A Gathering of Gatherings
By Cobalt-Blue
Author’s Note: This story contains scenes of adult male transhumans having consensual sex and being very much in love. It his concept bothers you, or it is illegal for you to be reading this, please hit the “Back” key on your browser and go read something else. All copyrights belong to the author whose pen name is Cobalt-Blue.
This story is part of my Atlantis Unleashed Universe which also includes the stories:
What Once Was Lost (not an adult story)
For stories set in my Cadre:5 Universe, go to:
Cadre: 5 Issue 8 The Seduction of Sawyer Jackson Grey
Seth
answered the door, a large mixing
bowl of potato salad in his arms. "Hey little bro," Sara kissed him
on the cheek and came in with her son in tow. Behind them, Robbie was
carrying
a huge watermelon.
"Put it on the table," Seth nodded toward the table ladened with
barbeque supplies. "Everybody's out back, and Dusty's having a ball at
the
grill." He looked down at his six-year-old nephew, "Hiya, Lee."
Whatcha' got there?"
The dark haired little boy looked up at his uncle with serious eyes and
held
out the toy he was carrying, "It's Feral!"
Sarah was blushing a deep red, "Don't look at me. Robbie gave it to
him.
I'm still trying to figure out why he has it."
"Because they just re-released the whole series of action figures, and
I
figured Lee would like to have the complete collection." He winked at
Seth, "Feral just happens to be his favorite."
Seth laughed and nodded his head, "Feral's one of my favorite too."
Looking down at the little boy, he told him, "The rest of the kids are
out
at the pool. You did bring your swim trunks didn't you?"
"Uh huh," the boy nodded, and ran toward the back door.
Seth turned to Robbie, and tried to keep the worry from his voice,
"When
did they re-issue the Academy action figures?"
"They hit the market this morning." He smiled, "I've had this
one on special order for two weeks." He smiled wickedly, "every boy
should have their own action figure of their mommy." Robbie's demeanor
changed, "Why? What's wrong?"
Seth just shook his head sighed, "I'm just worried that with everything
going on right now, it might remind the UN that we exist. They might
come
looking for us now." The two men returned to the kitchen where Seth
continued with the barbeque preparations.
"I think it might just be somebody trying to recapture some of the old
glory," Robbie told him, "After all, whether the President wants to
admit it or not, there's nobody out there who can stand up to the UN
Team
anymore." Putting the watermelon down he continued, "To be honest, I
think that most people think we're not around any more." He smiled and
teased Seth, "that is except for Moonwind- everybody remembers him from
his days with ParaForce-1. The rest of us have just faded into
obscurity."
Seth could not force a smile this time, "I know. Sometimes I worry that
I
might end up leading UN to you guys." He did not tell his old friend
that
he'd been having nightmares about what had happened to ParaForce-1. The
past
few nights they'd expanded to include his old friends from the Academy.
He
really didn't think it would be long before the US found itself at war
with the
rest of the world for not turning it's parahumans over to the
International
Parahuman Resource Registry."
"Did you register when you left ParaForce-1?" Robbie asked.
Seth shook his head and then looked around for any of the half-dozen of
his
friends' children, "Hell no."
"Then you aren't going to lead them to us." Robbie replied,
"That is unless, you go out and announce who you and we are." He gave
him a sly smile, "You're not planning on doing that are you?"
Seth threw a potholder at him. "Okay, enough with the worries. Today is
not for worries."
"Right," Robbie told. "We're here to celebrate that fact that
you and Dusty have finally got this monstrosity you call a house
built."
He threw the potholder back, "So when are you and he going to start
trying
to fill up all those bedrooms?"
"That's what we've got you guys for," He handed Robbie a plate of
steaks, "We get to be the favorite uncles who spoil your kids. You guys
get to change the dirty diapers."
"Nah, haven't you heard the latest?" Robbie took the plate out the
door.
Following him onto the patio to join the other six adults Seth asked,
"Heard what?"
"I don't know about the state-run adoption agencies, but the one the
firm
I work for deals with has had an upswing of same-sex adoptions. With
all the
chaos going on in the world, I guess the courts are finally deciding
that a
loving family taking care of a child, even if it is same-sex, is better
than no
family at all."
"What, are you guys thinking about adopting?" Tabitha asked.
Seth shook his head, "No, I think Robbie's trying to drum up some
business, though."
"Hey, we've got some very special kids that need families," Robbie
said, as he picked up Lee. "Little guys who really need mommies and
daddies and mommies and mommies, and even daddies and daddies that can
meet the
special challenge of raising them. And I think you and Dusty are more
than up
to that challenge."
Dusty wrapped his strong arms around Seth from behind and pulled him
close,
"Right now, Seth and I would rather play uncle than daddy," his lover
repeated Seth's earlier comment.
"Just thought I'd mention it," Robbie said, putting Lee down.
"So, you two finally finished with the house?" Lionel, asked, trying
to change the subject. "No more disappearing for whole weekends at a
time?"
Dustin grinned, "I can't guarantee that, Lionel." He chuckled and
squeezed Seth tighter, "Just, we won't be building the house."
Everyone chuckled and the darker mood was broken. "Tell me something
Dusty," Miguelena shooed hers and Richard's oldest daughter back toward
the sandbox.
Dusty raised an eyebrow, "what?"
"When did it start?" She indicated Seth setting up the table,
"Seth won't give us any details. When did you two really start seeing
each
other?"
Seth watched as his lover seemed to consider the question. Finally,
Dusty
answered, "I guess it was at Tabitha's mom's wedding."
"Don't you mean Tabitha's wedding?" Sarah asked indicating their
Asian friend.
Dustin smiled and laughed aloud, "No. Tabitha was just the one taking
the
vows. That wedding belonged completely and wholly to her mom. That
woman could
single-handedly run a small country."
"My mother does run a small country. It's called my family. Just ask
Lionel," Tabitha told them.
"Okay, let's just say when Tabitha and Lionel got married." He picked
up the plate of steaks and put them on the grill. Mouthwatering smells
began to
waft through the air as he continued, "You know, we were all sitting
around and wondering if Seth was even going to make it in for the
wedding."
"Hey, I made it. I wouldn't have missed it for the world," Seth told
him defensively.
"Yeah, but we didn't know that. You hadn't really been in touch with
anyone for over four years." He looked over to see if the children were
listening, "That was while you were still off being Moonwind on
ParaForce-
1. We didn't even know if you'd gotten the invitation. At the time,
Tabitha's
dad was just sitting around with this dumb smile on his face and didn't
say anything
to anybody." Actually, it had been right after Seth had tendered his
resignation to the team. He had asked that the team delay the
announcement of
his resignation for a few days. He didn't want anything to take away
from his
two old Academy friends' wedding.
"That wasn't a dumb smile," Lionel interjected, "That was pain.
He was starting to get the bills."
FIVE YEARS AGO
Dustin opened the door to allow Lionel to escape while Robbie and
Richard
distracted the girls. Dustin couldn't help but think to himself, "How
in
the world do I get myself into these things?"
"Well, look what the cat drug in," Lionel said in surprise.
"No, my sister hasn't drug me anywhere in a long time," a voice
Dustin hadn't heard in over four years said.
"Seth!" There was a roar of excitement at the sudden appearance of
their old Academy friend. Forgetting himself for a moment, Dustin too
pulled
the smaller man into a hug. Smaller really wasn't the word for it. Seth
had
never been big, but even as an adult, it seemed like he was still
waiting for
that proverbial final growth spurt.
"Whoa there big guy!" Seth told him. "I need those ribs."
"Ah they'll heal," he replied.
"Yo! Bro!" Sarah called from the door. "Glad you could make
it." Dustin turned to see Sarah standing in the door. "Forgotten how
to write? How to use a phone?" There was a half threat to her voice and
Dustin realized that his friend had failed to stay in touch with even
his twin
sister.
"I know how to write," he smiled. "But wasn't sure you could
read." She threw a diaper at him. Dustin thought it had been
considerate
of her not to use a dirty one.
He watched as the small blond rushed forward and swept his much larger
sister
into a hug. "It's good to see you, sis." Dusty couldn't help but
notice that the man seemed much surer of himself. He guessed four years
on
ParaForce-1 had helped him find his way in the world. He felt a twinge
of
jealousy for whoever had been able to finish what he'd started. "Now'
where's that nephew of mine?"
Dusty saw a look of surprise cross Sarah's face, and realized that
although
Seth had not been in touch, he'd at least kept up with family news.
Maybe he
knew something the others didn't- like the identity of the baby's
father.
"He's inside bird-brain," she told him. "And who told you?"
Seth just smiled, "Mom never could keep a secret."
The two left the room talking. For the millionth and a half time,
Dustin
wondered at what quirk of genetics had created such opposite looking
twins.
Dustin- with his tiny frame, blond hair and blue eyes contrasted his
sister's
more traditional Native American appearance with dark hair and eyes.
The two
could never be mistaken for being the twins that they are. Nor could
the bond
they shared as siblings be mistaken for anything else.
Ten minutes later though, Seth was being pushed out the front door by
that very
same twin along side the rest of the men. "This is a hen's only night,
bro," she'd told him. "You go out with Lionel and the boys, and
entertain him on his last night of freedom, while we girls give Tabitha
a good
washing down." Dustin got the distinct feeling that on both sides, the
most washing that was going to happen was of the internal variety, and
it would
involve large quantities of alcohol.
Dustin watched as Seth glanced over at the other four men and seemed to
blush.
For just a moment his and Seth's eyes held each other and Dustin felt
something
old and familiar stir inside him. "Very well, sister dear," there was
a playful threat to Seth's voice, "but don't come to me looking for a
hangover
cure tomorrow. I know what that cheap rum you like so much does to your
rather
sensitive noggin."
