Phoenix Rising

Adam sat alone in the dark room. He was meditating and trying to find his 'center'. The events of the last two days have shaken him to his very core, and he was desperately trying to find his balance. First there was learning just what Logan and his Death Knights could do. It didn't really surprise him to find out that Logan had been doing something like this, just the depth and the scope of the program made Adam worried.

It wasn't so much Logan leading a non UNIT group; he just didn't like the idea of Logan being put in harm's way. But then he realized that Logan needed to do that every bit as much as Adam needed to lead the UNIT. Not only wouldn't it be fair for Adam to say anything to Logan about his leading the Knights, it would cheapen what Logan was doing, and THAT is something Adam could never do. He loved Logan way too much for that. Besides, the truth was that Logan had been putting himself in danger much longer than Adam had; three years prior to Adam being selected as a subject for genetic manipulation. Adam had been playing with toys while Logan worked behind the scenes. It still made Adam's head hurt to think about it.

Then there was the call from Chang, nothing could ever make Adam forget the barely restrained panic he had heard in his brother's voice. Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined something that could shake Chang to his core. However when he got there, he saw why, and he felt the same way. Ten clone boys would have been bad enough, but to look into those faces and see two of them were clones of him, two of Logan, two of Chang, Will, and Jory, was almost more then he could take. But it then got worse, with how they had been treated. Adam had never had to work so hard to keep his cool then he did when he looked into the eyes of those ten boys, and hear that their only names were numbers.

But he had more important things to keep his mind focused... Logan almost lost his mind in the grief of what he had done. It took a while before he could figure out what Logan had meant, and even longer to convince his love that he wasn't truly at fault. Adam still wasn't sure that Logan believed that, hell Adam wasn't sure HE believed it. One comment that Logan made though really stuck with Adam. "It may not have been my fault, but it sure as hell is my responsibility. From this moment forward, these boys are mine to deal with!" To which Adam only replied with one word... "OURS." Logan could only nod in agreement.

But above all of that, he finally got a glimpse into what Logan truly was. Not that Adam thought of Logan as an alien or something, but Logan truly was unique, and for the first time, Adam got to see some of what Logan could do first hand.

Yeah, Logan and Adam had some long talks, and Logan hadn't really tried to hide anything from Adam, but at the same time, there was being told about something, and then there was witnessing it firsthand. The one thing about Logan is, he was so worried about what could happen to him, he went and 'forced' a new personality to interact with the world so they would never see the real Logan. Adam didn't want to consider what that would take... how strong a mind Logan would have to have to do that, not to mention how desperate.

The sheer amount of power that Logan held locked inside was something that Adam didn't know if he'd ever be fully able to comprehend. But the one thing that Adam knew above all else is that nothing would ever lower his love of Logan. Just the thought of loosing that made him shiver in fear.

Quickly he let his mind fall from that topic to the topic that had disturbed him almost as much as the thought of loosing Logan... The clones. From what he'd been able to learn, Bartnev had 'ordered' the slaves over five years ago. General Adams then had the clones made to specifications. These clones weren't much stronger than they would be if they were normal humans, nor were they must faster, but they healed at a rate that was pretty close to Adam's rate. The implications of that turned Adam's stomach just to think about.

The clones were born and genetically aged till they were six years old, and delivered to Bartnev two years ago. While they were still in the lab, the doctors taught them the basics of 'obedience', so that they would be ready for 'delivery'.

When they were delivered, Bartnev immediately started turning them into true submissive slaves. Any transgression that may have happened was dealt with extremely harshly. After only six months, the sadistic man started to bring them to his bed, and from that moment on, they were never allowed to be outside of his suite of rooms. They were never allowed to wear any type of clothing.

'NO! No more!' Adam cried to himself, as he blocked off the rest of what he had learned. Angrily he jumped to his feet. Finding his center wasn't going to happen right now.

With a determination that he hadn't had since he left the funeral, Adam stalked to the command center that they had set up inside the palace. He walked in and found the normal staff was busy working away. The main status board was light up brightly, and with a glance Adam could tell that things were really hopping, but not in the way he had though they would be right now. Instead of actions against government forces or military forces, primarily they were dealing with the normal sort of rescues that they were used to.

He walked up to Joe who was sitting in the 'big chair' and sat down next to him. "How's it going dad?" He asked quietly, and sighed as Joe turned to him and enveloped him in a strong hug, before standing up and offering the big chair to Adam. Adam just shook his head and declined it. "Not right now. I am certainly not in the right mind set for this."

Joe smiled with a nod and sat back down. "Don't ever be afraid to do that when you need to Adam. There are plenty of people around here that can take over for you when needed."

"I know dad... it's just hard sometimes." Adam was still speaking softly, so he jumped when Joe burst out laughing.

"Spoken like a true control freak general." Adam didn't think it was possible at that point, but Joe actually got him to laugh... and laugh hard.

Finally when he got himself back under control he pointed to the main board and questioned. "What's going on, I figured we'd have more actual combat missions then this."

"I'm not sure, but all the bases are reporting no contact with enemy forces." Joe said just as perplexed as Adam was. Not that he was knocking the good luck, but it was not what he was expecting.

Of course, just that thought seemed to invite Mr. Murphy to pay them a visit. From below them, Greg, one of the intel teams 'strike team controllers' cried out, "WHAT THE FUCK!" All eyes in the room snapped to him as he screamed into his head set "Strike team Delta four niner! Report!"

Joe's hand flew over and hit the buttons that took the controllers information and put it on the main screen as well as the audio feed to come over the main speakers. They heard a crack of static then "… AMBUSHED!!! FUCK GET SOME HELP...." Then the voice died out with a grunt.

Greg reached over, lifted the cover on the big red button and slammed it down as hard as he could. All over the Palace and all the other Russian bases, alert Klaxons were sounding sending all five bases to red alert.

Adam had sprung to his feet just as the alerts were sounding and called out, "Daileass! Get me eyes in there!"

"On it Adam... coming in now!" Daileass said and suddenly their screen moved from static to a picture from one of the small flying devises that Daileass had made. What Adam saw made his blood run cold and everyone in the room gasp. On the ground were the bodies of the entire ten man strike team. Above them were several soldiers that Adam immediately recognized as Russian Special Forces. They all watched in horror as one of the bodies on the floor was trying to crawl to one of the others, just to have one of the soldiers put a foot on the kids back, and raise his rifle. Immediately Adam cried out "DAILEASS!!!" Just as the entire team disappeared. The man stumbled just as he was pulling the trigger.

