A/N: So sorry for the long delay! Writer With Sprite, who usually posts and edits, has joined the working world and is trying to pack for a move on top of all of her other schedules. She would like to apologize for the wait, and thank you for your patience. The next chapter will be out on Thursday.

"Sure, but he'll tell you it is my fault," Wolf responded even as he rolled over and buried his head with the pillow. He felt absolutely sick to his stomach. He had no idea that his drugs that morning had been dosed with a pill specifically designed to make someone lethargic and depressed so he couldn't run away as easily.

Braxley called a number, and had Eagle paged. "If I can't convince you, maybe he can. Thanks for helping Alison. I know she's not really my daughter... but I can't begin to tell you how much she means to me."

"How did I help her? She helped me... Made sure I ate, cared for my wound, helped me escape... I was drugged the whole time."

"But it helped her to have someone to help. And besides, she wouldn't have gotten out if the SAS hadn't been around to help, and they were there because of you."

"I guess..." Wolf said as the door cracked open. "Eagle?"

"You called, Braxley man?" Eagle asked as he looked at him. "You paged me! Over the speaker! It was a cool experience! Everyone stared." He turned towards Wolf. "And you're alive, you're not a zombie! Good! I'm glad!"

Wolf stared. "Good Lord, he had sugar, didn't he?"

"They have an unlimited mountain dew thingie! It's really cool! Braxley man, you showed it to me! Remember? By the way, Wolf," Eagle said, tone growing slightly more serious, "I don't know why I got called down here, but you look guilty. You didn't do nothing wrong, man. See, if I hadn't been captured, I wouldn't have been allowed access to unlimited caffeine reflis. Right, Braxley man?"

" 'Braxley man'?" he muttered under his breath, confused.

"It's my nickname for you, man!"

Wolf felt compassion for the man. "Translation: Hi, my name is Eagle, and I've been allowed caffeine for the first time in two months." He turned to Eagle. "His code name is 'Stingray," he lied.

"Not Braxley man."

"Your codename is Stingray? That's so cool! I didn't know Delta got code names!"

"Since we're working with SAS on this one, and some guy is having fun making stuff up," Braxley explained, going along with it for the sake of his dignity.

"Ahhhhh," Eagle said, as if he were all-knowing. Then he was back again. "Hey, Wolf-man? How come Snake-man told me not to combine Mountain Dew with morphine?"

Wolf looked at Braxley. "It was your great idea to bring him in. So, you're not mad at me, then?"
"Why would he be mad at you, Wolf-man? I'm not mad at you either. The only reason why I'm not mad at Stingray-man is because he's allowing me unlimited access to the caffeine."

"When did I allow you unlimited access to caffeine?" Braxley demanded. "And just call me
Braxley! Nothing else!"

"When you showed me where the mountain dew thing was," Eagle explained, as if that had all the logic in the world. "And why call you Braxley when I could call you Braxley-man? It's much more fun."

"Word of advice," Wolf responded, looking much more refreshed with Eagle there, "Don't let him have sugar on morphine. Ever." He then changed the subject. "Eagle, where do they have Alex's body?"

"I don't know where they have Alex's body," Eagle said. "Only Alex knows that. He's wandering the halls somewhere."

Braxley frowned, looking at Wolf. "I thought you said he was dead."

"I did say he was dead."

"But why would you do that? He's not dead," Eagle said. "Stingray-man, Wolf can come up with some weird theories sometimes-"

"For the love of God, and my sanity, please don't call me that again," Braxley finally snapped.

"Okay, Braxley-man... I don't know why Wolf-Man is saying that Alex is dead."

"I am going to strangle you!"

"Please don't. I'm only trying to help. I saw Alex sitting at the table eating dinner."

"Don't make it worse," Wolf snapped. "I saw the video with him dead."

"Where is he?" Braxley asked. "If he's not dead, I'll go get him and bring him here."

