Phoenix Rising

Adam and Logan appeared in their room back in the unit complex after saying their good-byes to the new group forming up in Hawaii. Adam sighed deeply as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "Damn, I'm ready for another vacation," he said, which caused Logan to chuckle.

"Well, shit, we just got back from one!" Laughing, Logan climbed on the bed behind Adam and started to give his shoulders a hard massage. "Damn, you're tense again; I thought we got that out of you. What's going on?"

Adam sighed as Logan's hands dug into his sore muscles. "It's just coming back here again. Well, it was really nice to go for a while without everyone relying on me to make decisions. Don't get me wrong, Log, I wouldn't trade what I have right now for anything in the universe, but sometimes I just need to get away... you know, take a real break or something." He sighed deeply again. "I know I can't, there's way too many kids out there that need our help. I just wish this world wasn't so fucked up." He turned his head to look at Logan with a slight grin. "It's like one of the books I read while on the Tardis. 'Only a warrior really knows what peace means.' Damn, do I wish for peace right now!"

Logan let out a little bark of a laugh. "I wouldn't let Juan hear you say that. He might take offense at you trying to spoil all his fun." Logan pulled Adam's shirt off, jumped off the bed, and hauled Adam to his feet before stripping him naked. Normally this would have been the start of something sexual, but both boys knew it wasn't. Of course, that didn't stop little Adam from coming up to see what was going on.

Adam laid down on the bed on his stomach, and Logan straddled his hips. He started with Adam's shoulders again, and this time, started to work his way down his back. "You know what the hardest part of all this is?" Adam asked after a few minutes. Getting a grunt from Logan, Adam kept talking. "The hardest part is really knowing that no matter how hard we push ourselves, no matter how hard we try, we can't help everyone."

Logan paused, and after a moment, Adam looked over his shoulder to see his lover scowling down at him. "You do realize that we have been at this for less than two weeks, right? I mean, my God, Adam, in less than two weeks we've taken over eight thousand kids off the streets and given them a home here. Another ten thousand kids, have been placed in loving homes instead of the shit they were in before we got involved. We're ramping up to open more than twenty bases across this country, and another fifty in other countries to do the same thing we're doing here. It takes time, love. It just takes time."

Adam flipped over so he was laying on his back, as Logan pulled his shirt off, and lay down on top of him. Staring eye to eye with his lover, Adam sighed. "I know it does, babe, but dammit, every minute another kid dies 'cause of something we could have stopped. It's hard to know that we're doing the best we can, but it just ain't enough."

"The Pyramids weren't built in one day, you know, love. It takes time to do what needs to be done, but the biggest thing that needs to be done is NOT rescuing kids, it's teaching parents how to be parents. You do know that we have to fight years and years of society's influence here," Logan said, and when he got Adam's confused look, it just reminded Adam that he really had no clue about what real 'society' was like.

Logan closed his eyes for a moment before going into one of his few long-winded tirades. "Society teaches kids that when they grow up, they don't need all the love and closeness with their parents that they had as kids. I'm talking mostly boys here, but basically, it's uncool for boys our age to be caught hugging their parents. Boys are told that crying isn't the right thing to do, no matter what, once they start to grow up. They get told they need to 'man up' or some shit like that. All that teaches, though, is for guys to not know how to show their emotions anymore. Then when they grow up and have kids of their own, they teach their kids the same way they were taught. In order to really make a difference in the lives of kids, you gotta deal with that first."

Logan took a deep breath, then continued, "Then you have to deal with governments that are doing their best to dumb down the general populace, and make them entirely reliant on the government for everything they have. In that way, the governments have full control of people's lives. It's a vicious cycle that only really ends up with the kids hurt. In order to really make any kind of effect in the lives of everyone, we'd have to force changes into not only society, but the governments themselves." Logan paused and Adam looked at him thoughtfully.

"Some of the Governments are already doing that, but not all. The question becomes" as Adam sighs,"how do we force the changes?" and as if on cue, there was a knock on their door.

Before either one of them moved, the door opened, and in walked Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. "Hey, guys!" they called out in unison, totally unfazed at seeing Logan, half naked, laying on top of the fully naked Adam. "We're not interrupting anything, are we?" Theodore asked, trying to stifle a laugh.

Adam sighed again. "Nope, I guess not. What's up, guys?" Adam and Logan both got up out of bed. Waiting for the Chipmunks to explain what they needed, Adam walked over to his dresser to find some clothes to wear.

The three identical boys looked back and forth for a moment, before Simon took a hesitant step forward. Adam couldn't help but raise his eyebrow a bit, as Simon was the one who spoke the least out of the three of them. Simon hesitated a few more times and just couldn't seem to get words to form, so Adam sat down on the bed and motioned for Simon to come over to him. When he did, Adam pulled the small eight-, no nine-year-old, as Adam remembered that they turned nine the other day, up onto his lap and hugged him. "It's okay, Simon. What do you want to tell me?"

"Well, ummm, you see, we thought it was time to tell you about what we's been doing." Simon said cautiously. Logan couldn't help but raise his eyebrows in shock. This was something they had sworn him to secrecy on, and he'd never broken it.

"Okay, Simon, what is it that you want to tell me about?" Adam asked, now more than a little curious.

Theodore and Alvin moved over to join in the cuddle that Adam was giving to Simon. "Well, you have to understand, before we got out of the other place, we all figured out how to get access to the world outside of the lab. At that point, we started making plans for when we would be able to escape and find our brothers. Well, the first thing we did was get us some money, and then we started to buy up some companies. And now, well...."

Logan couldn't help but jump in here. "Now, they own almost as many companies as Master Takamora, and actually are a bit richer."

"But, how?!" Adam asked, clearly shocked.