At the same time, Adam was hearing other strike teams starting to report ready to transport, and as quick as they were reporting, Daileass was transporting them to just outside the building. Adam had a moment of viscous satisfaction when he realized the soldiers inside the house had no idea that there were already forty UNIT troops outside the building with more transporting in.

"Daileass transport my gear to me... I'm going." Adam spoke as he saw two more teams transport in.

"BELAY THAT ORDER!" Joe barked out, and Adam spun on his father with his jaw slack. Before Adam could say anything, Joe put both his hands on the boy's shoulders and pushed him down into a sitting position. "Stand down Adam, they've got it under control."

Adam was pissed and Joe knew it. "What the fuck dad?!" Adam said in a somewhat quiet voice.

Slowly, painfully, Joe sank to his knees in front of Adam still holding the boy's shoulders. "Adam don't you think you trained those kids well enough to handle things?"

"Well yeah... but..." Adam started but Joe cut him off.

"No buts... either you trained them well enough to handle things or you didn't. What do you think it would say to all the troops out there if you came rushing in to take command all the time?" Joe spoke softly trying not to make this into a big scene.

"It would say I care enough about them to be there!" Adam was just as quiet, but very emphatic.

"No, it would say you don't trust them enough. You're their leader, yes, but you have to let them do the work sometimes." Joe tried explaining to Adam, even though he didn't think it was getting through.

Before Adam could fire back, the door burst open and in stalked a very pissed off Logan. He took one look at the screen which was showing the battle raging fully now, and the glared at Adam. "I WANT SOME OF THEM ALIVE!" He declared in a voice that actually made Adam shiver in fear. "Daileass! Make sure the orders get given... I want some alive!" Logan declared then simply turned and started to walk out. It was Adam's super sensitive hearing that let him hear Logan's mutter of "At least they'll be alive for a bit..."

Stunned silence fell on the room for a brief moment, and the only one who could speak was Daileass as he gave a very meek "Yes sir..." Followed by an equally quiet "Holy shit!"

What none of them could have heard, all except Adam and the Logan clones was Logan's burst telepathic order for all of his Death Knights to get ready for assignments. 'None of those that knew about this will survive the night... unless I allow them to.'

No one really noticed Alexei standing in the corner of the room, his eyes glued to what was going on, on the screen, tears silently falling down from his eyes. Finally he couldn't take it any longer; he turned and ran from the room. Adam noticed just as he got to the door, and got up to follow. Once again Joe's hands stopped him. This time though, there was nothing in Joe's voice other then sympathy. "Don't Adam... he needs to do this for himself." Adam sat back down hard and simply nodded.

They both knew where Alexei was going, and what he was going to learn. The young Tzar already knew about pain and adversity. He had endured much in his short life, but these people were being hurt for him and his country. The responsibility of leadership was something that could only be learned, never taught.

 

---

 

Alexei pushed the tears out of his eyes as he exited the palace and moved across the open field to one of the buildings that hadn't been there two days before. He'd never actually visited this building before as he'd never really had a reason to. But now he did, and he wasn't looking forward to it.

Alexei didn't jump as an arm fell around his shoulder and gave him a gentle squeeze. Alexei looked up into the face of a boy who was slightly older then he was and smiled. "Thanks man... I could use the help."

"I told you once, and I'll tell you again. I'll always be there for you." The boy said as Alexei wrapped his arm around the boy's waist. Together they walked into the building.

"Thanks Vladick, I really need a friend right now." Nothing else was said as the two boys slid apart, only to find their hands enclose the others. It was not the holding hands that a couple would do, but a friend that is being there emotionally for someone. Of course no one they passed gave even a second glance to the two boys holding hands, and those that did notice the two really only noticed that the Tsar was walking down the hall.

The two boys turned a corner and came upon a set of closed double doors with two armed guards standing in front of them. Neither boy looked to be too much older than Alexei, but they both wore serious faces as they looked at Alexei. "Please... I need to see..." Alexei spoke before breaking off tears starting to flow again.

The younger of the two guards looked towards the older one who thought for a second, then nodded. The two guards opened one door each and allowed Alexei and Vladick to pass, without ever saying a word. The two boys found themselves walking down an eerily silent hallway at the end of which sat a large round nurse's station. The walls were lined with glass and if the curtains weren't closed, the two boys could look inside and see if anyone was in there. Fortunately for Alexei none of the rooms that had the curtains pulled back had patients in the beds. While they were still several feet away from the nurses' station, the walls fell away and turned the room into a large circular room with people rushing around. Alexei looked around and stopped dead as he saw in one of the room, a kid zipping up a large bag that obviously held a body in it.

The tears started to fall again and Vladick was right there to squeeze his hand and pull him into a tight hug. "It's okay Alexei, you can do this."

Alexei squeezed back hard then pulled back from the older boy. "Thanks." Was all he said, then he turned around and walked to the room where he saw the most activity happening. What he saw almost made his stomach turn, but he forced himself to watch.

Janet looked up from the frantic work and noticed Alexei standing there. At first she was going to say something to make him leave. Then she locked eyes with him, and thought better of it. She just nodded toward him, then gestured with her head to a place behind them where they could stand with out being in the way. Quickly both boys moved to where she indicated and stood there watching.

"DAMNIT Cody! I ain't given up for you yet!" Janet swore as he reached her gloved hand into the boy's chest and started performing a cardiac massage, keeping the boy's heart beating. "I NEED MORE BLOOD IN HERE!" Janet called out just as a young kid, no older than ten or eleven came running in wearing a surgical gown. "Right here Dr. Hayes!" The boy ran next to the bed, and jumped up on a stool to hang the blood from the pole sitting next to the bed.

"Okay everyone; get your game faces on..." Janet spoke to the assembled doctors, nurses, and techs. "I ain't letting this one go, so get ready. It's gonna get messy." She then turned to the kid that had just run into the room. "Alan... Glove up and take over the massage. I need to close the tear to his descending Aorta."

"Yes doctor..." The boy said in a voice completely untouched by puberty. He was actually small enough that he climbed up on the side of the bed, and as soon as he had gloves on, he never hesitated, just thrust his hands inside the open chest and started the massage.

The doctor that was working on the kid's abdomen called out, "I need help here, the Femoral Artery is trashed. I need to get a stint in here ASAP or he's gonna loose his legs!"

