Origins: Death Knights

Logan looked at the five kids and sighed. This was going to be one of the toughest parts of their training, and they didn't even know it yet. All five of them, had access to the main three mental disciplines, and were soaking up everything Logan could teach them like a sponge.

Cameron and Richard had really made a name for themselves so far. They'd been in training for just over a year, and had not only taken everything that Logan had dished out for them, but took it and turned it around on him a few times. They were really shaping up to be an unstoppable pair; Cameron was the very strong telekinetic, and Richard was a strong empath. However, they had access all three mental abilities, once they really started working with all three, they were really becoming a force to be reckoned with. The problem was they knew it. Logan was worried that he would have to break them both down again to get rid of their swelled heads. Nothing was more dangerous in the work that Logan was training them for than over confidence.

Logan couldn't help smirking to himself as he thought about what was going on back home for Cameron. Of course the teen didn't have a clue what his mother was doing, but he'd figure it out soon enough. If things worked out the way he hoped, then the other four would become part of the Craft family.

The other pairing, Eldora and Jesse, were the ones that were really giving Logan a headache. Eldora was a born and raised street girl from the gutters of Mumbai. How a South American girl came to live in the streets of the biggest city in India, is a mystery even to Logan. Eldora didn't really know exactly how old she was, when she was born or anything like that. Logan had Daileass working on seeing if either of her parents were in a DNA database anywhere in the world, but so far, not even Daileass had been able to come up with anything. Eldora was also one of the hardest, most stubborn people Logan had ever met. More than once, Logan had even wondered if she might make Juan back down when she got pissed.

The eleven year old girl, at least that's the age that Logan had assigned her due to the medical scans, did not know, nor would she even accept, the concept of quitting. When Logan found her, she was lying in a heap in an alley way. She had been beaten, raped, and left for dead. After getting the girl to safety, and to his mother for treatment, Logan went back to find out who had done that to her. What he found impressed him so much, that he took her right from the hospital to start her training as a Death Knight.

Logan's first thought was that she got attacked by no less then three of four men, gang raped and beaten, but that was not what had actually happened. It turned out that Eldora was part of a street gang made up of all kids. She was one of the youngest at the time she joined, only about nine. She joined up to get away form the pimp that had gotten hold of her when she was about six or seven.

She was fine in the gang, sort of, until she ended up kicking the shit out of the gang leader, for trying to force himself on one of the other girls in the gang. She literally pulled him off of her, then proceeded to kick the shit out of him for trying. The way she had used her own mental abilities actually surprised Logan at the ingenuity of it all. The problem for her was that there were five other boys, between the ages of thirteen and seventeen, that took exception to her beating up their leader. They attacked her while she was sleeping, and even though she hurt a few of them pretty badly, the damage they did was enough.

For most people, that would have broken them, but not Eldora. It only made her stronger. That right there was part of the problem that Logan had been having with her. Logan had tried almost every trick in the book to break her down and to re-build her into a Death Knight. The problem was, she wouldn't break. Before he brought her out for this test, he had a long conversation with Master Takamura, Chang, and Adam about her. He wasn't worried about if he could break her, that was not an issue. The problem came from asking if there would be enough left to build back up. Chang and Adam had both said that Logan shouldn't attempt it. The risks were just too great. There were a lot of other areas in which she would do great at. Adam was almost salivating at the thought of having her in one of his assault teams.

It was Master Takamura that had made the decision to leave it up to her. So they called her into the office, and sat her down. Before Logan had accepted her into the Death Knight training, he had told her what a Death Knight was, and what they would be doing. She wanted to join, and Logan knew that she, in a way, needed it. So when they sat her down to talk to her, she immediately rejected Adam's offer of becoming a UNIT member.

Finally, Logan stood up and walked till he was standing right in front of her. He had decided to lay it all out on the table for her. "Look Eldora, I don't know if you understand this or not, but in order for you to become a Death Knight, I need to break you down, and re-build you. I need to change the way you think, I need to change the way you re-act to things, I need to mold you into a new person. The problem is, we're finding it very difficult to do that."

Eldora just grinned at him in a way that matched Juan so perfectly, that Logan almost got chills. "That's because you CAN'T break me."

Logan threw caution to the wind, grabbed her with his mind, and lifted her up into the air, holding her completely immobile. He then got right in her face and spoke with an almost demonic tone. "Eldora, I can do ANYTHING I want to you, and there is nothing you can do about it. Breaking you would be easy for me to do, the problem is, I want you to be sane when I am done. The harder you fight me, and more you resist, the worse it's going to be. So you need to make a decision. Do you want this bad enough to allow yourself to be broken, to be re-shaped, or not? Because I will tell you this much; I am NOT going to give you the training that you will get as a Death Knight, if I have even a question about your loyalty, or if I have to worry about you going off the deep end and doing things you shouldn't. So think about it, I can turn you into what you want, but not if your going to fight me. I'm not going to waste my time." With that said, Logan looked at the rest, nodded, then walked out, leaving Eldora hanging in the air completely unable to move.

Logan came back almost two hours later to check on her. He found her still hanging there in the middle of the room, still a foot off the ground, which surprised him because she should have easily have broken his telekinetic hold. However, when he walked back into the room, she had tears flowing down her eyes with her eyes squeezed shut tight. Logan could tell that she was fighting as hard as she could to not break down, but was failing the longer she hung there unable to move. Logan lowered her gently back to the floor, then released his hold on her. He caught her as she crumpled, he then laid her down on the couch, and held her while she cried. When she finally calmed down, she looked up into Logan's eyes and spoke with more conviction then he'd heard come from someone so young. "Teach me," She said simply, and then added,. "I don't want to be afraid anymore." Instead of answering, Logan simply nodded and held her for a while longer.

Jesse was Eldora's 'handler', and he was much easier to train. In a lot of ways, the thirteen year old boy was just as tough as Eldora. Jesse truly understood the horrors of the world, and was hell bent to do something about it. Yet he didn't have the unrealistic goal of being able to do it all himself. Jesse, who changed his name from Jesus Costrilolli, was the son of a Mexican drug lord. He was being groomed to take over the family business, and would probably have done very good. His father taught him ruthlessness early on, and it was a lesson Jesse learned very well. All of that combined with his very strong Empathic and Telepathic abilities, made him a force to be reckoned with in his father's organization.

Logan targeted Jesse for 'extraction' when he learned about the upcoming raid on the Cartel's main base, by the Mexican Government. The military operation was listed as one of those where collateral damage was 'acceptable'. The objective was to simply break the cartel, and kill as many of the leadership as they could. The government was sending a message to other drug cartels that their reign was over, and that they better close up shop or suffer the same fate. Logan sent Alvin, Simon, and Theodore in the middle of the raid to rescue Jesse.

He made sure to tell his youngest brothers that this was not an order, and they could refuse, since it was so dangerous. But he also knew that they were the only three he had available that had a chance of pulling this off. Most people forget that the Chipmunks were designed and trained to be an infiltration team second to none, and they were just that. They were able to slip in, in the middle of a battle, completely undetected, locate Jesse, kill the guards around him, and pull him out.

Logan didn't want the boy to be put on trial for the things he'd done, because he was sure he could turn the boy around. It took some time, and a lot of effort on Logan's part, but he was able to turn the boy around, and in the end, Logan was proven right. The boy was still as hard and ruthless as ever, but he had a moral code that was almost as strong as Chang's. Of course, it didn't hurt that Chang had trained him for nearly three years.

