A/N: People, do me a favour and please sign in to review! You have no idea how much that annoys me! Gack! But I love you anyway, so here's another chapter, with more action, as was requested; the next chapter or two may seem a little slow or random, but I do actually know what I'm doing, so bear with me. I've also finished this when I am tired and in a lot of pain, so cut me some slack.

In answer to those who did not sign in:

100: Thank you for being my hundredth reviewer, it gave me a warm tingly feeling J

Ace: Yes, the genre is definitely romance, as this chapter will attest, but thank you for asking, I was trying to be subtle about it, but now I know it was too subtle.

Wolfie: No, Alex will not be going to Brecon Beacons in this story, but I am considering it for the sequel, mainly because I'm juggling with a tone of prospective plots.

Al and Anonymous: Of course Snake's not going to give up looking at Alex's wounds! He's Snake!

Anonymous: Not in this story, no, maybe in the sequel. I'm actually working on a time limit in this story, so it would be too soon for Alex to consider them family.

Coolcat, Eon, A and Sage: Thank you.

Alex whistled quietly to himself as he clicked the lock of the door open. He'd had a wonderful day. He'd gotten an A in his Physics test, finished all his homework at school, managed to avoid those idiots always looking for a fight so they could join his "gang" or whatever it was people thought he'd been up to nowadays and best of all, he hadn't heard anything from Snake since Monday. On the whole, he was pretty happy. One last hurdle to tackle and it'd be perfect.

"Wolf! Are you home?" he called as he ascended the stairs.

"Living room!" Alex smiled to himself. It sounded like the soldier was in a good mood.

The man in question looked up as Alex strode into the room. His lips curled slightly at the corners, before he rearranged his face into a look of mock-trepidation. "Oh no, you're happy and you've got a conspiratorial gleam in your eye. Something I need to be worried about?"

"Whatever makes you think that?" Alex teased, arching his eyebrows and trying to look innocent as he plopped into place beside Wolf on the couch, stepping over an abandoned newspaper as he did. Wolf muted the TV, titling his head a little to look sharply at the teenager.

"Okay, okay," Alex said, somewhat more somber now. "Remember when the unit was round on Monday?"

Wolf hummed an affirmative, a hint of seriousness showing through now. Alex continued quickly, "And you made up that excuse about Tom and James coming round this weekend so they wouldn't?" Another confirmatory noise. Alex swallowed nervously, "Well, James mentioned that he didn't have anything on this weekend and Tom was supposed to go and visit his dad, but he had to go away suddenly, so I suggested they spend Saturday night here. Is that – okay?"

"Is that what you're getting fidgety about?" As Alex tried to suppress a blush, Wolf allowed a grin to break through. "It's fine, Cub, I told you to spend some time with your friends, didn't I?"

Alex nodded, relieved.

"Besides, it's not like we had any grand plans, is it? Unless you count watching telly as a grand plan."

Alex glanced at the TV and had to stop his jaw from dropping open. "Are you watching Jeremy Kyle?"

A dull flush crept into his guardian's face at the boy's incredulous look. Shifting, he grumbled, "Yeah, so what? They've been letting me out of work early this week and there's nothing to do till you come home, so . . ."

"Yeah, but Jeremy Kyle? I mean, come on!"

Irritated at his tone of voice, Wolf plucked the TV times from the side-table propped by his side of the sofa and slapped Alex upside the head with it. The astonishment on Alex's face startled a laugh out of the elder male. A bemused sort of grin spread over the blonde's face; he dived down and snatched the newspaper from where it had fallen on the floor, snapping into Wolf's face to collide with his forehead and nose. Blinking rapidly, the man began to chuckle lowly, trying to grab the paper out of his hands, which proved rather difficult. A tug-of-war soon erupted as Wolf got a grip, the TV times laying forgotten on the carpet, before the soldier launched himself at his ward, shoving him backwards into a slightly cramped position on the couch as they wrestled over the stationary, with him on top of Alex.

"Hand it over!" Wolf growled playfully. The kid was proving to be unusually resilient.

"Or what?" Alex challenged mischievously as he clung to the paper like a limpet.

"Or I will be forced to use underhanded tactics." Wolf threatened, dark grey eyes glittering humorously. "Tactics which even you will be unable to withstand." He yanked on the paper again, harder, to get his point across.

"I doubt that." Alex replied somewhat smugly, chortling as he held on. "Do your worst!"

"Cocky brat." Wolf laughed. "All right, you asked for it."