"Just calm down and remember the first rule of trauma." Janet said and everyone around the table got a smile on their face as they all repeated with her. "Air goes in and out, blood goes round and round... any variation in this is bad!"

Alexei couldn't help but smile as the tension seemed to drain out of the room and all the people got down to work. Seeing a break in the wall of people around the boy on the bed, Alexei moved slightly over, and was 'rewarded' with an unobstructed view of the boy's open chest cavity. Alan, the ten or eleven year old boy, gently allowing blood to fill atrium, then gently squeezing the top part of his hand, to push the blood into the ventricles. Then while the atriums were re-filling he gave a harder squeeze to the ventricles to push the blood into with the lungs, or the rest of the body.

Alexei stood there is horrid fascination as over and over again Alan was doing what was needed to keep the blood pumping in a boy who otherwise would have been just like the others he saw, in a body bag.

Tearing his eyes away from the quivering heart, Alexei finally got a good look at the team that was working on the boy. All of them covered in blood to some extent or another, some with blood smeared on their faces, some with the chests covered, he even saw a bit of blood staining Janet's normally bright blond hair.

With a shake of her head, Alexei saw her try and fling some of the hair out of her eyes. Without even thinking about it, Alexei rushed over and pulled her hair out of her face for her. "Thanks... there's a tie on the table next to you, just tie it back, it doesn't have to be pretty, it just has to work." Janet said gratefully, than her tone changed as she issued some more orders. "Danny, I need another gram of D5W going in quick."

Alexei was starting to notice that except for Janet, and the other doctor working inside Cody's abdominal cavity, most of the rest were kids... most only slightly older then he was, and some even younger.

"DOCTOR! His O2 sats are dropping, now down to 80%!" A Girl about fourteen cried out, making Janet cuss out loud.

"DAMNIT Cody, you're not making this easy on us! Get the intubation tray ready!" Janet looked up and saw that everyone else in the room was busy, so she looked over at Alexei. "I need your help on this Alexei. All I need you to do is hand me things. Can you do it?"

Alexei hesitated only briefly. He was doing everything he could to hold his stomach down, but this kid had given so much for him how could he not. Silently he nodded, and Janet flashed him a reassuring smile. "That tray over there that says 'INTUBATION'; pull it over and open it up. Put on the pair of gloves that are sitting on top of everything, and then hand me the large handle. You can't miss it." All the while she was giving Alexei instructions, Janet was moving to the top of the bed, and started to maneuver the boy's head into the proper position.

Once Alexei was gloved up and had the handle off the tray, he handed that to Janet. "Okay now look at the curved blades; I need the one that had the big number '3' on it. That's a Macintosh three blade, or just a Mac 3." Janet had slipped into instructor mode, and Alexei found it rather comforting, and listened raptly.

Once she had the blade attached to the handle, she spoke to Alexei again. "Next you'll see several different tubes. I'll explain later how you measure to know which one you need, but for now, just grab the one that has a big '6' on it, tear open the package, and take out the syringe. Pull the stopper of the syringe back till it's almost out, and attach it to the port by the top." Alexei did everything she said, and when he was done, he offered it to her. With a smile and nod, she took it in her left hand, and had the blade in her right. She bent down so that she was eye level with Cody's head, and continued talking.

"What I am doing now, is gently inserting the laryngoscope into the right side of the patient's mouth, and then I am flipping it over to the left to trap the tongue so I can reach the back of his throat. As you saw, there's a little light on the end so I can see what I am doing. As you can probably guess, this is VERY uncomfortable, so it's almost always done with a patient who is either unconscious, or under anesthesia.

Since I'm using a Mac blade, I am going to position the blade in the vallecula, anterior to the epiglottis, lifting it out of my visual pathway. Now I can see the patient's vocal cords which look very much like an inverted 'V'. Once I have that in view, I take the endotracheal tube, or E-T Tube, and slide it gently in between the cords, till just after the balloon is in." As soon as she said it, she retracted the blade, and handed it off to Alexei who took it and put it back on the tray. "Next thing you have to do is use the syringe that I had you fill full of air to inflate the balloon. This will help keep the E-T tube in place." She stepped back and grabbed the big bag thing that was sitting next to her. She attached the end of the bag to the E-T tube, and gave it a few gentle squeezes. "I need you to take this bag and start doing what I am doing. A full but gentle squeeze every three seconds."

Hesitantly Alexei grabbed the bag and gave it a gentle squeeze. Maybe he shouldn't have looked, but as he squeezed he looked into Cody's open chest cavity and saw both lungs slowly expand as he squeezed, and deflate when he released the pressure. "You're doing perfectly Alexei." Janet said after he gave a few squeezes of the bag as she watched.

They were going to save this kid and nothing was going to stop them.

He hoped...

 

---

 

Damien was walking around feeling a little lost after making sure all 'his boys' were in the rooms assigned to them. It had been a flurry of activity ever since the triplets took them from the Academy earlier in the day, and now he was feeling a little lost. He took a turn into the common room of the quad, and sat in the corner looking out the windows for a while.

"Leadership carries a heavy weight doesn't it?" A voice said from behind him causing him to jump slightly and turn around quick.

"Huh?" Damien said then kicked himself for such a stupid response.

"You're the guy in charge of all those kids that came in from the academy right?" Now that Damien could see the person who was talking to him, he thought he knew him from somewhere, but really couldn't place it. The kid was about his age, with blond hair and bright blue eyes.

"Yeah... who are you?" Damien wasn't being offensive, but he still he was wondering who this boy was.

"My friends call me Alexei... I'm hoping that maybe we could be friends." Alexei moved over to one of the pool table that was in the room. "You wanna play?"

Damien grinned. Pool was one of the few games that the Academy considered to be 'proper' for its boys to learn. "Sure... you break, winner buys the sodas?"

Alexei grinned and nodded, then proceeded to rack the pool balls. For the first game, the conversation was kept very light. Damien knew real quick that Alexei might like to play, but he wasn't very good at it. Normally Damien would have tried to hustle the kid, but to be honest, he was having more fun just talking to the kid and playing badly, then pushing the kid and winning.

"So... you having some trouble fitting in here?" Alexei finally asked after closely loosing the second game. He knew the boy was holding back, and that told him a lot about the boy's character. He could also tell that while the boy was trying to figure it out, he hadn't been able to figure out who Alexei really was.

"Not really... I don't think. It's just... well hell. I'm not really sure how to explain it." Damien stuttered while he re-racked the balls.

