A/N: Hi again! Right. firstly I just wanted to thank you all for favoriting/following this story, it means so much to me and i am absolutely amazed at the number of people who have done so. I'm also not too sure how long its been since I updated cause my life has been a bit hectic lately. We came home from our holiday and had to put our dog down:'( and then the usual friend drama and schoolwork and so on. but i have been slowly chipping away at this, i swear!:) not too sure how good this'll be but oh well. here it is, Chapter 4! i also apologize for any mistakes having to do with the SAS or the fighting. i know nothing about all that so im just guessing.

and a side note to all those who thought i wasn't going to continue this story: never fear! I'm not going to abandon any of my stories so this one will get updated until its done (hopefully)

Disclaimer: ...one can always hope

Ever since Alex had rejoined the SAS with Matt, he had been avoiding K-Unit to the best of his abilities. He didn't really expect them to recognize him but the young spy wasn't going to take any chances. When they had been called to the sergeants office he knew it couldn't be good and now standing in front of K-Unit and Ben Daniels he knew something was wrong. Either he had left something out or made a mistake or something because there was no other reason for Ben to be here.

"Close the door." The Sergeant ordered.

After moment of very awkward silence he spoke again.

"E-Unit, this is Agent Daniels. He is with MI6."
The expressions on the faces of E-Unit was those of surprise and curiosity. The sergeant gave them a hard look before continuing.
"Agent Daniels will be temporarily joining K-Unit and I expect you answer any and all questions he may have. Truthfully. Is that understood?"

A unison of 'yes sir's' were heard throughout the room. The sergeant turned to K-Unit.

" You will be training together for the next few weeks, today excluded. I want no complaints from you lot. Dismissed."

The group of men exited the office in a state of shock and confusion, not entire sure what had just happened. If an MI6 agent was here, something must be going on. As soon as their boots touched the muddy ground outside, Badger turned to Agent Daniels.

"So, Agent Daniels. MI6…. What are you doing here then?"

The agent kept his ground and simply looked at the man in front of him.

"It's Fox. And as to why I'm here is none of your business."

The leader of K-Unit was watching this unfold with a clear look of distaste plastered onto his face. His eyes were narrowed at the new solider, almost as if he had a personal vendetta with the man. Lynx was watching this all with the air of interest and slight amusement.

"Will you at least tell us why you need to ask us questions? I mean what've we got to do with MI6?"

Hawk seemed to know not when to keep his mouth shut, as usual, and it earned him a steely glare from Fox.

"Confidential." Was the only response before he stalked off towards the barracks.

Cobra sighed at the retreating figure before turning his attention to the leader of K-Unit.

"Right. Well, have you gotten the new training schedule then?"

Snake stepped out from behind his leader and handed him a piece of paper.

"We have combat training first thing tomorrow morning in warehouse B. Don't be late."

The entire of K-Unit had frowns placed upon their faces as they walked away, leaving E-Unit to talk amongst themselves about the day's events.

"Alex, come on mate. Work with me here? What aren't you telling me?"

"Just drop it, will you?!"

Tom Harris took a step back and stared at the boy in front of him.

"Fine. But don't come running back to me when something else happens."

"Tom-"

"Forget it, Alex. I get it."

It was after school on a Wednesday and Tom and Alex were in Alex's bedroom. Alex tried to make Tom stay but his friend was having no part in that. He had been trying to get Alex to open up and talk to him, to tell him what had happened on his latest mission, for almost 3 weeks. He had come back from Egypt acting like a completely different person and refused to tell anyone anything. He stormed out of the house with Alex in tow, ignoring his name being called. As the young spy reached the front steps of the house, his finely tuned senses kicked in screaming 'danger!'. Someone was here. Before Alex could react he heard the gun and the cry of pain followed by another shot and a thump. He ran up to his friend and dropped to the ground. There was a pool of blood forming under his black hair. Alex cried out his best friend's name as he held his head in his lap. He was like that until the ambulance and the police showed up. The authorities had to tear him away from the body and load him into the ambulance. The tears kept coming. Only after the medic asked him how much pain he was in did he realize that the cry of pain had been his as he looked over to find his shoulder covered in blood. He couldn't feel it. He was numb. He was empty. He was the reason so many bad things happened to the people around him whom he cared for the most. And then he felt it. The pain. But not because of the bullet, because of all the death he had brought. It was his fault Jack was gone after all, wasn't it? Her and now Tom…both there for him but now they were both…..

