A.N.: Cookies for those who recognized the Hamilton reference from the last chapter~ Okay, I kind of did not really do my research thoroughly. I cannot seem to find any information regarding anymore of SAS training besides the basics. So I am terribly sorry if I messed up any information. Though I actually did add some random elements into the training XD. You will see what I mean.

Anyways, onward~

Chapter 19: An Ascending Drop Tower

J and K unit quickly spread out on the ground floor, their guns out, pointing directly in front of them. Their footsteps echoed in the vast room but soon disappeared when they stopped and assessed the surroundings around them. The other units had dispersed already to their assigned floors. Some took the fire escapes by the side of the building, and some the stairs. There was an elevator as well but the soldiers knew better than to use that. Once they were inside an elevator, they could no longer control where they are going.

"All clear?" Wolf asked in a low tone that traveled only so far that the six of them could hear.

They nodded in affirmation. Wolf signaled for them to come closer to the wall.

"There are numerous hallways on the first floor. Take one and go through it. When you meet someone within the unit, you come back together. Investigate each and every one of the rooms. Let none slip. If you run into any troubles," Wolf made eye contact with them all, "Radio for one of us. If you see the hostages, do not engage and radio for backup. Understand?"

They nodded.

"Go." Wolf jerked his head and they dispersed, each taking a hallway.

Alex plunged into the nearest one right next to the winding staircase that led to the second floor. As soon as he was in, darkness plunged in. There were no light in the hallway and Alex couldn't resist the urge to shiver. He trained his gun on the ground in front of him, his ears opened to any sound. His boot made a soft sound on the floor and he realized that it was carpeted. It masked his footsteps but it masked the guards' and anyone's footsteps as well. He heard a low murmur and duck behind a pillar against the wall and listened. It came again. It was from above him. He didn't know whether he should feel relieved or not. Second floor wasn't his business.

The hallway turned but didn't seem to reach an end. Alex reached the first room in the hallway and pressed himself against the wall next to the door and listened. Besides the dull pounding of his heart, there were no other sounds from the hallway nor the room. He reached for the handle. The only light source was the faint and dull eerie green from his radio. He turned his radio off and the light died quickly. He did not want the guards to notice him. The door opened as he turned the handle. Alex was glad that it didn't creak. He immediately trained his gun in front of him as he took the first step in. Then the second step. There was a light switch in the room. Alex knew better than to turn it on. The windows were closed and a blind over it but rays of sunlight still shone through the curtains, illuminating the dark room, even if it was just by a little. He did a quick sweep around. Upon making sure that there were no immediate threats, he made his way slowly around the room and to the window.

Alex lifted the blind a little and peered out through the glass window. It was covered with dust and scratches and he could see nothing beyond the glass. He pried the window open by an inch and looked out. Nothing suspicious. Tall ferns and dead grass surrounded the edge of the building. Beyond it grew dark green bushes and trees and swayed gently in the wind. He looked up. There was a distant black dot in the sky. He squinted. It was too far away to see. Probably a bird of some sort, Alex dismissed it as he closed the window gently and exited the room, pulling the door quietly behind him as he did. First room done.

There weren't an abundant amount of rooms like most embassy and hotels did, and for that, Alex was glad. His nerves were screaming at him that darkness wasn't his friend. Which probably was true. Alex crept along the hallway. It made a dramatic turn to the right. After making sure that no guards were beyond the curve, he snuck around quickly. A door creaked open somewhere. Alex froze. There were no covers in the hallway. He suddenly felt naked. He cursed himself inwardly. How could he not realize this earlier? The hallways were all one-way and went in one direction with no branching. He was conspicuous in these hallways like blood on pure white snow. The darkness won't do him much help. If someone fired straight from behind him, he would be dead instantly. Alex quickened his steps, throwing cautious glances over his shoulders.

Then Alex saw the first window in the hallway. Sunlight streamed through the open window and the curtains fluttered with the wind. He paused in his steps and trained his gun forward before inching toward the opened window. Something shifted beyond the window. Alex felt his heart rose to his mouth and swallowed. The object shifted against the window, scratching against the sill. He felt as if he was taking part in a horror story all of a sudden.

Something leaped out of the window with a small screech.

Alex bit his tongue as he nearly screamed out loud.

He fired his gun, not even realizing what he was doing.

He backed away, bumping into something.

