(Previously)

Alex didn't turn around but couldn't help a smile at the genuine concern in the doctors voice. Alex nodded again, knowing he could see him and started heading towards J-Units barracks. Maybe things wouldn't be as bad as he thought.

Alex stared. This wasn't what he had been expecting at all.

"BAT, GET YOUR ASS BACK OVER HERE SO I CAN POUND IT!" A muscular Caucasian man with sandy blonde hair and grey blue eyes shouted. His face flushed as he chased another guy. The guy running from him, with tan skin, dark brown hair and almost black eyes, laughed.

"Sorry bro, I don't swing that way." He called with a whoop before running towards the door and almost slamming into Alex. Seeing Alex he froze, the blonde guy took his chance and jumped on the darker man (Bat, Alex noted) and pinned him to the ground.

"You are dead." The blonde guy growled, smirking at a still frozen Bat.

"Leopard, look up." The other man, Leopard, looked up and froze as well. He blinked.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

Alex suppressed the urge to flinch. Scrambling up, Leopard glared at Alex.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" He growled. Alex was about to answer when Bat intervened.

"God, you're such an ass Leo. Hey kid? You lost or something?" Bat said kindly. Alex stared. This was not going the way he thought it would.

"…no." Bat looked confused.

"Then what are you doing here?" He asked.

"I'm Cub; I've been assigned to this unit. This is J-Unit, right?" Alex asked praying he would be told it wasn't.

"Wait. You've been assigned to us. As in, you're a part of this unit?!" And there was Leopard again. Alex just nodded before walking in. Seeing all the bunks occupied he went to the last one on the left. Dropping his bag he let himself collapse onto the bed with a groan of relief. He had napped in the car on the way here, but some actual sleep would be wonderful.

"Oi, we're not done here! What in the bloody hell is a school boy doing in a training camp for the SAS?!" Alex didn't even bother looking up.

"Classified. Look, I really need some sleep, so if you don't mind, please leave me alone." Alex thought for a moment. "Also, don't get too close to me while I'm asleep, I have a habit of considering most people threats unless I hear a specific code word." Without further ado Alex fell into blissful slumber.

"Yeah but he's a kid. Children aren't supposed to be here." Alex heard Leopard argue.

"Doesn't matter. We have our orders. Besides, I asked Sergeant why he was here too. Do you know what he told me? Classified. We all know what that means. Who knows, maybe he's some agents kid sent here for protection or something." A new voice said sounding weary.

"That makes sense. I mean, that kid looks like hell. I wonder if he's been to the infirmary. Maybe I should give him a check-up." Bat pitched in.

So Bat's the medic. Alex thought. I'll avoid him. Deciding they weren't going to give anything else away, Alex sat up. None of J-Unit noticed as they were all facing away from him and towards the door.

Silently, Alex got up and began to change. By the time he was done they still hadn't noticed. Walking up to them Alex cleared his throat and watched Leopard jump a few feet.

"Jeez brat. Make some noise. Don't sneak up on people like that." He growled. Alex took a moment to survey them. He'd already seen Leopard and Bat, so Alex turned his attention to the new comer. The new comer was easily the shortest out of the three at around 5'5" but was well-muscled and had a commanding presence. Black hair cropped close and dark blue eyes stuck out at Alex. This man was different from the other two, probably the team leader.

Bat was the first to speak. Alex absently wondered if Bat would end up being the mediator.

"Hey Cub, you're up."

Alex just stared at him.

"No shit Sherlock." Leopard snorted. The newcomer hit him over the head.

"I'm Tiger, J-Unit's leader. What are you doing here?" Well, he got to the point fast.

"Classified." Alex replied quickly.

Leopard snorted.

"See, I told you. This brat probably doesn't know anything anyway. I mean, who would tell some snot nosed brat things they wouldn't tell us?" Alex wanted to laugh. You'd be surprised, Alex thought, thinking of all the mad men who had gone on and on about their plans, until Alex finally managed to shut them up.

"Do you know why you're here?" Bat asked, obviously curious. Alex considered saying classified but decided against it. He may not want to be here but he still was, and having an entire unit bent of extracting information would just complicate it.

"For training, same as you guys." Alex said with a shrug.

"How old are you?" Bat asked, not letting it go.