The last member of the five standing in front of Logan was probably the most unusual of the group. A short time ago, Logan was sitting in his office when there came a knock on the door.

**Flashback**

"Come in." Logan called out to the knock that he had just heard.

He wasn't expecting this person to walk in, but the furry little creature wearing a big hat full of shinys, a belt with more things hanging off it then batman, and a whole bunch of shiny things tied into his fur, walked into his office and plopped himself down on the chair across from Logan's desk.

"Hello High Priest Dave..." Logan said with a groan. "How can I help you today?"

"It's not how you can help me..." The ferret rushed out in his high pitched squeaky voice. "It is how High Priest Dave of the GLORIOUS Shiny Nation can help you."

'Oh God... what did I do to deserve this?!' Logan silently asked, but forced the smile to stay on his face as he spoke. "Okay, I'm listening."

"Well... The Shiny lovers have heard about your new group... the Shiny Death Knights..."

Logan couldn't help but gasp in utter shock. "How the hell did you find out about them?!"

High Priest Dave simply smiled his toothy smile and responded, "The great Shiny provides what is needed. You should know this by now Logan, and you would if you would attend our services and listen to the sermons."

Logan shook his head to clear it from the shock of learning that his most highly kept secret was out to the Ferrets so quickly. "Okay, so you know about the Death Knights. How do you think you can help me with them."

"Oh no... I can't help you with them... That is not what the Great Shiny wants from me. That is your task Great Knight Master. No No... The Great Shiny has brought me here to you to tell you that the Great Shiny has decreed one of my flock is to BE a Shiny Death Knight."

"Oh no!" Logan muttered as he dropped his head into his hands.

At the same time he heard Dave call out. "Dexter! Come in here!"

Logan just started to look up from his palms when he heard a very soft thud behind him. Before he had a chance to move, he felt a very thin cord snake around his neck, and get pulled tight. Reacting out of instinct and all the training that he received from Adam and Chang, Logan pushed his chair back, while grabbing the furry arms attached to the garote, and throwing himself forward, flipping the ferret over his back, and landing on the other side of the desk.

Logan watched as the ferret turned in mid air, and landed on all fours. Immediately the ferret pounced towards Logan again, but stopped dead in mid air, and just hung there. "Okay... what the Fuck is going on?!"

High Priest Dave jumped to his feet, and got between Logan and the hovering Ferret. "Dexter just trying to show you that he's good; that he was meant to be a Shiny Death Knight!"

"He's lucky I didn't just fucking kill him!" Logan said, struggling to reign in his temper. He slowly walked up to the suspended Ferret, pushing High Priest Dave out of the way, and getting nose to nose with Dexter. "So you think you want to be a Death Knight?"

Dexter nodded rapidly and Logan just shook his head. "Do you have any fucking clue what it means to be a Death Knight? What the training is going to be like, and what I am going to do to you in that training?"

High Priest Dave was the one that answered. "The Great Shiny told us that you are making the Shiny Death Knights to be the elite group of infiltrators, and those that do things that no one else can. They will be the ones sent in to areas where the main UNIT forces can't get into. They'll also be assassins when needed. As to the training, the Great Shiny did not tell us anything of that."

Not bothering to look at High Priest Dave, Logan kept his eyes boring into Dexter's beady little eyes. "A Death Knight is so much more then just an assassin. They will be a force of nature, the judgment that comes down to completely destroy those that deserve it. They will be working with very little oversight, and very little direction. They will be expected to act where ever they see the need, without needing to call in help. They do not exist, they do not reveal who they are, and they will NEVER be seen as a Death Knight."

Logan then started to pace around the suspended Ferret while he continued his lesson. "The training will be the hardest thing that you will ever have to endure. I will break you down... mind, body, and spirit. Then I will start to re-make you as a new person. I will fuck with your mind so badly, that there will be times that you won't even know what a shiny IS, let alone why they are important. Then I will teach you how to fuck with others minds like that." He stopped back in front of Dexter and met his eyes with his own. "Are you strong enough to handle that?"

Dexter got a look of intense concentration on his furry little face, and Logan was shocked when the ferret broke the hold that Logan had on him, allowing the little ferret to fall to the floor. Logan knew he wasn't particularly strong with Telekinesis, but he'd yet to have anyone break his hold so easily. The little Ferret landed on his feet, and looked up at Logan with intense eyes. "Are you strong enough to teach me?" He simply asked which caused Logan to burst out laughing.

"I think I might grow to like you. Pack your shit, we leave in an hour." Logan said, which caused the ferret to grin with all his pointy little teeth showing. With out saying another word, the ferret turned and scampered out of the room.

**End Flashback**

Logan had actually grown to like Dexter. He was every bit as insane as the other Ferrets, but he was somewhat quiet, and unassuming. He and Cameron should make a very interesting team if they decide to compare what they have learned with telekinesis. That is one of the reasons that Logan decided to break with tradition and have these five train together.

He looked the five over one last time before taking a deep breath. "You have all agreed to do this training together, even though you have no idea why I am breaking with tradition and training the five of you together."

"We would never question your Shiny wisdom." Dexter said in a voice that spoke to the fact that he was wondering why Logan would even say this.

Eldora just shook her head with a grin towards the little ferret. "Actually I was wondering, but I figured you'd tell us when we needed to know." The other three simply nodded at Eldora's words, but Dexter looked at her confused.

"Is that not what I said?"

"Yes it was Dexter." Logan jumped in before this grew out of hand any further. "The reason is this. Cameron is going to be sent back to the time that he was pulled out of, which is roughly two years before the time that I am 'currently' in. Richard is going with him, as he now has parents and a family. It's my hope that the rest of you will go with them. However, here is the issue."

Logan paused while he started to pace in front of the five. This was something that all of them were well aware of, what Logan was about to talk about was something very important, and they all knew to listen close.

"If you all go back, it will be two years, roughly, with out any back up from me, or the other Death Knights. You'll be expected to establish yourselves however you see fit. But there will be no back up, there will be no help, you will be alone."

"Isn't that exactly what we are being trained for?" Jesse asked, which was a bit of a surprise since Jesse rarely spoke unless he needed to.

"Yes it is," Logan confirmed, "however, there is going to be one major difference. In the 'current' time we would have the ability to pull you out of almost any situation instantly."

Dexter nodded emphatically, but kept his mouth shut. He knew he was not allowed to talk about what he knew from his companions future. "So basically, what I am saying is this. If you all agree to go back with Cameron, you will be completely and truly on your own. I won't be able to help you, Master Takamura won't be able to help you, the other Knights won't be able to help you, I think you get the point."

Logan was glad that they did appear to have gotten the idea, as they all looked a little worried. "I will set up as many things as I can to give you the best tech that I can give you, but when it gets down to basics, you will be cut off from all help save for those around you."

"So if we go back, what do you want us to do?" Jesse asked quietly.

Logan just shook his head before answering. "Nothing. There is nothing that I WANT you to do. What you do when you go back is up to the five of you. Just remember the rules I have set here. Those of you who have knowledge of the future are prevented from sharing that." He stopped pacing and met eyes with each of them one at a time.

"Please... do not break that rule. I have been working with Master Takamura for many years, I have seen how knowledge of what will come has not only NOT fixed the bad things that have happened, but occasionally made things worse."

