Oh my god, you guys are amazing! Thanks so much for all the great ideas! Not all of them will fit in this fanfic, but I'll make sure to write them as separate oneshots.

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O-o-O-o-O

Alex frowned as he glanced out the window. "Why aren't we going to Fox's?"

Snake rolled his eyes- of course he would have noticed.

"Safehouse," Eagle piped up.

Wolf scowled. "Not to mention Blunt said he would only let us stay with you as long as he could keep an eye on us," he grumbled.

The teen nodded. That made sense- it was Blunt, after all.

Still...

Eagle nudged him gently. "You should get some rest. We still have to pick up some overnight bags- it might take a while."

The spy forced himself to relax, and zoned out from the window's scenery. It went against his instincts to always be aware of his surroundings, especially when not in control of the transportation. But he was so... tired.

Against all protests, he drifted off.

O-o-O-o-O

"Come on Cub- we're here."

The teen jerked up, taking in account of the people (K-Unit. Enemies? Unknown. Threat level? Three soldiers, one spy- high risk), and refreshed himself on the readily-available weapons and best escape routes. He turned to see the-

No.

They wouldn't make him go there.

Too many- too many-

Fox's brow furrowed in confusion as he saw that Cub was still in the car.

Wolf had already gotten the majority of their overnight bags out of the trunk, Eagle and Snake were securing the perimeter, and-

Cub had awoken immediately after he had said his name (not natural), had re-assessed himself and his surroundings (definitely not natural)... but when he had seen the safehouse, he had frozen.

"Cub?" Fox tested the waters carefully. "Have you been here before?"

"The bastard," Cub hissed. "He told me he sold it."

Shit, he wasn't responding.

Now, all the members of K-Unit was looking at their charge, trying desperately to understand what he was saying.

Fox blinked- Cub had, without warning, slipped out of the car, stalking towards the iron gate in front of the Chelsea safehouse.

Cub effortlessly unlocked the complex latch on the gate, pushing it open. "Still creaks," he muttered.

Finally, he twisted around slightly to face them, features annoyed. "You coming?"

"This is weird," Snake said as they followed Cub through the front door. "The moment we get here, his personality changes. He's been here before."

Wolf frowned. "Not just visited- I think he... lived here."

Cub didn't seem very aware of their presence, either.

"I'm home, Jack!" After no one responded, Alex shrugged. "She's probably just out getting groceries." He frowned, turning back to them. "Who are you, again?"

What the-?

"We're friends of your uncle, remember?" Snake reacted quickly, shooting a warning glare to the others. "Evan Callins."

Awkwardly, the others followed in suit. Only Fox was the only other person that seemed composed.

Alex stared at them for a moment, before shaking his head, as if to clear his thoughts. "Sorry, I feel like I've seen you before." He hesitated. "Ian won't be here for a while, you can stay in the guest rooms."

Ben smiled. "Thanks, you've been a great help."

"So where's Ian?" Eagle asked, immediately making himself comfortable on the living room couch.

The teenager chewed his lip thoughtfully. "Probably on another business trip."

Fox swallowed his anger. Ian had been an active spy? Not retired? He, a full-time spy himself, hardly had any time to himself- how could Ian have raised a child? He glanced a the teenager once more. Obviously, he hadn't done it 'normally.'

"Is Ian gone a lot?" Wolf asked quietly, knowing the same implications that Fox had realized.

Alex smiled wistfully. "Yeah... I wish we had had more time before-" he stopped mid-sentence, and blinked. The boy tugged on a smile. "Nevermind."

Snake pursed his lips. This was bad. This 'safehouse' had too many memories- and Cub was living in his memories- before Ian had died, before he had become a spy.

Still... it obviously wasn't perfect. Inwardly, Alex was beginning to question and reject- his current mindset- as reality. Would Cub have another breakdown once he came back to the present? Not only that, but he needed to talk to the rest of K-Unit before they accidentally did anything stupid.

Alex shook his head again. "Sorry, I'm sure you're all hungry. I'll go whip up something real quick."

Eagle opened his mouth to protest- but Fox and Snake hurried to agree.

"That'd be great, thanks," Snake said quickly, elbowing Eagle in the ribs to shut him up.

As soon as Alex had gone through a door, presumably going to the kitchen-

"But I'm a great cook!" Eagle argued.

