Eagle didn't know what to think about Cub anymore.

Cub pointed a gun at Bear.

Cub.

Cub.

Cub –

What the hell.

He'd thought they'd been making headway with Cub, having him telling them about bits and pieces of his life, when in reality, they didn't know him at all. And as the knowledge hit him, he felt even more discomforted.

A nineteen year old holding a gun at a fully grown, military-trained, armed man. It might have been laughably funny if the nineteen year old wasn't Cub.

He'd look so unconcerned, standing there with his gun, surrounded by other soldiers who had gathered toward the commotion. Being threatened that they would shoot if he didn't put his gun down hadn't seemed to affect him at all. In fact, if he'd looked almost bored.

And the things that Sergeant Sanders had said...

Eagle was getting a feeling of dread at the bottom of his stomach. Whoever Cub was, he was someone with power. Something that wouldn't dwell well with K Unit. None of them were great around people of distinction.

They were stiff, cold and quite unfriendly.

Or so it'd been said. Or complained.

But, Eagle had to admit, it was also on the part of the person. They demanded respect, they expected others to grovel at their feet simply because of their divine station, and sought others to do their bidding just because they'd said so. K Unit absolutely hated being forced to do another's needless commands.

What if he's not like the others? He didn't act like those haughty little brats. And what about the 'Did no one here know how dangerous Cub truly was?' that Sanders had voiced. Those scars. The way he spoke. The way he acted. His connection to MI6. Who was Cub? So many questions to be answered.

His brain hurt.

"Who the hell was that?"

"I don't know, but I've never seen him before, so he has to be new."

"You heard what Dan said though..."

"Why didn't somebody just shoot him?"

"God, did you see him? If it weren't for Falcon, he would have shot Bear straight through."

"But in the middle of an SAS training base? The guy's fucking nuts."

The meaningless chatter was drowned out by the force of his thoughts. Would Cub have really pulled the trigger had he not stepped in front of Bear?

"Falcon!"

Leader of F Unit, Falcon turned around to see Lieutenant Baldwin walking up to him, eyes ablaze. "Why the hell was that guy holding a gun up to Bear?"

He wanted to have two sides of the story before he said anything. Bear could provoke a lot of people when he wanted to, but to overreact with shooting someone...

"He introduced himself as Cub, this morning," he droned.

Baldwin let out a sound of anger and rolled his neck and shoulders. "Jesus, this is a mess, what the hell is Sanders thinking?"

Falcon shrugged hopelessly; anyone watching could've seen that everybody was out of their depth. They'd never had one of their own do this before.

When he finally noticed that everyone had gone all but silent, he looked up to see an approaching man.

Lieutenant Connolly had come back from wherever he'd been called off to. "Hey, what are you all –" he felt the tense atmosphere and immediately took on an arrested expression. He looked over F Unit and his other friends. "What's all this," he gestured toward them. "About?"

Between the four of them – Baldwin, Langley, Gregson, and Connolly – everybody kind of saw Connolly as the acknowledged leader. Not that he acted so, but there was an ability in him to make people inadvertently trust and listen to him.

"That soldier you were assessing, Connolly? He was going to shoot Bear."

"Blunt, Jack," he said. "But straight to the point. Okay, someone fill in the blanks, otherwise I'll stay confused."

An angry Baldwin took up the offer, and continued to describe and paint Cub in the worst possible light. Falcon let it slide; the man was feeling defensive and deserved to have a bit of a rant.

"And you had to have been here to hear what Dan said. He called the kid dangerous! Can you believe that?"

"Actually, yeah, I can."

"Huh?"

"Well, when I was, you know, assessing him and all that – wait, let me just show you." And he took off to the targets.

"Show me –? Show me what, Connolly!" Baldwin shouted after him.

F Unit and the lieutenants had to wait for a minute in tense silence before Connolly came back with a bunch of sheets in his arms.

He then proceeded to fan each and every one of them out on the ground. Hands on his hips, he stood there and studied the target papers so intensely, that the others had to look, too.

There were seven in total and, for a moment or two, Falcon failed to see what they were looking at. Then it dawned on him, "Lieutenant Connolly..." he dragged out slowly. Everyone but the man he was talking to raised their head. "Who do these belong to?"

Dark eyes flashing up, Connolly finally answered Falcon. "Cub – the soldier I was assessing." Although his words sounded almost cheerful, his eyes told another story.

Within the center of each target, were three to four distinct holes, some larger than the others.

"See these holes?" Connolly gestured. "Looks like only a few shots were fired, right?"

Everybody agreed.

"Hate to burst your bubbles, men," he said grimly. "But I can tell you now that at least five shots were fired for each target." He raised up a hand as eyes widened. "Now, now, I know what you're all thinking; But there are only four holes. When I first saw it, I had only two excuses in my head. One, either he got lucky, or two, he hadn't done the five shots like I'd asked him to... But as we progressed along, option two was out because I could hear the shots, and then one was out. A guy can't be that lucky every time he fires a gun."

Connolly stroked his chin in thought. "You know what else struck me? He knew each gun he used, and which caliber you use with it. And I swear, the way he dissembled and reassemble the guns... it was like he did it without a second thought. And then when he started to do that thing we soldiers do – instinctive firing, yeah? And I didn't say it then, but if I weren't the one meant to be instructing, I would have said he was more in sync with the gun then I'd ever be."

Jackal shook his head in disbelief, then looked to Baldwin. "Now tell us someone who's shot at least thirty-five rounds and hasn't missed the center once isn't dangerous. Someone who Lieutenant Connolly's admitted to being a better shot than he is. Someone who stood there without a care in the world as guns were trained on him. Someone who was confident enough to hold a gun to Bear's head in the middle of a SAS camp. And let's not forget just how much Sergeant Sanders stressed to us how politically and internationally important this guy is."

"Lay off the sarcasm, Jackal," said the fourth member of F Unit, Leopard. "I think we all understand."

"Of course, you do," Jackal made eye contact with everyone, a mischievous light in the blue orbs that made them all instantly wary. He grinned. "We can't touch the new guy until we know everything about him."

Author's Note: I am so sorry for the delay in updating! My laptop crashed and burned (not literally, but close enough), and I haven't been able to access my writing. My laptop is still broken and I'm not sure when it'll be finally fixed. Bear with me guys, as my updates are going to be few and far between as I work to get everything fixed and struggle to continue writing thousands of words when I don't have a laptop.

What I've written here was all done on my Ipod. Do any of you have any idea how hard it is to write on your Ipod? Especially when making sure the grammar and punctuation is correct. It made me want to throw the electronic device at a wall; but I thought of you guys and remembered why I was still writing this story.

I'm going to get the rest of this chapter done as fast as I can, which mightn't be very fast. It'll be a slow couple of weeks, and I thank you for waiting.

This little tidbit is basically a prelude – a build up – to what's going to happen next. And to keep you a little satisfied – or to keep you hooked on this story – for a little longer.

P.S. A few tiny (or not so tiny!) surprises are coming along very soon. Take a guess at what they might be. I'm very sure most of you will get it wrong. Or hell, I might even use your suggestions myself if they're good enough.

P.P.S. One more thing. Alex Rider's actions aren't OOC in any way, for those who have expressed this concern. You just have to sit back, and wait for a couple more chapters to understand who he is and why he does some certain things.

Thank you.