Thanks for all the reviews guys! Especially Apple in the Ocean, MLM24, V.I.D. Vishii, IWannaLightSaber (me too bro, me too) and MonstersUnderYourBed
Ahh, I blame Bat. *Ducks behind bullet proof wall*
Bat – WHAT?! It wasn't my fault you didn't update!
Author – Sshhh. They don't need to know.
Bat – You owe me.
Author – Fine, fine. I'll let you beat Leopard at your guys stupid competitions.
Bat – Stupid? I'll have you know, those competitions are to determine strength, speed, endur-
Author – Yeah, yeah. I think it's time we got on with the story, don't you.
"So what do you think?" Bat asked. Tiger glanced at him and sighed.
"I don't know. It's obvious he's been screwed over by a lot of people, there's not much we can do."
"That's not good enough." Leopard growled. Tiger appraised him.
"What happened to 'he's not our problem' and 'he's just a snot nosed kid'?" Tiger asked. Leopard looked away.
"You know. This…thing..changes it. He's gone through shit and he doesn't have any family. I've got three brothers and two sisters myself." Leopard said awkwardly. Bat whistled.
"And somehow, you're still an antisocial asshole." Leopard growled and tackled Bat to the floor. Tiger smiled at their antics.
"Come on guys, get up. Bat, did you get his medical?" Bat untangled himself from Leopard.
"Is the moon made of cheese?" Bat snorted.
"Have you looked through them yet?" Tiger asked. Bat shook his head.
"I was waiting for you guys. Thought you might want to see it too."
Leopard nodded in approval but Tiger frowned.
"I don't think that would be a very good idea." Tiger stated looking at them. Leopard glared back.
"Why not? We want more information, right?." Leopard asked, irritated at his team mates reluctance. Tiger shuffled, uncomfortable.
"Yeah but, like you said, the kid has obviously been screwed over by people, repeatedly. Do we really want to be added to that list?" Tiger asked trying to get his point across. Bat looked thoughtful and a bit guilty while Leopard just looked angry.
"How is knowing his medical history screwing him over?" Leopard demanded.
"Because maybe he doesn't want you to know." A new voice spoke.
"Cub! How long have you been there?" Bat asked startled and a bit sheepish.
"Long enough." Alex replied, eyes cold. He stared at Bat and Leopard until they each looked away. Slowly he turned his gaze to Tiger.
"Thanks." He said his gaze softening slightly. Tiger nodded before shuffling at the uncomfortable silence.
"We have martial arts in a few minutes. We should go." Tiger said breaking it. Bat shot him a thankful look, which Tiger promptly ignored. He turned to Alex.
"If Badger finds anything in your medical record that might be a problem, we will be informed."
Alex stared at him a moment before nodding. He could understand that. Tiger smiled slightly.
"Come on. I wasn't kidding about the few minutes thing."
"Damn it Cub!" Leopard shouted. Alex smirked.
"Do you yield?" He asked holding a pinned Leopard to the floor.
"Like hell!" Leopard yelled back, struggling vainly. Alex continued holding him down, a bored expression creeping onto his face.
"Isn't there a time limit or something?" He asked looking at Tiger.
"It's until the other person yields, so…no. Not really." Tiger said with a shrug. The first time Alex had beaten Leopard, he had been shocked. How could a kid, an injured kid, take someone like Leopard down? But after the third or so time the shock had given way to amusement.
"Look, just give in already. It's almost time for dinner and we already have kitchen duty." Alex said as patiently as he could. He honestly had no idea how much longer he could hold Leopard down. What with his injuries, even if they were partly healed.
"No way in hell!" Leopard shouted struggling harder. Alex sighed then paused for a moment. Yeah, that could work.
"If I knock him out will it be counted as an automatic yield?" He asked. Bat looked thoughtful.
"Yeah, I guess it would." He finally said with a shrug. Relieved, Alex reached to press a spot on Leopards neck.
"Last chance." Alex said, hand hovering. Deciding that the string of curses he was receiving were a negative, Alex quickly pressed the spot and released the now unconscious man.
"Whew, and this is how you are injured? Remind me not to be your sparring partner." Bat whistled under his breath.
"What can I say? When you're good, you're good." Alex said smirking. Tiger shook his head, before knocking Alex outside his.
"Cocky brat." Alex smiled. "So, can we go to lunch now or…?"
Tiger nodded before glancing at Leopard again.
"Cub, where did you learn to do that?" Tiger asked, curious. Alex froze.
"Just…something I picked up along the way. You know how it is." Alex said casually, moving to leave. Tiger narrowed his eyes.
"No actually I don't. Please, feel free to explain."
"Well then, thanks for the offer but I'm hungry so…." Alex replied smoothly, trying to get around Tiger.
"No. We're going to talk about this Cub. Now." Tiger said moving in front of Alex.
Alex sighed.
"It- I was trained." Alex said reluctantly with just a trace of bitterness. Bat watched him curiously, but just before he could ask Tiger cut in.
"Alright. That's all I wanted to know."
Alex relaxed, walking to the door he stopped.
"Thanks Tiger."
"Anytime."