"So your saying that if we know something bad is going to happen, because we lived through it, we can't try and stop it?!" Eldora asked with wide disbelieving eyes.

Logan was nodding all through her question. "That's exactly what I am saying. There is a saying that one of my friends told me one time that fits perfectly here. 'Some times bad things have to happen, so that good things can.' Now can you tell me how all the bad things that you would like to stop, could stop other good things from happening?"

Eldora opened and closed her mouth several times trying to argue with the point he made, but every time she thought of something bad that happened, she immediately thought of the good things that could have happened as a result.

After a few moments, she shook her head, and Logan sighed while wrapping an arm over her shoulders. "I know it's hard to allow bad things to happen, but there are times that we must. At one time, I had to allow ten small children to be sold into sexual slavery. I probably could have stopped it, however, there was no way that I could have been sure that by rescuing them, it wouldn't reveal us too soon, and stop us from being able to help all the other kids that we have been able to. It sucks, it really does, but that's part of the price we have to pay. It's also part of the price I am asking you all to pay, if you still agree to go back."

Every single one of them thought about it for a few moments, and all of them nodded, they still wanted to do it. "Good. Then let me introduce you to your next instructor. His full name is Yistanku Salveo Barnes, however, he goes by Yist." Logan waved to someone who had been standing a ways back, and the small figure started to walk towards them. "He's physically nine years old, and comes from the ninth century. He's Native American, and anything other then that I will let him tell you."

The small black haired boy stopped next to Logan and smiled up at the five. "I hear all of you managed to survive getting dropped in the middle of no where, on a strange planet, with nothing but what you had on. That's impressive. What I'll be teaching you is not just how to survive when that happens, but how to thrive. Logan hasn't told me what you guys will be doing, and to be honest, I don't want to know. It makes the training more difficult if I am not trying to tailor it to something in particular. By the time I am done with you lot, you'll be able to handle being dropped into any environment, and know that you have the skills to not only do what needs to be done, but to use the terrain around you to your advantage."

Yist looked them all up and down, and grinned. "Now, since you'll never really know when you might end up in a situation that you need to utilize what I will teach, I think it would be best if we leave right now. With what you have on you, what you have learned already, and what little wits you have right now. So..." Yist looked to Logan and grinned. "...If it's okay with Logan, lets go."

Logan grinned, "That sounds like a wonderful idea. You all ready to go?" All five of them stood there slack jawed. They had nothing with them except the clothes they were wearing. All their equipment was back in their rooms.

Logan stepped forward and embraced Eldora. "You'll do fine. I'm not really worried about you." He whispered into her ear, then stepped back, and embraced Jesse, then Richard, then Cameron. When he finished speaking to Cameron, he grabbed the boys hand with both of his and shook it with a grin. When Cameron pulled his hand back, and Logan moved onto to hugging Dexter, Cameron felt something in his hand. He looked down and saw it was the picture of his family. The one that he had all the way through his training, and was supposed to be sitting on the stand next to his bed.

The older teen was almost moved to tears, but was able to fight them back as he met eyes with Logan who smiled back at him. 'Thank you.' He said in Logan's mind, to which the younger teen did not reply.

"Okay!" Yist said loudly. "Lets head out. We got a long hike a head of us. I got no clue where we're going, but...." He looked around for a moment then pointed off into the distance. "That way looks good. You all ready?" Without waiting for a reply, Yist started to walk in the direction he just pointed out.

 

---

 

It had been six months since the five Death Knights went out into the woods with nothing but what they had on them, and Yist had been right. Under his instruction, they had not only been able to survive, but had learned how to live somewhat comfortably.

They had made several different camps, where Yist would explain certain things about where they were at, how to find food to eat, water to drink, and things that they could make shelter or clothes out of. According to what Yist had told them, he'd only arrived on the planet the day before, and hadn't bothered to study anything. This way was more fun for him, and made it a learning experience for all of them.

He taught them how to make snares and traps, for small game, and even good throwing spears, as well as bow and arrows for hunting bigger game. While Cameron was good at the spear, he seemed to have a knack with the bow.

Yist taught them how to skin the larger animals, and how to use almost every bit of the body to create things that they might need. He showed them how to make use of the bones for arrow heads, spear heads, and even the long bones for making things like tent poles, bows, spears, and other things that needed long strong straight items. He taught them how to find edible plants, and even plants that had some medicinal properties.

But they even learned things from others. The biggest one was actually Dexter. Obviously he found it a bit easier to deal with living in the wolds then the four humans, but mostly it was his way of thinking that effected the group the most. One of the biggest things he'd taught them was how to use their telekinesis in interesting ways.

Probably the biggest example of this was when he taught them how to run through the trees. Yist had told them that they each would take a day and teach the others something they had learned. Dexter, who never really did things the way they had expected, didn't teach them something that he had learned since he was there, but something that he had learned long before they had come here.

"When the great Shiny gave us the gift of telekinesis, it wasn't just to be able to lift heavy things, or to throw something at someone else. It was to allow us to do many wonderfully Shiny things!" Dexter always got excited when he spoke about the great Shiny.

"See most people only think about using telekinesis like this!" He raised himself off the ground a few inches and hung there. "They always think about pushing off the ground, but what about everything else around us. What would happen if instead of lifting off the ground, you pulled yourself up towards the tree limb above you?"

With out another word, Dexter flew up towards the tree limb, and grabbed it with his hands, and swung himself up onto it. 'How many of you have seen Spiderman?!' he said in their minds. With out waiting for a response, he flung his hand out towards another branch, and jumped off the one he was on, only to swing his way up to that branch. Then swung to another branch on the opposite side of the clearing they were in.

'Of course, another thing you can do is make the trees and their branches create a path for you to run on.' He then took off running, and jumping from branch to branch all around them, sometimes looking like a big cat who was walking through the tree branches, and sometimes swinging from them like a monkey. When he finally floated back down to the ground, in front of his friends, they were all excited to learn this new way of thinking.

It took them several days, and a few near misses before they were able to do it, and do it right. But soon, they almost never moved on the ground. From that moment on, Dexter would often be teaching them new and interesting ways to use their mental abilities. It really became apparent that the small ferret thought about things in ways that none of the other did.

Dexter wasn't the only one who was able to teach something to the others. Jesse was absolutely terrifying when he wanted to be.

"Most of you think that Telekinesis is the most powerful of the mental abilities. It is certainly the most 'showy'." Jesse started off as he walked around the group who were sitting in a circle on the ground. "Telepathy is really useful when you want to know what someone else is doing, or if you want to stop them dead in their tracks. It's also kinda 'showy'. Meaning it's hard to do something with it without someone else knowing you're doing it. However, if you want sneaky, sinister and just down right evil, you play with Empathy."

He stopped pacing and grinned down at everyone. "It's the most subtle of the abilities, and while there are a lot of 'good' things you can do with it, Empathy is probably the most destructive in a fight."

Eldora looked at him like he'd lost his mind, until he started to explain. "When you pair Empathy with Telepathy, it's real easy to figure out what someone is most afraid of, and then MAKE them feel it." Jesse closed his eyes for a moment, and nothing happened. Then it started. Eldora was suddenly seeing herself back in Mumbai, in the warehouse that she and her old gang used to live in. But she was stuck in a closet. She couldn't move, and the walls started to move in on her. Somewhere deep in her mind, she knew Jesse was doing something, but the fear was over powering. She screamed out, and suddenly it all went away.

