Title: Punishment

Posted On: December 1st 2009 (on )

Pairing(s): None. I refrained.

Summary: The K-Unit is in trouble during a retraining session at Brecon Beacons. As punishment, they are locked in an empty house with Cub. And what was that about handcuffs? Oh no... Oneshot.

Genres: Humour, Friendship, and a little smidgen of angst.

Rating: T / PG-13

Warning(s): Mild language, mentions of injuries.

Word Count: 2426

Author's Notes: Nothing much. A nice little oneshot. The backstory is that there is a joint training mission and the K-Unit (including Alex) has to go back to Brecon Beacons for a more MI6-styled training. And the Unit is not getting along, so the Sergeant decides to punish them. Set about a month or so after Snakehead. This was written for SpyFest 2009, for Scorpia710!

It took me waaaaay too long to remember to post this on my account.

"-and I don't want to hear any whining, or you're ALL binned!" the Sergeant barked, his eyes scanning over the five individuals for any single sign of disobedience or defiance. He was itching to punish them all even more, especially the brat who wasn't actually all that bratty.

The four men had their faces mutinously blank, but they were rigid and tense from the effort. The brat was much better, his posture at attention and his features smoothed into blankness. He had learned quite a lot over the past few months of working for MI6, and one thing that had become essential to survival was acting like you weren't hoping this person 'slipped' off the roof of a skyscraper.

"The fact that five operatives working for the British government are unable to so much as handle a simple re-training exercise before a new mission... It's unbelievable! Especially since you've all done this before!" the Sergeant was ranting now, but he quickly composed himself. He fixed the five individuals with one last glare, before turning to leave.

"I'll be back in five hours." with that, he slammed the door shut and left them all to their doom.

"That was fun." Eagle muttered sarcastically as they all began to move around the room. All, that is, except for the fair-haired 'brat' and their unit leader.

Why?

Because they were handcuffed together.

Yes, bound by metal, their wrists were only about half a metre apart. To say the least, the operatives were less than happy to be stuck in such an unfortunate situation. In fact, it would be difficult to say which one of them detested it most.

"Five hours." Snake moaned, hiding his face with his hands.

"Hey, at least you're not handcuffed to this brat!" Wolf snarled, using his un-restrained hand to point at Cub, who's instant reaction was to look offended.

"Stop calling me a brat, I do have a name!"

"And you don't deserve to be called it!" Wolf retorted irritably.

Cub rolled his eyes. "It's not like this is my fault!"

"Who's is it then?" Eagle asked, grinning. Entertainment was scarce nowadays, what with being sent back to training before this new joint mission with MI6, and he was going to milk this situation for all it was worth.

Cub and Wolf shot the technologist formidable glares, which had no effect on him whatsoever.

"I've gotta say Wolfie, I think Cub's starting to win. His glare is so much better, 'cause he's got that angsty teenager thing working for him."

With a snarl like his namesake, Wolf lunged for his teammate, who moved like lightning to get out of the way. Unfortunately for Wolf, he had not factored in that he was handcuffed to Cub, who was completely unprepared for the assault. Wolf had gained considerable momentum in his attempt to kill Eagle, and clearly didn't know that Cub's dead weight added into the equation would result in one thing: a collision to the floor.

Wolf began to swear quite colorfully at the result of his actions, while Cub was resigned to swearing at Wolf. The three upright members of the K-Unit were laughing their arses off, and it didn't look like they would be remaining upright for very long.

Wolf let out a small growl and tried to stand up, but Cub was still on the floor, grumbling unkind things, and as strong as Wolf was, he still wasn't used to having an extra body to lug around.

"CUB!"

The teenager gave him a dirty look, obstinately not moving from his position on the floor. "I'm comfortable."

Wolf rolled his eyes at the heavy sarcasm, unaware that Cub was in some serious amount of pain. The landing had not been good on the bullet wound above his heart, nor the more recent gunshot wound not to far from there on his shoulder.

"If I have to drag you up, I will." Wolf said when it was obvious Cub wasn't going to make any effort to get up.

"Like you can lift me."

"Jesus, Cub, you probably weigh seven stone soaking wet." Snake snorted.

Eagle grinned at the barb. "He'd know, he had to carry you when we were doing that fallen comrade exercise the other day."