Gone.

Alex woke up a sweaty mess, the shadow of pain lingering on his shoulder. He slowed his breathing before swinging his feet over the side of his bed and slowly getting up. After checking the clock he grabbed a towel and a change of clothes before making his way to the showers. It was 4:23 and the camp was still sound asleep. He could hear the sounds of all the wildlife coming from the forest and had to force himself to calm down. His finely tuned spy senses couldn't help but think of everything as a threat. What's that saying? Old habits die hard? Yeah, that's nightmares weren't as bad as before and they came less often but when they did decide to grace him with their presence, it was worse than 5 bad dreams combined and then some. The luke warm water washed over his clammy skin, washing away the last bits of the memory. As the water beat down on his back, Alex sighed. He really hoped these didn't keep up, especially now that he would be training with Ben and K-Unit.

"I can't believe the sergeant is making us do this!"

Cobra was whining about K-Unit as they made their way to warehouse B for combat training. Him and Badger were the only two members of the unit to have had any prior encounters with K-Unit, although Lynx and Hawk had heard stories about the famous K-Unit and all the things they had done. The unit had just recently come back from a mission somewhere in Afghanistan just a few months prior.

"I mean, honestly?! What've we got to do with freaking MI6?!"

Badger finally cut him off sharply, having had enough of Cobra's whining. "Shut it, Cobra. Before I make you."

Hawk and Lynx were snickering as they entered the warehouse to find K-Unit once again staring at them.

Snake was the first to speak up. "Right, now that you all are here, let's get started."

There was a chorus of groans from everyone in the room as Snake continued to take charge.

"Since there's an uneven number of us, we're going to rotate after every round. Let's start with me against Cobra, Badger against Wolf, Hawk against Eagle and Lynx against Cheetah."

As the men to into position, Alex was silently cursing Blunt and everyone he could think of that had anything to do with the world of espionage. But mostly just Blunt. If he hasn't dragged Alex into this mess he wouldn't be here right then having to fight SAS men and an MI6 agent. Just his luck. Fox hit the timer and signaled the start. Alex stood there in a ready stance across from his opponent. His eyes took in everything from the way Cheetah held himself to his breathing pattern and even the cluster of boxes in the corner of the room. And all this was done in 10 seconds. Cheetah launched himself forwards, going on the offense. Alex ducked his first punch and got in a well aimed one of his own at the mans stomach. As he staggered backwards, Alex sent another punch followed by a roundhouse. Cheetah blocked the punch and the kick only to retaliate with one of his own, throwing the spy off balance. He jumped up, narrowly avoiding yet another kick and went for the knees. As the fight went on, Alex's instincts took over and he was lost in the fight. Punch, jab, kick, block, duck, punch, elbow. It was like the young spy was on autopilot. After a good 6 minutes of fighting, Cheetah was on his back and Lynx was on top of him.

"The hell was that, mate?! Holy shit!" Cheetah groaned as he rolled over, clutching his bloody nose.

Lynx slipped off him and stuck out a hand, which the other man gratefully accepted. Snake and Cobra were already done, as were Hawk and Eagle, leaving only Wolf and Badger. They grappled for another 2 minutes before Wolf caught Badger off guard and flipped him over onto his back, knocking the wind out of him. Fox looked at Badger with something that looked suspiciously like sympathy as he handed him the stopwatch and took his place. The Units rotated around and got back into their defensive positions, eying each other with various expressions. Alex looked up to see none other than Fox. He was giving Alex the odd once over every time he thought he wasn't looking that was somewhat unnerving. Badger signaled the go and the men once again launched themselves at each other. Alex easily dodged Fox's blow only to be hit by another on his other side. The agent gave him a look that said he wasn't messing around. Alex cursed under his breath. How was he supposed to keep his cover when he had to go up against another agent? He had done it before and the fighting style between the SAS and MI6 operatives was immense. Although both deadly, one was more stealthy, graceful and calculated while the other was more forceful and less agile. One wouldn't know the difference had they not fought against both. His decision was made for him as Fox tried to deliver a blow that only the quickest and most skilled could block. His arm shot up and met with Fox's. The expressions on both their faces slipped into hard, frightening masks. Alex's mind went on autopilot, anticipating the moves before they happened. When the small shred of intelligence found its way back into his mind, the young spy made a split second decision and he purposely miscalculated his block and Fox landed a painful blow to his stomach, causing him to fall to the ground in pain. It was nothing Alex hadn't ever dealt with before but painful nonetheless. Two of the other pairs were still sparring and Hawk and Snake were watching the remaining men. Fox put out his hand for Lynx. Both men were breathing heavily.