Abruptly, he relinquished his hold on the newspaper, causing Alex to jerk back involuntarily onto the cushions, his head landing on the arm of the couch. Quick as a flash, Wolf placed his left hand on Alex's side, halfway in between his hip and his ribs, whilst putting his right hand on the crook where the boy's neck and shoulder connected. He squeezed his fingers in both spots, immediately making Alex try to squirm away from his hands, surprising himself by laughing at the ticklish sensation.

He writhed under Wolf's hands, choking on his own laughter as he tried to get away, kicking his legs uselessly in the air. "No, don't – ha –ha-ha – dammit, Wolf, this – this is cheating! Ha ha ha!"

"Nope, it's tactics!" Wolf grinned like his namesake, keeping up his assault as Alex wriggled around beneath him. "You could always surrender."

"No way," Alex gasped out as the man momentarily stopped his harassment. The soldier shrugged carelessly and started again, making Alex spasm around, his hands coming up to push ineffectually at the man's shoulders.

"I can do worse, Cub!" Wolf said slyly as the boy kept on struggling and giggling in equal measure. He suddenly stopped tickling Alex's neck, though he kept up the pressure on his side, making him writhe away to his left so far he nearly fell off the couch. With his now free hand, Wolf gripped his shoulder firmly, keeping him place; he leaned down and, taking a deep breath, pressed his mouth to Alex's neck, blowing out harshly.

Alex shrieked as if he were being murdered at the change, tears of laughter welling up in his eyes. Wolf repeated the act several times, Alex thrashing all the while, until the boy finally yelled, "All right, all right, you win!" Smiling to himself, Wolf blew against Alex's throat twice more, just because he could, and then raised his shoulders up so he was hovering over his ward, smirking triumphantly. He looked around, then frowned minutely, "Where'd the paper go?"

Panting, cheeks flushed, Alex glanced briefly, then shrugged, "No idea." He let out a breathy little laugh at the absurdity of their activity, his eyes slipping closed. Wolf joined in, dropping his torso back down to give his arms a rest.

It took a moment or two to register just how close that movement brought their faces together. His eyes widened in shock, though he managed to stop himself from doing anything else, so as to not alert Alex and spare them both an awkward situation. He turned his head to his left, intending to see how close to the rest of their bodies were, but accidentally bumped Alex's nose with his own.

A sliver of his dark brown eyes were revealed before he too registered their proximity and, like Wolf, his eyes snapped open very wide. The elder man froze like a deer in headlights, his body going rigid, utterly clueless as to what he should do. Alex's chest continued to rise and fall in labored breaths, each inhale making them touch even more intimately. The seconds they stayed like that stretched out indefinitely, both of their minds racing.

Wolf gulped anxiously as he felt the teenager's heart pounding against his chest as they came in contact yet again. Very slowly he began to move, intending to pull away, his body constantly brushing again Alex's despite his efforts not to. He stopped as the teen's eyes dilated, his pupils almost entirely devouring his irises. He exhaled shakily and knew Alex could feel it on his own lips as he lay still beneath him. If he leant down just a little bit –

BANG!

"Ow! Stupid stairs!"

"Watch it, clumsy!"

"I do beg your pardon, oh masterful epitome of grace!"

"Real grown up."

"What, like you, you me – "

"Knock it off, guys, before you tick Chris's neighbours off."

Wolf flinched back from Alex as if he'd been given an electric shock as the muffled voices floated in through his front door, leaping clean off the couch. He stood in the middle of the living room, mind totally blank. This may not have been a battlefield, where he was trained and able to keep his head, but if his unit figured out what had almost happened between him and his teenage ward, it might soon become one. Alex stared at him silently, still lying on the couch, a strange, imperceptible look on his face. Then his eyes snapped back into focus and he jumped up, half-running out of the living room to the safety of his bedroom, closing the door hurriedly and leaning back against it, his legs apparently loosing the ability to hold his weight. A few moments later he heard another door close, either Wolf's bedroom or the bathroom, he suspected, the man having taken his cue from Alex.

As he brought up his hands to his flushed face, willing his skin to cool, the front door slammed open and he heard Fox's voice call through the flat. "Wolf! Cub! Anybody home?"

