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Logan was sitting in his office, contemplating what had happened over the past few days. He and Daileass had known about the Klaus people ever since Klaus contacted Daileass, but with everything else going it, they weren't able to do much with that information, until Klaus asked for the meeting.
A lot of things happened during, and after the initial meeting, and some of it still did not sit well with him. Haden being put into the position that he was, was not something that Logan liked, but he couldn't deny the boy's logic, and his bravery. To be willing to stand up and answer about the Unit and the Clan as a whole is something that not many people could have handled, and even fewer would have been able to handle it as well.
"Logan..." Daileass said softly into the room, since Cole was sleeping on the couch, just a few feet away from the desk that Logan sat at. Not that Daileass speaking softly mattered, since Cole was immediately awake, and sitting up. "Sorry Cole, I didn't mean to wake you." Daileass said in a slightly more normal volume.
"It's okay..." The boy said softly while looking to see Logan's response to him being asleep while Logan was awake.
Logan just smiled reassuringly at the boy, before turning his head slightly up to address Daileass. "What's up bro?"
"Anwern, from the Klaus base, just contacted me, asking if you would be able to see him." The nervousness in Daileass's voice was evident, and Logan actually felt bad for him. There were very few things that Logan locked out of the link, making it so no one, not even his closest brothers could see. Every thought and feeling about Anwern were locked out. Daileass had no idea why Anwern caused Logan this much concern.
Logan sighed heavily. "Thanks Daileass, and I know it's hard, but thanks for not pushing for info."
Daileass chuckled a little bit. "It's not like pushing would have done me any good. It might make me a bit nervous sometimes, but you know we all trust you enough to where, even though we can't really hide anything from you, you being able to hide things from us, isn't a big deal."
Even though Logan knew what Daileass said was true, he'd felt it from all of them, to have it actually said made a difference. "Thanks again bro. Let Anwern know I'm ready when ever he is." Instead of responding, Daileass simply transported Anwern into the office.
Logan stood up, and took a few steps to make it to the front of his desk, with his hand extended towards Anwern. As they shook hands, Cole was right at Logan's side, two steps behind the boy. Surprising Logan, Anwern looked to Cole, then back to him, "May I greet you're boy?"
Logan hesitated for only a moment, before he nodded. Anwern moved to stand in front of Cole with his hand out stretched. Taking Logan's nod as permission, Cole took the older boy's hand in his own. "It's nice to meet you Anwern." He said in his normal soft voice.
"The honor is mine." Anwern said as he held the boy's hand. "It says a lot for you're strength and dedication for one such as Logan to accept you into his service." Cole beamed with pride, while Logan stood there shocked. Very few people would have any idea what to say to Cole, and how to word it properly.
Anwern turned to Logan and smiled. "I have very fond memories of a time when I was much like Cole here." Understanding dawned on Logan's face, as a smile began to appear. "I see." He said with a nod. Then turned towards the couch that Cole had been sleeping in, and the chairs around it. "Why don't we have a seat. I have a feeling this could be a very long conversation."
Anwern nodded as he moved over and sat down. Logan sat on one of the other chairs, and immediately, Cole sat on the floor, his left side pressed up against Logan's Right leg. Anwern smiled fondly at the actions of the young boy, then turned his attention to Logan.
"I have to admit," he started slightly blushing, "I've been watching you very closely for the last two days. I have to say that I'm very impressed with the things you've done, the things you've created, and how well you've managed everything you've been doing." He nodded down to Cole. "I don't know if you even realize yet, but he's probably the crowning achievement in you're life so far."
Cole opened his mouth to say something, but stopped and looked up to Logan who nodded. "How can that be so?" The boy asked, his voice still soft, but the disbelief was very evident. "Do you know some of the things he's created for computers and such?"
Anwern smiled at the small boy. "Yes I've learned a lot of what you're master has done, but all that is small when compared to what he was able to do with you and you're brothers. He took ten kids, all of whom had no future other than misery and death, boys who had been hard coded to not only accept a life of being a slave, but to actually crave it, need it, not be able to live with out it. He took those boys, and turned eight of them around. That was unheard of, even in my time. But then to not only turn those eight around, he took the ones that couldn't be turned loose, those that could not live on their own, and turned that to something positive as well. He figured out what you needed to grow, what you needed to survive, and not only gave it to you, but made it so that you not only took that, but also strive to do the best you can within you're own comfort zone. Only the master slave handlers of my time could have hoped to accomplish even HALF of what you're master did. That's why I said you are his crowning achievement."
Cole sat their in shock. Not only did what the older boy said make sense, it also made so many things fall into place. He looked up at Logan still reeling from what he'd heard. "You did that? All for us? Why?"
Logan smiled down at the small boy and patted his lap. As soon as he did, Cole scrambled up form the floor, and sat right where Logan indicated. "Because I love you, and your brothers. I saw what needed to happen, and made sure it could happen. But it would have done no good if you and you're brothers weren't willing to work as hard as you are. I honestly have nothing but respect and admiration for the strength you've shown during all of this."
Cole sat there stunned as he let those words sink in. Meanwhile, Logan turned his attention back to Anwern. "You seem to know a lot about me, would you mind sharing some about you, and your brothers."
Anwern sat back in his chair and smiled. "Of course, that would only be fair." He said, but then sat forward again. "However, here is not the place to do it."
