The next couple of days consisted mainly of Alex being asleep. The knowledge that he had people watching over him that he knew and marginally trusted managed to curb some of the nightmares so his sleep was more peaceful than it had been in a while. The bad thing was that they had slowly started cutting off his morphine supply so the pain from his various injuries was slowly trickling back in.

Seeing as most of his time with K-Unit he was unconscious, Alex didn't really get much of a chance to know the people he would be living with for the foreseeable future. All he'd been able to gather about them whilst he was awake was that Fox had an unhealthy habit with crosswords, Snake liked medical journals, Wolf was content to brood and Eagle loved video games. So far, Alex's favourite person to wake up to was Eagle as the man would often let him have a go at playing.

However, just because the frequency of the nightmares may have lessened, that didn't stop them completely and they were no less terrifying. After the second night, his mind had decided it was done with playing nice and made up for lost time. This didn't go unnoticed by K-Unit. The first time it had happened was with Wolf. At first it had just been agitated movement, then Alex began groaning and not soon after he was thrashing, nearly removing his wires in the process. It was much more physical than any of his previous nightmares had ever caused him to be.

Wolf had initially considered waking Alex, but he stopped himself. Not only would it make Alex uncomfortable, having someone see him so vulnerable, but Wolf wouldn't know what to say when he woke. It was with this knowledge that Wolf offered comfort the only way he could think. Waiting until Alex was on his side, he placed a hand on the teens back and rubbed it gently whilst making soothing noises. Amazingly, in mere seconds, Alex's groans ceased and his body relaxed making Wolf grin. It was something his mother had done for him when he was a child and it was good to know it helped Alex too. Idly, Wolf wondered if someone had ever done this for Alex when he was younger. He made a mental note to tell the others of this method if Alex ever had a nightmare in their presence, even if Eagle was more likely to slap him and wake him up rather than sooth him.

A day after the back-rubbing discovery, which Fox had found useful to apply, Doctor Wells finally deemed Alex ready to leave that afternoon.

"There have been no complications and everything looks like it's on the road to recovery. All that's needed is the medication I've given you, time and relaxation. I mean it; I don't want you exerting yourself at all." Alex just gave a smile that didn't promise anything in response. Doctor Well's sighed and carried on, directing his speech to the adults. "I recommend changing the bandages every day for about four days and after that every two. I believe you know what to do?" He asked Snake who nodded.

"I'll make sure it happens."

"Good. Now, I think that's about it?"

"What about school?" Alex really didn't need to miss anymore school than he already had. At this point it would be a miracle if he didn't need to repeat the year. Then again, he wouldn't put it past MI6 to take him out of school permanently.

Doctor Wells thought about it and sighed. The boy really looked like he wanted to go back, unlike most of the other teenagers he treated. Usually he would suggest at least two weeks or so off, but Alex looked tough and he didn't think he'd accept two weeks as an answer.

"It's a Tuesday so I suggest taking the rest of the week off. Then you can go back and even then you are not to do P.E. We don't want you aggravating anything and slowing down your recovery. Also, should you feel at all ill I don't want you to suffer in silence, you ask your school nurse to leave. I want your body under no unnecessary strain at all. "

Alex mentally groaned. P.E was the only subject that he could actually excel in thanks to his…special training…

"Cub….Alex?"

Alex's jumped a little and looked at Wolf. "Doctor said we could go."

"Oh." Alex needed to work on his alertness, he was getting sloppy.

They walked outside the hospital entrance, Alex was grateful he wasn't forced into a wheelchair like Eagle wanted, and Alex was pleasantly surprised to see their form of transport was a silver Highlander. Wolf took the wheel with Fox next to him. That left Alex to be squashed between the burly Snake and Eagle. It had been a lot easier to fit them when Alex was lying across them, not that Alex knew that.

