Phoenix Rising

The man looked up in horror as the door burst open. He was up and coming around the desk as a young boy in a torn military uniform came walking in. "What the hell do you think you're doing here?!?" The man shouted indignantly. "I will have...." His voice trialed off and he started to back up when the thirteen year old boy raised the pistol in his hand, and with out hesitation, pulled the trigger placing a single bullet right between the eyes of the fat man.

With out uttering a sound, the boy turned and walked out of the room hearing the gun fire start up all around the Academy. He left the administration building to find kids running towards the cafeteria building. That was the meeting place that had been set up, so he was pretty sure that everything was going according to plan.

Hopefully by now almost all of the 30 adults and 22 kids were either dead or near to it. Damian felt no joy in their deaths, but did feel a weight lift from his shoulders. "Never again..." he whispered under his breath as he sped up to a jog to help one of the eight year olds who had fallen.

The plan was simple. One of the teachers would open up the weapons lockers, then they would go in, take what they needed and then split up. There was a specific list of who was to die, and other then Damian, all the rest had at least two people go off to make sure the person was killed with out any issues. Damian refused to allow anyone to come with him as he took out the head master. That was personal. Of course, not everything happened the way it was supposed to.

 

---

 

Twelve year old Viktor took a deep breath as he steadied his nerves. Finally he took another deep breath, readied his gun, positioned himself before the door and kicked it open.

The boy inside the room jumped to his feet and looked in shock as Viktor came through the door. "What do you think you're doing. You know I will have to punish you for this!" The boy's leer was more then Viktor could take. As the older boy came around the bed towards him, Viktor quickly raised the gun and fired off a quick shot.

There was a reason that Viktor was one of the best shots in the academy. The bullet went right where he had wanted it... through the older boy's left knee cap. Viktor quickly shut the door to drown out the older boy's screams of pain. The young boy swiftly moved over to where Boris lay writhing on the ground in pain. Reaching down, Viktor grabbed the boy's knee and pressed his thumb right into the hole made by the bullet. As Boris cried out in sheer agony, Viktor couldn't help but feel satisfaction at the older boy's tears. He let go, stood up and kicked Boris as hard as he could in the stomach.

Reaching into his pocket, Viktor pulled out a pair of handcuffs and wrestled the wheezing kids arms behind his back securing them so that he couldn't move. When that was done he reached up and grabbed a handful of hair from the fourteen year old's head and pulled until the boy was forced to look up into Viktor's eyes. He looked into the boy's terror filled eyes and snarled. "What was it you said to me? Oh yeah. This is gonna hurt you a LOT more then it hurts me."

The twelve year old boy then moved over to Boris' dresser and started to rummage though it, all the while getting a weird sort of pleasure from the whimpers and cries that he heard behind him. After rummaging around for a few moments, he found what he needed, turned around and went back over to the boy on the floor.

Once again he grabbed the boy by his hair and pulled back till they were staring each other in the eyes. Of course the boy on the floor couldn't see much through his tears. Again he quoted something the older boy had told him. "Stop you're crying... it's ruining my mood!" Then he unceremoniously shoved the ball gag in the boy's mouth and secured it behind the boy's head effectively silencing the boy save for soft whimpers of pain that made it out around the gag.

He then took his knife and proceeded to cut all the cloths from the older boys body. Knowing he didn't want his revenge to end early, he took a part of the boy's shredded shirt and tied it tightly around the knee wound, stemming the flow of blood.

Next he rolled the boy onto his back, reached down and grabbed the boys genitals. He took a long thin strip of leather and tightly secured it around the boys nether region. Viktor knew all too well what kind of pain that would cause, but he didn't care. That's what this was all about anyways, making this boy, the person who tormented him the worst, get a taste of his own medicine.

He pushed the boy back over onto his stomach and grabbed the largest dildo that the boy had. He moved around to stand in front of the terrified boy showing him what was in his hand. Once he saw the boys eyes go wide and start to shake his head violently, Viktor walked back to stand beside the boy. Knowing just how much pain it was going to cause, Viktor sat down on the boys thighs, causing the already destroyed knee to dig into the ground even more. He reached down, spread the boys buttocks and with out any preparation at all, pushed the full length of the long, thick dildo into the boy.

The older boy arched his back in pure agony, then went limp as he lost consciousness. "Oh no... that was never an escape for me, and it won't be for you either." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a package of smelling salts, broke it open, and ran the foul smelling salt under the boys nose for a few seconds before he sputtered awake. "You never let me have that bit of peace... what makes you think I would give it to you?"

For several minutes, Viktor visited upon Boris every depraved, pain-filled act that Boris had subjected Viktor to over the past several years. Deep down inside, something broke inside the young boy and he got more and more violent. At some point, Boris stopped moving, but that never registered in the younger boys mind. He was so consumed with vengeance, that he never noticed Boris vomiting.

When it finally registered what had happened, it was too late. Totally disgusted with himself, Viktor sat on the floor next to the body of the boy who had made his life a living hell since the moment he got here. Through his own tears he noticed that he was covered in the boy's blood, and that was the final straw. He simply couldn't handle what had happened to him, what Boris had done to him, and what he himself had become. With a steady hand, he raised the gun, took a deep breath, placed the gun to the side of his head, and pulled the trigger.

 

---

 

By the time Damian made it to the mess hall, it looked like almost everyone was there. The room was packed from wall to wall with kids. Normally there were only about one hundred kids in here, but now almost all of the 250 students were gathered here. Damian made his way to the stage area at the front of the mess hall and jumped up onto the risers. Looking around he saw almost all of the 'assassins' had made it back, and just as he was starting to do a head count, the last of them came running into the room.

One of the kids ran up to Damian and whispered in his ear. Damian's head fell and he fought back a few tears. There would be time to grieve later, so he raised his hand high in the air and almost immediately the room fell silent. "You all know what has just happened. I know many of you are upset about not being involved but using the small number of people we did means that all of you still have a life ahead of you. The rest of us must flee and live out our lives in hiding. But if that is the cost of freedom, then so be it. I would ask that you all give us a few hours before you start to contact your parents to come get you. By that point we should be far enough away to where we will not get caught."