"Oh?" Logan said also sitting forward, at least as much as the boy in his lap would allow him to.
"I would like to invite you to come back to my base. There are a few things that I would like to discuss with you, that really can not be over heard, by anyone."
"I can assure you, anything that is said in this room is not going to be over heard." Logan stated firmly.
Anwern sighed sitting back. "With anything that you would have to say, I would agree. The people that are listening in would not be a problem for you. However, there are things that not even Ark, or anyone alive at this point should know about. Where I want to take you has not seen an outside visitor for over 50 thousand years. It is shielded so well that NO ONE on this planet, even knows it exists. I am asking that you trust me when I say, what I want to show, and say to you, are things that should not, can not be over heard."
Logan sat back and thought. He could understand his reluctance. Ever since he'd found out about the Faldiran that lived with Klaus, and how much mistrust they had for ARK and the Founders, he started to look into why. While he didn't necessarily agree with them, he could certainly see why they disliked the founders so much. They had gone to great lengths to make sure that Ark didn't know about them, or their society, who was he to argue. "Okay." Logan said simply.
"There's one other thing." Anwern said. "I know about the Link you have with you're family. I need to ask that you not allow anything you hear, or see, to go to anyone else."
Logan sat there stunned for a second. It really wasn't a difficult request to accomplish. He was the one that controlled the Link, so any information that flowed from his end of things, was easily controlled. It was the fact that Anwern had asked so specifically that shocked him. He really was taking security to a very high level. Intrigued to find out why, Logan simply nodded again.
Anwern sighed as he stood up. "I am taking a risk in trusting you will do as you say, but it's a risk we're willing to take. We have the ability to block ALL telepathic communication, but, one, that would not be very nice, with out warning you first, and second, I know just how catastrophic that would be to the Link you are controlling. I would not put that in jeopardy."
Logan was not really used to being shocked, at least so many different times, in such a short period. However, now he so curious as to what Anwern had to show him, he couldn't stop himself. Also, he was certain that Anwern did not really understand how his mind worked. Big Logan as Takamura called him spent most of his time in the astral plane. It touched everywhere and every when. If he was blocked from using his telepathic abilities it meant that he had been blocked off from the astral realm. That would mean one of three things. Big Logan was inside his own body and he was unconscious, or his is mind had been cut in two and he was now mentally crippled, or he was dead.
He stood up after asking Cole to stand, and looked expectantly at Anwern. Mentally he sent out a message letting everyone know that he would be completely out of contact for a time. Feeling the shock and concern from everyone in the link, he assured them that he would be alright.
"Cole may come if you both wish." Anwern said as he also stood. "I do not have to worry about him saying anything that he shouldn't, not to mention you have done a VERY good job of creating the shields in his mind."
When they appeared, Logan and Cole looked around in complete shock. The only thing Logan could compare the room they appeared in was when he watched an old Superman movie, and saw the cave of crystals that Superman lived in. All around them, there were arches of crystal, crystal floors, and ceiling, everything around them was made of crystal it looked like. However, all though out the crystal structures lights seemed to be flowing and flashing through. It was truly a mesmerizing sight to behold. "What is this place?" Logan breathed out.
"This is home." Anwern said simply. Logan was still staring in shock, looking all around. Something was forming in his mind, but the rational side of his brain just couldn't accept it. Finally he knew he was right, and it shocked him even more. He turned to Anwern and gasped out. "This place is alive!"
"Very good Logan." A new voice said from behind them, both Logan and Cole spun, Cole immediately stepping in front of Logan to try and protect him. That move was not lost on anyone in the room.
"Fear not Cole, I mean Logan no harm." The owner of the voice was a woman of unsurpassed beauty. She stood only about five foot six inches tall, with long flowing golden hair, and eyes that were the same color as the crystal all around them. She were a light colored dress that stretched out a few inches behind her as she walked.
"Who are you?" Logan asked softly. While he may not have found the female form to be typically attractive, there was no denying that this was easily the most beautiful woman that he'd ever seen.
"I am called Gaea." She said simply. The chuckled at the shocked look on Logan's face. "No, I am not the 'Earth Mother' that you are thinking about. Although it is possible that the legends of that one, came from me. But back to you're earlier statement, yes, I am alive. This entire base IS me."
Logan walked up to her, then around, studying her with all his senses. "This body, it doesn't house you, but is an extension of who you are, right?"
"Yes." Gaea said with a smile, then turned towards Anwern. "You were not kidding when you said he was very perceptive."
Anwern smiled and nodded. "If I'd not seen it for myself, I'd have not believed it. He was able to see the Star Sphere for what it was."
Gaea's eyebrow raised in surprise. "Yes... very perceptive indeed." She said, as he turned. "Follow me please. You're brothers asked that I bring you to them as soon as you arrived."
Logan and Cole followed behind Anwern and Gaea, their eyes still taking in all the scenes around them, but mostly the colors that seemed to float through out the crystal walls.
A few moments later, they turned into a smaller room, off the main path. Inside were two other boys, both about Logan's age, who were watching screens that were a part of the crystal wall. They both turned when the small group walked in, and both of their eyes immediately feel on Logan and Cole.
The first one to move was a boy a little older then Logan with blond hair pulled back into a pony tail, much like how Logan liked to wear his. The boy stuck out his hand towards Logan, who took it. "Hey there. I'm Braseon. I've heard a lot about you." He said with a smile. Then looked down at Cole. "And you..." He said while he opened up his arms wide for a hug. "I'm very happy to see you found someone who could handle you're needs properly." Cole hesitated, but then hugged the boy back. He was confused, but as long as Logan was being nice to these people, so would he.