Alex hissed as he pulled the seatbelt over his chest, ignoring the concerned stare Snake gave him. He'd learnt to handle pain long ago, this wasn't nearly as bad as he has been and it wasn't worth the look Snake was giving him. It was already feeling better anyway, as long as the seatbelt stayed put and didn't move. Now he just had to look forward to the uncomfortably hot drive ahead of him.

The twelve minute drive to the flat was at the very least, extremely awkward. There wasn't anything to say really; except that Alex was seriously glad the car had air conditioning. It was only nearing the end of spring but two guys and a teenager squished side by side in a car made for way too much body heat than desired.

Thankfully the car slowed down and turned into a car park. Not soon after Alex was able to feel the nice cool breeze against his heated skin. The burns in particular had become unpleasantly warm.

Wolf locked the car and led them up to the front door that had access to many different flats on different levels. It looked to be a fairly modern building with not a lot of wear and a couple of the flats even had balconies. He wondered if the flat he would be staying in had a balcony.

They all crammed into the elevator, Alex once again squished and suddenly hating the rule that all men in the army were required to have muscles, and they stopped at level 4. Alex memorised this for this was his new accommodation and it wouldn't do to get lost. He also memorised the number 65 and it was then he got his first look at his new home.

It was fairly big flat, with the kitchen and lounge being mixed together and two corridors on either side. The living area had a cream theme and the wood was all a light shade of brown. Near the entrance Alex spied a toilet and he assumed there were more in each corridor. At least, he hoped there were and that his room was near one. He didn't fancy any of them seeing him in his towel and especially not seeing his bullet wound.

"Your room is in that corridor there and it's the last one on the right, opposite the bathroom." Fox said, pointing to the corridor on the right.

Alex nodded and took a step forward when he noticed he was being watched. He'd always known when it was happening and he hated it. When he looked back, he noticed with some amusement, that they all quickly looked away and pretended to be settling in. Eagle even started whistling an awful tune.

Pleased to see that at they weren't watching him anymore, Alex found the door to his room and opened it. His first impression was that it was nice, only a big smaller than his previous room, but then he noticed that all of his stuff was in it. That meant that someone had been into his house and he bet it was K-Unit. MI6 wouldn't bother. Anger flared at the thought they had been snooping in his house, his home. What if they'd been in Jack's room?

Jack. Ever since she'd died Alex had tried to keep his thoughts away from his dead guardian but now he found he couldn't. Finally in a safe environment, all the grief he felt at her death welled up and consumed him. He practically fell onto his bed as a flash back of that day invaded his mind.

Over-all, it had been a pretty good day for Alex. He'd managed to pass his maths test despite not having a lot of the material and his coach had given him one last chance and allowed him back onto the football team. Even the rumours had begun to die down, with the exception of the idiots who would never let go of it in a million years. This was why he was even more surprised when it all went to shit.

Firstly, his shout of "Jack, I'm home" never got an answer. Jack never failed to respond. Secondly, there were drips of blood splattered on the floor and leading into the kitchen. Someone had hurt Jack. Of course, she may have hurt them, she was vicious with a frying pan, but why wasn't she replying if she had?

Bracing himself, Alex made his way to the kitchen. He opened the door and…

No! He couldn't think of that. What's done is done and nothing can change it. Jack was dead and that was it. She was never coming back. She'd left him just like everyone else in his life did…

Tears threatened to fall but Alex rubbed them away before they could properly form. He couldn't cry. He wouldn't. He would be strong for Jack, not weak. With a small sniff betraying him, Alex looked up to see Wolf and Snake at the doorway looking a bit uncomfortable. It was a testament to how distracted he was that he didn't even hear them come.

"We were just wondering what you wanted for dinner. We'll be eating around six," Wolf said, looking like he was thinking about asking what was wrong. He didn't though, and in that moment he became Alex's favourite person. "We were thinking about Indian as a sort of welcome celebration."

Alex closed his eyes, removing any water that was left behind, and shrugged.

"Indian's fine."

"Ok, uh, good. Any preference?" Alex had to give Wolf credit for attempting to pretend nothing was wrong, but he was not great at it.