"Ah, no cheap rum for me tonight. I'm the designated driver," she
gave him a wicked look, "You know, breast feeding mommies and all."
Seth closed the door behind himself and shook his head at Dustin, “THAT
was an
image I did NOT need."
"Think that one is bad, try walking in on her," Dustin told him.
Seth grinned up at him, "what you two been playing I'll show you mine
if
you'll show me yours again?" The smaller man reminded him of the
prepubescent games the three played many years, and a lifetime ago.
"Not quite. She lived with me for a little while when she first got
back
from where ever it was she disappeared to." Dustin told him.
"Oh?" Dustin could hear the unasked question in his old friend's
voice.
"She and the baby needed a place to stay and I had the extra room.
Everybody else was living in apartments. I bought the old Cooper
place."
Dustin told him, trying to head off any misunderstandings. "She didn't
want to live with your folks, and I had room."
Seth, just like old times, took his place at shotgun in Dustin's
'Vette.
"So where're we taking Lionel?"
"The one place in town where if our mothers knew we were going, even
today
they'd turn us over their knees," Dusting told him, "The Purple
Pirate."
"God," Seth said in surprise. "That place still open?"
Dustin nodded, "Yeah, Richie and Robbie want to buy him a lap dance.
They
want to find out just how faithful to Tabitha he really is." Seth just
shook his head. "I know, I know. They haven't quite figured out the
obvious yet. Lionel and Robbie did the same thing to Richie when he and
Miguelena got married- and they'll probably do the same thing to Robbie
when he
gets married. It's sort of a payback thing."
Two hours later, Dustin found himself sitting alone at a table with
Seth. The
other three were engaged in a drinking contest that Dustin just didn't
feel
like joining. Funneling beer was not his idea of a fun way to spend the
night.
It wasn't in college nor now. "So how long did you get leave for?" he
asked Seth.
The smaller man just smiled for a moment then laughed as he leaned back
in his
chair, "Permanent."
"You quit the team?" he asked. "Why?"
Seth shrugged, "I got tired of the politician trying to tell me how to
do
my job," he shook his head. "Besides, there was one part of my
contract that they were insisting on renegotiating and I'm not
negotiating."
"Good for you," Dustin told him. "Those are your inventions, not
theirs."
"Anyway," Seth leaned forward, "The administration was going out
of its way to make life difficult for us. Our esteemed President has
always
made clear his disdain for anything military." Dustin heard Seth mutter
under his breath, "that draft-dodging son of a snake."
"So what are you going to do now?" Dustin asked.
"I don't know yet. I've had a few offers to do some serious research
here
in San Medilla." Seth replied. "Really, I don't have any plans for
right away, except catch up with old friends." He looked over at the
other
three- Robbie and Richie pouring Coors into a funnel leading to
Lionel's mouth.
"Let's see, Lionel and Tabitha are finally tying the knot, and Richie
and
Miguelena ran off and eloped last year." He smiled, "I half-way
suspect Robbie is already considering asking Sarah out again." Leaning
forward he put his beer down, "so that leaves you. Anybody special in
your
life?"
"No, not right now," Dustin had told Seth. "Life's been pretty
empty the last few years on that front." He shook his head, "Just
can't find anybody I'm really that interested in." Turning the tables
on
Seth, he asked anxiously, "How 'bout you? Anybody caught your eye in
DC?"
Seth had smiled ruefully, "I thought so for a while." He shook his
head and took another sip of his beer, "but it didn't work out. He and
I
were just too different." Dustin could see the wait in Seth's eyes. He
knew Seth was expecting some kind of recrimination for revealing his
not-so-
secret secret.
Dustin drained his beer and smiled, "Well since you're not attached,
how
about dinner tomorrow night after we get him safely married off," he
thumbed toward Lionel.
He watched the surprise race across Seth's face, "You asking me out on
a
date?"
"No, I'm asking you to come play GI Joe," Dustin replied sarcastically.
"What do you think?"
Seth laughed, "Wasn't sure. Just wanted to make sure that I wasn't
getting
any wrong signals." He gave Dustin a wicked look, "Besides, I've
still got my GI Joes. Shipwreck's still in his original packaging."
"Well, I got mine too," Dustin told him. "But I also went out
and bought the bigger and better versions."
"Bigger and better versions?"
"Yeah, the anatomically correct ones," Dustin told him blushing.
Dustin let his voice go serious, "So, did you know in high school?"
"Know what?" Seth asked him.
"That you were gay."
Seth nodded his head. "You wouldn't believe how horrible it was."
"It couldn't have been that bad," Dustin teased him.
"Wanna' bet. You ever noticed Robbie and Richie's butts in spandex?"
Dustin told him.
As a matter of the fact he had. He'd never told anyone before though,
"Oh
yeah man."
"Well, toss in showers after practice and it was everything I could do
to
avoid staring."
Both men laughed, and something passed between them. Dustin blushed
deeply,
"Theirs wasn't the only butts I noticed at the Academy too," He
ordered another beer.
"Yeah, Lionel was real beef-cake material," Seth told him.
"Wasn't talking about Lionel, Rabbit," Dustin used the old nickname
that tagged Seth with when they were in elementary school. "You managed
to
star in quite a few of those teenage fantasies yourself."
Dustin watched Seth turn several shades of red, his usually light skin
showing
the deep embarrassment. "Well, I guess you realize you've starred in
more
than a few of mine as well. Then again, Mr. All-American-Boy starred in
the
fantasies of most of the girls at school too, so I'm guessing you're
pretty
used to that idea."
"Oh please," Dustin told him. "I was never fantasy
material."
Seth raised an eyebrow and upped the ante, "Oh yes you were. Right
after
you got your Challenger uniform, I must have gone through a bottle of
hand
lotion in a week."
FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: 2nd WEEK OF FRESHMAN YEAR AT THE ACADEMY
Seth stood meekly between Sarah and Dustin, hoping not to be noticed by
the
others. Everyone else on the team towered over him like giants- even
petit
little Tabitha Nokamura was taller than he was. On the dais before them
stood
Dr. Green- headmistress of the Academy and their taskmaster. "You eight
represent this year's beginning class of parahumans. Ahead of you is
four years
of hard work and instruction. You will be given one of the finest
educations in
the world alongside intense training in the use of your parahuman
abilities." Seth found himself caught up in her enthusiasm. She obviously had for her job.
The Stryker/Norris Academy for Advanced Academic Studies was known
throughout
the world as one of the finest private secondary schools that money
could buy.
What was not known to the general-public however was that the school
also took
on a small number of parahuman students with each class and trained
them in the
use of their unusual abilities. Ironically, this year's class was
entirely from
the local population of San Medilla. The woman continued, "When you
graduate you will walk out of this school with the academic credentials
to
qualify you for entrance into any institution of higher learning in the
world.
You will have a level of skill and understanding of the use of your
powers,
both individually and as a group to qualify you for both the US
National Para
Team, or any of the numerous Corporate teams across the country." She
let
her eyes slowly meet each of the students. It did not escape Seth's
attention
that she missed him in her sweep. "Any questions?"
"And if we don't want to go on to ParaForce-1 or any of the corporate
teams?" Tabitha had asked.
"Then you will have the academic background to go into what ever field
of
study you should desire." Dr. Green came off dais, "Don't
misunderstand me. This is not Mutant High, and we're not some exclusive
private
school in upstate New York, catering to only to those with powers. We
want you
to be able to choose any life path you might want. Mainly we don't want
you to
become a slave to the gene that sets you apart from general population."
"So that's why, for the next four years, you're going to put us
spandex?" Lionel had asked.
"Part of your training will involve a certain amount of contact with
the
public. The spandex, as you call it, is a way of protecting the
identities of
not only yourselves, but that of your classmates as well. It also helps
protect
the school from too many prying eyes." She casually walked over toward
the
table where several large boxes were stacked neatly. "For your first
few
months you will wear the standard uniform of a first year class. As
your
control develops, and your own understanding of who and what you are
becoming
is clearer, you will be able to modify your costumes to fit your own
tastes." She took a second to look over to her assistant as if
considering
an inside joke, "within the boundaries of acceptable dress for young
ladies and gentlemen."
She gave each student a box, with the codename they'd chosen on it.
"You
have twenty minutes to change and be back here. She indicated the
direction of
the locker rooms, "Boys through there," then pointing to the opposite
side of the room, "girls over there." As they turned to leave she
called out, "Oh, Seth and Sarah,"
Seth turned to face the woman, "Yes, ma'am."
"I want you out here in full costume. I know you've spent a great deal
of
energy hiding the physical manifestations of your powers. However,
during these
training sessions, I want you to grow accustomed to those
manifestations."
"Yes, ma'am," he and his twin replied simultaneously.
Ten minutes later, he found himself in the locker room with four other
well-
developed young men, in various stages of undress. Fighting to keep his
eyes
down, and not be noticed by his teammates he pulled on the black and
gray
costume. "Whoa, check out half-pint over there," one of the two
brothers, Robbie or Richie -he couldn't tell the apart yet- said. He
wondered
at what twist of fate had put two sets of twins on the team.
Seth felt himself turning bright red as every eye in the room turned to
him.
"Man, what a waste," the other of the two twins had said. "It's
not like he'll ever get a chance to use that thing."
Seth turned his back to the group to hide the tears that were
threatening to
well up in his eyes. "Shut up you assholes," he heard Dustin's voice
behind them.
"Just because he's got more down there than you two got combined,
doesn't
give you the right to pick on him. Remember, he's on our team too. One
day he
might save your lives," he heard Lionel say.