Squeezing his eyes shut, the spy leant his head back against the door, musing ruefully. 'And I was having such a good day . . . '

XXXXX

Wolf and Alex, unbeknownst to each other, both cursed K-Unit as they sat in the car, Eagle's off-key singing accompanying them on the journey; Wolf for their timing and Alex for, well, existing really. Wolf was sneaking glances at his ward as he looked out of the window, probably in an attempt to avoid Snake's not-so-subtle staring, wishing he could see inside his mind. He kept wondering what would have happened if his fellow SAS members had not arrived when they did . . .

'Nothing,' He told himself firmly. 'You were just hot from the playing around, that's all. It had nothing to do with him. He's your responsibility and you wouldn't have done anything with him.' Wolf stifled a sigh. The words sounded unconvincing, even in his head.

"We're here!" Eagle announced gleefully, breaking off his duet with Katy Perry. Wolf vowed never to let Eagle touch his car's radio.

"Here" turned out to be a bowling alley. The three men had nearly knocked down the door to announce their entrance, and then demanded that their leader and unofficial fifth member come with them for some "bonding". As they all got out and headed off for the surprisingly large building ahead of them, Snake lagging behind a little to lock his car (and keep Alex in his line of sight, Wolf guessed) he mentally shrugged. They were here now, might as well suffer in silence.

None of them noticed that they had been followed during the car ride, or that the car pursuing them now parked several spaces away from them and the occupants got out. Alex noticed a group of men walking behind them to the bowling alley but then, what was unusual about that?

As Fox chatted with the girl at the reception area and Snake tried to restrain Eagle from following his nose to the café area, Wolf noticed the teenager hanging back from them a little. He clenched and unclenched his fingers into fists unconsciously, trying to think of how to not make this uncomfortable between them. That was the last thing he would ever want. Eventually deciding to stop being dumb and just get on with it, he sidled up to the boy idly. The teenager made no acknowledgement of his presence, but Wolf suspected that he was hyper-aware of him.

"You okay with this, Cub?" he murmured. He thought he detected tension in the way Alex held his shoulders, so blurted out, "Being here with them, I mean?" He gave a minute jerk of his head in the other soldiers directions. Whilst Alex seemed to like Fox, Wolf had noted that he seemed less sure of himself with the other two members of K-Unit.

Alex nodded, not looking at him, "I'm fine."

Wolf winced unwillingly; he still hated that phrase. Catching it, the spy added, "They're trying to be nice, nothing wrong with that. Besides," he looked up, his eyes gazing around the large, noisy building, "they could've picked a worse place."

"I'm surprised they didn't, actually." Wolf answered honestly.

Alex's lips quirked up in response. The others soon returned and the next hour was passed in a haze of boos and joking around. Alex was a little too quiet for Wolf's liking, but he still joined in when invited too and he supposed he might be being paranoid, so he didn't complain – that and he hammered Eagle, which made Wolf laugh. All and all, it went pretty well for the most part. Until Snake started again.

Eagle's stomach rumbling stopped their conversation, prompting him to say, "I'm hungry," rather unnecessarily.

"You're always hungry." Fox said dismissively before turning to Alex, "I swear, Eagle could eat everyone's rations on a mission, plus our survival packs and a horse if one happens to be handy."

"Keep talking like that and I may just do it one day." Eagle threatened, the smile in his eyes belying his serious tone.

"What about you, Cub?" Snake asked.

Wolf wondered if he was the only one who saw the spark of sudden alertness in the teenager's eyes as he looked at the medic. "What do you mean?"

Snake smiled in what he probably thought was a reassuring manner, "Are you hungry, of course."

"Oh. Yeah, I could go for a burger."

"Great! Let's get going." Eagle said happily, climbing to his feet.

"How about one more game?" Fox suggested cheerily. "I can't resist the opportunity to destroy you all – again."

"We get it, Fox, you're a good bowler." Wolf rolled his eyes at his friend. "You don't need another chance to show-off."

"Spoilsport." Fox sulked, prompting a small smile from Alex.

"I don't think it's a good idea Cub plays again." Snake said seriously, a frown marring his handsome features.

Wolf felt a sinking sensation in his stomach as the smile disappeared, the boy turning to look at the Scottish soldier, "Why not?"

Snake shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, the balls are heavy; we don't want you to put any strain on that wound on your back, from what I read in the medical report it seemed bad."

Alex stared. "You read the report?" Then, with a slight shake of his head, he jumped to a different method, "I just played two games with you guys, I'm fine."

Snake grimaced faintly. "Yes, well, we don't want you to over-extend yourself, do we?"

