I promise (I think) that there is no cliffie at the end of this. Y'all are probably about ready to kill me if I give you another one. I also added a little flashback, so the question is: should I write a story to go with the flashback?

Chapter 10:

When Alex woke up the first time, it was to the sound of a steady, but faint beeping. He glanced around as far as his aching shoulder would allow him, and saw his unit, the Americans, and a very pretty nurse, who seemed to be attached to Wolf's arm. Alex tried to point this out, but he probably said something that sounded even more intelligent, like a garbled moan. But the sound was enough to bring Alex to the attention of the seven men and one woman in the room. The woman with Wolf detached herself and walked over to Alex. Alex assumed she was a nurse that had taken a liking to Wolf (although why anyone would take a liking to Wolf was beyond the amount of brainpower currently available to Alex) and Wolf seemed to be giving the same amount of affection back.

"I'm Nurse Izzy. How's your shoulder feeling? Is it stiff?" Nurse Izzy was very soft-spoken and had a gentle voice that did a lot for Alex's nerves and stress levels. If being nicer to Wolf meant he could spend more time with her, Alex would gladly put up with Wolf. "This might hurt a little, but you have to tell me when it starts to hurt, ok?"

Nurse Izzy helped Alex sit up and put her delicate hand on Alex's shoulder. It immediately started hurting, but Alex didn't show it; it was his instinct to not show pain, and he wasn't about to go against his instinct now. Even when Alex felt like he was going to pass out, Alex didn't show his pain.

"Are you sure this doesn't hurt?" Nurse Izzy asked, and Alex nodded, still being careful not to show any pain.

Don't mind me, I'm a page break.

Ben stood in the corner watching Nurse Izzy. He knew Alex wasn't going to show his pain, but if it became very clear to Ben that he was about to pass out, Ben would do something.

Alex never gave him the chance though. Alex's face was as white as the sheet he was laying on, but he still wasn't showing anything. Then he just gasped and fell over backwards. He had passed out from the pain, and yet the idiot hadn't said anything!

"That seems like nerve damage, but he shouldn't have any. Has this happened before?" Nurse Izzy asked, turning first to Wolf, who shrugged.

"It happens all the time, but it's not nerve damage. It's a lack of common sense. He has this habit of not letting his pain show, and it gets him into trouble all the time." Ben said, silently cursing Alex and his idiotic spy ways.

"He really should break that habit. It could be very hazardous to his health." Nurse Izzy commented. Ben started laughing, much to the surprise of his unit.

"I think someone gave Fox a little too much sugar." Snake muttered and walked over to a nearby cabinet. He rummaged it for a few seconds before pulling something out triumphantly. It was long, thin, and looked suspiciously like a needle. "I can't handle him anymore. He's worse than Eagle! I think the stress has finally fried his brain." And he jammed the needle into Fox's hand. The needle must have been loaded with a very mild sedative, because while he was still conscious, Fox did stopped laughing and almost fell over. He would've fallen over if it weren't for Eagle shoving a chair beneath him.

"What did you do that for, Snake?" Ben mumbled under his breath, slightly incoherent.

"You were turning into an Eagle."

"Oh. Sorry." Ben mumbled sheepishly. Being an Eagle was quite possibly the worst thing anyone could call you. It was worse than being called a wimp.

"I'm not that bad!"

"Shut it, Eagle." Snake and Ben said. Well, Ben grumbled because he was still a little incoherent. Eagle walked over to the corner and sat down, pouting like the five year old he was. He wasn't that bad. Sure, he could be a little, uh, overactive, but he didn't act like a little kid.

"So, Fox, are you going to tell us why Cub does this a lot?" Wolf questioned. A teenager shouldn't already have made a habit of hiding his pain from the world. Heck, even Wolf hadn't made a habit of it yet.

"If you were being interrogated, and your captor saw that you were in pain, what would happen? Because that's what happened to A-Cub, and he still hasn't gotten over it yet." Fox's tone was almost as scary as Wolf's as he answered. But K-Unit had to understand what Alex had gone through in his very short life. He was only sixteen, and yet he had seen much more than most of the SAS soldiers.

Flashback

The only thing Ben would see was his partner on the other side of the glass. Alex was covered in blood, although thankfully it wasn't all his. But some of it was, and what worried Ben was that he didn't know how much of it was his. If he did, he wouldn't worry so much. But he still worried. He was worried that the fate of their country, and quite possibly several others, rested on the shoulders of a teenager. A teenager that should have been in school, studying for tests and flirting with girls. But that was never going to happen, not now. He had seen too much and could easily pass as an over 20 year old.

Ben was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of something connecting with bone. His bone. Ben's SCORPIA captor had aimed a crowbar at his shoulder, and hadn't missed. Ben gasped, but tried not to worry Alex too much. The less Alex knew about his pain, the better, and his captors wouldn't be able to tell how much pain they were causing Alex. But Alex was much better at reading people than Ben had given him credit for, because he knew that Alex had most definitely heard all the bones in Ben's shoulder shatter.

"Ben!" SCORPIA didn't miss the anguish in Alex's voice, and used it to their advantage.

"We'll stop if you tell us what we want to know." The Voice snarled at Alex. Ben had no name for the man. He was just the Voice. Nothing more, nothing less.

"You know the answer to that." Their reply was to break a few of Ben's ribs. Ben couldn't handle much more, and Alex knew it. But Ben just shook his head and hoped Alex had gotten the message: he was not to tell them anything, no matter what happened. Alex blinked and Ben knew he had gotten the message. Even after three days of being tortured for information neither of them even had, SCORPIA had gotten creative. Torture one to get answers out of the other. They used every opening they got.

End Flashback

"You're kidding." M walked into the room and scared the British soldiers. They had forgotten about the Americans.

"No. I can't imagine what he's been through and I've been through a heck of a lot of crap with him." Fox managed to say before he slumped over. The stress was getting to him and Snake's sedative wasn't helping. At least he was still sitting, or the fall would have really hurt.

"Nurse, is Cub awake yet?" Doctor Williams had been passing by when he heard the commotion in the young boy's room.

"He was. He passed out again." Nurse Izzy answered, looking slightly worried. Wolf walked over to stand next to her and put an arm around her shoulder. Izzy leaned into it; it was what she needed. She needed to know that at least some people still cared in the world. M saw this and had to stifle a chuckle. This was going to ruin Wolf's reputation as a cold-hearted soldier.

I am rather proud that I now have a kinda sorta plot going here. I'm thinking about 3 or 4 more chapters, and then this is done. Does anyone want a sequel for when the SAS goes to the Navy SEALs?