Alex paused.

"Old enough." He said quietly. A tense silence fell over the space.

"We have a survival lecture. You coming?" Tiger asked, breaking the silence. After a moment of silence, he nodded.

Alex stifled a yawn. The survival lecture was about informative as a pamphlet Alex remembered reading in third grade. Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad but still. Alex was pretty sure anyone could figure out not to use living wood for fires if they were trying to hide, and really, did the teacher honestly think it was necessary to tell them tell them not to eat unidentified fruits and berries. Only an idiot would do that.

"I'm sorry. Are we boring you?" Alex looked up startled. The instructor was glaring at him. Alex wanted to groan. First day back and I've already pissed someone off.

"No sir." The instructor smirked. This isn't going to end well, is it?

"Well then, maybe you could tell us the five reasons green wood is a no-go for fires." Alex hesitated. Should he answer correctly? Even if he hadn't been paying the least amount of attention, it was pretty obvious. Mentally, Alex shrugged. Screw it.

"Smoke, lasting time, difficult starting, possible toxic fumes depending on type and more difficult to remove from the tree itself." The instructor had stopped smirking and Alex had to fight to keep a smirk off his own face.

"Fine." He said curtly and went back to his lecture. Alex frowned. That's it? He had expected more.

The rest of the lesson went by unbearably slow for Alex. The instructor had called on him a few more times but had otherwise left him alone. Standing up, Alex had to stop himself from wincing. His back was killing him. Walking carefully, he left the hut with J-Unit. None of them spoke as they went back to the barracks.

Alex was relieved. He didn't want to answer any questions. He wasn't sure which ones he could or couldn't answer. Stupid MI6. Silence held as they each went to their respective bunks. It lasted a grand total of three minutes and 28 seconds (Alex was counting).

"You're our new sniper then? "

Alex's eyebrow rose a few centimeters.

"What?" He asked Bat.

"Our new sniper. Lynx is off active duty and is currently in the hospital. He was our sniper and you're the only new person to show up so…"

Leopard snorted.

"Yeah right. The kid's probably never touched a gun, much less shot one." Tiger, however, looked thoughtful.

"Can you shoot Cub?"

Alex hesitated.

"Yes." MI6 had one twisted sense of humor. Leopard choked on his water.

"Wait, you can actually shoot?" Alex nodded. Leopard jumped to his feet.

"Fine, let's go to the firing range." Tiger glanced at him.

"S-Unit is using it right now."

Leopard didn't calm down.

"S-Unit only has four people, there are at least eleven stalls, plenty of room." Tiger sighed and gave in.

"Fine, but you need to get their permission." Leopard smiled.

"Easy."

"Can we not do this?" Alex asked for the millionth time in the past twenty minutes. Leopard shook his head, smirking.

"Nope. You said you could shoot. Prove it. Now." Alex sighed and looked at the guns on display. Thinking carefully he chose a Winchester .45 Magnum. Alex grimaced. It felt calming and familiar in his hands. He didn't like that.

Walking up to the indicated stall he cleared his mind. Never shoot when emotional. Clear your mind and relax. The gun is a part of you. Relaxing Alex stared at the target (just had to be human shaped now didn't it) for a few seconds before bring the gun up and firing continuously. In less than a minute he had finished the first clip, quickly he loaded another and continued firing.

Alex wasn't sure how many clips he used since he had automatically reloaded every time he ran out. The more he fired the more tension eased out of him until he felt completely at ease. Soon he was done, finding there were no more clips. Taking off his mufflers he looked at J-Unit.

"Satisfied?" Alex asked calmly.

They nodded mutely. Bat walked forward and retrieved the target. Alex grimaced at the results. He hadn't missed a single shot. There were only three holes in it, two showed the passing of more than one bullet while one looked like a perfect circle. Alex would have congratulated himself except for where the holes were located. Heart, center chest and head. All killing shots. Alex hadn't even thought about it, rotating from each of the three points as he fired. They had been automatic. Looking up warily he glanced at the others to see their reactions.

Bat looked pensive and a bit worried; Tiger seemed to have a thoughtful look and small traces of concern. Alex didn't understand the worry or concern. He had just proved he could have their backs. Why be worried or concerned? Only Leopard had the reaction Alex had been expecting. Plain shock and disbelief covered his face. Alex smirked at him.