"Hey we're just having some fun, we didn't mean anything," one of the
twins said. "It's just he's so small otherwise. It looks freakish."
"You don't know freakish," Seth said under his breath fighting back
tears. That last comment had cut right to how he'd been feeling lately.
How different
he felt from the other kids at the Academy.
"Leave. Him. Alone." Dustin said, stressing each word separately.
"Just take it for a fact that some of us developed differently that you
two." Lionel said.
"It's all right Lionel," Seth told them as he turned around. He
relaxed the part of him that kept his more prominent features out of
sight. He
felt a sense of relief- both physical and psychological- as his great
black
wings grew and unfurled from his back and ankles. "Their bedroom
attributes
isn't the only place they are lacking," he walked out of the
locker-room
hiding the hurt he felt beneath a veneer of apathy.
PRESENT DAY
Dustin set the last of the steaks on the table and sat next to Seth.
Looking
around the yard where the children of his friends were playing and
eating, he
felt a long missing sense of contentment. Something deep inside him
though knew
that it was going to be short lived. There was too much going on the
world, and
he knew it was only a matter of time before the UN decided to come
after them.
Someone was going to have to do something, and he had a bad feeling
about who
it was going to have to be. Next to him, Seth's sister asked, "So, when
are you two going to take that trip to Vermont?"
Dustin felt himself blush, "We'll get around to it," he replied.
She waved a fork at him, "Just make sure that you do. It's about time
you
made an honest man outta' my brother." Lately Sarah had been really
pressing him with making his and Seth's relationship official- or at
least as
official as it could be.
"Did you ever stop to think that I may not want to be an honest man?"
Seth asked.
Sarah shook her head, "Doesn't matter Rabbit. You need to be legal. If
for
no other reason, to make sure that if anything happens to Dustin the
force
can't shut you out."
"Can we talk about something else," Dustin asked. "Nothing
personal, but this is supposed to be a celebration, not a discussion of
my
benefits on the police force."
Sarah blushed with embarrassment, "Sorry, I guess that was kind of a
downer
wasn't it."
"Not a problem sis. We'll get around to it eventually." Seth told
her.
"So what are you two planning for the summer?" Richie asked.
"Don't know yet," Dustin could hear Seth trying to keep his voice
neutral, "I might take a trip to DC."
"What for?" Tabitha asked with an underlying concern in her voice.
"I've been asked to speak to a Special Presidential Commission on how
to
deal with the UN situation," Seth told her.
"Since when did you become an expert in dealing with international
affairs?"
Robbie asked.
Seth shook his head, "My part has nothing to do with politics."
"You'll be in Washington, every thing there has to do with politics,"
Sarah told him sarcastically.
"You're right," Seth smiled and looked around. Dustin could tell that
he was making sure there were no children to hear. "But they want my
input
on how long it would take to rebuild ParaForce-1."
"You mean if you could find enough paras willing to stick their necks
out
to get them chopped off by the UN?" Lionel's voice dripped with sarcasm.
"I don't think they're going to have choice. I think that this country
has
become the last stand for parahuman rights. If the US capitulates, then
I'm
afraid our rights will be the just the first lost. The UN has made it
clear,
that it doesn't like the concept of our Constitution." He shook his
head,
"It's become a question of individual rights over group rights.
According
to the UN, the individual's rights have to take second place to the
group."
"No, that's not what I'm talking about," Lionel said. "What I
mean is that the paras out there that want to help, can't because some
little
non-para shrink who knows nothing about the stresses of being a para
says we're
unstable." He smiled and cut into his steak, "that would be like me
telling you that you can't be a physicist because I don't understand
what the
job is." He shoved the piece of steak in his mouth and began to chew.
Smiling at Dustin he said, "Good piece of meat."
"Don't tell me you're still bitter after all these years about us not
making the national team?" Robbie asked.
"Not bitter. It's just that that one psych profile has followed me to
every interview for any team I've ever applied for." Lionel told him.
"Because I'm not on a national or corporate team, they won't give me a
new
one to find out if the first one was wrong."
Dustin watched Seth shake his head, "At the risk of getting slammed
through the back gate here, Lionel. You ever thought that maybe it
wasn't
wrong?"
"Right or wrong, shouldn't I get the chance to try? Should one person
keep
me from helping out?"
Seth shook his head, "That's not what I mean. Look at us, we're sitting
here doing exactly what that shrink said we would." He indicated his
friends, "Ten years after graduation we're still together. We've paired
off inside our group, and probably would have trouble with anybody from
the
outside trying to get in. We really don't play well with others. At
least not
deep down."
"When you've gone through what we did together, then being tight is
something unavoidable. It's not every Academy class that went to hell
and back-
or at least war- and survived." Robbie reminded them of the one mission
that changed their world-view forever. It had also made them so reliant
on each
other that the bonds between them would forever be forged in the
hardest steel.
"What good do you think you can do in Washington?" Miguelena asked,
trying to redirect the conversation.
Seth sighed, "Somebody's going to have to stop the UN team." He shook
his head, "there's no question about that. The military can't move fast
enough to bring enough fire-power to bear to stop them. There aren't
many of us
left who even stand a chance against them. Runeclaw and Avalon maybe,
but
they’re just two people. Those paras
that could, have either been killed or taken into UN custody and sent
to
re-education camps in Riyadh."
"You volunteering us?" Sarah asked.
Seth sipped his soda, "No. I don't have that right."
"Then what?" Dustin suddenly had a bad feeling, "'Cause I got
news for you. You're not going against the UN team without me. So you
can just
put that notion right out of your mind."
Seth turned and looked at him, "I couldn't ask that of you. I've been
there. I've seen what they can do, what they're willing to do to bring
the US
under their heel." Dustin watched his lover take a deep breath, "I
won't let them do that to Lee and the others. I can't ask the rest of
you to
risk yourselves. You've got too much at stake. The kids need their
parents. I'm
expendable." Before Dustin could reply, "And, I'm faster than you
are. They'll have a hell of time catching me." He held up a hand to
stop
Dustin's protests, "If I fail, you'll be needed here. I've always known
that I was just the back-up muscle for you." He smiled, "Besides, I
already know that Moonwind is on their list to bring down. They've
forgotten
about the rest of you."
"So we use that to our advantage," Dustin told him.
"I can't believe what I'm hearing here," Robbie protested. "You
are not going out and getting yourself killed just to keep those
bastards off
our backs." The man stood, "It's too dangerous. We won't let you do
it."
"And just how do intend to stop me?" Seth asked defiantly.
"By going with you and making sure you don't get yourself killed,"
Richie told him.
Seth shook his head, "that won't work. That'll just remind them that
this
team exists." He winked, "I went to a lot of trouble to erase you
guys from the official records when I was on PF-1. That's the only
reason I
took the job. I'm not about to see you put yourself back into danger
and undo
all my hard work."
"As I see it," Tabitha told him, "You don't have much choice in
the matter. You either take our back-up, or you don't go."
Seth smiled and played his trump, "And just what do propose to do with
the
kids while we're gone?"
"Hide them in Little Tokyo or out on the Res." She smiled. "They
spend half their summers shuttling between the two anyway." She gave
him a
wicked look, "And pity the fool that goes out that Reservation or into
Little Tokyo looking to kidnap a group of children, especially from our
parents. It took them too long to come grips with some of our
relationships. I
don't think they're willing to give us up just yet." Dustin remembered
Tabitha's father's reaction to the idea of her marrying Lionel. At
first, everybody
thought it was because he was African-American and she second
generation
Japanese. It turned out that the man just didn't think Lionel worked
hard
enough to support his daughter the way he thought she should be
supported. Of
course, when Lionel finished college, he changed his tune completely.
Then
Lionel made detective, and the man spent a month bragging about his
son-in-law
the police detective. As for Dustin's and Seth's relationship, it took
a while
for the two of them accept it, much less let anyone else know about it.
FIVE YEARS AGO
Dustin had picked him up for their first date with his usual
punctuality. Seth
was reminded how the bigger man had planned their missions down to the
second
when they'd been in the Academy. Today he'd been thankful for that
obsession
with time because it made sure that they got Lionel to the chapel on
time. It
had been close but they'd managed it. Seth couldn't help but think of a
Georgia
Satellites song popular on the country charts at the time about a groom
being late
for his own wedding.
Sitting at the restaurant, he caught himself watching Dustin. The
bigger man
was as usual his competent commanding self, and Seth had to be careful
not to
get caught up into being a follower again. He'd spent a great deal of
the past
five years forcing himself out of the habit of trying not to be
noticed, and of
going along with whatever anyone else suggested. It'd been difficult,
but with
Brandon's help, he'd managed to learn to go after the things he wanted
without
feeling guilty about it. "So, since you retired, you planning on
staying
in town or moving up to LA or down to San Diego?"
Seth shook his head, "Planning on sticking around for a while. Like I
said, I've had a few offers here in San Medilla. I think I might go
into research
for myself." He smiled, "Besides, this is home. This is where my
family is."
"You told your parents yet?" Dustin asked.
"Told them about what?"
"That you've retired," Dustin replied.
Seth nodded, "Yeah. They support the idea. Dad's just glad to have me
back
around the house."
"Found a place to live yet?" Dustin asked.
Seth nodded, "I'm staying with Sarah until I can find a place I
like." He smiled, "She told me if I didn't, she'd hunt me down and
pluck me."
"You looking for an apartment or a house?" Dustin asked.
"Haven't decided yet," Seth told him, "A lot depends on which
job I take."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, if I take a short term position just to get established, then
I'll
get an apartment. If take a long term one, I'll buy a house. If I
decide to go
into research for myself, I'll get the apartment for a while, until
things
settle down and then buy a house." Seth laughed and indicated himself,
"Let's face it, I don't need a lot of room."