Logan chuckled as he sat down next to Adam and pulled Alvin into his lap. "These three boys are VERY smart when it comes to business. Being able to see where money can be made, and when something is about to drop." Logan squeezed his younger brother hard with a hug as he snickered out the last part. "They are also extremely ruthless when it comes to dealing with their businesses."

Adam stared at Simon with disbelief as the young boy managed to blush slightly. "You should hear him on the phone with some of our employees," Theodore laughed. "He's like a prepubescent drill sergeant!"

"Well, if they would do what I told them to do instead of what they THINK is best, I wouldn't have any problems!" Simon almost whined out, and the room dissolved in laughter. Adam almost wet himself from laughing so hard.

After a few moments, Adam was able to control himself, and once again he squeezed Simon into his chest. "So why are you telling all of this to me now?"

Simon took a long deep sigh as he blushed again. After a little bit of mental urging from his brothers, Simon finally got himself to talk. "Two reasons really. The first one is that one of our investments is about to come online. We recently purchased and upgraded a major amusement part just outside of Lexington, Kentucky. It opens up tomorrow." He was still speaking softly, but now he had a bit more confidence in his voice.

"That sounds really cool. I take it we can go sometime. You know, Logan, me, and ALL of our boys." Simon seemed to melt into Adam with that pronouncement and almost purr in contentment. Adam knew very well that the Chipmunks' biggest worry was that either he or Logan would reject them.

"Yeah, that would be nice." Simon eventually purred out. After a moment of silence, Simon straightened with a sigh and a smile. "The other thing is this. We just closed on an old mall just outside of Salt Lake City, and we're kinda wondering what we should do with it. The building itself is sound, and huge. The problem was the company that built it didn't think long term enough, and they weren't able to turn profit quick enough to satisfy their debt." He paused long enough to look over his shoulder at Adam, who was quietly smiling at him. "Anyways, we picked it up and planned on trying to open it back up, but we're not really sure what to do with it. You know, what and who we should contract the space out to, things like that. So we thought we'd ask you and Logan and see if you had any ideas."

Adam couldn't help but smile, then stifle a yawn. "Tell you what, guys. It's been a long day, and both Logan and I need some sleep. Why don't we sleep on this, and get together again tomorrow and see what ideas we can come up with?" While Adam was talking, he made sure to hug Simon tighter to him so the young boy didn't think he was just dismissing him.

With a grin, the three boys jumped down to the floor. Both Adam and Logan snickered as the three boys almost fell over themselves trying to hug Adam before they ran out of the room. Twenty minutes later, Adam and Logan both climbed into bed with smiles on their faces: after Logan gave some last minute instructions to Daileass. They were not even asleep before the door to their room quietly opened and there stood Alesia and Demarco. Both of them had been released from the med bay, and were sleeping in their room when they got back. But now, both of them wanted to sleep with their Daddies. Both Logan and Adam moved around to make room for their two newest kids in between them.

---

Donnie slipped out of bed while looking at the clock. It was only zero eight hundred in the morning, but he couldn't sleep anymore. For a few moments he watched as Emily slept. His soon-to-be wife, if he could ever get the time to actually have the ceremony, was still blissfully sleeping, with a small smile on her face. To him the ceremony didn't mean anything other than a chance to celebrate what they have already declared to each other.

He quietly slipped on some clothing, then made his way into the other room to check on their three boys. Leaning against the doorway, Donnie couldn't help but smile as he looked at the boys. As was normal now, they were all in one bed. Instead of the three single beds that were in the room, they had pushed two of them together, and that's where all three slept. Josh, the oldest at ten, and in many ways the most traumatized of the lot, lay on his side with a thumb stuck in his mouth, happily sucking away. Ray, their eight-year-old son, lay on his side in front of Josh, with his arms wrapped around the five-year-old little boy, Kevin. In front of Kevin, clutched in the young boy's arms, was Tiger, one of the teddy bears that Juan and Jory had created. The little bear smiled at Donnie when his eyes fell on him, and Donnie got the message right away. Nothing will ever harm these boys again; not while that little bear was around.

He quietly closed the door and made his way out into the small living area his family shared. Most of the time, they would be out in the main living area of their pod, but every once in a while it was nice to just be with your family, and that's what this space was for.

Making his way over to the kitchenette, Donnie started to prepare himself some coffee. Taking a moment, Donnie looked back over the last few weeks. He decided that yes, things have been hectic, and more than once he had been more scared than he could ever remember, but all in all he was happy.

As he was taking his first sip of coffee, a quiet beep caught his attention. Quickly, he moved over to his in-room console and logged on. He had several messages, but only one marked urgent. Looking at who it came from, he quickly opened it up while taking a seat in front of the console.

He read it over twice before sitting back and quietly moaning. "Doesn't that boy ever get any sleep?" Donnie asked out loud, then he drained his coffee in one shot, got up, and moved back into the bedroom.

Quietly, he moved over to where Emily lay sleeping, and gently woke her up with a long sensuous kiss. As her eyes fluttered open, and she started to return the kiss, Donnie couldn't help but realize, once again, how beautiful she was, and how lucky he was. "Hmmmmmm... that's a nice way to wake up," she said after breaking the kiss. "You trying to start something, soldier?"

Donnie chuckled softly, pulling back to stand up fully. "I'd love to, babe, but I just got a message: Adam needs to see us ASAP... in full uniform."

Emily actually pouted; "Doesn't that boy ever sleep?!"

Donnie couldn't help but bark out a laugh. "That's exactly what I said, then I remembered. The Genesis kids all only need two or three hours of sleep a night, and they are just as rested as we are after eight.It really sucks."

