Wolf had never been very patient. In fact, if anyone were to ask any of the men (and women) that had served under him about his leadership style, they would most probably wince and start talking about the weather. Not that he cared of course; in his opinion, his leadership style was effective and reliable. That all changed when his team of SAS soldiers had assaulted the academy on Point Blanc, and he had Cub under his command. Cub - not even old enough to get into an R-Rated movie - had proven himself to be an efficient operator at the very least.
After that night on the cold mountain, he had lost contact with his Breacon Beacons squad-mate, until he sent his post-assassination-attempt get-well card, and even that had been a one-way bit of socialization. To say that he was shocked to find that he was one of the agents they were working with was the understatement of the millennium.
He had been sitting on a couch in the embassy when K-Unit finally arrived, reading a book. Eagle, Snake, and Wolf were stopped short, unsure if the small teen on the couch was an exhaustion-induced hallucination or the real thing. Eagle snapped out of it first, surprisingly.
"Cub?" he asked, incredulity dripping from the single syllable like sap from a young tree.
"Hey, Eagle," the teen's voice was measured, almost cautious. Understandable of course, considering their history. "Snake, Wolf."
Wolf rocketed back to earth upon hearing his name, and he stepped further into the living room. His gaze wandered as he approached Alex, taking in the modern furnishings and noting that they contrasted well with the traditional Colombian-décor. As usual, he was noting different exit points and defendable choke-areas in his field of view as he seemed to meander towards the young teen.
Alex scrutinized the approaching man with unease, feeling twitchy and more than a little afraid. It had been months since the incident at Point Blanc, and he hadn't really interacted much with Wolf (besides the whole help-us-get-in/get shot at part) and he had only ever really talked to him during his time in Wales - therein the reason for his nervous energy. Alex took some deep breaths as he examined the cold, blue eyes of his former squad leader before moving on to studying the rest of the enigmatic Wolf. He was smaller and slimmer than Alex remembered, but he radiated a sense of power and control that he couldn't help but respect.
"Hello Cub," the man's words seemed to break through the tense air of the living room, and Alex realized that Wolf was now standing over him. Intimidating.
"Hullo Wolf," Alex tried to smile but he was sure it looked more like a grimace, so he gave up and simply stood up, trying to seem unfazed by Wolf's piercing glare. "Long time no see."
"Quite," Wolf's voice wasn't harsh, but the volume with which he spoke frightened Alex. There was something in the soft tones that screamed danger, and Alex immediately bristled. Wolf was trying to find weakness in the boy, and the latter knew that their relationship throughout this mission would be deeply affected for better or worse depending on his reaction.
"You're late to the party," Alex's voice was deadpan, and the atmosphere thickened.
Suddenly, Wolf cracked a half smile and everything changed.
"It's good to see you again Cub," he sounded sincere to Alex, and the teen could tell by the handshake they exchanged that Wolf had found no weakness in Alex, and he couldn't help but feel warm with pride. The rest of Wolf's squad-mates walked gingerly into the living room and nodded politely toward Alex, just as Ben made an appearance down the stairs.
"Ah, K-Unit -" he said with a voice filled with sarcasm. "Just how are my favorite reptile/canine/bird combination doing on this fine morning? It's very nice of you to join us."
"Oh shut it Foxy-Woxy," Wolf answered as he clapped the MI6 agent's shoulder perhaps harder than necessary. "It's been too long man..."
"Too right it has!" Snake and Eagle had also joined the welcoming committee and they immediately began pestering Ben about his dealings with MI6.
"You're all idiots," Ben laughed as he nonchalantly changed topics.
Three hours later found the entire team (save for the American CI officers)* sitting in the kitchen of the embassy, most of the men nursing steaming mugs of homemade hot chocolate, standing over different blueprints laid on the kitchen table. The table was segregated; nobody was sitting down, but the American SO men were on the opposite side from K-Unit and the tension was palpable.
"Our last recon flight of an unarmed Predator Drone cruising at 15,000 feet above X-ray's last known position-"
"X-Ray is the American's codename for the enemy on this particular mission," Ben whispered to Alex, who rolled his eyes and stomped discreetly on Ben's foot.
"-and all signs point to an imminent meeting. That means we have less than 48 hours to get to a position from which we can see what those little fuckers are up to," Alex couldn't help but smirk at the endearing term used by whom he thought was the American squad-leader, but he knew that rank meant nothing to them while on deployment. Unfortunately, the soldier saw his smile and immediately rounded on the startled teen.
"You think this is funny, don't you?" the man's gray eyes - glistening with venom - bore a hole into Alex's soul. "Let's get this straight. I don't know what the hell your *superiors* were thinking in getting a kid involved in this, but I do not approve. You're a liability."
"I can take care of myself," Alex rose to the challenge, ignoring the curious glances being sent his way.
"Alex-" Ben whispered in a warning tone as the American approached the boy.
"Of course you can take care of yourself, what was I thinking!" his voice was cool and lifeless, without a trace of humor."I forgot that we were all sent here to help you with your homework, or your girl problems. Oh - have you had the talk yet? Because that's something you need before your body gets riddled with bullets."
