8
After cub was stabilised, k-unit left.
They went for a jog to loosen up their tense muscles and then they went to the mess hall to see all the other units and were surprised to see a lot of commotion.
That's when they realised one of the units have come back from leave after one of their missions, so of course everyone wants to find out the details and what better day that on their free day.
It seemed like yesturdays events were forgotten.
"Calm down everyone" shouted wasp, leader of x-unit. "We can't tell you everything, of course but what we can tell you won't be heard over all this noise"
That effectively shut the soldiers up.
The soldiers settled down to listen to the mission
"We were stationed in Australia this time round" wasp began " and I am telling you that it was the weirdest mission yet."

"Yeah right" interrupted bear "weirder than k-unit when they saw a person snowboarding down a mountain on an ironing board"
A couple of laughs and "oh yeahs" went round but k-unit shifted uncomfortably.

"Yes definitely weirder" replied tiger, the medic of x-unit " because the first thing we did was pull in a module from a space rocket from the ocean. I know that's weird because what was it doing in the middle of the ocean and how the hell is it even
possible for a module to get there. There were no space take offs any where near there but that wasn't the weirdest thing.
The weirdest thing was that inside the module was a teenager."
The silence came and then the storm as the soldiers began to voice how stupid it was and the impossibility.
"Don't you think we already know how impossible it was? And if we hadn't seen it for ourselves then we wouldn't have believed it but there he was a teenager no older than 17 inside a space rocket in the middle of the Pacific Ocean."
There was shocked silence which was broken by the opening of the door and a nurse rushed in.
"K-unit. Cub has woken"
Snake eagle and wolf stood up so fast and walked out leaving one confused unit and many others to explain.

Wolf eagle and snake ran to the infirmary and were met inside Cubs room by the doctor.
"How is he doc?" Eagle asked
The doctor glared at Eagle for the nickname "he has woke up and can officially be declared alive but he was awake for merely seconds before he fell asleep. He should be waking up any minute now and as his unit, you have the right to be with him but I
warn you that he might be a bit confused after his psychological battle so don't make him talk too much.
He is not on any medication at the moment since we saw no need but he is still strapped to the heart monitor just incase, he should be in the infirmary for about 3 days and then he is free to leave.
However it has not escaped my attention that he has many scars and a bullet wound. He doesn't seem to be taking any medication for it even though it seems recent so I have prescribed him some painkillers for it. Snake make sure he takes them.
You may see him now."

