Final Chapter!

Alex's POV

It was time for the final challenge... one that I'd drawn out of a 'hat' because I'd been nominated team leader.

"You're sure you want me, to do this?" I asked around, meeting Kitten's, Zebra's, and finally Puppy's eyes.

"Yes." The answer was unanimous.

"I've got horrible luck..." I tried, I really didn't want to be the final key in two of their demises.

Kitten scoffed. "Right, and I'm Queen of England!"

"Just drawn the damn challenge!" Zebra exclaimed as Puppy wrung out his hands.

"Fine!" I tossed my hands in the air in defeat. "But I guarantee you'll all regret this..." I muttered loudly as I reach into the helmet that the sergeant help between his hands.

"As long as it isn't linguistics I'm fine with whatever." Puppy said as I pulled out a card and held it out of view.

"Why linguistics?" I asked just before I glanced down.

"Because my French sucks." The man answered.

"Ahh," I trailed off as I read the card. "You know that as long as you're proficient that linguistics isn't all that important..."

Puppy saw right through my 'soften the blow' techniques. "You drew linguistics, didn't you?" He asked, his shoulders and tone already betraying his defeat.

I sighed and crumpled the paper. "Yeah... look, I'm sorry... but I did tell you that I was bad luck, didn't I?" I tried to joke.

"Linguistics!" Kitten exclaimed.

I shook my head, the entire team knew that she could speak French, Swedish, and Finish fluently, along with a proficiency in Portuguese.

"That's not too bad." Zebra muttered as she left the room, thinking only of herself. She could speak German fluently along with near fluency in Arabic.

"Do you think I have a chance?" Puppy asked me as soon as the two women were gone.

"Honestly?" I asked. The man nodded an I decided to not answer his question anyways. "You're my favorite for the job." And with those words I dashed out before Puppy could realize that I hadn't really answered his question.

Puppy's POV

"I'm doomed." I muttered to myself, swiping a hand through my hair. "Dammit!" I shouted and heaved my chair across the room. "I really wanted this..." I whispered and forced myself not to break down. "I really wanted this..."

I collapsed against the wall, slowly sinking to the floor in the corner farthest from the door. "I deserve it, I earned it!" I exclaimed angrily. "I'm the best!"

Running another hand against my buzz cut I had to struggle against tears. "And I'm not going to get it..."

My shoulders drooped and my face fell as I realized the truth of my words. "It's all over... Kitten's going to get the job because she has 'daddy connections'!" I realized out loud, the silly woman was constantly bragging about her father's friends.

"And Zebra is doing better than me too!" I ragged. "And she's not even good!" This made me realized something. "If she's not good and still better than me... where does that leave me?" I asked, horror now written upon my face.

"Don't." I voice said softly from across the room.

I glanced up, startled. The fair haired man that had tied my up was sitting upon one of the tables in the room. "Don't what?" I asked angrily.

"Don't start doubting yourself. Cub said it, you're his favorite pick. That means a lot and he wouldn't have said if he doesn't mean it." The man replied as he stared down at me.

"Really?" I asked anxiously, maybe my dreams weren't completely crushed after all.

"Why don't you answer that one for yourself." The man answered after a long pause.

Confusion clouded my face as I glanced down, when I looked back up the man was gone.

Kitten's POV

"Pouvez-vous me montrer le chemin vers le restaurant avec le signe rouge et or?

"Kan du visa mig vägen till restaurangen med rött och guld tecken?

"Voitko näyttää tietä ravintola punainen ja kulta merkki?" I asked about the red and gold signed restaurant in three different languages before struggling to ask about it in Portuguese.

"Você pode me mostrar a maneira restaurante sem sinal vermelho e dourado?" I messed up and forgot how to say the word 'the' in Portuguese and using without instead of with.

"Good job, you're very good... for the most part. Send the next woman in." The sergeant declared after a moment.

I nodded, relieved that it was over.

