Crawley coughed, the only sign of discomfort he showed. "You're not staying with me, Alex."

"Oh thank God." Alex closed his eyes, unable to hide the relief. Ben looked at him amused as he pulled the t-shirt on, hiding his face for a second.

He spoke up again. "So why are you here then?"

"Mrs Jones would like to-"

"No way in hell. Ben, you'll give me a lift, won't you? I presume you drove because Eagle certainly didn't."

He frowned. "What gave you the idea that I drove him here?"

"Because you don't trust anyone with your car. Especially Eagle." Behind them, the man let out a loud snore, almost in assent.

Crawley frowned. "Alex, you-"

"If Mrs Jones wants to talk to me, she knows my mobile number. She also knows that I'll ignore her calls. Either way, if she thinks I'm talking to her anytime soon, she is sorely mistaken. Be seeing you."

Alex slung his bag over his shoulder and strode out, straight past the man were he met Diana as she turned from the desk. With a smile, she handed him the papers.

"Try and stay out of trouble now, won't you?"

He laughed as he signed his name, placing them on the top. "It was nice to see you again."

Ben appeared with a small smile beside him. "You ready?"

"Sure."

The two moved to the elevator at the end of the hallway, talking softly to each other.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Ben muttered, pushing the button for the ground floor.

The doors before them dinged shut, cutting off Crawley's stare. "Hell no. I think it's more likely than not that you're going to be bombarded with phone calls, agent knocking on your door constantly, hell, maybe even Jones will show up. But who gives a damn."

The man sighed. "Couldn't you have said that before I decided to let you stay over?"

"No!" He cried, hand to his chest. "Where would the fun in that be?"

Ben rolled his eyes, head tipped back as he stared at the ceiling. "Of course. The fun."

Alex laughed a little as they stepped out, walking out the hospital without being questioned. It was only as they reached the car that they spoke again.

"You forgot about Eagle." Alex said as he slammed the door.

"Me? I think you forgot about him too."

"You were he last one out the room."

"So? You could have remembered him too."

"I did. I just thought it would ruin our awesome exit if I reminded you, for you to stop halfway down the corridor and turn back round to get him."

He was quiet for a minute, before he too closed his door. "He'll be fine. He'll find his own way back."

Wolf stretched carefully on the couch and pushed himself to his feet, grumbling all the while. "Where the hell is everyone?"

The phone rang on, sitting on the dark wooden table in the kitchen surrounded by leaflets from take away places from nearby. The four of them had fallen into a simple routine; whoever was in at the time would order food, and leave the majority in the fridge for when the rest came back from the hospital, no matter the time. It made things easier, and none of them knew how to cook any way.

Rubbing his face with one hand, he growled into the phone. "What."

"This is the bank-"

"He's not here." He grunted, throwing open the fridge to stare at the blank interior for a while without reason.

"We're not ringing about-"

"I'll tell him you called." Hanging up, he looked at the phone carefully before putting it in the fridge as it rang again. Without a word, he stumbled back to the couch were he collapsed again, burying his face into the cushions. Snake chuckled in the doorway, hair still wet.

Wolf flipped him one without moving from his position, sprawled across the space.

Snake grinned, walking past the man and into the kitchen, purposely ignoring the fridge where the phone was only muffled. "I know. You're not a morning person. You do remember Cub's being discharged today though?"

There was a noise from the couch, which he took as an affirmative. "Wonder what the guy he's staying with will be like." He muttered, more to himself than anyone.

Fox turned round the corner with a grin, startling him as he reached for a clean glass. "Good thing you've met the guy."

Alex looked round, frowning, bag slung over his shoulder. "Though it looks like I'll be looking after you." The two men glanced at the pile of dishes stacked on the sideboard, the bin beside it overflowing with take out wrappers. Fox moved to stand in front of it and hide it from view.

"Yeah, well, originally, you weren't staying with us."

Snake snorted. "Actually, I kind of agree with this line of thought. It is disgusting."

Wolf raised his head to look over the couch and into the kitchen. "There's nothing in the fridge. And none of us can cook anyway."

The boy hummed, still frowning. "You could have at least washed your dishes."