"Where'd you learn to fight like that?" he questioned the younger man.

Lynx stood up and groaned. "I am the combat expert. I'm supposed to know how to fight, aren't I?"

"Look, smart ass. You know what I mean. You don't fight like a soldier. Your movements are too fluid and fast."

"Lovely" was Lynx's curt response as he turned away to watch the others finish up.

Fox watched as the blonde solider turned away and pretended to watch the other fights. There was something about him. Something the spy couldn't quite place, although he had his suspicions. Now he just had to prove them. As far as he could tell, it was a tie between Lynx and Hawk being the man he was looking for.

By the time the units finished with their combat training it was lunch. They trudged up to the mess hall, beaten and sore. Eagle and Hawk had gotten into a serious conversation about their pudding privileges while Fox and Wolf argued, leaving the rest of the soldiers to walk in silence. After each going through the line to pick up their 'lunch', the two units split at different tables. Hawk was massaging his shoulder while Snake glared moodily at his mush. Lynx was nursing his sore nose in between bites leaving Badger to his thoughts. The leader couldn't help but wonder. His questions had been voiced many times already but he still wondered. Why exactly was 'Fox' here and why did he seem to have zeroed in on the two youngest members of E-Unit? It just didn't make sense. None of it. Badger was convinced he would drive himself mad trying to answer all the questions he had swimming around in his head but he was determined to get some answers anyway. Suddenly Lynx threw down his fork and picked up his tray.

"I'm going for a walk" he mumbled as he dropped the tray in the trash and stalked out the door, still nursing his nose. Snake and Badger exchanged a confused glance. What was his deal? Hawk sighed and put his own cutlery down gently.

"I'll go talk to him."

The young solider followed his comrade out the door and disappeared. Fox watched this all with an air of intrigue. The Sergeant hasn't been told much about his reasons for being sent back here, nor had he felt the need to inform the man. The less he knew, the better off the mission would be. Fox knew firsthand how curious the Sergeant could be. He had been granted permission to question the men when and where he deemed fit. They were even ordered to oblige. Of course the spy would have no problem finding out all he needed to know.

"Lynx?"
Hawk called out his comrades name as he walked past the forest. For as long as he had known the man, it seemed he could disappear into thin air at the drop of a hat; a trait that Matt had long ago become accustomed to. After Alex, sorry-Lynx had abruptly left the canteen he knew something was up. They had been at Beacon Breacons for about a year and everything seemed to be going smoothly, despite the small fact that Alex had never actually told him what was going on. He was dying to know but understood the severity of their situation none the less. As Hawk was walking past one of many trees, Lynx appeared and landed in front of him. Hawk looked from the man to the tree.
"Seriously? A tree?"
Lynx narrowed his eyes at his friend and turned to walk in the opposite direction.
"Yes, a tree. It's the one place that people don't look."
"Okay..." Hawk jogged to catch up.
"Hey mate, what's up? You ok?"
The blonde raised his eyebrows at his friend.
"You just seem a bit tense."
Lynx snorted. "Tense..."he muttered. "If only."
"Care to explain?" Prompted Hawk.
As Lynx made to reply he suddenly froze, causing Hawk to almost walk into him.
"What-?"
"Shh!" He snapped. "Someone's here."
"Lynx I don't think-"
"There you are! I've been looking all over for you two!" Cobra emerged from behind a tree and walked towards them. "We're scheduled for the obstacle course in 5 so you better get your arses moving!"
The blonde soldier got over his surprise and followed his fellow team member out of the forest, Hawk in tow. Alex couldn't help but wonder how much longer he and Matt had left here, if any at all. Ben didn't seem to be giving any indications that he was giving up on his prying either. That didn't leave him with many options. As the three men exited the forest, a shadowed figure darted behind them and disappeared into the trees. None of the soldiers noticed this but Alex was left with a dark sense of foreboding none the less.

A/N: Et voila, chapter 4! What did you all think? I'm not quite sure where exactly 1i'm going with this story just yet but I'm sure I'll come up with something in the end:)next chapter will be up ASAP!

i feel so very accomplished! i have succeeded in converting one of my friends to the Alex Rider fandom! MWAHAHAHA *ahem* anyways, dont forget to REVIEW!

:D