Damian hopped off the risers and went over to where his little group of guys were standing. They all knew very well what their actions meant, and were all willing to pay that price. The youngest may have only been eleven, but he came from the streets originally, so he knew better then most what they were facing.

He had just barely made it a few steps when someone called out from the group. "Why do you think we'd just let you leave with out us? We all owe you for saving us."

"Yeah!" Another voice said, "It's like you always said. We're a family... we look out for each other, and we never leave family behind." That got many shouts of support, from almost everyone there.

Damien sighed deeply. This was going to be harder then he had hoped. He turned around making sure to mask the tears that wanted so desperately to fall. "Guys... All of you... listen to me." It took a few seconds before it was quiet again. "The people that died today were some of the most powerful people around. Anyone involved in this probably would never make it to a trial, or anywhere for that matter. I can't... I WON'T have all of you going down for what we did."

"We'll tell them what was going on here!" One of the younger kids shouted out.

Damien just shook his head. "You think they don't already know? Look at who most of us have had to take to our beds. There is no way that they could ever let that information get out. All of you have families that can help you, that's why none of you were chosen for this. We don't have anyone... we can disappear, and if we get caught, so what. All they can do is kill our bodies, but from this moment on, they will no longer be allowed to kill our spirits!" Damien spun on his heal, and headed to the small group of his co-conspirators, all waiting with packs and guns.

He had no sooner reached the group when he heard another voice call out form behind him, this one, though, he didn't know. "And what makes you think that you'll have to live on the streets for the rest of your lives?"

Damian reached out, grabbed the rifle that was being offered to him, spun quickly, while dropping into a shooters stance, and took aim at the strange voice. What he saw made no sense to him. Standing on the small stage, where he had been standing just a few moments ago; were three boys who couldn't have been older then eight or nine, dressed in military armor unlike anything he had seen before.

 

---

 

Alvin, Simon, and Theodore stood before the holo-screens that they had installed in their room in the palace, looking over the reports for CMK Holdings, and all the other companies that they 'owned'. Very few people knew just how much these three boys were involved in, nor exactly how they operated. Nor would they ever if the three boys had their way.

"Okay guys, it looks like things are really hopping." Theodore said with a grin. Out of the three of them, he was the one who dealt the most with the 'business' side of their operations. "If things keep going like this, we should be well on our way to hit goal for this year. I was worried for a bit, but we haven't missed goal for 3 years running, and I didn't want to screw it up this year."

Alvin was about to respond, when all three of the boys looked up as Daileass spoke to them. 'Hey guys, I hate to interrupt, but that Academy you wanted me to watch... well... they finally put their plan into action.'

"Really?!" Alvin said getting excited. "How did it go?"

'Only one casualty on the kids part. All adult and older teen targets have been neutralized. These kids didn't fuck around.' Daileass said, while switching from mental speech, to the speakers in the room.

"Who died?" Simon asked, but he was sure he already knew.

"Viktor... he snapped just like we thought he would." Simultaneously, all three boys bowed their head and sent off a quick prayer to the Creator. They all knew Viktor was in a better place, but it was still difficult to deal with.

A few moments later, as all three heads came up, the look of steely determination was plain for anyone to see. "Lets get our gear together, we bring them back here. They are UNIT if they want it." Alvin said, and Simon picked up with out a break. "If they want it that is. If they don't they will be taken care of."

Theodore didn't say anything, he just nodded. Less then a second later, three sets of gear appeared next to the boys, and they set about getting their armor and weapons on. They doubted they would need them, but one thing Logan beat into their heads was to always be prepared for anything.

Once they were ready, none of them even had to ask, Daileass just transported them.

 

---

 

Aiden sat in his little office and sighed as he sat back, once again thinking over his latest assignment. He and his staff were now responsible for the active duty scheduling. This was going to be difficult which only made him smile wider. 'If it wasn't difficult, it wouldn't be no fun!' He thought to himself as he took a moment to get his thoughts organized.

Being only eight years old, he never really thought about what he wanted to do when he grew up, but damn if he didn't love what he was doing now. Being Adam's personal assistant was not just challenging, but it was the most fun he'd ever had in his short life.

His thoughts were interrupted by Cody, his 'assistant'. The seventeen year old boy was almost as good at keeping things straight as Aiden was. At first, it was weird that the seventeen year old would defer to the eight year old, but when someone asked Cody about it one time, Cody simply laughed and said, 'I ain't got no problem admitting that Aiden's gotta a better mind for things then I do. Not to mention he's nice, and really good at his job."

That compliment made Aiden feel really good, and he fairly glowed the rest of the day, right up till the time they had dinner that evening. Cody's parents had invited Aiden and his mom to dinner. That was the first night that the parents had met, and Aiden was surprised to hear that both Cody's mom and dad had been rather high up in the California Social Services department. However, both of them were sick and tired of the bureaucratic bullshit, so left their jobs to come work for a group that 'actually gave a shit about the kids, and not about the numbers."

Aiden's mom quickly agreed to work with them in the UNIT base, as their secretary. No one wondered where Aiden got his mind from after that. Not Cody or his parents, not Adam, and certainly not Aiden's staff, even the adults on his staff. They have often commented on how, when Aiden was talking 'business' he sounded just like a little adult, but he could switch to a little boy in an instant if he needed to.

Once again Aiden wondered if Adam even remembered how the older boy had saved him or not. Aiden would never forget, nor would he ever give his devotion to anyone else. It wasn't even two weeks ago, yet it felt like a lifetime.

His mother was great, but ever since his father left when he was really young, his mom has had to work two jobs to make ends meet. Aiden was lonely, but when she was around, mom spent as much time with him as she could.

Then came Tom, Mom's new boyfriend. At first the man was great, and Aiden thought he might have actually found a daddy. He was seven now, and was really jealous of all his friends who had dads. Tom made sure he came to all of Aiden's school events and even took Aiden to the local pool when the boy decided he wanted to join the swim team.

