A/N: 7 reviews in one night? Awesome! I'm so happy about that, I'm going to write you another chapter despite the fact that I'm in school right now J Don't get used to it CHiKa-RoXy!

In answer to those who did not log in to review (which, by the way, I hate, as I like to thank you properly):

Coolcat: You're welcome.

Anonymous: Updating now J

Alex Fan: I wanted to leave them out for a little while to give Alex and Wolf more time to adjust to being around each other and, as you'll see in this chapter, Alex is a little uncomfortable around them, so it's kind of awkward.

Not loggin in coz of pityhate: I know, but it would've been far too much of a contrived coincidence if there was an open blade that just happened to be lying around, so that seemed the most logical conclusion. Besides, I've cut myself twice in my life and that's how I had to do it so my mother wouldn't realize what I was up to. P.S. Good luck with your grades! J

Alex was intensely grateful that Wolf did not mention what had transpired the night before. The man had been nothing other than his usual grumpy self, in fact. He hated mornings. Still, he could not quite help the slight sense of trepidation he felt as he entered the flat that afternoon, as well as déjà vu. Except instead of his sports bag hanging off his shoulder he had his very heavy school bag rubbing against the wound of his back. Damn minions and their crazy weapons obsessions.

"Cub!"

Alex's head jerked up in time to see a tall figure come charging at him. He jumped back out the doorway onto the landing and then sideways onto the uppermost stair for good measure. The man came hurtling down at such speed that he almost smashed face-first into the opposing wall, his outstretched arms catching him just in time. He turned to grin at the teenager, "There you are! You came home from school pretty quick – sorry we stopped Wolf from getting you, but he would've told you and we wanted it to be a surprise."

Alex just stared at him, taking in the auburn hair, the amber eyes, wide mouth and leanly muscular build visible on his bare arms and tight T-shirt. Who on earth . . .?

It dawned on him quite suddenly, almost making his knees go weak. "Eagle?"

"Yup!" The smiling mouth widened even further as the SAS man nodded vigorously. When he stopped, though his expression remained friendly, his eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze becoming darker somehow, more intense, as though he were sizing the boy up. Alex just managed not to squirm under the scrutiny.

"What's taking so long?" Wolf's voice rang down the stairs within his flat, making Alex very thankful. The teenager thought he detected a sharper edge to the man's tone than usual and suspected that this little visit hadn't been a surprise for him alone.

Eagle, after giving Alex a swift glance the boy was sure he'd thought he'd concealed, began to walk up the stairs, one hand trailing along the banister. When they were almost at the top, another even more alarming thought occurred to him. Eagle had said "we" right? As in more than just him?

The answer came soon enough. Following Eagle into the living room, he spotted Fox leaning idly on the arm of the black leather couch Wolf was sitting on, staring at the doorway as he waited for his ward and teammate to appear. Over in the corner, perched on the mismatched cream footstool that usually lived in the hallway cupboard and looking somewhat ridiculous for such a tall man, was the fair haired medic known as Snake. He turned his head to watch the pair of them as they entered, his bottle blue eyes skimming over Eagle to land squarely on Alex. Just as he had downstairs, the boy resisted the urge to fidget as he received the same piercing look twice in the space of thirty seconds. Uncertain what to do, he lingered in the doorway uncomfortably, face a mask of polite inquiry, eyes trailing over the assembled men.

"Hey, Alex. How was school?"

Alex smiled slightly at Fox, relaxing a little bit. At least he knew one friendly persona was genuine. "Hi, Ben. Can't complain; boring mainly."

"Yeah, school always is." Eagle said casually, plopping down on the floor to lean against Snake's legs. The other man rolled his eyes, at the statement or the gesture, Alex wasn't sure.

Eagle caught the expression. "Don't look at me like that; we couldn't all be brainiacs like you."

"I wasn't a brianiac, I just paid attention while you fell asleep on the desk and copied off of me." Snake replied foppishly. It sounded like they'd had this conversation many times in the past.

"What was the point in me writing down rubbish that I didn't get? I needed you to explain it to me later anyway, so it was saved paper. Think of the trees! And I didn't sleep on the desk."

"Yeah, you did. Drooled too."

"I did no – yeah, okay, maybe I did."

"Not maybe, definitely."

Alex watched the byplay silently, unsure what to do. They were acting, like, well, normal people. He wasn't quite sure what to expect from the men who'd ignored and bullied him at Brecon Beacons, but it wasn't this. Though that may have been a little unfair; after all, Fox had proved in Australia that he was his ally and Wolf was practically his big brother despite the short time they'd spent together and the unlikelihood of it. Alex tried to disregard the little knot that twisted in his stomach at the thought.