"Question is, do you want a lot of room?" Dustin was getting at
something, but Seth was unsure of what.
"A lot of room for me, can be shoebox, Dustin." Seth told him. He
leaned in closer, "I've gotten much better at that particular aspect of
my
powers."
"So what, do you have your whole apartment from DC packed into a shoe
box
at Sarah's or something?"
"Something like that," Seth told him. Actually it was all packed into
a suitcase- furniture and all.
"Remind me to come and talk to you the next time Lionel and I have to
go
undercover."
"Do that." Seth told him.
"So, you told your mom that you're seeing guys yet?" Seth knew the
question would catch Dustin off guard, but at least it would get him
away from
what ever it was that he was driving at.
"That's not a subject that mom and I discuss. She's still in deep
denial." Dustin told him.
"And your dad?"
"Dad's following the advice of your former boss. You know, "don't
ask, don't tell, don't bring it home." He smiled, "and above all
else, never let them answer the phone. Not that I've brought anybody
home in
the last four years to answer the phone."
"Not my boss," Seth told him. "He was just somebody who ran the
government while I worked for it."
"Did you love him?" It was Dustin's turn to catch Seth of guard.
"Who? The President?"
"Whoever it was that was in your life in DC," Dustin replied.
Seth thought about it, "In a way I guess. He'll always have a special
place in my heart. He helped me come to grips with being gay." Seth
looked
and smiled, "He also helped me finish the job you started."
"What job was that?" Dustin asked, although Seth already knew he knew
the answer.
"Learning that my size didn't make a difference in my value as a
person." Seth chuckled and continued, "Learning to assert myself, and
not let people walk all over me." He couldn't help but smile,
"learning to use that combat training Dr. Green drilled into us all
those
years in the Academy."
"I never thought your size did make a difference in your value as a
person," Dustin told him.
"You didn't. Sarah didn't," Seth told him, "But I did. And
because I believed it, other people did too. I had to learn that using
my
abilities to defend myself wasn't cheating."
"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Dustin asked. Seth could sense
something important in Dustin's voice.
"Sure?"
"Why you?" Dustin asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Why did they ask you to join the team and not the rest of us?"
Seth looked down, "Because I was easy to run roughshod over. Because I
was
the team joke, the one everybody had to rescue all the time. They
needed a
brain, and I fit the bill. Because my own self worth was so far in the
basement, they figured I could be molded to be part of their team
without you
guys." Seth shrugged, "I guess they didn't expect me to show my
talons every now and then. I have you and Brandon to thank for that."
"Brandon?" Dustin asked.
"Brandon, the person who helped me finish what you started." He
blushed, "My former lover." Seth wasn't comfortable talking about a
former lover to a prospective future one. He smiled at Dustin, "And to
answer the question you want to ask, but won't because you're too
polite: he's
a very former lover. It's been over for a long time."
"You really did come into your own in DC didn't you?" Dustin smiled
at him, and Seth wondered how he could get him to do it again.
Seth nodded and smiled back, "I had to spread my wings and fly on my
own.
It made me grow up. Take responsibility for myself, and not expect
someone to
come and save me all the time. I finally realized that there were
innocent
people counting on my being able to do my job. If I didn't, then there
was
nobody else to do it, and those people could die."
"You sound like Dr. Green now," Dustin told him.
"Is it any different than what you do as police officer?" Seth asked.
"Well, I don't usually face people who juggle Buicks," Dustin told
him.
"If there's anything you taught me Dustin, it's not to denigrate the
contributions of other people. No matter how small, they all make a
difference." He smiled, "And if for nothing else, and trust me there's
plenty more, you'll always hold a special place in my life for it."
He saw Dustin's face fall, "But would I be someone you'd be interested
in
having a relationship with?"
Seth was shocked at the idea of him having a chance at a relationship
with this
man he'd secretly loved since he was thirteen. Momentarily he was
caught off
guard, and all the progress he'd accomplished over the past few years
just
crumbled. He felt the blood rise in his face as he looked down at his
meal,
"I'll be anything you'd want me to be." he half-whispered.
"What if I just want you to be yourself?" Dustin asked.
Seth screwed up his courage and looked his best friend in the eye, "Are
we
having two different conversations here?"
"I think so," Dustin told him. "Why don't you tell me which one
you think we're having. Because I know which one I'm having."
"Well, at first I thought you were hinting at maybe us getting together
as…, a…, a…, couple." He felt himself blush.
"Well, that's the conversation I thought I was having," Dustin told
him. "But it seems that the conversation has taken a weird turn
somewhere
along the way."
Seth sighed, "Do you want to see if we can be a couple?"
"Would I have asked otherwise?" Dustin told him. "You may not
have spoken to me in five years, but I haven't changed all that much."
Seth thought about it for a moment and realized that Dustin was right,
"No
you wouldn't. You always did go after what ever it was you wanted." He
sat
and stared at his steak for long moments. This was it. His chance
beyond
chances to have what he'd always dreamed of, but believed out of his
reach. He
was about to blow it and knew it. He could sense Dustin's gaze on him.
Finally
he looked up said decisively, "I want this." He was surprised at the
growl he heard in his voice.
Dustin smiled at him and pointed to the steak, "Eat your dinner. You're
going to need your strength."
Seth looked down at his food and then back up at Dustin, "So, if you
were
interested in me, then why didn't you say something in high school? I'd
have
done anything you wanted then."
"Because once I had you, I wasn't going to let you go," Dustin
replied, "and I knew neither of us were ready for that then. Because
you
would have done anything I wanted then, and I want you to do it because
you
want it."
Seth smiled at him, "That's some compliment."
Two hours later, Dustin was nervously leading Seth into his living
room.
"Seth, I've got just one quick question."
The smaller man looked up and smiled, "Yeah?"
"You a top or a bottom?" he felt the blood rise to his face.
"What do you think?" Seth answered.
"I'd say versatile, but give me an answer." Dustin told him.
Seth smiled, "I've done both." Dustin could see him considering
something, "But to be honest, I prefer to be the top."
Dustin found himself both surprised and relieved, "Good." He took the
smaller man and led him to the bedroom in the back of the house.
"I take it you're a bottom then?" Seth asked.
"For the most part," he smiled over at Seth. "But if I remember
correctly, this may take a little getting used to." He pulled the
smaller
man into his arms and kissed while running his hand over the large
bulge in the
front of Seth's jeans. "It's been a while since I've bottomed." He
began to undress the blond, "and never with anything that big."
"Dustin," Seth kissed across Dustin's neck while running his hands
under Dustin's shirt, "we don't have to go that far if you don't want
to."
"Bite your tongue," Dustin told him. "I've been waiting to get
my hands on you since high school."
Seth pushed the shirt up and gently locked his teeth on the nub on
Dustin's
chest, "How 'bout I bite this instead?"
The effect sent a shiver of electricity down Dustin's spine directly to
his
groin. He heard a tearing sound at the front of his jeans as he sprang
to hardness.
He realized this was one of those times when parahuman levels of
strength were
not an advantage. "I hate to break your stride here, but I need to get
out
of these before they start chaffing."
He felt Seth's hand encircle him. "Looks like you're already out of
them." Seth pushed him back onto the bed. Before he stopped bouncing he
felt something warm and wet slide over him. He was surprised at the
smaller
man's aggressiveness in bed while small hands worked rapidly to remove
the rest
of his jeans.
Lying back he was content to let Seth set the pace. For just a moment,
he
wondered if he would be able to keep up. Seth never let up his
ministrations,
yet he managed to completely undress the bigger man. "You know this is
supposed to be a mutual grope session."
Seth pulled off Dustin for a second, "I've wanted to do this since I
was
thirteen. Shut up and enjoy it. I know I am." Then he returned to what
he
was doing.
"Then do us a favor," Dustin told him. "Swing around. You're not
the only one who's been waiting years for this."
Dustin heard the sound of ripping cloth, as Seth adjusted himself. He
felt
something light tickle him as a large mass brushed across his face.
Looking up,
he saw that Seth had lost his concentration and let his wings unfurl
from their
normally shrunken places on his back and ankles. A sharp musky odor met
his
nostrils as the object of his quest hove into view.
Dustin reached out and joined Seth in the mutual administering of
pleasure as
he felt his own passion rise.
For long moments, he and Seth rocked back and forth. Each rising to
meet the
need in the other. Their lovemaking was everything he'd ever dreamed
and more.
Slowly he felt the pressure in him rise, and just before he'd go over
the edge,
Seth would back off, and nibble for a while. Finally, when he was sure
he could
take no more, Dustin felt Seth release his own passion in tandem with
his own.
As he felt the body over him spasm in ecstasy, something lashed out
over them
and struck the light, plunging the room in darkness. "Ooops," Seth
said, as his wing settled back down.
"I guess that's the hazard of making love to an angel," Dustin told
the smaller man pulling him up to snuggle on top and to allow the wings
to
unfurl. Off to the side, he heard his alarm clock swept from the
nightstand by
an errant wing.
Seth snuggled in close and wrapped his wing over Dustin, "I'm no
angel."
FOURTEEN YEARS EARLIER: THE ACADEMY
Dustin watched as the rest of his team closed with the sophomore class.
They'd
been practicing their combat maneuvers for several weeks, and Dr. Green
was
finally letting them go toe to toe with live targets. Now was his
chance to try
out some of the tactics they'd been practicing. The only problem was
that their
targets had a year's experience on them.
