A/N Soooo… I finally finished this chappie. Hope you like it. I just love writing the spoiled brat girl part. Disclaimer from ch. 1 applies to whole story, so please don't sue me. I'm innocent. I swear. Well, mostly anyway. On with the story!
TWO DAYS LATER:
A group of children walked across a runway to a large private jet. The London rain beat down on their umbrellas and raincoats. At the front of the group was a fair haired boy; next to him was a darker haired boy. This other boy was Tom Harris, Alex's best friend and the only one who knew his secret already. He planned to tell the class on the plane.
They ascended the metal staircase into the plane and were met by Mrs. Jones, wearing a black skirt suit with a white collared shirt, and, as usual, sucking a peppermint. "Hello children!" she said in her uncomfortably cheerful voice. "Just go on to a chair around the table. Your bags will be stored in a cabinet if you would please leave them in a pile over here," she gestured to a corner of the cabin. Looking down the plane, they could see that this was no ordinary jet. A large glass table with seats all around it stood in the center. Each child went to a seat and strapped in.
"All set everyone?" inquired Mrs. Jones, then, without waiting for an answer from them, turned to the flight attendant, "We are ready to take off," before taking her own seat at the head of the table.
Alex was seated on the left of Mrs. Jones, Tom next to him. On the table in front of each child was a packet of paper and a set of clothes, except Alex. Alex was already wearing his uniform, which was left from his last training time. The papers for him were also different. His read: Possible Organizations Responsible for Suspicious Attacks,
instead of "Mission Briefing". MI6 clearly weren't going to give the children all of the information. Reading further down, he noticed that the first organization on the list was SCORPIA. He stood up, every head turned toward him. He turned to Mrs. Jones and said "Do you want them to kill me this time? Because last time didn't turn out so well, did it? They got off with one destroyed evil plan and a few dead leaders, leaving me with a hole in my chest. I won't make the mistake of going back to them a third time."
"Alex, this is not the place for that discussion." Replied Mrs. Jones, no longer in a cheerful tone. "If you have a problem, we will discuss it in private." Alex clenched his jaw and sat down again.
"As I was saying, you will be attending an SAS training camp. These are your uniforms. You only get two, so keep them in good shape. You will be split into groups for the next few weeks, based on physical ability. After three weeks, you will undergo a test to make sure you are ready, and then we will send you in, if you pass. Read these packets in your spare time. You can start now. Alex, please come with me." Mrs. Jones walked to the back of the plane where there was a door leading to a private compartment. Alex followed.
The room was small, and contained a large flat screen TV and a computer sat on a desk in the center of the room. There was an extra swiveling chair, which Mrs. Jones gestured for Alex to sit in. She took her seat behind the desk.
Mrs. Jones pressed the on button on the TV. It flickered on and showed an image of the front of a school. "This is the school. It is an American school, but its students come from all over the world. You will be leading the group in the investigation of the attacks. As you can see from the packet, we suspect SCORPIA to be behind them. But we aren't quite sure, so we need you to look out for other organizations too. And if you object to this mission, we might be inclined to take away Ms. Starbright's visa." They were blackmailing him again.
"You just better hope that no one gets killed before I figure out what's going on in there." Retorted Alex angrily. He stalked out of the room and went back to his seat.
A FEW HOURS LATER, SAS LANDING STRIP:
The plane descended onto a concrete landing strip. Around it men in black combat trousers and boots with black tee shirts ran laps through the mud. Alex remembered this all too well.
The group was met by a large man in a uniform much like the ones worn by the runners, but he had a badge indicating that he was a sergeant. Alex's favorite person in the world. Not. Mrs. Jones whispered something in his ear before she turned and reboarded the plane.
The sergeant was his usual self. "Welcome children. I hope you are all ready for a wonderful week in hell. Cub, I didn't expect to see you back here. Where've you been?" Alex muttered something about classified information and Official Secrets Acts. "Right, back to the lecture. I am the sergeant. You will listen and obey me at all times, or you will be binned. If you complain, you'll be binned. If you can't keep up, you'll be binned. You get the picture. There's a list that says which unit you're in on the wall of the mess hall. Lunch has already begun, so I guess you should join us. You will receive codenames later today. Cub, you will rejoin K Unit. They are expecting you. You will be pleased to know that all of your old friends are still in the unit. Wolf is looking forward to seeing you again." Alex doubted it, but he nodded and walked over to the mess hall.
As he entered the mess hall, he saw Wolf, Eagle, Fox, and Snake sitting at the table marked "K UNIT". He assumed he would have to sit there. He got a tray and a plate of food, then went to sit with the group.
Wolf was the first to notice him. He stood up and shouted "Cub! You're back. They told us you were coming. What's with all the midgets?" he asked, gesturing to the group of schoolchildren who looked very confused.
"Classified." Was Alex's terse reply. Snake, Eagle, and Fox all stood up and shook his hand.
"Nice to have you back Cub." Said Snake. Eagle and Fox nodded in agreement, and they all sat down.
As Alex sat, he twisted the wrong way and stretched one of the muscles in his chest. He cried out and doubled over in pain. Wolf looked concerned.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Got shot." said Alex. He didn't really want to go into details, so he turned to his plate and shoveled down forkfuls of meat without really tasting any of it.
Alex and the group were given the afternoon to settle in and unpack. Alex had brought pajamas, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a hairbrush, and some jeans. He wore his uniform already. Some of his classmates, however, had not packed so lightly. Tom's suitcase contained a bunch of tee shirts, two or three pairs of jeans, two sets of pajamas, toiletries, swimming trunks, shorts, and a jacket. The uniform he had received on the plane lay on top of the bag. Alex groaned. If every student had packed like this, it was going to take hours to find space for it all.
One of the girls came up to him. "They said to tell you if we had a problem. I have one." She said. Alex looked at her expectantly, waiting for the question. She seemed to be waiting for him to respond.
"Yes?" he replied at last.
"My bed is like, way too small. And I'm gonna need a bigger chest of drawers. Also, the bathroom is nonexistent." she went through her list of problems.
"I thought you said you had a problem. Not many problems. The bed is how it is. Deal with it. That's about as big as you're gonna get on the chest of drawers too. The bathroom is part of the shower house. Girls on the left. You shower when you have time. You don't really need to be constantly clean, but they appreciate of you don't smell too awful." Alex answered. The girl looked offended and stalked off to tell her friends about the horrors of SAS life. Alex walked on to the next unit. It was going to be a long day at this rate.