"Good job Cub, guess military intelligence knew what they were doing." Tiger said. Alex dropped the smirk. He didn't want to think about MI6.

"Thank you." He said mechanically. Tiger and Bat looked at him strangely, even Leopard looked curious. Quickly, Alex blanked his expression.

"I'll be going back to the barracks now." Alex said walking away. While he had been shooting he was able to forget everything. All the pain from his injuries, how much he missed Jack, the irritation at being at Brecon Beacons, even his anger at MI6. All of it was forgotten but now the pain from his injuries on his arm, chest and back were starting to ache.

He needed to leave before he felt too much pain. Alex spared a second to wonder if the other two shots would have been perfect circles as well if he wasn't injured but dismissed the thought. He didn't want to be good at killing.

But you'll need to be. A small voice whispered.

Alex frowned.

Shut up.

Going into the barracks he looked at the clock. 11:34 am. Alex still had time before lunch. He wondered if he should go to the infirmary. Glancing around, he saw his bed. Suddenly he was exhausted. The infirmary could wait. He was tired. Lying carefully so as to not aggravate his injuries any more, Alex fell asleep.

"Should we wake him up?"

"I don't know. He'll miss lunch if we don't so..yes?"

"Aww, look who's a mother hen."

"Shut up Leopard."

"Hurry up and wake him Bat, we're running out of time."

"Fine." Bat started towards Alex and froze.

"Guys." Bat said quietly. "Did any of you take back the gun?" Leopard looked at Bat's back and frowned.

"No, why?"

"Cause he's pointing it at me."

"What?!" Leopard was up and had moved towards Bat to get a better look. Sure enough, a sleeping Cub had Badger at gun point. Tiger assessed the situation.

"Try to call him." Tiger said motioning at Bat. Bat still hadn't moved.

"Cub. Cub, wake up. It's me Bat. Cub, damn it kid. Wake the hell up." Bat was startled when he felt someone behind him. Not turning his head he waited. Tiger moved just past Bat and closer to Alex. Alex's hand moved and now the gun was pointing at Tiger almost touching him.

Calmly, Tiger moved closer until the nuzzle touched him. With ease he reached a hand out to shake Alex's shoulder. Alex pulled the trigger.

Click

The gun wasn't loaded. Bat almost had a heart attack and slumped to the floor. Tiger however, acted as though nothing had happened.

"He used up all the rounds at the firing range." He said in explanation, shaking Alex. Alex opened his eyes and looked around confused before he suddenly straightened. Bringing his hand back he noticed the gun and sighed.

"Well, it's a good thing it wasn't loaded." Then he frowned. He was usually able to tell when the weapon he had was useless, just by the weight. He was losing his edge. Looking up, he saw J-Unit glaring at him, even Bat.

"What was that?" Tiger asked in a cool voice. Alex shifted uncomfortably.

"I did warn you guys not to come near me when I'm asleep." He said looking at the ground. Leopard and Bat looked confused.

"When I first got here and fell asleep." Alex elaborated. Bat nodded slowly in understanding while Leopard still looked confused.

"That didn't answer my question." Tiger said quietly, but Alex noticed his voice wasn't quiet as cold as it had been before.

"What do you want me to say?" Alex asked glaring at Tiger. Tiger narrowed his eyes.

"I want you to tell us why a sixteen year old automatically attacks anything that gets close to him when asleep." Alex looked at him sharply.

"How did you-"

"I have a copy of your file. There wasn't much in it, but your age was." Tiger said calmly.

"I don't usually. I just got back from a mission though, so I'm still getting used to being safe." Alex thought about it.

"Ish. Safe-ish." He amended. Still glaring at the floor, Alex didn't notice the identical looks of concern on J-unit's faces.

"You go on missions?" Alex winced slightly. He probably wasn't supposed to tell them. Why? Because MI6 said so? Who cares what they think? One part of Alex scoffed. No because it's my personal life and these people are practically strangers. Another stated. So don't tell them anything personal. They don't need to know anything personal to know you go on missions. They'll ask questions. The second voice argued. Then don't answer them. The first voice replied bluntly. Alex took a moment to wonder if he was going insane.

He thought about all his missions up until now and all the things he had done.

