Alex glanced up, his eyes bristling cold. The cracked piece laid in front of Parrot. That was the first sign of danger that Parrot recognized. Parrot backed up a little, knowing that he was treading on a soft ground there.

A.N.: Hey~ I am back ^ ^ (Well, Parrot is not dead, sorry. He is necessary for the plot)

Parrot held up his hands almost apologetically, "Wow there! Calm down! I meant no offense. But I mean, you do have a rich family, to be able to get in here at such a young age."

Alex stayed silent. His face was blank but if you observed him closer, you could see the coldness seething out of his eyes. The slight narrowing of his eyes showed his displeasure. Displeasure might be too small of a word to describe it at the moment.

"Am I right?" Parrot asked after a moment of silence, leaning in closer eagerly.

The next instance he found himself being jerked forward until he was just inches from the angered Alex, "It is none of your business."

It was more of a hiss than anything. It was chillingly cold and when Parrot stared into Alex's icy brown eyes, he realized that Coyote was not one to be reckoned with. There was no depth to those eyes. They were bottomless when he stared into them, radiating coldness that threatened to swallow him up.

Then suddenly, Parrot was dropped back to his seat. He looked up. Alex was eating like nothing happened but the cracked end of the fork told of another story.

The cafeteria was silent during the whole ordeal. Bear leaped up from his seat and stormed over to Alex, "What the hell was that?"

Alex didn't look up but after a moment when Bear didn't seem to move away, he did.

"Personal space." Alex said, smiling slightly, "A small reminder."

Bear jerked him up by his collar and leaned in. Alex could smell the remainder of the breakfast on the man's breath, "I will not tolerate any violence to other unit members, understood?"

Alex glanced at the man but didn't say anything.

"Understood?" Bear hissed again.

"Yes," Alex said, staring straight at Bear to let his leader know that he wasn't intimidated by him.

"Apologize to….Parrot." Alex did not miss the small note of disgust in the Bear's voice. For whom, Alex didn't know.

Alex paused as if considering, "No."

"Excuse me?" Bear growled.

"No." Alex repeated, "I will not apologize to him."

Bear's eyes turned furious as he watched. He threw Alex onto the ground but Alex leaped away before he fell, landing lightly on his feet and straightened, glancing at Bear. Matching the man's hot anger with his bristling coldness. He would not change his mind when he wasn't at wrong. Why did everyone assume that he had a rich family? They might have been rich, but he never really found out. They died. Too soon. They threw him into the life of a spy. The soldiers here never went through the experience. They had no rights to tell what is right and what is wrong.

"Parrot provoked Coyote first, Bear." Leopard spoke up quietly, trying to calm the unit leader down, "They are both at fault here. Let's just leave it like that."

"You talk like a grade school teacher." Bear almost sneered but his gaze remained on Alex, "If you want us to accept you into our unit, you better learn your place and be respectful."

And my place is not amongst you. Alex wanted to say but he shut himself before he could. He wasn't here to make friends. He was here for 'protection'. As soon as MI6 gives the clear signal, he would be gone. Far gone from here before anyone realizes. He didn't know where he would be going. Anywhere but here. Anywhere but with the people. Anywhere but the places that brought back memories of his past.

Bear turned from his fourth unit member and strolled out of the cafeteria, with Leopard and Ferret at his heel. How dare Coyote defy his order? He was the leader and within the unit, his orders were absolute unless they were wrong. And he wasn't wrong.

His mind wasn't entirely troubled by the ordeal, but rather by Coyote's expressions. He had witnessed the whole thing from the start when Parrot walked over and sat down with Coyote. He was watching Coyote even way before that. He had watched him when he sat down isolated in the table and had to hide a small smile of satisfaction back then.

Bear had watched Parrot leaning in with a curious expression on his face. Fucking stupid was the only phrase he thought of at the time for Parrot. Despise Coyote's small size and the youthful looking face, Bear knew that the man had much more strength than he displayed. Then suddenly, Parrot was jerked toward Coyote. Bear caught the barely suppressed anger before they melt away to coldness in Coyote's eyes and in his posture.