Emily swung her legs off the bed and stretched. Donnie's breath caught in his throat as he once again looked on the naked form of his wife. Several months of military training, where she pushed herself harder than anyone else, had left her body sculpted. She wasn't muscle-bound, but she was VERY toned.

"Quit gawking and toss me a uniform!" Emily said giggling, and Donnie couldn't help but blush a little at being caught. While they were getting dressed, Emily asked the question that was on her mind. "Any idea what he wants?"

"Not a clue, but I have a feeling it's gonna be something big. He wouldn't have asked us to be in full uniform unless it was."

"Yeah, you're right. Okay. I wanna check on the boys quick before we go," Emily said as she made the final adjustments to her uniform. Donnie nodded and followed her out of the room as he was making the final adjustments on his. She made her way down the line, placing a light kiss on each of the three boys' foreheads, then one on Tiger the teddy bear's forehead, which got a small chuckle and smile from the bear. "We gotta go talk to General Adam," she said to Tiger. "If you guys need anything, just ask Daileass, and he can get a hold of us. Okay?"

"Sure thing, Momma Emily," the bear said as he squirmed in tighter to Kevin. Both Donnie and Emily just smiled as they moved out of the room and back into their own.

The two of them had a policy that they both strictly adhered to. They always wore side arms, just in case something happened, but the first thing they did when coming into the apartment was put them in the lock box, and the very last thing they did was retrieve them. They walked over to the in-wall locker that they had installed, and Donnie took the time to do what was needed to open their safe. First was a fingerprint scanner, then a retinal scan, then of course came the pass code. The system was actually designed by Juan, and the only way to open these doors without using that system was to have Daileass do it. However, doing that would set off the alarms, and would only ever work if the base was on red alert. Neither of of them knew exactly how it all worked, but Logan assured them that it did, and if it came to computers, they trusted Logan more than anyone to get it right.

Donnie handed Emily her sidearm, then took out his own and strapped the holster to his side. He then checked to make sure that the clip was full, the safety on, and that there was not a round in the chamber. Once that was done, he slid the pistol home in his holster, and clipped the safety strap in place so the pistol would not fall out. One thing that both Donnie and Emily agreed on, was that firearm safety was of the utmost importance.

Once done, they nodded at each other, and marched out of the room, and up to the conference room that Adam had mentioned in the memo.

Kekoa Casey,he was using that last name, because he refused to use the name of his 'parents.' He was just getting off from his shift at 0800 when he got a message to report to General Adam Casey after he had a chance to shower and change into his dress uniform. Thinking that Adam only needed him to give some more detail to one of his reports, Kekoa wasn't that worried. Adam was a very demanding commanding officer, but he was always extremely fair.

When he got to his room, he quickly stripped down and moved into the shower room. Starting up the water, he got it to his preferred temperature, then proceeded to take a quick but relaxing shower. It hadn't been his hardest shift by any stretch, but it was exhausting none the less. He and his team had executed four rescues and eight pickups during their six-hour shift. For the next six hours, they would be one of the rapid response teams, meaning they were not on duty, but needed to be ready to go within then twenty minutes, if they were needed. After that, they all had twelve hours off. It was a demanding schedule to be sure, but he'd been assured by Adam that the new kids that they had rescued two days before would be ramping up with in the next day. When that happened, his team would only need to pull their shifts once every third day. It would be nice to be able to go back to school. Soldiering was nice, but not what he wanted to do for his entire life.

He got out of the shower, and paused to look at himself in the full length mirror. He was very happy with his body, but once again, his hand moved to the scar on his right shoulder. He still couldn't believe that he had been shot two days ago when they rescued the rest of the Genesis kids, and now all that was left was a scar, and not a big one.

He once again vowed to thank Doctor Janet, and the two medics that worked on him after the battle was over. He was sure that had it not been for them, he would have died. He was told after-wards that the bullet had shattered his shoulder, and a fragment of bone had collapsed his lung. The fact that he forced himself to keep fighting even after he was shot, did not help his shoulder much, but he wouldn't allow himself to fall out while his men were still fighting. Not while he had any say about it anyways. And that is what they were to him. Even the youngest one, who had barely started puberty, in his mind was a man.

While he was getting dressed, he once again let his mind wander back to how he got here. One short week ago, he was one of the oldest of a group of kids that were forced to sell their bodies to tourists visiting Hawaii. At fourteen, he was starting to run out of the sex appeal that many of the 'tourists' wanted, but he still was able to make more than enough to keep a few of the youngest kids from having to do it.

On Monday, Jordan, one of the twelve-year-olds, came back after finishing a job to tell him about what he saw on the news.About Clan Short. Kekoa immediately went down to the local library and got as much information as he could about them, including a phone number. After discussing it with his small group of seven boys, Kekoa made the phone call that changed all of their lives. The special thing about it all was that Monday was also Kekoa's birthday. The day he turned fifteen was the first day of his life without selling his body, and he hadn't looked back once.

Once he was fully dressed in his best uniform, Kekoa moved from his room in search of the conference room that General Casey had asked him to meet at. He still had a hard time believing that he was a captain in the Unit. One of the things that Kekoa was most worried about, was that the kids that had not grown up in the military, or were one of the enhanced Genesis kids, would not be able to make their way into command. However, Adam made it very clear at the beginning of the three-year training that happened in the Tardis, that anyone who wanted to, was capable of, and had the drive to, could become a strike team commander. That was the goal that Kekoa placed for himself, and one that he obtained.

He had kinda wished that more of his small group from Hawaii had wanted to join in, but Jordan, who was now his second in command, was the only one that really wanted to get involved. The rest would, if they needed to, help out other kids. But for the most part, they were trying to get their lives back in order, and move on from the time they had spent living on the streets. He could not blame them in the least, and he still saw them all the time, so it wasn't a big deal.

