder. "Are they always like this?"

Snake thought for a minute. "They were never this bad, is the best way of putting it I suppose."

"What do you mean?"

He shrugged. "We all have our own ways of dealing with things. I think you know that."

Tiger nodded silently, not moving his eyes from the men on the floor and the bunk opposite. They were quiet again whilst the two argued, before Snake sneezed.

"Bless you."

He nodded his thanks, chuckling a little as none of the unit on the floor bothered to moved as Fox and Eagle took to wrestling. Lemur leaned over to peak at Fox's hand with a grin as Cougar jumped out of the way of the brawl. He sneezed again, turning his head to Tiger.

The man let out a small smile. "Some one's cursing you."

Snake snorted. "Sure. Whatever you say."

"Damn Snake's gonna kill me." Alex murmured, hunched over in the shadowed corner of the room. It was barren, the lights dimmed that it was only after time you were able to see what was there in front of you.

He'd woken up hours ago, panicked and afraid since he had no recollection of having done anything but run. It had taken him a while to realize that there was water and bandages beside the door. He had pulled himself over, taking a drink carefully before pulling his tatters of a t-shirt off and onto the floor next to him.

It hadn't been till he'd looked down that he realized how badly he was hurt. The front of his chest was a mess, blood clotted to his stomach as though it was the blood which had created him. His shoulders were torn, limbs aching and shaking. He was glad he couldn't see his back as he cleaned and bandaged himself as best he could.

With a small sigh, he leant back slowly, hissing as his wounds touched the cold surface of the wall. He didn't know how he was getting out of this one.


(A/N) Woo! Sorry if this seems a bit rushed! Its my sisters wedding tomorrow, congrats to her! So i wasn't in much of a writing mood by the time I'd finished :D Ha ha R&R!