Camp Bam Bam

Adam smiled slightly as he felt Logan’s arm wrap around his shoulder and started to turn him slightly towards the bridge . ‘It was all worth it... It all worked. Dammit, I can’t believe it all worked out,’ he thought to himself as he was walking across the bridge. When he reached the top of the bridge, he turned around and looked one last time at the resting place of his family. He smiled as he saw the outline of one hundred and fourteen people standing just off to the side of the caskets. As one, they saluted to Adam and he saluted back. No tears in his eyes this time; he knew they wouldn’t want that.

They held the salute for a few moments and then dropped it as they started to fade. Adam held his till they were gone and then let his hand drop. He turned back to Logan and pulled him into a hug. "Come on, love, let’s get out of here." With smiles on their faces, and peace in their hearts, both the boys walked over the bridge.

Neither said anything as they made it back to the fire house. They had just barely gotten in the doors when Adam turned to Logan and started to sway a bit. "Ummm... Love... I think I need to sit down for a second..." and that was all it took. The emotional strain of the last week, topped off with not having slept for the last three days, had finally caught up with him, and Adam collapsed.

Jonas and Harry had been walking quietly, hand in hand, in front of them the whole way back. When they heard what Adam said, they both spun around and saw Adam’s eyes roll up into his head. As one, they darted to Adam's side, and together with Logan, they helped him to the ground.

"Migod, what's wrong!?" Harry exclaimed.

"I... I think he just collapsed." Logan had his head on Adam’s neck and sighed with relief when he felt a strong pulse. Logan looked around and didn’t see any of the medical personnel around, so he made a snap decision. "Can you guys help me get him back to the base and into bed? He hasn’t slept since Saturday night. I think he just needs to sleep."

Along with Chang, Amur Khan ran in with a few others, many having felt Adam’s collapse. Chang got there just in time to hear what Logan said. Logan saw Chang bend down and start to check Adam out. Khan got a funny look on his face and spun back towards the way they came, and stood there listening for a moment. Finally he nodded and turned back to see what else was going on there.

All eyes were on Chang as he ran through his check on Adam. Finally he looked up to Logan and smiled a small smile. "He should be fine. You may wish to take him back to your room and let him get some much deserved sleep."

Jonas met eyes with Harry first and then Logan. "We've got it covered, bro," he said with a smile at Chang, who nodded solemnly.

"Thanks," Logan said and the three of them picked up Adam. Once the three of them got Adam off the ground, Logan called out to Daileass, who as always was monitoring what was going on. "Daileass... could you transport us right to our room?" The next they knew, they were all standing in Adam and Logan’s room.

Jonas and Harry helped Logan get Adam into the bed they shared and then stood back. Logan looked over his shoulder at them; "You guys think you could help me get him out of his uniform?"

They both just nodded and they moved to help him. Between the three of them, it didn’t take them long to get Adam’s uniform shirt off and then came the undershirt. "What the Hell...?" came from Jonas as Harry's face also registered the shock of the scars crisscrossing and disfiguring Adam's back and chest.

Logan was confused for a second until he realized what they were talking about. Logan was so used to how Adam looked that he didn’t even notice all the scars anymore. He realized that neither Jonas nor Harry were there that morning, so they hadn’t seen what happened earlier; he took a deep breath before he started to explain. "While Adam was in the lab, they used to hurt him just so they could see how fast he’d heal. This is the result of that. The worst part is, while Adam’s might be the worst I've seen; there are a LOT of kids here now who have scars similar. The problem is, they didn’t grow up in a lab; they grew up with their parents or other adults that were supposed to care about them." Logan would have gone on, but he was trying to control his anger.

"We've seen a little of that," Harry said slowly. "Little Jondo...."

Logan simply nodded, then smiled. "Yeah, that’s right... you guys were the ones that found Jimmy."

They both nodded and stepped back as Logan started working on getting Adam’s pants off. Once Adam was down to his boxers , Logan tucked him in and took the uniform off to the hamper. Logan then looked at Jonas and Harry and smiled. "Thank guys. I need to check in on a few things, and he’s gonna sleep for a while. You guys wanna tag along and I’ll give you a tour?"

"Sounds good" said Jonas; Harry smiled.

 

---

 

"You think they’ll be okay, Joe?" Janet asked as the last of the Unit members got back to the fire house. It had been about thirty minutes since Adam had been taken back to the base to get some sleep, and both Janet and Joe were watching the kids like hawks, trying to make sure they were okay. More than once they overheard the kids talking about Adam’s collapse.

"I sure hope so. I think this was just what they needed, though. That was really something that Adam put together," Joe said looking around at all the kids from his wheelchair; some were smiling gently, others were drying tears.

All Janet could do was nod to what Joe said, then look down at the hand she held in hers as Joe squeezed it comfortingly. Janet knew she had to be the rock for all her boys, but she also knew that she needed Joe to be her rock. She sometimes wondered who Joe had to lean on.

They watched together as the members of the Unit talked amongst themselves, some still crying on others’ shoulders. Janet was debating with herself as to whether or not she should go talk to some of them when they all heard something that stopped everyone dead in their tracks - a very loud cougar scream. All eyes shot towards the little stage where Amur Khan, Kartik, and Vishnu were standing. Slung over Khan’s back was a large sword that Janet knew, but couldn’t place where she’d seen it before. Everyone waited as Khan stood there, simply looking over the crowd.

"I know that many of you are wondering what happened to Adam." He said in his normal soft growling voice. Janet still couldn’t get over how someone so big could have such a small voice... at least when he wanted it to be small.

"I’m up here to let you know what is going on right now. Adam was taken back to the complex to get some sleep. He hasn’t slept since Saturday night, and it finally got to him. As much as he may not like people to know this, he is still human... mostly." That got a few chuckles from everyone there.

"Now, there is something else I wanted to say. I know that what happened to us isn’t fair. We got kicked in the balls... and we got kicked hard. But you know what? We all got up and we all kept going. I know a lot of you would like to take time right now, and relax, but... we can’t. I don’t know how many of you actually realize what’s really happened lately. What kind of shit we’ve gotten ourselves into. So... let me explain it real clear." He took a deep breath, and that’s when Janet noticed the camera crew in the back of the room. ‘That explains a few things.’ she thought to herself, Khan was playing as much to the camera as he was to the rest of the people here.

"Everyone here remembers how much bigger the complex was when we got back to it Monday morning, right?" Many people nodded their heads, and a few mummers of agreement were heard. "Well... It’s just about full."

Janet’s jaw hit the floor, as well as many other people. Most people couldn’t believe what Khan just said, and it took a moment for Khan to get everyone to calm down. No one could believe it. "As of 15:30 Mountain Standard Time, today, the population of Camp Bam Bam is 4,466." Again, the place just about exploded.

Once it quieted down again, Khan nodded to himself and started talking again. "What a lot of people don’t know is that we threw down a gauntlet. We said no more to kids being abused, no more to kids being used and then thrown away. When we joined the Clan, we became their fist. We're the ones who will see the hottest action, the worst fighting. Like the rest of the Clan, we’re going to see far more of the most screwed up... the most physically, mentally and sexually abused kids; and this is because we're going to be getting calls from all over the world and from the Federation of Planets. This is what we did Saturday... this is the message we sent."

Khan pointed to where all the pictures had been lined up after the funeral was over. "They became the faces of those that said no more. They became the ones that people will think about when they hear about kids being hurt... and THOSE were the first of us that will fall trying to save others. Trust me... there will be more of our brothers and sisters that die to save and protect others. I know it, and I hope all of you do too. I can’t speak for everyone, but I can say that I would be damned proud if I gave my life so that someone else could live and be free of abuse ."

Khan’s voice had risen, but now he let it drop back into his low, almost purring cadence. "We will have a lot of help to do this, but most of the work will fall on us. We need to help all the kids that we have brought to our base learn to live again. Learn to be children again. We also have to go out, find, and rescue those that need it. We’ve been given a job to do that no child should ever have to endure , and I sure as hell hope we’re up to the challenge, cause it’s not us that will suffer if we’re not... it’s all those kids out there that are praying for a miracle. Can you dig deep inside yourselves, and BE that miracle for them? Can you put yourselves on the line day and night, 24/7, no matter what else may be going on... to try and save someone you don’t even know?"

To Janet's complete surprise, a slow roar started growing ever louder and overtook the entire fire station as one voice coming from every child present shook the building.

No hesitation, no second thought, no doubt could be heard in that voice, in the one word echoing across the area.

Every time she thought she couldn’t be prouder of her children than she already was, they went and did something else that proved her mistaken, as they were doing now with one word coming from each and every throat, no matter how old or young they were.