Swinging around, he swallowed painfully upon realizing that it was just a wall. Just a wall, he told himself. His nerves were screaming at him.

When Alex finally turned his gaze back to the object that had hurled itself out the window, he nearly laughed hysterically. It was just a small blank rodent. Five tranquilizing darts had embedded itself on its body and the three more littered on the ground around it. He crouched down. The rodent was slumped onto the ground. Alex didn't know if it was unconscious or not, but one thing for sure, he wasn't going to check. He stood up shakily and ran.

Wolf and Bear were the first pairs to arrive back. They had met on Wolf's third corridor check and Bear's second. There were nothing out of ordinary in their inspection. There were lights in the hallways and it didn't help much to conceal themselves or their shadows, but luckily they met no guards. Wolf was sure that someone would have heard if when one of the doors of the room he checked creaked when he opened it. Though no one did.

Leopard and Snake came second, both looking kind of grim but they nodded in their leader's direction. They looked a little tense but soon relaxed as their nerves calmed. They had done it many times, building assaults and all the different assaults. But with the added elements of hostages and guards, it wasn't an easy task. The guards could be taking the hostages out right this moment and they wouldn't even notice it if they weren't alert.

The quietness settled again as they waited for the last two members of their team.

"Anything?" Wolf turned toward the three members.

They shook their head. Bear spoke up, "Nothing. I checked all the rooms in the hallways. I presume that they are on higher floors. We should finish this floor quickly and go on."

Wolf nodded in agreement. He should have calculated the time it would take to get from first to the last floor. It would take them at a minimum of six minutes, and the most twelve. It wasn't a simple and short task. The less time they take on the ground floor the better.

"Parrot and Coyote are taking their sweet time." Wolf growled in a low tone as he pulled out his radio, "There shouldn't have been more than twelve hallways. It shouldn't be taking this long."

"Parrot, this is Wolf, over." He pressed the button, directing it toward his fourth unit member.

"Wolf!" Came the reply. Wolf gritted his teeth at the casualness and the lack of protocol from Parrot.

"What is your position? Over."

"I might have run into this really twisting tunnel of hallways that I don't know where the end is. Should I turn back?" Parrot asked, his voice cracking slightly over the radio transmission.

"Are you far from your start? Over."

"No, I have only just finished the first room."

"Turn back." Wolf paused then added, "Is Coyote with you? Over."

"Coyote?" Parrot replied, "No, he isn't. Haven't seen him yet. I am turning back now."

The radio clicked, signaling the end of the conversation. Wolf directed the next message to Coyote with slight reluctance. He preferred to stay away from that particular soldier. Coyote reminded him, sometimes, painfully of Lynx. He shook his head.

"Wolf?" Snake inquired.

"It's nothing." Wolf returned curtly as he switched the radio.

"Coyote, this is Wolf, over."

Wolf wait a moment for him to come in. No response.

"Coyote, this is Wolf. Do you copy? Over."

He waited. There was no response. Did Coyote not know how to use a fucking damn radio? Bear threw him an uneasy glance and pulled out his own radio.

"Coyote, this is Bear. Over." Bear spoke quietly.

He waited. There was still no response.

"It is not working." Bear turned to Wolf.

"I thought we did the radio check way back," Wolf stated, glancing at Bear.

"He probably turned it off." Snake offered, turning to his leader.

"Damn that Coyote…" Wolf growled.

At that moment, someone came running out. The four of them trained their gun instantly on the new arrival and relaxed but not completely at ease when they realized that it was just Parrot.

"I am here." Parrot said, walking up to them, slightly out of breath from running, "Let's go."

Then he paused, "Where's Coyote?"

"That's what I want to know as well." Wolf growled as he jammed his finger repeatedly over the radio, "He is not picking up because he might have fucking turned it off."

"Well, I heard this really faint screech when I came out." Parrot said, "It might have been him."

"Coyote doesn't screech," Leopard stated.

"I mean, it might have been caused by him." Parrot elaborated, "I—"

"Bear, this is Coyote. Do you copy? Over." The crisp voice of their last member came over the radio. Wolf felt like strangling the man over the radio.

"Coyote, this is Bear. Copy loud and clear. What is your position?" Bear said quickly.

There was a pause. Wolf heard something metallic clashed together, a grunt and a small curse. Then silence.

"Coyote, are you still there?" Bear inquired with a sense of urgency in his tone.

