Ben thought they would never find Alex again, never even see his body or find out what really happened to him. And yet there he was, on the monitor. They hadn't even been looking for him anymore. MI6 had determined that he was lost. K-unit had all grieved, even going so far as to hold a funeral for the boy despite MI6 wishing to bury the topic. And then life had gone on. Not a day went by that Ben, and probably the rest of K-unit though he couldn't speak for them, did not think of the teenage spy, their Cub, although it had been almost two years.
Currently, they had been doing recon on a suspected terrorist, Ben along with the team. He had quit MI6 and returned to the SAS a broken man after Alex. Their orders were strictly observation, but this changed everything. The boy on the screen was disheveled to put it nicely, and though he wasn't a skeleton, he looked too skinny. It had taken the better part of the day and a lucky camera angle to identify him as Alex but there was no mistaking the bullet wound almost directly over his heart on that scared, bare torso. His eyes were completely dead, like his very soul had left him, and he was following their target willingly. Or, at least, they couldn't see a tether connecting him to the man.
Ben was instantly on the phone with his supervisors. "We can't wait, we have to get him NOW!"
"I understand but do you realize we could blow this whole operation? What do you think is gonna happen if you storm in there for one guy? The target's gonna fuck off and we have the potential of losing men. We can't risk it!" Master Sergeant Jamison Hanks tried to reason.
"What if we pulled a Bin Laden like the Americans? We go into the compound, take out the target, and rescue our guy?"
"I'm telling you no soldier! That took months to plan with plenty of resources we don't have! I'm not sacrificing men for some kid you think you know!"
"Sir, what if we took a small team of volunteers. Just K-unit even?" Wolf said, grabbing the phone from Ben.
"Can you guarantee me you'll take the target?" Hanks replied. The team was silent. "I can't jeopardize the mission or the people. I'm sorry." With that, he hung up. Alex was so close and yet still just out of reach.
"I have one more idea, but you're not gonna like it," Wolf sighed heavily after a long pause, as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders.
"MI6," Ben nodded, knowing it was their only choice.
Alex was dead inside. He had been for a long time. He had accepted his fate what felt like eons ago. Nobody was going to come for him. They couldn't find him. Or maybe it was that they didn't care. That was probably it. The idea that he was lower than garbage had been beaten into him. He knew how worthless he was. Really, he was lucky. His master was a high ranking member of Scorpia and had decided after months of torture that Alex would make a more satisfying trophy alive and as a slave than he would a dead man. He had been trained well, to follow his master and accept any order, even when it meant being rented out and used for his body. That particular chore was the least pleasant but his master usually gave him something to help him relax, sometimes even forget.
The first indication of anything wrong was gunfire. Alex could tell it was in their compound but it didn't sound close. Perhaps the guards were practicing their aim on the rats that occasionally invaded or an unlucky stray dog or cat. But it didn't stop after a few bursts. It seemed to get closer. Sitting in the dark cell that was his bedroom, Alex listened, trying to make sense of the racket. Just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped, and the compound was plunged into silence. Alex listened harder, waiting for something to happen. Heavy boots walked down the corridor and Alex could hear the gentle creak of a door being opened. Evidently the room was wrong because the boots klomped further down the hall and another door whined open. But that one too, was wrong. The doors kept being wrong until finally his was opened. Alex squinted and shied away from the blinding rays of the flashlight that swept the room, stopping on him.
"Alex?" the man whispered uncertainly. The voice sounded familiar but the boy couldn't see who it was. A radio flared to life, making Alex flinch and the flashlight dropped from his face.
"Anyone have eyes?" A static heavy voice cracked out.
"Yeah," the man responded. "East corridor, fifth door."
"Copy. K-unit, rendezvous there. Everyone else make sure the building is cleared and we'll meet you at the birds in ten minutes." There was silence then as the man in the doorway just stared at him. It made Alex uncomfortable and he shifted so he wasn't head on with the man, watching out of the corner of his eye while avoiding direct eye contact, much the way an animal would.
