A Devil for K-Unit

"I still can't believe it!" Wolf growled, his anger washing over the rest of K-Unit. Snake wisely stayed quiet, letting Wolf fume it out. Eagle was not so wise.

"You're just annoyed because I've put you on diaper-duty," the man said, skipping ahead. Wolf's face turned red and Snake stepped back a bit, grabbing the arm of the Unit's fourth member, a wiry, blond haired man called Jaguar. Jaguar stopped too, and stood next to Snake, grinning.

"This oughta be good," he whispered, and the medic agreed, smiling himself. Eagle always brought upon Wolf's wrath by goading him when he was already pissed, and Snake knew it was just because the sharp-shooter was too socially inept to notice.

As predicted, Wolf lunged at his Unit member. Eagle shrieked as the leader's bulk landed on his back and sent them both rolling down the rise that lead to their cabin. Wolf leant in close to Eagle's ear.

"I ain't doing a bloody thing for that brat, bird brain," he yelled. "Except make him wish he'd never been born!"

"That's doing something," Eagle muttered. Wolf aimed a punch at the other man's nose, but Eagle wriggled out of his grip and started skipping again. Wolf groaned and flattened himself out on his back, staring at the sky with half-closed eyes.

"My God," he moaned. "Just kill me now."

Snake stepped over him warily while Jaguar laughed.

"No," the newest member called back. "I think I'll let the kid do that!"

Wolf recovered enough to feel the need to beat down the door. One knock with his steal-capped combat boots, and the entrance crashed off its hinges, sending up a puff of dirt and dust as it hit the floor inside K-Units cabin. Snake put a hand over his nose.

"We should seriously think about cleaning," he muttered as they walked in, Wolf clenching his fists and staring around to try and find the kid the Sergeant had told them would be here.

"He would have gone straight to the cabin," he'd told them gruffly. Wolf had balled his fists.

"Little brat wouldn't know where the fucking cabin is!" He'd ground out. The Sergeant had flashed him a dark look.

"Whether he did or not he'll be there."

Now, Wolf and the rest of K-Unit looked around. Snake was the first to notice the extra bed.

Eagle noticed that 'bed' needed to be a plural.

Two new sleeping areas were set up inside K-Units cabin. Slack-jawed, the group of men went and prodded around the corner of the room. One of the beds had a duffel bag on it, along with a pillow and blankets; that was the one furthest into the corner. The other was only made up, no bags.

"What the hell is going on here?" Jaguar asked. "I thought there was only one kid coming. What's the extra bed for?"

Wolf poked said bed before straightening. Something had disturbed him – a presence was in the room. Slowly, he turned around, checking the door. The rest of the Unit followed suit, checking the entryway for the gaze they could feel prickling their skin. Wolf turned back around, annoyed with himself for getting freaked.

Then he jumped back with a yell of surprise.

The bed in the corner, who's only occupant had been the bag and blankets, now had an owner. A boy in a black muscle-shirt, slightly tighter black SAS uniform pants and dark combat books was gazing at them curiously. Wolf shivered despite himself. The pale skin and black fringe that hung in the way of shadowy eyes made him relive all the moments in his life he most feared, but he forced himself to take in the boy's appearance entirely, right down to the slim walking stick strapped to his waist.

"I can answer that." The voice was chilly and soft, but the Unit felt themselves freeze up at the sound. After a moment of silence, Wolf shook his head and scowled. The spell broke. The rest of K-Unit started breathing again.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Wolf snarled. The boy's head cocked to the side.

"One of your new Unit members," he replied casually. Eagle choked on his own spit.

"One?" Snake asked disbelievingly. "We were told there was only one coming."

The black fringe swept over the boy's face as he shook his head.

"No," he answered, looking more pleased with the disrupted atmosphere than he should. "Another boy is coming tomorrow."

Wolf felt blood slip from the palms of his hands and realised he'd been clenching his fists so hard he'd broken the skin. His teeth were hurting from being ground together and his eyes were twitching. Snake was the first to notice.

"Hit the deck!" He cried to Eagle and Jaguar, and the three of them all did a terrible rendition of stop-drop-and-roll, as though Wolf was a blazing fire. Said SAS soldier did resemble one.

Face red with rage, fingers dripping with blood and jaw white with tension, the leader advanced on the boy sitting on the bed. The pale youth tensed up as Wolf approached and gently slid to his feet, hand rested protectively on his walking stick.

"I'm giving you a warning, kid," Wolf spat. "Scram now and I won't beat you to hell."

To his surprise, the boy chuckled.

"I'm the only one who beats to hell around here," he said coolly, obviously making a private joke. Wolf yelled and swung at the kid.

As fast as a shadow, black hair flashed past Wolf's shoulder and the punch went wild, forcing Wolf to hit the bedframe. He swore violently as his fist began bruising and a snap sounded through the cabin as one of his fingers cracked. He whirled around to land another shot, only to see white and stunned faces. Eagle and Snake were shaking their heads in shock while Jaguar was pointing between Wolf and where the boy used to be. Only a swirling shadow remained. It slowly started crawling to spin under Wolf's feet.

"Do you believe me now?"

A voice rung down from the ceiling and K-Unit snapped their heads up to stare as the teen stood on the edge of the rafters, looking down with a creepy smile on his face.

"How did you get up there? Come down you brat!" Wolf shouted, glaring. Snake tapped his shoulder, his face white.

"Wolf," he whispered. "Honestly, I'm not shitting you here: one second he was there, ducking under your arm. The next, it was like the shadows just swallowed him."

Wolf looked around to the rest of his teammates and, from their expressions, Snake was indeed not shitting him. Even Eagle looked subdued and scared. Wolf stayed still, thinking for a moment. He peered up at the ghostly face seemingly hanging in the darkness of the rafters, and from that unnerving look, he knew that this kid was very, very dangerous.

"How did you get up there?" He called up suddenly. A white smile showed itself from the shadows. Then, it disappeared.

"All you need to know is…" the boy's voice started coming from the ceiling, before it was snatched away suddenly.

"I am no normal child."

And there he was. Walking towards them from the shadow of the doorway. Jaws fell open and even Eagle was too stunned to make a bad pun out of it. He started pointing to the ceiling, then at the door, then back at the ceiling.

"But you were – how did – what the – gah!"

Eagle fell to the ground in theatrical action. Jaguar kicked him, and kept staring.

"What's your name?" He asked. The boy shrugged.

"I'm not allowed to tell you. That's the point," he replied. Snake elbowed Jaguar and took over.

"He means your code name."

"Oh." The evil smile was back again. "My name is Devil."

No one doubted it. Not one bit.

So the title's explained now. And it won't be like this all the time – I plan on making K-Unit a sort of family for Nico, albeit dysfunctional, but a family.

And thank you for the feedback! As potentially interesting an Alex/Nico pairing would be, it's not for this story. Maybe someone else will do it, or it's for another time.

Please review! I've gotten so many views on this story it's making me happy, but reviews are even awesomer.

Jasmine Out!