This was it. This was finally the end. After all those times, you'd think he was used to the feeling. May be he was. Maybe that's why he wasn't scared He was tired. So, so tired. Maybe this was a good thing. Maybe it was a, what did they call it again? A blessing in disguise? Something like that. Jack was with her family now. Everyone would move on. He'd never be in the hands of M16 or Scorpia ever again.

"Hang in there, Cub."

Why? Why would he want to? What did he have left in this world? Yes. This was a blessing. He just wished it didn't hurt so much.

Ignoremei'mjustabreaklineignoremei'mjustabreaklineignoremei'mjustabreaklineignoremei'mjustabreakline

"Hang in there, Cub. We're almost out. Just, just hang in there." Snake mumbled quietly to the unconscious boy in his arms. He doubt the boy could hear him, but this was really more for himself. He needed to quit feeling guilty and move. Snake was walking as quickly as he could, but the Scorpia headquarters were large, and filled with guards circling every exit. Not that there were many exits.

Being a soldier, the man had dealt with death more than the average person. The blood, the cold, pale skin. He'd been through it several hundred times, even more than the others. He was a medic too, after all.

But, Cub. Cub was a child. Cub didn't deserve to die. Not yet. Not now. Not right there in his arms.

Regardless of what the medic wanted, the amount of blood loss was enough to kill Cub. The kid was lucky to still have a pulse.

Snake shifted Cub in his arms. Arms that were covered in crimson red. Snake just walked that much faster.

A moan. A shiver.

"Cub?" He was waking up!

Another moan. Then a whimper.

And then, "I wouldn't move if I were you."

Snake cursed and went for his gun.

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"Hey. Eagle. Talk to me here."

Eagle grunted a reply.

Ben sighed. They were locked up in what seemed like a large empty closet. With Scorpia guards right outside. How could he have let this happen? They were supposed to be rescuing Alex! He had let down the boy, and the rest of his unit was going to get binned, if not killed. Ben hoped Wolf and the others had reunited already and found Cub. They stood a better chance of not getting killed as a unit, after all. Ben was smart. He knew Scorpia wanted them alive. Or else they would have killed them by now. They were being held as hostages. For, - Ben cursed. They were going to trade him and Eagle for Alex. That had to be it. Scorpia never left their enemies alive. Never.

"Eagle. Wolf and the others are coming."

Eagle raised an eyebrow. "And you figured that out…how?" Scorpia was huge. Of course, he had no doubt they were trying to find them. Just, if they could or not.

The man was starting to look pale. From blood loss. He was dripping with blood. Ben tried to focus on the issue.

"We're being used as bait. They want Ale- Cub. "

"Great." Eagle hated playing bait.

"We're just gonna have to wait."

"Not much else to do, genius."

"You get grumpy when you're in pain, don't you?"

"Shut up, Fox."

Ben was trying to keep conversation going. There wasn't much he could do about Eagle's wound. They were tied up, after all. His partner didn't look great. He could probably last an hour of bleeding. He didn't know. He wasn't a medic, like Snake. God, he wished Snake was here right now.

"They'll come find us."

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"I'll tell you one last time. Shut. Up."

"I'm just saying, you should have listened to me. We needed back up. Two SAS soldiers in the middle of Scorpia Headquarters. Two! Have you ever heard of that before? Have you, oh fearless leader? And now look where you got us?"

Wolf didn't need a reminder. He knew he had screwed up royally. And his whole unit was going to pay. Hawk was right. He should have went out with Snake to get back up. But he had been an idiot. An idiot who didn't want to leave his comrades behind.

The door opened.

"Shut up, Hawk."

"Snake!"

Was that alright? Personally, I didn't like this chapter. I hope you all did though. What do you think of those flashbacks? I wanted to include them because I keep on feeling like there isn't enough Alex Rider in this. The story will pick up in the next few chapters, so keep reading. And reviewing. ;)

~Cat