She found herself laying on the ground, sweat pouring off her in torrents. Cameron, Richard, and Dexter were next to her trying to figure out what was going on. "Using telepathy," Jesse said with his eyes filled with regret, "I was able to figure out what her worst fear was, then using a combination of telepathy and empathy, I 'made' her live it out."

Eldora looked up at him with fire in her eyes, so he squatted down right in front of her. "As I said, it's the most evil of powers, in my opinion, but also very useful. Imagine doing that to some one else." He then met her fiery gaze and spoke softly. "It's also a good way to figure out what your fears are, and work to over come them." He held out his hand to her, and she softened as she took it. "If you'll allow me, I will help you overcome them."

He hauled her to her feet, then looked around at all the others. "I don't know if any of the rest of you put things together yet, but I have a theory I want to share with you." As soon as he got nods from the rest of them, he started talking in a slow measured voice that spoke to his true personality. Someone who thinks things out before he speaks.

"From what Logan told us, we're supposed to go back to the time when Cameron was pulled from, right?" Getting nods of agreement from everyone, he continued. "Richard, we know you were pulled from a time roughly a year after Cameron was." Richard nodded, then Jesse turned his attention to Cameron. "What was the date when Logan pulled you out to start your training?"

"January 15th, 2002." Cameron stated, knowing that Jesse was going somewhere with all of this, but not sure where.

"Eldora... When did Logan pull you?" Jesse asked, looking at his partner.

"September 8th.... 1999." Eldora said in a state of wonder.

"Richard?" Jesse asked turning his attention to the tall lanky black boy.

"February 19th, 2003."

Jesse nodded, sighed, then spoke. "When Logan had his brothers rescue me, it was October 30th, 2004"

Dexter spoke up before Jesse could ask. "Logan invited me to join the Shiny Death Knights three days after you." The little ferret said with a toothy grin.

"So..." Jesse began as he started to pace, a habit they all picked up from Logan. "Logan picked five people, from times spanning over five years, and then brought all of us here." Jesse stopped and looked at the group as he asked the most important question. "Why?"

The other four started to try and respond, but no one had an answer. Jesse looked over at Yist who just shrugged. Finally, when no one could come up with an answer, Jesse started to pace again. "I spent a few years, relative time, with some of the people from this 'Clan' that Logan has told us about, and I noticed something. Most of the people do not have mental abilities, and the ones that do, well they only have one, and on a very rare occasion, two. We have all three."

Jesse was pacing again. "There were also very few that were strong enough in their powers to do half of the things we can do. I think Logan sought us out. I think Logan was looking for a few people who had not only strong mental abilities, but also had all three. Then he brought us all together, and is training us. But what is he training us in. I mean why like this. We could easily have learned all this survival stuff on Earth. He could have taught us how to fight anywhere, why here? What are we learning here that we couldn't learn somewhere else?" The way he said it showed he thought he knew what the answer was, but was waiting for someone else to speak up.

Finally, it was Cameron who spoke. "From everything he told me, this.. all of this is simply to make us learn how to think differently."

Richard laughed. "One time he told me that he's not teaching us to think outside the box, he wants to get us to the point where we realize there IS NO box. When he said it, I didn't really understand what he meant, but I think I do now."

Now it was Eldora's turn. "Once we realize that there is no box, then we can truly learn to deal with anything." She quoted form a conversation she had with Logan.

"Once we know, deep down inside, that nothing is impossible, then the great Shiny will reveal his true plans for us, and what we really are capable of." Dexter said with an almost zealous sigh.

Jesse was nodding as they all spoke. "Logan has plans for us, that we all know, but honestly, I don't think he even knows what those plans are."

Cameron looked at him in confusion. "I don't understand."

Jesse sighed and started to pace again. "Logan is going to a lot of effort to make it so that we're not confined to what others think that we should do. He's going through all of this to show us that we are free to think what we want to, and do things the way WE think they should be done, not anyone else. To prove to us that NO ONE controls what we do other then ourselves. I mean that is like the true definition of freedom. He's teaching us to be truly free people."

He paused, stopped and turned to look up at the trees all around them. "How could he teach us to be free, yet be able to control us, and make us do what he wants? He can't."

Jesse then looked around at his friends, his family. "In essence, Logan is creating a force of nature that can't be stopped, is molding us to think certain ways, and then is simply going to release us into the world to do what we do. He can't control what we do, he can try to guide us, but we'll be on our own. If we go rogue, whats he going to do? I mean he went to a lot of trouble to make us into real bad asses. If he had to fight us, how bad would it be?"

"What are you saying?" Richard asked carefully.

"I'm not saying anything, I am just trying to figure what is going on here. Why us, and why this." Jesse said as he started to pace again.

After many moments of silence, Eldora spoke up. "Well, we know that the Clan is meant to help rescue abused kids, I mean hell, that's what he did for most of us."

"Not really." Cameron said slowly. "Before all of this, I was a happy kid with two bratty brothers, and great parents. Dexter has a family that loves him, so it can't just be because we were all abused kids."

"Cameron's right." Dexter said in an unusually serious voice. "My family was great and fun. I think all of this has more to do with how we think than what are pasts are. You three..." He said while pointing a finger at Jesse, Eldora, and Richard. "Know what it's like to be the type of kid that we will rescue, that gives you all a leg up on Cameron and I. However, Cameron and I can show you guys what it's like to have a real loving family. So between all five of us, we got both sides of the coin. I think he realized what potential we had, then figured out a way to bring us together, and I mean REALLY bring us together, so that we could learn from each other."

Dexter paused, and saw that they were all hanging on his every word. "I don't think Logan has any real plans for us, I think he figured he'd do everything he could to make us turn out the way he wants us, and then turn us loose to do what we do best."

"So how do you think he wants you guys to be?" Yist asked. He was finding this so very interesting, as he'd never really had a lot of time to hang out with Logan, but he'd heard rumors of what the quiet teen was doing in the background.

The five looked back and forth between themselves for several seconds, no one really having an answer, before Cameron spoke up with one whispered word. "Justice."

As soon as he said it, the other four started nodding in agreement. "That's the best word I think there is for it." Richard said slowly. "I mean lets face it, I've never had to kill someone, but I know I could do it if I had to. I mean how many kids out there are in situations even worse then what we came from? How many kids don't have a way out, no matter what they do, there's no way out for them? Until now. We're t way out."

"But why you?" Yist asked seriously. "Why do you want to do this. I mean really, all the shit that Logan's put you through, all the shit I've done to you. Hell, I've made you eat bugs, I've made you sleep in the cold rain, and laughed at you when you got wet. Why would you put yourself through all of this?"

"Before we left, Logan gave me something." Cameron said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the worn family picture that he'd had all through his training. He handed it over to Yist. "This is why I'm doing it. However, there's four people missing from that picture." Cameron said as the others looked over Yist's shoulder, then up at Cameron. "You all are my family too, and that's why I fight. It's what makes me get up every morning, and keep pushing myself, even when I think I have nothing left."

Eldora looked at him with tears in her eyes. "I never had a family before."

Cameron walked up to the eleven year old girl and pulled her tight to his chest. "You do now. We're all family now, but there's one last thing that no one's said yet." He pushed her back and wiped her tears away with one of his thumbs, while meeting her stare. "Each of us is just as strong as any of the rest, maybe in different ways, be we're all strong. But put all of us together, make us one, and there is NOTHING out there too big that we can't make it through."