"Uhh," Came the hesitating tone, "I might have run into some small little trouble. Actually, I wouldn't exactly call it a trouble. It's just that it might actually alter the plan a little. I wouldn't call it hindering the plan because it isn't exactly hindering, it is just that-" The rest came out in a rush.

"Take a breath." Bear suggested, a little dryly, "What is your position? Over."

"Bear, this is Coyote." Coyote replied and Wolf could almost hear the small invisible grimace behind his words, "I am on the forty-ninth floor."

Alex ran. The loud screech the rodent gave still echoed in his brain. He threw glances over his shoulders as he ran and once his paranoid brain calmed down, he slowed down to a soft walk. The quietness was getting to him. He needed some kind of distraction. Sound. Light. Anything. There were numerous windows along the way though they were all closed, unlike the first one. Alex threw open the nearest one to him and looked out. He wasn't sure exactly where he was. He squinted against the light. There, in the distance, was the same black dot he had seen earlier. He had thought it to be a bird. But it wasn't. It was a helicopter. Alex frowned. He doubted that any of the soldiers were on it. If not then… He grimaced in realization and quickened his pace.

Alex immediately hit a dead end after the next turn. He backed up a few sets. This was one long hallway, it should have connected out to somewhere. He looked up. There was an air shaft right above him. He reached up, his finger were just far enough to grab the metal bars that blocked the gate. The hinge on the side were loose, judging by how it seemed to groan and sway slightly. He pulled himself slightly off the ground and using his legs, he pushed himself upward against the two closed together walls of the hallway. Freeing one of his hands, he reached for his gun and fired on the already weakened hinge of the gate. It came loose. Alex pushed it aside and heaved himself up using his arms. Grimacing slightly as his shoulder throbbed. His vision swarmed for a moment as he pulled himself into the shaft completely. He was fit to be a spy, but definitely not a soldier. He collected himself and waited for his vision to return.

"I am going to sleep the first thing I get back," Alex told himself. It was simply for the sake of making some sort of noise in the quiet space as well as a pointless reminder that he would probably forget soon.

Alex had expected it to be merely a small vent, large enough for him to crawl through. He did not expect a vertical vent that went straight upward. He couldn't see anything at the end of the vent. The vent must have extended for more than thirty stories. There was a rope and a clip hanging from above that dropped down and was barely skimming the metallic floor of the encased vent. He inspected it closely. It was similar to those of a mining platform. There were two ends. One on top, one on the bottom. When one side pressed a button, one ends will go up and the other goes down like a balance. The button wasn't hard to find. It was installed right on the edge where the floor of the vent met the wall.

"Don't have much choice, I guess," Alex said to himself out loud as he gripped the rope, tying it around his waist.

After making sure that the rope wouldn't be loosen on the way, he stepped on the bottom. It slowly ascended. He gripped the rope tightly as his feet hung in the air with only the rope to suspend him. Then it zoomed upward. He would have screamed if he wasn't supposed to be staying low and not alarming the guards. In fact, he bit his lips tightly together to avoid the childish scream bubbling in his mouth. It wasn't like those up and down carts in the mine. Not in a single bit. If he had to summarize the ride, he would categorize it as the Drop towers he had seen so much in amusement parks. Except it didn't drop. It went up.

Alex shut his eyes. Air went past him in a loud whoosh, not that it made him feel any better. He was so going to kill someone if something went wrong. Presuming that he was alive to do so in the end. Why was such a thing installed in a practice building assault? Wasn't building assault supposed to be scaling the building and sieging the building with a hoard of soldiers? He paused slightly at that thought. Oh shit. He forgot to inform his unit. As the machine began to slow down, he pulled out his radio and grimaced as he saw the blank dark screen that lacked the usual eerie green. He had forgot to turn it back on. Gingerly, he switched the power on.

"Bear, this is Coyote. Do you copy? Over." Alex said. He felt himself slowly beginning to slow down. He looked up, he could see some kind of platform looming ahead.

"Coyote, this is Bear. Copy loud and clear. What is your position?" Bear replied almost instantly.

Alex opened his mouth to reply just as the rope jerked to a sudden halt. The metal on top that was in charge of pulling him up screeched, crashing against itself as he stopped. A small piece of metal fell from the device, cutting the side of his eyes. Alex grunted. He half expected the machine to pummel down but it didn't. There was a platform around him. Then as he took a second glance, he realized that it wasn't a platform. He was on a floor. On which floor, he wasn't sure. He cursed out loud. He was definitely lost.