Fox shushed him. "Be that as it may-" he wasn't about to admit Eagle was a good cook, even though it was true that only his own cooking rivaled the soldier's. "This is a delicate situation. We need to have a talk- it was just as well that Cub's cooking."

"He's lived here before," Wolf pointed out. "Hence the old memories."

"And he's gone back to the state of mind he was in," Snake added. "Before he became a spy, before his uncle and guardian died."

"What happens if he stays this way?" Eagle wondered aloud.

What would happen? Cub seemed so... innocent. Untainted by the world he had been forced in.

Or... would Blunt break him again? Except, this time, he would once again start with a clean slate.

Snake shook his head. "It's definitely not permanent. The mental block is already starting to break down. Plus, the only reason it happened is because..." he trailed off, grasping for the right words. His voice lowered. "This house is full of his memories from his old life. I think one of the only reasons he lasted this long is because he detached himself from those memories."

Silence.

"That's awful," Eagle whispered.

Wolf ran a hand through his head, weary. "No wonder it was simple enough for Blunt to break him. If Cub doesn't think of himself as the boy used to be, Blunt could easily mold him into whatever he wanted."

The perfect weapon... the perfect spy.

"I wonder..." Fox looked thoughtful. "Why did Blunt put him with us in the first place... was it a test? If so," he began slowly, "the only thing that it did was bring us closer- giving him comfort, but tearing it away again. And then it happened again- letting him stay at my house for a bit. This is the third time."

"He's always been one step ahead," Eagle said softly.

"Blunt keeps building him up- only to break him down again." Snake's voice was quiet. "Over and over again- with Cub sinking lower and lower each time." He looked at them in horror. "And we're just tools in that."

Wolf clenched his fists- he wanted to hit something. "We're the ones honing his precious weapon. We get close to him- Blunt's just going to use it against him."

"So what do we do?" Eagle asked. "Is there a trigger we can use to get Cub back to normal?"

Snake frowned. "The Bank might work- but it would have a bad affect on him, because, you know..."

Alex chose that moment to enter, balancing bowls spaghetti. "Sorry- it took longer than I expected," he apologized.

Eagle looked curiously at it. "Are those chili peppers? With green olives and olive oil?"

The teenager smiled, nodding. "I added some pepperonis, too." He smirked. "It soaked up a lot the heat, but if you can't handle it..."

Wolf rolled his eyes, but they widened considerably after the first bite. "Water." He choked, gasping.

Alex's smug smile was still present, walking slower than needed to the kitchen- and he freakin' hadn't brought water out with it!

The other soldiers had all taken small bites until the water had arrived- only Fox seemed to be taking it well.

Eagle snorted. Damned spies.

Ben sipped delicately- not gulping it down like the others- but frowned. It tasted- odd.

Blinking, he tried to subtly signal the others of his suspicions, but he was already fading into unconsciousness.

"Drugged," he managed to gasp out.

Before he passed out, he saw the laughing eyes of the teenager, mocking him- then they hardened, growing cold.

O-o-O-o-O

As Wolf began regaining consciousness, he was hit with questions.

And a lot of them.

First off, why had Cub felt the need to drug them?

Next, how on earth had he succeeded...?

That one was easy to answer: K-Unit trusted their fifth member. If they hadn't, well- that would've been a different story altogether.

Considering Cub's current state-of-mind, perhaps the trust wouldn't be damaged- either way- Alex was varelse, not ramen.

Still, it stressed how important it was to get the real Cub back.

With the main questions out of his way, Wolf began focusing on their current-current arms were tied behind him-ver well, in fact. Rope strong enough that he couldn't snap, but thin enough to knot properly. Ian had taught him well.

Those ropes, of course, had a weakness- knives.

Which, he could tell, had been removed from his person, along with his gun and backup, and the extra magazines- all gone.

And, by the material, he was still sitting on the same couch. Well, that wasn't surprising- there was no way Cub would've been able to move all four of the soldiers (one ex-soldier, he admitted grudgingly) to chairs (more suitable in captive- situations).

Except the small knife that Fox carried, in a place that would be impossible for Cub to find... and that Fox was sitting next to him.

The opportune moment. He needed to wait for the opportune moment.

Feeling that any and all information had already been gained by faking unconsciousness (which he had done so automatically, he couldn't help thinking with a twinge of pride), Wolf slowly opened his eyes.