"YES!!!!!!!!!"

As she turned with teary eyes to look at Joe, she could tell that it had affected him the same way, as evidenced by matching tears running down his face as well.

Khan beamed as he looked out at his brothers and sisters. No, they weren’t blood related, but it didn’t matter; these were his family. "Then I guess we got some work to do."

 

---

 

As soon as Jory got back from the firehouse, he set off for his room, and an issue he know he needed to deal with. As soon as he got into the common room that he shared with his brothers, he heard the thumping music. He couldn’t help but grin as he recognized one of his favorite songs... "Battery" by Metallica, from the S&M Album.

He walked into his room, and saw the two boys laughing and dancing around. Jumping from one bed to another, and back again. It was good to see them acting like kids, and he couldn’t keep the grin off his face. ‘This is how carefree kids should be able to act all the time.’

Unfortunately, it didn’t last, as Jessie managed to catch him out of the corner of his eye. He yelped in fear, and quickly ran over shutting the music off. Tears were falling down his face, as he hung his head. "I’m... I’m sorry, Jory. It... it won’t happen again."

Both boys were trembling in fear, and Jory once again wished he could bring their father back to life, just so he could kill him. "It’s okay, guys., he said as he walked slowly over to where the boys were. He could see them both stiffen in fear as he got closer, and knew that both of them were worried about getting hurt.

"Guys, it’s just me. I promised you I wouldn’t ever hurt you, and I NEVER break my word. Okay?" He got fearful nods form both boys, so he did the only thing he could think of. "However, you did stop one of my favorite songs in the middle, so I think we need to start the song over again... It needs to be a bit louder this time. I also think it’s time to teach you boys something all boys need to know how to do... it’s called a pillow fight." Jory grinned as he hit play, cranked the volume as high as it would go, and then, walking over to the bed, he grabbed a couple of pillows, tossed them to Jesse and James... and then attacked them.

Twenty minutes later, three exhausted boys hit the bed, and this time none of them got back up. Jory grinned as he heard the two brothers laughing at the mess they caused. Daileass had kept the three boys supplied with feather pillows, and right now, there were feathers all over the place. In some areas, Jory was sure they were at least a foot thick.

"Okay guys, you got me." Jory got out in between his own laughter. "But it wasn’t fair, you two big kids ganging up on someone two years younger."

The twins just erupted in laugher again as Jory tried to pout. It didn’t last very long though. Finally though, Jory knew he had to bring this to an end. There was something important they had to do. "Okay... it’s time to get up and clean up. don’t worry about the room, I'll take care of that, but we’re gonna have guests in the main room soon, and I know one of them really wants to see you guys." Both boys looked fearful again, so Jory moved over to sit between them.

"I know it’s hard for you guys to feel safe, and not scared, but please trust me. Nothing bad is going to happen to either of you. The person who really wants to see you is Mary."

"Mary?!?!" James asked in a near shout. "You mean she’s okay?"

"Yup... your little sister is doing great. she’s been staying with a couple good friends of mine, and is really happy, but she wants to see her big brothers."

Jesse and James looked at each other, then both jumped off the bed, and ran into the bathroom. Jory couldn’t help but laugh as he heard the boys racing through a shower. A few minutes later, they both ran out of the bathroom stark naked, and ran around trying to find clothes to wear. Finally, the three of them left the room.

Jory made both boys sit on either side of him on the couch, and took one hand in each of his. The timing was perfect because they just got sat down, and the door to the room opened up, and a little five year old whirlwind came charging into the room, hell bent on finding her brothers.

All three of them were crying and hugging, and Jory sat right in the middle of it all. He was glad to see that both Dave and Jack, who brought the little girl here, came in quietly, and quickly sat down in the chairs furthest away from where they were seated. Once the three kids calmed down enough, Jory pulled the little girl into his lap, and once again took both of the twins’ hands. Just in time too, as they then realized that two adults were there.

Both of the twins tried to run, but Jory held them in their seats, as Mary looked around wondering what was going on. "J’s... what’s wrong?" She asked, looking at one, then the other. "They’s okay. Really. they’s been lookin’ after me since we’s got here."

"But... but... he hates me... he’s gotta," Jesse squeaked out.

"Who?" Mary asked, obviously not knowing what was going on.

"That one," He quietly said, and barely lifted his hand and pointed at Dave. "I...I shot him."

Dave, making sure his voice was as gentle, kind, and soft as he could make it, told him, "Jesse, it’s okay. I know why you did it, and protecting your brother is a very good thing to do."

"You mean... you’re not mad at me... really?" Jesse said, not really believing what he was hearing.

"No, I’m not mad at you. It hurt a bit, but I would have done the same

thing. See... I had a twin brother myself, so I know why you did what

you did. You were trying to protect your brother the only way you could

think of."

"You... you had a twin?" Both boys asked, in that all too familiar, yet rather freaky same voice that many twins can do.

"Yes, I did; his name was Daniel. He died when we were just a bit older then you two are now. We lived in foster care, and had always been together, until about a year before he died." Dave paused for a second, trying to control his own emotions.

"He died in a fire at the foster home he lived in. But I felt it. You two know what I mean, right?" Both boys nodded, and Dave kept going. "I felt him as he burned, and I knew the second he died. I wanted to die too. It was like a part of myself had been ripped out of me... and... and I didn’t think could live without him." Dave reached up and wiped away the tears that were flowing down his face, at the same time that Jack placed his arm over Dave’s shoulder and pulled him in tight.

Both boys were also crying, but they were nodding as well. "We know what you mean." Jesse said.

"We could always feel what was happening to each other." James spoke

softly, finishing what his brother had started. And that’s when Jory felt it.

He knew that both Jesse and James were telepathic; most twins are, but Jory knew that neither one of them had any training at all, and had probably never used it before except with each other.

Now, however, both boys’ minds stretched out, and Jory could "feel" them as they read both Dave and Jack, trying to find out if these two were safe, and if what Dave had said was true. Jory knew that these two would have to be taught how to use their abilities, but right now, he wasn’t going to say anything to them about it.

Everyone was silent for almost two full minutes before the boys got all the answers they needed, and then conferred with each other. Jory knew what was going to happen, because he was ‘listening in,’ so when the boys tried to move, he didn’t stop them this time.

Slowly both boys moved up to the men, Jesse moving to Dave, and James to Jack. Slowly, very slowly, both men slipped down to their knees so they could be on eye level to the small boys. Jesse and James stopped about three feet away, and when Jack and Dave opened their arms, both boys ran into their arms, both of them erupting in tears one more time.

 

---

 

After Logan, Jonas, and Harry left Adam sleeping, Jonas and Harry followed Logan to the command center. When they got there, Logan escorted them into his office and was just about to sit down, when a knock came on the door, followed by a young boy of about eleven walking into the room. He saluted and then handed Logan a few sheets of paper. Logan thanked him and started to read what he had been given. Jonas and Harry were silent as they waited to see what Logan was given. After about five minutes of reading, Logan softly whistled.

He handed one of the papers to Jonas; with Harry leaning over so he could read it as well.

***Internal Polling Summary Report***

Requests for help Directed to Camp Bam Bam: 14,954

Interventions by Camp Bam Bam Personnel: 6,428

Children removed by Camp Bam Bam Personnel: 2,874

Children brought to Camp Bam Bam by Staff Personnel: 1,479

Operational Intake Centers: 437

Requests for help at intake centers: 26,479

Requests handled by Local Authorities: 18,947

Requests Handled by National Government: 6,137

Request for assistance from Local Authorities: 1,395

Children Processed Into Camp Bam Bam: 2,874

Adult Staff Processed into Camp Bam Bam: 981

Total Population of Camp Bam Bam as of 15:30 Oct. 27, 2004: 4,466

"Holy crap!" Harry said. "You've got that many people here?"

"I guess we do." Logan said rubbing his forehead. "That does present a rather large problem, though. We can only hold five thousand people here comfortably. I mean we could hold up to six and a half thousand... but that would be really cramped. I think we need to find another site... Quickly."

"And from the looks of this, probably more than one," Jonas mused. "Is that just from four days....." He let the thought dwindle off.

"Yeah..." Logan breathed out. "Oh well... we’ll deal with that later. You guys want to take a tour now?"

"Sure," said Jonas and Harry.

Logan got up and headed for the door, Jonas and Harry followed behind as they went out into the command center. "Okay, here’s our command center. As you can probably tell this was designed by kids, and for kids." He laughed a bit as he went and sat in one of the chairs. Pushing one of the buttons on the arm rest, he showed them how the arm rest would unfold, exposing a drink holder and a small storage compartment. Pressing another button opened up the drink holder, and they watched as a Jolt Cola was pushed up and set into the holder. He then pressed another button and a small bag of Frito corn chips popped up into the compartment.

