A/N: I finally had the guts to post something. I'm not sure if this is completely awful or not, so getting a review would be really awesome!

Disclaimer: I don't own Alex Rider... *sigh*...

Leap of Faith

Chapter 1

It was cold when the light flicked on in the cabin. Alex had been huddled under the sheet for warmth, curled up in a safe nest of sleep, and the muffled light seemed too far away for him to care about. He was tired. It couldn't be morning yet. The pattern of thread blurred before his eyes as he let them slip shut again.

The sheet was ripped off him. Icy air hit Alex like a bucket of cold water and he bolted up straight, goose-bumps breaking out on his bare arms. For a second he gulped cold air, then ran a hand through his hair and blinked at his surroundings. Cabin 4. Brecon Beacons. The overhead light was dim, but he didn't need it to recognise this place. Right now, there were three dark silhouettes silently getting dressed.

"Come on, Cub," said Eagle lowly as he exchanged one dark, shapeless shirt for another. His bed was the closest. Apparently it was him who had given Alex the cruel awakening. "You know the drill."

Two minutes later Alex found himself standing in line outside the barracks, trying to subtly warm up without attracting the attention of the soldiers around him. This was Alex's fourth month here since Cairo, and the place had barely changed in a year and a half. Same ugly barracks, grey sky, muddy brown landscape with the rare patch of green. Even the faces were the same, if a little harder and wiser. After an assassination attempt in America, he'd been whisked back to England and sent to the safest place that MI6 could come up with: Brecon Beacons. He hadn't been told how long it would last. "Indefinitely" was the word they had used. He really hoped it wasn't their way of saying "forever".

K Unit had been less than thrilled to see him back, especially when they learned that he was to be Fox's replacement. Snake and Eagle hadn't liked it one bit, but it was Wolf who had reacted the worst - the man had charged up to the Sergeant office and Alex didn't know what he'd done or said after he'd slammed the door behind him, but it was enough to get him suspended from training for half a week. Wildlife rumours had spread through the camp.

Alex didn't know if he'd protested because he was worried about him or because he still thought of him as an immature burden on the team, but there was one thing he knew for sure: since the famed argument, something had turned cold between them. Wolf wasn't bullying him like the last time he'd been here, but he acted like he didn't trust him. For Alex it was ten times worse.

The Sergeant strode out of a cabin, looking pretty tired himself. Everyone present stood to attention.

"Right," he said crisply. "Units F, S and J – you're down in the lake tonight. H, Y and L, you're in the killing house. R and K have the tripwire course. Any questions?"

An uneasy sort of ripple went through the line. Nobody spoke, but it was there.

"Sir?" A voice floated out of the darkness.

The Sergeant's eyes glinted as they searched for its owner, and locked onto a raised, pale hand. "Hare?"

"Is it safe yet, sir? The tripwire course?"

"As safe as it'll ever be," he replied tartly.

Even in the dark, Alex could see the frowns at that. And hear the murmurs. Apparently the Sergeant had too.

"Somebody has to test these things," he said clearly over their heads, "and you are supposed to be Britain's most elite soldiers."

Seeing the logic, the frowns were replaced by nods, but Alex noticed the glances that were sent his way.

Britain's most elite soldiers, plus a fifteen-year-old kid.

"Any more questions?"

Alex tensed, waiting for someone to point out the obvious, but this time he was met only with silence, the shuffling of combat boots and the distant howl of the wind over Welsh hills. It really was cold tonight. Biting.

"Good." The Sergeant nodded approvingly. "If you're back by four, we'll let you have a nice, warm sleep. Dismissed! Try not to get yourselves killed."

"There are five phases," the instructor repeated for the fourth time. "You'd do well to remember that when you get into the course."

Eagle was doing warm-up stretches on his biceps. Contract, hold, relax. A burning in the muscle that was replaced by a pleasant tingling when he let go.

"This isn't the sort of assault course that can be rushed in half an hour. You need to be careful. It's not about going in there all guns blazing this time. That's why we're not giving you weapons - although if you got jumpy and shot yourself in the foot, I'd say it was your own damn fault."

Eagle's arms felt successfully unstiffened. He switched to his calves and began a steady rhythm, letting the words of advice float in and out of his brain, half-processed.

"And you need to work together. I can't stress that enough. Without teamwork, at least one of you will get hurt on this course."

The instructor had finally finished. Eagle stood up straight and took his place next to Wolf. Cub and Snake stood slightly behind them, as they did on the assault course. It was like a natural formation or something; they never talked about it, it just happened that way. R Unit were standing in a similar position a little way over to their right, two of them talking in low voices as they glanced up at their first obstacle.

It was a wall. A wall not unlike ones Eagle had climbed before, but it was high, and towards the end it slanted over their heads like some free-for-all roller-coaster.

"You ready?" he muttered to Wolf, wringing his hands to warm up.