The other boy hung back a bit, but after Gaea cleared her throat, the boy sighed and stepped forward, also extending his hand. "I'm Cole...too." He said simply, then stepped back.
Gaea sighed deeply, then addressed Logan and Cole. "Don't worry about Cole. He's a little standoffish, until he gets to know you, but he's also the military leader of the group, so he has a reason to be."
"No offense taken." Logan said with understanding. He knew exactly how Adam was around people he didn't know. He could certainly understand it.
She smiled as she motioned towards the side of the room. When Logan looked, he saw several chairs and Couches literally rising out of the crystal floor. "Why don't we sit down. I am sure you are very curious as to why you were asked to come here."
Logan nodded and moved over to sit on one of the crystal chairs. He was surprised as how comfortable the seat was. Once Logan's Cole had taken his customary potion on the floor leaned up against his right leg, Logan softly put a hand on the boy's shoulder, reassuring the him that everything was okay.
Once everyone else was seated, Anwern started. He took a deep breath, wondering if Logan was going to be able to handle everything that was about to be said. Deep down though, he knew the boy was.
"If you'll allow," Anwern started, "I'd like to start off with a brief history lesson. Starting well over a hundred and fifty thousand years ago."
Logan covered up his shock well, and simply nodded.
Almost thirty minutes later, Logan sat there in shock as he processed everything that he'd just heard. After a few minutes of silence, Logan stood up, and started to pace back and forth as he spoke. "So let me see if I got all the high points. First off, you're society was technologically off the charts as far as today's standards go. Most of your technology is biological in nature. And you 'grow' what you need. Am I right so far." Anwern simply nodded, so Logan continued.
"A long ass time ago, there was a major volcanic eruption. The ash from that eruption threatened not only your people's ability to survive, but since most of your tech is bio based, it had a very negative impact on that as well." Again Anwern nodded.
In response to that, your society fled the Earth using wormhole technology. However, your people could control the spatial coordinates, but not the time coordinates. Some of you stayed behind to coordinate from this end and when that job was done several of you including your AI didn't want to leave. So when your people got there, they set up bases all around their new solar system and started working on a way to safe guard their society so that never again could it be threatened by a natural disaster. To that end, they spent the next hundred plus thousand years developing what you call a Star Sphere. They actually encased a star and the surrounding solar system in a shell and have people living on the inside of it?!" He stopped his pacing and looked up at the ceiling, watching as the colors swirled and moved along. "Had I not felt it and all the lives coming from it for myself inside of Ardell's office, I wouldn't believe it." His gaze shot to Anwern. "Does he even know what is sitting in that Vase?"
"Sort of." Anwern said softly. He knows it's the greatest treasure that we have, but he doesn't really know what it is...exactly."
Logan nodded, then continued pacing. Most people got used to Logan's pacing pretty quickly, since he did it every time he had something important on his mind that he was working out.
"Next part." Logan said while letting his mind work a mile a second. "You've been watching the world from your base here, making sure that some of the technologies that you knew about, never found the light of day again. But, normally trying to stay out of things, but then you," He said nodding to Braseon, "started to really watch what was going on, on the surface. You found a small group of people that were trying to flee a war. This group had, years before, split apart from the group we know as the Founders. However, when the Founders created the Moroi, or what we know as Vampires, they condemned those actions. When the Moroi started an all out war on the Founders, trying to wipe them out for the crimes they committed, you stepped in and helped this group hide... bringing them here." Logan paused to get confirmation. When Gaea nodded, he continued.
"Now, jump forward around forty thousand years, you found a kid that peaked you're interest, for a number of reasons, and decided to follow what happened to him. When he woke up in the Klaus base, you watched what happened, and decided to show yourselves to them, since they seemed....'interesting'. Logan couldn't help the grin on his face.
Braseon actually burst out laughing. "Actually that was my fault, but I drug the other two along with me."
"And I still haven't forgiven you for that." Cole said darkly, however, the amusement in his eyes betrayed his real feelings.
"Be that as it may, it has turned out to be a very wise decision." Gaea said simply.
"Moving on..." Anwern said with a small chuckle.
"Yeah... anyways, several things happened, which made you guys learn to trust those that lived with in the Klaus base, friendships grew, and you guys started to live there as much as here. It makes sense, because, being human, you would crave interactions with others. However, you felt it best to not give them more of your technology, then absolutely needed. The main thing being shielding that not only blocked any outsiders from being able to even know you were there, but also had some other 'interesting' side effects." Again he paused to get confirmation. When he got it he continued, almost up to current time.
"You taught them that the best thing you guys could do, would be to hide, and watch. After the destruction of the world, ending what Ark would call the third cycle, and beginning the fourth, you then decided to try and make sure that certain types of tech and weapons never saw the light of day again. Which brings us to current times, and why you," He said indicating Anwern, "were at the Russian Palace scanning the Eryrdain ships."
"So far you've got it all right." Anwern said, only slightly impressed that Logan could keep all that straight.
Logan for his part, walked back over to his chair, and fell down into it. Immediately, Cole resumed his leaning up against Logan's leg. "Now for my biggest question... Why are you telling me all of this."