Jonas laughed -- "Perfect!" he said with a grin.

Logan stood up smiling. "Well, obviously you can guess here is where we do most of everything important. Now... what would you like to see first, the kitchens, the living quarters, or the recreation deck?"

"Whatever you think is best," Harry said, as Jonas simultaneously said "rec deck."

Logan laughed. "Okay... Rec Deck it is." He then led them over to the elevators. Once inside, he pushed a button for the seventh deck and the doors closed. "Okay, in this place we have seven decks, as we call them, or levels. The entire bottom deck is the rec deck. If you think about the Pyramids of Ancient Egypt, you’ll get an idea of how this place is set up. Yes, we’re inside a mountain, but it’s a pyramid carved out inside of it. Which means, the deck you came into on, the first deck, is the smallest of all of them." Logan stopped to take a breath, and both Jonas and Harry jumped in.

"We're inside a mountain?" Jonas asked. Harry had been looking around as they arrived, and said, "That was the *smallest* deck?"

Logan looked at them for a moment, then hit the stop button on the elevator. He then hit the button for the top deck, and they went back up. "Yeah... we’re inside a mountain. And yes, that was the smallest deck. The command center is set against the back wall, with a straight line hallway to the hanger deck. From there, it leads to the outside. The walk should give you a good idea how big the top deck is." He finished just as the elevator doors opened up back onto the command center.

From there, he led them out of the doors and the three of them got salutes from the kids who were acting as the guard on the command center doors. "The guards really are not all that necessary, as it takes both a retinal print and a palm print scan to get in there. Not to mention, Daileass is always watching, but... the guards act as a way of keeping honest people honest and making sure people don’t start banging on the doors if something is wrong.

They kept walking down the hall, Logan pointing out where the doors led; most of them to storage or offices. Then they came to a set of open blast doors with hundreds of people milling about, some in Unit uniforms, but most not. "This is where the bulk of the processing takes place. Over there, you can see the lines where the kids are waiting to get their info set into the system. The next line is for the required physicals that everyone needs. And the third line is where they get their ‘money cards’."

"Money cards?" Jonas asked.

"Yeah... that was actually Jory’s idea. Most kids want to have money. So what we did was set up a system where every kid gets an ‘allowance.’ How it works is like this. Most of the kids, when they get here, don’t have anything or very little. So, we make sure they have a few sets of clothes, toiletries, etc. It’s everything that they absolutely need. Plus, they get five hundred credits on their cards. Then, if they take a ‘job’ here, such as cleaning staff, or working in the kitchens, life guards, and things like that, they earn credits that go onto their cards. They also get credits if they do well in school; keep their rooms clean, things like that. Chores like most people would have." Logan paused as he took out his card, and showed them a plastic ATM style card with his name, rank, serial number, and the Unit Logo on it. He handed it to Jonas who looked it over, then handed it to Harry. "We provide them with everything they need; however, if they want something more, like more clothes, or candy, music CDs, computer programs, things like that, they need to buy them. Oh yeah, every kid that enrolls in school gets their own laptop, built by some of the tech geeks we have here."

"O-o-o-kay," Harry said. Thinking of their families' houses, he asked, "How did you guys afford all this?"

Logan laughed a bit. "Well, Dr. Marcus, I’ll explain who he was later; he started us out with about 15 million. Then when we found this place, Juan found the ‘vault.’ See, long story short, this place was originally a gold mine bought by the US government to be a fallout shelter if needed. When they sold it, they sold it to Joe’s Grandfather, who was sure that the Cold War was going to turn VERY hot. So he sunk all his money into this place, so he and his family would have a place to go. He also converted all his money into valuables. We estimate that he had roughly fifty million in the vaults. Now, with that being said, when we first got here, there were only four levels to this base. A kid named Levi and his friends, decided to re-model and you have this. Now, as far as the money goes, well it was tight for a bit, but then we became part of the clan. You may not know this, but every Federation planet pays a certain percentage of their Gross Domestic Product to the Clan. Now imagine, that’s planets, not just nations. Last year, the US GDP was around fourteen thousand BILLION dollars."

"Say what!" Jonas exclaimed. "They get how much?"

Logan laughed. "Yeah, they get that much. They can afford to send some of it our way. Not to mention, we’ve done some good investing with the money we had and we currently hold large blocks of stock in a few corporations; as well as an entire Target Distribution Center."

"A Target Distribution Center?!" Harry asked.

"Yup." He chuckled then turned to head to the front of the bay. "Come on, I’ll show you the outside, and the reason this place is so well hidden." He led them to a massive set of doors that had two "guards" stationed there. They saluted in him, which he returned, then went over to the console on the wall. He placed his palm against the shiny plate and then typed in a password. A few seconds later, an alarm sounded and a rumbling came from deep in the mountain. Slowly the massive doors started to slide apart. "We haven’t tested this yet, but we think we could probably fit ten tractor trailers side by side through this door if we needed to."

Jonas and Harry were wide-eyed. Quietly, they followed Logan out. When he got out about five hundred feet, he turned and let them look at where they came from. "As you can see, unless you know it’s there, you wouldn’t be able to find it."

They looked around. To all appearances, they were standing in a typical Western canyon. Scrub grass grew sparsely on the canyon floor; a few trees clung to the cliff sides.

As they were looking around, behind them, Will and Billy walked up to the group, both of them wearing their flight suits.

"Hey Logan, just wanted to let you know what’s going on." Will said. "I’m gonna be taking out one of the helicopters to do his test flight with rudder pedals."

Jonas and Harry looked a little lost, so Billy jumped in to explain. "I was stuck in a wheel chair until a couple days ago, and always had to use a modified control system for the rudders. Now that I can walk again, I have to learn how to use the pedals. I got it done on the simulator, but now it’s time to do it for real," he said with a grin.

"Yeah, and after I'm done with this, Sarah and Chris will be doing their final simulator time with the jets. Then we need to find someone that will allow us to use jets, and I can then certify the three of them."

Logan laughed, "Good luck with that. Well you guys have fun." He got a smile on his face as he turned from them and led Harry and Jonas back inside.

"Excuse me a minute, guys," Logan said as they passed by his office. "I need to make a fast call." Moments later, he came back out of his office and led them to the elevators.

Once they were heading down, Logan turned to the pair. "Okay, just in case you’re here sometime by yourself; spaced every five hundred feet along the wall will be a computer terminal with a map on it. Daileass is hooked up to every single one of them, and all you have to do is ask for where you want to go. He’ll show you on the map how to get there. Also, every person here has a transponder so we know where they are at all times. For residents, it’s implanted right below the skin; for non residents, it’s their security card. With those, we can find anyone anytime. It also helps keep people from areas they shouldn’t be in."

Just as the elevator stopped and before the doors opened, Logan hit the stop button. "Two more things real quick. First, this isn’t actually the lowest level. There is one more below this, but it’s shared by Daileass’s computer core and server farms; as well as our biggest armory. Both of them have top level clearance to get into. The last thing is this. There are going to be a LOT of kids down here. Most of them have been rescued over the last few days. I’m sure you can figure out what I mean by that. Some of them need to be treated with kid gloves, and some need some damn hard discipline. We’ve already had six fights that security needed to break up. And a few others where older kids thought they could push younger Unit members around. Those didn’t go so well for the bullies," Logan said with a smile as the doors opened onto controlled chaos... they hoped.

Jonas and Harry nodded, thinking they knew what Logan was saying. But they were not really prepared for what they saw. When the doors opened, they found themselves looking at a full sized running track with a regulation length soccer (or football if you’re from Europe) field in the middle of it. On the field were two groups of kids playing soccer. Also, on the far wall was a huge pirate-ship-shaped jungle gym that had a whole lot of little kids playing in and around it; as well as some older kids. Many people were walking around the outside of the track, and many more were going in and out of the doors to one end. "This is pretty self explanatory as to what goes on here, and in case you’re wondering, yes, they can play American football there too, and baseball if we do some work. If you’ll follow me, I'll show you the rest of this level. This is only about a quarter of it." With that, Logan led them to the main doors .

When they passed through the doors, they came to a long hallway. "Okay, what do you want to see first? The doors on the right go to the locker room and then into the Olympic sized swimming pool. The doors on the left is the twenty four lane bowling alley, and on the far end, which links to the locker room as well, are the basketball courts.”

Harry was goggle eyed. "Holy shit!" he said. "How...?"