"I finished my homework, but I'll help you with yours if you want - I'm rather good at cursive. As for the talk, don't worry - your mum covered it just fine," Alex gave the taller man a humorless-smile and stalked away from the group to retreat into his room before he caused a bout of friendly fire.
The rest of the men had been watching with growing amusement but were brought up short by Alex's hasty retreat, and now they stared at each other in an awkward silence.
"Well..." snorted Eagle. "I'm sure there was a better way to handle that."
"He was asking for it," growled Captain Pierce, the man who had begun the confrontation with Alex. "Honestly, you Brits and your idiotic ideas."
"With all due respect captain," Wolf spat out the last word as if it were the ugliest thing to walk this earth. "Have you bothered to read his file? We all had copies of it in our mission brief, if you'll recall."
"As a matter of fact I did." Pierce stepped closer to Wolf, towering over the small, dark-skinned SAS operative. "But that changes nothing."
"How can you possibly say it changes nothing when - "
"- but I did read your file Wolf. How's your ass doing? Are you still too scared to jump out of a plane?" Pierce finished with a knowing grin, and Wolf's eyes became daggers.
"You best watch yourself, Captain," Wolf growled menacingly, and strode back to where his team was assembled. There was a pause, and then the meeting continued as if the whole confrontation hadn't occurred.
"Right, okay..." Snake stepped up to start from where Pierce left off. "Your birds have given us some very clear thermal images of weapons being smuggled inside coffee bags, mostly on mules and sometimes on troop transports that have been readapted for farm work..." As the briefing continued, the men were too engulfed to notice that Lieutenant Miters had disappeared from the kitchen.
Mike Miters was unsure of what he was doing - all he knew was that instinct was telling him to go talk to the boy that his squad-mate had probably just scarred for life. He had no idea why, and that was a very scary thought. As he stalked up the stairs with the practiced noiseless step of a man well-versed in stealth, he couldn't help but smile as he took in the decorations of the embassy.
the walls were lined with pictures of the US Ambassador to Colombia with President Alvaro Uribe Velez, alongside Bill Clinton after the fabled "Operacion Jaque," pictures of the ambassador's wife and kids back in the states, and different medals for diplomacy and peacekeeping. Finally, his International Affairs doctorate from Harvard had its very own mini-shrine.
He reached the landing and strode quickly and silently to Alex's room - or what he assumed to be his room from the closed door - and knocked gently on the door.
"What?" a muffled voice called from inside.
"Alex? It's Lieutenant Miters. Could I talk to you for a bit?" his voice was hesitant, and he still wasn't quite sure what he was doing at the door of a disgruntled teenager.
Alex was confused as well - the knock had interrupted his fuming, and now he was trying to get himself back under control. After a pause, he opened the door and invited the Lieutenant in. The man didn't hesitate to sit on his small bed across the room and Alex couldn't help the flabbergasted expression that took over his face.
"Um..." Alex cleared his throat. "Are you - do you need something?" The soldier laughed quietly and shook his head at Alex's timid question.
"Nah...I just wanted to make sure you were alright," he laughed, patting the side of the bed next to him. "Captain Pierce can be a crappy load of apples if you don't know how to handle him."
"It's alright," Alex sat down next to the man on his bed, keeping a safe distance. How odd. "I've met the sort." And destroyed them.
"Yeah, I can tell," Miters chuckled at the memory of Alex's confrontation, but when he spoke next his tone was darker and a lot more serious. "Alex - you don't mind if I call you that?"
Alex shook his head.
"Alright cool," Mike sighed. "You've had a rough time man, and I know how it feels. We just got back from a two-year stint in a tiny African village. We had to leave because the shit hit the fan - it sucked."
"What happened?" Alex asked, curious. He had never had another operative in his line of work talk to him as an equal - except perhaps for Ben - and he genuinely wanted to know the man's story.
"Well, the details are supposed to be confidential - blacklist stuff you know?" the lieutenant lowered his voice and continued. "But we were doing fine, getting some good recruits for the little guerrilla army we were training to overthrow the area's royalty - some drug kingpin who's name escapes me."
"Anyway, we were two years into our deployment and were just about ready for the operation to start when the bullets started flying. Turns out some asshole spook from MI6 had double-crossed us and told the stupid drug cartel for a million dollars and a new identity - you can see why Pierce doesn't like you - and we had to bug out fast."
"We were almost clear of the town when we were caught in a crossfire and lost most of our team, except for the ones you see here. We were a ten-man team...the youngest was a kid from the Bronx who was a genius medic - he died in my arms. It was rough Alex," Miters finished bitterly, demons alive in his eyes. Alex felt sick.
"I -" what could he say? "I'm sorry..."
"Don't be," Miters dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "It's the job. But that's why I'm telling you. You've seen shit that would make grown men piss their pants through their ears. I just wanted you to know that if it ever gets to be too much, you can talk to any of us. Even Pierce."
Alex swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded, unable to form words. Miters seems to have understood because he clapped him on the back and left.
"Don't forget man. We're in this together." Alex watched the door close, a long-dormant fire alive in his soul.
I'm back! For good this time.