Eagle frowned. "Wolf-man, you really think Alex is dead? But why? I told you he wasn't."

"I think the morphine is hurting his logic; could you explain to him in clearer terms?" Wolf asked Braxley. "I can't think that he's alive and then be crushed all over again."

Braxley sighed. "Look, Snake's off all drugs. I'll go find him and get him to explain what's really going on." He left the room, leaving the two by themselves.

Eagle sobered up. "Wolf, I'm sorry that you got hurt. It's all my fault."

"And what exactly would you have done differently?"

"Not let you get hurt."

"How, when, and where? Were you supposed to keep me from getting kidnapped by Matt? You did the best you could. It's not your fault. These bullet wounds have Matt's name on them. Not yours."

"Yeah, but-"

"Should I blame myself for you being tortured?"

"No, but-"

"Then you can't blame yourself for me being tortured."

"You make everything too simple, Wolf-Man."

"Don't make me smack you, super-caffeinated-Eagle-Man."

"They named you Fridge," Alex said, blinking twice in disbelief.

"Yeah... See, my stomach would growl so loudly they gave up trying to starve me and fed me more than everyone else got. I eat more than people regularly do," she explained. "Of course it meant they couldn't starve me as punishment, so they would just beat me instead." Under her breath, she muttered, "Although it's not like that went well."

Niles glanced at her. "You look... Like I know you from somewhere."

"I think we may have met before... What's your name, outside of the slave business? I think you were called Monotaro back then..."

"Niles," he said with a smirk. "Niles Martin. Or... Hey Alex, what's Eagle's last name?"

Alex frowned. "I don't know. Where is he, anyway?"

"I think someone finally chased him away from the mountain dew machine," Niles said.
"Oh God, he got sugar? But he's already on morphine!"

"Why is that a bad thing? You know Dad likes Mountain Dew."

Braxley entered, heading towards Alison. He nodded at the others, and then asked her, "Do you know where Snake is? I'm trying to find someone..."

"Not a clue." She glanced at the other two. "But they might know where the person is."
He looked over at them. "Do you know if there's an Alex somewhere around here?"

"Yes, he is somewhere around here," Niles spoke up. "Why do you ask?"

"Niles!" Alex said, whacking his friend lightly on the head. "Just say I'm right here!"

"Okay, sorry. Yes, Alex is sitting next to me. He's not in trouble, is he?"

"No... If you don't mind, your brother doesn't believe you're alive right now. You might want to fix that before Eagle has to strangle him to make him believe him."

Alex's mouth dropped open to an 'o'. "Wolf is... he's okay? Like, not hurt? Because Matt told me he was dead!"

Braxley's expression fell into one of disbelief and pity for himself at having to deal with this. "...Just come with me and we'll sort this out. If the rest of you want to come too, that's fine."

"I'm going to make sure you don't hurt Alex," Niles said. "How far are we going? This place is really cool."

"I'm not going to hurt anyone unless they're part of the drug ring." He muttered, "Or Eagle, if he keeps calling me Braxley-man."

Alison spluttered with laughter, and he shot her a half-hearted glare. "He's calling you what?"

She glanced at the others. "I think he said our family members were dead to make us feel like there was no one else for us to come home to. I heard others who were told that too. I guess we all got suckered into it." She glanced at Braxley. "He tried to convince me you were dead, too."

Braxley put a comforting hand on her shoulder for a moment before dropping it back down to his side. He led the group to the hospital room where Wolf and Eagle were still at. He pushed open the door, letting the rest in.

"Ohhh! Niles! You're here! And look, a girl! I think I recognize you! Alex, good! See, he's not a ghost!"

"Alex?" Wolf asked.

"DAD!" Alex yelled, launching himself into his brother and embracing him with a hug before breaking down into tears of pure joy.

Eagle turned to Alison. "I think I saw you once... They called you a fridge... But I don't know why, you're skinny."