"Alex?" the man asked. "Do you know who I am?" Alex glanced at the man, whose features were illuminated from underneath by the flashlight that was now pointed at the floor near him. He did look familiar. He sounded familiar. But that wasn't necessarily a good thing. Lots of familiar people hurt him for fun. Or made him do things for them. Or used him for his body. Alex quickly shook his head. He didn't want to think about that. He didn't want to think at all.
"Do you remember K-unit?" the man continued tentatively. It rang a bell but it seemed to Alex as if it was from a long forgotten dream. He shook his head again, unable to refuse to answer a direct question. Why was this man asking him these things? More boots sounded down the corridor and Alex's head snapped in their direction. Soon enough more figures appeared in the door, crowding in to look at him but the first man stopped them from getting too close.
"Snake, I think something's wrong with him. Take a look?" One of the four men stepped forward, walking into the cell with Alex. Alex stood up. Up until now they had all contented themselves with ogling him from the doorway.
"Hey Cub, it's okay. We're here to help alright?" The voice was soothing with a mild Scottish accent. Alex backed away from him anyway and the man stopped. "Cub, it's us buddy. We're here to help ye." Alex shook his head, backed all the way into the corner now. He didn't want this man to touch him. He never liked it when they touched him. "Cub, I'm a medic ok? Like a doctor? I need to assess yer condition." His master had grudgingly sent him to doctors before. They gave him the meds to help him relax sometimes. The man started walking forward slowly and Alex watched uncertainly but didn't attempt to move away, not that he could, pushed into the corner as he was. He held his breath when the man finally reached him, squeezing his eyes shut as the Scot's fingers trailed some scars and prodded some bruises.
"Does it hurt anywhere, Cub?" The man asked gently. Alex shook his head, daring to peek at the man. "I don't think he's seriously injured. Not right now anyway, though he has been in the past judging by these scars," The Scot relayed, turning to the rest of his group.
"So what's wrong with him then?" The first man asked, the one who'd originally found him.
"Ben, he's probably been through a lot. He's gonna have to work through a lot of emotional trauma. Let's just get him home and we can deal with the rest later."
"Five minutes, let's get a move on," A gruff voice warned from the doorway.
"Alright Cub, come with us okay? We're gonna get ye somewhere safe." The Scot gently pulled on his wrist but Alex stayed stubbornly rooted to the spot. He didn't want to go with these men. He didn't want to go through the door and be surrounded by them.
"Alex, come on buddy," the first man, Ben, coaxed. "No one's gonna hurt you anymore ok?" Alex's breathing became more panicked as the leader of the group, the one with the gruff voice stepped into the cell.
"We gotta move, just grab him and let's go," he ordered. Alex attempted to shove himself farther into the corner as the soldier reached out to him.
"Wolf stop!" the medic commanded. "He's panicked enough already. Ye aren't gonna help. Ye'll only stress him out more."
"Well what do you want me to do Snake, the birds are ready and probably waiting on us." The Scotsman turned to Alex, considering him.
"I have an idea." The medic took a bag with a bright red cross off his shoulder and set it on the floor in front of Alex. "Hey Cub, I'm gonna give ye something to help you relax okay?" He started rooting in his bag and after a minute, pulled out a syringe filled with some kind of clear liquid. Alex whimpered but held out his arm anyway, knowing that was what was expected of him. So these men wanted him for his body after all. Snake frowned at seeing the track marks already scarring his arm but proceeded anyway. Alex's head started to feel fuzzy approximately 30 seconds after the drug entered his system. He sat down as the waves of dizziness took over and his vision started to have black spots in it. He could hear the medic, Snake murmuring softly to him but it sounded like he was underwater. The last thing Alex felt as the world around him faded to black were rough, calloused hands gently scooping him up and carrying him away.