First thing first don't get confused with this chapter. This chapter starts the next day after chapter 17, but the time in-between will be visited next chapter during Alex and Yassen's fight. Second on a personal note I've gotten into The University of Nottingham for Creative and Professional Writing which I'm ecstatic about but that probably means I should start editing all my fanfics for spelling and grammar errors but to be honest I've never put much stock in perfecting a piece until its fully written. Thirdly at the bottom of this chapter I've included the prologue I'm thinking of using …please let me know your thoughts on it as in the end that is the direction this story will be going. But again for worried readers not for a long time yet and please have a little faith that I will be able to make an story out of a 'Alex goes to SAS again' story. Have I led you wrong so far..? On second thoughts don't answer that. Enjoy.

Chapter 18

"Ok soldiers pair-up, you know the drill. One on one to start with. Two on the centre mats, the rest on the benches." The trainer shouted in a gruff tone. The soldiers followed the orders, pairing up swiftly, most choosing a soldier from one of the other two units that were present in the training hall.

Ben, having had extensive hand to hand combat training with MI6 knew his only possible match to his skill would be the J-units leader who he knew to have at least some moderate martial arts training. His curiosity however, led him over to Alex, who although he'd seen the teen fight in an environment, he'd not been able to assess his skill by close fight alone. Feeling confident to at the very least to be able to hold himself back not to hurt Alex, he approached the teen.

Alex who had his back to the wall, was watching the soldiers pair up, assuming that the odd numbers would equate to himself not having a partner. Something he certainly wasn't too bothered about.

Alex had started to notice it when he came back from his first mission.

He'd re-joined his local dojo for his weekly practise, something he'd continued after Ian introduced the small child to martial arts. His Saturday training only enhanced the nightly routine of Kata's that his uncle had taught him. His uncle believed that regular fights and different opponents were essential to sculpting Alex's martial arts ability. It was a routine Alex had not failed to continue after his uncle's death.

Like many who practised a form of hand to hand fighting, instincts, reflexes and strength were superior to those who did not; nothing could have prepared Alex for the increase in his abilities after his mission. Reaction time shattered, instincts heightened. The ability to fight with the energy and power of only his body, enhanced by his experience. The experience he gained when he'd had to fight for his life.

Instead of disarming his attacker, he was constantly reminding himself not to strike at those critical points of weakness. Forcing himself not to see his sparring partner as a threat. There had been too many close calls for Alex, and soon after his second mission he left his dojo with the regret of his sensei. Even though his control has improved impeccably, he still preferred not to spar, as the risks were still present however minimised. Despite that it took too much concentration to have to hold back and focus on his actions. So he'd felt slightly relieved when he watched the soldiers pair up, that is until he sensed Ben approach him, groaning internally, he faced his friend.

"Come on Al, let's see what you've got." Ben grinned at the teen who looked a tad disgruntled at being pulled away from his wall, but didn't resist Ben.

"You do know I'm going to kick your ass, right?" Alex asked casually following Fox to the bench. Fox smirked at the youth's words.

"Sure kiddo, give it your best shot. Trained though you may be, I've done this a lot longer than you. Not to mention you're nearly a foot shorter than I am." Fox rested his elbow on the teens head momentarily before it was swatted off. Alex smirked evilly as they sat on the benches before once again speaking calmly.

"You do remember what happened the last time you called me that right? Oh maybe not. After all with all the years you've been doing this I suppose your memories are starting to fade. Old age you see." The first moments of doubt flooded into Fox's mind, his emotions flittering onto his face before being wiped away with a fake insulted expression.

"Hey! I'm not old!" Ben protested.

"Sure Gramps." Alex agreed smirking evilly but that soon turned to glaring when Ben ruffled his hair like one would to a child.

They stopped the banter to watch the two fights starting in the centre, especially the one closest to them as Snake was facing the J- unit leader. Although it was clear that hand to hand fighting was something that Snake did not excel at, he was still holding his own for quite a while against the accomplished fighter. Both Alex and Ben could pinpoint the moment when the fight turned against their teammate, and as a result rather soon after the leader held Snake defeated pressed into the mat. Alex could see a small smile on Snakes lips as he walked away, having at least held his own against one of the rooms best fighters.

Alex watched the fights, talking note of each soldier's strengths and weaknesses, wincing when someone was defeated in a few moves, but focused when a fight went into more depth. The majority of the time was when, although at a low slandered, both fighters were evenly matched. However there was the odd fight where it was clear that both men on the mat were seriously experienced fighters. It was these matches that Alex focused his attention on, quickly learning the style of a soldier.

He'd always had a blended style himself, his uncle teaching him moves from many types of self-defence and attacking strikes, as well as picking up a blend of styles from training and fights on his missions. He couldn't help but be slightly proud of his fighting style, it made him unpredictable. Which in his line of work was a good thing.

The main style used by the soldiers was based on their strength, the use of brute force to defeat the attacker, working their advantage. Alex however relied mainly on speed and agility and because of this he believed the only person in the hall that had a chance at landing a few hits was the man he was partnered with. Ben, who unlike the other soldiers had experienced a different, more silent and deadly style while working at MI6, would at least be more familiar with being faced with a subtler opponent.

Finally it was their turn, and they headed to the mat furthest away as instructed. Alex ignored the shouts off 'careful not to trip kid!' and 'don't worry it'll be over quickly, very quickly' that rose about the other mumbled comments, focusing his mind for a fight. Ben like Alex also tried to block out the shouts, but a small part of his mind was telling him that he'd better not be beaten by Alex, he'd never live it down.