"That's actually rather easy." Braseon said as he leaned forward in his chair. "Our people, before the end, had evolved into something new. We were still human, but, we also became a lot more. It started out slowly, with just a few here and there, but shortly, it turned into many of our people evolving. We're not really sure when the first one showed up, but roughly five thousand years before the Volcano erupted, the transformation was happening every day to thousands and thousands of our people." He paused making sure he had Logan's full attention. "How this effects you is like this. Ever since our people left, we've been watching to see if anyone other humans would evolve like we did. Nothing radical happened for a very long time, but then we started picking up signs of evolution happening in many different ways during this..." He paused for a moment and thought then said, "well we can just call it a 'cycle' like Ark does. I guess it works as well as anything else for a frame of reference even if it is a bit of a limited look at the progression of the planet." Braseon still didn't like using that term, but it was the one that Logan knew, since he interacted with Ark, so that's what he used. "We've watched as several people started to evolve, but none of them were really like we were, until a few days ago... When Anwern ran into you."
Logan fell back into his chair, completely stunned, and Braseon swiftly moved on. "Don't get me wrong, you're not exactly like us. But some of the things you can do, some of the perceptions you have, and how you process things, is very similar. That, combined with the fact that you were among the group that created micro worm holes that can be precisely controled. That was something we never did figure out how to do. This is what pushed us into revealing ourselves to you."
"Why?" Logan asked. Had his mind not worked as quickly as it did, he was sure he wouldn't have been able to keep up with everything that's hit him so far.
"Because we know about the Earthquakes coming. And we know that you're one of the few people that can help us." Anwern said urgently.
Braseon picked up where his brother left off. "We've been working on how to get all the Klaus bases onto the Star Sphere, but what good will that do if the world's destroyed? Yeah we can send it to another planet or something, and hide it, but there's nothing guaranteeing that it won't be found or destroyed some other way. We know that you and you're people are working on how to move everyone on the planet somewhere safe, and we're asking you to take it with you."
It only took a micro-second for Logan to fully grasp what he was being asked to do. He was being asked to safe guard something that held an unknown number of life forms. He was being asked to make sure that it stayed safe. They were putting not only their lives, but the lives of countless others into his hands. He knew he could do this. It could fit with what he already had planned. It was just a matter of making it happen.
He stood and moved over to stand in front of Gaea, or 'mama' as she was known to so many other people, including the three in this room. He knelt down in front of her, and took both of her hands into his own. For a moment, he was surprised to feel that they were actually cold, but then remembered that this was only an avatar body, not a real body like Daileass had. He tried to speak, but his voice caught. He cleared his throat, and started again. "You have my word... sworn on my very soul. I will protect you're people with every ounce of my being."
Her only response was a small nod, and a single tear of gratitude.
Sammy Renyolds and his team materialized in front of what appeared to be a nice two story house in an equally nice neighborhood. Vishnu immediately took control using hand signals to split the team up into their assigned operational positions with Kartik leading the Trinity around back while he, Sammy and Brian waited in front.
Just as Kartick was informing Vish telepathically that they were in position things suddenly changed with, the front doors opening, and that was when the situation went from bad to 'WTF'.
In complete surprise Sammy hissed through his subvocal "Daileass! What the hell is Juan doing here? and more importantly why is he here?"
"Sorry Samsam, Juan's in Wales..." Daileass's was saying when his voice suddenly trailed off as he brought the camera that Sammy was wearing to the fore of his consciousness, and saw what Sammy was seeing. "...What the fuck? I ain't got no clue SamSam, but Juan IS in Wales..." Daileass said in a voice that Sammy had never heard before, one so obviously full of confusion that the AI had no idea what to think, and neither did Sammy.
The situation went from 'WTF' to 'OMFG' a few seconds later. Behind the first 'Juan', came three guys, all wearing light body armor and weapons, followed by a red haired boy of about 10 years old, still in his pajamas, yet another man in armor, and then to top it all off yet another 'Juan'. "Oh hell..." Daileass said echoing what Sammy was thinking. "Adam's gonna shit kittens.... Logan already is."
"I think a lot of kittens are going to get shat then but, Well, we'll have to figure this shit out later...right now we've got a job to do" Sammy said to Daileass, as he nodded to Vishnu. Vish held them for about three seconds while Kartik and his crew came running from behind the house. As soon as they were in position, and the people from the house were positioned right between the two teams, Vish gave the signal, and then stepped out of the shadows yelling. "DROP THE GUNS!!! CLAN SHORT SPECIAL FORCES!" As he, Sammy, and Brian all took up positions to cover each other, yet making sure their fields of fire were not going to hit their guys who were set up in position behind the bad guys.
At the same time, Kartick and the Trinity, all with their weapons up and ready, called out. "ON THE GROUND! NOW!"
None of them were really interested in finding out if these 'Juans' were just as crazy as their Juan, as in really hoping they weren't, but that was answered in short order. Instead of them raising the guns like they were afraid would happen, the 'Juan' in the back jumped on top of the pajama clad kid, clearly trying to protectively cover the kid if any shooting started. One of the guys in the front though started to raise his weapon when a lightning fast kick by the Juan in front sent it flying which answered that question about the other Juan.