Once he made it to the third floor of the base, he ran into Jordan, who was also in full uniform. Snapping a salute, Jordan asked him, "Any idea what's going on, boss?"

"Nope, but I doubt it's anything too bad. If we were going to get our asses chewed, I'd imagine Adam would have had us report to his office. This is probably a planning thing, I hope." As they turned the corner they saw Donnie and Emily coming from the other end of the hall. The two duos got to the conference room at the same time, and Donnie, being the senior officer was the one to knock. From inside the door, they heard Adam call out "Enter!" Adam and Logan both stood as the four that Adam requested came into the room, snapped to attention and saluted. Adam returned the salute, then motioned for them to sit. Aiden, Adam's personal assistant, began scurrying around the room, pouring coffee for Emily and the boys, and offering breakfast pastries.

Adam began: "Thanks for coming, guys. Kekoa, Jordan; Donnie and Emily are already aware of the newest Division in Clan Short, but I think you need to be brought up to speed." Kekoa didn't bother to ask why they needed to be brought up to speed, because he knew that when he needed to know, Adam would tell him.

Logan stood up and moved over to a huge screen that covered one wall. Right now projected onto it was a map that had Hawaii as the center piece, and a huge area around it shaded. That area included all of Japan, parts of China, Russia, the US, and Canada, as well as a large number of independent Islands. "This entire shaded area is what is now called the Clan Short Pacific Rim Division. Right now they are based on O'ahu, which is going to be their main base. However, they have another base on that Island, and one more base on each of the remaining islands. Those other bases will be filled up as they rescue more kids. That's where you come in, Kekoa."

Logan moved back over and sat down as Adam took over the briefing. "Kekoa Casey, please rise." Everyone, including Logan who just sat down, sprang to their feet. Adam walked around the table to stand in front of Kekoa, all the while opening a small box. "Due to your intimate knowledge of Hawaii, as well as the distinction that you showed during the recent battle and your training, I am now promoting you to the rank of full bird Colonel. Your new assignment will be to become the commander of the Clan Short Special Forces Units detached to the Pacific Rim Division. You will be assigned twelve strike teams, three helicopters, and all of the support personnel that go along with them, all told just over two hundred people. The civilian authority will be Director Preston O'Brian. He will give you your marching orders. You will be expected to complete these missions to the best of your ability. However, he is not military so you will be the one who actually has to take tactical command and give the orders that will run the missions. Do you understand?" Kekoa simply nodded; he understood what civilian authority meant.

Adam pinned the new rank insignia onto Kekoa's chest, then stepped back and saluted him. Kekoa was so shocked that it took a brief moment, but he quickly returned the salute. "Thank... thank you, General."

"No need to thank me, Kekoa; you earned it," Adam said as he held out his hand and shook Kekoa's. For the next few moments, Adam allowed Kekoa to be congratulated by the rest of the people in the room.

Once everyone was done with the congratulations and were sitting back down, Adam started up again. "I am assuming that you will want to keep Jordan as your second in command," Adam asked, and Kekoa immediately nodded. "I have no issue with that, as you have a lot of work to do. Kekoa, feel free to submit whatever promotions you think are appropriate for your teams, and I'll make sure they are handled. It will be good to have people you know and trust backing you up. I have prepared all the orders that will be needed for the troops you will be taking with you. Your first order of business will be to set up your command, and to get everyone set. Right now the Rimmers, as they are calling themselves, are really overwhelmed with everything going on, so try and stay out of their way until you are set up. I am sure you will have a ton of questions; please never hesitate to call me if you need any help."

Kekoa nodded, still not really trusting his voice, but knew he had to say something. "Is there anything else, General?"

"Not really, but this next part will be of great interest for you, so I think you may want to stick around."

Kekoa nodded and sat back down, still reeling from what he had just been given. Adam knew what he was going through, and took pity on the poor boy. His pity came in the context of moving onto the next part of the briefing. "I'll not go into the details of how right now, but you will all figure it out sooner or later. Suffice it to say that the old U.S. Marine Corps Base Hawaii, which was decommissioned two years ago, has now been turned over to the Unit."

Kekoa couldn't hold in his soft 'holy shit!' Blushing, Kekoa looked at Adam who just chuckled.

"Pretty much my thoughts! What Kekoa knows and you guys probably don't is the sheer size of that base." Adam this time was the one to go to the screen at the back of the room. As he got there, the screen changed to show the entire peninsula that was now theirs.

"This is the old Marine Corps Base Hawaii or MCBH; it is now our new World Wide Rapid response Center. For the stats, MCBH held a population of 11,827 and covers an area of approximately 5.8 square miles. It also holds one of the biggest runways in the world, at just over 2.4 kilometers long." As Adam paused, Donnie couldn't help but let out a low whistle.

Adam grinned broadly. "Yup, that's what I thought. When I found out we got that, I started planning what we could do with it, and the answer was 'any damn thing we want!'"

For a few moments everyone cracked up at that, then Adam raised his hand to again take the floor. "Okay, here's what we've already done, and what we're working towards. First off, I plan on opening that base up to anyone that wants to move to Hawaii. I am sure that will be almost everyone, and Utah will become the high security base that it was meant to be. That means if there is someone that needs more security than our RRB, Rapid response Base, can handle, they will stay here. Security will have to rotate through here as Logan has already told me that trying to move Daileass would be a nightmare. Not to mention the kind of power he needs is already provided for here. No need to move him."

Adam paused to take a sip of water, then continued. "Operations will not generally be any different, save for we'lll have a lot more room, and access to types of equipment that are just not feasible here: things like aircraft and the like." Adam paused and looked at the four in their seats. "Okay, any questions about the operations of the base?"