"I'm good with anything. I'm fine with spice." Alex was deliberately keeping his answers short and to the point in the hope they'd go away. He just wanted some time alone.

"Alright then," Snake started to leave but Wolf lingered. "You know that you can talk to us about anything right? It's no problem."

There went pretending he hadn't seen a thing. Alex appreciated the sentiment, honestly, but the moment he starts confiding in these people is the day pigs fly.

"Ok. I think I'm going to take a nap now. Journey kind of wore me out."

Wolf looked like he wanted to press the issue a bit more but the bags under Alex's eyes stopped him.

"Right, we'll wake you when dinner gets here. If you need anything…well, this is your home too." Wolf left and Alex slumped backwards on his bed in relief. It was all nice and good to say this was his home but for how long would that be? And anyway, it wasn't a home if Jack wasn't there.

"…then he said he was just going to take a nap," Wolf finished after explaining what he and Snake had seen. They had initially gone to see Alex's reaction about his new room and then ask him about dinner until it became obvious something was wrong which was unsurprising, really.

"It'll probably take him some time to get used to living here, we are practically strangers to him after all and we don't exactly know his life story. He's bound to have some issues. Everyone does in this business," Fox said with a resigned smile.

"I wish he would just talk to us about it. He'd probably feel better once he had," Eagle sighed. Talking was the way he was able to deal with everything he did in his line of work. He was one of the few people who actually didn't mind going to his therapist when it became necessary.

Wolf raised an eyebrow. "You would be the last person I chose to be my therapist," he said and Eagle stuck his tongue out.

"Well, maybe there is a way we can make him feel more comfortable," Eagle said, trailing off as he became lost in thought.

They woke Alex an hour and a half later and it was safe to say they would never wake Alex up in the same way again. He was still asleep when Snake knocked and entered and the man frowned at the state of the bed sheets. They were twisted around Alex as if he had been thrashing from his dreams, which he probably had been. Snake resolved to himself that he would try and find a way to stop this soon. First, he had to wake the teenager.

Snake brought a hand to Alex's hand to wake him but just as he'd made contact a hand grasped his wrist and twisted it, causing him to gasp. For such an unassuming teenager, he had a very strong grip. Fortunately, his own bulk and Alex's weakness from his injuries meant it wasn't twisted but damn it hurt like hell.

It didn't take long for Alex to come to awareness and when he realised what he'd done, he released Snake's wrist and flinched away.

"Uh, sorry." He muttered, trying to hide the shame on his face.

Snake refrained from rubbing his wrist, knowing it would only make Alex feel worse. He gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it. I'll just be more careful the next time." He was confused at this sudden behaviour since they'd been able to calm him down with touch in the hospital however he reasoned that may have possibly been due to the medication. Now out of the hospital, Alex would probably be more on guard, even in his sleep.

That didn't make Alex feel any better and so Snake changed topics. "Dinner's here, so come in when you're ready."

Alex just nodded and Snake left him to get ready. Alex couldn't believe what he'd done. He knew he had issues but he didn't need to display them like that! Snake was probably going to tell them all and they'd probably look at him all with pity. Oh, look at the poor kid, can't deal with his nightmares. Either that or they'd think he was mental. Which was possibly true.

Knowing that every moment he spent in his room gave them more chance to discuss him, Alex left to get his dinner. He was pretty hungry after all; hospital food wasn't anything to rave about.

He entered the living area and was greeted with the delicious aroma of curry. He wouldn't tell them, but Jack always treated him with a take-away after he'd landed in hospital from one of his missions and one of his favourites was when they had Indian. This time the memories of Jack made him smile.

"Hey Cub…Alex," Wolf greeted as he set out the food on the table.

"Why do you do that?" Alex asked as he sat down.

"Do what?"

"Call me Cub but then also say Alex." It was something he'd wanted to bring up since he'd noticed it in hospital but he kept forgetting.