"Don't worry about trying to make it make sense, just speak from your heart. That's what my dad always used to say when I couldn't figure out how to word things." Alexei let Damien have the time he needed to figure out how to say things as he broke the rack up.

It was almost five minutes later when Damien let out a nervous laugh. "You know I had this fancy idea that when we got here, and we were able to meet the Tsar, I'd walk up to him, draw my sword, kneel, and offer it to him. I mean what would bring more honor to kids who'd been thrown away into a military academy that was there to abuse us, then to be accepted by the Tsar himself as part of his guard. But then again, I see just how stupid that idea was."

"Why?" Alexei asked trying hard not to smile. He knew this boy needed to release his demons, and a plan was forming in his mind on how to do it.

Damien let out a back of a laugh. "Why would the Tsar want us. None of us actually graduated the Academy... we weren't strong enough to stop those assholes form using us, from renting us out to others, and to basically be used as the whores most of us have become! Why would the Tsar want us?" Before Damien could stop it, he was reliving all of those nights when someone would come into his room, or he'd be taken somewhere. Before he had to relive to much of what was done, he quickly slammed the door shut on those memories

Alexei stood the poll cue up right and leaned against it while regarding Damien critically. "Did you ask those men to do those things to you? Did you go out looking to be used? Did you WANT those things to happen to you?" After he asked every question, Damien shook his head negativity. Alexei could see the boy fighting back the tears, so figured he'd hit it home as much as he could. He put the pool cue on the table, walked over and stood in front of the slightly taller boy. When their eyes met, Alexei put as much power into what he said as he could. "Then you are NOT a whore."

There was a war being fought behind those eyes that Alexei was looking deep in to. Part of the boy wanted to believe what he said, but another part had him so convinced that he was that Alexei's words couldn't break that. Alexei took a deep breath and knew what he had to do. "Trust me..." He began. "I've been used like you have. Been used against my will, had an evil man on top of me pushing himself into me all the while telling me what a little whore I was. How I was only good for one thing. That I should just surrender to what I was, deep down inside. I've been there... and you know what?" Damien's face dropped while Alexei was speaking, until Alexei reached out, gently took the boy's chin in his hand, and raised his face till their eyes met again. "A very special man helped me to resist what that bastard was trying to fill my head with, and I make this promise to you right now. I don't care what it takes, but I WILL NOT let you live like that. I won't let you fall into the pit that I almost did."

"I... I don't think I'm strong enough to pull out of that." Damien said so softly that Alexei almost didn't hear him. The boys were face to face, lost in each other's eyes. This was not like how two lovers would be, but how two people whose souls were bonding would be.

"Then I'll be you're strength. When you don't think you can make it, I'll pick you up and be what you need. You're troops need you to be strong, but you can come to me when you need the strength to go on." Alexei put every ounce of conviction he could into his words.

"Why? Why would you do that? I'm not worth..." Alexei stopped Damien from completing that by placing his finger on the boy's mouth.

"You ARE worth it. You're worth it to every boy that looks to you. You're worth it to everyone person here. And you're worth it to me. We may have just met, but Damien... I see in YOUR eyes the same fear that would TAKE the heart of me. I've had to lean on people, and I still do, just so I can get through the day. But they've shown me, the only way to let those bastards win is to give up. Is that what you want? Do you want to let them win? Do you want them to know that they've broken you? Do you want to prove that they were RIGHT to use you the way they did?" The tears were pouring out of Damien's eyes as he shook his head. By this point, Alexei was basically holding Damien up, but damnit he wasn't going to let the boy fall.

"Then stand up, be the man I know is buried deep inside of you. You're troops need you... The Tsar needs you... and I need you. When you need help, I'll be there. When I need help, you'll be there for me. Together we'll get through this. Okay?" Alexei was crying by this point as well. Damien nodded through his tears and started crying even harder, though these were cleansing tears.

Quietly Alexei spoke so not even Damien heard him. "Daileass can you take us to Damien's room; he needs to rest." The only reply he got was one moment they were in the common room, and the next they were in one of the single person rooms. Alexei took the sobbing boy and walked him over to the bed.

Alexei pulled down the covers then sat Damien down. Alexei got down on his knees and started to remove the boy's shoes. Damien tried to argue, and Alexei simply shushed him. Once the boy's shoes were off, Alexei stood Damien up, and lovingly removed his pants, leaving the boy's military issue boxers on, then removed his shirt. Damien was still softly sobbing, as Alexei removed his shirt. Gently, lovingly, Alexei laid the taller boy down on the bed, then quickly stripped down to his underwear, and climbed in with him.

When Alexei pulled Damien to his chest, the boy stiffened in shock. "Don't fight me Damien... tonight you need my strength. Just let me hold you while you release you're demons." That brought a new round of sobbing from Damien, and whispered encouragement from Alexei. They feel asleep like that with Damien releasing his demons, and soaking up the love and strength from his new friend, who he still didn't realize was the Tsar he was hoping to serve.

(Wednesday Morning)

Both boys woke in the morning to a soft buzzing noise coming from the speakers. When he was sure that they were awake, Daileass spoke softly. "I'm sorry to wake you guys, but Damien; your guys are waking and wondering what they should be doing." When Damien was able to take stock of what was going on, he realized two things, first that he had woke up encircled by two arms that really made him feel safe, and second, that he'd actually slept through the night without waking once to nightmares, something that hadn't happened in a long time.

Quickly they both got out of Damien's bed, and got dressed. Alexei walked up to Damien and took the slightly taller boy into his arms. "Remember what I said. If you need strength, simply come find me. I'm not hard to find. I'll help you out no matter what it takes. Okay?"

Damien nodded and felt tears threatening to fall again. "Thank you Alexei. You'll never know what this means to me."

"Yeah I do. I have been right where you are." Alexei said then leaned forward and kissed Damien, first on one cheek then the other. Without anything else being said, Alexei turned and walked out of the room his step feeling a bit lighter than it had been in a long time.

Damien spent a few moments to get his emotions under control. He then went to gather the boys that looked up to him. Regardless of his own demons, he had to be strong for them. Some of them were only eight or nine-years-old, and already they had tasted the fires of hell. He was the one that was going to bring them back from the brink of that fiery pit. It was his responsibility to make sure that they reached down inside of themselves, to find the strength that he knew was there. But first he had to make sure that he believed in himself. He had never really had that belief in himself, before last night, now he did.