Logan couldn’t help but laugh a little. "You know how many people have said that when I brought them through here? I’ll tell you what actually happened, not what I told them. It was that kid named Levi and a horde of techbots from Ark. Somehow, they had this all done in two days. But, anyways... If you wanna take a look around down here we can, or I can take you up to the next level."

Jonas set off jogging toward the basketball courts, effectively answering that question.

Logan looked over to Harry, and shrugged. "Well, I guess that answers that." Logan and Harry quickly followed. By the time they got there, Jonas was already involved in a pick-up game on one of the five full sized courts, so the two boys leaned up against the wall and watched Jonas.

"So you're nearly full already?" Harry asked.

"Yeah..." Logan responded with a sigh. "None of us really expected to grow this quick. I’ve been having the chipmunks working on other suitable locations for us to build, but... well, we may have to keep some of the kids housed elsewhere for a time. Not really sure what else to do. I know tomorrow morning before we go to a party, we’re going to be having a high level staff meeting; hopefully we can figure something out by then."

"Ouch! How are you doing for help -- especially the kind that can deal with rescued kids?" Harry asked.

"Well, we’re not actually doing too badly. There have been a lot of adults who have called to try and help. Most of them we have actually been able to use. Some of them, we found out, were only coming here to try and get close to abused kids. Those... well... no one will have to worry about them anymore." Logan said with a grin. "I REALLY love the telepaths we have access to."

"I thought we couldn't have non-consenting telepathic scans without some reason to suspect?" Jonas asked.

"Well... They are told that they will be screened to make sure they are acceptable. And everyone one of them agreed to it... so."

"So that was consent, even though they didn't realize there'd be a telepathic scan involved?" Harry asked.

"Sort of... once they’re here, they are told it’s telepathic. If they refuse at that point, they are suspect, and then we can do it anyways. And as far as those that came here for their own perversions… well, Vulcan justice gets served."

Harry's smile was positively feral: "A fate richly deserved!" he said. "I remember some of the guys' stories."

"Yup... some of them, well... let’s just say some get added to Bubba’s harem, if you know what I mean. The others, well let’s just say they’re taken out of circulation... permanent like."

"Oh, by the way, before I forget. I signed the orders to have Todd transferred to you guys. Just send him back if he gets to be too much."

"Oh, cool." Harry said, then paused. "Listen," he said, "could you use someone who has been a bit of a user? -- not a bad guy, really, but he's very self-centered and ended up hurting two people badly."

"Classmate of ours -- he has a suspended sentence, Clan justice that requires a week of helping people who have been victimized by users -- to give him an idea of what he could have caused."

Logan started to nod deep in thought when Daileass’s voice came over his com. "Logan, I thought you should know... Adam is starting to wake up."

Logan looked startled for a second. "What? I figured he wouldn’t have woken up for hours yet." He started for the door, while looking over his shoulder. "JONAS... WE Gotta go!" He didn’t bother waiting as he took off at a jog to the elevator

 

---

 

‘Well this isn’t what I was expecting.’ Adam thought to himself as he stood there looking off the cliff down onto a great grasslands with a huge forest in the distance. Right below him stood a massive castle backing right up to the cliff he was standing on. Off in the distance, a blood red moon was just coming up looking huge in the sky. ‘You know, just once I would like to have the good dreams be as real as this.’ He thought with a chuckle. But as with everything lately, his good mood didn’t last long as a piano started to play in the distance.

He knew why music often met him in his dreams. Back when he was in the lab, Joe taught him to love music. "Often times, music can tell us things that simple words cannot. They can convey emotions better than anything else, and open up brand new worlds that we never knew existed inside ourselves." Since that day, Adam had listened to as much different music as he possibly could, and even taught himself to play the guitar. It was no real surprise to him to find out that all of his brothers felt the same way, and every one of them learned how to play something... even Juan. He knew, though, just from the start of this song, that it would be an emotional one and he wasn’t disappointed.

Within the glow of the red moon, he started to see things. Images that made his blood run cold. He watched as Billy got shot by his father while throwing himself over Ronnie, shielding his little brother with his own body. He saw Emily as a small girl screaming in pain as a man lay on top of her, taking away her innocence. Many different things flashed across the moon like a video screen; it was almost too fast for his brain to register, but he knew every single person in those images. Then came the haunting voice of a young boy as he started to sing.

In my dreams, children sing, a song of love for every boy and girl
The sky is blue and fields are green and laughter is the language of the world
Then I wake and all I see is a world full of people in need

Tell me why (why) does it have to be like this?
Tell me why (why) is there something I have missed?
Tell me why (why) cos I don't understand.
When so many need somebody we don't give a helping hand.
Tell me why?

 

Adam tried to look away but couldn’t tear his eyes away as even more kids got hurt. Some he knew, some he didn’t. He couldn’t help but echo the voice in the song as he fell to his knees... TELL ME WHY?

Then it happened to him; suddenly it was his voice singing, asking a question he had asked many times. This time, though, he had an answer. He didn’t like the answer, but he had it. In a flash, his time in the lab flew across the screen and he felt deep in his soul, everything that happened to him all over again. Even the things he had forced himself to forget. The question came again.

Every day I ask myself what will I have to do to be a man?
Do I have to stand and fight to prove to everybody who I am?
Is that what my life is for, to waste in a world full of war?

 

The song continued but all he heard was the child’s voice, and his, "TELL ME WHY?" The images flew undaunted by the tears that flew down his face. Now it had kids he didn’t know. They were kids as young as he was and younger, as they fought to protect their families and their homes. Children sold to others as slaves, like nothing more than cattle. Kids forced to turn to a life of crime simply so they could eat. Kids... all of them kids.

How many times had he wished he could have been a "normal" boy growing up in a normal house, going to school, with nothing more to worry about than getting pimples... or finding a girlfriend... or how he would do in the next sporting event. Simple things he had always dreamed about, but never able to have. Did the kids in the moon want the same thing? No, he realized all they would really want is enough food at night so they could go to bed feeling full. All they would wish for was to not be in pain, to not cry themselves to sleep. No, they didn’t wish for much, but it was too much to ask for.

"Is it really?" Adam was on his feet and spun around in a flash. Standing there, just a few feet behind him was a figure wearing a hooded cloak. The person couldn’t have been much taller than Adam, but somehow it seemed so much bigger.

"Is that really too much to ask?" it said again, referring to the thoughts that Adam had moments earlier. It took a step towards Adam while hands slowly came up, and pulled back the hood. Adam stumbled back a few feet and almost fell off the edge. Standing there in front of him was a person whose face was constantly changing. First it was Adam’s, then Logan’s, then Alvin’s, then... They flew by fast, but Adam knew every single face there. Not all of them were people that Adam had meet, yet somehow he knew every single one of them.

"You ask if you have to stand and fight... to prove who you are. But you forget that is what you were made for." Adam stood there wide eyed as the shifting figure settled on one face for a few moments: the captain of Bam Bam, Dennis North.

"It’s not fair, Adam, you know that, but then again no one ever said life was fair. You taught me that. But, you also taught me to grab what life handed me and make the best of it. I didn’t die because of something you did, but something you taught me. Life isn’t fair, but we have to make the best of it we can. The best we can do is to love. There is NOTHING in this life that can’t be overcome with love. THAT is why I died." Then the faces started to change again. Faster than the eye could see, but Adam knew them all.

This time when it talked, it had the voices of hundreds. "You’re on the edge, Adam; you’re close to giving it all up. You don’t think you can fight any more. You don’t think you can handle any more. But if you don’t, who will?"

"I... I can’t..." Adam voice trailed off as tears fell again. The weight of everything bearing down on him was crushing him. He didn’t know how much more he could take.

He dropped his eyes for a second but felt something force him to look back up; this time it was to stare into the eyes of Sammy Campbell. "We need you, Adam. We need you to help those that we can’t. But you’re not alone. You’re never alone. You have your family. They want to help but you keep them away. You don’t let them get close to you. What are you afraid of?"

"I... I’m afraid to... I’m afraid I'll lose more." Adam said quietly, tears flowing freely down his face.

"You can’t do it all alone. They WANT to help you. We WANTED to help you and you know what... we died. But it was OUR choice... not yours. Are you going to tell everyone who is still alive, that they can NOT do what they busted their asses to do? Are you going to tell them that they will not be allowed to be the best they could be, and to not live their lives the way they want to? Are you going to make that decision for them?" Sammy said, with a bit of anger in his voice. Adam ducked his head low and before he could say anything else, a new voice met his ears.