Before things could get worse than it already was, Bear chose to intervene. It was out of pure frustration at being defied that he had pushed Coyote. He regretted his choice a little after he saw the flash of emotion that flickered across Coyote's normally blank and calculating features. It was familiar and was something he had experienced before. It was pain. Emotional pain. Bear didn't get it.

The Sergeant had informed them that Coyote was their last chance. He did not want to be stuck in here. Besides, he would never live down the fact if K-Unit got out before them. And fucking K-Unit as well. They got Lynx last time, who was better than the one they got. He did not want to start on Jay, their previous member. Jay was decent during the training but during that particular mission… Bear clenched his fist in anger.

"So, who is it this time?" And damn Ferret as well. Ferret understood nothing about him and never tried to. Ferret saw everything as a weakness.

"Shut your traps." Bear turned his glare toward Ferret.

"I bet it was about Jay." Ferret said, ignoring Bear's comment, "You still haven't gotten over Jay's betrayal, am I right?"

Bear didn't response.

"Or was it about your little brother again?" Ferret asked, glancing sideways at Bear.

"Shut up, Ferret." Leopard stepped in. For once, Bear was grateful for the medic's intervention. Anymore, he would probably render Ferret unconscious, "Bear's brother is none of your business."

"Oh, but he was part of our unit." Jay said, glancing at Leopard, "So that does count as my business, doesn't it? Besides, he died because Bear didn't let him do any real thing during the mission and acted alone. I bet-"

Bear turned and swung his fist. Ferret leaped away at the last second though not entirely unscathed, landing unsteadily on his feet and crashing onto the ground.

"Don't talk about him like that!" Bear growled.

"Because it is all your fault?"

Bear froze.

"Shut up, Ferret!" Leopard said loudly, his eyes flaring in dismay, "Don't talk to your leader like that!"

Ferret huffed but didn't say anything. Leopard injected, "We should probably get down to the shooting range now. Where's Coyote?"

"Here," Coyote replied quietly out of nowhere.

"Coyote!" Leopard exclaimed in surprise, "Where did you come from?"

Bear turned toward the newcomer who had materialized out of nowhere. He narrowed his eyes, "How long have you been here?" How much of our conversation did you overhear?

There was a pause as Bear watched Coyote doing his usual calculating gaze over him.

"Long enough." Was the short and curt reply before Coyote turned away, leaving Bear to wonder just how long he had been standing there and what he had overheard.

"Come on," Bear finally said gruffly, "Let's head over to the range."

"Can you shoot, Coyote?" Ferret suddenly asked.

Alex blinked, "Fairly."

"How well?"

"At least one out of ten." Alex shrugged. Not a complete lie. He said 'at least'.

"Average?" Apparently, Ferret wasn't as dumb as Alex thought he was.

"Never tested." Not a complete lie either. He honestly had never gotten tested for real.

"What do you think is your average?" Ferret pressed. Alex reminded himself to beware of what he say around Ferret from then on. Ferret was smart. He would probably make a good MI6 agent.

"Around five," Alex said, glancing at Ferret. He said 'around' but he never set the range of 'around'.

"How do you define 'around'?" Damn Ferret. He was one smart guy.

Alex had to smile.

"What are you smiling at?" Ferret asked, slightly confused but probably had a vague idea of the reason.

"You will make a good MI6 agent," Alex said to Ferret.

The man grinned in reply, "MI6? Not my dream."

Why are you in here?" Bear questioned, crossing his arms.

To the opposite of him stood Wolf and the rest of K-Unit, "Why can't I be in here? In fact, you should be asking yourself that question."

"Schedule."

"As well."

They glared at each other for a moment before turning away and heading toward a target. Alex realized that both targets were the two on the very edge. This was literally a fight of stubbornness. Absently, he wondered if all unit leaders are like Bear and Wolf.

"Coyote, can you handle a gun?" Bear asked, turning toward Alex.

"Fairly," Alex replied.

"Well, go ahead and shoot." Bear said, pointing toward the target, "We will see how badly you perform and make adjustments."

"Coyote can shoot pretty well!" Eagle's voice interrupted Alex as he loaded the gun.

"Eagle, get back here!" Wolf bellowed.

Eagle ignored Wolf and turned his ever-so-cheerful gaze on Bear, "Coyote lied to us that he couldn't shoot."