"They're Clan Short you idiot!" The front Juan hissed in a voice that made a shiver run down Sammy's back. He had no reason to doubt Daileass, but this 'Juan' sounded just like the Juan he knew. Sammy took a brief moment to brush against the mind of the 'Juan' closest to him, and sighed with relief at what he found, the boy looked like, but wasn't "HIS" Juan. He still wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not.
As soon as the adults all lowered their weapons, the 'Juan' that had tackled the kid got up and then helped him up as well saying. "Sorry about that Bert." which was apparently the boy's name. The kid didn't say anything though; he just stared at Sammy and their group. Sammy could tell that the kids emotions were ranging the gambit from fear, to anger, to uncertainty, and everything in between.
Meanwhile The first Juan slung his sub machine gun over his shoulder and walked up towards the group, stopping in front of Vish with his hand out. "Name's Phobos, we're here rescuing a kid we found out was kidnapped when he was a baby."
Vishnu took Phobos's hand but then nodded over to Sammy, who was taking his helmet off. As soon as the Helmet was all the way off, Sammy looked Phobos up and down then asked, "Who the hell are you?"
Phobos looked at him confused for a moment. "I'm Phobos..." and as the other Juan walked over he nodded his head towards him and said, "That's my brother Deimos."
Sammy shook his head in disbelief, muttering almost below his breath, "Juan's gonna freak..." but it was enough that both, with their enhanced hearing, heard him and it caused an immediate reaction from both brothers.
"You know Ares?!?!" The new Juan... Deimos said in awe.
Sammy was confused for a moment then said slowly. "If you mean Juan, then yes."
Phobos looked confused at his brother for a second before looking back at Sammy. "Yeah... that's what we said, Ares."
Sammy just shook his head yet again, something he was beginning to think he was going to be doing a whole lot with this and muttered "Oh great... They're just as bat shit insane as Juan." They heard him again but instead of the offended looks he expected, they both stood up a little straighter with their chest swelled out with pride. Only someone as nuts as Juan could be proud of the fact that they were being called insane. Sammy still didn't know why when he said Juan it looked like they heard him say Ares... it was just a bit much for him.
Sammy just shook his head again. "Screw it... I ain't got enough Tylenol to handle this." Looking at Vish he said as an aside, "I think we'll just let Uncle Joe and Aunt Janet deal with this." Vish just laughed softly before replying "You're evil." Sammy just grinned before saying "You betcha and I'm good at it too." before turning back to the two Juans and asking, "Why don't you just tell me what the fuck is going on here cause I'm completely lost right now?"
"Sure" Deimos said with a grin, "But I doubt we wanna do it out here. We can either go back inside, or you can follow us to our place, we rented a house not far away."
"What’s the address?" Sammy asked which Phobos easily gave them. Less than a second later, Daileass come over Sammy's ear piece. "The house has four young males, and two older females there, but I swear Juan would love to have an orgy in the place."
"That many weapons huh?" Sammy asked, which Daileass confirmed. "Why am I not surprised, must be in their genes or something. Okay... transport the weapons out, then us in, but make sure these guys are unarmed when we get there too."
Instead if replying, Sammy found himself standing in large living room with everyone else. Even though it was large, they were still a tight fit. As soon as Sammy's eyes fell on the four boys sitting on the couch, they grew wide upon seeing yet another shock. He looked at the boy that was rescued, Bert, he remembered the boy being called, then back to the couch. Where two of the boys sitting there were identical to Bert.
Vishnu looked over to Sammy and quietly said in Sammy's mind, 'The next time you volunteer us for a mission, I'm not sleeping with you for a week.'
Sammy just shook his head and smiled just enough that Vish could see and sense while sending a quick thought back of 'next time I even think about just give me a whack to the head and drag me to our room, it'll save time that way', Vish just snorted and Sammy turned back to Phobos. "Okay...not sure I want it but I think I’d like to hear that explanation now."
"Well it's simple really. The lady over there is the mother of these five kids. The older set got taken moments after they were born, and sold to an adoption agency that was looking to make a bunch of money. The younger two are also part of triplets; however we haven't found the last one yet."
Everyone went silent as the pajama clad boy took a few hesitant steps towards his brothers. "You guys are real?" He asked quietly, tears starting to fall down from his eyes.
All four boys stood up from the couch, and the two older boys stepped forward. "Yeah we are. I'm Allen, and he's Andy. Did you always know that you weren't complete?"
Bert silently nodded not trusting his own voice. The boys fell into each other’s arms, and cried. Soon they were joined by the two younger boys, while Sammy saw one of the women that were also in the room crying.
The trinity had been standing there doing mental scans of everyone in the room, and while most of the men were not the upstanding citizens that one might hope, they weren't evil men either. They were all ex-military, and had one hell of a story behind them, but right now they were all committed to doing one thing, finding kids that had been kidnapped at birth, and reuniting them with their siblings, and if the parents were decent, then with them as well. Thankfully, most of the people that had 'bought' the kids, didn't have the 'good housekeeping seal of approval', so it wasn't like they had to rip the kids out of loving households.
Relaying all the information they had gotten so far, to him, Sammy made a decision that would change more lives than he could ever imagine. With a motion of his head, he called Phobos and Deimos into the other room with him, Vish, Brian and The Trinity. Kartik had opted to remain and watch over what was happening in the other room knowing he would telepathically relay anything significant, Sammy turned and spoke to the 'Juan' Twins. "Okay... would you guys please tell me what is going on?"
Deimos and Phobos were almost bouncing with excitement, as Deimos asked his own question. "So you've actually fought side by side with Ares?"