"Come on, Adam... would you have done any less? Wouldn’t you have gladly given up your life so that others could live?" This time it was young Mark Little. The little boy was standing there holding onto a small bear... Adam could barely make out the Disney world logo on it. "You know... you once told us that it is easy to die for a cause you believe in. And you know what? You’re right. It is easy. But you... you inspire people to do something so much harder. You inspire them to LIVE for what they believe in. I am so damned proud to have been a part of that. You know I asked... I asked everyone. There is not a single person who regrets that they gave their lives. Of course, all of wish it hadn’t had to happen, but not a single one of us would change it if we could. And by GOD... don’t you dare disgrace our sacrifice by having your own regrets. So many more would have died had… had things been different. You may not believe that now, but you will soon enough."

The face started changing again and this time the voice that came from it was that of many. "Our time is over, but the time of Redemption is at hand. This world is at a place where it can go many ways. It can go the way of purity and righteousness, or the way of evil and destruction. It is time to take the fight to the enemy, and win your way into a better way of life. Go now, go now and fight. It is what you were made for. It is what you are... it is you."

Adam woke in his bed, feeling relaxed and at peace. Peace like he had not felt in many days. He was shocked when he looked at the clock and saw he had only slept for about an hour. Then he began to cry.

 

---

 

Logan led Jonas and Harry off the elevator and went immediately to the room he shared with Adam. Walking into the main room, all three boys could hear weeping coming from the bedroom. Logan took off and by the time the other two boys got there, Logan had Adam wrapped up in his arms and was slowly rocking him. "Adam.... Love... What’s wrong?"

"I... I’m... I’m not to blame..." Adam barely choked out.

"Of course you’re not, babe." Logan soothingly said. "None of what happened is your fault."

"I... I know that now. They... told me so." Adam said, still with tears in his eyes, but as he looked up, they could see he was smiling. He reached over to the bedside table and grabbed a tissue. After wiping his eyes and blowing his nose, he looked up first to Logan, then to Jonas and Harry. Logan sat back with a little bit of shock; the other two boys not knowing what had just happened, but Logan saw.

With a smile on his face, Logan said softly, "I see that fire back in your eyes. It’s been too long since I’ve seen that."

Adam gave his patented half smile and looked his lover right in the eyes. "Mark Little told me something. Something that I really needed." He laughed again. "The little shit gave me the kick in the ass I think I needed." Logan looked at him, waiting for him to finish, as Adam looked off into nowhere. "And I quote. ‘You know... you once told us that it is easy to die for a cause you believe in. And you know what? You’re right. It is easy. But you... you inspire people to do something so much harder. You inspire them to LIVE for what they believe in. I am so damned proud to have been a part of that. You know I asked... I asked everyone. There is not a single person who regrets that they gave their lives. Of course, all of us wish it hadn’t had to happen, but not a single one of us would change it if we could. And by GOD... don’t you dare disgrace our sacrifice by having your own regrets...’"

Logan couldn’t help but laugh. "You know.. that sounds about like him. But you know what else... he’s right."

"Yeah... I know he’s right. And you know what else... I’ve got a lot of work to do. Hey guys," he said looking at Jonas and Harry, "let me grab a quick shower, then we can chat." Adam gave Logan another hug, then almost literally bounced out of the room. Logan smiled as he watched Adam go, then pointed to a couple seats for Jonas and Harry. Logan was just about to say something when loud music started to come from the bathroom. Logan almost fell onto the floor as he started to laugh. It only took Jonas and Harry a second to figure out what the song was, and they started to laugh too. All too soon, Adam’s voice could be heard coming from the bathroom as he sang along with the Shrek soundtrack’s version of the song, ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca.’

None of the three boys could do anything but laugh as the song played and Adam sang. However, by the time the song ended, Adam came walking out of the bathroom with just a towel wrapped around his waist and a big grin on his face.

Logan walked over, wrapped his arms around him and they shared a deep long kiss.

Harry looked at Jonas. Jonas looked back and grinned. After about twenty seconds, he finally cleared his throat. "Uh, guys...."

Logan tried to back off, but Adam wouldn’t let him. They continued for about another five seconds before Adam let the kiss end. "Sorry guys," he said to Jonas and Harry, "but it’s been too long since I got to do that."

"I take it enhancement allows you to hold your breath longer," Harry said with a grin.

Adam was about to say something but Logan butted in. "Ohhhh... you have no idea... nor will you... he’s mine." Everyone laughed at that one.

Adam turned serious as he turned fully towards Jonas and Harry. "So, you wanna clue me in on what you guys need?" He laughed a bit, "I am getting better at this whole telepathy thing…."

"So, then you know what it is we want already?" Harry said with a grin.

"Yes I do..." Adam grinned back..."but, you and Jonas, with BBQ sauce lying on the beach together, is NOT something I really wanted to know about..." Adam said in completely dead panned voice.

"What!" Jonas shouted. Adam, Logan, and Harry just laughed at him.

Logan didn’t miss a beat. "Umm... Adam... that was you and me... not Jonas and Harry."

Harry said, "Um -- getting away from BBQ sauce for a minute, we have a guy who really *needs* to learn what it is to be used by someone else -- and he's been sentenced to a week helping out at a Clan Facility. Think you can help?"

"With the BBQ sauce, or with this kid?" Logan asked still grinning.

Adam turned to Logan. "What is it with you and BBQ sauce?!?!"

"I don’t think you want me to answer that while there are people around," Logan said with a mischievous grin.

Jonas grinned, sending out a thought to Peter, and held out his hand. A second later, a bottle of barbecue sauce was sitting in it. "Here, will this help?" he asked, holding it out to Logan.

Logan grinned and turned to Adam who also had a big grin on his face. He took the bottle and put it on their night stand. "We’ll use that tonight. Now... what’s the full story with this kid? And what can we do to help?"

"Okay," Jonas explained, "what we have is a guy who was simply using both his girlfriend and one of our Clan brothers for sex, with no real thought for them but just for getting his rocks off. And on last Friday night, he ended up hurting Pen physically -- potentially quite badly. That put him in court and he accepted Clan justice. His sentence includes helping out for a week at a Clan facility and learning what it means to people when they get used."

"Well... first things first... we better keep him away from Juan," Adam said while going over to his desk and pulling out the keyboard.

Logan just snorted. "Yeah... keep him away from Juan." After seeing the questioning look from Jonas and Harry, Logan explained. "Juan still hasn’t really gotten a hold of the idea that there might be punishments that don’t deserve death."

"More like he doesn’t care," Adam said with a chuckle. "Most of the time I agree with him, but since sentence was already handed down.... let’s see what we can do."

"Well, death is just a bit extreme -- he didn't intend to hurt Pen, he just didn't care," Harry said, thinking Adam and Logan were pulling their legs.

Adam shook his head while Logan turned slightly towards them. "Well, as Adam said, we’ll play it your way, but... we’ll still keep him away from Juan. I mean Juan may not intend to hurt him... he just wouldn’t care...."

Jonas chuckled. "I see your point!" he said.

"So... you basically don’t want him to get hurt, but you want him to be taught a lesson?" Adam said.

"Exactly!" Jonas said.

"Right... okay... here’s what I got to offer."

 

---

 

"So... what do you guys think?" Adam asked after outlining the plan he had just come up with. Before anyone could say anything, Daileass’s voice came over the speakers. "Hey boss man, got a message for you."

Adam smiled as he looked up slightly. "Yeah? Well... get on with it."

"Okay... I am paraphrasing here but... ‘Them boys are Maine boys and dammit they belong with us." It was obvious that Adam and Logan had no idea what he meant.

"Wha..?" Jonas asked. Harry however caught it. "Brandon and Andy, right?" he asked Daileass.

"Yup... now the question... do you know who asked about them?" Daileass responded with a bit of humor in his voice.

Harry thought a moment. "From the tone of voice....Dougie?" he asked.

"Nope." The disembodied voice giggled.

Harry scratched his chin. Jonas said, "Had to be Bobby, then!"

"DING DING DING... we got a winner!!!!!!" Daileass laughed while Adam rolled his eyes.

"Okay... this is my turn to play the uninformed one," Adam said while looking at Jonas and Harry.

"Okay, you need to know what your guys were doing last night," Harry explained. "It seems that Mikey engineered a visit between the Unholy Trinity with their father and our new Sheriff. In the course of that, they ended up walking around Farmington with Deputy Thomas, and they intervened to rescue two boys we know, sort of, that were being abused by their grandfather -- which we weren't aware of until the Trinity met up with them."

"Kevin called for backup and medical help," Harry continued, "and Alvin sent out the other Terrors with Chang and Bryce Turner. They brought Brandon and Andy back here to your place for treatment."

"Yup... you guys wanna watch the video?" Daileass’s voice came from everywhere as always... and Adam just nodded.