With in two months Tom had moved in with Aiden and his mom, and Aiden was so happy to have a daddy. The man didn't work, so he was always there for Aiden, and even the few times where Aiden felt a bit uncomfortable with the man, he couldn't help but soak up the attention the man was heaping on him.

Tom told Aiden that it as a daddy's job to help his son with his evening bath. While Mom hadn't done that in a while, Tom said it was something that was for 'the guys' only. Boy did that make Aiden feel good.

Looking back on it, Aiden knew that he hadn't really had all that much bad happen to him. Adam had stopped it before it got bad. But it could have been. Aiden didn't find any of this out till after he got rescued, but each time he thinks about it, he shivers. It also reaffirms his dedication to Adam.

It happened Monday morning a little over a week ago. Mom was already gone to work and Aiden got up early as he always did. Tom was acting weird, and kept looking at him funny, but Aiden didn't put too much into it.

Around noon, Aiden was beginning to wonder where Tom had disappeared to, when the man came down the steps calling out for Aiden. Aiden went running to see what the man had wanted. "You need a bath." Tom had said, "we got something special to do, and you need to be really clean."

Aiden was eight, and like all little boys, didn't like taking baths when he didn't need to, but Tom was insistent. Aiden didn't understand it, but Tom was really making sure that his private areas, and especially his backside were REALLY clean. The man had even stripped down to his boxer shorts, so he didn't get his cloths wet.

When Aiden was clean enough for Tom's liking, the man toweled the boy down, then with out letting him get re-dressed took him to the room he shared with Aiden's mom.

Immediately, Aiden knew something was going on. The room was filled with lights, all pointed towards the bed. Tom told Aiden to sit on the bed, which Aiden did, even though he was completely naked. When he was seated, he looked around while Tom was moving all over the room doing something.

Aiden started to get worried when he saw lots of cameras spread out around the room. "Oh god damn Tom, he's absolutely gorgeous!" A voice came from somewhere in the room, and Aiden immediately started looking around, then found the voice had come from a set of speakers.

"Tom... what's going on?" Aiden asked in a small voice, now trying to cover his privates with his hands.

When Tom turned and looked at Aiden it was a look Aiden had never seen. "What's going on? Well I'll tell you." Tom started walking towards the bed, while he dropped his boxers to the floor, now being just as naked as Aiden was. "Several people have paid me a LOT of money to let them watch as I take your virgin ass."

Aiden tried to back away from Tom, but the man was too fast. Tom grabbed Aiden and threw him back on the bed, then the man put his forearm across the young boys throat. "You fight me, and it'll hurt a lot more." Tom whispered into Aiden's ear, as the man's free hand found Aiden's private parts.

Aiden was crying as the man's hand roamed all over his private areas, including pushing a finger up his backside. Aiden heard voices in the room, coming from the speakers, saying lots of things he didn't understand, or couldn't hear over his own crying.

The next thing he knew, Tom was flipping him over so he was laying on his stomach. Aiden tried to move, to get away, but Tom had him pinned down to the bed again. He felt a pillow being slip under his hips, and again something at his back door. He cried out in pain as something was pushed inside of him. Then his hero came.

Aiden asked a few days after he got rescued what had happened, and Adam sat down and told him how they found him, and how they got there.

 

---

 

**Flashback**

"Adam we need you in the command center!" Alvin's voice rang through the room Adam was in. Putting aside the grief that he was feeling over all the family he'd lost just a few short days ago, Adam called out "be right there" then ran out of the room.

When Adam ran into the command center, he knew something was up. His brothers were already there, and gearing up. Juan threw him a rifle as Logan handed him his body armor. "What's going on?" Adam asked as he started strapping on his armor.

"We got an asshole that's about to rape an eight year old boy, live on vid cam. He's got about fifty people watching, all of them having paid ten grand to be able to watch. We hacked the signal, and have the address where the kid is, as well as getting the info on all the 'watchers.' Logan figured you would want to go rescue the kid, while some of the others take out the 'watchers'.

Joe moved over to Adam still stuck in his wheel chair. "We split you guys up into two man teams. Everything we can see says there won't be any danger, but I won't allow anyone to go in with out someone backing them up."

Jack jumped in at this point. "Adam, you're going with Logan. I don't want any heroics. Just get in there, take down the perp, and get the kid to safety. We're tracking down the kids mom, and I'll go talk to her as soon as we find her."

Before Jack could say anything else, Alvin spoke up in almost a panic. "HURRY! The Assholes starting!" Adam spun towards the front of the room where all the screens were, and saw the a man about thirty had thrown a small naked boy onto the bed and had his hand all over the boy's privates. Adam's blood started to boil as he checked his rifle to make sure it was loaded and ready to go.

"Daileass..." Adam didn't get the chance to say anything else as he and Logan suddenly found themselves standing outside a nice looking house. Adam looked over to Logan who gave a nod then put his helmet on. Adam snapped his helmet in place, then took off for the front door.

Over the small speaker inside his helmet, Adam heard Alvin's voice clearly. "I got the blue prints of the house. Once you enter the front door. Go twenty two feet and you'll see the stairway on the right. Upstairs, turn left, and it's the last door at the end of the hall. Hurry, the man just turned the kid over is getting ready to penetrate him!"

Adam was jogging towards the front door, but when he heard what Alvin said, he took off at full speed. He dropped his shoulder as he hit the front door, and didn't even slow as the door exploded inwards. He knew Logan couldn't keep up with him, but the cries he was hearing from upstairs pushed him even faster. He hit the stairway and took them four at a time. Taking a hard left when he reached the top, and made it to the end of the hall in two seconds. Again he didn't slow as he lowered his shoulder and smashed through the door. Adam almost lost control of himself as he saw the man had his hand wrapped around his own penis and was trying to force it into the small boy under neither him.

Before the man could do more then turn his head to look at the intruder, Adam had slung the rifle, grabbed the man, and threw him across the room, shattering several cameras and light stands.

Adam then turned his attention to the crying boy, and gathered him up in his arms. The boy threw his arms around Adam and clung to him like a drowning man to a life raft.

The man let our a roar of anger and pain and Adam was able to look up just in time to see the man swinging a tripod leg at him. Quickly turning, Adam took the strike across his back but made sure the boy didn't get hit at all.