Today's mission was a simple one: search and destroy. The sophomore
team was to
avoid detection and capture across the simulated city block while his
team was
to find and subdue them. He'd sent Moonwind into the air for aerial
recon with
his twin Feral on the ground. He had Morn, Edge and the twins Eclipse,
and
Scream fanning out behind her. Stride had stayed back with him to act
as quick
back-up as they made their way through the simulated concrete canyons
of a
major American city.
Up above him, he saw a flash of dark as Moonwind left what they
commonly called
stealth mode- which was in reality a size reduction to only a few
inches tall-
and went into a stoop- their pre-arranged signal to let the others know
he'd
spotted something. At the last minute, Dustin saw the smaller boy pull
out of
the dive and disappear again.
"Eclipse, you and Scream give Feral some back up." He directed the
others to flank the target. His plan was simple, keep his people
together- he
knew the opposing team had a shape shifter with them- and pick off the
sophomores one by one.
Suddenly, a scream of energy cut the air, and he looked up to see a
dark winged
form spiraling out of control from above, smoke trailing behind him.
"Stride, Moonwind has been hit, check him out!" Before the sound of
his words had died away, the tall black boy who would one day become
his police
partner was gone in a streak.
A second bolt of energy split the air. He dove for cover as the
electrical
charge passed harmlessly overhead and punched a hole through the
concrete wall
behind him, "What the hell! They're using live fire! This is supposed
to
be a training exercise!"
Coming out of his roll, he looked up to see Feral standing behind Red
Scorpion,
the sophomore team's blaster. The tall Hispanic boy was collapsing to
the
ground with a rather satisfying thud. "Moonwind's down for the count,
boss
man. Looks like he took one of Scorpion's blasts full force in the
face."
Lionel's voice came over their com links.
"See if you can get him to safety, and then get back here. This is not
supposed to be a live fire exercise. Somebody changed the rules on us,
and I'm
going to make them pay for every second Seth's out."
"Yes sir," and before the static in his earpiece cleared, Stride was
back beside him. "Seth's at the infirmary station. Dr. Green looks fit
to
be tied."
Suddenly something came barreling out of a nearby building. Shoving
Lionel out
of the way, he turned and faced the charging form of the opposing
team's brick.
The tall girl, code named Granite, with her rock- hard gray skin had
built up a
lot of momentum with her charge. Dustin used it against her. Ducking
the rather
clumsy feint to his head, he side- stepped and blocked the more
dangerous blow
to his midsection. Clamping down on her wrist, he twisted and
whip-lashed her
into the metal door of the warehouse off to his right. It made a
satisfying
clang as she went through it leaving sparks to fly from her skin as she
skidded
across the concrete floor.
Before she could get up, Lionel was on her with a length of nearby
heavy-duty
cabling. In a matter of seconds, he'd wrapped her from head to toe in
the
stuff. "Count her as down and captured, boss man!" Lionel gave him a
satisfying wink.
Another flash of darkness caught his attention. Turning back toward the
building
where the others had been closing he saw it was now completely hidden
from
sight. "Eclipse, if the rest of your team can't see, then the darkness
doesn't help!" he sent over the com.
"Chill out Challenger, we got it worked out," Eclipse's brother Scream
radioed back. "We got them right where." he never finished his
statement. There was an intense of flash of heat and cold, and then the
darkness dropped. Looking over he saw Scream lying on the ground, along
with
the rest of Sophomore team. Feral, Morn, Edge, and Eclipse were all
standing
there looking rather pleased with themselves.
Feral leaned down and helped Scream to his feet. Dustin got the
impression that
he didn't like what ever it was she told him, because his eyes went
very wide,
and the color drained from his face. Looking closely at the scene he
noticed a
thick coating of ice all along the floor and walls. Embedded in the ice
were
the remaining members of the Sophomore Team, all immobilized by Morn's
ice-wall. "Good work Team. Top marks. You are the first freshman class
to
ever survive this exercise intact." Dr. Green's voice came over the com
links. "Now if you would kindly release your captives, we'll proceed
with
the debriefings."
The next several hours were spent discussing what tactics had been
successful
and what hadn't worked. Dustin kept looking around for Seth, but the
smaller
boy never appeared. Finally, at the end of the session, he'd approached
the
headmistress, "Ma'am, I've got a team member missing. How's Seth?"
"He's been taken to the infirmary. He took a pretty hefty blast to the
face, and then a very long fall," she'd told him.
"Is he hurt bad?" Dustin asked afraid of the answer he would hear.
"We're not sure. We don't think so. He heals pretty fast. Doctor Wells
wants to keep him overnight for observation though."
"What happened today, Doctor Green?" Dustin shook his head,
"This wasn't supposed to be a live fire exercise."
The tall woman put a hand on his shoulder, "No it wasn't. Someone
didn't
understand their instructions. I'll take care of it though. It won't
happen
again." Dustin got the feeling that someone on the sophomore team was
going to be in for some serious trouble.
"Thank you ma'am." He turned to go back to his team.
"Oh, and Wallace?"
'Yes ma'am?"
"You did good out there. I've never seen a team come together this
fast," She told him. "You guys have real potential."
"Thank you ma'am."
PRESENT DAY
"You're not going alone," Dustin told him flatly, as they entered to
the kitchen.
"I can't take anybody with me, Dusty." Seth replied. "Especially
you."
"Why not?" Dustin demanded.
"Because, somebody has to stay here and look after the children. Like
it
or not, you're the team leader. They'll look up to you. They'll follow
you in
case I fail." Seth told him.
"Without back up you will fail Seth," Dustin took a deep breath,
"You can't do it alone. That UN team will eat you alive."
"I have to do it alone. If they have any inkling that you guys are
still
around, they'll come after you. They'll come after Lee, and the rest of
the
children. You know what Riyadh is like. I won't subject my sister and
the rest
of the girls to becoming that." Seth had seen the reports of what it
was
like for women, even paras in the Saudi concentration camp the UN used.
He would
not allow his sister to become breeding stock.
"It won't come to that," Dustin told him. "Besides, if you're
captured you know what they'll do to you." Seth did know. His features
were particularly popular in the breeding program run by the radical
Muslim regime
in Saudi Arabia. When his particular genetic code came to light, and
they
realized he neither could nor would perform with a woman, then he had
no
allusions as to what would happen to him.
Seth took a deep breath and looked Dustin in the eye. This was one
subject he
couldn't lie to his lover about. He owed him that much, "I know this is
probably a no-win scenario, Dusty. I also know that there is no way
I'll ever
let them take me alive." He drew his shoulders back, "If it comes
down to it, trust me, you guys won't have to rescue me this time."
"And it won't come to that either," Dustin was almost shouting. Seth
hated to do this to the man he loved more than life itself. It was
because of
that love that he knew he had to. "I won't let it. You're not going
alone."
"How do you intend to stop me?" he asked coldly.
Whatever Dustin's answer might have been it was lost in the sound of
the
doorbell. Dusty gave him a "this isn't over look" and answered it,
"What?"
A tall balding man in his late thirties wearing a three-piece suit was
standing
at the door, a small black briefcase in hand. "Is this the residence of
Seth Plainwalker?"
Dustin nodded, 'Yes."
"I'm James Knox. I'm from the Office of Homeland Security. Can I speak
with Mr. Plainwalker?" The man had the definite appearance of someone
who'd come hat in hand to ask a favor, he didn't want to ask.
"You're ride's here," Dustin told Seth angrily.
"I don't understand," Knox said. I'm not here to pick up
anyone."
"You'll have to excuse my partner, Mr. Knox. You've come at an awkward
moment."
The man looked at both of them, "It would seem so. But I have to speak
with you tonight, Mr. Plainwalker." He looked around nervously, "Is
your partner fully aware of your previous employment?"
Seth smiled, "Mr. Plainwalker, I take it you're from the Commission?"
Seth waited for the man's nod. "Trust me Mr. Knox. My partner knows all
about it."
"Good. Then this won't be as difficult as it could be. He probably
needs
to hear this too." The man said as he looked past them and out toward
the
back area of the house. "Is there some place where we can talk in
private?"
"How about the study," Seth told him. He took Dustin's hand, hoping
to call a truce until they were in private. He hated airing dirty
laundry in
public.
"That would be fine," he followed the two men into the large room, he
and Dustin had designated a study, mainly because library sounded too
ostentatious. It was simply a quiet cozy room with a stone fireplace,
several
comfortable chairs, and walls lined with books.
Knox went over to one of the low tables at the edge of the room and
opened his
briefcase. Pulling a laptop from it, he went about setting it up. "You
understand that what is said in this room, must not leave this room,
don't you.
Until you are told otherwise, this conversation never took place."
Seth and Dustin nodded, "We understand Mr. Knox."
"Good," turning he faced the two, "I wont' be doing the talking
however. What has to be said, has to come from the top. I'm just a
messenger of
sorts." Behind him the screen of the laptop leapt to life to reveal the
Seal of the President of the United States. He turned back to the
laptop and
spoke into the microphone on its side, "Go ahead sir.'
The seal cleared to reveal a man to whom he never in a million years
would have
considered speaking. "Hello Mr. Plainwalker," the man said in a soft
Texan drawl.
"Good evening Mr. President," Seth told him. "This is an honor,
and something of a shock."
"I'm sorry about that, and please forgive me for interrupting your
barbeque, but this is urgent. Short of flying you out to DC, which
would have
tipped my hand, this was the best I could arrange. I understand that
you
developed the encryption codes that make this a secure line."
Seth nodded, "yes sir."
The man smiled, "Good work. Now, on to the business at hand. You've
been
asked to attend that Conference day after tomorrow. I want you to turn
it down.
I have another favor I need to ask of you."
"Go ahead Mr. President."
"Knox tells me that your Academy class is the only one that has so far
evaded being captured by the UN's forces. I have my suspicions as to
why there
is no record of your class's graduation or even existence in Dr.