"Force of habit I guess. It's why we still call each other our code-names even when off duty. Even Fox who technically isn't even Fox anymore. Which do you prefer?"

Alex shrugged. "Well, Alex is my name but I don't really mind being called Cub. I mean, I call you all by your codenames, I don't know your actual names."

"He has a point" Fox said as they all sat down to grab their food.

"I suppose it would be fine to tell you them," Snake considered. "I'm John Gray."

"Ben Daniels," Fox said, raising a hand.

"I'm Derek Young!" Eagle offered. Alex thought that was very fitting, not that he said it out loud.

"And I'm James Lobezno," Wolf finished.

"Young Wolf?" Alex said, faintly surprised.

"You speak Spanish?" Wolf asked, also in mild shock.

"Since I was small. Mi tío me hizo aprender un par de idiomas. ¿Qué hay de ti," Alex ended off in Spanish, enjoying the baffled looks on the others faces.

"Tengo sangre española del lado de mi padre" Wolf responded, also enjoying their expressions. It was rare he got to converse in this language and he always enjoyed doing it.

"Mind repeating that in English?" Eagle asked, staring between them, wondering if he'd somehow been insulted.

"Not really," Wolf answered casually, and Alex smirked when Eagle huffed in irritation.

They began eating after that and Alex had to give something to his new living situation, the Indian they used was amazing. He ate all of his first plate and had second helpings. The appetite of a teenage boy, especially one who had been denied good food for so long, was not to be reckoned with.

Annoyingly, he had to stop eating after every few bites to answer Eagle's questions who'd decided it was a great time to ask Alex every stupid meaningless question he could.

"So Cub, what's your favourite colour?"

"Don't have one," Alex asked, hoping short, disinterested answers would cause Eagle to give up. He had a feeling he knew where this was going, and it was best if Eagle got disinterested sooner.

"Oh come on, everyone has one! Mine's orange, Fox's is green and Wolf's is red. You have to have one!" He looked at Alex earnestly and the teen sighed.

"Fine. Blue."

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Eagle asked smugly.

Alex rolled his eyes but otherwise didn't respond. The rest of the questions after that followed the same pattern. Alex would try to get out of answering it, Eagle would force him to and then act very pleased with himself after, as if he'd won a great battle. The questions ranged from 'favourite animal' to 'favourite meal' but they suddenly changed without warning.

"How many missions have you been on?"

Wolf barely stopped himself from kicking Eagle in the shin. Up and till then he'd been content letting Eagle have his fun as Alex didn't look too annoyed but the man really had no tact whatsoever.

Alex was about to answer 'I don't know', as he'd answered every question with first until the question properly registered in his brain and he gave a sweet smile. This was what he'd been expecting.

"Classified."

"I'm sure you can tell us, we are your guardians after all," Eagle hedged and this time Wolf really did kick him.

"Well I could," Alex conceded and Eagle's face lit up. "But then I might have to kill you."
Eagles face dropped and Alex gave a small dangerous smirk.

Fox smothered a laugh. In all honesty, Alex could probably tell them without any problems whatsoever but he wasn't going to bring that up now. It was up to Alex when he wanted to talk about his spy life. They shouldn't force him.

Eagle looked like he wanted to try ask another question but the other adults shut him up with glares. Looking put out, he resorted himself to asking more meaningless questions that Alex answered more happily since he knew Eagle wouldn't try asking about him being a spy again.

Afterwards they all sat on the sofa stuffed, even Alex had decided to stay which pleased them. They hoped it was a sign he was beginning to feel more comfortable with them. Alex would let them think what they will; he was just too full to move.

He wouldn't admit that this was one of the more enjoyable evenings he'd had in a long while.

Translations (thanks to google translate)

Alex: My Uncle made me learn a couple of languages. What about you?

Wolf: I have Spanish blood from my father's side.

Once again, thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows! I love checking my emails and seeing them. Fun fact, this chapter ended up being nearly a 1000 words longer than the original!