"I'm not over-extending anything, I'm fine." Wolf noticed the flare of annoyance in his ward's eyes and tried to signal to Snake from behind his back to drop what he was doing, now.

Either Snake didn't see or he chose to ignore him. "Well, I can't really confirm or deny that, seeing as I haven't actually inspected your injuries myself . . ." The indication was clear.

After a moment of silence, Alex forced a smile on his face, one that had little, if any warmth in it, "I appreciate your concern, but I really am fine." Alex got to his feet and started walking off.

"Where are you going?" Wolf called before he could stop himself, almost cringing at how accusatory he sounded without meaning to.

"Toilet." Alex answered without turning round again.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Wolf turned to the medic, hissing, "What part of leave it alone did you not understand?"

"He needs help, Wolf." Snake snapped back.

"I think he's doing pretty well, all things considered." Wolf replied, trying to keep the anger out of his voice.

"But you don't know, that's my point, and if you'd just back me up on this –"

"What, you mean force him to put up with you inspecting him when he's clearly not comfortable with it?"

"No one's comfortable with a medical examination, Wolf, but he needs it." Snake said firmly, his blue eyes hard.

"If I get the feeling you're right and he does need it, I'll call you, Snake. But until then you're not touching him, understand?" Wolf snarled.

Snake blinked in surprise as his leader's vehemence, as did Eagle. Neither of them had ever seen him this way. Wolf thought he detected the tiniest hint of agreement and encouragement in Fox's eyes when he looked, but otherwise his face was blank. They lapsed into silence as they waited for Alex's return and the soldier, though he would never force Alex to undergo the ordeal of a someone you didn't trust looking you over after a traumatic experience, found himself wondering if it was just the idea of Snake forcing that on him that ticked him off so much.

XXXXX

Alex tried to contain his anger as he splashed water onto his face and the back of his neck. 'God, that man just doesn't know when to quit!' he thought mutinously as he glared at his reflection, droplets of water sliding down his cheeks and neck, dampening the collar of his T-shirt. While logically Alex was aware that the medic believed he was helping him, he still didn't want to be examined and he believed that Snake ought to respect his wishes.

'Wolf respects you . . .' a little voice at the back of his mind whispered. Alex closed his eyes, leaning over the sink, gripping the basic tight with both hands. Images of this morning flashed through his mind. It had been nice, to be so carefree and comfortable with the man and then . . . 'What am I going to do?'

"Alex Rider?"

The teenage spy's back went rigid as he registered the presence of another person behind him and heard the barely-there Russian accent lacing the voice. 'Oh, not again.'

Taking a breath, he straightened up slowly, then turned to face the man who had approached him. Tall, with a thick brown beard and a compact, muscular build, not dissimilar to some of the soldiers he had seen at Brecon Beacons and a clear, confident goal visible in his eyes, this man was a threat; every inch of him and every instinct Alex had developed on his missions screamed this simple truth at him. The gun hidden in a holster under his coat, which Alex's keen eyes spotted when he lifted his arms, helped to get the message across too. Keeping a stoic, disinterested mask in place and pushing his anxiety right down, he replied calmly, "Yes. Who are you?"

"I am Kazimir Sokolov, at your service." The man answered, inclining his head, almost like a bow, his tone perfectly polite.

"The General sent you?"

A hint of surprise wormed its way into Sokolov's eyes. "You are well informed, Mr Rider. Yes, the General sent me to collect you. He has a matter he would discuss with you."

"Oh?" Alex asked, as if puzzled, bracing his legs and inclining his body slightly so the porcelain sink was digging into his back. "And what matter is that?"

"I am unaware, I was simply asked to escort you."

"And if I don't wish to see the General?"

"He said that if you proved – stubborn, shall we say, that I was to use any force necessary to bring you to him, but only as a last resort. I warn you, young man, I served in the Russian army for many years before joining General Sarov and I have brought allies with me." As if on cue, the toilet door swung open and two men entered, both roughly the size of bears, stepping forward to flank the man on either side. "You would do well not to force me to use that option. Now, if you would follow us."

He gestured vaguely in Alex's direction and the man on his right marched forward towards him, his hand reaching out to grasp Alex's arm. His body perfectly relaxed, Alex allowed him to get a grip. He took two steps forward in time with the man, then slipped on some a small puddle of water on the tiled bathroom floor. The man reached out to pull him up and abruptly found his own arm twisted in a cripplingly painful elbow lock, his waist forced to bend until he was facing the floor, which his face connected with suddenly when Alex kicked his leg out from under him, the crack of bone snapping echoing in the tiny bathroom.