All four shook their heads, and Adam walked back over and sat down. Logan stood up and moved to the screen, switching slides as he went. "Okay, so, as far as what we are doing to get it set up; first off, you need to know that it has been abandoned for about the last four months, with only a group that generally kept the grounds in order. Other than that, nothing has been done. As of roughly four hours ago, we started transporting contractors there to go through the base from head to toe to make sure every light worked, every house was in top shape, and all furniture that was needed was there. By now we have about four thousand people there, with plans of having a total of roughly eleven thousand by noon time." Logan paused at the wide eyes and snickered. "Hey, what can I say? When I do something, I do it big. No comments needed." He said after a moment while sniggering.

"Anyways, if things work out the way I hope them to, they should shortly be done with the hangars and other military buildings and be moving to the housing units any time now. Hopefully, we should be able to have the entire base ready for us by Monday afternoon."

"Damn, how the hell did you get that many people there?" Emily asked, not really believing what she was hearing.

Logan chuckled. "Well it was real easy when I offered them five thousand dollars each, with slightly more for the managers and what not. Plus a hotel room for them and their families that they can use for up to two weeks; so they can all take vacations." After everyone laughed at Logan's ideas, Adam got them back down to business.

"Now I guess it's time to tell you guys why you're here to hear all of this," Adam said as he again stood and walked around the table. "Donnie Williams, please rise. Once Donnie was on his feet, with a sinking feeling in the stomach, Adam continued. "It has been decided that due to your exemplary service, dedication, not just to the Unit but to the ideal we stand for, and your drive to learn and expand your abilities. It has been determined, that you are the proper one to be the commander of this new base." Donnie jaw hit the table as he struggled to stay standing. "With your new position, comes the rank of Brigadier General. If for whatever reason, myself and my core Unit brothers are out of contact, that means YOU are the commanding officer of the entire Unit. Congratulations."

Adam then pinned the single silver star on Donnie's chest, stepped back and saluted. Donnie couldn't help it; with tears coming from his eyes, he started to salute, but then broke down and pulled Adam into a tight hug. "Thank you... Thank you so much. No one ever really believed in me before. Never in my wildest dreams did I think anyone would trust me like this. Thank you, Adam... just... thank you."

"You've earned it, Donnie. You got a good head on your shoulders, and a natural gift for command." Adam broke the hug, then stood back. "Now, I know you have a lot on your mind, but for the time being, I think you need to let this sink in and start to pack. Obviously, Emily will be your second in command, and your family will stay with you. Again, feel free to submit whatever promotions you feel are necessary, but I might suggest you make one real quick," Adam said with a chuckle while nodding towards Emily. "Why don't we meet back here at say twelve hundred hours, so we can go over everything you need to know, as you now have a much higher security clearance."

Donnie nodded, then turned to Emily, who took him in a hug and kissed him hard on the mouth. Donnie then got hugs form both Kekoa and Jordan, and after stammering for a few more moments, he took Emily's hand and walked out to tell their sons that they were moving to Hawaii.

---

Adam plopped himself down at the table in the cafeteria and sighed as he sipped his coffee. Not only was his mind elsewhere with everything going on, but last night both Alesia and Demarco had been released from the med bay, so he and Logan had bunk mates last night. For their first night home with daddy and poppa, both Demarco and Alesia were insistent that they sleep with their daddies. Not that either Logan or Adam minded.

Once Logan got there with their two little angels, Adam had just as much fun as Logan did helping the two little ones figure out how to eat the kind of food they had there. "Poppa, what's this again?" Demarco asked as he pointed to something on his plate.

"That's a pancake, trust me, you'll like them, especially after you put some syrup on them," Logan said as he showed the little eight-year-old how to smother his pancakes with syrup. Adam's heart almost broke again when he figured out that neither of these two kids had even had pancakes before. Just one more example of the hard life they had led.

A moment later though, Adam's heart filled with love as he saw the face of his little boy when he bit into the pancake. Less then a minute later both his and his older sister's faces were covered with syrup, and Adam couldn't help but laugh as he tried to clean it off their faces.

Janet and Joe both had grins on their faces when they pulled up to the table, and watched Adam and Logan try to clean up their newest kids. Even Chang, when he showed up had a slight smile on his face, which was surprising after what had happened the previous morning.

Of course when Chang came over, so did Korris, and their ever-present shadows, the wolves. This time, there was only four oldest of them. Again as usual, they were pretty much silent as they sat down and started to eat their breakfast; VERY rare steaks.

Thankfully, Adam thought to himself, Khan was off with Runt, and none of the other cats were with them. Not that the cats and the wolves did not like each other; according to Chang they were very close. However, they liked to fight amongst themselves, 'like cats and dogs.'

"Oh, Mother, I thought you might like to know I stopped by and checked on the two werewolf boys, and then Tommy and Elwyn. The two younger ones were sleeping peacefully, and the two older ones should be here shortly," Chang said after he took his first bite of bacon.

Before Janet could reply, Bardolf started to grumble. "It must be nice...."

"Why do you say that Bardolf?" Janet asked, setting her fork down.

The young teen wolf hybrid's ears wilted back a bit in embarrassment, thinking he'd said it soft enough that no one else could hear. But when he saw the concern in Janet's face, he decided to really answer. "I just think it would be cool to be able to actually become a wolf. I mean, there are times where all I want to do is run through some woods, and howl at the moon," he said with a grin. "But it just isn't the same, I don't think, when you're half human too."

Before anyone could reply, something that no one ever thought they would see happened. Chang, who had been looking around the room while Bardolf was talking, suddenly burst out laughing hysterically, literally having to grab onto the table to keep from falling over.