Niles smacked himself on the head. "Note to self: Never give Dad morphine and mountain dew at the same time. Ever. Again."

"So, why do they call you Fridge? And is that really your name? Because I can't call you fridge-man; you're a woman... So should I call you fridge-woman?"

She hit him. "No, my name's Alison. And don't call me Alison-woman."

"So... should I call you... Alison-man?"

Niles spoke up, getting in front of Alison. "Dad. She said to call her Alison."

"Niles-man, Alison doesn't have quite the same ring to it as Alison-man does," Eagle said. "Don't you agree?"

"To never give you sugar again? Yes. Hey, Alison, wanna help me wind him down?"
She hit him again. And then once more.

"Braxley-man! Alison-man hit me!"

Braxley whacked him again.

"Wolf-man! Braxley man hit me!"

"Nobody blames him, Eagle!" Wolf said. "Niles, you're more mature than your father. Anyone ever tell you that lately?"

"What's 'mature?'"

"So what happened?" Wolf asked Alex, trying to ignore Eagle's banter.

"I thought you were dead, that's what Matt said anyway."

"Well, Matt clearly lied. I watched a video of Ben shooting you-"

"He had to too keep his cover, he warned me beforehand. He shot me in the leg. Barely. I didn't even need stitches. See?" Alex asked, pulling up his pant leg. "I just had to drop down and play dead. I'm sorry for scaring you."

"It's okay. I'm sorry I haven't been there recently."

"It's okay," Alex said. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too."

"Hey," Niles spoke up, "What's mature? And Dad, why are you adding 'man' to every sentence? I think I need a nap, do you want a nap?"

"I think he needs some common sense about shutting up before he gets hit again," Alison muttered.
Niles glanced warily at her before the door opened. Butterfly stepped in. "Supper's ready. And, uh, I'm told to tell this room specifically that the mountain dew drink has been disconnected."

Niles turned from the door and stared at her. "What's your name?" he asked softly, something hitting him full-force.

She looked at him, confused. "They called me Butterfly, but it's actually Natalie Martin."

"Your last name is Martin too," Niles said, almost as if he was in a trance. The room grew quiet. Even Eagle was quiet. He was also the first to speak up.

"Ohhhh," Eagle said, "Your last name is Martin. Should I now pronounce you husband and wife?"

"DAD!" Niles said. He turned towards Natalie. "Did you used to have a mother who lived in France?"

"Yes, but-"

"Did she used to do drugs?"

"Yes, but-"

"Did you used to have a younger brother named Niles?"
She stared at him.

"Did she sell you for d-d-rug money?" Niles stuttered.

"What are you waiting for? Ask her out already," Eagle said.

"Eagle, shut up!" Alex and Niles said in unison. Niles turned towards Natalie. "I think you're my s-sister. I was born in France, had a mother who sold me for drugs, and had an older sister named Natalie," he said, pulling out his identification card and showing it to her.

"I..." she began, looking confused. "C-Can't it be a coincidence?" She looked at Eagle. "Wait, you said he was your father!"

"He adopted me," Niles explained. "Because I d-don't know where mom is." He grew silent. "And I don't want to live with her again. Do you?"

She shook her head numbly. After an awkward moment, she embraced Niles. Niles awkwardly hugged her back, too.

"And now," Eagle said, completely serious, "You may now kiss the bride."

Alex buried his face in his hands. "Niles, I wish you luck. If you want my help strangling him later, it'll be fine."

Alison and Alex both smacked Eagle in unison.

"Ow!" Eagle complained before turning to Brittany. "So wait, you're his sister..." he let his voice trail

off, and his tone became completely serious. "Do you have any family?" he asked.

"N-no..." she said.

"Now you do," Eagle told her.

She smiled shyly.

"Unfortunately," Alex said, "that means that not only do you get your brother back, you also get his father, me, my father and brother, anyone else in the unit - well, maybe not Ben, we're not sure what's going on with that guy but at least he didn't kill me -, and the sergeant. And some others too. Good luck. You need it."

