Heyy folks! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update this. Anyway, I'm not a fan of this chapter, but hopefully it's good enough. It's a little shorter, but, That's okay. It's a slow moving chapter.
Anyway, I'd like to take a quick moment to thank everyone who either put this story on their alerts, made it a favourite or reviewed. Seriously thank you so much.
If you do have the time, and/or would like to please review and give me constructive criticism, as I always say there is always room for improvement.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Just borrowing for a little bit.
"I don't understand why you waited so long before you started looking for him." The voice of a woman sounded in the hallways of the empty building. Even though most people would be asleep getting some rest before the next stressful day, MI6 was a place that always had at least one person in the corridors. On this day, for that specific mission, the head of MI6 and his right hand woman were the only ones left in building. Apart from the protection stationed at the entrances and exits, but they mattered little. The woman, Mrs. Jones, was a woman who had a slight tinge anger in her tone of voice. As if she wanted to be annoyed about what had happened, but knew in her heart that it was pretty pointless. She was working with Alan Blunt. A stubborn man, who happened to be the head of MI6 making him her boss. Alan Blunt was the most stubborn man she had ever worked with. Mrs. Jones was also sure that he would forever hold that title.
"It had to be done." Was the man's simple reply, lacking of any real feeling or warmth. Most believed that Alan Blunt had been born completely emotionless, that he'd always had a voice and face that was completely emotions. However untrue this could be, the man had long forsaken the emotion he might have once had. This was why anything he said no matter how terrible it could be was told as if the man was bored and disinterested.
"Is the boy being moved?" The man asked, the stoney grey eyes of Alan Blunt meeting the eyes of the woman, who was clearly trying to decide how concerned she should be about the boy they were discussing. The boy was a boy after all and Mrs Jones could scarcely imagine what could've happened to him in the three months he'd been gone. The first two of which she had spent attempting to persuade her boss to start looking.
"Yes. In the next few minutes. The doctors spoke of the dangers this move could be to Alex, but assured me that the risk would be minimal. They promised to do everything in their power to ensure as little risk of danger as possible" The woman was choosing to leave out the small details of how dangerous it would actually be for the boy when he was moved. It seemed pointless to say no and mention the real risks. No amount of persuasive talking would change the man's decision. Mrs Jones was sure that even if the boy had needed surgery at the point that the head of MI6 wanted him moved, the surgery would've been done mid flight.
There was a small part of wondered if maybe a risk would be a good thing. Having a boy as good as Alex was definite asset to the country, but she knew it couldn't be good for him. Maybe he would be ready to move on, since she knew as long as he stayed useful he would most likely never leave the spy world. There was only one way out. Mentally Mrs Jones shook such thoughts from her mind. She knew she was too emotionally attached to this boy. He was after all, just a young fifteen year old teenager who had grown up too soon and too quickly.
"Good," The man said, his tone hinting at boredom breaking Mrs Jones out of her thoughts. "Now, what of that woman that died, the other paramedic?" The man asked, despite the fact the death of that woman had happened just over five hours previously, something had to be done. It wasn't like they could actually tell the truth about what had happened to her.
"Her family is being notified of her death as we speak. Car crash while driving home from her shift, car caught flames and that means no body." Mrs Jones replied, her voice neutral. The woman had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, nothing to get upset about. "And what of Alex? What happens to him once he gets better?" The woman asked. Treading carefully, knowing that was a question that she didn't want to hear the answer to.
"He will go back to living alone. Like before. It's better that way. Other people in his life might have meant we had more leverage over him, but with no one the boy will be a lot easier to persuade to go on missions. Done." And that was the end of the discussion. Mrs Jones knew when it was her cue to leave the room. And so she did. Turning her back to her boss and walking out of the room. She glanced at her watch, 'time to go home' her mind told her. And with that the woman headed home. Letting all thoughts of the boy slip away.