Cub casually flipped them off as he buried his face in the crook of his other arm, before letting out a yelp as Wolf hauled him up by the wrist.

"That hurt." the youngest of the group whined, rubbing the area where he was on the receiving end of a gun with a woeful look on his admittedly attractive face. His soft brown eyes looked up at his teammates beneath long lashes, his fair hair falling to just brush across his forehead. His head was tilted up ever so slightly, and his entire facial expression screamed "Pity me I'm cute." It was downright adorable — not to mention incredibly alluring — and would have had many a fangirl squeeing had they been able to see it.

But alas, I can only break the fourth wall within the narration. Sorry folks. :(
Anyways, back to the fun.

Silence reigned as Cub gave up his sympathy campaign and instead cast Wolf and Eagle dark looks: Wolf for causing him pain, and Eagle for being the one to aggravate Wolf. Wolf was glaring daggers at Eagle, as he did not possess Cub's formidable ability to cast glares on two people at once. The unit leader would never admit it, but he was impressed that the teenager knew that particular skill, as he originally thought it was a female-only thing. There was so many potential "he's a girl" jokes there it was difficult for Wolf to keep up his fierce expression. It made him look like a two year old who had just discovered first-hand that mud is not pleasant to one's tastebuds.

Of course, that look switched to one of pure murder when Eagle made another smartass comment.

"You're dead." the canine-named operative stated with a snarl, lunging for his teammate.

Alex, more prepared this time, managed to get to his feet as Wolf attempted to kill Eagle. The fair-haired spy managed to keep up with Wolf as the other chased Eagle around the room, though he certainly got tired of it after about ten or so minutes.

"Wolf, can you knock it off?!" Cub demanded, his breathing slightly labored. He was getting mighty sick of getting shot - it really wasn't the best thing for his stamina.

"Aww, can't little Cub keep up?" Snake teased mercilessly. Alex shot him a look that could strip paint, and the Scottish medic winced. That brat could be scary when he wanted to be.

Eagle laughed, still running for his life. "Yeah, what's the matter? This too much for ya?" and he leaped over Fox, who had taken to sitting on the solid dirt floor.

"My god!" Fox yelped, throwing his arms over his head and curling up to make himself less of a target.

"You called?" Eagle asked innocently, batting his eyelashes.

Unfortunately for him, his mocking made him unaware of his location in the room, and thus caused him to smack straight into a wall. Hard.

"OW!" he yelled as bits of wood, dust, and crumbling rock rained from the ceiling.

Alex stopped on a dime, narrowly missing his chance to have his head hit with a chunk of rock and avoid getting a concussion. His sudden halt was instrumental in causing Wolf to faceplant.

"CUB!"

Said spy ignored him, brown eyes fixated on a sudden development. Hardly believing his luck, he dove for the not-shiny object in case it was a cruel delusion.
He picked it up examining it more closely and blocking out the yelling going on around him.

It was a bit of metal, very thin but quite long, and just the right size to pick the lock on a handcuff.

"–CUB CAN YOU STOP–"

"Wolf, can YOU shut up?!" the teenager snapped, cutting the older man off and startling everyone in the room with his attitude.

"Whoa." Fox gaped.

Alex shot him a dark look and went back to work. The other four men just stared at him, still stunned by his unusual outburst of emotion. Cub was normally a very reserved individual, who rarely yelled out unless it was important. Never to tell someone to shut up.

But after another few seconds, they understood why he had been so abrasive. There was a sudden clatter as the handcuff dropped from Alex's wrist to the floor.

"I win." the teenager said quietly, his words dripping with raw triumph. It was a golden moment, one that causes you to think that life isn't all that awful because something finally worked out for once.

That was, until, he realized now the Sergeant was going to raise holy hell because he broke free.

The teen sighed and shook the dread off. It wasn't like things could get too much worse.

Damn. Too late to take it back now – he had just jinxed himself.

"I can't believe you managed to do that." Wolf muttered, for once not bothering to how impressed he was.

Fox picked up the chain that was still attached to Wolf's wrist. "Yeah, nice work."

Cub nodded his thanks, knowing how rare it was to get a genuine compliment from anyone SAS, let alone Wolf. Fox was quick to praise Alex for real accomplishments, but getting Wolf to say something nice was about as easy as prying a chocolate bar from Jack's clutches.