When k-unit entered the room, cub was awake.
"Hey cub" eagle practically bounced over to him sitting on the nearby chair " you gave us quite a scare you know"
Cub looked at eagle with a raised eyebrow but said nothing.
"Have you lost your voice or something cub? No hi, or hello or sorry for giving the doctors a heart attack earlier today?"
"Hi" cub said
The grin on Eagles face stretched so wide, it almost fell of his face.
"He speaks!" Eagle declared but was cut off by a hit from wolf over the head.
"The kid just woke up, cut him some slack"
Cub glared at wolf "I'm not a kid"
"Sure you are" eagle said with amusement.
Alex decided to ignore this and focus on some more important matters
"How long was I out for?"
Snake counted then answered "about 15 hours"
Alex was shocked "that long?" He had never been out for more than a Couple of hours. He prided himself on his stubbornness to resist unconsciousness.
"What do you mean "that long"? We were expecting you to be out for a couple of days." Snake frustratedly answered.
Alex huffed like a teenager his age "why?"
Wolf looked at cub confused before it dawned on him "you don't know what happened do you?
This time Alex looked confused " I thought I was knocked unconscious in combat training"
This time the whole of k unit looked confused.
"Don't you remember what happened yesterday?"
The truth was, Alex didn't. Whatever happened before he was knocked unconscious Was a blur.
"No." He admitted "I just assumed we were in combat training and one of you knocked me out. Though now you mention it I don't feel any bruises. So what happened yesterday?"
"You honestly don't remember?"
Alex was about to reply when everything came back to him.
"Oh no. No no no no no" he repeated. It couldn't have happened. Scorpia couldn't have come. The soldiers couldn't have seen them. The soldiers couldn't have seen yassen. The soldiers couldn't have heard what he said. The soldiers shouldn't have seen him
when he fought. They shouldn't have seen when he was weak. They couldn't have heard what he was forced to say.
Alex looked at k-unit not knowing what to expect. They knew he worked for mi6. They knew he trained with scorpia. He was thankful they didn't know anything else but they shouldn't have known anything. Things were supposed to stay hidden.
"Cub" snake said seeing the way realisation hit cub. The transformation was something honestly spectacular. From confusion to realisation to horror.
"We wanted to ask you about what happened yesterday."
Alex was shocked. He expected anger from k-unit. Not... This.
"What's there to ask about?"
Eagle punched Alex in the shoulder in a teasing way.
"What's there to ask about?! Are you serious. Scorpia come for revenge on you, they bring the worlds best assassin gregorovich to blackmail you, you say your an mi6 agent you has trained with scorpia. You then knock 20 assassins unconscious without
even thinking and then you fall unconscious. And you say "what's there to ask about?! "
Alex rubbed his neck sheepishly "well..."
Wolf decided to jump in "since it is our right as your unit to get answers, we will ask questions and you will answer. And none of this classified nonsense. We want answers"
Alex knew that wolf was right and the thing was after his "enlightenment" during sleep, he didn't want to lie to his teammates anymore. Of course he wasn't going to give away any unnecessary information. He will just try to answer what they ask. Nothing
more. Nothing less.
Alex nodded his head.
Wolf was shocked that cub agreed so easily but knew an opportunity when he saw one.
"Ok first question. Do you actually work for mi6"
Cub thought for a second before answering. "I used to work for mi6" he emphasised on he word used and the others picked up on it.
"Used?" Eagle asked "like not anymore?"
Alex nodded.
"Why not?"
Alex grinned.
"I quit"
"Okayyy. " snake decided it was enough of that "next question. Is it true that you trained with scorpia?"
Cubs face closed off completely but he still nodded. The action was done with such reluctance but it was done nonetheless.
"Can you please explain how you managed that?"
Alex really didn't want to lie to them but he could hardly say that the worlds best assassins' dying wish was for him to go to scorpia but then that same assassin was discovered alive. That will make more questions than answered.
"I didn't know who they were. I stumbled upon them and they managed to manipulate me into joining them. They trained me but when I realised that they were not who I thought they was, I left"
He wasn't lying, he was just twisting the truth slightly.
"You left?" Wolf was unconvinced. You don't just leave scorpia.
Alex nodded.
"You just stumbled upon them" eagle was even less convinced
Alex nodded again.
"Okay. Next question. How do you know gregorovich?"
At this Alex started chuckling, the story was hilarious.
"He saved my like a couple of times" he managed before laughing again.
"He saved your life?" Snake questioned.
"A couple of time?" Eagle carried on.
Alex nodded. His neck was going to break if he carried on nodding so much.
"Explain" wolf demanded.