A sense of dread and fear had taken over the minds of all the men currently walking towards the fifteen year old's room. In that hospital, the doctors and nurses couldn't quite understand the situation of the boy. It was pretty clear that the boy had people who cared about him, but with the way the boy had arrived, that begged to differ. It wasn't something they very often saw, and would always be that case that no one ever understood. In years to come the boy would be the case brought up after about two bottles of wine. Mentioned in passing, the one they all wondered about, where he was, how he was doing. The biggest mystery, and in a Hospital in Carlisle that did not happen often.
The room itself was not private, there were three other beds in the room and while all five men weren't sure what to expect what they saw was nothing they ever wanted to see again. There was a window that looked into the shared room. And the five men lined up at the window, barely a centimetre away from the glass. The paramedic standing closest to the door into the room and Fox stood at the very end furtherest away from the door. Wolf cursed under his breath. All he wanted to do was break the glass splitting the two rooms and use the shards to repeatedly stab the men who'd done that to Cub.
All the men seemed unable to move, they just stood staring at the unconscious form of the fifteen year old boy they had just barely saved. There were tubes and wires everywhere, there was a heart monitor just beside the bed. Fox felt reassured at the sight of the steady beating of the boy's heart. He could hardly believe that more than once in that night the beating had stopped. It made him realise how lucky they were that Alex was still there. That he had held on, fought for his life. Even if it had been small feeble attempts. They had been attempts and they had in the end worked.
Fox was the first one to move, he took a step back and while trying to control his breathing, he headed towards the door to the room. He glanced round at his team, wondering who would enter with him, if any of them could. Fox knew he'd be capable of doing it alone, but it would be nice to not have to. Noticing the look in the man's eyes, Wolf stepped forward. He walked over to Fox who was already hovering nervously at the door. As soon as Wolf was close, Fox opened the door and walked inside. Keeping the door open to let his friend in behind him. Wolf was careful to close the door behind him quietly. Despite the fact that all of the people within the room were asleep, he didn't want to cause any form of loud noise.
There was a silence in the room, not really a silence. One that contained the small noises of beeping machines telling them that everyone in the room's heart was beating. The noise of rushing air telling them that no one in this room was breathing alone. It was a small detail that hadn't been properly seen from outside. Now that the two men saw it, they both felt their hearts stop. God, with everything and the kid couldn't breath without help. Something that he didn't really want to think about. It was fairly hard to even comprehend.
If the men didn't know how to keep emotions in check, then Fox was sure that he'd be pretty much breaking down at the unfairness of life towards the fifteen year old boy in front of him. He knew doing that wasn't very SAS, but he felt so terrible that he could nothing for Alex. That the boy was just lying there, and all they could do was wait and see if the boy decided he wanted to return to a world where he had so little. Where he had been treated so unfairly. Fox shook his head slightly, moving his gaze to the grey floor. He took a deep breath and then stepped forward to be at the boy's side. The boy was tiny on the bed. Wolf - who stood frozen - believed that if he even touched the boy with the very tip of his finger the boy would break in two, and that was not what he wanted. Wolf gave a small cough and walked to the boy's other side.
"He's so thin." Wolf found himself saying, staring down at Alex. Now clean, it was easier to the bruising and cuts scattered a little everywhere. He could now see the dark circles around the boy's eyes. The bruising at the side of his face. "When do you think was the last time he ate?" Wolf pulled his eyes away from Alex and to Fox. Despite being the leader of K-Unit, sometimes he just needed someone else to take control.
"I don't know. If I'm honest I half don't want to know. Because I can assume it wasn't lately and that whatever he had been given could probably not even be classed as food." Fox replied looking from Wolf to Alex. He wanted to pull up a chair and just sit with him, but knowing that he was about to be moved meant he did not. Fox just gave a sigh.
"Hang in there Alex. You hear me, just hang in there." Fox said looking directly at the boy. He didn't even share another glance with Wolf as he left the room. Wolf did not want to wait any longer, but he couldn't leave with out saying something. As he attempted to speak, he found words failed him. So with just a tiny nod, he turned and left the room.