Green's files.
But for now that's a good thing."
"Yes sir, it is." Seth told him. Then nervously he continued, "I
wonder why you consider it such though."
The man on the screen smiled, "I like that. You're cautious, you don't
even trust me. That's good."
"With all due respect sir, under the circumstances I don't trust a
whole
lot of people. It's not like certain members of the other party were
willing to
protect people like me from the UN. The wife of your predecessor went
out of
her way to try and turn us over to Riyadh."
"That's completely understandable."
"What can I do for you Mr. President?"
"I want you to head up your old Academy Team. We need somebody to stop
that God-forsaken UN team before we're forced to stop them in a matter
that
could bring the whole world to the brink of war."
"Mr. President," Seth began slowly "Surely you've read my
ParaForce-1 psyche profile. You know I'm not a leader."
The President laughed, "Never did trust those damned things. Too many
people trying to mull around in your head can cause no end of trouble."
He
returned to the subject at hand, "Mr. Plainwalker, I'm asking you to
contact your old teammates. On behalf of the American people I'm asking
you put
that team back together and help us kick the UN's collective butt into
next
Tuesday sideways."
"Mr. President," Dustin spoke before Seth could answer, "I'm
Dustin Wallace, Seth's partner. What kind of support would this team
get from
the US Government? I mean, will they be sanctioned as law enforcement
officers
or as a military unit? Will they be given access to intelligence files
on the
UN team?" Dustin stepped forward, "Most importantly, what kind of
accommodations for the safety of their families can the government
offer? I
mean we're talking about a group of paras who've been denied the right
to serve
so they've gone on with their lives. They have families, including
children to
worry about."
Seth watched as the President considered Dustin's questions, "You raise
a
good point, Mr. Wallace. The team will be treated as a paramilitary
branch of
the FBI, with broad law enforcement powers. They'll be given access to
the
latest technology, and intelligence information. As for the families
protection, we've considered that." The man gave both him and Dustin a
broad smile, "We are prepared to move in a crack team of MI agents to
protect their families."
Dustin looked over at Seth and smiled. "May we have a few a few
minutes,
Mr. President." He glanced over at Seth, "We need to talk."
"Of course," Seth got the impression that the President knew exactly
what was going on. No matter what the opposition might think, the man
was not
stupid.
"Please wait here Mr. Knox," Dustin asked their visitor while leading
Seth from the room. Reaching the kitchen, "you have to give the others
a
chance at this. You don't have the right to turn it down for them. The
government
is willing to protect our families while we do what needs to be done."
Seth knew his lover was right. He didn't have the right to take this
away from
them, even if he thought it was wrong. "Very well," he turned to
sink, "you ask them. You explain it to them."
"Okay, I'll be right back," Dustin replied but he stopped at the
door. "Why are you fighting me on this Seth?"
Without turning he answered, "Because I love you. I don't want to see
Sanchez do to you what he did to Block."
He felt Dustin's arms encircle him and pull him close, "I have my own
issues with Jorge Sanchez. I know he was responsible for hurting your
friend,
but I've got a much older grudge with Red Scorpion. He won't do that to
me or
any of the others." Dustin squeezed him tight, "Let's talk to the
them." Seth nodded his head.
FIVE YEARS AGO
Dustin lay with Seth's slight form atop him. He marveled at just how
little
Seth actually weighed, but realized that it was a side effect of his
aerial
nature. "You know this changes everything," Seth whispered into his
ear.
Dustin nodded, "Uh huh. Any regrets?"
"Nope, you have no idea how long I've waited to get you right where you
are now," Seth told him snuggling in close. "I'm not about to regret
it."
"What now, then?" Dustin asked him.
Seth began kissing across his face and down his neck, "Oh, I think we
can
probably think of something." Dustin felt himself begin to respond to
the
little kisses and bites.
Dustin pulled Seth's face up and kissed him, feeling his lover respond.
Reaching down, he stroked the slighter man, eliciting a slight groan
from Seth.
Looking up he told Seth, "Make love to me." Seth grinned, and smiled
as he moved to accommodate Dustin's wishes.
Seth
scooted his body down the length of
Dustin’s much larger frame. He reached
down and rubbed the remains of his previous ejaculation over the head
of his
rather large member, and then grinned and dropped a large dollop of
spit on it
as well. Looking over at Dustin, he
winked at him and then suddenly began to shrink his body.
As he became smaller, so did the long member
sticking from juncture between his legs, until it was no longer than
Dustin’s
middle finger. Seth then leaned in and
placed the head of his manhood at Dustin’s entrance and pushed in. When he was buried to the hilt, he leaned
over Dustin and began to grow back to his normal size.
Dustin had bottomed before, but it had always taken time after the
initial pain
of entrance to become pleasure. This was a smooth transition, with a
simple
stretching that left him with a satisfied feeling of being full. A gasp
escaped
Dustin's throat, as waves of pleasure pulsed through is body. "My
God," he found himself half-shouting as Seth began to enter and
withdraw
from him.
Seth smiled above him, "vocal aren't we." Twisting in an almost
impossible angle, he bent down and kissed Dustin, his tongue probing
deeply.
Slowly Seth made love to him. When it became almost too much for Dustin
to
take, the smaller man would stop or shift his angle to hold back the
rising
wave of pleasure that threatened to break too soon. Dustin was amazed
at how
well this man could read his responses, answering his every need,
almost before
Dustin knew what they were himself.
He could see a reflection of what he was feeling reflected in Seth's
face over
him, as their passion rose. He felt/heard Seth groan loudly into his
mouth, as
the blond began to increase the power and speed of their lovemaking.
Something
crashed around them as he felt his soul suddenly explode into a
thousand
fragments, as Seth reached the same point.
Collapsing on top of him, Seth whispered into his ear, "You know I've
always loved you."
Before he could answer, the phone rang on the floor. Looking around the
bedroom
he realized it was a wreck. The bed had collapsed and the ceiling fan
in the
room was rocking back and forth wildly. "This is Dustin," he said
into the phone.
"This is Joe Martin," his neighbor's voice came over the phone,
"Is everything all right over there? It sounds like somebody's throwing
the furniture around."
Dustin blushed, "Everything's fine Mr. Martin. I'm sorry to disturb
you.
It won't happen again."
"As long as you're having fun," the man chuckled. "I just wanted
to make sure there wasn't a fire fight or something."
"Thank you Mr. Martin." Dustin told him. "Goodbye Mr.
Martin." Dustin hung up the phone and burst out laughing.
"We got a little too loud I take it," Seth rolled off him, and Dustin
suddenly felt empty.
"Mr. Martin thought I was tossing the furniture around." He looked
around the room, to see the wreckage. "I guess this is what happens
when
two people who can juggle Buicks make love." Dustin realized that he'd
never been able to cut loose with a lover before. There had always been
that
sense of holding something back for fear of hurting them. With Seth,
he'd let
himself go without even realizing it, because deep down he knew that
he'd never
hurt him.
"Sound proofing for the bedroom sounds like a good idea," Seth told
him.
"Better yet, move the bedroom to the basement," Dustin replied and
kissed him. "That trick with your shrinking."
"What about it?" Seth asked.
"It was the most sensuous thing I've ever felt." Dustin told him.
Then he smiled, "And by the way, the feeling's mutual." Seth smiled
and kissed him again.
THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: SOPHMORE YEAR AT ACADEMY
Seth stood in the shadows watching his teammates on the dance floor.
For the
most part, his friends had already paired off. His sister had surprised
him
though, by dancing with Robbie Anderson and not with Dustin. Seth,
Sarah, and
Dustin had been friends since they were in kindergarten, and he had
always
thought that the two of them would become a couple. Instead, Dustin was
dancing
with a shy red-headed girl with a Scottish accent from the visiting
school.
Lionel and Tabitha were dancing alongside Richie and Miguelena, and
Dustin and
his partner were off in a corner. He savagely crushed the brief flash
of
jealous hatred for the young Scot that welled up inside him. "You
always
sit in the darkness and watch your classmates?" a voice said from
behind
him.
Turning he found himself staring directly into the rather prominent
chest of
one of the chaperones from the visiting school. Looking up he saw that
she was
a pretty woman with flaming red hair, and green eyes. "No ma'am." He
smiled, "I'm just not a very good dancer."
The woman leaned back against the wall, crossed her arms and looked out
on the
dance floor. "Some how I get the feeling there's more to it than
that," the woman told him.'
Seth shrugged, "There's a limited number of appropriate partners with
which to engage." Seth found himself hiding behind the dictionary that
was
his vocabulary.
"Or perhaps the one partner, isn't available?" the woman smiled at
him.
Seth found himself blushing deeply. When the woman looked at him, he
got the
feeling that she was looking directly into his soul, "Perhaps I'm just
not
accustomed to the rhythm and style of the selection," he lied.
"Maybe you should ask someone else to dance and see if you get a
reaction
out of your quarry," she told him.
Seth shrugged, "who'd want to dance with me?"
"Who've you asked?"
"Nobody,"
"How do you know that you don't have thousand of partners out there
waiting to dance with you," she smiled at him.
"Because there are less than two hundred participants in this
particular
event," Seth told her.
"Okay, then maybe tens of potential partners." She smiled, "I'll
tell you what, let me introduce you to someone." She gently guided him
out
of the shadows to where a brunette girl about his age was standing.
Seth got
the impression that she wished she was somewhere else entirely. "Seth,
this is Katherine. Katherine, this is Seth, he's looking for a dance
partner. I
thought you might like to oblige him."
"Hi," she said shyly, as the teacher moved off.
