TRUE FAMILY

A/N: Its Mothers' day here in England and you all know what that means! Yup I'm going to desperately think of a gift that requires no money yet still means something, give up and write a fanfiction instead. XD I am such a wonderful child. This is just a short one shot to get into the mood of the special occasion because I live through these characters but who doesn't?

Btw: This is set when Alex has moved away to live with K Unit and, sick of his parents' rivalry, Tom has come with him. So it's all new: no Brooklands or anything.

Enjoy :3…

Alex slumped in his school chair. It was the last lesson of the day but that still meant he had to sit through one hour of mind numbingly boring lessons. Maths last thing on a Friday was always a bit down putting but, for some reason he couldn't think of, Alex felt especially grumpy that day.

The teacher entering the room made everyone stop talking and straighten in their chairs. "Good morning everybody! I have a very fun lesson planned for today!" Everyone groaned and rolled their eyes, when a teacher said that it was rarely good news. The teacher looked slightly affronted, huffing "I'm glad to see you are all so very excite, please contain yourself." She commented dryly "Well, as you know it is Mothers' day!" Alex stiffened, that's why he felt so moody "So I thought it would be lovely if we could spend this lesson making cards! I have glitter, coloured pens and pencils, stickers, tissue, coloured paper, if you want anything else I will see if I can find it! Please try to keep the volume down and still focus on your work, this is still a lesson." With that she went to sit behind her desk.

As all the other kids rushed to get the best colours of glitter, Alex stayed in his chair staring blankly at his desk. Frankly he would have preferred factorising equations. Alex sighed looking to his side and saw that Tom was a mirror image of himself. Alex pulled a fake smile and nudged his best mate. "Hey," he said. Tom looked up and smiled "Hey," their awkward silence resumed.

Alex felt terribly guilty. He knew Tom hadn't been happy with his family and had often become quite depressed from his parents fighting, even when they weren't fighting they were always making jabs at the other and trying to convince Tom that they were the better parent. But they were still Tom's family, flesh and blood, they had raised him. If Alex hadn't let Tom come with him then maybe they would have worked through everything and Tom could have been happy there in a loving family. But Alex had taken that possibility away from him.

"Alex!" Alex snapped out of his thoughts and saw Tom waving a hand in front of his face. When Tom saw Alex had snapped out of it he smiled reassuringly "Don't think like that. I hated it there, I needed out. I just need a break, mate, I might go back and smooth things over but not now. Right now this is about me, not them. My education, my future, my life. And I'm happy here, I'm with my best mate, what more could I want?" It was like Tom had read his mind. Although he wasn't completely convinced Alex let it drop.

They both sat miserably, unsure of what to do. Alex saw the teacher eying them disapprovingly, about to come over if they didn't start doing something. Alex was about to go to her and ask if they could read instead when an idea hit him. An ear to ear grin spread across his face. "Hey, Tom, I know EXACTLY who we should make cards for." He whispered the idea in Tom's ear and the usual fire returned to his friend's eyes. "We are going to need glitter and sparkles and flowers and ribbons and shiny things and PINK! A lot of pink." Tom said springing to life.

(P-A-G-E—B-R-E-A-K—B-L-E-H)

Wolf was in an okay mood. Alex and Tom had normally pissed him of by now but for some reason they hadn't. Where were they anyway? Wolf grunted, what did he care? He shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Wolf flopped onto his bed, picking up the remote to watch his TV. Thank God he had a TV in his room, if he had to share with the other idiots he didn't think he could cope.

Wolf was about to lay back and enjoy a relaxing evening when a knock on his door attracted his attention. He snarled, they'd better have a good reason for interrupting him. Wolf swung open the door ready to snap at whoever it was… there was no one there. He looked around: no one, no movement at all. He looked down and saw an envelope lying there reading nothing but 'Wolf'. Wolf looked at it cautiously, taking it in his hand. Being in the SAS had made him weary. He thought through all the possibilities that this could be. But what harm could a letter do? He decided to open it.

There was an explosion.

(P-A-G-E—B-R-E-A-K—B-L-E-H)

"Hey, Wolf man!" Eagle, Snake and Fox had just gotten home. They had been out at a bar, Wolf had opted to stay home, appreciating the peace and quiet of being alone. But now they were back they decided he should come down stairs and all 6 men (4 and two boys, really) could watch a movie with pizza.

"Wolfie?" Eagle chimed, going to open Wolf's door. The four heard a scream coming from inside and they quickly rushed to their friend's aid, assuming battle positions. "Wolf!" they threw the door open… then stopped. Their worry washed away and instead they burst into laughter.

Inside was Wolf, covered in confetti and ribbons and lots and lots of pink glitter. Wolf, looking slightly shell shocked, glared at them "H-hey, shut up!". Fox was the first to regain speech "Wha-what happened to you?" He laughed, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. Wolf shrugged, trying to hide the letter. Snake noticed "Hey, he's hiding something!" Eagle was quick to grab it. "A letter, ooo!" Eagle cleared his throat and read:

"Dear Wolf,

Thank you for being the bestest, greatest mummy ever! Thank you for being here for us, making us tidy our rooms, helping with our homework, cooking our dinner, tucking us in at night and comforting us when we have nightmares. We love you very very much and we hope you like the card we made you mummy.

Lots of love, hugs and kisses

Alex and Tom XOXO! 3"

There was a silence before everyone burst out in laughter. Wolf blushed crimson "Shut up you bloody idiots!" Fox snickered "Sorry Mummy!" Eagle joined in "Yeah, please don't send us to bed without dinner!" Snake looked very serious and said in a stern voice "And if you do please tuck us in still" They all burst into laughter again, doubling over. Wolf snarled but nothing would shut them up.

In the room next door Alex and Tom were exploding with silent laughter. They bumped fists, their earlier woes forgotten.

(P-A-G-E—B-R-E-A-K—B-L-E-H)

Getting ready to go to bed, Alex noticed Tom's bag was hanging open. Alex went over to zip it shut but something fell out. Curious, he looked at it. It was a card to Tom's mother. It was screwed up and Tom was obviously going to throw it in the bin the next time he saw it. Alex picked it up sadly, deciding on what he was going to do. He went outside and ran, it would only take 5 minutes to get to the post box that way. Alex put all the details onto the card and posted it. He looked up, the sky was a dark grey and it was obviously about to rain. But while he was out he had one more thing to do.

(P-A-G-E—B-R-E-A-K—B-L-E-H)

Many miles away a middle aged woman sat curled up in her couch. She was obviously pretty but her appearance was rough and uncared for. Her eyes were red and swollen as she sat alone. The doorbell rang and she went to answer it, eager to get even a bit of distraction. A single letter sat on the doorstep. She opened it wondering what on earth it could be. Could it be her baby? No, he didn't want anything to do with her anymore, it was probably just bills…

As she read the letter shock plastered her face, soon replaced by a pure and true happiness that filled her body. As she read the words of love and truth written by her son Mrs Harris smiled and laughed happily to the sky. The rain started pouring but she didn't care.

A couple of miles away in an empty grave yard, a single paper letter was the only splash of colour amongst the cold grey grave stones. It had been placed there that evening by a boy on his bike who spent a moment kneeling at a grave stone before leaving. As the rain poured, the letter started the inevitable process of decomposing and the intricately drawn patterns and words washed away.