As he went around gathering up 'his' boys, Damien couldn't help but think of how good they had it already. They'd only been there one night, and already most of the boys were smiling like he hadn't seen in a while. Damien went into one of the rooms that held four of the younger boys. One of them, Alexei, a boy who had only been at the Academy for about four months, and the youngest of them all, ran up to him hugged him tightly.

Rumor had it that Alexei had been named after the Tsar by his parents, but when they were killed in a crash, his uncle, who was given custody of the young boy, sold him to the headmaster. Unfortunately for the boy, he was absolutely stunning with his platinum blond hair, and bright blue eyes. His looks made him a favorite of the staff, and he hadn't had a nights rest since he got there, except for the time that one of the teachers got too rough with him, and the boy had to spend almost a week in the infirmary. Since that day, Alexei hasn't uttered a single word.

Damien had done his best to protect the boy as much as possible, but there really was little he could do except hold the boy and let him cry out his terrors. "Come on Alexei, let's get you dressed and then get us some breakfast."

Alexei separated himself from his hero and nodded. Running around quickly, Alexei got dressed, and then pushing his hand into Damiens, they lead the group of one hundred and eighty seven boys to the mess hall. There had been just shy of 250, but some of them were lucky enough to have families that would take them in. Damien wished them luck, but was somewhat jealous of them.

He had his doubts as to whether the dining hall could hold of his boys at once, but that was quickly put to rest. Not only was there plenty of room for them, but they were all surprised to see that not only was there more than enough food, they were told repeatedly to take as much as they wanted, even going back up for more if they wanted it. Damien almost had tears in his eyes as he got to taste eggs again. Before he was sent to the Academy, he had loved breakfast with bacon and lots of eggs, but since his first day in the hell hole, he'd had nothing but some sort of slop for breakfast.

"Hey Damien!" One of the boys shouted out, "We actually get to have milk here if we want it!" Damien grinned nodded, and raised his own glass of milk before he tipped it back, and drank the entire glass in one go. He then relished the fact that he could reach to the center of the table, take the pitcher of ice cold milk, fill his glass again, and drain that one.

He was animatedly talking to some of the boys, after he was done eating, when a man's voice interrupted them. "Cadet Captain Damien Azarov?" The voice said, and Damien turned in his chair to see young man in his mid twenties standing there.

Damien swallowed hard and stood up. "Yes sir?" He wondered what was going on.

"My name is Sergei, Tsar Alexei's personal assistant. He has requested an audience with you and your men in the palace in one hour. Is that acceptable?" The man asked very formally.

Damien was stunned to silence for a moment, and then found his voice. A part of his stunned mind realized that the room had fallen eerily silent, as if everyone was holding their breath waiting to see what he said. Finally he found his voice. "Of course sir."

The man smiled warmly and nodded. "Very good. I will meet you back here in forty five minutes to lead you to the Tsar. He has specifically asked that all of your men join you." It was not lost on anyone that they were all referred to as men.

Damien simply nodded, and the man turned and walked out. He took a long deep breath to steady his nerves, the turned and looked at all the boys who were looking back at him in shock. "Okay guys, we have a half hour to get cleaned up and dressed. I expect all the older boys to help make sure the younger boys have their uniforms in top shape. Once you're done dressing meet back here as quick as you can. I want to make sure we all look the best we can when we meet the Tsar. Any questions?"

After ten seconds of no one speaking, Damien raised his voice slightly to make sure he was heard by everyone. "Okay, get to it. Shower in pairs if you have to, but we WILL look our best. Get going." As if a herd of elephants started to rampage, the room soon emptied out, leaving Damien standing there with his little shadow Alexei. He said a quick prayer to God asking for help to make sure everything went well, and to help him stop shaking in fear.

"Come on Alexei, we got work to do." Damien said softly, and then led the boy out of the dining area, heading to his bedroom. They made a stop on the way there to pick up Alexei's uniform, and Damien was happy to see every single boy that he passed was scurrying this way and that, all of them trying to get themselves ready in record time. The one thing he kept hearing over and over again was excitement about being seen by the Tsar.

As soon as Alexei and Damien got into the older boys room, they both stripped down and together jumped in the shower. Even though Damien was hurrying, he still took the time to make sure that Alexei was washed thoroughly before he washed himself down.

Once the shower was done, Damien quickly but lovingly, toweled off the younger boy, then himself. "Come on little man, let's get dressed." He said and got a deep smile from the boy in return. Damien still hoped that one day he'd get to hear the boy's laugh again.

Once they were both dressed in their best uniforms, Damien gave Alexei the once over again the patted the boy on the shoulder. "Let's go make sure that everyone else looks as good as you do. If they do, then the Tsar's really going to be impressed."

Alexei blushed brightly, but the smile the radiated from the boy really made Damien's heart sing. Quickly the two boys made their way back down to the dining area. When they entered Damien saw that about half his guys were there, with more filing in all the time. Looking up to the clock on the wall, he saw they had about twenty minutes till the guy was supposed to come back and get them.

With little Alexei by his side the entire time, he started going around and making sure that the uniforms were on correctly, and that all the boys were dressed and cleaned impeccably.

Before he knew it, Damien was tapped on the shoulder. When he turned, he saw a man in flowing robes over top of a very expensive looking suit. "It is time." The man said officially.

Damien nodded then turned and looked over the kids. "Okay, I want everyone lined up in two lines behind me. Shortest to tallest. MOVE IT PEOPLE!"

Once everyone was lined up properly, Damien took one walk down the line, and back up the other side, all the while talking to 'his' guys. "Okay guys. Even with all the other shit that we had to deal with, every single one of us were members of the National Military Academy, and that still stands for something. The person we're about to go see is the leader of the greatest country on this earth, and God has blessed us with the opportunity to meet him. We'll walk in there in two lines, but as soon as I give the signal, I want everyone to fall out into pattern Alpha 2, lining up behind your team leader. You will do this seamlessly, as this will be the ONLY chance we have to show the Tsar just how good we are."

When Damien returned to the front of the line, he turned around to face Sergei. "We are ready sir." Sergei then nodded, turned and started to walk out of the dining hall. He didn't turn around when he heard Damien cry out will the authority of a seasoned military officer. "COMPANY! FORWARD... MARCH!" As one the entire group started with their left foot, and started marching in perfect unison. On the way to the palace, they held their heads high, and marched in perfect time with Damien.