The man pulled back to hit again, but that's when Logan entered the room. Saw what was going on, and drew his sword off his back, and sent off a quick prayer hoping that all of Chang's teachings would pay off. Adam had drilled into their heads that you don't use lethal force unless you had no other choice. Death was often too good for a lot of the assholes they were going after.

As the piece of metal descended again to hit Adam, it was met half way by Logan's up strike, cutting the piece of metal in half. The look on the man's face would have made Logan laugh in any other circumstance.

Logan held his sword at the ready and waited to see what the man would do next. Wildly the man looked around and picked up a heavier piece of metal from one of the lights, and was holding it up threateningly towards Logan.

"Adam Logan, you got company. Two cop cars just screeched to a halt out front. Four cops incoming with guns drawn." Alvin's voice came across both of their little speakers and immediately, both Adam and Logan moved. Logan maneuvered himself so that he could see both the man and the door, while Adam rolled the boy and himself onto the floor keeping the bed between the door and the boy.

Due to normal standard operating procedure, both Adam and Logan were keeping an open line, so everything they said was heard, not only by who ever was with them, but by those back at base as well. "It's gonna be alright little guy." Logan heard Adam say softly to the boy. "I won't let anyone hurt you okay?"

Logan didn't hear a reply as he was talking himself, although he wasn't speaking softly nor gently. "Put it down, I don't want to have to kill you!"

Of course that's when the cops decided to show up. "POLICE! Drop your weapons!" Several of them called out, all the while training their guns on the three of them, Adam was still shielding the boy.

Logan nodded, then slowly re-sheathed his sword along his back, while at the same time, the man dropped the metal rod, pissed himself, then feel to his knees. "My name is Logan Hayes, General in the Clan Short of Vulcan Special Forces division, here on a rescue." Logan held his hands straight out from his body. "My identification is in right right breast pocket. Either you can get it, or I will get it out to show you."

The cops looked at each other, and then back towards Logan then over to Adam. Adam was still shielding the boy, and Logan knew he would kill to keep the boy safe. He knew he had to defuse this situation as quick as possible. If Adam thought anyone was a threat to the boy he was protecting, he wouldn't hesitate to kill every single cop in the room.

One of the cops relaxed, shrugged and re-holstered his 9mm. He gave a bit of a chuckle as he slowly started walking towards Logan. "it's not like the 9mm will do shit against that body armor. I know, I've worn it. Don't make any sudden moves, I'm gonna unzip your pocket and pull out your ID."

Logan smiled and nodded, not that anyone could see his smile due to the helmet he wore. The cop unzipped Logan's breast pocket and pulled out his ID, all the while Logan didn't even flinch. The man took one look at it and sighed. "Oh hell... better call the watch commander." He said as he handed it to one of the other cops.

The other cop looked it over then turned towards the others. "Relax guys, this looks real." The other cops nodded and put their guns away. The first cop turned back to Logan and opened his mouth to say something, but the bad guy's scream shattered the quiet of the room.

The first cops gun was in his hand in an instant, and Logan screamed "NO!" while spinning to face the bad guy just as the cop fired. What the cop didn't anticipate was that Logan spun right into the bullets path, just as he pulled the trigger. Logan knew exactly what he was doing as the bullet slammed into his back projecting him forward, and into the bad guy. Again, thanking Chang's lessons, Logan hit the guy once, and he was down and out. But so was Logan, at least down. The body armor did it's job, the bullet never penetrated, but it still hit him like a horse kick. Before he even hit the ground though, he was calling out to everyone "I'M FINE!" He just knew that if he hadn't, Alvin would have sent in every on duty strike team they had, and Adam would have killed everyone in the room, except the little boy.

Ignoring the pain in his back, Logan jumped back up to his feet and looked at Adam, who was already lifting his rifle. "No Adam... I'm fine!"

The cop that had fired was looking at Logan like he was insane. "What the fuck kid?!"

Logan reached up and pulled off his helmet, then gave a pain filled half grin to the cop. "I didn't want the fucker dead... It's too good for him. I want Bubba to have a go at him first."

The cop laughed loudly while putting his gun away, then he stuck his hand out to Logan. "I'm Officer Chadwick, and you got a bigger set off balls then almost anyone I'd ever met before."

"Logan, can you throw me that towel?" Adam asked, Logan could tell that Adam was barely holding it together. He picked up the towel and walked over to Adam, as he noticed on of the cops ducking out of the room. In a voice for only Adam to hear, Logan spoke, "I'm fine... really." He handed Adam the towel, as his lover searched his eyes looking for the truth of his words. Finally Adam relaxed and took the towel. Logan turned his back as Adam still kept the boy shielded form sight, as he wrapped the boy up in the large fluffy towel.

**End Flashback**

As if that wasn't enough, Adam had made sure that Aiden was re-united with his mother, and both of them were taken care of. Aiden would do anything he could to pay Adam back, no matter how many times Adam told the small boy that there was no need.

 

---

 

Zoie woke up after her night on the bio bed. The first thing she did was try and flex her deformed hand. Silent tears started to fall as her hand moved easily, and in ways it hadn't been able to do in years. It was still a bit sore, but the pain was almost euphoric.

Janet walked up to the bed and smiled down at the young girl. She didn't say anything as Zoie lifted her hand, in front of her eyes and started to flex it. "It works..." She breathed out and then giggled, when she noticed the smile on Janet's face.

"Of course it does, I told you it would." Janet said with a broad grin. Then he face got slightly more serious. "Just remember the exercises you need to do three times a day, and if it starts to hurt, just come back, and we'll give you something for it. Okay?"

Zoie sat up in the bed, and threw her arms around Janet. "Thank you so much!"

"You're more then welcome Zoie." Janet said as she pulled back from the hug, her own tears threatening to spill. No matter how much she's had to deal with lately, it was times like this that made it all worth wild. "Now, you have a little girl in the other room that tried to stay awake all night long so she could be here when you wake up. Why don't you go show her your new and improved hand, and then take her back to the rooms."