Sammy wanted to correct them again, but the question made him think about what happened less than two weeks ago at their house. The pain was still fresh in his mind. Yeah, they had moved back into the house after it was fixed up. They all decided they would NOT let the assholes win and scare them out of their home, but it was still scary at times, especially for the younger ones. Even with Juan and Jory taking change of their defenses, and knowing they were more secure than anywhere outside of the Unit base, they still had nightmares. Only Joel helping him had saved the worst ones he'd been having before from occurring again.
In the end pushing the painful memories back he said "Yeah..." which was all Sammy could manage to utter.
"What was it like to watch the God of War in action?" Phobos asked, so excited Vishnu was actually expecting to smell urine as the boy wet himself.
Thankfully that didn't happen!
"God of War?" Sammy asked, now totally confused, until Vish slammed his hand into his head in disbelief that he'd forgotten such basic military history or in this case myth. Thankfully, Vishnu had yet to take his helmet off.
"Oh hell... That's just great." He growled out stunned by the ramifications of it.
"What?!" Sammy asked turning to his lover and protector.
"Ares, the God of War, had two sons, Phobos and Deimos. Deimos was the god of fear, dread and terror, and his twin-brother Phobos was the god of panic fear, flight and battlefield rout. They were sons of the god Ares, who accompanied their father into battle, driving his chariot and spreading fear in their wake. As sons of Aphrodite, goddess of love, the twins also represented the fear of loss." Vishnu spoke as if quoting a text book; which with his memory he actually was.
"Ah hell..." Sammy said as his head fell and shook, envisioning Juan finding out he had two mini-mes wondering the world with him before muttering "Juan's... just.... gonna... love this."
"No!" Deimos said in what Sammy thought was an almost panicked voice. "You can NOT tell Ares we're here until we have accomplished our mission and become worthy to take our place beside our father." The expression on the boy's face and that of his brother while he'd been speaking underlined how scared they were to have this knowledge released too soon and followed up with Phobos echoing his brother's thoughts, exclaiming
"Please, you can't tell him, we haven't proven ourselves yet."
Sammy sighed looking them both over before turning and looking at Vish. "You know, I really wish dad hadn't killed General Adams, maybe the doc might arrange a little trip back cause... right about now I'd really like to kick that man in the balls."
Vish just nodded, although Sammy could tell he was grinning under his helmet not to mention feel the laughter held within. Sammy turned back to the twins and sighed. "Fine, I won't tell him yet, but he's gonna know soon, one way or the other, you have to realize that."
They both exchanged a worried look between them before Phobos spoke up for the two of them replying. "Then we will have to prove ourselves quickly."
"Fine, now, PLEASE... tell me what's going on here." Sammy asked with more than a little frustration showing through.
All of the Clan kids got madder and madder over the next fifteen minutes, and as the twins jumped back and forth explaining what they had been doing over the last eight months.
These particular Clan kids weren't ones to make mad, most definitely not these ones.
Courtney and Fred Jones were having a late dinner together, both of them secure in the knowledge that their ten year old son, Albert, was fine at home. Even though he was alone, they had lived in the small city all their lives, and they knew nothing bad could happen.
They were both very happy, celebrating Fred becoming a partner in his exclusive Tacoma Law Firm. They talked happily about a vacation this summer, maybe to Disney world in Orlando, or perhaps camping in Denver. Something that they could do as a family.
As they rounded the corner to their street, and then turned into their driveway, they noticed a light on in the living room. Fred sighed with a small smile. "You know, one of these days, he'll actually remember to turn the lights off before he goes to bed."
Courtney laughed as she patted Fred's leg. "I doubt it, it took me almost fifteen years to teach you that... and he definitely takes after you in that regard." Laughing they both got out of the car, and made their way to the front door. After Fred unlocked it, they walked in, trying not to make too much noise, since Bert was a notoriously light sleeper.
Fred and Courtney both stopped dead as they walked into the living room, and saw a three young boys sitting on the couch looking towards them. Two of them were obviously twins, and the other boy was only slightly older than they were.
"What's going on here?!" Fred demanded.
Courtney, meanwhile, had a more specific concern. "Where's Albert?!"
"I'm right here mom!" Bert said as he walked into the room. It was obvious to both parents that their boy had been crying, but he was also wearing a huge grin. Before either one could say anything, he ran up and threw his arms around both of them. "I love you guys soo much!"
Now both of them were thoroughly confused. "Bert... would you mind telling us what is going on?" Fred asked as he pushed his son back and held him at arms length. There was no malice in his voice, just concern and confusion.
"I think I better take over here Bert." The older boy said as he stood up, and approached the threesome. Flipping open an ID case, Sammy showed them his Clan ID badge, sitting right above his Starfleet ID Badge. "First off, my name is Sammy Reynolds, Clan Short Director of Operations for North America."
He held out his hand for them both to shake which they did, Fred softly speaking as he shook Sammy's hand. "Clan Short... We just got a huge pile of cases for them in our office. We picked up both your Clan and Federation Youth Services as a major client three days ago."
"Yup! That's us." Sammy said with his perfectly innocent grin.
"Please, sit." Fred said as he motioned Sammy back to the couch that he was sharing with Phobos and Deimos.