Wolf smirked. "Piece of cake."

A shrill whistle cut the air, taking Eagle by surprise. The other seven soldiers surged forwards. Eagle cursed mentally and sprinted to catch them up. When he reached the wall, his blood was pumping with adrenaline. Despite everything, Eagle grinned. This was what he lived for.

He pulled the rope taut. One foot in front of the other. It was easy.

His first step was shaky. The wall, like their huts, was constructed of horizontal planks of wood with no grip at all. There were no knots on the rope to hold onto, and when he wound his fingers into it Eagle realised that it had rained earlier in the night, making the rough thread slippery under his fingers.

Shit.

Well, it wasn't like he could jump down and announce he wasn't going to do it. After all, he'd signed up for this. Gritting his teeth, he took another step up, levelling his feet with the weight in his toes. His next few steps made him arms shake but brought his feet level with his torso. He flattened them out, shifting the weight. Now he felt more balanced. Eagle grinned to himself, and started striding properly up the wall.

It took a few minutes to reach the slant, but he had already resolved to keep going against gravity. He let some of the rope slip from his grip so that he was tipped slightly upside down but perpendicular to the wall. The blood was just starting to drain to his head when he felt the rope thicken and realised that he had reached the top of the wall, above the overhang where it was flat. Cautiously, he felt along the unseen ledge until his fingers brushed metal: the rope hook. Eagle wound his fingers through it and pulled himself up.

He was the first. He could tell instantly. Well, that was a first in itself – usually it was Wolf who did the best in these things, with Eagle second and Snake bringing up the rear. Fox had used to be Eagle's equal and opposite; they'd had the same height, same build and same skills. But Fox wasn't there anymore. Cub was good, but he wasn't a full replacement for Fox, not really. And besides, he was SO - who knew what kind of weird, creepy skills he was hiding?

R Unit's leader, Lion, had also made it to the top. The man gave him a brief nod and turned to help Hare up over the edge. Eagle understood. This wasn't an official challenge or a race, but the unit that finished last wouldn't be the one telling their story in the mess hall at breakfast. Curiously, he turned away to examine the first stretch of the course.

The wall, it turned out, was actually the side of square block building. He'd noticed that the instant he'd hauled himself up. There was a zip wire to the ground on the other side, but all he could see past that was a long stretch of dark grass, mostly encased in the shadows cast by the high complex walls. Dotted down the sides were glaring floodlights that went on and on until they were square dots of light in the distance, nearing the edge of the forest they used for survival hikes.

Bloody hell. If this was an assault course, it wasn't one like he'd ever seen before.

"You okay?"

The voice made Eagle jump so high he nearly toppled right back to the ground. Swivelling around, he saw Cub getting to his feet.

"Where did you come from?" he snapped, unable to hold back the accusation in his voice.

Cub frowned slightly. "The same place you did," he said slowly.

Eagle looked him up and down, and noticed red welts of rope burn on his palms. In the corner of his eye, the first member of R Unit lined up with the zip wire. Eagle took a breath. "Sorry, kid. You just scared the shit out of me there. Where's Wolf?"

The kid shrugged. He did that a lot. "Got a little freaked halfway up, I think."

Oh. The fear of heights. Eagle had thought he was over that.

"And Snake?"

"Slipped."

"Slipped? Is he okay?"

"Yeah, Eagle, I am." A familiar, faint Scottish voice. Eagle pushed past Cub to see Snake with his forearms resting a little awkwardly along the top on the wall, looking simultaneously pleased and pissed. He'd had the sense to tie himself to the rope before attempting to get onto the ledge. On instinct, Eagle held out a paw to pull him to his feet, and as they came face to face Snake shot him a grin. "But thanks for asking."

"Stop messing around."

Wolf had finally joined them. He ignored Snake's outstretched hand and pushed himself to his feet. The floodlight behind him cast his face in a dark shadow.

"You okay, Wolf?" Eagle tested in a slightly softer voice than usual.

"'Course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, Cub said..."

"Yeah? What did Cub say?" Wolf took a step forwards, not towards Eagle but to Cub.

Snake shook his head at Eagle behind Wolf's back. Cub looked as he always did: mostly unfazed, like he was thinking hard about something, and alert like a dog with pricked ears. Snake shook his head more insistently, and the instructor's words of advice drifted back.

You need to work together.

The instructor had made it pretty clear that without teamwork, they were screwed. Snake was right: they couldn't afford a fight between Wolf and Cub. It just wasn't in either of their natures to back down.

"...he just said that you slipped. But Snake did too, you know. It was a... a hard climb."

Wolf's eyes did not leave Cub. The kid stared back silently.

"Come on," Wolf said eventually, breaking the gaze and pushing past him towards the zip wire. "We're wasting time."

This was going to be a long night.

Please review!

Ally xoxo