A.N.: I am back~~~

Mrs. Jones sighed inwardly as she looked at Blunt, seated in the head's seat, "Shouldn't we inform Alex more in-depth of this new organization?"

"It is not necessary." Blunt's reply was sharp and curt, just like the man himself.

She opened her mouth to tell him that she was the head when Blunt cut in, "To the public, yes, you are the head, therefore, you make decisions. To you, to me, and to the agents, I am still the head. My absence in the public does not make you the head, Mrs. Jones, I should remind you."

"Why did you even need to fake your leave?" Mrs. Jones sighed, though she already knew the answer.

"They were shocked to the fact that we have a better weapon than them. They don't want me working in the front, then I will work in the back. It is better."

Deciding that it was time to switch a topic, Mrs. Jones cleared her throat and picked up the folder on the desk, "Are you sure about sending him?"

"He needs to blend in." Blunt replied curtly, not sparing the deputy a glance, "It is necessary."

Mrs. Jones glanced down at the folder, where J-Unit's information was placed in and amongst them was Alex's file, or rather, Coyote's file.

"It might put him in risk and right within their grasp."

"They won't notice. The agent will be their attention."

"Blunt…"

"Mrs. Jones," Blunt turned slightly, "It is final."

Mrs. Jones nodded reluctantly as she placed the folder back onto the desk.

"Contact Agent Belworth, check his status." Blunt ordered, "Tell him we will be sending a team to him soon."

"Blunt," Mrs. Jones started.

"It is final." Blunt repeated and that was it, "Contact Agent Belworth."

"Will do." Mrs. Jones nodded and left the room. The peppermint smell lingered for a while before it disappeared and Blunt began typing again.

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 uncontrollably.

"Now fire."

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

"No…"

Alex slowly lowered the gun, his eyes fixed on the target. Julius Grief no longer stood there and in his place was the round hole in the center of the target. It took everything to not throw away the gun and run. Run as far as he could, away from here. He stood rooted the spot

"I knew it." Eagle said, though there wasn't any cheerfulness in his voice, "You can shoot pretty damn well, Coyote."

"It might have been a lucky shot." Alex hated how his voice sounded hoarse and a little husky in the end. He cleared his throat, cutting through the silence loudly and sharply. He flinched and closed his eyes, trying to calm his nerves.

"Wolf, what did you say before you asked him to fire?" Eagle turned to his unit leader.

Wolf frowned slightly, staring at Alex, "I told him to imagine the loves one that died in wars and asked him to fire upon the instigator."

"Coyote, did someone closed to you died in wars?" Snake, who had walked toward them, asked softly, his voice sounded concern.

He didn't need their pity.

Alex opened his eyes after collecting himself, and glared at Snake, "No, no one did." The Pleasures didn't die in war, they were murdered. Jack didn't die in war, she was brutally killed. Yassen didn't die in war, he died protecting Alex. Ian didn't die in war, he was assassinated. His father and mother didn't die in war, they died trying to escape. No one died in a war, they all died because of him.

"Then why did you react so badly to it?" Snake pressed, not believing what he said.

I was just imagining the instigator to be myself. Alex looked away, "Just a certain bad memory."

"Did someone closed to you died?" Damn Snake. Damn the world. Why was everyone so…blunt today? Alex clenched his fist, the gun hanging loosely in his grip.

"Did someone closed to me died?" Alex chuckled slightly as he dragged a hand through his hair, "No, of course not. I was living a very happy life before I became a soldier with my family. " He hated how he nearly choked in the end. Family. Who exactly was his family? The Pleasures? They died, because of him. He never had a chance to become a proper family with them. Ian? He thought the man was his family until he discovered the truth his uncle has been hiding behind him all the time.

"Coyote…" Leopard stepped up, a little concerned, "You can tell us. It is alright."

Alex's hand paused and dropped from his hair to his side. He glanced at Leopard, "Everything is alright, don't worry."

"Coyote…" The J-Unit medic's tone was full of pity and worries.

This time, he ran. He didn't hear the thud as the gun landed on the sandy ground, nor did he heard the sound of his boots crunching on the sand. All he heard was his loud beating heartbeats and all he saw was blurs.

Bear did not miss the anguish in Coyote's eyes as their fourth member turned to face Leopard. He did not miss the despair, the guilt, the terrible brokenness that clouded the man's eyes for a second. He could not have mistaken it for anything else. He had seen the same expression before when he looked into the mirror.

He did not believe for a second that Coyote wasn't lying. Nor did the other members. Something terrible must have happened to the man and Bear hesitated. For a moment, he didn't know what to do. He had always treated Coyote badly because the man was younger than him. Coyote hadn't proven anything worthy yet and Bear knew that he would not treat Coyote with respect until their fourth member had. Pride kills people. And if Coyote was weak, the camp would not be a place where the man belonged.

"Maybe you should go cuddle cuddle with him," Ferret spoke up snidely after Coyote fled, "Just like you did with your brother."

