Here's where things start to become a bit more different to the original.

"We'd like to visit Alex Rider please."

It was the next morning and they had been called informing them that Alex woke for the first time that night. He was now waking up every few hours or so as they slowly weaned him of the strong medication. They'd left as soon as they'd got the call and now found themselves in front of one of the sternest receptionists they'd ever met and that included those working in MI6.

"I'm afraid I can only allow family to visit," She told them briskly, waiting for them to leave her in peace.

"We're his uncles!" Eagle said cheerfully. "I'm his favourite Uncle Derek!" He gave her a conspiratorial wink.

Wolf rubbed the bridge of his nose and the receptionist looked unimpressed and sceptical.

"I can hardly see how you can all be his Uncle's seeing as you all appear to be of different nationalities."

"Our family is very large and fond of travelling. I am adopted, as is he," Wolf replied, gesturing to Snake.

Fox nodded. "Please, we're all just very worried about our nephew. We heard he was in an accident but we don't know all of the details." He gazed at her sincerely and made his tone very earnest, hoping to gain some sympathy from her.

The receptionist eyed them critically before relenting and accepting the answer. It was too much of a bother to fight them over it, especially as they did look genuinely concerned. Her pay wasn't good enough to make an issue out of it.

"Alright, you may go through but you will have to wait until his other visitor has come out before you go inside and even then, only two of you at a time. I'm surprised it's taken you so long to visit the number of times I've seen that boy in this hospital. Usually it's just that red headed woman." She gave them another suspicious look, but made no other comment to which they were grateful.

Concerned to hear that it appeared Cub was a regular at the hospital but willing to think about it later, Fox said; "The travelling bug was passed onto us so it's rare that we're ever in the country." He was also a bit curious as to whom this other visitor was. He supposed it could have been one of his friends but it was a school day and he doubted they would have known he was there.

The receptionist made a non-committal noise, signalling she would really like to get back to work and Fox let her be. They all looked interested at mention of another visitor. Just about to head over to Cub's room they suddenly heard a piercing shriek. The receptionist startled and frowned in the direction of the noise.

"It's coming from the intensive care unit; where Mister Rider is."

That was all they needed to hear before they took off running towards the sound of the shout. Around them people were getting out to see what was going on and they pushed past them.

'This kid really can't catch a break can he?" Wolf thought grimly, 99.9% sure this was something to do with Cub.

They reached the ICU and lying on the floor was an unconscious woman. She looked unharmed though so Wolf assumed she had fainted. It was obviously her who'd shrieked and Wolf saw why. Outside of Cub's room were two guards, very dead with a bullet wound in their heads. 'Must have been done with a silencer'

Ignoring the two bodies blocking the door, they opened it and stepped inside. They were not met with a good sight. A man was standing by the window, about to jump, with Cub thrown over his shoulder. Wolf supposed he should be grateful Cub was unconscious otherwise he would be in a large amount of pain. Small mercies and all that.

At the noise of the men charging in, the stranger turned his head which gave Wolf all the time he needed to leap forward and punch the kidnapper in the face. He right hooked him again when he failed to loosen his grip and then grabbed Cub before the man could fall and hurt him. Snake then came up from behind and grabbed the kidnapper by the shirt and crushed him against the wall, allowing Wolf the chance to place Cub back in his bed. The kidnapper fought back, trying to smash his head back into Snake's but Eagle stopped that by tightly grabbing his hair. Fox came up last and pressed his face close to the man's, glaring at him. The kidnapper glared back but he didn't look worried in the slightest.

"Who are you and who do you work for?" Fox demanded.

Instead of giving an answer, the kidnapper just smirked. Fox was about to ask again when the man's eyes suddenly rolled back into his head and he went limp. Fox quickly checked his pulse and moved back in shock.

"Shit!" The sudden increase of weight made Snake drop the man on the floor.

"Did he just die?" Eagle asked, mouth open.

Snake nodded, equally stunned.

"How…?"

Fox grimaced. "My guess would be cyanide pill in the tooth. It must have been there so that there was no chance for capture and interrogation which makes me think that whoever he works for has some pretty big secrets. Though, if this is the best they've got then hopefully they won't be too much trouble if they try again."

"We should be glad they didn't send any better," Wolf spoke from beside Cub. "Otherwise, we may not have been here in time." And they would have failed their job without even properly starting it.

Now that they were no longer in immediate danger, they were able to get a good look at the man. He was wearing fairly average clothes and looked like nothing ordinary. He was the perfect person to sneak in. Eagle checked his jacket and found a holster inside that held the gun he'd used to kill the guards stationed outside. They were lucky that none of them had been shot with it.

"We need to tell you know who about this, maybe they will be able to identify the body" Fox said, making sure not to name MI6 in case anyone was listening. "We need to get this body out of here though, I don't think it'll do any good for Cub to wake up and see it."

"You…you can put it in a spare room. There's one nearby," The previously unconscious nurse peered around the edge of the door. Her face was ashen but she looked relieved and just a little bit awestruck. Never before had something like this happened and she was slightly amazed at the situation.

Fox smiled at her gratefully. "That would be great, thank you."

Snake lifted the body. "You go call you know who; I'll get this guy moved. You should also get a Doctor to check Cub over. We don't know if he did anything to him and he needs his tubes put back in unless we want him to wake up in pain."

The nurse went to get a Doctor and when people tried to pester her for answers, she answered 'Classified' just as Fox told her to. It made her feel quite like a spy and she couldn't help the slight smile as she did it, even if the circumstances weren't the best and she may need some therapy.