Roughly eight minutes later, the video ended. Adam looked at Logan, who nodded. Turning to Jonas and Harry, Adam asked. “You wanna take them with you, or should I have them make ready and we can beam them to Bobby as soon as they’re ready?”

"We'll take them back with us," Jonas said with a smile. He touched his comm badge to call Skipper and Bobby.

 

---

 

Adam smiled up to Logan as soon as Jonas and Harry left to take care of the Jessup brothers. "You know something... I didn’t think it was possible, but now I know I was wrong."

"What do you mean?" Logan asked as he sat on the bed next to Adam .

"I didn’t think it was possible to love you anymore than I did... but I do." Adam said as he got lost in Logan’s beautiful blue eyes.

Logan melted into Adam as they started to kiss. They both needed this time with each other, and no one was going to deny them what was theirs. No one, except the person knocking on the door.

Adam sighed and was about to tell the person to go away when Logan saw his eyes refocus for a split second and then he was up and moving. Logan groaned in frustration, but he knew what that look meant. Something was going on that got Adam pissed.

"Okay... spill it." Adam said as he opened the door to let Amur Khan, Chang, Jory, Juan, Billy, Ronnie, and Will in. Logan knew this had to be something big for all the immediate family to be there. The only ones missing were Janet and Joe. Logan wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.

As soon as everyone was there, Khan handed Adam something wrapped in crushed velvet. Logan knew by the shape that it was a sword. Adam wordlessly unwrapped the sword and then drew it from the scabbard. The ring of the blade being drawn took Logan’s breath away. Just looking at the blade, he knew it was used for only one thing. Taking just a moment to admire the blade, Adam rammed it back into the scabbard.

"Okay, I can guess, I’m supposed to use this, but on who and why?" Adam asked as he looked around at the people standing there.

"None of us were there; however, the Patriarch of Clan Evans was there and the judgment came from him. He then gave him over to us to deal with. It might be easiest if you just took it from my memories as he showed me what has transpired," Khan said, as he sat down in one of the chairs in the room. Adam nodded, and got his normal far off look. Logan took that moment to look around at his brothers.

From the restless bouncing that Juan was doing, Logan knew he was ready for action. Jory was standing there looking a bit anxious. Even Chang was looking a bit apprehensive. For Chang to show any emotion, Logan knew it had to be very serious. Will and Bill were standing there almost at attention, as if they were waiting for orders they knew were coming.

‘You need to see this, Love.’ Logan heard Adam’s voice in his head, and then it was as if he was watching a movie play in his head. Adam was definitely getting better at his telepathy.

Those thoughts quickly left Logan as he watched what Adam was sending him. Now he knew what was going on, and he understood the way his brothers were acting. The information that Jason was able to get, as well as the BBC reporter being held prisoner until Adam dealt with him, slapped him back to the reality of the last few days. And now, Adam was directly responsible for the punishment of the person who was a large part of the planning of the attack that had killed so many.

It took Logan a few moments to collect himself; as he came back to the present he saw that no one had moved, save for Adam. His lover was pacing back and forth, and Logan knew he was lost deep in thought. It was well known that when Adam was pacing, everyone just had to wait and let him figure out what he wanted to do. Logan did see that Adam’s knuckles were white as he gripped the hilt of the sword.

Finally Juan couldn’t hold back any longer. "What’s there to think about, Adam, the fucker dies."

Adam whirled around so fast that everyone took a step back. "I will not kill in cold blood. That is not what or who I am," Adam said in a very soft but firm voice.

"Fine... I got no problem killing in cold blood. Hell... I’d do it happily," Juan responded; Logan knew the worst part was that he was dead serious.

Adam moved over and stood in front of his younger brother, placed his hands on the boy’s shoulders and looks him in the eyes. "I know you would, Juan, but how do you think Mom would feel about that?"

Juan blinked for a second, then deflated. "Yeah... you’re right. So what are you going to do?"

"I don’t know yet. I know why this sword was given to me, and I haven’t decided that I won’t use it yet. I... I just don’t know yet." He stared off for a moment and his eyes glazed over. Logan looked to where Adam was looking and saw a picture taken less the two weeks ago... a picture of the entire Unit standing in front of the helicopters. "But I will NOT let them be disgraced." He said no more after that for a few moments while he stared at the picture.

Finally he turned to everyone else. "I want all of you in full uniform in the command center and ready to go in thirty minutes. Please ask Generals Bryce, Casey, and Hayes, as well as Col. Hathaway, if they would join us." Without another word, Adam strode from the room.

Logan was only slightly surprised at the formal way he addressed Janet, Joe, Jack and Dave, but knew why. Adam was doing this one hundred percent official. No one was going to be able to second guess that he did everything by the book. Unfortunately, there is no book for what they had to do.

 

---

 

Precisely thirty minutes later, Adam strode into the command center, nodding to the assembled party. He gave a brief look around and, once satisfied that everyone else was doing what they needed to, he walked over to the group.

With barely a smile, Adam walked up to Jory, reached out, and straightened one of his lapels. Turning to the rest, he looked them over; all of them passing his inspection. Looking at the adults, he quietly asked, "You all have been briefed?"

Silent nods were his answer, and he replied with his own. Turning around, he lifted his head to look into the air. "Daileass, when you’re ready, could you please transport us?"

"Yes sir." The next thing they knew, they were all standing on the transporter deck of a starship. Standing in front of them were four people: Jason Evans, Mike Reynolds, Vishnu, and Kartik.

With barely a nod, and no emotion showing on his face, Jason spoke. "Please follow me."

No words were shared as the entire group made their way through the halls of the ship. Adam was very pleased with all his guys. Being that it was the first time that any of them had been on a starship, he knew they were working real hard to not gawk at everything as they passed.

After many twists and turns, and rides through turbo lifts, they finally found themselves entering the brig area. With a simple nod to the Vulcan security person standing behind the desk by Jason, they were let into the room where the cells were held. Matching in formation, Adam moved down the hallway till they stood outside of one cell, the only cell that had an occupant.

"Who the hell are you?!?! I told those pointy eared bastards I wanted my lawyer. You better get..." The man was standing near the front of his cell and started to yell as soon as the group came into view. Suddenly though, the man’s mouth slammed shut so hard that one of his teeth chipped.

Mike looked over at Jason who simply shook his head. ‘Wasn’t me’ Mike heard in his head.

"When I give you permission to speak, you may... until then you will not." Adam spoke in a very soft but dangerous tone.

Chang raised his eyebrow in surprise; the rest wanted to say something but everyone kept their mouths shut.

"Now... I will give you the chance to try and convince me to kill you quickly instead of giving you to my brothers who want to tear you limb from limb," Adam said coldly.

"You cocky sonofabitch," Peterson responded as soon as he could speak again, "You can’t do fuck to me! Hell, you couldn’t even save your sorry little bender boyfriends! My only regret is I didn’t kill all of you little…."

Jason's eyes blazed blue, but before he could do anything he felt something building from Adam - something that made his eyes open wider in shock as well as make him grow extremely concerned.

"WHY YOU..." Adam said softly with so much venom dripping from his voice. Suddenly Adam started to literally lift off the floor. Janet gasped and Joe started forward till everyone in the room, save for Chang and Jason, hit their knees screaming in pain, Adam violently pulling as much energy as he could from his brothers. Chang stumbled slightly and grabbed the wall for support.

Jason felt the power radiating from Adam and saw it literally impacting everyone around him before stretching out further as if seeking more minds to control. "Oh, fuck sakes... not again!" Jason cried out as he too lifted from the floor. A bright blue aura of power spilled from his eyes to envelop himself as he latched onto Adam's form. The aura then enveloped the enraged teen as well.

Jason did two things very quickly: First, he took immediate control of Adam's physical nervous system, for one 'little' punch from this highly annoyed teen would likely have killed him. Second, he started to form a mental shield around them both in order to sever the links being formed, as well as the attack now being made on the screaming prisoner. Adam was doing everything he could to literally rip the man’s mind asunder.

The first action was a complete success... the second, however...

'Chang!' Jason sent quickly as the blue glow around both himself and Adam grew mottled and yet brighter, 'Please stop feeding him your power! Take your brothers and the rest and link them away from him! He's going to rip you all apart soon! PLEASE, Mind-Brother, please!'

At the same instant, Jason also sent to Mike Reynolds, 'Uncle Mike! Grab the blade! Kill that fuckwit - he's the focus for the pain you're feeling! Quick, Captain,' he cried, using Mike's old army rank, 'do as I command, or you're all going to die!'

Mike staggered to his feet and lurched for the floating boys. He seized the replica S'harien and brought it down in a tightly controlled arc to split Mr. Peterson's head in two. He knew an order from a 'senior' officer when he heard one.