Zoie smiled and nodded as she got off the bed. She was almost to the door when she stopped then turned around, her happy face replaced by a very haunted look. "What about the other thing... did you do it?"

Janet's smile faded and all she did was nod once. "Thank you." Zoie said before she turned back around and walked out of the room.

 

---

 

Morgan looked over at Madison and smiled. "Everything's ready... Maddox should be here in a few minutes with Alexei." Madison grinned back at his brother and then looked out at the field that was being set up. The triplets had decided that they were going to help protect Alexei during the rebellion, and that part of that was to help teach Alexei how to actually be a boy of twelve.

Being that all three of the triplets were N-Gen, they could all feel the longing inside of Alexei when ever he saw kids playing together, so today they were going to start fixing that. "Do you think it'll work?" Madison asked somewhat worriedly.

"I hope so, I'm worried too you know. He's so wrapped up in running the country, I don't know if he even knows how to be a kid, even though he wants to." Sighed Morgan. "It's just hard to watch sometimes. He wants to be a kid so bad, but he won't let himself. He's so wrapped up on his people. Not that that's a bad thing but dammit, he needs to be a kid too."

During the entire rant by Morgan, Madison could only nod in agreement. They had all discussed this many times over the past couple of days and all thought the same thing. They needed to help their new friend learn how to be a kid, even if only for a short time.

They both looked towards the door moments before it opened revealing Maddox leading Alexei out of the palace and onto the back field. Their other brother was wearing a hopeful smile and Alexei looked somewhat confused until he saw the kids playing in the field. For a moment all three saw a look pass over the boy's face before he snapped down on his emotions tightly. All three brothers frowned slightly at this, knowing it was going to take some effort to convince Alexei to play.

"So what was it that you wanted to show me?" Alexei said as the two small groups met a few yards from the Palace door. "I have a meeting with the General in twenty minutes." Alexei said as he tore his eyes off the kids that were playing in the field.

"No you don't my young Tsar." An adult said from behind them, caused Alexei to jump slightly and turn around. "What do you mean General?"

"Exactly what I said Tsar Alexei... I have canceled the meeting this afternoon. You have more important things to look to." General Krolikov said as he crossed his large arms. To the triplets, the General personified the idea of a huge Russian bear. His arms were easily the same size as the boys waist, with hands that could palm their heads with out an issue. But all three boys could see into the man's heart, and he was just a giant teddy bear, especially when it came to Alexei. However, as with all bears, you do NOT piss them off, and the best way to piss off this Russian bear, was to threaten his Tsar.

"And what is more important then the meetings on how we are going to stabilize this country?" Alexei stated growing upset.

General Krolikov didn't back down from the glare being sent his way. As a matter of fact, the large man crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked down at his young leader. "Making sure that the person who is going to lead this country knows what he is leading, and most importantly WHY."

"What are you saying General? That I do not know how to lead my country?" Alexei was getting seriously annoyed, by this point, and it showed.

"Oh I think you know how to lead your country, what I don't think you know how to do is see HOW you need to lead your country." The General knelt down and put both of his huge hands on the rather smallish Alexei. "You're great Grandfather was the best leader this Country has ever had, and I was honored to be one of his guard. However, what made him so good at it was the fact that he knew when to be a leader and when to be a person. You can not be a leader all the time. You'll loose that connection to the people that other monarchs have had. You need to learn how to be a boy before you can learn to be the best leader you can be. Let these three boys help you." The General turned Alexei around till the boy was facing the large group of kids that were starting to organize a game of soccer (football for those outside the US), and gave him a gentle pat on the butt. "Go and let yourself be a boy for a while. Let us worry about this war. We need you to be able to pick up the pieces when we're done, but to do that you have to be a person not just a ruler."

The large General smiled faintly as he watched the three brothers grab and pull Alexei off towards the game field. For a moment, he had to fight back a few tears as he thought back to his first meeting with the boys great grandfather almost thirty years ago.

**Flashback**

Twenty three year old Yuri Krolikov was nervous as hell. He'd joined the military at the age of sixteen after spending all his educational years in the best military prep schools in the country. He was literally born knowing he was going to go into the military, and he focused everything he had into that one goal. And it paid off.

Only seven short years into being in the active military, Yuri was given the chance of a life time. He'd already made the rank of General, the youngest to ever have attained such a lofty rank, but now he was given the opportunity to command the Tsar's personal guard. But first he had to pass the personal meeting with the Tsar.

He waited only about ten minutes before he was escorted in to see the man that had ruled his country for as long as he could remember. He walked into the huge room and saw the man rising from behind the large oak desk. As soon as Yuri got close, he fell to a knee in front of the man and bowed his head.

"Please rise General." The Tsar said in a soothing voice, and Yuri did as he was told. Yuri couldn't begin to express the feelings he had as the man reached out his hand to shake Yuri's. Here was the leader of his country shaking hands with him as if he were someone important.

"Why don't we go take a walk Yuri. You don't mind if I call you Yuri do you?" The Tsar once again spoke softly, as if speaking to a friend.

"Of course not my Tsar." Yuri spoke quickly, but could never have been ready for what the man said next.

"Good... but you must call me Alexei when we are alone. I prefer friends to be around me." The smile the man flashed Yuri is something that he would never forget. It was such an honor for Yuri to have this man, this person he's idolized since he was a child, to ask him to call him by his given name.

"Of... of course my... umm... Alexei." Yuri stumbled a bit as he spoke.

Alexei simply nodded as he led the young man out of the office. "We're going out to the gardens for a bit. Let me know if I am needed for anything." Alexei spoke to his secretary who looked up, and nodded.

"Of course Alexei. Is there anything I can get for you?" She asked casually, which again shocked Yuri.

"No, I don't think so." With that, not another word was spoken as Alexei led Yuri out to the gardens. Once they were out in the gardens, they walked for almost five minuted before Alexei spoke. "Yuri, I have read you're file and to say the least, I am impressed."

"Thank you Alexei." Yuri spoke as his chest swelled. However, his pride turned to confusion as Alexei knelt down and reached into one of the rose bushes, and started to pull up a few tiny weeds that had pooped up. Surely that was the job of the gardeners.