Bear swung and Ferret dodged, predicting the punch before it landed, "Fuck, Ferret! Why can't you just give it a rest?!"

Something flashed across the man's eyes. Was that…sorrow? Before it disappeared and the man grinned slyly, "Well, you are a leader. You have to be tough."

Bear clenched his fist in anger. Fuck Ferret. Always with his leader speech. He wanted so badly to hit the man sometimes.

K-Unit's leader Wolf gave him a cold nod before the unit head back to their range.

"Come on," Leopard nudged him, "Let's get shooting before some instructor come and check on us."

The sound of gunshots and targets reeling back jerked him back to reality and he nodded, picking up the gun Coyote dropped. Coyote's target was wheeled in. Bear found himself having a hard time to look away from that one single round hole in the square center. Damn.

Bear woke with a strangled gasp. It was the same dream again. Over and over again. Jay's betrayal and his brother, Panther's death. He closed his eyes and laid an arm over them. Couldn't he ever sleep in peace?

"Bad dreams?" Bear heard Leopard getting up and whispered at his side.

Bear nodded, swallowing and moved his arms away, "The same old one." He glanced sideways at Leopard.

It had become their habit. Bear would wake up from a nightmare and Leopard would consult him, "Want to talk about it?" Leopard asked, jerking his head toward the door.

Bear nodded again and climbed out of bed, carefully not waking anyone. He didn't see the empty bunk of Coyote as he made his way out, followed by Leopard, and closed the door gently. They walked in silence for a while before sitting down in front of the barrack, leaning against the fence.

"Same old one, huh." Leopard began quietly.

"'It's not your fault,'" Bear mimicked Leopard's voice, "'so don't feel guilty about it'."

Leopard raised an eyebrow then sighed, "I said that too much, didn't I?"

"You did," Bear said, looking away. All he ever got was pities and tries of understanding. They didn't understand what he was feeling and he didn't need their pity. It was no use. He simply couldn't forgive himself and any talks of 'it is not your fault' only made his guilt worsen.

"It wasn't your fault that Jay turned, nor was it your fault that Panther died," Leopard said quietly.

"If I had been a better leader." Bear said gruffly, looking away, "None of those would have happened."

"It still wasn't your fault," Leopard said, glancing sideways at him.

The wind blew softly across them. The night was chilling and the wind didn't help. The trees rustled slightly behind them. From where they sat, Bear could vaguely make out the reflection of the moon down at the lake.

There was a moment of silence, then Leopard asked, "It might help if you recount the stories."

Bear closed his eyes with a heavy sigh, "I never expected Jay's betrayal. It stung, Leopard, it honestly did. I thought of him as a comrade, a brother, I could never have thought that he was a traitor, I didn't think that he would turn against us. I liked him but it is all in the past, isn't it? People changes, for better or for worse. That mission at the factory with the agent, I never expected Jay to turn against us and shot the agent." Bear gripped the fence tightly, "I want to kill him, but at the same time, I can't. I hope I don't have to see him again because I will have to kill him. Fuck, I want to kill him so badly sometimes but I couldn't. I could have shot that lying bastard back then, but I couldn't because he was once a comrade…"

"It wasn't your fault."

Bear swallowed, "But Panther's death was all my fault. I should have let him come with us instead of telling him to stay. He is my closest family and I killed him."

"You didn't kill him, the force we went against killed him," Leopard said gently.

"Yeah," Bear laughed bitterly, "It is basically the same as me killing him because I didn't let him and he slipped out on his own."

"It was his fault," Leopard stated.

"Don't you dare to say that it was his fault!" Bear growled then he trembled slightly, "Don't you dare…"

"It's alright." Leopard's tone was gentle, "Everything is going to be okay."

Everything was not going to be okay, couldn't they see? The words were just empty promises that would never come true.

"Shit happens." A new voice made them swung around in surprise.

"Coyote!" Leopard exclaimed.

"You heard us?" Bear growled, "How long have you been standing there?"

"I was always here." Coyote shrugged, gesturing toward the tree near them, "I was up there all the time you were talking."

Bear waited for the comment of weakness to fall from Coyote. None came.

"Shit happens," Coyote repeated, staring Bear straight in the eyes, "If you think it is your fault, then it is. If not, then it is not. Live with it."

The leader of J-Unit didn't know why, but at that moment, he felt relaxed as if loads of guilt and worries have been taken away. Maybe, he had always wanted to hear that from somebody. Something that is other than a broken promise. Something that was entirely the truth. Something, he suddenly knew, came from experiences. Then as he stared into Coyote's deep brown ones, he realized just how true it was. It came from Coyote's own personal experiences. Within those brown eyes, he saw Jay turning the gun toward him and he saw Panther dying in his arms. He felt the anguished pain and the terrible ache of his heart. For a moment, he wondered if Coyote had experienced the same before.

Thanks for all the reviews and for pointing out a few of my mistakes ^ ^ I really appreciated it~ And as always, thanks for all the followers and favorites!