Be Careful What You Ask For

Chapter 05

Kurt began to be concerned as he arrived at the gate to the Short Compound, where he was halted by an unsmiling and armed teenager in uniform.  "Please pull over here and exit the car," he said in a voice that was redolent with 'or else.'  A second teen scanned first Kurt then each of the boys, without explanation.  "Right this way please," said the first man, leading them to a nearby door.

They entered and found themselves in a sort of conference room area, with no one around.  "What's going on?" asked a puzzled Scott.

"Yeah, this is not anything like Clan Short is in the stories," Galen said.

Four preteen boys walked into the room just then.  The middle-sized two were identical strawberry blonds, the youngest and oldest with dark brown hair.  "Actually, it is like us," said the youngest.  "But you guys won't know what happened to us since you started south - it wasn't written yet."

"That sounds so weird," said one of the strawberry blonds.  All three of them - both strawberry blonds and the youngest boy - giggled.

A woman with red-brown hair in her late 30s entered just then, accompanied by two teenage boys, one with auburn hair helping a blond boy of 14 who walked haltingly. All four of the first group jumped to help him to a seat.

"I'm Teri Short," the woman said.  Her expression combining sternness and compassion reminded Kurt incongruously of a nun he had once met.  "I need to apologize for your Spartan welcome, but we were attacked savagely two days ago, and we've kept Security precautions high.  We needed to be sure you weren't plants, to try to take out the rest of us."

The little brown-haired boy spoke up.  "They're just as advertised, Mom.  Their story is nearly as unbelievable as DT finding a boy he doesn't think is cute - but it's all true."  The strawberry-blond twins nodded agreement.  "Oh, I'm Kyle, by the way, if you didn't figure it out."

"We've scanned you guys," said a twin.  "But for the benefit of those who don't read minds, why don't you tell your story?"


"That is unquestionably the strangest story I've ever heard," said Teri.

"But every word is the truth as they know it," Jacob said.

"When we met the Double D's, I told them that they'd redefined 'weird'.  But you guys just took it to a whole new level!" Jamie threw in.

"No Starfleet there?" Sean asked.

"No, Captain James T. Kirk was a character on a TV series called 'Star Trek,'" Kurt replied, "portrayed by an actor named William Shatner.  Spock was played by Leonard Nimoy.  And it was set 300 years in the future."

Cory's focus was elsewhere.  "So you kept hearing news stories about people you knew from the stories dying because the Clan wasn't there in real life?"

"Exactly," Scott said.  "We even talked to you, or rather to our world's equivalent of you, Sean - he was at the Battery when we were, and he was depressed because Mikey had died and Cory was in the Home and not getting better.  We were about 15 feet from where J.R. killed himself at the time."

"You two," Teri said, addressing the twins, "you're certain that all this is the absolute truth?"

"Either that," Jamie said, "or they're all five suffering the same detailed delusion.  And from what we've run into, I'd be prepared to testify that it's all the truth, strange as it sounds."

Kyle added, "I think that's the point.  I know how you were feeling, Cory, and so was I.  But two days after we got hit by the FCC, we've been given evidence of what things would be like without the Clan.  We can guess about it; they lived through it.  If that's not grounds to keep going, no matter what the obstacles, I don't know what is.  I want to go over their phase shift into our plane with Miah, though."

"That's good enough for me," Cory said.  "So what exactly can we do for you guys?"

"Well," Kurt answered after some thought, "I hope to keep my nephews and make a home for them.  But  we're going to need your help to get started again.  I don't have my job with the state over here, and their parents apparently don't exist in this world."

"That's not much loss," Jacob said irritably.

"Jacob Dodds!" Teri said.  "That is no way to be talking about these boys' parents!"

"He's right, though," Scott said.  "Galen's mother didn't care about him at all.  And our Dad was not much better.  Our Mom was trying to bring us up, all right, but she was bossy and wouldn't listen.  Marky and I were to be respectful and well-mannered, do our chores, and stay out of her way.  The idea that either of us might need somebody to talk to about what was in our hearts never crossed her mind."

"They're my sisters and brother-in-law," said Kurt.  "But I have to say that Scott's pretty much hit the nail on the head."

"Kurt's pretty much been their Dad all along," Jacob said.  "You just need to make that official, Teri."

"And in *this* world, they're all orphans except for having him," Sammy backed Jacob.  "So making him their real father is a legitimate use of Safe Haven."

"No," said Teri. "You're right in what you say, surprising as it all is.  But on this one, we'll have Judge Jamie grant custody.  I'll just pre-empt CPS on the adoption investigation, and let him do the paperwork.  Like with Lawrence - there's no one to object to the petition, so just put it through his court."

"Um," said Kurt.  "Wouldn't it matter that I'm bi, and predominantly gay.  Would a judge grant a single gay man custody?"

"Think about Allen adopting Kenny and Kevin, and Jake," Galen piped up. "You've read the stories; it's *different* here."

"Is this what you guys want?" Cory addressed Markus, Galen, and Scott.  "Remember that I can pre-empt Judge Jamie, or even Mom, if they're going against a boy's will."  Beaming grins from all three showed their agreement with the plan.

"But what about Jude?" Scott asked, looking down the table at the other teen, who had been wearing a hangdog expression.