"I was going to die a couple of times and yassen saved me" the vagueness of the answers were really getting on k-units nerves.
"If you wanted better answers you have to ask better questions" Alex pointed out.
There was silence for a couple of seconds before snake snapped his fingers.
"I remembered something. That guy-what's his name- walker. He said that gregorovich killed you uncle. Is that true?"
"Um yes" Alex answered rubbing his neck. He knew his relationship with yassen was complicated but explaining it complicated it even more.
"So he killed your uncle and saved your life a couple of times" eagle summed up.
"Yeah basically"
"Why'd he kill your uncle?" Wolf asked
"He was payed too"
Eagle face palmed himself
"Why your uncle?" Wolf asked stressing the your.
"My uncle was a spy"
Silence
"Wow cub, this spying business runs in the family" eagle joked
"Don't I know it" muttered Alex.
The next question was by snake "why does scorpia want revenge on you cub?"
Alex took a moment to contemplate his answer. He could hardly tell them that he took down three of their operations and killed most of their heads. He settled for the relatively normal answer.
"They didn't like it when I left"
"Was this the first time they tried to kill you?"
"No"
"Did they give you the bullet wound?"
"Yes"
"Damn cub, you were assassinated, how are you still alive?"
"I'm lucky"
"I hardly call it lucky that you were assassinated"
Alex's grin stretched across the whole width of his face. "luck of the devil. Runs in the family" the way cub said it made it seem like he was proud of it.
"That's some serious luck to keep you alive with scorpia after you."
"I know it is" the grin grew wider.
"But isn't it weird that they would go to such extent just to kill you. It is worth it"
"Well luck of the devil comes in two ways. For it to work you have to first be in an unlucky situation." Alex chucked and eagle couldn't hold back his own. Laughter was infectious.
"You can't get any unluckiest than having scorpia on your tail" snake pointed out smiling slightly
Suddenly cub stopped laughing as a he remembered something.
"What happened to the assassins?"
Wolf answered "mi6 took them for interrogation."
"And yassen?"
"He ?"
Alex took a deep breath. He knew he was going to regret asking, but he just had to "Did he... Did he say anything before he left?"
The way cub said it, so hopeful, so innocent, like he was asking if he could have an ice cream not about a world class assassin.
"Umm yeah" snake said after moments of silence.
Cub perked up "what?"
"He said he was sorry that he couldn't take care of you and that he had to leave. He told us to take care of you, said you needed a family. He also said he will miss you. Would you mind explaining what that meant?"
Snakes words hung in the air and Cubs shoulders slumped. One the one side, he felt a strange feeling of happiness that he still had one person left in the world who looked out for him but on the other side that person had left him. He knew that yassen
would have left but it hurt to have his thoughts spoken aloud. He didn't want to face another neglect but he knew he had to.
"Cub, is gregorovich related to you?" Wolf asked. He didn't understand this relationship and it was frustrating.
"No" the answer was short and clipped. They were back to the beginning.
"Then how do you know him?" Eagle asked. They had come so far they weren't going to stop.
Alex didn't have it in him to think of half truths and twisted lies.
"He knew my father"
Eagle had only one thought. This kids family was seriously messed up.
"Your father?"
Alex nodded
"But your father is dead"
Alex nodded, though he didn't seem to be upset. It seemed as if he was going into his own world.
" and how does your father know gregorovich?"
"I can't answer that"
"Why not?"
"I agreed to answer questions about yesterday. My father had nothing to do with yesterday." The winced inwardly at the lie. His father had everything to do with yesterday.

They stayed in silence for a few minutes before the doctor walked in.
"Ah cub, your awake I see. Good good. You gave us quiet a scare though it is quite surprising you woke up so early. Your quite stubborn I see. Do you have any questions?" The doctor asked
"Only one"
"Shoot"
"When can I leave?"
If the doctor was as surprised by the question as k-unit he didn't show it.
"Well 3 days should be enough-"
"Can I leave now?"
"Certainly not"
"Why not?"
"Because I said so"
"Can I leave this afternoon?"
"3days"
"Tonight"
"Two days"
"1 day"
"1 and a half"
Alex thought about it before nodding.
"Deal"
The doctor walked out muttering to himself "did I seriously just debate over a patients stay? I must be getting old"

After the doctor left, k-unit turned to cub
"How the hell did you-"
"I can't believe you just-"
"That was impossible-"
"Stop this" wolf ordered.
Eagle spoke. "Cub how the hell did you manage to convince doc to let you leave early"
"I used my amazing people skills" Alex said with a wining smile.
Snake chocked on his own saliva.
"Nobody, and I mean nobody has ever managed to leave early and believe me many have tried. How did you manage it?"
"I was lucky" Alex said and eagle couldn't help it. He burst out laughing.
8