"Hi," Seth told her, "Sorry about that. She found me trying to
hide in the shadows. I'll go away if you want."
"You too huh?" She told him. "No, this is a time when I think
there might be safety in numbers."
"You might be right," Seth told her shyly. "You look about as
comfortable here as I am."
"So how did you get drug into this?" She smiled, "Me, it was
kicking and screaming."
"This is where my friends are," Seth shrugged. "I didn't have
any where else to be." He looked off to where Dustin was talking to the
little red-haired girl.
"Don't worry. Your friend's all right. She's harmless. She wouldn't
know
what to do with a boy if one bit her."
Seth blushed deeply, "So, you wouldn't want to dance with me would
you?"
Seth watched her think about it a second, "Okay, but I've got to warn
you.
I've got two left feet."
"You don't have to if you don't want to," Seth told her.
"Will it keep the chaperones from stalking us?"
"Maybe," Seth told her.
"I'm willing to give it a shot." she replied leading him out onto the
dance floor.
Seth was surprised at how much he enjoyed the dancing. He wished he was
dancing
with Dusty instead of this girl, but at least he was dancing. Katherine
was a
safe alternative to what he wanted, and after a few minutes he found
himself
lost into the strains of "Bat Dance". "Why don't you go get
something to drink shrimp," a male voice with a Spanish accent
interrupted
his dance, just before he was shoved to the side. Looking up from where
he
landed on the floor, he saw a tall dark skinned boy standing over him.
Before
he could get up, the boy lifted Seth off his feet and carried him to
the edge
of the dance floor to a large garbage can, "Better yet, why don't you
just
sit this one out." Seth was rather ungraciously dropped feet-first into
the plastic can.
As he climbed out of the can he felt himself steadied by someone else,
"Why didn't you wipe the floor up with him?" Dustin asked.
"Because we're not supposed to use what Dr. Green is teaching us at the
school," Seth told him trying to hide the humiliation he felt.
Seth felt Dustin pull his head around to face him, "To hell with Dr.
Green. The next time someone picks on you, you defend yourself. Because
if you
don't, they'll just keep doing it. Dr. Green doesn't have to live our
lives."
Seth just nodded and looked around. "I'll try to remember that."
First chance he got, he slipped from the party. Returning to his room,
he cried
himself to sleep that night- hating what he was, and what he was
wanting.
PRESENT DAY
Dustin led Seth back out to the pool area. By now, the adults had all
joined
the kids in a vicious game of water polo in the shallow end. He watched
Seth
nervously approach the edge of the pool, and squat down by the water.
"Uh
guys, can we talk?"
Robbie tossed Lee to his mother and answered, "Sure, what's up Long
John?"
Dustin watched Seth turn several shades of red, as he blushed deeply at
the old
jab. "You know what we were talking about earlier?"
"Yeah," Sarah caught her son and looked at him, "and the answer
still stands. You aren't going without us."
Dustin crossed his arms and smiled to himself. It was about time that
Seth
finally realized that although he might think he was expendable, none
of the
rest of the team did. Seth sighed, shook his head and continued, "It
just
got a whole lot more complicated. You won't believe who just asked me
not to
go."
"Your mother?" Miguelena joked as she leaned into Richie who had
their daughter Melissa on his shoulders.
Seth shook his head, but before he could answer, Dustin decided it was
best to
come to his partner's rescue. This was after all serious, "The
President," he told them.
Several eyebrows quickly went up, "Of the United States?" Lionel asked.
"You know, one of the three surviving countries where we aren't sent to
concentration camps?"
"That would be the man," Dustin replied as he went over and sat on
the pool's edge next to Seth. "He's got a proposal for us." He
grinned, "Actually it was for Seth to propose to us, but I wouldn't let
him turn it down until he asked you guys."
"You'd do that to us, Seth?" Lionel asked.
Seth nodded, "If I thought it would keep you alive and out of Riyadh:
in a
heart beat." Dustin could hear a steel in his voice that surprised even
him. Then shaking his head, he continued, "But Dustin's right. You do
at least
have the right to know that the proposal is on the table."
"What proposal?" Tabitha asked.
"He wants us to become the new Para-Force 1," Dustin told them.
"Does he now?" Richie asked pulling himself out of the pool.
"And what did you tell him?"
"I haven't told him anything yet," Seth told him. "I've got him
waiting on hold."
"On hold?" Lionel asked. "You put the President of the free
world on hold." Shaking his head he chuckled, "Boy you are one warped
little bird."
"He's willing to give us broad enforcement powers and send in some MI
specialist to protect the kids." Turning he looked over at Dustin and
there was something in his eyes that sent a chill down Dustin's spine.
"I
wouldn't have even considered it, without some kind of protections for
them."
"What's the man's proposal?" Robbie asked.
"We're to deal with the UN team. Take them out." Seth told him. He
shook his head, "This isn't an Academy exercise. People are going to
die
in this one. Hopefully, it won't be as bad as our last mission for Dr.
Green,
but some or all of us could end up dead."
"And these MI specialists?" Sarah asked as she handed Lee to Dustin
and began to pull herself out of the pool. "How far can we trust
them?"
Seth shrugged, "They're US military special-forces. I've dealt with
them
before when I was on Para-Force 1. They're dedicated, and they're good."
"Somebody higher up is not going to get the bright idea to use our kids
as
bait are they," Miguelena asked.
Seth shook his head, "I don't know. I can't guarantee to you what some
mid-level bureaucrat is going to do. I can tell you that these guys are
not
likely to take their job of protecting the kids lightly. They've done
this kind
of thing before."
"As long as they don't mind being sent to the Res or Little Tokyo,"
Tabitha
told them.
"They're good at keeping themselves hidden," Seth told her. Dustin
could see pain in his eyes, "They took care of a friend of mine's kid
when
I was on the team. I never really knew they were there."
"All right," Sarah looked over at Robbie who nodded to her, "If
something happens to them, I'll eat them."
"Cool! Mom's gonna' growl!" Lee beamed up to Dustin. "And I'm
not even in trouble this time."
Dustin tousled his nephew's hair, "Yeah, your Mom's going to growl
kiddo,
but you can't tell anybody about this conversation."
"Not even the grandmas?" he asked.
"Especially not the grandmas, you let us handle the grandmas."
Tabitha told Lee taking the boy from Dustin. Looking over at him she
asked,
"How about keeping them here. Didn't you tell me you bought all the
desert
land between the Res and Little Tokyo?"
Dustin nodded. She was right of course. He and Seth had gotten a really
good
deal on the land that stretched from the suburb of San Medilla known as
Little
Tokyo out to edge of the Reservation. Somehow, the little guy had
talked him
into buying it all. Of course, the money they'd used had been primarily
Seth's
but they did discuss major purchases, and that much land was a major
purchase,
even if it is desert. Seth had said he wanted his privacy. Dustin
suspected he
just wanted a place where he could fly without being seen. Dustin just
wanted a
place where he could lay out with nothing on and soak up the sun.
"Yeah,
your brother insisted that he wanted his privacy."
Sarah shook her head sand smiled, "I know my brother. He just wanted a
place where he could have you all to himself."
Dustin watched Seth blush again, "Then there is that."
"Nah," Tabitha said. "He just wants Dusty without tan
lines."
"Uh guys," Robbie said, "Long John has the President on
hold."
"Yeah, but that discussion is on hold. We're onto something else."
Lionel smiled.
"Uncle Seth, why does Robbie call you Long John?" Lee asked.
Everybody turned to face Robbie, and Sarah finally broke the silence,
"Well, Robert?"
"Well Lee, it's like this. Your Uncle Seth takes a long time in the
john," Robbie smiled and lied.
"Oh, you mean like Mommy when she's getting ready to go out with
you?" Lee asked.
"Yeah," Sarah told him.
"What should I tell the President?" Seth asked. "That you aren't
interested and that I'll just have to do it by myself." He added
quickly
turning to leave. Dustin lashed out and grabbed him by the back of the
collar.
"Move Bird Boy and I'll turn you into a scratching post," Sarah
threatened. For a second Dustin wasn't sure if she was kidding.
"You can go tell him that we'll be happy to take care of his problem
for
him, as long as he can take care of certain security matters that meet
with our
approval."
Seth stopped, and Dustin saw his eyes harden as he turned and faced
them all,
"You know, there's no way to do this, and keep your identities from the
government." He shook his head, "I went to a lot of trouble burying
you guys." He sighed, "You also realize that we're not seventeen
anymore. We've been out of action as a team for ten years."
Dustin sighed, "There are some things you don't forget Seth." Looking
around at his friends, "and working with these guys is one of them.
You'll
see, we'll be back to clockwork in no time."
Seth shook his head, "I'll give the President your answer." Pulling
away from Dustin's grip he headed into the house, head bowed.
"You aren't going with him?" Richie asked.
Dustin shook his, "No. This is something he's got to do on his own."
"Why's he fighting us about this?" Robbie asked as he shooed the
children toward the play area.
"Because he's at the top of the UN's hit list, and they're going to
make a
special point to come after him as soon as he sticks those black wings
of his
out in the open." He sighed, "And because he's right. Once we take
that step, we can never go back. We'll be a team again, but our lives
will be
changed forever. The government will always know who we are, and where
to find
us from this point on. We won't be able to slip back into obscurity.
From this
day forward, the kids will always have some kind of security detail."
He
turned and looked at the kids, "And he doesn't want to see what
happened
to Block happen to any of us. He won't admit it, but that is the
biggest
factor."
"Why is he so obsessed with what happened to Block?" Sarah asked,
Dustin could hear something else in her voice, a worry all her own.
Dustin sat down and looked over to make sure the kids couldn't hear. "I
don't know if I should tell you this or not."