And Alex knew well, that was about the most difficult task anyone could be asked to perform.

He spent another few moments getting Wolf's cuff off him. It wasn't necessary, but it was obviously irritating to the operative, and the less irritated Wolf was, the better.
The next ten minutes went by without incident. Which isn't saying much.

"What if we get out?" Eagle asked suddenly, glancing around at his comrades.

They all gave him varying looks of "You're kidding, right?" but no one said a word. The hazel-eyed operative pouted at their lack of enthusiasm over his idea.

"It's better than sitting here doing nothing." admitted Fox after a few moments, blue eyes flickering around the room at his teammates and for possible exits.

Wolf glanced from Eagle to Fox with a disbelieving frown. "Are you seriously considering this? Mate, we just got yelled at and thrown in here and are this close," he held up two fingers close together but not quite touching, "to getting tossed out of the SAS."

All of them glanced at Cub, who narrowed his eyes dangerously at the blatant blame being directed his way. He was not in the mood for being harassed over this, especially not when his bullet wounds were currently throbbing. That's what he got for letting Wolf 'help' him with the new obstacle course.

Alex had an epiphany that day: slamming against wooden walls is NOT good for bullet wounds, and is not good for one's revenge quota.

You see, Wolf had found it amusing to loosen the slack on the rope the flying fox bar was attached too, thus making Cub's arrival point at least a metre lower than what it should have been. His chest had slammed right against the edge of the wooden platform.

So yes, one could say Cub was short-tempered.

At the spy's admittedly formidable gaze, they back off and diverted their attention elsewhere. Namely, finding possible exits.

As they were adults, and stubborn at that, they ruled out the obvious. There were two windows and they were barred shut. The door was locked and the frame was steel. There was a loft of sorts about ten or so feet up with no way to get up, and the floor was dirt, which ruled out a basement getaway.

Alex was not so dismissive. The bars on the window were on the inside, and protruded out far enough that a foot could be placed. One window was very close to the loft, and could someone manage to get on the bars they would be able to reach.

Of course there was always the alternative...

Biting back a smirk, Alex strode over to below the edge of the loft. His teammates paid him no heed, too busy trying to find weak spots themselves.
Alex's brown eyes scanned the loft's edges and support beams, looking for something he could use. Finally, he found it: a beam that diagonally stretched from the base of a beam at the wall up to a beam in the center.

Grinning, he hoisted himself up onto the beam, edging his way up the beam till he reached a point he could lift himself up over the edge of the wood. He managed so with great effort, ignoring the sudden pain shooting through him at having to put so much pressure over his chest and shoulder.

But he made it, and was incredibly disappointed to find that there was only one window – and it again was barred shut. He scuffed the wood with his boot in annoyance, but not defeat.

"Find anything?" Wolf demanded.

"Nope!" Cub replied, continuing his search for a way out.

After ten minutes of prodding and poking, kicking and prying, he discovered a weak spot in the roof. It had rotted from rain and lack of care. With a few well-aimed kicks at the low ceiling, he broke the wood away till there was a sizeable hole, big enough for him to climb out through.

He snatched an empty wooden crate from a corner and placed it beneath the hole. He then clamored out, praying the roof would not fall through under his weight.
Taking great care, Alex descended from the roof without dying or getting injured. Luckily, there were no guards. The teenage spy took great pleasure in unlocking the door – it was merely a steel beam set across the door – and swinging it open to see his teammate's reactions. All of them were staring at the opened door and Cub in shock, mouths dropped open and eyes wide.

To say the least, Alex was having trouble maintaining his casual demeanor and hiding his Cheshire Cat grin.

The K-Unit filed out, not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, even if it was Cub.

"Nice work, Cub." Fox said, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Yeah, thanks." Snake chuckled, ruffling the boy's fair hair.

Eagle practically bounced out. "Deja vu, eh Cub?"

Wolf gave Cub a grudging look of respect. "You did good, kid." and then he strode off.

Cub followed, not bothering to keep the grin off his face. The fun part was next: facing the Sergeant three hours before they were supposed to.

Thanks for reading, and thanks to all those who commented on this at Spyfest! Reviews are the equivalent of big squishy hugs, and who doesn't love hugs? I had a lot of fun writing this, and I hope you all (especially Scorpia710) enjoyed it!

-Saint