Zebra's POV

"Was ist in dieser Suppe? Es ist Knoblauch?" I asked in German and then again in Arabic. "ما هو في هذا الحساء؟ هو الثوم؟"

"Well done. You were perfect... even though you only know two languages." The sergeant said crisply. "Send Puppy in."

"For the record, sir," I started, not knowing if I would regret the boldness or not. "I can speak three languages... the last time I check English counts." I fled the room before I could be binned.

Puppy's POV

I entered the room and sat down slowly.

"How many languages can you speak and how well can you speak them?" The sergeant asked shortly.

"One, fluently, sir." I informed my commanding officer.

"I was just informed by another member of your unit that English counts as one language... so you can speak two fluently then?" The man asked.

"No, sir. I was answering with the knowledge that English counted as a language. I can still only speak one language, fluently, sir." I replied, my defeat evident in my voice.

"Oh..." I honestly think I had taken the sergeant by surprise. "Dismissed. Send Cub in, would you?"

I nodded as I stood and left the room, my tail between my legs.

Snake's POV

"Kitten is moving on." The sergeant told the young man.

"You do know that that's a big mistake, don't you?" He asked without emotion.

"Yes." The sergeant answered with a sigh, rubbing his left temple.

"Oh! Just checking." Cub shouted and exited the room, fuming. "Her death is on your hands!" He called over his shoulder.

"I will be." The sergeant muttered as he stuffed the end of a cigarette into his mouth.

"No," I said. "It's all the higher ups that have ignored who she is and only been looking at who she is." I muttered. "A worthless daughter of an important man."

"I only wish it were that easy... or that I felt the same way as you apparently do." The sergeant sighed again as he sighed the papers.

"I'll inform the, damn, the don't even have a unit name!" I exclaimed. "Do they?" I asked, just to make sure.

"No. This was a test run to see which of them would get into a real unit." The man answered honestly.

"In other words, they weren't good enough and they didn't mean enough to assign a name to..." I said disgustedly.

"Yes." The sergeant said as he nodded.

I marched into the hut to give the bad news.

Kitten was exuberant; Zebra was crushed; Puppy was upset but not surprised; and Cub... he was disgusted. Possibly even more that I was.

"Will I ever see you again? Will any of us see you ever again?" Kitten asked Cub as he began stuffing his belongings into his bag.

I paused just outside the doorway upon hearing the question; I found that I wanted to know his answer.

"No. None of you will." I nodded slightly and took a step way. "That goes for you too, Snake." I smirked sadly, knowing it was true.

Puppy's POV

"If I'm never going to see you again then I think that it's only fair to say, thank you, Cub." I stared into the other man's eyes. "We got off on the wrong foot, from day one, but you were a good friend to me despite it all." I finished.

"Don't give up hope, Puppy." Cub said.

"David." Upon Cub's started look I added. "My name is David Clarkson."

Cub looked my straight in the eye. "You'll be okay, David. You'll do just fine." And with those final words Cub turned and walked away.

I never saw him again, not that I needed to. He was forever etched into my memory as the man the was my hero. The man that, in the end, helped me pack my bags and fulfill my dreams. Maybe they were slightly different that the ones I'd picture as a child... but I still did what made my happy.

Epilogue

Kitten was killed three months after joining the ranks of SAS, a mistake like her was never allowed to happen again.

Zebra went into the private security business and became quite successful; in fact, she ended up marrying one of the rich men she was hired to protect. By the age of thirty she was happy and a mother of more than one child.

Puppy? He left Europe and went to America where he was immediately recruited into the Rangers where his skills were put to use. David Clarkson spent the next several decades fighting for a country he didn't belong to right up until he turned forty-two... and got married to a sweet New Jersey girl. He spent the next few decades of his life chasing after his toddlers and then chasing boys away from his teenager girls.

And Alex? Well you'll just have to read his next adventure to find out what happened to him.

The End

For the record this was Kitten's linguistic thing she had to ask: Can you show me the way to the restaurant with the red and gold sign?

This was Zebra's: What is in this soup? It is garlic?