"Coyote, are you still there?" Bear asked over the radio.

"Uhh," Alex hesitated as he pulled himself out of the rope and unclipped it from his waist. He took a few steps in a vague direction. "I might have run into some small little trouble. Actually, I wouldn't exactly call it a trouble. It's just that it might actually alter the plan a little. I wouldn't call it hindering the plan because it isn't exactly hindering, it is just that-" It just came out in a rush.

"Take a breath." Bear replied dryly over the radio, "What is your position? Over."

Alex took his advice and inhaled softly. He took a tentative look over the stairs. There, painted on the wall opposite, was the floor number.

"Bear, this is Coyote." He didn't know whether or not he should be relieved to know where he was at that moment. He grimaced as he replied, "I am on the forty-ninth floor."

There was a long pause. Not that Alex would blame anyone.

"The forty-ninth floor," Bear repeated.

"Yes."

"How did you get there?" Wolf cut in in the radio, "I didn't see you by the stairs."

"I didn't use the stairs." Alex turned to look at the rope and the metal vent, "Well, it's a long story."

"We are going up," Wolf informed him after another long pause, "You stay where you are. Don't move. If you can, go to the stairs and wait for us. It will take us about eight minutes I will say. Stay out of sight. Understand?"

"Yes."

"Good." The radio clicked.

Drip. The blood dripped from the wound, over the ruptured skin, and sliding onto the already bloodied floor.

"There was a time," The man said as he paced the carpeted floor slowly, his hand clasped behind his back, "That I really loved everything about you. Your hardworking attitude. Your innovative ideas. Your humor. Simply everything."

The man kneeling in front of him did not respond. A drip of blood made its way from the man's broken nose. The black eye and the blood that seemed to cover his face did not enhance the man. His arms were tied at his back, his wrists pulled together tightly, so much that his shoulders were screaming in every little move. But he dared not to move.

The man stopped pacing for a moment as he dusted his suit for imaginary dust. The suit would have been too small to fit him but the bleeding man knew it was definitely not the time to inform the man about it. The suit outlined the man's large belly as well as his chubby fingers perfectly well. He had a round face and a fat mouth. On his fingers, a large fat green emerald sat on his index finger. The man examined the jewel casually.

"When you first came to me," The man said, "you earned my trust. But I no longer trust you. I have information of you working against me. They are concrete evidence."

"Boss, let me expl-" The man pleaded but was cut off as the man kicked him in the stomach mercilessly. He coughed out blood.

"You are a lying, filthy bastard." The boss said hatred filled his dark green eyes, "Your conspiracy against me has not gone unnoticed. You were sent by the government."

"No, boss. I-"

The boss jerked him up by his blond hair, matted with both dry and wet blood, "Shut your mouth. I know who you work for. My royal advisor has intercepted the message you sent a few days prior. You work for them. MI6. Don't lie to me."

"No, I don't. I—" He choked off as the boss shook him vigorously before throwing him back onto the ground. His bright blue eyes dazed for a moment.

"You will be pleased to hear that your employers had sent a message back." The boss said as he headed for the door, seemingly bored of the man.

The man on the ground widened his eyes, looking up at the boss feebly.

"They are sending backups for you." The boss sneered with triumph, his fingers smoothing the round emerald over and over again, "And I should show them what it meant to be going up against me."

The light clicked closed as the boss led himself out. He paused at the last moment and whispered, his voice mocking and snide, "Nighty-night, Secretary Wayne. Or should I call you Agent Belworth?" The door closed with a final click. Darkness came back.

Agent Belworth laid on the ground, blood running freely from his back where the boss's advisor had stuck a knife into. He inhaled. His lungs rattled in protest and he exhaled sharply.

"I have to tell them…" He murmured as unconscious threatened to take him over, "The information…"

The small USB drive that the man had slipped into his inner chest pocket seemed to weigh heavily all of a sudden.

"Warn them…"

No, the rope drop tower thing definitely does not exist in the SAS training building haha. I just added it in simply because I am not going to have Alex climb 49 flights of stairs. It will be so boring...

Thanks for all the reviews and supports! You guys are just so amazing~ I am literally squealing in happiness every time I see a review. I will be doing the replies at next chapter since it will be the twentieth chapter(not counting prologue), so stay tune~~

Next Chapter: "You are bleeding, Coyote." "Strange that it came from you, Wolf."