Courtney and Fred sat on a love seat, where Bert mashed himself in between them. Sammy couldn't help but smile, the love that radiated from those three was something that he could feel even if he were deaf dumb and blind, telepathy and empathy be damned. "Mr. and Mrs. Jones..." Sammy started but got interrupted by Fred.
"Please, feel free to call us by our first names, unless you want me to call you Mr. Director?" Fred said with a grin, which got even bigger as Sammy shifted uncomfortably. Fred had read the boy exactly right.
"Okay... Fred, Courtney, The information I am about to share with you is not going to be easy for you to hear, but trust me when I say that it is all true and has been telepathically verified." He waited while both parents nodded in understanding, although he could see confusion, and a bit of fear creeping into their faces.
"I made sure Albert knew the truth before I said anything, and for the record, I think it was the right idea for you guys to have told him that he was adopted. Of course, looking at the three of you, it's rather obvious." Sammy said with a small grin and laugh, trying to defuse some of the tension.
Bert looked up at his parents with his grey-green eyes and sniggered. "What he's trying to say is that I don't look anything like you guys."
Courtney laughed while Fred chuckled. "Yeah, I doubt we could get away with saying you got that red hair and freckles from us." She said while running her hand through her long raven black hair. She then looked back to Sammy and waited somewhat patiently for him to go on.
"Ten years and eight months ago, a woman gave birth to healthy identical triplet boys in a small, privately run clinic in Rural Florida. Two days later, all three of the babies disappeared."
"Noooo..." Courtney breathed out in despair, having figured it out very quickly. Her arms instinctively tightened around Albert.
Meanwhile Fred had figured it out as well, although his mind just couldn't accept it. "What are you saying?"
Before anyone could say anything, Albert took both of his parent’s hands, and then called out. "Andy, Allen, come on out."
When the two boys stepped into the room from where they'd been hiding, Courtney immediately burst into sobs, while Fred went white as a ghost. He turned towards Sammy and stuttered out. "We didn't know!"
Sammy was on his feet and knelt in front of Courtney taking her hands in his own. "We know... you guys didn't do anything wrong!"
Albert on the other hand, threw his arms around his father. "Don't worry daddy! This don't change things... at least much..." he said smiling and looking around before continuing. "All it means is I get to share the best parents in the world with my brothers."
It took several minutes for everyone to calm down, but by the end of it, Fred and Courtney had three identical boys in their laps. When it was over, the boy's biological mother stood in front of the five smiling, and crying softly. When all three adults’ eyes met, she started to talk. "Just so you know my name is Kathryn Hanesly. Please understand I know that Albert is your son, even if you didn't give birth to him. I can see the love the three of you share, and I wouldn't want to destroy that. Thank you for loving him."
Fred set Andy on his feet, and then stood up. Instead of reaching his hand out for a shake, he pulled the lady into a hug. "We couldn't have done anything less. Bert's a great kid, and now it looks like we've got two more boys now."
The three boys started to giggle, and Fred looked back at them confused. "Actually it's five more boys."
He turned and looked at Kathryn confused, while she nodded shyly. "Andy, Albert, and Allen are the oldest three. About three years after they were born, I got pregnant again, this time with Tommy, Tyler, and Tristan."
Both Fred and Courtney stared in disbelief at her words. "Two sets of triplets?!" Courtney said in shock.
"Yup!" She said with a grin, but her smile faded. "Unfortunately I there is still one of the younger ones that I haven't met, and I've only known the other four for a couple of months."
Fred wasn't sure he should ask but... "What do you mean?"
She sighed as she fought back the tears. "It was in the same hospital both times. I gave birth, and then within two days, the babies were gone. No one knew anything."
"Oh my God!" Courtney cried as she jumped to her feet and pulled Kathryn into a hard hug.
Fred moved in after Courtney backed off and while he was hugging her, he spoke softly. "Don't worry, we'll make sure you and the boys have anything you need."
Before she could say anything, the door bell rang, causing more than a few confused looks seeming as how late it was.
***Flashback***
Nine year old Robbie Taylor sat on his bed waiting for his parents to call him downstairs to talk. He wasn't in trouble or anything, but he knew they were going to want to talk to him. He'd been listing in on their thoughts for the last six months, and what they were thinking was basically screaming at him from where they were downstairs, huddled around the kitchen table.
His parents were teachers at Sadler Middle School just outside of Tacoma Washington, his father, a social studies teacher, and also the coach of the middle school football team, while his mother was a math teacher.
He’d had a lot of time to think lately about his parents, and what was coming. He knew it would be rough on all of them, but honestly, he knew they’d get through it. He loved them, and they loved him, so it had to be enough.
"Robbie… Could you come down here please?" His father called up from the stairs. Robbie took a deep breath; the butterflies in his stomach went from just lightly fluttering, to trying to stir up a hurricane. Slowly he stood up, and walked out of his bedroom. On the walls in the hallway, he couldn’t help but see the pictures on the wall. Almost all of them were of him and his parents. He couldn’t help but smile of the picture with him and his dad, fishing off the coast, three years ago. It was the first time his father had taken him deep sea fishing.
The next picture was taken just a few months ago. Robbie was heavily into gymnastics, and it was a picture of him standing on the podium, being awarded his first Gold medal. The competition was a smaller one, but still Robbie had won the floor exercise, and had come second in the rings.
When he reached the stair way, his eyes fell on his father. Their eyes met for a moment, and Robbie could tell the man had been crying. That in itself was shocking, but, again Robbie had been prepared for this.