"We went to school together, you know." Eagle's voice broke Alex out of his brief reverie. He was giving Alex that strange look again, waiting for him to respond.

"Yeah, I figured that out. You don't have much of an accent, though." It was true. The Scottish drawl was obvious in Snake's deep voice but not in his friend's.

"That's because I didn't live in Scotland all my life, like Sammy did. I got fostered up there and ended up living on the same street, going to the same school. Call it fate." Eagle yelped as Snake smacked him on the back of his head.

Alex filed that piece of information away, trying to think up of something to say and awkwardly aware that he was being a little paranoid. "So, where are you from then? Originally?"

"Pembroke, West Wales." At Alex's expression he nodded somberly. "Yes, it's wet. Very much so."

Alex nodded as a slightly uneasy lapse in the conversation occurred before Snake stood up, abruptly causing Eagle to fall to the floor, much to his protest. He strode over to Alex, looking down at him, his strongly structured face unreadable, though there was a certain warmth in his voice as he said, "Sorry, we should've introduced ourselves properly." He extended his hand. "Samuel Kerr. Call me Sam."

Alex shook his hand. His palm was warm and dry, a bit like Wolf's. "Alex Rider."

Snake's lips curled at the corners. "Yeah, we know who you are. The idiot I've had the misfortune to be saddled with for the last nine years – "

"Oi!"

"Is Evan Banks. I apologize, but we'll have to suffer him together it seems."

"Oh now you're just being melodramatic."

To Alex's surprise, Wolf snorted. "Sam be melodramatic? Impossible."

Fox, chuckling, joined in, "Oh yes, model of decorum is our Sammy –" he broke off to duck as Snake plucked a small plastic coaster from the side table and flung it, spinning through the air, at him. Upright again, he raised a brow at his friend. "A coaster? Seriously?"

Snake shrugged, "It worked. Sort of."

It wasn't too bad, Alex reflected later. The four men bickered among themselves, occasionally asking him a question or including him in their comments. Wolf eventually told him to stop lurking in the doorway and he accordingly took his place on the couch beside the man. He noticed him shooting him glances every now and again, but he made no further remark. It was a bit like when a relative you've lost touch with comes to visit, he thought, you know each other but not really and no one's sure what they can say or not. Not necessarily bad, but not exactly comfortable either.

Eventually, Eagle made a statement that nearly had him jumping out of his skin. "So, Wolfie-boy, we're at a loose end this weekend –"

"I like how you just assume I'm spending it with you," Snake muttered mutinously as Eagle ignored him.

"So can we hang out with you and Cub?"

To his credit, Alex managed to keep a perfectly straight face over his mounting panic. This was not good, this was really not –

"Sorry, Cub's got a couple of his friends coming round this weekend." Wolf answered nonchalantly, turning his head slightly to look at the teenager. His eyes were bright and alert. "Is it both of them, er, Tom and Jim did you say?"

Taking his cue, Alex responded promptly, "Tom and James. I'm not sure; Tom has to get permission first."

Wolf nodded idly as if he already knew that. "Good."

Eagle looked very disappointed. "Oh. That sucks." Then his face brightened, "Why don't we pop round anyway? Meet the kiddies."

Alex nearly did lose it at that. The last thing he wanted was three SAS soldiers storming round to the flat and "hanging out" with his best friends. Tom might have a heart attack from excitement. Besides, James was already suspicious enough of what was really going on with Alex without meeting them, God knows what he'd think.

Wolf intervened again. "No way in hell, Eagle. I don't want you terrorizing them."

"Says the man with the Glare of Doom . . ." the man grumbled sulkily.

Sensing the group was about to dissolve into yet another minor debate, Alex excused himself, "I'm going to get a drink. Anybody want anything from the kitchen?"

A chorus of negatives met his question but as he exited the room, Snake got to his feet and strode after him. Alex cocked a brow at him, but the soldier just shrugged, so he didn't say anything. Alex pulled a Coke can out of the fridge, then sidled out of the way so the man could get his beer. As Alex began to head back to the living room, his voice stopped him. "I'm sorry."

Alex turned back, confused. "Pardon?"

The man straightened up, reaching into the cabinet over the counter to get a glass, avoiding Alex's eyes. "About Brecon Beacons. We bullied you and you didn't deserve it. I'm sorry."

Alex stared at him blankly before slowly nodding his head. "It's okay."

"I want to have a look at your wounds."

Alex started at the sudden demand. "Why do you want to do that?"

"I'm the unit's medic, it's my job to make sure everyone's in good condition."

"I'm not in your unit."

"You're Wolf's ward. And he cares about you." Snake's eyes darted up, a strange, unreadable expression in them. "That's why he lied about this weekend. Don't look so surprised, I've always been able to tell when one of them, or anyone really, lies to me. For the record, you should have your friends over anyway. I'm sure they miss you when you're not there."