"Do you have any hobbies?" Alexei asked as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small set of clippers. With out looking over at Yuri, Alexei bent to work on the plants, clipping off small dead limbs.

"I'm sorry... I don't understand..." Yuri said cautiously.

"Hobbies... do you have anything you do to relax... anything you do simply for the sheer enjoyment of it?" Alexei asked as he snipped another branch off, then moved to another large rose bush.

"Well... Not really sir. The military has been my life since I was a boy. There's not really time for anything else." Yuri answered hesitantly.

Alexei looked into Yuri's eyes and the younger man thought he could see sympathy in those deep brown eyes. "And there lies my only concern for you."

"Excuse me?" Yuri asked in complete confusion. All his life he'd heard about 'complete devotion to the military', and now this man, the Tsar of his country, and his idol was telling him that that wasn't a good thing.

"Don't get me wrong, the military is great at producing competent warriors, but it's not so good at sculpting a 'person'. You are an outstanding commander, but you lack one thing. You lack the ability to connect with your men. You are a commander, not a leader. In the military that's fine, but I need someone more to lead my security." Yuri saw the look of concern in the young man's eyes and gently clapped him on the shoulder. "Fear not Yuri, I have already picked you to lead my guard, but for the first little while I will require you to help me out here in the gardens, at least until you find something out side of the military to occupy your mind."

"As... as you wish Tsar Alexei." Yuri said more then a bit overwhelmed. He was just told that he got his dream job, but there was a requirement that went along with it. He wasn't sure how he felt about it. However, he would do his duty.

With in three months of spending at least an hour a day along side of Alexei working in the gardens, Yuri started to understand what the man meant. He wasn’t sure why, but he had never felt anything as relaxing as tending to the delicate and beautiful flowers that grew in Alexei’s private gardens. It wasn't just that though, Yuri learned so much from this man on how to lead. With in a year there was a marked difference in how his troops dealt with Yuri. At first it was simply they would follow his orders, but they wouldn't do much else. Then he started working with them the same way that Alexei worked with him, and he watched as the men under his command started to bond together into more then a fighting force. They grew into a family. A family that knew what the other was going to do before they did it. Yuri found himself having to issue orders less and less as the men saw what he would want done before he told them, and they simply did it.

When Alexei died, Yuri took over the gardens for him, and never has he let them become less then the spectacular sight that he had first seen. Of course that was before Premier Bartnev had 'excused' the Imperial Guard.

**End Flashback**

Alexei felt himself being drug off towards the soccer game and wanted to fight, but he knew better. He was sure that once the kids there knew who he was, they wouldn't want to have him play with them anyways. He couldn't have been more wrong had he tried.

The second the four boys got to the group, they were immediately split up into the two teams, with Morgan being the only triplet on the same team as Alexei. The older teen that was organizing the game spoke up once he had the two teams separated. "Okay guys. For anyone of you who don't know me, my name's Pete. I know lots of you guys don't really know how to play soccer, so I'll make it as easy as possible. This is the soccer ball. You can NOT touch the ball with your hands. For the most part you have to use your feet to kick the ball around to your team mates." Pete then dropped the ball to the ground, and proceeded to dribble the ball a bit so people could see what he meant.

He then picked the ball back up and faced the teams. "I'm gonna be the referee, so when you hear me blow this whistle, I just want everyone to stop where they are and then I'll let you know when to keep going. The most important part to remember is this. On each end of the field is a goal. The object of the game is to get the ball into the other teams goal. Oh yeah.. in front of the goal there is a goal keeper. I'll let you guys figure out who wants to play in the goal. The thing is... they CAN use their hands. So make sure you keep that in mind. Any questions."

Alexei was surprised by the questions. He really didn't want to ask anything cause he didn't want the other kids to think he was stupid, but almost every question he had, was asked by another kid. It made him feel better that some of the kids who didn't know how to play were actually older then he was, so again, he wasn't looking bad.

Pete took the time to make sure kids were in the right positions before he took the ball to the two kids that were gonna 'face off'. Alexei wasn't sure why it happened, or how, but right when the whistle blew, Alexei's mind slammed back to a time just six short years ago.

**Flashback..(Yes Another one... Darkstar would be so proud!)**

His father was taking young Alexei to the park to play. His father didn't understand why at the time, but Alexei really didn't want to go. When they got to the park, Alexei refused to go play with the other kids. Instead he simply stood next to his father as he shook hands with people and exchanged words. Alexei even refused to shake hands with the people that were talking to his father. Instead he just stood there and watched what was going on.

Finally Alexei's father excused himself from all the people, and walked with Alexei away from the crowd and knelt down in front of him. "Okay Alexei... would you mind telling me what's going on?"

"Father... why are you allowing all those commoners to be around us? It's just not proper!" Alexei said all of that with all the seriousness that a six year old can put into something.

For a moment his father sat back and just stared at the boy. Finally Alexei started to shift uncomfortably while his fathers eyes seemed to pierce into him. "Who told you that?"

"Well... The Nanny says that I'm gonna be the Tsar one day. And that.. well I shouldn't hang around those who are lesser then me. It's not right." Alexei didn't like the look in his fathers eyes, but his nanny had told him that his father wanted him to learn that.

Sadly Alexei's father shook his head in disgust. "No son... she is wrong." He then pointed to the kids that were playing a game of tag in the field a short ways away. "What makes you think you're better than any of those kids?"

Alexei was shocked. Of course he was better then they were. He was gonna be Tsar one day. That meant he was better then those simple commoners. And he said as much to his father. Never before had he seen his father look at him like that. It really looked like his father was ashamed of him for saying it.

"No my son... you could not be more wrong. And I will never allow you to be lead astray by someone else's incorrect assumptions again. See, you ARE going to be the Tsar one day, but let me ask you this." He waved his arm off towards the kids playing. "These are going to be you're people one day. What does that mean to you. Does it mean that they are there to make sure that you have everything you need or want, or does it mean that you're title and position is there to make sure that you're people have everything they need to survive and flourish?"

"Well... I'm the Tsar to be. The people are supposed to make sure that I can concentrate on what's really important. Right?" Alexei's father closed his eyes for a moment, and Alexei started to become concerned.