Back in the ICU room, Wolf checked over Cub, doing what he could until a Doctor arrived, which really wasn't much. He looked better than he did when they'd rescued him, though by not much. His face had a bit more colour in it but there were now little drops of blood on his arms where the wires had been pulled out. The colour was also fading as the supply of whatever had been easing his pain hadn't been doing so for too long and Wolf didn't trust himself to try and put them in on his own.

The doctor barged in moments later, a face like thunder and they all stepped back to let him look at Cub. They were a bit scared of what he would do if they didn't since the man looked close to exploding. The doctor took one glance at Cub and immediately ordered K-Unit out. No one even uttered the word 'but'.

Ten minutes later the doctor came out, looking weary but pleased.

"Is he alright?" Wolf asked. The three men had stayed outside the room on the spare chairs, ignoring the inquisitive looks they were getting. The whole fight had not gone unnoticed by anyone. One foolishly brave nurse had tried to ask what had happened and Wolf had dismissed her bluntly with a growled 'classified'. No one had dared ask again. Snake, who had come back five minutes after they'd been sent out, was standing and had watched the Doctor carry out his work.

"Thankfully he's no worse. We managed to reattach the tubes in good time and they're already working."

A mass sigh of relief was exhaled.

"So what is wrong with him?" Snake asked.

"May I ask who you are first?"

"His uncles"

The doctor gave a brief unconvinced frown but didn't question them like the nurse had. He felt their actions for the boy justified an answer. "Ok, first, I'm Doctor Wells. I'm Alex's full time doctor. I must say, when he was first brought in here I thought he would need surgery but fortunately that wasn't the case. His pulse was dangerously slow due to malnourishment but that was sorted out quickly with a drip and he has had a blood transfusion to counter the blood loss he's suffered. We had to stitch a large laceration in his stomach and that was most likely the major cause of the blood loss."

"He has some second degree burns on his shoulder and chest but we're hopeful that they won't scar, however that's not a guarantee. Three of his ribs are broken and they have been bandaged and should heal in a few weeks. The most concerning thing was an injury to the back of his head, blunt head trauma, and it is why he is currently unable stay conscious for long amounts of time. Initially I was worried about a brain haemorrhage, blood leaking into the brain, but luckily that isn't a problem. He'll be in quite a bit of pain for a while but he should make a full recovery. Now, I don't want to know why he was like this as I don't think I'll like the answer but that boy has had a very rough time and I will make sure he recovers as quickly as possible. From now on no visitors will be allowed in the room. Except you four seeing as you're like that boy's guardian angels."

Wolf agreed and added. "We'll make sure one of us is always on watch at all times."

The doctor nodded and said "Alright then. I'll make sure the staff knows not to bother you. I'll leave you for now and be back to check on Alex later. If he happens to wake up before then let me know. The button to call me is right next to him."

Satisfied that his patient was fine and well looked after, Doctor Wells left and Wolf turned to his team.

"We'll have a rotor with four hour shifts. We can't let anyone get to Cub like that again. Who wants to go first?"

Fox put up a hand. "I will. Are you guys going to leave now or will you stay for a bit?"

The others ended up staying for about an hour due to an expected increase in protectiveness but the novelty of being in a hospital with an unconscious teenager soon wore off. They discussed the kidnapper and decided that perhaps he was a warning, a warning that the people who took Alex weren't done with him yet. Why they would do that, they had no idea, but they doubted they would send someone incompetent if they really wanted him back. There was the chance that the people in general weren't that dangerous, but Fox had a feeling Cub had probably made some very dangerous enemies if his capture were any example.

Eventually, Fox was left alone with Cub and he drew up a chair so he sat beside him. He stared at the bruised and battered boy beside him and placed a hand over his lifeless one, offering comfort the only way he knew how.

Alex was getting used to the dark now, having been in it for so long. It seemed every time he became conscious, he was thrust back into the darkness seconds later. Sometimes he would be in the in-between stage where his body wanted to wake but the drugs were making it impossible. It was times like those that he would hear people talking. Most of the time it was a doctor who liked to speak out loud; or a nurse who hummed whilst she worked. At one point he swore he could have heard others, familiar in a way he just couldn't place. He liked these times because it meant he wasn't having nightmares. It was just a shame it couldn't last.

"Alex, do you know who this is?"

Alex tiredly lifted his head towards the picture his captor was holding. He wished he knew his name as calling him 'his captor' was becoming very tedious. He had just recently come from playing punch bag to one of the largest men he'd ever had the displeasure of seeing. Perfect for giving the largest bruises.

Alex recognised the person in the picture immediately.

Sabina.

"Ah, I see we do. Pretty little thing isn't she? Oh how I would love to see if she stays that pretty after the things we could do."

Frustration flared inside him at what he was suggesting. He couldn't let them hurt Sabina but what could he do? Once again he was bound to a chair at their mercy, unable to do a single thing to help as usual…

"She hasn't done anything wrong! Leave her alone."

"Oh, but isn't that how it always is? How many people have got hurt from knowing you?"

Alex gulped, Jack. Oh god… no, he couldn't think about that now, he couldn't show any weakness. He ignored the fact he was already showing vulnerability over Sabina.

"If you just tell us some little things we may be gracious enough to leave her alone. Do you think you can do that?" His voice was patronising and made Alex want to scream.

Still they were on about the information he didn't have, just to make his last moments as long and hellish as possible.

"How many times do I have to tell you before it gets into your thick skull? I. Don't. Know. Anything," Alex spat out.

This time it wasn't a scalpel, but a knife.

"Oh well, maybe next time."

The knife touched his skin, getting deeper and deeper on his stomach as it moved. He cried out but it carried on its journey, a never-ending one that caused so much pain…

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