Chang was nonplussed at first, but, fighting through the pain of his 'abilities' being pulled from him by his older brother, he saw what Jason was referring to.

He could 'see' the threads of what could only be called power flowing from himself and the rest of them and linking with Adam.

He reached out himself and pulled his own power back. It was a struggle, but he managed it - then he reached out with it to start pulling all those other threads away and into himself instead.

As each of his brothers were released from Adam's controlling grip, they stopped crying out.

Well, all but Juan.

"I'm gonna rip you a new asshole, asshole!" He screamed furiously before Chang pulled his little brother into his arms and absently kissed him. "It’s okay Juan... Just stay back. You can’t touch him right now." Juan relaxed slightly.

Jason felt Adam's control over the rest fall away and was then able to focus everything on the mind he was now holding together. 'Adam,' he sent quickly to the still furious teenage Commander. 'Adam - listen to me. He's dead, Adam. He's dead. Pull back, bro...'

"HE’S NOT DEAD TILL I SAY HE’S DEAD!" Adam screamed, fighting Jason with everything he had. He was not going to let someone else steal this from him.

'Yes he is, bro. Let God deal with him now. Please, Adam - you don't know what this is doing to you. You have to stop NOW,' Jason tried again.

Adam screamed in rage and pulled even more power from inside of him; he was not going to let someone take this from him. This fucker was his. His scream of rage turned into a scream of pain as he kept pulling power from inside to fight what Jason was doing to him. No one was going to stop him.

Jason knew deep down that it was break or bust. He didn't want to, but he had to try: he pulled rank.

"Commander Casey, you will stand down NOW. That is an order, Commander!" he yelled aloud.

Adam's eyes darted to stare into Jason's glowing ones for an instant, and the power he was wielding paused in its motion, and it was all Jason needed.

He shut Adam's mind down in that brief second and then floated back to the floor, Adam held close.

"Thanks, Chang, I... oh... great! A two for one special," Jason muttered with a weary grin as he looked at Chang.

The Asian boy's eyes were glowing.

 

---

 

Everyone that was present in the brig were quiet as they carried Adam’s now sleeping body to a close by lounge area. Once they were all in there, Jason took Chang aside and the two of them sat talking while everyone else quietly thought about what had just happened.

"Where are we?" Chang asked curiously as he looked around what seemed a Japanese garden.

"Your mind," Jason replied with a giggle.

"Interesting," Chang smiled briefly. "A nice ordered place."

"Tell me 'bout it... you need more fun, dude!" Jason giggled again as he moved to hug the twelve year old serious faced boy.

Chang smiled again, just as briefly, while enjoying the hug. "What do you wish to explain to me, Jason?" he asked finally as Jason made two chairs appear. He sat down and devoted his attention to Jason entirely.

Jason smiled as well, "Okay. First, you and Adam are now Ka'Inri - Mind Walkers. Or, to use Sammy's name for us, N-Gens. You are the first I've seen who made the trip over to your Next Gen state almost perfectly, bro. That's why your eyes were glowing like mine can. You've a very ordered and logical mind."

"Thank you," Chang nodded.

"Don't mention it," Jason giggled. "I've just got to say what I see, bro. You've got a mind most Vulcans would be proud of owning! Now then," he said more seriously, "Let's get down to business. You're an N-Gen, but that is just a loose title really. You are not a telepath, empath, pre-cog nor telekinetic. You are simply you and how your powers develop from here is up to you. Nath', Viccy and I will give you the basics later, and Sammy can, or even the Trinity and Jamie and Jacob Dodds. However, where you take it is up to you. Your choices and focus will set the path that your mind 'walks'."

"Like a child who learns to read and write is then able to write a story that is unique to him or herself? Each person starts with the same, then 'writes' his own story?" Chang asked curiously.

Jason nodded, "Precisely. I like that; yes, you 'write' your own abilities. There are no real limits, bro, only natural laws. You can do what you set your mind to do as long as it is logically possible and you have the power to pull it off."

Chang looked around again briefly as he nodded. "What made me different from Adam? My control?"

"Yes. You already had your mind laid out in 'rooms' in a way, bro. So when you pulled your power back from Adam and helped your brothers do the same, your abilities started to push themselves beyond normal limits. However, unlike when I did it and when Adam just did it, the 'rooms' you already had inside became 'real rooms' in your mind. Here, look at mine," Jason said as he projected an image in between themselves.

"That is a lot of rooms," Chang said, his voice impressed.

Jason grinned, "The more you use and focus and train your powers, the more rooms appear. Each room deals with different things. Technically, I could 'turn off' or 'cast sleep' over about one hundred people at once, as well as do a number of other things. Mostly though, I'm into TP - Telepathy. I can use empathy well, and am now building up my TK, but my focus has always been on TP. You can choose one, or all. It's all fluid, and each of us are different."

"We have our strengths and weaknesses. Yes, I understand. Juan is a better shot than I am, while I can out-duel all my brothers. I understand, Jason," Chang nodded thoughtfully. Then he asked, "What was happening to Adam's mind? You sounded frightened for him."

Jason sighed, "He was pushing himself well beyond safe limits, and he had no 'rooms' in his head to deal with the power his mind was able to draw on. He, like you, had the ability to become N-Gen, just not the mind to handle it. Like a Jet engine in a Ford car. The car COULD go at 300 mph, but you'd end up riding an engine while the body of the car was blown away. Same for us. Once I managed to get past his rage, I was able to shut his mind down, or he'd have torn his mind to shreds."

"Thank you," Chang said sincerely, before asking, "Will he be okay?"

"Yes, and so will you. I've completed your head already, and I'm still working on Adam’s. Like I said, you had already done most of the work already. Adam's I'm doing from scratch."

"You are in Adam's mind right now, even when you're talking to me?" Chang asked, again impressed.

"A shadow of me is, yes. My main thoughts are here with you, but I've set a few 'rooms' in my own head to deal with upgrading Adam. Once done, that 'shadow' will come back and I'll 'know' what happened in there. Don't worry, the shadows we make have our skills and abilities and act like we would. Adam is asleep, even in his head right now; so I'm not having a talk there too. I think you need to calm him down first; he's plenty pissed at me at the moment!"

"I have no doubts about that, brother," Chang smiled again, and Jason laughed. He could sense this serious boy's tightly controlled amusement clearly.

Chang then asked, "I can develop in any direction, you said?"

"Yup. I think I know already where YOU are going to focus on. TK with YOUR fighting style would KICK ARSE!" Jason giggled. "And in Adam's case, he'll be a better telepath than before - it might even allow him more control once he learns how! He'd be able to store his 'rage' in one 'room' so he don't flip his lid that way again. I can help there as well - Vulcan training is a must, I think, for us N-Gens. Our minds are, in a way, very much like a Vulcan's. They have 'levels' in their heads, while we have 'rooms'. We'll chat more about that tomorrow. After this adventure, you both need sleep... and you need cuddles with my Klingon brother, Kor!"

Chang blushed briefly before pulling his control back up quickly. "He is very... reserved."

Jason nearly laughed, that word coming from Chang. However, he knew what the boy really meant. "He'd been a slave to the Orions as well as to others. He'd been forced to fight death matches to earn food for him and others or to simply stay alive. He was also raped over and over again, bro... his owner used to celebrate each of Kor's victories by 'having' him."

A tear trickled from Chang's eyes and Jason reached over to wipe it away tenderly. "Shhh, he'll be okay, now. Joel Short, the new kid? He did a Vulcan thing with him just before I met you here earlier. He Shared with Korris and a group of others. Kor's going to be tearful when you two cuddle up tonight, so he's going to need you to be strong. He don't like being in need of anything, as you likely know already, but he knows he needs to open up to you tonight. If you can... cry with him. You'll finish what we Dragon guys started and complete what Joel was finishing. Your love will save him now, brother."

Chang wiped at the tears falling thickly from his eyes and said softly, "I think I can do that." He looked back up and into Jason's eyes, "Thank you, brother."

"No. Thank you, bro. I feared Kor would never be able to give himself over to love. You proved me wrong. For that, I will always be in your debt, and will always love you too. Now, come. We should get back out to the real world, and then I'll let you hop into Adam's mind to explain stuff to him. Once you're done, I'll wake him up the rest of the way," Jason giggled as he stood.

Once Chang had got to his feet, Jason took his hand. "Oh," Jason added quickly before the room faded, "out there, outside our minds, it's only been about a minute's worth of time. Our minds speak quicker than we can when we talk normally. Just so you are not too confused!"