They took up stances awaiting the trainer's release. As soon as it was given, both spies chose not to go straight into the fight which was unlike the previous fights held before them. Instead they took the time to judge and assess each other. Ben despite knowing that Alex could at the very least handle himself felt uncomfortable starting the fight against the young man. Alex seemingly sensing this, attacked first.

It was a swift jab, but with limited power. A tester to see Ben's response. Alex needed to know more about how Fox would fight. Did he retain his soldier roots and stick with his strength, or did he now favour a more swift finesse suited to spies? Unsurprisingly to Alex, Ben both deflected the jab and moved his body slightly to minimise a possible hit. A blended style like one would suspect, but one very advance perfected style. Both actions, the deflection and the moving completed at full strength repeatedly would soon loose Fox the fight through plain exhaustion. But the balance of only a slight deflection and slight movement rendered the jab harmless with little energy. Alex couldn't help but be impressed, although he was not surprised by the compensation of style he was a little surprised at how effortless Fox executed it. Ben himself testing out Alex with a similar attack but was shocked to find that he didn't even graze the boy, in fact Alex had shifted so the jab was a foot from his target. If you hadn't had watched closely you'd have thought that Ben's aim was atrocious.

The fight continued, finally both competitors having tested out the waters felt safe to up the ante. Ben however was fully aware that he was losing. Sure he was certain if he actually got a hit on the teen he'd have a chance, but no matter how swiftly, nor how complicated his attracts were Alex was just not there to receive them. And to top it off, every now and then whenever Ben dropped his guard hoping to reach his target, he'd get a jab to his body for his troubles. Although the jabs lacked the strength of a soldier, they were so precise and so swift that the damage they inflicted was clearly weighting on Fox.

Fully aware that he could follow one of his jabs with a sequence of attacks as Ben stumbles back, Due to his lack of strength Alex holds off, stretching out the fight, trying to find a way of ending it so not to hurt his friend as he, unlike the soldiers, couldn't force his opponent to the ground with a well-placed knee. Instead he waited for the opportune moment to swipe Ben's legs from him. It was only about three minutes in when he took the opportunity. Suddenly in contrast to his simple dodging of the attacks, after a clean jab to Ben's side, he spun around building the power and tension of the movement and in the last second shot his leg out swiping the back of Ben's knees. Assisted with a further attract to Bens chest caused him to fall backwards onto the mat. Moving quickly to secure the win by holding Ben in place, he was met with a rather disgruntled yet amused look from the subdued man.

"Trained spy it is then." Ben mumbled to a slightly apologetic Alex, who was well aware that he'd shown his friend up to the group of soldiers now shocked into silence. It was only a moment after the two had stepped off the mat that the noise level, once again began to rise.

"So Cub where did you…" Eagle began to question before being cut off with a quick. "Classified" From the smirking teen, causing Eagle to groan aloud dramatically before turning to Wolf about his 'stupid deal…which he did not agree to..'. Ben seeing Eagles rant of annoyance at a glaring Wolf started to laugh but was quickly cut short by a clear wince bringing his hand up to his chest.

"You ok?" Alex asked, guilt and worry laced his voice but was quickly appeased when Ben smiled at him.

"Yer I'm fine Al just a bit bruised, I just got beaten up I'll have you know, youth these days no morals, they don't respect their elders like they should." Ben joked.

"Ha so you are admitting that your old then? Bout time." Alex smirked when Ben sighed in defeat.

"I hate you." Ben stated calmly.

"Duly noted." The teen replied in the same tone.

They continued to watch the following fights, ignoring the odd glance, or in some cases stare, from the other men. Every now or then they would comment on something, but a string of conversation was never brought up, both content to sit back on watch the fights. However as Alex should have known the momentary sit down wouldn't last. His fight with Ben was after all over far too quickly and easily. It would therefore make sense to see Yassen walk into the hall straight over to the teen. It was the first time he'd seen the assassin since their confrontation in the forest yesterday. It seems despite what was said training would continue as normal.

"End mat. Now." Yassen ordered flatly. Alex groaned mentally anticipating a lot of pain. Ben who had obviously had similar thoughts felt the need to point out his good fortune.

"Great at least I get to see you beaten up too." Ben smirked, not looking at all sympathetic to Alex's situation. "It is after all well-deserved; I'll be feeling these bruises for a week." Alex elbowed him swiftly. "Make that two." Ben winced out with a laugh, before pushing the teen toward an awaiting assassin.

I know its quite a long chapter where nothing drastic happens but its important to build up Alex's fighting style in comparison to the soldiers.

Here is the Prologue…..tell me what you think…open minds people….open minds! I did consider not telling you and adding it once the story is complete but that defeats the purpose of a prologue.

Prologue

Everybody is different. Their DNA, fingerprints, hair and eyes. The way they speak, the way they walk, the things they do and the things they don't. But everybody has free will, the ability to make that choice. It may not be simple, but it has to be made. Our choices affect our lives and the lives of those around us. Whether it is to pass by a person on the left or on the right, whether or not to hold the door open for the stranger behind you. These choices take little to no thought, you make a decision in that split second of time, a choice which you will make again and again in your life, and you will probably never even think on it. Yet what happens when so much more rests of your decision. What happens when suddenly everyone is the same. Living, breathing human beings, every single one of them with a right to live, to survive. Who are you to decide who lives or dies. Yet if you do not make a sacrifice of one, thousands die. Could you murder a person to save thousands, maybe even millions? You think it's so easy to decide? Just measure up the numbers? Could you take the shot to pierce and drain the life out of another person's body, in cold blood…even if they are truly innocent?