As Wolf walked back into the hallway of the hospital, he kept the door open for Eagle and Snake. Both of whom looked half terrified of what they were about to see . Wolf just walked back to the window and stood beside the paramedic. A part of him wondered what the man was still doing hanging around after what had happened. But a part of him understood that after seeing such a thing it was not easy to just walk away.
"Thanks for sticking around. You didn't need to." Wolf stood beside him. Glancing briefly at the man before looking at the other members of his unit. He had to look around him and noticed Fox in the distance clearly attempting to keep it together. Fox had always been better at keeping it together but they had never had to deal with a teenager with nothing.
"I know. I just wanted to leave so bad, but when you preform CPR on a boy," The man trailed off. "I just tried to get all the information I could with the intention of leaving, but, I couldn't. I had to be sure." The paramedic couldn't take his eyes off the boy in front of him.
"So, you don't get cases like this often I take it." Wolf had meant that as half serious and half as a joke. It wasn't a funny joke, but he knew already that it was very unlikely that anything of that sort had ever happened. Thankfully the man was not offended. Instead he smiled slightly and shook his head.
"No, thank god. I could not handle it if it did." Tessin said, his voice breaking slightly. As it did, Wolf tore his eyes away from Alex and looked at the man. He was reminded that Tessin was not an agent or an army guy. He was a paramedic who had not only helped save Alex's life in the van but had pretty much lost a friend and colleage too.
"I'm sorry, about the other paramedic. I wish we could've done more for her." Wolf wasn't often like this. The one comforting some man who looked on the verge of floods of tears. As if just completely realising all that happened.
"Thank you. She was a good friend." He muttered, quickly wiping his eyes with his sleeve. Feeling pretty stupid for almost breaking down in front of the army guy. Wolf on the other hand knew that it wasn't stupid to get upset about the death of a friend. But said nothing. Instead he just place a somewhat comforting hand on the guy's shoulder and said nothing. Wolf noticed that Eagle and Snake were leaving the room. He glanced at them, giving them a nod and looking in Fox's direction. Telling them to go to him. Still in control.
"Are you going to go in?" Wolf asked the man. As leader of K-Unit, the man always felt a need to take control of any situation which included making sure the others were with Fox as he dealt with the poor paramedic who had the awful luck to be the one to answer their call.
"Nah, It's okay. I think I should go. I should go see Imogen's family. They'll be pretty much devastated. It's the least I can do." Tessin said nodding to himself and stepping away. Wolf took his hand off the man's shoulder and then held it out to him to shake.
"Thank you, for everything you did to help Cub. I'll have someone inform you of his progress." Wolf said to the man. The paramedic took Wolf's hand and shook it with a small smile. He nodded to the other men and gave a small wave before glancing one last time to the boy and walking away.
It was as the man walked away that Wolf decided that he should go back into the room. So Wolf did. He didn't know why. It didn't make him feel much better. It didn't make him feel good. But, he couldn't leave things unspoken. Even if the boy couldn't actually hear him.
"Cub, I...I'm..." The man tried. "You can't die. You owe us all an explanation. You can get better. Please. You're too young." Wolf muttered quietly. "But I promise you no matter the outcome of this, I will hunt the sons of bitches that did this to you and rip their throats out. I promise you that." With those words spoken, a flock of nurses and doctors entered the room. Time to move him Wolf guessed. Wolf left the room quickly and returned to his Unit. They all shared a small nod.
"To London?" Eagle said. Of course they'd follow Alex. The Helicopter would be one for medical purposes, but the men all had a flight home with their names on it. Curtsey of MI6. A part of the deal for doing the mission. Upon it's completion a direct flight alone back to London. Each man gave a nod.
"To London." Snake repeated. Determination in his voice. "Let's just hope that Alex makes it."
"He will" Fox and Wolf said in unison. All of K-Unit glanced round as Alex was being taken out of the room. In all their minds they were hoping and praying that Alex would be okay. That despite all the odds against him, he would make it.