"No my child. The people are not there to make you comfortable, the people are not here to make your life easier. YOU are here to help THEM. YOU are the one that must do what it takes to lead your people to something better. But how are you going to know how to do that if you don't even have a CLUE who your people are?!" Alexei had rarely seen his father this intense before, and it somewhat scared him, but it also stirred something inside of him that he'd never felt before.

With out saying another word, he simply nodded to his father, then turned and walked towards the kids. That was the moment where the fire started to burn in his soul. The fire that would allow him to endure anything for his people. That day he learned the difference between a ruler and a leader.

**End Flashback**

Alexei shook his head to clear it as Pete blew his whistle to start the game. Not sure how or why but Alexei had blocked the memories of that fateful day six years ago. But it was that day that he had had the most fun in his short memory. He had made some good friends that day who had stayed close with him right up till Bartnev had destroyed his life. As he ran forward to try and get control of the ball he fought back the tears that threatened to fall as he thought about the life he had lost.

He gained control of the ball but it was getting really difficult to see as the tears were trying to blind him. "Be at ease my child." His fathers voice filled his head, as he passed the ball to one of his team mates. Part of him wanted to run off the field and cry, but the other part, the stronger part, forced him to run towards the goal so he could be ready if his team needed him.

It felt as if his father's arms wrapped around him as he was running, and it was almost like he was simply watching what was going on around him rather then actively participating. "Do not let the evilness that was Bartnev defeat you." Another voice said as he felt two more arms wrap around him, and now the tears did start to flow freely. He recognized that voice clearly. It was the man that he had been named after, the Tsar that held the title before Alexei did, and the man that had helped to raise him for the few months between when his father died and the old man had his 'accident'.

"There are things that happen in our lives and no one can explain why they do, or why others acted the way they did. But we only have two choices when they come to pass. Do we let them beat us down, or do we take what has happened and let those events make us strong, make us better, and make us more focused to do what job we have taken for ourselves to do." Alexei the elder spoke softly to his great grandson.

The tears were flowing freely at this point, but Alexei kept playing. He watched as the ball got passed back and forth between some of the kids and waited, with his arms held high so they could see him. Finally one of the kids, a girl a little older then he is, saw him, and passed him the ball.

"Keep the ball close to you, short kicks, not big ones. Make sure you keep your back to the opponents so they can't steal it from you." This time the voice was that of Vladick, one of his 'friends' from the soccer field that day. He was also the closest of the friends he had for that short time.

Alexei didn't realize it at the time, but Vladick was also one of the wisest kids he had ever met. The first time that Alexei had tried to score, the goalie was able to easily catch the ball. Alexei was about to leave the game in tears, but the older boy grabbed him and spoke softly to him. "That was a good try, but just like with everything, you can't get a goal all the time. What's most important is that you don't let it bother you. You run back up to the other side to help make sure they don't get a goal on your team and when you get the ball back you try it again. The only way to really loose is to give up."

Another set of arms joined his father and great grandfathers, they squeezed around Alexei as he ran towards the goal, keeping the soccer ball close to his body. The tears were falling in rivers now, but the grin on his face told everyone that he was happy. When he got close to the goal, he reared his leg back and gave a mighty kick sending the ball flying towards the goal. The goalie dove for the ball trying to block it, and managed to just get his fingertips to hit the ball knocking it far enough off to the side to where the ball hit the goal post and bounced off.

The grin on Alexei's face never faltered, he simply turned around and started to jog back down to his side of the field.

 

---

 

Sergei watched from the windows as his young student finally allowed himself to be a child, and he too had to fight back the tears. He had been hired by the boy's great grandfather shortly after the death of Alexei's father, to be the boy's mentor and tutor. He had just graduated college himself and saw this as a tremendous opportunity, not one that another 23 year old would ever get.

Nothing could have prepared him for the seven year old ball of fire that he would have to deal with though. At first, Sergei wasn't sure he could handle dealing with the boy as much as he was, but then something started to happen. The little boy wormed his way into the young mans heart. Especially after the death of the then Tsar. Alexei had to step up and be a man even though he was only eight years old. He couldn't cry like he wanted to, his country needed a strong leader, and he had to be it. But that night, when they were alone, Alexei allowed Sergei to hold him as his little body was wracked with tears. From that point forward, Alexei was no longer his student, he was someone that Sergei considered family.

Nothing could have prepared him for the first night when Bartnev 'visited' Alexei though. The boy had been devastated, but the only thing Sergei could do was hold him, and tend to his wounds. Alexei refused to allow Sergei to tell anyone what was going on. Even then Alexei knew better then Sergei did about just how powerful Bartnev was.

For the next four years, Sergei was the only one that was allowed to see Alexei cry. For four years he slowly watched the fireball die down into a small cinder. It tore Sergei up inside to watch that happen, but he kept his silence as Alexei made him promise he would.

Sergei couldn't help but smile as he remembered the first time he talked to Alexei about the Clan. Sergei had rushed into Alexei's room as the boy was recovering from the latest visit. "Alexei, you must see this!" Sergei said excitedly as he turned on the television in the boy's room.

At the same time he was turning on the television, he also activated the devise that would make it so the bugs placed in the bedroom by Bartnev's people wouldn't work. As the TV came on, Alexei immediately knew it was tuned to one of the stations that was not accessible by the general population due to one of the many proclamations Bartnev made in Alexei's name.

When the screen cleared, Alexei saw the screen split in two, on one side was a boy about eight scowling at the screen with two other boys sitting next to him, both of them looking like someone had beaten the hell out of them. On the other side was an adult with some sort of official seal behind him. Alexei could easily tell the man was an American Politician. The eight year old was the first one to speak.