At first, Adam thought his brother had gone insane, or that somehow there was more programming from General Adams that they didn't know about, until he figured out which way Chang was looking.Adam didn't want to believe what he saw, but after rubbing his eyes and blinking a few times, he finally had to accept that it was true.

By this point, though, the entire canteen area, which, seeing as it was the middle of breakfast time, was filled almost to its twelve-hundred-person capacity. It was completely silent except for a few people who were not able to stifle their giggles, and Chang, who was still laughing uncontrollably.

Walking in the room, hand in hand in hand, were Jory and his two 'special friends' Donna and Tristan. But that's not what got everyone going: it was the four younger wolves behind them. Akela, the ten-year-old male wolf, and his twin sister, AdoQhina, were right behind the three, and then behind them were the twin nine-year-old wolves, Okhmhaka, the boy, and Accalia, the girl.

Adam actually had to stand up to make sure he was seeing things properly, and when he was standing, he saw that things were actually worse than he thought. Adam could tell by knowing the wolves, that they were glaring a challenge around for anyone to dare laugh; however, it was just so hard not to. All four of them had their fur braided into several small braids surrounding their heads. At the end of every braid was a small jingle bell, and there were four or five multicolored beads above the bell.

That was not the worst part, though; both of the boys were wearing hot pink spandex cycling shorts that almost made it to their knees, and a very bright "Power Puff Girls" T-shirt. They also had many long pink ribbons attached to the braids, which hung down almost to their waists. Around their wrists and ankles, there were braided hemp bracelets that were adorned in with peace symbols and love beads.

The girls were not dressed similar to the boys, nor similar to each other. The older girl was wearing a VERY short plaid mini skirt, and a open shirt that was tied at the waist so as to cover what would eventually be her breasts. Her hair had the beaded braids as well, but off the end of each braid dangled a little silver cross. The effect was to make her look like a little slutty English schoolgirl.

The youngest of the wolf girls was decked completely out in Hello Kitty gear, save for the collar around her neck that held three-inch spikes coming off it. Her wrists held similar spiked wrist bands, but with smaller spikes.

After Adam was able to get over how they were dressed, he also noticed that all of them were armed to the teeth, with looks on their faces that dared people to laugh at them.

When the small group made it to where Adam and his group were, Janet was actually the one able to keep control enough to ask the question on everyone's mind. "Hey, guys.... ummm... may I ask why you're wearing what you are?"

"Well..." Akela, the ten-year-old boy, said, "we were sick of people not taking us seriously since we're younger and smaller. So we asked Uncle Jory here, how we can show everyone that were just as strong and tough as the other hybrids."

His younger brother Okhmhaka took over when the older one took a breath. "Yeah, so Jory, Donna and Tristan took us into their room and helped us pick out clothes that they had there. They said that these clothes would make everyone know that we're really bad asses 'cause we can wear this stuff." He was grinning up till then, but then his ears wilted a bit, and the smile faded slightly. "These darn bells do get annoying, but if it helps us show everyone that we're as bad as the rest, then it's worth it. Of course, the worst part is cutting a hole for our tails...."

As they were explaining, Donna, Tristan and Jory subtly made their way towards the food that was nearest the most available exit, just in case.

Chang was barely able to keep control long enough to tell the kids that they should go get their food before there was none left. Like all kids, that threat made them run off to get in line.

Nathan Evans, who was standing nearby, walked over to Adam snickering. "You know, Adam, I think your Jory is being a bad influence on Tristan and Donna."

"Nathan, I think it's the other way around. Jory USED to be calm and quiet: except when he was making things explode. Now he's acting more like Juan!" Adam said, finally letting himself break out laughing at the sight.

---

Logan and Adam walked quietly into their rooms for one of the few quiet times that they actually had to spend with just each other. Both of them knew that they gave up a lot of their personal time so that they could each run the different parts of the UNIT that they did; neither of them minded really, all it did was make times like these even more special.

"So you wanna try that meditating thing now?" Adam asked Logan, who smiled and nodded.

"Well, I did promise to teach you at some point, so I don't see why we can't do it now," Logan responded, then looked slightly up. "Hey, Daileass, will you make sure to notify us in an hour and a half?"

"Sure thing, big bro," came the response over the speakers.

"Okay, Adam, come over here and let's get comfortable." Together they both sat on the floor cross legged, facing each other with their hands held together. "Okay, I want you to link your mind to mine. In many ways your mind is stronger than mine, but in some ways your mind can not even comprehend some of what I am going to do."

Once Adam had his mind linked to Logan, and both of them standing inside of Logan's mind-scape, Logan turned and looked at Adam, who was looking around. "Holy shit," Adam breathed out, and Logan simply chuckled.

"Remember, love, I have been holding back for many years. It was necessary to make sure that I was not found out. This is the real me in here," Logan said, probing, somewhat unsure of Adam's reaction to this would be.

Knowing what Logan was thinking, Adam turned and gave him a loving smile. "We've been through this before, love. I know why you've been hiding, and I don't begrudge you for it. All this does is make me love you even more."

Logan couldn't help it; he closed the few feet between them, and enveloped Adam in a hard hug, followed by a mind-blowing kiss. After more than a minute of passionate kissing, Adam pulled back breathless. "If we keep this up... we won't even get out of here."

Logan laughed and nodded. With a thought, the landscape around them changed to a small field with a stream passing through it. Logan grabbed Adam's hand and pulled him over towards the stream. Together they sat down on the grass and, once again facing each other, they intertwined their hands and Logan started to speak softly. "I am going to do this very slowly, and try to explain what I am doing. Watch closely, but hold your questions till we are on the other side, okay?"