Damien had a hard time keeping his face completely impassive as he marched as every time they passed one of the Russian Military members, or even the UNIT members they'd heard so much about, every single one of them stopped, went to attention, and saluted as the cadets passed. It's said that Military is one big family, no matter where they're from. Damien now truly believed that.

Even if Damien was feeling intimidated by the huge opulent building they were entering, he would never let anyone else know it. Two by two, following behind Damien, the entire contingent of The Russian National Military Academy, marched down the hallway leading to a huge set of double doors. Their boots were making a clicking sound on the marble floor, as they all kept in perfect unison. The doors were each no less than twenty feet tall and at least ten feet wide. There were four guards standing before the door complete with ancient pikes held in their hands.

As they neared the doors, the guards moved two to a door, and began pushing them both open. The double file column of kids never wavered, as they followed Damien into the immense throne room. On either side were huge statutes placed every few meters, showing the line of succession throughout Russian History. At the end of the hall raised up on a Dias was a huge throne where a smallish boy was sitting. Damien couldn't make out any features of the boy yet, but he could see the largish crown that he was wearing, and the long fur lined robes that he wore over his shoulders.

On the Tsars right side was a huge man in a military uniform. Damien knew right away that the man was the commander of the famed Imperial Guard. Standing to the left of the Tsar's throne and a little bit back was another person in a Military Uniform. As Damien got closer he saw that it was actually a boy about his own age. He immediately knew who the boy was; he'd heard a lot of people talk about the boy that was in command of all the UNIT troops that were there to help safeguard the Tsar.

Behind the leader of the UNIT was another boy that Damien sort of recognized. He looked a lot like the three boys that came and brought all of them to the Palace. The other boy was also wearing a military uniform, just as impeccably put together as the first boys was. Damien was taking all these sights in as he marched towards where the Tsar was just beginning to raise from his Throne. When they got about ten feet away, Damien stopped, and without a word being ordered, he heard the boys behind him quickly fall out into the pattern he ordered before they left. The only exception was when Little Alexei came and stood beside him. Damien wouldn't dare say anything as they were standing in front of the Tsar.

Damien looked up just as the Tsar started to descend the stairs that lead up to his throne. As soon as his eyes met those of the Tsar, Damien felt his knees start to give and his jaw hit the floor. Standing before him was the same boy that he had spent the night with. "Tsar Alexei Romanov," Sergei intoned in a loud officious voice. "May I please present to you Cadet Captain Damien Azarov, and the surviving Cadets from our National Military Academy."

"Thank you, my most trusted adviser." Alexei said as he walked over to stand in front of Damien. "I see you brought your own adviser with you." Alexei said with a smile, showing no malice towards the breech in protocol. Then, in a voice so soft that only Damien heard him, Alexei said, "please do not be afraid my friend. The time you spent with me last night was with Alexei your friend, and equal. Now it is time for Alexei the Tsar to do what he can to make right what was done to you and your troops."

Before Damien could respond, Alexei stepped back; quickly Damien regained his senses and went down to a knee. Immediately, all those behind him did the same. Alexei took another step back, and then moved around so he was able to walk down the line of boys who were kneeling. He made one full circuit around the cadets, then when he arrived back in front of Damien and spoke loud and clearly. "You all honor me by your actions, but please stand."

Immediately all the cadets jumped to their feet, and every single one of them stood ram rod straight at attention. "I prefer to see those who have dedicated them to the service of this country stand." He then began to pace back and forth in front of the cadets. "I wept bitter tears when I heard about the treatment that was forced upon all of you. Had you not taken matter into your own hands, I can promise you; those responsible would have met a far more dis-pleasurable end. However, that was not to be."

Alexei, the Tsar, stopped and looked out over the sea of Cadets that stood before him. "From this moment forward, I take all of you into my service."

Alexei turned towards General Krolikov, and spoke. "General, would you please take Cadet Captain Azarov under your wing. He will head my personal guard which will consist of these cadets."

"Of course my Tsar." General Krolikov spoke with a wide smile on his face. Damien felt as though he was about to fall over.

Alexei then turned back towards the cadets. "From this moment forward, I would ask that you all move your belongs into the palace where you will not only learn to be military men, but you will also learn, along side of me, how to be a youth."

 

---

 

It had been several hours since the Cadets met with the Tsar and Damien still couldn't really believe what had happened. Once again, not really understanding why or how, Damien looked around the large room that he shared with little Alexei, and just shook his head.

Sitting on the edge of the huge bed, Damien couldn't help but smile at the thought of the faces he'd seen on his fellow cadets earlier. All he could think about was that they all had something to live for now, something that wasn't full of hurt and pain.

His thoughts were interrupted as little Alexei came running into to the room. The little boy ran and jumped into Damien's arms causing the older boy to fall back on the bed laughing. The huge smile on the boy's face was so uplifting to Damien he vowed right then and there to make sure he saw that smile more often.

 

---

 

Runt was tired. Ever since he came to Russia, he'd been running almost non-stop. It made him feel really good though. Khan was busy with all the military stuff that Runt wasn't really interested in, but he'd found out that he really did like helping people, and there were more than enough people here for him to help. He stopped outside the intake building and ran his hand through his hair. He was debating on if he should go in and see how else he could help, or if he should go find Khan and see if they could spend some time alone. His decision was made for him in a way that would alter his life forever.

"Hey!" Someone shouted then Runt felt someone tugging on his coat sleeve. For a very brief moment he was still surprised that he could not only understand Russian, but speak it as well. "Are you one of those Clan guys?"

Runt looked, and saw a boy younger then he was, but as usual, bigger as well. "Yeah." Runt answered not sure what the boy needed.

"I think that kid over there's hurt!" The boy said while pointing behind him. Immediately Runt looked and saw a small form huddled on the ground.

Without thinking twice, Runt took off running towards the boy. He was about to call for a med team when he got close to the boy, and started to hear his cries. Runt had gotten good at telling the difference between pain-filled cries and cries that were emotionally driven.

When he got next to the boy he knelt down, and gently placed his hand on the small boy's shoulder, and immediately, the boy cringed and pulled away with a cry of fear. "Shhhh... It's okay." Runt said with a calm and quiet voice. "No one's gonna hurt you anymore."

The boy peaked up over his shielding arms and Runt had to stop himself from gasping. The boy had platinum blond hair, but the thing that got Runt was the dark brown eyes. He'd never seen anyone with eyes like that. In the brief instant that they shared eye contact, Runt could easily see the pain and suffering in that expression filled eyes.