 

---

 

"Lets stop at the store and see if dad has an order in that we can pick up." Karen said with fondness as she and Don were driving into her old home town. Davey and Scotty were sitting in the back seat asleep from the interesting day they had. When they got home from school, Cameron had already left, and Karen and Don sat the boys down and tried to explain that things were going to be changing and changing quickly.

They pulled up to the old store front in the tiny town of Nebraska City, Nebraska. Next to them was the Sheriffs car, and on the other side was an old beat up pick up truck. Before Karen got out of the car, she said with a small smile, "It's been almost five years since I've been here last, and it doesn't look like anythings changed."

"That's the thing about small towns love, they don't change much." Don said with a smile before he got out of the truck. The last time he'd seen Karen's father was at their wedding fifteen years ago. It's not that they didn't like each other or anything, it's simply not been possible for them to get out to the farm, and Karen's parents couldn't leave the farm.

As soon as the four of them walked into the store, the few people in there stopped what they were doing to see who the strangers were. The sheriff was sitting at the old soda fountain and when he turned around, his eyes went wide. He got off the stool and walked up to them slowly. "Karen? Karen Tolliman?" He said in a slow soft voice.

Karen nodded, then a smile started to appear. "Andy Dickson... By god it's been... what... almost twenty years?"

They hugged each other and laughed. "A little more then that, I just turned fourteen when mom and I left the farm."

"That's right. I remember mom trying to frantically bake a cake when she found out that the day you guys got there was also you're birthday." Karen said with a smile. "Oh yeah!" She said as she turned towards Don and the boys. "Andy, I'd like you to meet my husband, Don, and my two youngest sons, Scotty and Davey."

Andy happily shook hands with Don, then the two boys, when he got to Davey, the seven year old, excitedly asked. "Is that a real gun?" Which made everyone laugh.

"Yes it is, but I only use it if there's bad guys around." He then looked back up to Karen. "So what brings you back to town?"

Karen smiled at Andy then sighed. "It's really been too long since I saw mom and dad... not to mention there's a few things going on right now that I need to talk to dad about."

Andy smiled and nodded. "He really is a good man. I think you'll like what's been done to the house."

Karen quirked an eyebrow in confusion and Andy grinned broader. "Do you remember Jimmy Scanlion?" Karen thought for a few moments, then nodded. "About three years ago, he stopped by and met me in my office. He had a lawyer and about three other men with him. Seems that after your dad helped him and his mom get back on their own feet, and found a house for them, he got back into school and discovered computers. Before he graduated college, he developed some big computer thing, and almost overnight he was a multi millionaire."

When Andy paused, Karen still didn't understand what was going on. "Okay?"

"Well when he stopped by my office, he wanted to help your parents, sort of a pay back for what you guys did to help him and his mom. He had stopped by the farm a few days before, and saw that it wasn't in the best of shape, but your parents were still doing what they do best, so he came up with a plan. He put a large sum of money in the bank, and asked me to make sure that the house got fixed up, that your parents never had to pay for anything else, and that they could concentrate on what they've always done." Andy's grin grew so big it threatened to split his face.

"So, I gathered a bunch of people, almost every man and boy in the town, with the women and girls making huge amounts of food and drinks, and we spent almost two months re-building the farm."

"What... what did you guys do?" Karen asked almost afraid to know.

"Well, the house was in bad shape, so we basically tore it down and built a new one from the ground up, about five times as big. We fixed up both barns, built a third one, repaired all the fences, built a huge garden for your mom, and a new workshop for your dad."

"Oh my." Karen said as she covered her mouth, and fought back the tears. "Are they still.... Of course they are."

Andy nodded seriously before answering. "Yeah they are. Your dad's almost seventy, and your mom's not far behind, but they still open the doors to the farm as often as ever. Right now they got three families staying with them, and a fourth just moved out last weekend."

Karen noticed the confused look on Don's face and Karen said with a warm smile. "I'll tell you about it on the drive over there." To which Don just nodded.

"Why don't I help you with your dad's order, and I'll follow you over. It's been a couple weeks since I stopped by." Andy said with a smile as he looked back towards the store keeper, who had been stacking bags on the counter the entire time they were talking.

As they all gathered bags, Old man Conolley smile and took her hand. "I know it was hard when you left, but it's good to see you back."

Karen thought that she was over the hurt that drove her form the town, but as soon as the old man spoke, Karen had tears flowing down her face, but she had a smile on as well. "Thank you."

Don kept his questions to himself as they loaded up the car, and as they were getting ready to load themselves in, Andy spoke up from his car. "Hey boys. Would you guys like to ride in a real police car?"

Karen smiled softly as she looked over to Don. The two boys were jumping around and begging Karen and Don to let them. Don met her eyes for a moment, and knew that Andy must have been doing this so that they could talk freely. "Go ahead boys. But behave, and don't touch anything your not supposed to." Don said to which the boys jumped around all excited then ran to Andy's car. It took Andy a moment to get them both situated in the front seat, then they all got into their cars, and pulled out of the store.

They had only been driving for a few moments when Don broke the silence. "Honey, I've known for a very long time that you left here with a lot of pain. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Karen looked over at her husband and smiled sadly. "It's okay. With everything that's going on, you'll need to know." She turned her head and watched the corn fields go by. She was silent for several moments, before she started talking, her eyes never leaving the fields.

"My parents had always wanted a house full of kids, but after mom almost died having me, she couldn't have any more kids. When I was five, Dad was in town to get some feed for the horses when he saw some guy beating on his wife and young son. Dad stepped in and got the guy off the woman. Instead of sticking around, the guy just got in his truck and drove off. Dad brought the woman and her son to our house."

She paused for a few moments, and just when Don was about to ask her what happened, she started again. "They stayed with us for almost two years. She got a divorce, Dad got her a job waiting tables at the diner in the next town over, and helped her buy a small house just outside of Sioux City. It started there, but didn't stop. Somehow while Dad was doing what he could to help her out, some people heard about it, and the next thing we knew, three weeks after Mrs. Fields and Donnie left, Dad got a call from a nurse in Kansas City, asking him if he would be willing to have a few more house guests. I never found out how the nurse found out about dad, but she had a woman and her three small kids sitting in the waiting room. The father had broken the oldest ones arm, and the mother didn't really have any options to get out, although with the bruises on her face, the nurse knew that she needed to. Dad drove the two hours to the city, and picked them up."

"That's how it started." Karen said with a small smile. "By the time I was ten, Mom and Dad had taken in over fifty families. You know, it's funny. You always here the media talking about how small towns don't like strangers, and they only care about there own. Not here. There were several times when an irate father would come looking for his wife and kids. When they got to the house, dad already knew about it, and there was a line of pick up trucks following the guy up our driveway. The kids were welcomed into the school as if they been there their entire lives. Everyone pitched in to help out the families we took in. We never worried about food, and the farm was basically taken over by the town. Dad would do what he could, but he was flat out told by the other men that his job was to help the families they took in, and not worry about his fields or animals."

"This sounds like a great town. Why'd you leave?" Don asked, and immediately wished he could take the question back, as he saw the hurt and tears in her eyes.