"Well how do we wake him up then?"
"We could always throw something."
"Shut up Leopard."
"Ouch. Jeez, you didn't both have to hit me."
"Yes we did."
"Shut up Bat."
"Back on point, maybe we should just say his name. If he can feel someone approaching then I'm sure he will respond to his own name."
"Oh, that makes sense."
"God Bat, you're one stupid sh-"
"Knock it off you two. Alex, hey Alex. Wake up." Tiger said in the most unthreatening voice he could muster. Alex suddenly slumped.
"Umm, Bat, was that supposed to happen?" Leopard asked, curiously.
"I think…I think we just found his safe word, or phrase. Tiger, what exactly did you say?" Bat asked.
"I said, 'hey Alex. Wake up." Tiger replied, slightly apprehensive. Alex, having been tensing slightly, slumped again.
"Alex?" Bat ventured. No reaction.
"Maybe it was 'wake up'?" Leopard said before also receiving no reaction.
"You're both idiots." Tiger said before saying something the other two couldn't hear and then grabbing Alex's shoulder and shaking it. Both Bat and Leopard cringed slightly waiting for the reaction. Slightly disappointed when all they got was a groan.
"Jack? Mhhm, what time is it? Am I late for school?" Alex asked groggily, glancing around. Seeing Tiger, he tensed for a moment before recognizing him and relaxing slightly.
"So you figured it out." Alex stated not sounding surprised at all.
Tiger shrugged.
"It made sense."
"Wait, what did we miss?" Bat asked confused.
"Should we tell them?" Tiger inquired, a small smirk forming on his lips. Alex glanced between Bat and Leopard.
"Nah, let them figure it out themselves." He replied, a smirk of his own growing.
Bat groaned. He knew this was revenge for the medical file. Leopard just continued to look confused.
"When's breakfast?" Alex asked, breaking a slowly growing silence. Tiger glanced at the clock and blanched.
"About five minutes ago. Cub, I swear, if we miss one more meal because of you.."
Alex nodded quickly, an angry Tiger was not something he wanted.
"So…are we there yet?"
Bat started pretending to bang his head on the dash.
"No, Cub. We weren't there a minute ago, we aren't there now." Tiger said through clenched teeth.
"I'm a teenager stuck in a car with nothing to do for four hours. I'm bored." Alex whined. Tigers arm twitched.
Alex chuckled silently to himself. You know, when we were thinking about revenge, I wasn't expecting this. Maybe, but it's more fun this way, right? Point made.
To be fair, Alex ad every right to be an annoying little prick. Especially since Unit Assholes decided to abuse the ability to approach Alex in his sleep. If they were allowed to annoy him, he was allowed to do the same. And did he ever.
"I have to go to the bathroom." Alex called from the back seat.
"You just went five minutes ago!" Bat exclaimed, exhausted. He glared at a sleeping Leopard in jealously. He didn't have to deal with the brat.
"But now I have to go again." Alex whined in his most obnoxious voice.
"That's it!" Tiger yelled before slamming the breaks. Alex held onto his seat belt for dear life while trying to decide if he had gone too far. Tiger exited the vehicle.
"Ugh, what was that? Are we under attack?" A tired Leopard asked, glancing around lazily. Alex punched him.
"Ow, what was that for?"
"Being an idiot." Alex replied before also leaving the vehicle.
"Tiger, Tiger, wait."
"What."
"Wow, that wasn't even a question. Uhm, okay, yeah, sorry about that, I promise not to annoy you anymore." Alex pleaded (though he'd never admit it) while glancing around nervously.
"Just give me a little time."
"Are you alright? You're not usually so easy to rile." Alex stated, unable to help himself. Tiger sighed.
"I know Alex, it's just, some stuff has happened recently and I just- I need time to think. That's why I volunteered us for the survival course down in Miami."
"What happened Jake? You know we're a team now, you can tell me." Alex said softly. It had been obvious something had been bothering the tea leader for a while now. Despite his first impression, or maybe because of it, Alex had easily grown use to the weird group. It had taken some time, but now he honestly felt like he was part of them, and that he could rely on them, though he still kept things to himself.
"I don't know if I can tell you."
Alex stiffened.
"MI6?"
Apparently deciding this was going to be a long conversation, Tiger slumped down under the large oak they had reached.
"Something like that. It's my cousin. He used to be in the SAS but transferred to MI6…I think he's in trouble. He told me he was onto something big and that he might not be able to contact me as usual, but it's been months of radio silence now and I'm worried."
"Do you want me to check?" Alex asked. Tiger looked up.
"What?"
"Do. You. Want. Me. To. Check?"
"Damn it Cub, what the hell are you talking about?"
"I hacked into MI6 database a wile ago, if you want I can check on him right now." Alex explained pulling out a cell phone.
"Where did you get- nevermind. What do you need to know?"
"His agent I.D."
"That's all? 6792740128." Tiger listed, leaning forward slightly.
Quickly, Alex typed in the code. The results were almost instant. Alex blanched.
"Jake. What's your last name?" Alex asked tightly.
"Daniels. Jake Daniels. Why?"