With a roar of anger, his companion rushed at the teenager, swinging his fist with all the expertise and force of a professional boxer. Alex waited until it was nearly too late, then ducked, the man's knuckles smashing into the mirror above the sink, his momentum too great for him to stop. Howling in pain as the shards of glass became embedded in his skin, he blindly lashed out again as Alex stood erect once more. He leant back at the waist while keeping his feet still, the muscle-bound arm sailing clear of his face by no more than a centimeter. Cutting with the side of his hand, Alex slammed it into his opponent's throat, paralyzing his vocal cords. As his attacker clasped at his neck, he twisted his wrist and slammed the heel of his open palm into his chest, pushing him backwards a pace where his legs hit the shoulders of the first man, who had feebly crawled onto his hands and the knee that was not broken, sending them both to the ground with meaty smacks as he toppled over onto his back.

Turning, Alex found himself staring down the barrel of an army-issue handgun. Sokolov seemed entirely nonplussed by what had just unfolded in front of him as he eyed his groaning cohorts while they struggled on the ground. "My, my, you are talented, aren't you? But I doubt you have the ability to catch a bullet."

"And I doubt Sarov would be very happy if you shot me."

Sokolov nodded in reply, his eyes glancing away from Alex's face as the man he had hit in the throat used the wall to climb to his feet. "True, as I said, he would prefer it if – "

Alex threw himself on top of him, knocking his arm out of the way and attempting to wrench the weapon from his hand. Attempt being the operative word as he proved to be just as strong as he said he was, pushing Alex off of his torso, one hand fisting his shirt at the collar. Realizing he would be unable to disarm Sokolov, Alex covered the man's hand with his own and, pressing down on his index finger, squeezed the trigger. The gunshot rang out so loud in the confined space that it hurt Alex's ears, one side of the room enclosed in shadows as a light fixture exploded above their heads.

Startled, both the men and Sokolov jerked their heads up to see the damage Alex had caused. Punching the ex-soldier in the face and making him spit blood onto the tiled floor, Alex managed to finally get the gun free from his tight grip and leapt to his feet. He was out the door before any of them realized what he'd done.

Heart pounding, Alex raced down the corridor, desperately hoping he was going the right way to where K-Unit was waiting for him. The sounds of pins being knocked down reached his ears – but so did footsteps behind him. Swearing under his breath, Alex aimed the gun at the ceiling and fired twice in quick succession. Screaming split the air ahead of him. Smiling to himself, Alex knew he'd caused panic in the building.

He ran into the main area of the building to see dozens of people running for the exit, some still in their bowling shoes; he kept going, eyes darting around desperately for the soldiers. He nearly crashed into Wolf's chest as the man appeared in front of him, hands clamping onto his biceps.

"What's happening?" he roared into his ears above the civilians escaping.

"They're after me again!" Alex shouted back over the din.

Wolf looked over his head and swore; seizing hold of his wrist so hard Alex thought he might break it, he turned and dragged him towards the exits. Another gunshot echoed throughout the room, Alex could almost feel the bullet fly over their shoulders as his attackers gave chase. His own stolen gun was still hanging from his hand and he wondered if he would be able to accurately fire it like this and, more importantly, if he'd be able to bring himself to do it.

"Head's up!"

Alex looked up and, to his utter disbelief, saw that Fox was actually aiming a bowling ball at their legs. Wolf harshly dragged him out the way as Fox let it fly; it crashed into his attacker's shin bone, probably breaking it if the way he fell on the ground clutching it in agony was anything to go by. Wolf and Alex caught up with the others and together the five of them sprinted out the exit and into the car park, throwing themselves into Snake's car, the man himself stamping on the accelerator before the doors were closed and speeding away, narrowly missing a lamppost. Alex looked out of the rear window and could've sworn he saw Sokolov, standing immobile, staring after them as they escaped.

"Did you actually attack him with a bowling ball, Fox? What, are we in some G-rated spy movie for kids or something?"

"Oh shut up, it worked and did a fair bit of damage too, apparently."

"But a bowling ball!"

"It's called innovation."

"It's called boll –"

"Eagle, where are your shoes?"

Utter silence greeted this question, broken by a screeched, "Oh, bugger!"

A/N: Question, I got a review for chapter 11 saying that Wolf's smirking at Alex came across as creepy . . . did anyone else feel that way? It's really bothering me.