Before he could, she started to explain. "Right after I graduated high school, I was dating a boy, one of the rescues, his name was Jordan. He'd been with us for almost two years before his mom bought a house in town. He was a year older then me, and was working at the local feed shop. He was walking home from work when his father found him. From what the hospital and police said, his father ran him down, then got out of the car and beat him with a baseball bat, till someone drove by and stopped him. He survived for six days in the hospital." Neither one of them noticed really that the police car in front of them had it's lights going, then they'd shut off. Then the siren screamed for a brief moment, before it too went silent.

Karen stopped and wiped tears from her eyes before she could continue. "A week after he died, his mother stopped by the farm. She and my mom were crying at the kitchen table when I came down stairs. His mom hugged me hard, and sat me down. She had just gone through the clothes he was wearing that night, when she found something, and wanted me to have it. It was an engagement ring."

Karen broke down crying again, and Don wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close to his side while he was driving. "When I met you in college, I tried to forget about Jordan, but every time I thought about Nebraska City, I couldn't help but think about the ring."

Don didn't know what to say, so he held her tight to his side. Thankfully, the turn signal on Andy's car distracted both of them from their earlier conversation. Karen gasped as they entered a dirt driveway. On both sides of the driveway were large stone pillars that held a sign suspended over the driveway. "Castaway Hotel" Don said softly, as he followed the cop car.

The driveway itself was lined with trees, but behind the trees were open fields, covered in a small layer of snow. They rounded a bend, and started to go up a slight hill, trees still lining both sides of the driveway. They rounded another bend, and Karen gasped again. In front of them was a huge beautiful house. Karen had expected a slightly larger version of their old farm house, but this was anything but. It looked like it could have been a mansion out of Beverly Hills or something. It was three stories tall, with beautiful white washed stone.

The house looked almost like the letter "H", and as they drove past the edge of the two bottom wings, they saw that the center of the middle part was a grand entrance way. The bottom level on both side wings looked to be garages, since they had the normal garage doors on them, five to each side. The grand entrance way was narrower at the top that at the bottom, and all of it was covered with a peaked room.

Off to the left, they could see a huge barn, nearly the size of the main house, that looked brand new. And to the right, they could see a large garage, easily able to handle more than ten vehicles, with a driveway splitting off from the main driveway to get there. As they approached the house, they could see almost twenty kids outside playing in the snow, with a few adults sitting on the porch watching them. As soon as the cars came into the view the adults all stood up, and Karen immediately spotted her father, standing in the middle of the group.

The two cars stopped in front of the house, and everyone was watching the cars to see who would be getting out. As soon as Karen opened the door, her father stepped down a step then stopped, not believing his eyes. When Karen got out, he couldn't hold it back any longer. Tears sprang to his eyes as he rushed towards her, faster then most would think a man of over seventy years could move.

Karen ran towards him and they embraced in a tight hug, that didn't break until they heard the door open and a cry come from the top of the steps. "KAREN!" She heard her mom cry, and then the hug became a group hug.

When the hug broke, she turned and saw Don standing there next to Andy with a huge grin on his face, the two boys standing right in front of him. Graham and Donna, Karen's parents had watched their grand kids grow up in pictures, but now here they were standing in front of them. Donna let go of Karen, and walked up to the boys. They had spoken often on the phone, but this was the first time she saw them in person.

First she grabbed Scotty into a tight hug. "Hi grandma!" He squealed out as she tried to squeeze the breath out of him. When she put Scotty down, she turned her attention to Davey who was shyly hiding behind Don's leg. Donna squatted down and opened her arms wide. When Davey didn't move, she spoke softly to him. "I know it hasn't been long since your mommy and daddy adopted you, but you're my grandson no matter what."

That was all it took to get him over his fears, and he came out from behind Don's leg and rushed to his new grandma. When she released the small seven year old, she stood up and gave Don a big hug. "Thank you." She said quietly, and he knew what she meant.

"I didn't do anything, Donna. Karen made this decision all on her own. She has something she needs to talk to you and Graham about."

She broke the hug and looked at him with a question, but then nodded. When she turned around, Graham had Davey in a tight bear hug and was whispering something into the boy's ear, which caused him to giggle and nod. When he put the boy down, he looked at his family and said with a grin. "Come on inside. I know Donna has coffee ready, and if I don't miss my guess, she just took some cookies out of the oven."

 

---

 

It was the middle of the night, and Cameron was having some difficulty sleeping. Instead of fighting it, he simply slipped out of the self made shelter, and stretched. The stars were out, but he could tell another storm was moving in. The mobile trees were rooting down in preparation, and the animals were all scurrying around doing what ever they had to do to prepare. 'Looks like we'd better batten down the hatches to ride this one out.' He thought to himself, before he started to walk down the path, so he could relieve himself.

When he was done, he walked back towards their little camp, and saw something in the moon light. It was a figure sitting on one of the big rocks, looking down on the valley below them. As he got closer, he could tell by the size of the person it was Eldora. The only one smaller then her was Dexter, and Dexter was a lot smaller. When he started to climb up the rock, Eldora looked over her shoulder, and smiled, as she scooted over.

"Looks like neither one of us can sleep." She said as he settled down next to her.

There's a storm brewing." He said simply.

"Yeah, I saw it too. I figure by mid morning, or early afternoon the rains will start," she said as she leaned back and looked up at the two bright moons, and the stars behind them.

"That's what I was thinking too." Cameron said as he to laid back to look up at the stars.

After a few minutes of silence, Eldora spoke, still looking up. "You know, I honestly don't know if I want to go back."

"I know what you mean. I miss my family like mad, but... well I love this place." Cameron said softly.

"Yeah, but we have to. I mean I wish I could stay here, but I know, while I'd love it, it would be like... I don't know.. like running away from my problems, and abandoning all the people that we could help."

"Yeah, in a way I'm scared to go back. Nothing will ever be the same again. It's not that anything on Earth's really changed, it's me. I know so much more now then I did before. I.. Well I just couldn't imagine not going back and trying to help."

"Sometimes at night, I sit out and look up at the moons, and think to myself. 'Is this the reason I went through everything I did. Did God plan out my life to be so shitty, so that when Logan came, I would know what it was like to be so low that I couldn't NOT join him." Eldora spoke in a far away voice, and Cameron couldn't help it. He inched closer and wrapped his arms around her. She smiled up at him, then laid her head down on his chest.

"I don't know about that..." He let his voice trail off because he really didn't know how to reply to it. Not to mention he was starting to have some feelings coursing through his body that he wasn't familiar with. The feeling of her hair on his bare chest was indescribable, the smell coming from her hair was like nothing he'd even known before.

They laid there on the rocks for a long time just enjoying the feel of the other, when Eldora sighed and looked up at Cameron. "You know, before I came here, I didn't know what love was. I knew what love was supposed to be, but I never felt it before. Sure, there were guys who would say the loved me when they were fucking me, but that wasn't love. When Logan brought me here, he told me that one of the things I needed to learn was how to love, and love myself first. I laughed at him, and told him I just wanted to learn how to hurt people who hurt others. But then I met you guys. None of you laughed at me. None of you thought that just because I was a girl, I couldn't do the things that you could. None of you said a word about the nightmares, just held me while I cried myself back to sleep." She paused as she gazed into Cameron's eyes. "Is this what a family is supposed to be like."