Against his will, Alex could feel a lump form in his throat and he looked down, taking a sip of his Coke. "I think they're used to me disappearing by now."

Another sharp look. Alex twitched slightly, eager to be away. He turned to leave when Snake grabbed his arm. Alex tensed, suppressing the reflex to lash out at the unexpected move.

Snake stared at him for a long moment, examining him. "Eagle and I joined the army at the same time, you know. Sixteen, we were. Seven years since and we haven't seen nearly as much as you have." He paused, lips pursed. "Are you on any medication? Painkillers, that sort of thing?"

Alex shook his head. "No. They don't want me getting addicted to anything, so they put me on the light stuff when I first get into hospital and they take me off it pretty quickly."

Snake's brows drew together in a frown. "PT?"

"I had some after I got shot. "

"For how long?"

Alex thought for a second. "About a week or two."

Snake's hand tightened on his arm, most likely involuntarily judging by the thoughtful look on his face, hurting just a little bit. There was anger there too, thought it was carefully suppressed. His hold didn't feel like Wolf's powerful grip, though it was just as strong. "I want to look at it."

Alex tried not to gulp. "No thanks. I'm fine."

The anger became more visible. "Fine? How could you possibly be fine after being shot and having only two weeks of PT?"

"Well, I've been on four missions since then and I'm still fine." Defiance spurned within Alex as he tried to pull his arm away. Snake didn't let go, the muscles in his forearm flexing as he tightened his grip, his eyes dark. Alex tried to make his tone more placating. "Look, Snake, I appreciate that you're only trying to help but I really don't need it, so can you please let go of me?"

He thought for a moment that the Scottish man might refuse but with another dark look directed at Alex's chest, where the bullet had entered, he did as Alex asked. As he edged passed him and started to walk down the hallway, he muttered, "You tell me if you want me to get you anything."

It wasn't a question. "Okay."

XXXXX

They left at about nine o'clock, an hour after Alex excused himself on the premise of homework, the Chinese takeaway boxes piled by the bin to be sorted out in the morning. Fox sauntered out happily, calling a goodbye over his shoulder. Eagle sprinted down the stairs to bring the car round, delighted that Snake had given him the keys. That was the warning signal and Wolf heeded it, waiting patiently on the couch, pretending to be flicking through the channels, for Snake to hurry up and mention whatever it was that was troubling him. It took three minutes of tapping his fingers on the side table and staring at nothing in particular as he gathered his thoughts, but he finally did, "You need to talk to Cub."

Wolf glanced up from under his lashes. "About?"

"His injuries. I asked him in the kitchen to show me and he refused. He's not taking any pain killers for them, he barely had any PT – they might now have bothered for all the good it would've done – and he won't accept my help."

Wolf frowned. He had a bad feeling about this. "So, what, you want me to force him to let you?"

Snake hesitated briefly. "I'd like you to reason with him first, he's more likely to listen to you, I think."

"And if he won't listen?" Wolf challenged, controlling his anger superbly. Snake was his friend, after all. "I should just order him to accept your help?"

"In a nutshell, yes."

"No." Wolf said flatly. Snake's head swiveled round to stare at him in shock. "No?"

"That's what I said. I'll talk to him, try to convince him, but I won't make him do anything, Sam. It's his choice."

Snake stared at him in astonishment which quickly turned to irritation. "For heaven's sake, Chris! He needs this, he can't possibly carry on the way he is – "

"I think he's doing okay, all things considered. Too many people try to control his life as it is, I won't be one of them."

"But –"

"I said no." The cold dismissal in Wolf's voice left no doubt that the conversation was over.

Eagle yelled up the stairs to Snake, complaining of the cold night air. Jaw set with fury, Snake got to his feet and stormed out of the flat, slamming the door after him. Wolf sighed wearily, walking to the kitchen. He stopped as he saw the door of Alex's room open and the boy in question standing in the crack. His dark eyes were blank as they stared at Wolf.

"What are you doing, Cub?" Wolf asked calmly, though he obviously already knew.

"Spying." Alex responded flippantly. "I'm a spy, it's what we do."

"I'm aware." Wolf said dryly, waiting.

Alex shifted slightly, looking uncomfortable. Eyes on the floor, he said, "I don't want him to look, Wolf."

"He could help you."

"I don't want him to look." Alex repeated; there was no doubt in his voice.

Wolf gazed at him for another moment, then nodded. "Okay, if that's what you want. Let me know if you change your mind."

"Okay. Wolf?"

"Yeah."

Alex stared at his eyes silently, and then his lips arched into a tiny smile. "Thanks."

Wolf smirked back. "No problem."