Alex stumbled out of his bed and shouldered past Wolf, who continued to curse and yell for Snake again. He found his way to the bathroom down the hall and jerkily locked the door behind him before sinking to the ground, greedily sucking in rapid breaths of air. The teen wasn't there for long, though. Rapidly jerking to his feet and pitching forward to slam into the medicine cabinet behind the mirror, haphazardly jerking it open and pulling out a couple of bottles. His hands shook and the blood pounded in his ears as he filled up a small rinsing cup with water. He opened the first bottle, only for the door to slam open and someone wrestle it from his hands.

"No!"

He struggled for it. He needed it, it helped him. But strong arms pulled him back and out of the bathroom. He was too disoriented to put up a proper fight, somewhere in his subconscious knowing that they weren't trying to hurt him. Alex tripped and stumbled as he was practically dragged away from the bathroom. They didn't go far, just a few meters down the hall, before he was being pushed into a chair, his head forced between his knees with a strong but gentle hand on his shoulders. He greedily sucked in more air, listening to the murmurs from above.

"That's it kid, just breathe. Keep breathing. You're doing good."

Things were a little more clear now, blood no longer pounding in his ears, but his mind wandered back to what had woken him. He tried to jerk up and out of the chair, but the hand on his neck tightened and held him there, another grabbing his wrist as he flailed, trying to put up a fight against his captors.

"Jack!" Where was Jack?! He had to get her out of here. What were they doing to her? Why weren't they making him watch, why aren't they asking questions!?

He strained up against the hands, struggling to break free. Twisting and turning, he tried to get in a good punch. Rough hands pulled him to the ground, arms looping around to hug himself and being held there like a straight jacket. His eyes were open, but all he could see was the image of Jack in his mind, being tortured in front of him. Because of him. He tugged, trying to get his arms back, but knowing he didn't have enough leverage to.

"No! Don't hurt her! I'll tell you everything, just please! Please, let her go!"

"Kid. You gotta snap out of it!"

"Calm down, Wolf! It's not just a panic attack, he's having a flashback! Cub, you're okay. You're safe. K-unit is here. You're in your house. It's Snake. Wolf, Eagle, and Fox are here too. Whatever you're seeing, it's not real. Feel this? That's my hand on your shoulder. You're safe." Snake calmly repeated over and over, crouched in front of the boy with one hand resting on the slim shoulder.

Wolf let out a small sigh of relief as the kid stopped struggling, finally seeming to snap out of it.

"S-Snake?" The timid voice was so unlike what Wolf had expected. He felt a tug on his heartstrings.

"That's right, Cub. It's Snake. The rest of K-unit is here, too. You were getting pretty violent, so Wolf is sitting behind you, okay? You're safe. You're at you're house."

"N-no. You have to find Jack." There was a short silence, only broken by shaky gasps of air before Snake tried again.

"Okay, Cub. It's safe, everyone's safe." He couldn't lie to the kid, but he had to get him back to reality. "I need your help, okay. Can you tell me one thing you can taste?" Snake moved his hand to rub gentle circles on the teen's back.

"A-acid." Snake winced, knowing that Cub was referring to the taste of puke in his mouth.

"Okay, Cub. That's good. Two things you can smell?"

"I c-can only s-smell mucus." He sniffled, as if to prove his point. His eyes were closed now, but his voice sounded stronger. Snake nodded, despite being aware the kid couldn't see.

"Okay. That's good, cub. Really good. Three things you can hear?"

"Uh… Y-You, Wolf cursing."

"One more, kid."

"Eagle. Moving his feet." Clearer, Louder.

"Good, Cub. That's great. Four things you can feel?"

"Your hand, Wolf breathing on my neck, Wolf grabbing wrists, and the carpet." Wolf let go after he said this, deeming the boy calm enough to not lash out again. He didn't move though, and instead let the teen lean back into him. No doubt exhausted.

"Perfect. Five things you can see." Snake stared closely at Cub as he opened his eyes.

There was a moment of silence as Alex processed what was in front of him, before jumping to his feet, Snake and Wolf lurching up as well.

"Shit! I didn't… You didn't…" Alex had gone a brilliant scarlet color, and he looked away as he crossed his arms over his chest protectively.

"What the h-" Wolf was cut of by Snake, the man's hand slapping into his chest as he cut him off and stepped forward.

"You good, Cub?" Snake waited for the boy to answer, seemingly content with the small nod he got.

"You want to talk about it?" A head shake and the teenager's shoulders drew up as he hunched in on himself.

"Okay. Eagle went ahead and cleaned up the mess in your room. How about you go lay down for a bit and I'll bring up some breakfast later?" There was a slightly confused look on the kid's face, but nonetheless he nodded and clumsily made his way up the stairs. As soon as he was out of sight, Wolf turned to Snake and hissed lowly at him.

"What the hell, Snake?! You're just going to let him go after that, no questions asked!?"

Snake gave him a look, jaw clenched, "You know damn well that questioning someone against their will after a panic attack or flashback won't do any good. Especially a teenager who doesn't trust us in the first place. Give him time, Wolf. He's adjusting to a lot, and we don't know what he's gone through. From the sounds of it, we can at least put abuse on that list."

Wolf clenched his jaw, but didn't say anything. Team leader or not, nobody wants to piss off the Scottish medic. Especially not by arguing over treatment.

Fox took that moment to clap his hands on their shoulders. "Well, somebody promised the kid food. My ma taught me how to make some great club sandwiches, loved them when I was sick. Maybe you can make a salad on the side, Snake? Oh, Eagle's watching Top Gun in the living room if you want to join him, Wolf."

Goodness gracious great balls of fire!