"I did not." Damn Eagle. Why was everyone getting so smart lately?

"Yes, you did."

"I did not."

"Yes, you did!" Eagle pouted, "Then shoot again and show them!"

"As you requested." Alex felt like rolling his eyes.

How do soldiers shoot? He asked himself as he raised his gun. The shots should be somewhat closed together but not overlapping like his shots. Dotted around one central shot but scattered so that it does not form a perfect circle. Easy.

With that thought, he fired. Central dot and a bunch of randomly scattered dots all across. The gun clicked empty and he placed it down.

"Coyote!" Eagle whined.

"What?" Alex sighed heavily.

His former unit member pointed toward the wheeled-in target, "You are not using your full strength! Shoot the bull-eyes."

"Eagle, get back here before things get ugly!" Wolf stalked toward them slowly.

Ferret walked over to Eagle and turned to face Alex, "Eagle has a point. See, the shots are all centered on this one single shot." Ferret tapped the first shot he fired, "They seemed to be the reflection across this dot."

Alex glanced at Ferret, "You are seeing art when there shouldn't be."

"Okay," Ferret said, holding up his hands, "Let's try again. Imagine that you are facing your worst enemy." Ferret gestured for Alex to turn toward the target, "And he is right at the target. Now, fire the gun."

Alex fired with the urge of rolling his eyes. The bullet landed right in between the last two rings. Just as he aimed it to be.

"It is your worst nightmare." Ferret continued, "Someone you hate the most with all your heart."

Alex resisted the strong urge of rolling his eyes again. He had worst psychologists than Ferret who tried to pry everything out of him. He had learned to keep his calm during those sessions.

"Now fire."

Alex did. It went on the lower bottom of the target. He had to hide a smirk at Ferret's irritated expression. Serves him well.

"Okay, now."

"Are we done?" Alex turned to Ferret. He wasn't going to play the man's game any longer. It was a waste of time.

"I have got an idea!" Eagle popped in.

Wolf had stopped on the sideline and was watching him with narrowed eyes, apparently interested in what was happening. Screw Wolf. No help from the man then.

"Okay," Eagle said eagerly, "Imagine Fox over there."

Alex blinked in slight surprise, "What?"

He missed the incredulous looks Eagle and Ferret shot him when he actually answered.

"And imagine him being held at gun point." Eagle supplied, "And the person holding him is the target."

"If I shoot the man, he will shoot Fox before my bullet reaches him." Alex said, a little annoyed at the example Eagle used, "And don't use Fox as an example." His voice became a little stiff and steel at the last sentence. It was not gone unnoticed by the gathered two units.

"Imagine someone who betrayed you." Wolf suggested, "Like your girlfriend who cheated on you."

"Coyote couldn't possibly kill his girlfriend just because she cheated on him." Ferret said as he raised an eyebrow at K-unit's leader.

Ash. Alex narrowed his eyes as the name popped up. Damn Ash. The man who betrayed his parents and then him. He closed his eyes. There were moments when he loses control over his emotions and he hated himself for it. But he realized that breathing calmed him down a little.

"Now fire," Wolf said quietly.

Alex's hands fired on their own accord. It was closer to the center this time. Alex's eyes flickered open. Damn. Damn. Screw this. He wasn't going to lose control here. Then it was as if the gate in his mind cracked open slightly. Everything began leaking out. Damn. He frowned slightly. He had to watch his steps. His past doctor, who at least had some common sense on when to stop insisting, had told him of his 'trigger words' and how he should avoid thinking or hearing them.

"Imagine all the people, like your love ones, that were killed by war." His mind comprehended it differently. Imagine all the people you killed.

"Then imagine the instigator of the war." Then imagine yourself standing in front of you.

"And the target is that person." And the target is you.

The target was no longer a target. Alex saw Julius Grief standing there, smiling, a hand in his pocket. His hands trembled. He had killed himself once. He couldn't do it again. Killing Grief was like killing half of him. One more shot, the other half will be gone as well. Unbeknownst to him, his hands started shaking uncontrollable.

"Now fire." Now fire.

Against his thoughts, he fired. The round black hole in between Julius's eyes stared back at him.

"No…"

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