Adam nodded with a small smile, and Logan began talking. "I have found that there are four different realms that we have access to. The first is the one we live in; I call it the physical realm. The second, which is where we are now, is the mental realm. In the physical realm, people are limited by the laws of nature that dictate what we can and cannot do there. In the mental realm, those restrictions are largely erased. If you can imagine it, and you have the mental power to do it, you can make anything happen here. Of course, what happens here has very little to do with the physical realm, so things you do here will not really matter in the physical realm. There are of course exceptions, but for the most part what I have said is good enough."

Making sure that Adam was with him so far, Logan continued: "The third realm is the realm we pass to when we die. Of course, there are ways of piercing that veil. Mostly it cannot be done from the physical realm to the realm of the dead. However, on rare occasions, residents from the realm of the dead can and do pass to this realm."

"Okay, I am with you so far," Adam said, and was actually surprised that he was following what Logan was saying.

"Now the fourth realm is what I call the Astral Realm. That's the realm that is the easiest to get to from the Physical realm, but you have to be able to go through the Mental realm to do so. Or at least, I haven't figured out a way to do it. Anyways, the Astral realm is strange. First off, I have found that you can move around in there great distances, without having to really move. You just need to know where you're going. Second, you can 'fly' around in there, and see what is going on. Many times you can actually see what is going on in the physical realm, once you learn how to interpret it. Once in the Astral Realm, I think you will see what I mean clearer."

Adam nodded, and Logan took a deep breath. "Now, remember, everything I have told you is only what I know. I have learned enough to know that I don't know a lot about all this." He said with a grin and Adam laughed while nodding. "Now, when you want to move yourself from the physical realm to the Astral, it's rather simple; once you know how to do it. The Astral realm is filled with an interesting type of energy that permeates through the Mental and Physical realms. From what I can tell, it's one of the reasons that those of us with Psionics can actually do what we do. We have a natural ability to feel and harness that energy. That energy is very much the energy that is given off by someone's emotions and thoughts. So when someone who is an empath is able to read someone's emotions, it is mainly because they are sensitive to the type of Astral energy that the person is emitting. Same thing with thoughts."

Adam nodded understanding what Logan was saying, but then he frowned. "But how does that explain people with telekinesis?"

Logan grinned. "Very good, grasshopper, you were listening." Adam stuck his tongue out and Logan laughed. "That is a little bit more difficult to explain, cause I don't have TK. However, if I were to guess, I would say that they are somehow able to manipulate the energy that they pull from the Astral realm. It then allows them to move objects on this realm. The reason I say that is because in the Astral realm, everyone there has TK to some point or another."

"So in other words, with someone like me, I'm able to pull energy from the Astral realm, and use it in the physical realm? It sounds a lot like 'the Force, Luke'..." Adam asked, and for a moment, Logan frowned.

"Nooo, as far as I know, there are no midichlorians or any of that shit, but I just thought of something. You're more than a normal Psionic; you're an N-Gen. I have no idea how that will affect what you can and cannot do in the Astral Realm."

Adam gave a bit of a lopsided grin. "Well, I guess we're about to find out. So how do we get there?"

"First, I open myself up to the energy of the Astral realm. The very source of my abilities comes from it, so I 'feel' it. You have to figure out where the energy is, feel it, then you grab a hold of it, and pull yourself along it. Quickly, you'll find yourself in the Astral realm. Like this, watch."

Adam watched as Logan looked around, and almost as if someone simply 'turned the volume up', Adam was able to see bands of color flowing throughout the landscape of Logan's mind. Smiling, Logan stood up, still holding hands with Adam, walked over to one of the bands and grabbed a hold. For Adam, it was almost like touching a battery. He'd been running himself almost ragged for the last few days, but just holding Logan's hand while he touched this 'band' of energy suddenly revitalized Adam. With a grin, Adam held out his other hand and grabbed hold; the feelings that were coursing through his body doubled.

"Now pull." Logan said with some excitement, but laughed when he saw Adam actually start pulling with his hand. "Nooo, not physically. This is the mental realm; pull with your mind!" Adam nodded, concentrated, and the next thing he knew he was floating along the band.

Adam looked around and, for a moment, couldn't even figure out what to think about this new place. What he knew was, that he was floating above the Unit base by no less than half a mile. However, nothing was like he thought it would be. "Holy shit," Adam breathed out, only to hear a giggling from behind him.

Turning in place, as if he were standing on hard ground, Adam turned around and saw Logan grinning at him. "Pretty cool place, ain't it?"

"It's... it's interesting," Adam said, looking around. "How do you know what's what?"

"It took me some time to figure out what was what when I first figured out how to get here, and to be honest, most of it I still don't understand. But, there are some things that I have figured out," Logan began, and Adam nodded while he looked around. "Take this ribbon of blue over here. I've found that blues normally mean someone who is focused and concentrating on something."

Adam looked at the ribbon, confused. "I don't see a blue ribbon, I mean I see some sort of blueish overtones to it, but mostly what I see is a white line that is glowing and pulsing. There's a bunch of other lines running all over the place; some are pulsing brighter than the others," Adam finished while Logan gave a speculative glance around, trying to figure out what was going on. Then it hit him.

"Okay, let's try something here. When I touch this line, I can see who it's connected to, and what they're doing." Logan reached out and grabbed the blue ribbon that he saw, then grinned. "It's Juan at the firing range. Obviously, he is concentrating on hitting the target, which is why I am seeing the blue." Logan looked over at Adam and smiled. "Now you grab your pulsing line, and see if you see the same thing."

Adam did and nodded. "Yeah, it's Juan. Hmmmm... every time he pulls the trigger the line pulses. I wonder if that's because that's when he's concentrating the most?" Adam said after a few moments.