 

---

 

Adam spun, the sword in his hand flashing brightly, as he blocked yet another blow aimed at him. He didn’t know how much longer he could withstand the attacks coming at him. No matter how hard he fought, he couldn’t get a good shot in on his opponent. Then he felt it, the rage building inside of him: fueling his muscles, fueling his fighting. They were fighting so fast that Adam didn’t even know who he was fighting: he didn’t have time to look at the face, only the body and the sword.

Sparks danced as yet another flurry of sword blows came down. Adam wasn’t quick enough to block them all, and he felt blood flowing down his chest from a cut right above his left nipple. He screamed out as the rage demanded that more blood be spilled. The worst part is the rage didn’t care whose it was.

"CONTROL, ADAM!!! YOU MUST HAVE CONTROL!" The figure screamed at him. Funny, it was his voice. The rage in him grew... overflowing and seeping out.

Flipping back, Adam tried to get some distance between himself and his attacker. It didn’t help; the second he landed, he was on the defensive again.

"Come on, Adam, focus. You’re better than this, but your emotions are hindering you. Gain your control and FIGHT ME!" Again it was his voice, but it also triggered a memory. Suddenly he wasn’t fighting anymore, but standing in front of his Samurai Master.

"You do well in your studies, young one, but there is one test you must yet face. You must face yourself; you must face your own anger. Anger over what has happened to you and what will happen to you. Until you can best that part of you, you will never be what you are destined to be." He didn’t understand what his master had meant by that, but as he flipped back from another attack he suddenly understood.

He landed and looked up in time to see the face of his attacker. He found he was looking at himself . However, it was so contorted with rage and hatred Adam could barely recognize it. That’s when he figured things out. It wasn’t this other person who was talking to him. It was himself. He took a moment to take a deep breath and center himself. The other figure screamed in rage as peace settled over Adam’s soul. And they fought.

It was like night and day. Now that Adam had let his emotions go, he was the one taking ground, not giving it. He was the one drawing blood; he was the one pushing this other person back. They fought and fought hours seemed to go by but Adam never tired.

Finally, he saw his other self make a mistake. A simple mistake made in anger and frustration, but it was all he needed. He stepped inside his other self’s guard and with a quick thrust shoved his sword deep into the chest of his darker self. Like fog on the wind, his other self evaporated and floated away. It was over.

"Well fought, brother." Chang said and Adam spun around to face him, but quickly lowered his sword. "Now that you have faced your final demon, now that you have taken full control of yourself... Now I can finish your training."

Adam looked a little confused especially when Chang waved his hand and two chairs simply appeared. "What’s going on?" He asked as Chang sat down; a moment later Adam sat as well.

"At once, that is very easy to explain and very difficult to understand. As far as what just happened in here, you have faced your final test. Master never completed your training because you held too much anger inside. You have always let your emotions control you... that was sometimes good and sometimes bad. I am not saying you need to be emotionless, quite the opposite. You have taken the first step in learning to focus your emotions and use them to power yourself."

"No one has yet to figure out what all we can do, right?" Chang asked, and Adam simply nodded. "Well, that’s not entirely accurate. Master Takomora figured it out shortly before he left a few months ago. He tested his theory out on me and he was right... as always. Our bodies are capable of so much more than we ever thought possible. We simply lacked the fuel for them. At least, that is what we thought."

Adam nodded; this was something that he and his brothers had secretly talked about ever since they came together. Not even Logan knew about this theory. "Well, I know what the fuel is: our emotions. If we can control our emotions, if we can funnel them into ourselves, then we can do things we would never have thought about before. However, that has NOTHING to do with what just happened between you and Jason."

Adam felt the rage build inside of him at just the mention of that name. It all came back to him, Jason blocking his retribution on the person who was responsible for so many of his family dying. "ADAM!" Chang said in a loud commanding voice. A tone Adam had never heard Chang use and it shocked him back to the here and now.

"You WILL calm down and you WILL control yourself." Chang was now sitting forward in his chair and staring at Adam with eyes that burned a bright blue. Adam sat back with a shocked look on his face.

"Whhhaa." He muttered.

Chang’s eyes never wavered from Adam’s as he spoke in a very soft voice. "What Jason did this evening was to save your mind and to save all of your brothers’ lives. You had tapped into power that you were not able to handle. Had you continued with your little temper tantrum, your mind would have overloaded and simply shut down... you would have DIED."

Adam sat back in shock. Chang would never lie, would never mislead him. If Chang said it, Adam knew it was true.

"But... but." Adam tried but Chang shut him down with just a look.

"Adam, you are the eldest, you are the strongest and you are the leader: but you MUST learn the extent of your own abilities or it will kill you. Jason has helped you by setting up your mind so you can control these powers; but it is up to you to figure out how to use them. Only you can do that. And you must." Chang sat back, letting the fire in his eyes die out.

"I have seen in my dreams that a time soon comes where you will face the hardest test of your life. Failure means a price worse than death will be paid. You must be prepared and you must fight. Fate has given you a task and you must not fail. Fate doesn’t care about fair, or nice or even happiness. Fate only cares about one thing... what must happen. You know we will all help you, but when the time comes; it is you who will make the difference." Chang showed one of his rare smiles. "The worst part is you will probably not even know it when the time comes... but you will afterwards. Come now, the others are worried and there is much to do. But first, Jason asked me to explain a few things." With that, Chang went over everything Jason explained to him about being N-Gen.

 

---

 

Jason looked on nervously as Adam's eyes opened. His nervousness grew as Adam stood and walked towards him, and Adam's face was completely unreadable.

Jason was on a hair-trigger ready to shut the older teen down physically, should he make a move that would hurt him.

Adam came to a stop less than a foot away, and looked down at Jason's nervous face.

"You okay?" Jason asked, his voice wary, yet Adam could sense a strength there. A strength and a nervousness born of a desire to not want to have to use any powers against brothers again.

"Yes," Adam said as he slowly moved his arms to wrap Jason in a warm hug. "Chang explained everything. Thank you, little brother," he finished with a whisper before kissing Jason's cheek.

Jason returned his hug joyfully, and he relaxed his mind.

"Chang said you'd be teaching us the basics later?" Adam asked after a good long hug. He pulled back enough so that he and Jason could see each other’s faces.

"Yeah. Tomorrow some time. I've implanted the 'real' basics in there already, so you won't end up hurting anyone before you learn the rest," Jason replied with a small grin. "I just have to say the same to you as I told Chang - don't try doing too much more than you've already done before until we have taught you."

Adam nodded thoughtfully, "There's a reason, I take it?"

Jason nodded, "Me, Nath' and Vic had to learn most of this stuff ourselves, but we did have Vulcans helping with a lot too. We found we could do untold damage with our minds - well, that's a given for all with mind powers, but it's so effortless for us N-Gens. I just don't want to hand you a strange new 'gun' without giving you the first 'required' lessons first. Does that make sense?"

Adam nodded again, this time with complete understanding, "Gotchya. We'll talk tomorrow, then. Anything else for tonight?"

Jason giggled, then looked between Adam and Logan, who had walked up to stand with them. "No sex. I mean it!" he added quickly as Adam flushed and opened his mouth to protest.

Logan was beet red, and his mother was laughing softly behind him. "Why not?" he whispered to Jason furiously, his cheeks flaming.

"'Cos I've scanned you, Logan." Jason grinned at him, "You can be N-Gen too. If Adam and you do 'it' tonight BEFORE I train Adam, he COULD lose control at... well, at the 'special moment'? If he did, he'd likely start changing your mind into N-Gen. He don't know how to do that, and it would be a bit... well... it would fuck you up totally... and not in the good way, either!"

Adam was trying not to laugh at the faces Logan was pulling, but he did manage to ask, "Did you and Nathan have to abstain when this happened to you too?"

"No, but that's 'cos we were both made N-Gen together," Jason replied impishly. "Sorry, but one, you need to relax your mind tonight. You gave it one hell of a workout earlier, bro. And two, I don't have time to train you and Chang both tonight - too much to do. But anyhow, I think a nice relaxing night for you both is a better thing after everything that's happened this day. You'll be 'up' for it better tomorrow - trust me," he finished with a wicked giggle.

Logan, his face still doing an impressive imitation of a tomato, looked at Adam and grinned. "Oh, boy! Okay, deal, Jace... as long as you PROMISE we'll BOTH be up for it tomorrow!" he giggled, not taking his eyes from Adam's.

Now it was Adam's turn to blush.

 

Author’s Notes:

Hey guys, I don’t know what you all think about everything that’s happened, but I would love your input.

There is a lot of things that happened here, and I would love to here what you guys think.

Things are happening quickly to many members of the Unit, and things don’t look like they are slowing down. Wonder when they will get some time to relax.