Runt wasn't sure what to do, so he did the only thing he could think of. He followed his heart. Reaching out, he pulled the boy onto his lap, and held him as he struggled. Runt just kept talking to the boy telling him that things were okay, and he wasn't going to be hurt.

Like a switch had been flipped, the boy stopped fighting Runt, and rather started to cling to the older boy like a life raft. Finally after many minutes, the little boy quieted down, but by that point, Runt's shirt was soaked with the boy's tears, not that it really mattered.

After a few more moments of just sending as much love and compassion as he could into the tiny boy in his arms, he felt the boy start to stir. Looking down, Runt met eyes with the small boy and smiled down at him. "Do you feel better now?"

The boy just nodded and Runt pulled the boy closer to him again. "What's your name?" Runt asked carefully.

"Andrei..." The boy responded after a moment.

"Okay Andrei, How old are you?" Runt asked thinking he might have been pushing his luck, but he had to try.

Andrei tensed up, but shyly he replied, "Seven".

"Okay," Runt stated as he stood up, Andrei still in his arms, "why don't we go get you something to eat, then we can see about figuring out what to do with you."

Just the mention of food perked the little boy up. Runt was amazed at how light Andrei was. Runt was expecting to have to struggle to carry the boy since he wasn't exactly heavily muscled, especially since, while he might have been fourteen, due to his own medical issues, he was the size of a ten year old.

Runt carried Andrei all the way to the dining hall, and took him inside. The second they entered the building, Runt laughed as Andrei perked up. He sat the smaller boy down, and Andrei immediately grabbed Runt's hand, but surprisingly enough didn't try to pull Runt towards the food.

Runt led Andrei over towards the buffet line, and after getting a tray, silverware and plates, Runt led Andrei down the line. When they got to the first station, the pizza station, Runt was expecting Andrei to either grab what he wanted, or at least point out what he wanted. But the boy stood there looking around confused.

"What's wrong Andrei? Doesn't this look good?" Runt asked carefully.

"It all smells really yummy, but... well... where's the food? I thought you said we were gonna get something to eat." Andrei looked up at Runt with a betrayed look, and Runt was at a total lose.

"But... but this is food, all of it." Runt said emphatically.

"NO IT'S NOT!" Andrei wailed, tears starting to flow from his eyes. "Food is in a big pot they scoop into your bowl. And it's never hot! Why are you trying to trick me?" The small boy exclaimed.

Runt didn't have a clue how to handle this, but damn if his heart wasn't being torn out by this little boy. Runt squatted down and held the young boy by his shoulders. "Tell you what. I will get a plate with a few things I think you'll like on it, then I will eat some of everything first. If you want more of something, or don't like it, you can get more, or not eat what you don't like okay?"

Andrei stood there searching Runt's eyes for a few moments, trying to find out if the older boy was lying to him or not. Finally, he took a leap of faith and decided he would trust this boy who had been nice to him.

The first thing that Runt put on his plate was a big slice of Pepperoni pizza, followed by a few fried chicken wings of assorted flavors, corn, cooked carrots, a slice of ham, and some turkey. Now he knew why the Clan kitchens all used over sized plates in their serving lines.

They walked over to a table, sat down, and then Runt looked at Andrei. "Okay, how about we do this. Everything on here is stuff I like, so you point to anything you want, and I will try some of it, then you can. Does that sound okay?" Runt still wanted to cry over what this little boy had to go though to now even know what food was.

Hesitantly, Andrei pointed to one of the messy chicken wings, and Runt's face light up. He picked up the BBQ Chicken Wing, took a big bite of it, making sure to get as much of the sauce on his face, chewed it up, swallowed then looked at Andrei, "YUM!" He actually wasn't acting all that much, the wings here were surprisingly good.

With great trepidation, Andrei picked up another wing, and slowly brought it to his mouth. After giving Runt another fearful look, he slowly opened his mouth and took a little bite. The looks of confusion, then wonder, and then pleasure, that crossed his face made Runt smile. After finishing the wing, Andrei pointed to the ham steak. Runt cut off a piece of it, popped it into his mouth, and then cut a piece for Andrei. Soon the plate was empty, and Andrei was begging Runt to go up for more.

As they were walking up to the buffet, Runt stopped when he heard people gasping in shock. He didn't need to look, as he just knew who had just walked in. When Andrei looked, Runt was prepared for it as the small boy tried to run. Runt held him tightly and spoke softly to him. "It's okay Andrei, he's a friend."

"What... what is he?!" Andrei asked breathlessly as Amur Khan came over to stand next to Runt. The dichotomy of the two of them standing next to each other would have been comical in other situations.

Instead of answering, Runt turned Andrei to look up at Khan. "Khan, this little guy is Andrei. Andrei, I'd like you to meet the commanding officer of the Clan's hybrid forces, not to mention my boyfriend."

Andrei looked at Khan, and then tore his eyes away to look at Andrei. "Really?!?!"

"Yup... there ain't anyone kinder or nicer to the little guys then Khan." Runt said with a grin, then leaned down and whispered conspiratorially. "Not to mention he's really warm to cuddle up with."

Andrei couldn't help but giggle at that, then out right laugh as Runt pushed himself into Khan's front, and pulled the big cats arms around him. After only a few seconds, Andrei laughed even louder as Khan started a loud, rumbling purr.

"Not to mention I got him wrapped around my little finger." Runt said which only made Khan nod. Slowly, Andrei reached out and buried his hand into the fur of Khan's upper leg, and started to scratch. Khan purred even louder, which caused Khan to purr all the louder. In an instant, Andrei, Runt and Khan bonded as the family they were going to be.

 

---

 

When Jesse and James showed up in Russian, they immediately could see that things were worse than they thought. There were kids all over the place, most of them looking like they had no clue what was going on. Sure they were all housed and fed, but it was obvious that they needed more. The Unit kids were doing the best they could, but it was just obvious that they were outnumbered. Not to mention, these were military kids, they were not used to dealing with this many civilians and getting them set up in a non-military fashion.

At about the same time, they each saw Jory, and started off for him. "Hey guys!" Jory said as he spotted them, and then jogged to meet them in the middle of the courtyard.

"Hey Jory!" Jesse said as he hugged the smaller boy. When Jesse stepped back, James hugged Jory as well. Before they could say anything else, they heard someone calling out to Jory.