Fox was the only other one that had awoken, most likely because he had only drunk a relatively small amount of the drug.

Luckily, Cub didn't do the villain-cliche, "Oh, so you're awake."

No, he merely stared at them, wordlessly trying to pick up as much as possible from them.

The soldier immediately saw a neat stack of their weapons, along with the clips and extra magazines. Cub had unloaded them, and put them all on safety- smart, yes, but it wasn't something Alex the Spy would have done- Cub still didn't know that Ian was dead. That meant, until they could talk some sense into him, they would stay alive. For now, at least- it would be simple enough.

Currently, Cub was studying their combat knives- damn, that kid was good- had had found all of them, except Fox's non-combative knife. That was one relief, at least.

With a quick glance at Eagle and Snake- who had just woken up- the teenager locked his eyes on Wolf, who he recognized as the leader. "You're soldiers, right?"

Snake gave him a subtle nod, to go ahead and answer. They needed to break Cub out of this trance, but they needed to be gentle with the questions and the prying- they had no clue as to what Alex would do if he got angry, and if they hadn't gotten free, yet (which would improbable. They definitely wouldn't make the same mistake twice, of not making sure on Cub's- er, sanity)...

"You should know," Wolf shot out gruffly. "You trained with us, remember?"

The boy gave a quiet chuckle, then stopped abruptly, pain etching his features.

(Wolf felt something small and metallic press into his hands.

Finally.)

"Cracked ribs will do that to you," Snake said softly.

The teen looked confused, arms clutching at his ribcage. "What did you do to me?" he whispered hoarsely.

His memories... the only ones before going into the house, were the ones that Cub had been making on the spot- those were the memories that were breaking down quickly, Snake realized. They just needed to dig deeper, and pull him out.

"You're wrong if you think we were the ones that beat you up," Eagle said coldly- not toward him, specifically- he was blaming himself for not being there when those MI6 agents had 'interrogated' him.

"How old are you Cub?" Fox tried tactfully. "Do you know what year it is?"

Cub hesitated, but didn't correct him on calling him out by his codename- that was good.

"Fourteen," Cub blurted out. "1991."

He didn't seem to notice he was answering their questions, not the other way around.

Yet his eyes were betraying him- first in confusion, afterward an outright lie- and even then he was second-guessing himself.

But it wasn't enough.

"When did you last see Ian?" Wolf pressed. "Or Jack?"

Alex clenched his jaw, angry. "Ian went on a business trip. And Jack- she-she's getting groceries!" he blurted out, but his voice was wavering.

"You know that's not true," Eagle shot back.

His eyes were switching from one soldier to another, wild and unsure of who or what to focus on. "I- you're wrong!" Cub glared at them in turn. "You don't know anything!" he sneered.

Yet... they could see this personality fading away.

Alex- the old Alex- was being replaced by Cub, spy and soldier, through-and-through, defensive and wary- suspicious, paranoid, dangerous. Cub, with the animalistic (yet not natural) instincts that had kept him alive all these years, the ones that his uncle had taught... and his master had honed.

The broken by that they would fix.

And they would heal him the right way- not through these fantasies where Cub was living in old memories, when he was completely unable to face the cold, hard, reality of his true memories/life.

"Where does your uncle work?" Snake asked softly.

Cub's eyes fogged over. "He- he works at a-a -"

K-Unit saw the chance.

And Fox took it.

"A bank," he finished quietly.

The result was instantaneous.

Cub let out a choked moan, knees buckled from under him- one hand clawing his right shoulder, the other clasped protectively around his ribs.

Wolf and Fox had already sprung up; Wolf tossing the small knife to Snake, who caught it awkwardly and proceeded to cut himself free, along with Eagle.

Then they were all crowded around Cub, and it was unanimously decided for Snake to handle him.

"Don't make me go back there," he gasped out. "Please, don't make me go back there."

"It's OK, Cub," Snake soothed; the boy clutching to him like a lifeline, head buried into the soldier's shoulder. "We're not going there right now."

Cub continued to mutter unrecognizable things over and over again, even as Snake continued with his own murmurings of comfort.

Carefully, the soldier lifted him onto one of the couches, wary of his injuries, and allowed the boy to melt into the comfort... which, he guessed, hadn't happened to him in a very long time.

O-o-O-o-O

To a spy, comfort is always associated with pain. There is not comfort without pain... only pain without comfort.