Disclaimer: If I owned Alex Rider I would be writing the next million books right now.

This is set after Crocodile Tears. I don't think there will be any spoilers but if one comes up in a chapter I will tell you by the disclaimer what paragraph it's in and make it ok for you to skip it without missing part of the story.

Alex would not cry. He wished himself not to cry. The funeral was finally over but Alex didn't feel the goodbye would last him. Jack was dead and now MI6 could do with him as they will. Why does everything in my life have to be taken away from me Alex thought angrily as Mrs. Jones led him to the car.

Mrs. Jones watched him in the mirror. For once she saw for a brief moment what was behind his mask. He looked devastated and angry. It only lasted a second before Alex fixed his mask to cover his face. When they got to head quarters Alex went straight to Blunts office. He knew the way too well.

Mrs. Jones knew Alex would hate her for this but it was the best idea since Scorpia had tried for revenge twice and Alex was still alive. "Alex were sending you to Breacons Beacons for more training. We would've sent you on a mission but you're not emotionally ready. We can find an adult to fill the position we had in mind for you." Mrs. Jones said. Alex looked up surprised. He hated the fact that he was going back to K unit but MI6 might be doing it for him. Just maybe.

"We are sending Ben Daniels or Fox with you. He will take you there tomorrow so I recommend you go home and pack." Alex nodded as he left. It pained him to be going home without Jack but he would stand strong. Nothing including K unit would break him.

After Alex left Ben came into the room. "Alex has been through a lot. We want you to keep an eye on him giving support without him noticing. We would also like you to try to get Alex to open up to you and K unit. Ask questions. He will usually reply classified but try to ease it out of him. Having people know may help him. Your unit is allowed to know everything as long as he tells you. When you get to camp tell the rest of the unit the plan to get Alex to open up and that they will be rewarded by completing the mission by having their curiosity fed." Mrs. Jones said. "You and Alex will arrive tomorrow. Dismissed." Blunt said waving a hand. Then Blunt turned to his work as if they had never been there.

The next day Fox and Cub arrived at camp right on schedule. They were in the Sergeants office when Wolf burst in. "Who's this agent arriving with Fox?" Wolf asked. "He's right there." The Sergeant pointed to Cub. "Cubs the high almighty MI6 operative?" Wolf asked. "Yes I'm sure you all will get along lovely now Alex do you have your timetable?" the Sergeant asked. "Yes sir." Alex replied. "Dismissed." The Sergeant said waving a hand.

"Cub why don't you unpack I'm going to talk to the rest of the unit." Fox said. Once Alex was gone Fox informed them of the plan. Now the whole unit was extremely curious about Alex. "Remember guys don't push too hard take it really slow." Fox said. The while unit nodded in agreement.

Alex was already asleep by the time the unit came back in. His stuff was unpacked and put away. The rest of the unit prepared for bed wondering how in the world he unpacked so fast.

Alex was having a nightmare.

General Sarov put the gun to his head. Alex saw him shoot himself again.

Alex was walking out of MI6 head quarters when he was shot. He felt the pain all over again.

Alex saw Jack being shot.

The flashbacks kept coming. Alex was writhing in pain. He was whimpering and struggling. Suddenly he leaned into his pillow and started screaming. Thankfully no one heard me Alex thought. The pillow muffled all the sound. Alex woke up in a sweat and went to take a shower. Little did he know Fox lay awake and had been listening and watching him. When he left Fox saw the look of terror on Alex's face. For once Alex was not wearing his mask. Fox had heard the muffled scream and felt terrible for Cub. The things he must have been through Fox thought. I don't even know what happened when I rescued him from that mission. Maybe soon he will know.

The cold water streamed over Cub's face. Even he didn't know he was crying silently. The flash backs were horrible. It was almost as bad as living through the events in the first place. Suddenly Alex felt a tinge of pain on his scar. His hand clutched it. Suddenly Snake burst in. "Why are you clutching your chest Alex?" he asked. "No reason." Alex replied as he grabbed a towel to cover it. Great lie Alex thought to himself sarcastically. Before going back to the hut to get dressed before anyone else woke up.

"Alex guess what we get to do?" Fox asked. Alex looked up surprised he was awake. "We can wake up everyone else." Fox said with a grin. For the first time in a while Alex felt a smile spread across his face. "I'll take Wolf and you take Eagle." Alex said deviously. Fox nodded. Alex got a bucket of water while Fox tipped Eagles bed over. Wolf got drenched and Eagle fell to the floor at the same time. Snake burst in just in time to see a wet angry Wolf and a bruised angry Eagle. "Run Ben." Alex shouted to Fox as they took off for the mess hall.

Alex looked up to see a unit of men staring at him. Alex shifted uncomfortably and went to his normal place outside. He didn't like to eat inside with all the other SAS men glaring at him. As he sat down K unit came out with the other unit that was staring at him earlier. "That's Cub." Wolf said pointing to Alex. "What do you guys want?" Alex asked looking up. "We were wondering if you could settle a bet?" one of the men asked. Without waiting for an answer he continued. "While we were in Australia a shuttle came down from outer space. We were sent to receive it. What we didn't expect was to find a fourteen year old boy who looks exactly like you in it. We were wondering if that was you?" he asked. Alex looked down avoiding their eyes.

Dang he was caught. "Yeah it was what's it to you." He replied as he got up and walked away. K unit stared after him. Their Cub in space. "That's another piece of the puzzle." Fox said. "Soon we will know what happened in space and a lot more." Wolf said awestruck by Alex. "Oh guys I forgot to mention. Nis morning when Alex was taking a shower he was clutching his chest. He obviously hiding something." Snake said. "Did you see his wound from appendicitis?" Eagle asked. "No there was none." Snake replied. "I have a feeling were not being told the whole truth." Wolf said longing for some answers.

"Get a move on Cub were going to be late for hand to hand combat." Wolf yelled at Alex. Alex threw away the rest of his food and set off towards the martial arts room. "Today you will work in partners. Everybody can choose besides Wolf and Cub they will be paired together." The martial arts instructor said. Cub, Wolf please give us an example of a good fight.

Wolf looked confident as he stepped up to fight. "After you." Alex said offering Wolf the first punch. He threw one with enough power to really hurt if it hit him but Alex saw it come in slow motion and easily stepped aside. Suddenly his body was in combat mode and ready to fight for its life. He threw a hard punch that connected right in Wolfs gut. He doubled over in serious pain. Taking advantage Alex grabbed his pressure point. Wolf gasped in pain and started throwing punches at Cub. Cub quickly took defense easily dodging all Wolf punches. Suddenly Wolf threw a round house kick. He was slightly distracted by a sneeze from the martial arts constructor and Wolfs kick connected with Alex's bullet wound. Alex gasped and hit Wolf extra hard making him fall over. Alex had won.

Wolf stood up to shake hands with Alex but he was on his knees clutching his wound. Alex was gasping and a look of extreme pain spread across his face. "Cub let me see what's wrong." Snake said approaching Alex. They couldn't find his bullet wound Alex thought. He summoned all his energy and got to his feet and ran. His mind was reeling but he focused it on finding a place to hide till his unit calmed down.

"Dang it Cub come back here." Snake yelled after him. "He doesn't trust us." Fox said shaking his head. "You know he was clutching the same place he was this morning. The spots right by his heart." Eagle said using his brain. "We will find him." Wolf said. "If he wants a game of hide and seak we will give it to him." Wolf said already making a plan.