Cameron could only nod as he got lost in her dark eyes. Slowly, she moved up until they were face to face. Then without a word, she moved in till their lips met. The kiss broke when Cameron felt her hand travel south till she was gripping his very excited member. He gasped as she squeezed, then, while he was still lost in her eyes, he softly whispered... "I've never..."

"Shhhh... I've done it enough for the both of us." She leaned down again and met his welcoming mouth, and they kissed again. Time seemed to stand still for the two of them as they became one. He felt her inside of his mind, and they shared everything they were feeling.

The feelings were indescribable, she took him into her mouth, and Cameron had never felt anything like it. Deep down in his own mind, he knew that something special was happening, and it was a lot more then him loosing his virginity. The two of them were connected mind, body and soul. Instinctively he knew that this was the first time that she actually wanted to have sex with someone. He could see her thoughts, as if they were his own. When he entered her, he felt her passion, combining and mixing with his own. Never before had he imagined that anything like this could happen, yet here it was.

All conscience thought had left both of them, and they were riding the waves of pure unbridled passion, enhanced by the fact that for that time, they were connect as only two strong telepaths and empaths could be. They were one. He knew exactly what to do to make her reach new heights of pleasure, and in the same way, she knew how to do the same to him.

Their minds were bare to each other, and they each knew that this was an act of pure love. There was nothing else involved. A normal fourteen year old boy would be pounding away as fast as he could, trying to reach that pinnacle that he's only been able to get to with his hand before, but being connected the way they were, time meant nothing to them. There on that rock, in the middle of the wilderness of Archnania, Two hearts, two souls merged together, and healed one that was broken into so many pieces.

 

---

 

The Craft family spent over an hour just getting to know each other again. There was nothing important spoken about, but grandma and grandpa peppered their grandsons with questions about their lives, while grandma stuffed them full of cookies and hot chocolate.

The older couple seemed to know exactly what to say to draw Davey into the conversation and made sure that he didn't feel like an outsider. Of course Scotty wasn't left out either.

When the boys had been stuffed, and were betting restless, Graham spoke up breaking the conversation. "Boys, if you want, why don't you go out and play with the other kids. Most of them are spending the night, but only six of them actually live here."

Scotty and Davey looked towards their parents, and got nods. They started to run out the room, when Davey stopped dead in his tracks, and turned around. He seemed to think for only a split second, before rushing back over to Donna. She just had time to turn in her seat as the seven year old slammed himself into her with a big hug. "Thanks grandma..." Was all he said, before he gave her a big squeeze then turned his attention to Graham. In a flash he was over hugging the old grizzled man, "Thanks Grandpa... I love you."

With out looking back, the small boy ran from the room with a grin on his face. Graham took a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at the tears that were coming from his eyes. He looked towards Karen and smiled through his tears. "Thank you."

Karen smiled and nodded. "They're great boys." She said simply.

After Donna re-filled their coffees, it was only Andy, Don, Karen, Graham, and Donna, sitting around the table. Finally, Graham spoke the question that was bothering him the most. "Karen, Please don't think I don't love you showing up like this, but I have to wonder... why? Don said you had to talk to us about something."

Karen smiled, that was her dad, blunt and to the point. She looked around to make sure it was just the five of them there, then began to speak softly. "I'm sure you noticed that Cameron's not here." Seeing nods from all of them, she turned towards Andy. "Do you remember back when you first told us about your... interesting abilities?"

Andy nodded slowly, "The fact that I could read other people's thoughts?" He said almost conspiratorial.

"Yeah, well two years ago, we found out that Cameron can do that, and a lot more." Andy's eyes went wide, and he looked towards Graham, who nodded. When he looked back towards Karen it was with a look of 'go on.' "At first we had to break him of the 'I'm a freak' mentality, but after that he was fine. Until yesterday."

Don took over the story at this point. "I'm not sure if you know this or not Andy, but I work for the Navy, as a Shore Patrol Captain. The biggest thing that I was worried about was the government, or military learning about Cameron's abilities, and..." He shook his head to get rid of that thought, and so did everyone else.

"Just how strong is he?" Andy asked.

"His strongest ability is lifting things with his mind. When I first found out about it two years ago, I walked into his bedroom with out knocking. He, The TV, video game consul, bed, and almost everything in the room that wasn't bolted down were floating about a foot off the ground." Karen said.

"Holy..." Andy said before catching himself. "I've never met anyone that strong. And you said that's only his strongest? He has the other two?" To which Karen only could nod.

"So what happened yesterday?" Graham asked with concern.

"Before Cameron got home from school, two people showed up at the door. A kid a bit younger then Cameron, and an old oriental man. It was weird though, because it was the kid that was doing most of the talking. He told me about knowing that Cameron had strong mental abilities, and that they were there to ask for his, and our help."

"What did they want... exactly?" Andy asked leaning forward in his chair, the coffee at his side all but forgotten.

"Well, they asked if they could wait until both Don and Cameron were there, so they only had to explain it once. I called Don who came home right away, and then when Cameron showed up, Logan, the boy, really started to paint a horrible picture."

Karen took a long deep breath, then began to tell the story. The pain evident in her eyes. "He told us about kids all over the world, like you and Cameron who were being hurt and killed simply because of what they could do. Others who were being made to do bad things with their abilities, and even some who were being kept as slaves, abused, and worse, to make them use what they had in ways that the people wanted." By the time she was done, she had tears flowing down her eyes, while the rest, especially Andy had haunted looks.

"Logan told us about how he and the old man, Mr. Takamura, were rescuing the kids that they could get to, and Logan was taking a bunch of the kids that had mental abilities, and training them to help rescue the others." Karen said meeting all their eyes.

"How?!?" Andy breathed out.

"I... I wouldn't have believed it, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, but... Logan took Cameron somewhere, where he could train him to use those abilities. But here's the part that's unbelievable. Logan said it would take years to train Cameron to the point that Cameron could help, but... but he'd be home, fully trained... tomorrow morning."

"How's that possible?" Donna asked.

"Time Travel... I think." Don said quietly, then rushed to continue. "I know it's hard to believe, but Logan came back to us less then an hour after they left, and asked us to follow him. The old man was there again, and we followed them out the door, expecting to get into a car or something, but as we walked, the world around us started to shift. After a few minutes, we found ourselves someplace else. It almost looked like we were in a jungle or something, but what I do know is, we weren't on Earth anymore. Logan took us to a building where Cameron and another boy, Richard were talking. They'd already been there a year, and.. and what they were talking about." She looked square at her father. "Dad, we've got to help them. They're going to be going out and rescuing kids from horrible situations, but... but what happens then? Where do they go? Who'll take care of them?"

Graham was staring off into space for a few moments, before he looked into his daughters eyes. "Had anyone else come and told me that story I wouldn't have believed a word of it. But I know you too well. As far as where they'll go, that's easy. They'll come here. Thanks to some help from some friends, we got a lot of room here, and a lot love to go around. You'll leave Davey and Scotty here tonight, then come back with Cameron tomorrow. We'll have everything ready for them." Graham had a fire in his eyes that Karen remembered. It was the same fire that was there the first time he saw someone in danger.

"Andy, I think it's time to dust out the room you made for us, and make sure everything works." Andy gave a determined smile, then got up out of his seat, and left the room with out a word.

Donna stood up as well. "I'll start making sure all the rooms are ready, and that we got enough food and clothing for a whole bunch of kids." Then she was gone as well.