Wolf grunted. "Hey, at least someone turned off the Mountain Dew. Hey, are there crutches here? I'm not lying down for dinner. Alison, did you tell them to get me crutches?"

"No, because I'm not a considerate person," she replied, leaving the room.

"Braxley? What about you, can you get me some crutches?"

"That's what she's going to do."

"But I thought she wasn't going to get me crutches."

"She said she didn't tell anyone to get you crutches, but since you mentioned it, that's what she's doing now. Have patience."

"Oh," Wolf said. Sure enough, Alison was back two seconds later. Wolf loaded himself on to the crutches after Alex had moved out of the way of a near-miss. "See, Alison? I'm taking medical assistance."

"Yeah, yeah."

- one day later -

Brittany stood beside Niles, leaning on his shoulder. She was also walking on crutches, because Snake had pointed out that her leg had been broken a long time ago but had never healed correctly.

They'd had to re-break the leg and reset it, and now she was on crutches again. She just joked that now she was like Wolf.
Wolf seemed to be recovering more quickly than Brittany, even though Snake wasn't letting him off the crutches for any reason whatsoever - "not even when we're under gunfire!" Snake had added -, and he was healing.

## break ##

Today Alison and Braxley were saying goodbye and going back to America for some much needed Rest and Relaxation. Braxley had been granted a few weeks off by Delta. "So, are you ready to eat more than one meal a day?" Wolf asked Alison as he ruffled her hair. The two were waiting by the door.

Brittany and Niles were nearby. Brittany gave up standing, and slid onto the nearby chair. "Or are you going to force it down my throat again?" he teased.

"I don't know, do you want me to?" she teased back. "Thanks for everything."

"You're welcome. So, do you still feel like it's your fault that I got shot? Or are you content to blame Matt now?"

"It seems like we just blame Matt for everything, so why the hell not?"

"So, you going to keep in touch?" Natalie asked. "Eagle got me a cell phone, like Niles'."

"Yeah," Niles spoke up, "only hers is pink." He made a face.

Alex grinned. "Yours is hot red."

"Yours is orange," Niles told him, "I'll take hot red, thanks."

"I couldn't figure out the regular phone, so Braxley and I just decided to screw it," Alison said.
"So is that a yes or a no?" Brittany asked. "Because Eagle let me get unlimited texting, and I can sort of text."

"'Sort of text' is right," Niles agreed. "Last night, she tried to text me that there was a wife in the house. She meant that she was getting wireless internet on her cell phone. You may have to attempt to decode some messages."

"I'm even worse than that," Alison replied. "Well, I think we're going. I've got to get back before a friend of mine eats everything, so..."

Alex shrugged. "Buy even more food, then. What's got you so worried about that? Can't they run themselves out to the store?"

She gives a bit of a nervous chuckle. "No... She's not exactly got the appetite for store bought foods..."

"Hmm," Wolf responded, "Got any nice male friends that you're going back too?"

"What, are you propositioning something?" she teased, although she flushed slightly.

"I think I'm a bit old for you. Actually, guess my age," Wolf said suddenly, a grin in his face. "No hints, Alex."

Alex smacked him.

"...Twenty-eight?"

"Twenty-seven," Wolf smiled.

"Dad, you're twenty-six. Because you said you would have been ten when you had me, and I'm... fifteen..." Alex said, "Wait..."

Wolf sighed. "I don't even have my ID card to verify my age... Drats..." he ruffled Alex's hair. "Alex is correct, I'm 26."

"I've heard it both ways, but are you his brother or father?" Alison asked.

Alex glanced at his brother and smirked.

"Well, my DNA matches me to him at 75%. Does that help?" Wolf asked, baiting her.
"Brothers."

"Good girl, you figured it out."

"Then why's he calling you 'Dad'?"

Challenges: So finally the bad guys are defeated and they're home free...or are they?