"Those members of the FCC who ordered today's attack have been identified, judged, and found guilty of manslaughter. Their punishment is death; upon location of those persons the punishment shall be served immediately." The boy paused, then his voice went a little closer to normal. "The doctrine of the FCC has been analyzed and found to be in violation of over fifty percent of the Safe Haven Act; as such, all violent FCC members found from this point forward are to be turned over to the Federation to reverse the brainwashing that is done by the so-called clergy. Today, some of the FCC crossed the line in the sand that the world placed there long ago; Iowa and South Carolina have responded to that line being crossed, and for that we are truly grateful. It is now the choice of the rest of the world as to if they would rather live in the extremist members of the FCC's promised land, where kids are killed because they stood up for their rights, or if they want to live in our world that we are trying to build, where you are judged by your actions and not your genetic makeup or scar tissue. That is all I have to say."

"What happened?" Alexei said just as three other figures appeared behind the ones sitting down. The one in the center of the group was a boy who looked to be about 14 years old. His long black hair hung in a pony tail over the tattered remains of his body armor. From the amount of blood covering him and the way he was limping, Alexei was unsure how he was even walking. To his left towered a heavily muscled being which he guessed to be just over seven feet tall. The armor on this boy was in just as bad a shape as the first; the parts of his face not covered in blood showed cat-like features covered in orange and black fur. To the right of the first boy was another cat in much the same condition. This one was slightly shorter than the boy in the center, and had reddish-brown fur.

Sergei didn't respond, he simply watched the events as they unfolded on the screen.

"Sir, I have a report..."

The boy in the center said as he moved up to the seated group and saluted.

Before anyone else could speak, the eight year old that had been speaking spoke up again. "Cory, with your permission, why not have Commander Casey introduce himself, and the others with him, and give his report directly to everyone."

Cory nodded weakly. "Proceed with Kyle's suggestion, Commander. Governor Jacobs of Iowa will be accepting your report for the world to hear."

The long haired boy nodded, squared himself up, and looked directly at the monitor. "Sir, my name is Commander Adam Casey. I am the commanding officer of the Clan Short Special Forces Division, or, more commonly called, The Unit. Beside me is Amur Kahn, the Head of the Feline Assault Team," he said, indicating the bigger of the two. "Also with me is Vishnu, a member of the Feline Assault Team, and current commander of the Reynolds Security detail. At approximately twelve hundred hours this afternoon, we received a distress call from one of my team members. We were all on our way to Montana to enjoy some R&R and do a bit of training. Upon receiving the call, I ordered my teams to gear up for a possible hostile encounter." The boy took a deep shuddering breath before continuing.

"When we arrived, we found a terrorist style attack underway. The apparent target of this attack was the Reynolds family. The enemy combatants were engaged with members of Clan Short as well as Cadets who came in to help defend the Reynolds residence. We acted quickly to push back the assault, and had hoped that, with the arrival of air support, they would break off their attack."

Although the boy remained stone faced, tears were starting to stream down his face. "That did not happen, and soon we were engaged in an all-out battle. After approximately forty-five minutes of intense fighting, the terrorist element attacking us called a retreat. When it was all said and done, their dead number more than nine hundred and fifty. Casualties on our side number sixty-one Unit members dead, and more than one hundred wounded. Of the dead, the oldest, at seventeen, was Private First Class Andrew Shoemaker. The youngest..." The boy paused, fighting to keep his emotions in check. "The youngest was Recruit Mark Little... he was only nine years old."

He then leaned in real close to the monitor. "I heard what Kyle has said, and I agree. The FCC will soon find out that war is what my brothers and I were made for. There is no place you can run and hide. But please... try... all that will mean is you'll die tired." With that he stood back up, did an about face, and marched off.

"Amur Kahn." Governor Jacobs stated, his voice cracking under the stress of trying to keep his emotions in check, "As of this moment, I am placing the Iowa National Guard at DEFCON 1 and under the command of the Clan Short Special Forces. Inform Commander Casey the full resources of Iowa are at the disposal of all divisions of Clan Short."

Khan stood even straighter if that was possible, saluted, and said in a voice like rolling thunder "As you wish, Sir." He and Vishnu then performed an about face and followed Adam out of the room.

Governor Jacobs paused as a slip of paper was placed in front of him, then added, "The State of Iowa mourns with you for these unnecessary losses of life, Cory. For as long as I live, I will do whatever is necessary to ensure these events will never repeat themselves. I shall be contacting the Vulcan Embassy for assistance in setting up a proper system to enforce the new laws which we now operate under. I just received notice from Florida and Montana that they are declaring themselves Safe Haven states also. Under the authority granted me by the President of the United States, I will deploy all available active duty Iowa-based U.S. Military to Montana to assist with neutralizing the remaining hostile FCC forces. I have more to say to you, Cory, but I will say that in person shortly." He then paused as a robed Vulcan dignitary walked up behind Cory.

"Your request for assistance is approved," the Vulcan announced flatly. "Retribution for the needless acts of violence perpetrated by the FCC shall be performed in the most expedient manner. It is time for Patriarch Cory to attend to his own needs and those of his family. All further communications shall be through the Vulcan Embassy."

"Understood and agreed, Ambassador Sarek," Governor Jacobs replied. Sarek nodded, then the right side of the screen went blank.

Governor Jacobs stared into the screen. "Citizens of Iowa, this is no longer something we can stand by and watch. Do not let our borders limit you; as a Safe Haven state, we have a responsibility to the world to protect youth wherever they may be. I am leaving immediately for South Carolina to assist however I can; those of you who are qualified in any way and not already on standby for assistance are asked to join me if at all possible. This day has started as the worst day in the annals of humanity; it is our duty to prove that humanity will not stand for such actions." With that, the screen went black.

Neither Sergei or Alexei spoke for several seconds as the digested what they had just seen. Finally Sergei turned and met eyes with Alexei. The boy had tears streaming from his eyes. "The time has come." Alexei softly whispered, and Sergei could only nod in agreement. The lump in his throat was too big for him to speak. Slowly Sergei turned and left the room. As he quietly closed the door, he over heard Alexei whispering to himself. "It's almost over Father. Please help me be strong enough to do it right."

 

---

 

Sergei felt closer to Alexei than anyone else in his life. His life so far had been determined for him. His family was counting on him. He was told that he was the best and brightest, and had proved it several times over, but now he felt hollow. He never thought that his duty would make him feel like this. Bitter tears flowed down his face as a war raged inside his heart.