Graham looked at his daughter and son-in-law with a small smile. "You go get your boy. He might be trained to do the rescues, but we'll be here to make sure the kids that come here will be loved and cared for." Then he too was gone.

Karen looked at her husband with a smile. "That's the man I remember."

 

---

 

It had been just over a month since Cameron and Eldora first made love, but it was far from the last. The bond that was formed during their love making was stronger then either of them thought possible. It was not as if they were constantly reading the others thoughts, but it was more like, in the back of their minds, the other was there, just waiting. It also had an interesting side effect of strengthening their own mental abilities.

While theirs was the most spectacular relationship that formed on the strange planet, it was not the only one. Jesse and Richard also found that they had feelings for the other. However, they were taking their relationship much slower then Cameron and Eldora were.

Yist, however, was having some trouble keeping up with the five others. Not so much in the physical sense of things, as he still had much he could teach them, however, they seemed to absorb everything he was teaching them, and turning it into something he hadn't thought of. Take Cameron's bow for example.

Yist had taught them how to make a very strong and accurate re-curve bow, and Cameron took to it. But he wasn't satisfied with the simple re-curve. He thought back to a compound bow that his father had bought him less then a year before he left for his training. It took him several weeks, and a lot of trial and error, but he finally figured out that cams made out of bone, and a strong wood/animal bone composite body, was strong enough to create the lever effect of a compound bow.

The first time he used his new bow, he shattered an arrow, so he had to spend the next few days creating a stronger arrow. When he fired that one, it went through the home made target, and deep into the tree behind it. Thankfully it was not one of the sentient trees.

Cameron wasn't the only one who found their weapon of choice. Eldora found and carved for herself, two one and a half foot Eskrima sticks. She confided in Cameron that during her time on the streets, once a week an old man would 'buy her services' for an evening. However, instead of sleeping with her, he trained her.

Seeing Eldora with her fighting sticks was a sight to see. But honestly, Jesse was the most impressive all of them. He taught himself to use the traditional dual wielded short swords. The difference being that he focused on how his mental abilities could be used in conjunction with his fighting style. All Cameron could think about when he watched Jesse training was the Jedi.

Richard really didn't know what kind of weapon he would like, since there weren't any guns here, but when Yist showed him how to use a sling, Richard found something he liked. He wasn't great at it yet, but he was getting there.

Dexter was actually the scary one. The training he got before he came there, became apparent very quickly. Dexter was trained primarily as an assassin, and his stealth and speed were just plain scary. He has the ability to come out of no where, and have most of them 'dead' before they even knew it.

The one thing that Yist was the most impressed about though, was the way they worked together, the way they supported each other, and most of all the way they taught each other.

 

---

 

"So Yist," Cameron asked as they sat around the center of their newest camp. "Any idea how much longer we're going to be out here?"

Yist looked at him for a few moments then asked his own question. "Do you think you're ready to go back? Do you think you are ready to face what you will be facing?"

The five exchange glances for a moment, before Cameron looked back to Yist. "I don't know if we'll ever be fully prepared."

Slowly Yist allowed a smile to come across his face. "That was the correct answer. So the answer to your question is this. When ever you feel you have learned enough."

All eyes fell on Cameron who was looking towards the ground. When he lifted his eyes and saw everyone looking at him, he asked, "what?"

"Well," Jesse said in normally quiet voice. "You're the only one who has anything to go back to. We're following you. Personally I could stay here forever and never think twice about it. But we're a team. You have a family to go back to, so when you are ready, we'll follow you as always."

Cameron was considering what to say when Jesse's head snapped to the left, as he grabbed his swords. "Someone's coming." He whispered urgently.

By the time he looked back, Cameron had his bow out, with an arrow knocked, Eldora had her sticks ready. Richard had moved to cover their flanks, and Dexter was no where to be seen.

They watched and waited for only a few seconds before a boy, a little older then Jesse walked into the clearing. He stopped when he saw everyone looking at him, then broke into a broad smile. "I knew I'd find you guys." He said triumphantly.

"Who are you?" Eldora asked, still not releasing her fighting stance.

"I'm Jared." He said simply with a smile on his face.

Finally Richard broke the silence that had built over the last few seconds. "Okay, I'll bite, why are you here?"

"That's easy. You guys are supposed to be the best of the best, so this is where I belong." Jared said in a tone making it clear that he fully believed what he said.

"What makes you think you're good enough to be one of us?" Dexter said from behind Jared.

Jared turned and looked down at the furry little Ferret, and grinned. "Because of this." Suddenly there was another Ferret staring back at Dexter with a big toothy grin.

There was stunned silence for several seconds, before Cameron shook his head and grinned. "Nice trick." He said as he started walking towards the new arrival. When he was standing right in front of the ferret, he reached out, and closed his hand around the throat of the boy, several inches above the head of the Ferret. "However, when dealing with people who have mental abilities, you need to make sure that your illusion is stronger then my blocks."

Suddenly the Ferret was gone, and Jared was standing their with both his hands around Camerons. Cameron released the boy, and stepped back, looking him up and down. "You just might prove to be useful..." He said considerately. "However, we have been together as a team for a long time. If you want to try and join, you better be able to do it quickly. We're just getting ready to head back to base. I figure it'll take us a couple weeks at the pace we go to get there. You got that long to fit in."

 

---

 

Don and Karen were mostly silent on the way home. As they were making their way into the suburbs of Kansas City, Karen finally spoke up. "We're gonna need to move out there aren't we?"

"Yeah I think so. Why don't we spend tonight getting the things we need to take with us, and leave the rest for a moving company. I already called work and told them that I won't be in for a while." Don said keeping his eyes on the road as he turned left, closer towards their old home.

"What do you think he'll be like?" Karen asked softly while looking at the window. They were just passing the high school that Cameron had just starting attending.

Don sighed heavily as they made the turn onto their street. "I don't know, I hope he'll be just like he was before he left, but able to do some other things, but I have a feeling he's going to be different. Not in a bad way, just different." Don was quiet for a while then when he spoke again, it was in a distant voice. "Training like that can change a person."

Karen looked at him questioningly, so he continued. "Before I took my post as Shore Patrol, I tried for the SEALs. I made it almost the full first week before I washed out. But let me tell you this. That week changed me. It made me look at things a lot differently then I had before."

"What are we going to do for him?" Karen asked as she again looked out the window.

Don sighed heavily as they pulled into the driveway. He put the car in park, then turned to look at his wife. "We're gonna be there for him. We're gonna help out how ever we can. I didn't want to say anything about this before, but..." He reached across the car and took Karen's hand in both of his. "What Cameron's going to be doing is dangerous, we knew that going into it. But I don't think either you or Cameron thought about the worst part of it. Getting hurt, or even killed is bad, but what really got me, what I still have trouble with, is when I had to.. kill someone else."

Karen's eyes went wide with shock, then tears started to form. "How..."

Don knew exactly what Karen meant, 'how does someone deal with that?' "It's not easy, but you can get over it. We just need to be there for Cameron and Richard when it happens." Karen could only nod, but Don knew, now that the seed had been planted, she would worry about it until she came to a solution. The problem was, he knew there was no solution to it.

Karen reached over and pulled Don into a hug, then backed off. "I'll start packing, go get the trailer and we'll load up all the stuff we need. Make sure to get lots of boxes too." Don nodded, put the car in reverse, and drove off. Karen stood there for a few moments just thinking about what like will be like tomorrow when her son returns.