"General Casey!" Everyone turned to see a tall lanky late teen boy, dressed in full UNIT uniform walking up towards them. Jesse and James saw that behind the kid walking towards them was a bunch of other kids in uniforms, and a whole bunch of the teddy bears. Quickly they figured out this was the famed 'Teddy Bear Strike Team.'

All around them rescued kids stopped to stare at the bears, whispers broke out all around them, as the kids pointed and stared at the little bears. Of course, the bears being bears, and knowing they were not in a combat situation, did what they did best, and started to talk to the kids all around them. The bears were quickly in hog heaven with all the kids patting, petting, and talking to them.

Jesse looked at James and smiled, between the two of them an idea was beginning to form. They turned back to Jory just as Kraig, the leader of the strike team, reached Jory and saluted. After Jory returned the salute, Kraig stood at attention and announced... "Strike Team T-Bear reporting for duty sir."

"Very good." Jory said officially giving Kraig a casual salute. "So tell me, what are you planning on doing?"

"Well sir, we are on restricted duty for the moment, no combat missions unless there is no other option. General Donnie Williams sent us here to see what we can do to help out."

Jory stood there considering for a moment before he asked his next question. "May I ask why you are on restriction?"

"We got burnt out sir." Kraig answered honestly. He wasn't ashamed of the fact; he knew it happened to the best of them. The thing he took pride is was the fact that they had caught it before it blew up in their faces.

Jory nodded, of course he knew all of this, but he wanted to hear it firsthand. "And who put you on restriction?"

"Sir, the official restriction came from General Williams, however, I did ask him to do it." Kraig said still standing at attention with his head held high.

"And why did you ask him to put you and your team on restriction? You guys have the best record and the most successful rescue missions than any other team. Why would you want to be put on restriction?"

"Because sir, as I said earlier, we were burnt out. We'd seen and done too much, and just did not realize at the time that we could not handle it. I was the worst, but every member of my team was feeling it. I still want to help out, but I can't risk the people we are saving, ourselves, or other people because we want to be macho and not face our own demons."

Kraig's face gave away his emotions and Jory could read the boy as if it was his own thoughts. It was not that Jory was trying to read Kraig, it was just that the boy was practically screaming the pain of those he had seen hurting that had become his own. It was too much for a boy to live with, but he was doing more than that. He was living in it. It was all he could think about twenty four - seven. His little boy kept asking him why he was sad. What do you say to a five year old when what you have seen is far too horrible for him to know that would make him understand? Nothing, of course, because any barely adequate parent would not want their five year old to understand what it was like to break into a brothel and find a little eight year boy hanging from the rafters flayed to death. His fellow children including an older sister and younger brother left locked in a room with the body as lesson to them.

Jory was nodding while Kraig spoke. He knew just where Kraig was coming from and he was really impressed by what the older boy was saying. The only difference between him and Jory was that Jory and the entire core Unit had Janet and Joe to watch out for them and make sure that things like this didn't happen. "I take it you have thought about this a lot, so what are your plans to make sure it doesn't happen again?"

Kraig looked at the small boy in shock for a moment before he regained his composure. "Permission to speak freely sir." Kraig said after a moment.

"Of course." Jory said simply.

Kraig relaxed, took a deep breath then started talking after he gathered his thoughts. "Yes sir I have. What I have noticed is that most of us, the strike teams have gotten so wrapped up with rescuing the kids, we've lost ourselves in it. We've lost touch with why we are doing what we are doing..." What Kraig didn't know was that Jory had asked Daileass to transmit this conversation to all strike teams, and military personnel that were not currently on a critical mission. It didn't matter if they were on duty or not. Back in the Utah base, all the kids that were in the Hanger watched as the conversation happened, with the ones that knew who Kraig and his team were, telling those that didn't know.

"… But mostly we've lost ourselves." He paused as he motioned towards where his Strike Team was interacting with a bunch of the kids there. "Hell... Justin is our youngest member... non-enhanced, eleven years old. I asked him yesterday what his favorite game to play was when he was off duty. You know what he answered? 'Don't know.... I haven't really played in the last six months.' That's a crime." Kraig spit out with disgust.

"I adopted a five year boy a little over a month ago. I don't see him anywhere near enough. He needs me; he needs me alive, well, and able to handle things. I almost lost it all in my need to help out, to help other kids not have to go through what I did. I am NOT going to allow it to happen."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Jory asked in a voice that was almost a challenge.

Kraig stood his ground and met the young boy's eyes. That in itself impressed the hell out of Jory. He may not be Adam or Juan, but he learned very well from them how to intimidate with a look. "My team and I discussed it. We're going to do two weeks of 'Rescue Duty' a month. The first and third weeks of the month, we will be in the rotation to do any rescues that need to be done. The second week we will be completely off duty, only to be activated if the shit hits the fan. The last week of the month, we will be rotating throughout the different bases helping out where ever we're needed. Be it working in the kitchens, working on the grounds, or whatever, as long as it helps us to re-connect with the kids we've helped rescue, and makes sure we remember WHY we're fighting so hard."

"And you think this will help?" Jory said making sure not to let any of his true emotions show.

"Yes sir I do. One thing I have learned is that as the commander of the team I not only have to look out for my guys when we are in the field, but I also need to make sure that the team is ready to go mentally as well as physically when it's time to go on a mission. They are my guys, and if they're hurting, I need to do what it takes to fix it." Kraig said; his eyes still locked with Jory's.

"Don't you think that shows weakness on your part, admitting that the stress is too great for you to handle?"

"No sir I don't. Weakness would be not admitting that things have gotten too bad. Weakness would be going on like nothing is wrong, and letting someone get killed over it. Weakness would be forcing me or others to live with a mistake that was made because we were too stubborn to admit that things had gotten too big for us to handle." Kraig's stuttered and let out a little sob as he thought about the bullet that had almost taken him out. If the jacketed round had not gone through two car doors first; his body armor and genetic enhancements would not have saved him. His voice grew certain and strong as he finished. "I will not allow Frankie to grow up without a father!"

Jory finally let his tough guy exterior fade, as a smile slowly spread on his face. "Very good COLONEL. I want you to coordinate with Aiden as he devises the next duty roster. He will implement your changes throughout all our forces."

Kraig stood there shocked as the rank insignia he was wearing disappeared, and was replaced by that of a full bird colonel. "Now..." Jory said as he reached up and closed Kraig's jaw, which made the older boy laugh a bit. "What I want to know is how you're going to help me clean up the mess that we have here."

Before Kraig could respond, Jesse spoke up for the twins. "Actually, we got an idea for that."