Without saying a word, his father turned and walked back into the kitchen. Where he sat down in his normal seat. Seeing that his mom was already seated, Robbie sat down where he always did.
It was silent for a few moments, before his father sighed heavily, looked at Robbie and began speaking in a very pain filled voice. "Robbie, you remember a while ago, you asked if you were ever gonna get a little brother or sister?" Robbie nodded, and his father continued. "We told you then that after your mother had you, that the doctors said that she could never have kids again?"
Again Robbie nodded, allowing his father to continue again. "That wasn't actually true. Your mother was never able to have kids." Thinking he knew what Robbie was going to ask, Jason, Robbie's rather rushed on. "Honey, you were adopted by us."
Robbie just looked at his parents, so many thoughts running through his mind, and none of them the ones they thought would be. He knew he only had one real chance to play this right. After a few seconds, where they held their breath, wondering how Robbie was going to take the news, he slowly allowed a smile to come across his face. "Thank you." Was all he said.
His parents were stunned into silence, they were expecting a lot of reaction, but this wasn't one of them. "Thank you for adopting me." Robbie said again. "You guys are great parents!" He said emphatically. "I guess I really lucked out!"
Both of his parents started to cry again, and Robbie jumped out of his chair, ran around the table, and through his arms around both of them. Both of them were baffled by this reaction, they had thought that they would have to comfort Robbie when he found out, and here he was comforting them.
Robbie could tell that his dad was struggling with the next part, and Robbie just couldn't handle the pain that he was feeling from them. He made a hasty decision that would change his life further. "I already knew." He said quietly, into their hug. They tried to pull back, and he heard his mother gasp. He held on as tight as he could, so he didn't have to look them in the eyes as he went on.
"I found out about six months ago, when... when I figured out I could..." he paused and took a deep breath, before rushing on, "...hear what you guys were thinking."
Robbie closed his eyes tightly waiting for the reaction, he listened in as they tried to process what he was saying. A thought flashed across his mother's mind, and Robbie couldn't help but laugh. "No mom, I haven't used it in class..."
Whether it be fate, or providence, or whatever, that was the one thing that broke up all the tension. With in moments, the three of them were laughing and holding onto each other. What Jason and Trinity were sure was going to break their family apart, ended up bringing them closer then they ever thought possible.
**End Flashback**
When the door bell rang, everyone turned wondering who would be coming to the house right then. It was Albert who grinned. "It's Robbie and his parents!" He quickly turned to Allen and Andy. "Come on guys, you got to meet him, he's really kewl. Plus I wanna freak him out!"
The three boys ran out of the room, and Fred could only smile. "Oh no... This is gonna be interesting." Not being able to help himself, he walked over to the entryway so he could watch.
Since all three boys were dressed differently, he knew that it was actually Andy that opened the door, with Albert and Allen standing behind it. "Hey Robbie!" Andy said trying to play at being Albert.
"Hey Bert..." Robbie started to take a step forward, then stopped, staring at Andy. "Wait a minute..." He started slowly, confusion written all over his face. "You're not Bert..."
Bert couldn't help it, the giggles came no matter how he tried to stop them. Robbie looked around the door, and gawked at both Allen and Bert standing there. Being the lover of old sit coms that he was, Robbie looked at Bert, then Allen, then Andy, then back to Bert. "Lucy, you got some 'splainin' to do!"
Fred couldn't help but laugh. "Robbie, Jason, Trinity, why don't you guys come in so we can explain what's going on."
"Yeah...." Jason said thoroughly confused as he looked back and forth between the three boys. All of them followed Fred back into the living room when the introductions began. Fred had saved the Clan guys for last, but before he could introduce Sammy, Phobos asked the question that was on his mind. "Why are you bald?" He asked Robbie.
Robbie blushed, running a hand over his freshly shaven head. "A friend of mine has cancer... so I shaved it last night. That way he won't be the only one there with no hair."
"That's really nice." Kathy said, with her arms wrapped around Allen and Andy.
Sensing Robbie discomfort, Fred moved on in the introductions. "Lastly we have Sammy Reynolds, Clan Short's Director of Operations for North America."
Sammy got up and smiled as he took a few steps towards Jason and Trinity. He took both of their hands in his own, and smiled gently up to them. "I already know the answer, but I have to ask. Do you love him?" He said nodding over towards Robbie.
"The adults fought back the tears as they nodded. Sammy's grin grew as he stepped back. "Hey Daileass, do me a favor. Write up official adoption paperwork for Robbie and transport it over. I just made it official, even though they'd been a family for the last 12 years."
A moment later a stack of papers appeared on the table next to Sammy. He pointed to them, and spoke to Jason. "There you go sir. All nice and official like."
"What's going on?" Fred asked while the Trinity and Jason looked through the papers. Sammy thought to himself as he smiled gently looking on, that he might have to have Daileass send in another set, since the first set was getting tear stained.
"It's simple really." Sammy said in his normal fashion. "Jason and Trinity couldn't have kids, yet they never made enough to pay for all the adoption crap that Washington state makes someone go through. Speaking of which, I think that'll have to change soon. But anyways. One day a man approached them saying that he had a baby boy they could adopt. The paperwork would be forged, but it would be good. He only wanted a little over half of what the state wanted, so they agreed. That's been eatin them up ever since. Now, they don't have to worry about it anymore."