Probably.

"Yeah." Alex said and almost winced again. His voice sounded pathetically soft.

"Who sends you?"

"MI6." He said still glaring at the ground like it was the cause of all his troubles.

"Why?" Alex looked up incredulous.

"What do you mean why? Because they send me." Alex said in confusion.

"They have other employees and the SAS. Why you?" Alex sighed.

"Hell if I know. Probably because I'm still considered a kid. People don't expect agencies to send kids in. Look, can we not talk about this? I don't know how much I can tell you." Leopard scoffed.

"As though your clearance is any higher, I bet your just too sc-"

"Enough Leopard." Tiger cut in sharply sending him a glare.

"How many missions have you been on?" He said turning back to Alex.

"Look, like I said, can we not talk about this. Lunch is almost over, we have to hurry." At that Leopard and looked at the clock and swore but Bat and Tiger kept staring at him.

"How many Cub?" Tiger asked gently. Alex sighed.

"Officially? 17. Unofficially? Around 21." Tiger swore lightly under his breath. Grabbing Alex by the arm he pulled him up.

"Come on." He said turning around. Alex followed.

"Where are we going?" He asked a bit timidly.

"The Sergeants office." Alex froze. No no no no. He couldn't.

"No." Alex said startling Tiger with the amount of force in his words.

"Why not?" Tiger asked annoyed.

"Why go?" Alex asked back. They stared at each other a few moments.

"Cub, this isn't right. It's child abuse. What do your parents know about this?" Tiger said, eyes hard.

"They're dead." Alex said in a flat voice. Tiger eyes softened slightly.

"I'm sorry." Alex shook his head.

"Don't be. I never knew them, they died when I was one." J-Unit looked at each other confused.

"Then who takes care of you?" Bat asked.

"My uncle did. He died two years ago. Now it's just me and Jack" Alex said, his voice still flat. He saw Bat's look of sympathy but didn't acknowledge it. He didn't need pity.

"Whose Jack?" Leopard asked. Alex hesitated. He didn't want to share Jack. Such a baby. Shut up.

"She was a house-keeper my uncle hired to take care of me when he went away on business trips, which turned out to be a lot."

"She's your guardian then?"

Alex slowly shook his head.

"MI6 have legal custody over me." Bat blanched.

"Is that why they can send you? How did they even get custody?!"

Alex shrugged.

"My dad and uncle were both MI6 agents. When my uncle died he had left me to them in his will. I don't think this is quiet what he had in mind of course. At least, not this early." Alex couldn't stop the bitterness from entering his voice. He knew his Ian was just trying to make sure he could hold his own in this world but Alex couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he hadn't. Would MI6 not have been interested in him? Would they have left him alone? Leopard's eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean 'this early'?" He all but growled. Alex was surprised. He didn't think Leopard cared.

"Ian, my uncle, had been training me to be a spy practically since I could walk. Karate lessons, hiking, diving, traveling around the world, pick-pocketing," He saw the twitch of a suppressed smile appear on Tiger's face. Interesting." hacking, the whole lot. He probably intended for me to be his replacement." Bat was shaking his head.

"Runs in the family, does it?" Alex shrugged again, but couldn't help a small smile.

"Yeah, I guess." Tiger just shook his head.

"Well, we've basically missed lunch now thanks to this, so we better get going." Tiger frowned.

"I've been told you're to spend the first week here recuperating, Cub. Are you injured?" Alex saw Bat look up sharply and felt his face close off.

"I'm fine." He said mechanically. Tiger looked like he was about to say something when, surprisingly enough, Bat interrupted.

"Alright then. You've already had a check-up at the infirmary then?" Bat asked casually.

Alex nodded suspicious. Medics never let things off that easily. Bat nodded sagely.

"Then it's alright, isn't it? Come on guys, we have an obstacle course to run." Alex stayed on his bed eyeing Bat as the others filed out. Bat stopped at the door way.

"I'll be asking Dr. Richards for his notes on your check-up since I'm the unit's medic."

Alex paused.

"How did you know it was Dr. Richards?" He heard Bat laugh.

"I didn't, thanks for that." Alex wanted to bang his head against the wall. How did he fall for that? Alex let out a groan. A medic that would leave him alone? He knew it was too good to be true.