"It's possible," Logan said while deep in thought. "I'm far from an expert in the Astral realm; hell, I've never met anyone other than one person who can come here."

Adam just nodded, then went around touching different 'lines' as he got close to them. "It's like when I touch the lines, I can actually listen in to what they are thinking."

Logan quirked his head to the side. "Hmm... if I concentrate I can hear what they are saying, but mostly, I can just feel what they are feeling."

Adam grinned. "It's probably because I am more specialized in telepathy, where you're more Empathy. I'm sure it has something to do with that. Perhaps what we're doing is interpreting what we see here, what we are most familiar with as far as our Psionics go."

"That makes a lot of sense really. I wonder what someone like Juan or Chang would see if they were here?" Logan asked.

"Not sure, but I don't know if we really wanna bring Juan in here." Adam laughed, then grabbed Logan's hand and started to move away. "Let's go look at this place. I wonder how far we can get before Daileass calls us back?"

"Well, just like in the Mental realm, time here passes differently than in the physical realm. So I don't know how long we'll have." Logan grinned back at Adam almost evilly, then pushed himself to go faster, and faster still. Pretty soon, both boys were zipping along high above the ground. Going here and there and 'tasting' the different thoughts and emotions from different people.

"Hey, Logan, I just had a bad thought?" Logan nodded and Adam asked his question. "Well, I don't know about you, but I have no clue where we're at. How do we get back?"

"That's easy," Logan said with a grin. "We simply go back. It really is that simple. When you want to leave the Astral realm, no matter where you're at, all you have to do is concentrate on going back to your body."

Adam was about to say something when both boys got rocked by what felt like a explosion. Adam screamed in pain as thoughts slammed into his mind so hard that he didn't even have a chance to defend himself from them; not only that, but he couldn't even make out what those thoughts were. All he knew is that they came from multiple people.

Logan also screamed out, but his was a different sort of pain. Pain and misery, hopelessness and loss. As soon as both boys' eyes cleared, they looked at each other, and then to the place that both of them knew exactly where whatever happened had happened. Without a word, both boys flew as fast as they could to the place they knew something bad was happening.

Adam was the first one there, and he grabbed onto a huge pulsating line, and looked into the mind that it was attached to. He almost let go in pain at the thoughts that were going through the person's mind, but he forced himself to hold on. Unfortunately, he couldn't really tell anything in detail. "Here... like this!" Logan shouted, and Adam watched as Logan showed him how to 'peek' into the physical realm from the Astral.

When Adam saw what was going on inside the building they were looking at, his vision went red. Inside the room, were eight people. Three were boys who were younger than he was, and obviously siblings since all three of them appeared to be identical. Two of them were chained to the wall naked and screaming in pain. The third was strapped naked to a table, some kind of gag was in his mouth. His genitalia were encased in some device that was causing extreme pain, and there was a large dildo shoved up the young boy's ass. It was so large that Adam could see that the anus was torn and bleeding. If that was not bad enough, Adam saw that the boys, all of them, had several large welts made by some sort of whip. Many of the welts were still bleeding on all three of them.

As for the other five people, all of them older males, they were all on the floor unconscious. One of them had toppled one of the several cameras that were spread out around the room, and yet another was behind a laptop.

Logan immediately called out to Daileass. "DAILEASS! Get a medical trauma team out here now!"

"Where?!?!" they both heard Daileass say. Adam, remembering that his physical body was still in the rooms back at the base, knew what the problem was right away. Daileass had no way of tracking where their minds were. Not only that, but Adam had no clue as to where they were.

"Looggaann, how do I get in there?" Adam yelled as he moved over and started to look into the mind of the kid on the bed. "FUCK!" He swore under his breath as he waited for Logan.

"You can't. At least not any way I know how to. Your body can't survive in here, and I don't even know how the hell to bring a body in here in the first place!" Logan cried back. He wanted to help the kids, but had no way of figuring out how.

"I don't know how," Adam said, "but this kid just punched his way through to being an N-Gen. If we don't get him some help, he's gonna die. Not that it'll matter since it looks like he's gonna die from his injuries soon anyways," Adam said while looking around. He saw the bad guys on the floor and tried to invade their minds to figure out where they were. Unfortunately, whatever happened to them, whatever this kid had done to them, made it so Adam couldn't get into their minds. They were still alive, and Adam knew their minds were in there somewhere, but he couldn't access them.

Taking a deep breath, Adam quietly said, "Fuck this... Daileass, get that trauma team ready and transport them to my location as soon as I get there."

"What are you going to do?!?!" Logan asked with a great amount of concern.

Adam didn't reply; he simply turned, and grabbed the 'tether' that he first noticed when Logan showed him how to peek. With a deep breath, Adam yanked that tether, hoping it would bring his body into the room where the kids were.

Adam had never in his life felt the kind of agony as he was feeling at that moment. He felt his heart start to seize up, and he simply could not get enough air into his lungs to scream in pain.

Logan saw what was happening, and for a moment was shocked. Adam had actually used the Astral plane to teleport his body somewhere else. Then he saw what kind of trouble Adam was in. It only took Logan's mind a moment, to figure out what was going on. Adam had used so much of his own energy to do the teleporting, that he had literally drained himself to the point that he was dying.

Grabbing onto the very dark band that he knew was coming from Adam, Logan started to do something that he had no clue whether it would work or not. Pushing as much energy as he could gather into the band, he saw that it started to lighten. Breathing a sigh of relief, Logan continued to push his energy as quickly as he could into the band.

Adam finally was able to draw in a full breath and tried as hard as he could to push the pain aside. The first thing he was able to hear was Janet's voice crying out, "Oh dear God!"