"Hmmm.  Good question," Cory said.  "Look, I think all five of you better stay here at the Short Compound until we get things sorted out.  Kurt will have to find work and a home for you guys, and you'll need a place to stay.  Mom, why don't we put temporary custody of Jude in a combination of the Clan and Kurt, and see what develops?"

"I think that's a good idea," Teri said, "if Jude and Kurt agree."  Scott's expression was hopeful.

"That'd be great," Jude said.  "I used to daydream about being able to do things with the Clan."

"I would have suggested taking Jude myself," Kurt said, "but with no visible means of support, I didn't think it was the proper thing to do."

"Hey, when has it being 'the proper thing to do' ever stopped us before?" Kyle said with a big grin.  Everyone laughed.

"Well, I want to introduce you guys around to everyone," Cory said.  "We'll probably have a Clan meeting tonight so you can meet them all."

"It'll be nice to not have to do everybody's history, for once," Sean grinned.  A laugh went around the table.

"'Do you remember which key it is?' Sean asked Cory," Galen quoted from memory - or should we say from Memories.  Cory blushed.

"I can see this is going to be - *interesting*," Teri said.


"...and so we saw the Mississippi fly over out the motel window, and we put two and two together, and I looked up the number and Uncle Kurt called Teri, and here we are," Galen finished breathlessly.

"Isn't Sean going to do the Clan history?" Tanner called out.

"Why?  We already read it," Scott answered affably.

"Yeah!  Want me to tell about what you did in the tent with D.J., the night before you met Russ and Sara?" Marcus put in.

"Uh, I don't think that will be necessary," Tanner blushed to the ears.

Cory took charge of the meeting again.  "We have a group of guys who learned all about us from what were stories in their world, and were so inspired by what we were doing that they pulled off a Clan Short rescue of Jude without there being a Clan to back them up.  Is there any objection to them being invited to join?"  Silence ensued.

"Jude, Scott, Galen, Marcus, are you willing to join us?  Normally I'd explain about what it is we are and do, but obviously you guys don't need it."

All four called out, "Yes" simultaneously.  Their faces were beaming; Galen's eyes were wet with joy.


"You guys have never seen a starship?" Cory asked.

"Only on TV or in the movies," Marcus answered.

"And they were pretty obviously mock ups," Scott threw in.

"Well, I'm certain that if I asked, Captain Simmons would be glad to arrange for you to take a tour of the Lafayette, even if I didn't order him to do it - which I could," Cory said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Geeze, would you?" Jude exclaimed.  The faces of the three cousins were equally eager.  Marcus mimed a dog begging, tongue hanging out and puppy-dog eyes.

"You don't have to put it on quite that much," Cory said affectionately.  He pulled out his communicator and asked for the tour, then positioned the four boys with himself and Sean to be beamed up by the transporter.

He lifted his communicator to contact the Lafayette's transporter stage, then got a big grin on his face.  Handing his communicator to Scott, he said, "It's all set, just push the 'speak' button here.  Beam us up, Scotty!"

Scott got a matching, enormous grin.  Lifting the communicator to his lips and pressing the button, he said "Energize!"


Allen and his four boys invited Kurt and his four to join them for dinner.  After Kyle had read Galen as to how much the boys already knew, they quickly updated them on what had happened two days before when the Clan had been badly hurt attempting to rescue Sammy and his family.  Allen and his sons were curious about the world Kurt and the boys had come from.

After dinner, Kenny and Kevin invited the boys up to see their room.  Marky was intrigued by seeing in person the shadowbox of models that Kenny and Brady had built, but the other two boys were more interested in Kevin's psychometric pictures.

"Those are Kev's drawings that tell you guys about people who need help?" Jude asked.

"Right," Kenny said.  "Over the past two days, we've been going over some of the ones we haven't worked through in a while, to see if anyone's situation has changed after the FCC attacks, where the Clan needs to intervene."

"What are these ones?" asked Marcus, pointing to a small group of drawings thumbtacked next to the displayed ones, with one featuring a stuffed panda on top.

"Oh, those are ones that Kev said are still happy and content," Kenny explained.  "We didn't hang them up, because they probably don't need anything."

"This one of a boat with a dolphin painted on it looks interesting," Scott said, as he riffled through them.

"I don't remember ever 'reading' that one," Kenny said.  "Kev's always said he's content with his life.  Hand it here."  He reached out to take it from Scott, who unpinned it from the group and handed it to him, and his face immediately took on an angry, serious mien.  "Kev, I promised never to get after you about how you feel about Chip, but you have *got* to get rid of that blind spot.  This guy is at serious risk, whether *he* thinks so or not!"

At that moment, Xain called up to the group in Kenny and Kevin's room.  "Patriarch Cory is on the terminal, and requires to speak with all of us!"


To Be Continued....


Clan Short Archivist Review Notes:

I truly wish I could tell you where this story is going but I unable to do that. This story is an amazing amalgam of several different stories and its own story and it is a lot of fun to read. I hope that Kurt, Marcus, Scott and Jude can find the themselves in a world that is good to them and for them. 

They handled waking up in a completely different world far better than I would have. 

As usual D&B your research was top notch and you delivered another wonderfully written and eminently enjoyable chapter.

The Story Lover AKA Fort Chief Editor