A/N: Well, I was surprised by the response of the last chapter, so I decided to put up this chapter for you all. I hope that you enjoy.

Thanks to Jayden95 for the beta. Any remaining mistakes are mine. The action will start to pick up in the next few chapters.

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Wolf was beyond pissed. They were expected to be in the mess hall in half an hour. Cub had risen an hour beforehand and used up all the hot water, and changed before anyone had seen him. On top of that, he was also not in the hut currently. Wherever he was, Wolf wasn't sure he wanted to know; it was probably better that way – especially when he discovered that Eagle was missing as well. The two were probably not a good combination together. Cub, for whatever reason, had decided that he hated the rest of the team but liked Eagle.

Wolf had just been glad that the kid wasn't following him around like a personal shadow. Still, he was going to have a talk with the Mr. Alan Blunt when he arrived – who the fuck was he to put his kid in the situation? He dried his hair off with a towel and changed into a clean shirt. "Hey, lazy bum, it's your turn to get up," he said, slapping Snake on the back of his neck with the damp towel. Fox had taken his shower last night after their hostage situation training.

"Damn," Snake groaned as he slid out of bed. "Too early," he said, checking his watch.

"I know. But apparently, it's not too early for the middle school brat – or I guess he'd be in high school, technically."

Snake caught his words. "Cub's up?" he asked in surprise.

Wolf nodded. "Yup. Eagle is as well. We'll be lucky if half the camp hasn't burned down by breakfast."

Chuckling, Snake grabbed a clean pair of clothes and made his way towards the bathroom. It was now time for the unpleasant task of waking Fox up. "Fox!" he said, shaking his partner gently. He usually avoided this tactic at all costs but it worked with Fox. With Eagle, who had been abused, it didn't work. Eagle was more likely to kick the corresponding person in his sleep then to wake up.

"I'm tired," Fox muttered as he slid his way out of bed and changed his shirt quickly, along with his shorts. They'd all gotten past the point of worrying about whether another man was watching or not. "Where is everyone else?"

"Already at the dining hall. We had to flip coins to see who would save your sorry ass," Wolf responded. At Fox's glare, he rolled his eyes. "Eagle and Cub are off somewhere, probably burning down the camp, and Snake is taking a shower. I suggest waiting until later. Cub used up all the hot water."

"So Snake's showering in the cold water?" Fox asked with a cheeky grin. Wolf never thought of him as the youngest, even though he technically was; Eagle felt like the youngest to him.

"Pretty much," Wolf responded with a crisp nod. He checked his watch. "Hey, Snake, Fox and I are going to attempt to stop Eagle and Cub from burning down the camp."

"Sounds good! Save me some breakfast!" Snake shouted back.

"Come on," Wolf said tiredly, "Let's go; hopefully they haven't burned down the sergeant's hut yet."

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Contrary to Wolf's belief, Eagle and Alex weren't actually causing any trouble. They were sitting outside of the mess hall, talking. "So, how'd you break your arm?" Eagle asked casually. He was more curious than anything else. Wolf had often told him, when frustrated with his questions, that, "curiosity killed the cat, and Eagle, and when it's done, it will kill you!"

"My arm is not broken," Alex responded angrily. He glanced behind him, as if he needed to make sure that nobody was listening in on their conversation. Then he sighed as he looked at Eagle. "I fell off skateboarding," he said with a shrug, "And caught myself arm-first."

Eagle frowned. The story didn't seem to match to him, although he supposed it was plausible. "You're lucky it's not broken."

"Why?" Alex retorted with a roll of his eyes. Eagle was starting to see why Wolf said the kid got on his nerves. "It's not like I weigh all that much."

"Your arm wasn't meant to support your entire body weight," Eagle replied. "Why aren't you wearing a sling, anyway?"

"Left it in the cabin and don't feel like going back to get it."

"Well, rather than injuring your arm, let's go back to get it," Eagle said. "Besides, it's a good as excuse as any to get you out of combat training."

"I have a black belt in karate," Alex responded with a casual shrug.

"Yes, but your arm is still bro-injured," Eagle said, hastily correcting himself. He didn't want to face Cub's ire for saying the wrong thing. "You don't want to risk messing that up in training."

"Yeah, well, whatever," Alex said, shrugging off Eagle's statement. "Fine, let's go," he said, seeing Wolf. He quickly pushed himself off the ground and darted to the cabin.

"Where's he going?" Wolf asked as he checked his watch. They still had about half an hour until meal time. "Why were you up so early?"

"I couldn't sleep – nightmare," Eagle said uncomfortably. He had only just gotten used to being able to confide in his unit about his nightmares. Their RTI training had been cut short and he knew that they would be going back soon, and the thought terrified him. "And Cub couldn't sleep either. He was shaking. Had to wake him up also. I should follow him back to the hut – he's supposed to be putting on his sling."

"Yeah, about that," Wolf responded. "What kind of parent puts their kid in an SAS training camp when they're only fourteen and their arm is broken?"

"Injured," Eagle corrected automatically, having been forced to listen to Cub's rant earlier.

"Injured – broken – whatever," Wolf growled. He checked his watch. Twenty-eight minutes until breakfast. "I'm still going to have a chat with his father when he gets here. What an idiot. I'm going to see if the mess hall needs any help."

"You're insane," Eagle responded, shaking his head. It was more than likely that the man was going to see if there was any coffee that had been made early rather than help. Anyone who got roped into helping before breakfast usually got roped into helping clean up after, too.

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Snake had just finished pulling on his shirt when he heard the door swing open. Wondering who was back, he stayed silent, wondering if he could guess. He enjoyed scaring Eagle – it was his only humor time here.

"Where'd I put the damn thing?" he heard Cub's voice growl, and he sighed inwardly. Wolf wasn't kidding when he said the kid had picked up a mouth. "Damn it, that bird is going to kill me if I don't find the stupid sling…"

Snake peeked in the room at Cub, who had taken a minute to stare at himself in front of the mirror. He had lifted his shirt up. His entire back was covered in scars, and some of them were very, very fresh.

He stepped out of his hiding spot. It was time for Snake to have a chat with Cub.

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A/N: Challenge – so, where are Alex's "fresh" scars from?

If you've read to here, you've either liked it or tolerated enough to get to this point, so tell me why you liked it and read it. I'd love to know your thoughts, even if they're just "please update soon." I will have a special mention for all those who review in one section of the next chapter.

Enjoy!