Beside Fox, the phone rang again, startling the man. "That's normal. Why is my fridge ringing?"

Snake shrugged. "Ask Wolf."

"Ask Eagle." The man muttered, rolling over. Alex opened the fridge door before answering, listening for a minute before hanging up and moving to the freezer.

"Don't ask Eagle. He doesn't have anything to do with the fridge ringing; for once. Where is he anyway?" The medic asked, watching the boy throw the icy phone into the drawer without batting an eyelid.

"At the hospital. Fox forgot to wake him up."

Said man huffed. "Now that's unfair, it's not like I'm babysitting him-"

Snake clapped him on the back as he walked past, moving towards the opposite exit that lead to the stairs. "Then why are you getting so worked up? He needs the sleep anyway."

"See!"

Alex rolled his eyes, moving to the living room where Wolf was lying, before backing away. "God Wolf!"

"What?"

"When was the last time you got a shower?" He held his nose as the man moved, sitting up to look at him.

"Tuesday. Why?"

"Wolf, it's Saturday. How did you even get into the hospital smelling like that?" He coughed as the man smelt himself and recoiled.

Fox grinned, handing Alex a glass of water. "They thought he was a patient himself. First day he was led down to the psychiatric ward. It's lucky he's scary, or they never would have double checked."

Wolf growled. "Shut up. That was hardly my fault."

"It's your fault you haven't had a shower." He pointed out, drinking from his own glass. "Anyway, go get one. We need to run the shop for food."

"Why?"

"Because Cub will cook for us now, won't you?"

The boy waved his hand nonchantedly, holding his nose again as Wolf passed. Switching off the light that was on above them, Alex moved across the room and threw open the window, the sunlight revealing the range of damage the four men had done to the room. He glanced at Fox grimly.

"And you live here?"

He laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, well. There are more people here than normal. So more mess."

"You lost an huge opportunity." Snake mumbled, coming back in. "We could have made Eagle clean."

"Oh my God. Why didn't I think of that?"

Alex sighed. "Get some bin bags while you're out."

Snake raised his eyebrows. "You're not coming?"

He smiled. "No thanks. You can do the shopping."

"What are you going to do then?" Wolf muttered, walking in fully dressed.

"I'll think of something. Now go. Move." He shooed them out of the door with a grin, throwing the car keys to Ben before slamming the door. Sighing in relief, he dropped onto the couch in front of the tv, reaching for the remote with his bag resting beside him. Outside, Fox frowned, looking at the other two disbelieving.

"I just got kicked out of my own house."

Snake shook his head with a grin. "He has a point though. There's more or less a months worth of rubbish and dirt in the house."

The land rover was a dark blue, and filled most of the driveway due to its size. Wolf's car was on the pavement in front of the small garden that was overgrown with neglect and time, a startling difference in the neighbourhood it was settled in. Along the street, children of all ages were outside, each of them glancing at the group as they climbed into the dark car.

It wasn't a minute after they left that another car pulled up, two men in suits exiting and climbing to the door. The taller man knocked.

Alex threw open the door with a scowl, facing them without batting an eyelid. "Shove off."

"You're going to have to come with us."

He laughed, eyebrows raised. "And I bet that always works for you, huh?"

The shorter, older man wedged his foot in the doorway as the boy moved to close it, leaving a fists width of space. "Kid. I don't know what it is you've done, but when my boss says I have to bring you in, that's what I'm bloody well going to do."

Alex shook his head, letting the door open slightly so he could grab the man by the neck of his shirt, dragging him close.

"What are you, the mafia? No. You're going to listen to me, and listen to me closely. You're going to run straight back to Blunt and tell him I've warned him before. Tell him Jack was the promise, and he will have to face it sooner or later."

With the toe of his right foot, he hooked the mans polished shoe and forced it backwards, slamming the door with a grin. Behind him, the two men banged against the door, their voices muffled by the wood.

Alex sighed to himself, moving back into the living room. "Oh this is not going to be pleasant."

(A/N) I told you it wouldn't be Crawley. I bet you didn't believe me either :D The plot is going to begin to take shape in next week's chapter. R&R