Alex Rider : Traitor or Mistaken?

Chapter 21

K-unit sat around in the dimly lit room, waiting and listening carefully for anything that might give away where they were being held and whether they were bringing Cub back or not. They hadn't known how much time had passed but the unit was getting restless just sitting around and doing nothing. Finally, they heard footsteps outside and the door to their cell opened. Two men stood, rifles on their backs and guns on their belts. They were holding someone in between them and the person seems like he was unconscious as he hung limply between the two men. His hands were bounded behind him and he was blindfolded.
"Cub." Snake muttered in horror as he took in the blood that was still oozing from most of the wounds and the other spots caked with dried crusty blood. It seemed like they had been using Alex as a cutting board and a coaster for hot objects seeing as there were multiple burns on the boy's skin. The guards threw Alex into the cell nonchalantly, watching with a smirk of satisfaction when the boy hit the floor heavily before shutting the door after throwing one last sadistic grin at the unit.
The unit quickly moved to their teammate to check on him but he had been more conscious than they had first thought as the boy had rolled away from them into a sitting position, they cringed as they watched Alex roll onto his injuries but he seemed unfazed by it. His head was turned to face them as if he could see them through the blindfolds. He tensed when the unit tried approaching again. "It's okay Cub, it is just us." Wolf said carefully, using Alex's SAS codename to address him to let him know who 'us' was. They let out a small sigh of relief when the boy relaxed slightly, no longer moving away when they came closer.
"I'm going to take your blindfolds off now, Cub," Fox explained, not wanting to spook the boy and cause more harm than good if he flinches away. Alex sat on the floor, letting them do what they have to do to free him from his restraints. Eagle grimaced at the bruising and at the way the rope had cut into Alex's wrists. It seems like the boy had put up quite a struggle. While it was good for them to see that MI6 and Scorpia hadn't diminished the boy's fighting spirits, it was also upsetting to them to see someone so young having marks of torture, marks of having to struggle against restraints. Eagle gingerly picked at the ropes, praying that whatever he was doing wasn't hurting Alex. A soft quiet voice reached their ears, "You don't have to treat me like I'm fragile, Eagle."
"I just. I cannot fathom how someone can do this to a child." Eagle exclaimed, angry. Alex sighed, he understood where Eagle was coming from but there was nothing that he could do about it. Snake fussed about grumbling in his native tongue - Scottish Gaelic. The rest of the unit stared in confusion at what Snake was grumbling under his breath about, looking at Alex only to see him sighing quietly with a small smile on his lips. It came as a surprise to all of them when Alex spoke in the same gibbering sounds that the rest of the team feels like they are hearing from their team medic. Snake had been so shocked he almost hurt Alex when he moved too fast, apologising profusely when he saw the wince on the teen's face.
"Why are you two speaking gibberish?" Eagle asked, making Snake glare at him for insulting his native language.
"It is not gibberish. Snake is from Scotland, naturally, his family would have taught him Scottish Gaelic." Alex explained, amused by the fact that Snake was still sending Eagle death glares.
"How did you know the language then, Cub?" Fox asked, curious. Alex glanced at his arm, wondering how to scratch away his itchiness from his half mutilated arm. He then decided to ignore it so that it didn't freak everyone else out that he was scratching where he shouldn't even have exposed to the open air and ready to get infected.
"I dunno. When I first joined the team, I noticed Snake's accent. I had gotten bored during my spare time and I remembered where Snake was from so I picked up the language. It wasn't difficult really..." The rest stared.
"Believe me I tried telling them that and they cried seeing the alphabet sheet." Snake muttered in Scottish Gaelic, making Alex chuckle lightly. The others decided that it must be something embarrassing so they wisely decided not to ask any questions about it, knowing Alex who was ruthless when it comes to roasting people.
"You speak Spanish too right? Why have you learnt Spanish?" Wolf asked, settling into a more comfortable position after making sure that Alex was doing as okay as he can be. "Seems like fun." Alex said casually, like picking up a language was as easy as he had said it was. The rest sighed, they'd have to learn to stop questioning the teen's ability to do things that seem almost improbable. Alex's hand went to pick at something he felt sticking out a little, Snake had to grab his fingers to stop him from doing further damage. It irked them that he didn't even flinch from touching the wound. "You shouldn't touch it, you'll make it worse and get infected." Snake reminded.
"Oh right. Sorry." Alex muttered, lowering his head like a child that just got reprimanded. They looked at each other in amusement, it was so rare for them when Alex acts his age. If only it was not during a time where they are kidnapped and he had just been dumped back into the room with bloody wounds.