"But you're going to," Sarah ordered. Dustin nodded, "Block and
Seth were lovers when Seth was on Para- Force-1." He watched the color
drain from Sarah's face.
THREE YEARS AGO:
Seth looked over at the others gathered in Dustin's backyard and
swallowed
hard. Over the past five years, he'd faced more costumed paras bent on
everything from taking over the world to cornering the world's cheese
market,
but never anything this difficult. Dealing with the world as Moonwind
was
sometimes a whole lot easier than as Seth Plainwalker.
He'd moved into Dustin's over a year ago, and the two had been pretty
much
inseparable. Although he suspected that some of their friends might
have begun
to guess the nature of their relationship, neither man had yet to
confirm or
deny anything. For the most part, they kept any displays of affection
private,
and rarely gave any indication that they were much more than the best
friends
that they'd always seemed to be. "So what's the big news?" Tabitha
asked as Lionel helped her slowly lower her very pregnant form into a
chair
under the shade of an elm.
"Uh, Dusty and I are going to build a house," Seth told her.
"So what's the big deal about that?" Richie asked, "We all
figured that you two would buy a brothel somewhere in Nevada and split
the
girls between you." He laughed and dodged the diaper bag Miguelena
threw
at him.
"Somehow I don't think that particular idea appeals to either one of
them," Sarah smiled as she put Lee down and gently tapped the side of
her
nose. Seth knew he'd never be able to hide the nature of his and
Dustin's
relationship from her sharp olfactory senses.
"Why not?" Richie asked. "They're both healthy unattached men in
the prime of their lives."
Lionel smiled and chimed in, "that's just it Richie. They're not
unattached." Seth watched with a smile as Lionel pounded Dusty's back.
"I think they're trying to tell us that they're getting married."
Richie gave Lionel a strange look, "To whom? Neither one of them have
brought anybody around for us to meet."
"Don't you mean approve or disapprove of?" Miguelena asked.
"Well that too," Richie told his wife. "I mean it'll take
somebody pretty special to fit into this group."
Dusty smiled, "I don't know about Seth, but I think I've found somebody
pretty special."
Seth felt himself turn a deep shade of red and nodded, "I'd say mine's
pretty special too."
"Then when do we get to meet them?" Richie asked.
Seth looked over to where Robbie was clearing his throat, as his eyes
widened
in realization. "I think you've already met both of them."
Richie looked confused, "when?"
"Oh, I'd say the first day of school back at the Academy. You know when
Dr. Green introduced us all."
"I don't understand. There's never been more than three females on this
team."
"Exactly," Dustin told him. He put an arm around Richie's shoulders,
"Maybe we weren't interested in any of the females on the team. We
figured
we'd leave that to you, Lionel, and Robbie."
Richie looked up, the situation dawning on his face, "Whew, that's a
relief! For a while there, I thought we were going to have to break in
an
outsider."
"So you guys are cool with this?" Seth asked tentatively.
Robbie shrugged, "Why wouldn't we be. I have to agree with Richie, we'd
much rather see you two guys together than have to adjust to someone
from outside
trying to come in."
Seth had always wondered about that. He'd always suspected that Dr.
Green and
the PF-1 psychiatrist were right about their inability to accept
outsiders in
their group. They'd become so close as to be almost a family. "I'm not
sure
how to take that, Robbie. I mean are you telling me that you're happy
for us,
or that it is the lesser of the two evils that might include someone
else
taking an important part in our lives."
Seth watched his friend consider his question. Finally, he smiled and
pulled
Seth into a hug, "Both. I'm glad you're happy and have found someone,
and
I'm glad it's someone we already know and love."
He felt himself passed off to someone else, and recognized his sister's
scent
immediately, "I'm happy for you too Bro. Although I'm a little hurt
that
you felt you had to hide it from me for this long."
"Who's hiding?" Seth asked. "I just didn't feel like talking
about my love life to my sister. After all, she hasn't exactly been all
that
forthcoming about hers with me."
"Touché," she replied. "But then again, I don't go around
smelling like Dustin all the time."
He smiled up at his taller sister, "that's a good thing. Otherwise we'd
really have that fight grandfather always said he was afraid we'd get
into."
"Nah, you can keep him. He's too muscle-bound for my tastes."
"Gee thanks, Sarah." Dusty told her.
"It's the truth. I've had enough lovers who can bench press a tank."
She winked at him, "too many bruises in places that are difficult to
explain."
Seth just shook his head and laughed, "that's TMI sis- too much
information."
TWELVE YEARS AGO: JUNIOR YEAR AT THE ACADEMY
Dustin gave Mr. Bin Sahid a hard look, "Would you like to explain that
to
me again?"
The man blinked at him, and Dustin got the distinct impression that he
was not
used to being questioned, "I thought my English was perfectly clear.
Your
teammates were unfortunate casualties of a conflict with a rogue Iraqi
contingent left behind after their retreat. There were no survivors."
Dustin felt as if he'd been hit in the gut, his voice came out barely
above a
whisper, "I want to see the bodies."
"That won't be possible." Bin Sahid began but Dustin cut him off.
"Don't tell me what is possible, and what's not." He felt the blood
rise in his face, as he locked eyes with the man, "That wasn't a
request."
"I am a Prince of the Saudi."
"I don't care if you're Mohammed himself," Dustin replied, "I
want to see the bodies of my friends. Either you arrange it, or I'll
take this
city apart" he growled, "starting with you."
"Obviously, you are upset, perhaps when you speak with Dr. Green."
"I think you'd better do as he says Mr. Bin Sahid," Dustin could hear
the controlled anger in Lionel's voice. Tabitha was a part of Seth's
team
dealing with the fires started by Sadaam Hussein's forces as they
retreated
from Kuwait. That team had been sent from Riyadh into the Kuwaiti oil
fields to
put out the fires. "We are in no mood for platitudes. We came to help
deal
with the environmental disaster here, and you're government has been
less than
hospitable."
A low growl came from somewhere behind Lionel and for just a moment,
Dustin
feared Sarah's reaction to the news more than his own or Lionel's. "I
want
to see my brother, Mr. Bin Sahid."
Dustin could see the man stare past him at the Sarah's pseudo-cat form,
"I
don't take orders from. girls."
Before Sarah could react, Dustin lashed out and shoved the man against
the
stonewall. He felt a rush of wind blast through the room and knew that
Lionel
had disarmed the Kalishnakov-carrying body guards of the Prince. "You
will
take orders from me, and take me to my friends or you'll be a dead
Prince."
"The King will not stand for this." He could hear the fear in the
man's voice.
"It doesn't matter what the King will stand for, you'll be just as
dead,
and this city will be a rubble pile." Dustin was surprised to realize
that
he meant it. Where his friends were concerned, he was willing to kill.
Prince Bin Sahid swallowed, and nodded. "What of the UNIPACT forces? Do
you think they'll let you get away with this?"
Dustin lifted the man off the floor by the front of his robes, "I'm not
worried about the UN forces. They're all a bunch of Deltas. They're not
even in
the same league as us."
Dustin slung the man across the room, and watched as he skidded across
the
polished floor. He was getting fed up with being treated like a second
or third
class citizen by the people whom he'd come to help. Now they wanted to
tell him
his friends were dead, and he couldn't see the bodies. Something stunk
here and
Dustin suspected it wasn't the burning petroleum fields. He turned to
look at
his friends, "We start looking for them now."
"Dusty?..." Seth's weak voice was coming over the radio link in his
mask and for just a moment, Dustin felt his heart soar. They were alive
after
all! At least Seth was.
Without replying, he nodded at the others to follow him into the
courtyard.
Waiting until safely out of the Saudi's sight, he resisted the urge to
reach up
and touch the earpiece. "Seth, that you buddy?"
"Groggy., they used some kind of gas., room won't stop spinning,"
came the weak voice of his oldest friend in the world. He felt a huge
sense of
relief wash over him.
"Where are you? What happened?"
".surrounded in the fields. Hit us with some kind of gas before we
could
." suddenly he was cut off by a thud.
"Seth!? Seth!?" he whispered into the hidden microphone. Finally
turning to the others he said, "I guess you heard that."
Lionel nodded, "Somebody's lying to us."
"No duh," Sarah said, as she walked past him to stand in front of
Dustin, "And you want to be a detective." Looking up at Dustin, she
gave him a sharp-toothed smile, her tail twitching nervously behind
her.
"You're the boss, Challenger. What you want us to do?"
"We find our friends." Dustin replied.
"How?" Richie asked as he looked nervously over at his own twin,
Robbie.
Dustin shrugged, "the only way I know how. We bust some heads until
somebody talks."
"Sounds like as good a plan as any," Sarah said as she turned back
toward the low-slung dormitory they'd just left. Dustin noted that the
six-inch
claws she normally kept carefully sheathed were peaking from the tips
of her
fingertips "I'll start with Prince Bin Sahid."
"Just don't kill him," Dustin told her as she disappeared into the
building.
Several cat screams later Dustin and the others entered the room behind
her.
All four of the Prince's bodyguards were lying in a large heap off to
one side.
The Prince was blubbering to himself in a corner. Dustin caught the
distinct
odor of urine in the room. "Now tell me where you've taken my brother,
and
I may even let you get out of here," she raked a single claw up the
side
of his robes from kneecap to groin, "and you might even escape
intact."
The man muttered something in Arabic and looked over her shoulder
toward
Dustin. "Challenger, you can't let this happen."
Dustin smiled, "You don't understand Prince bin Sahid, I've known Feral
and Moonwind most of my life. She's never been very stable where her
twin is
concerned." He shook his head, "If she decides to kill you, there's
really very little I can do about it. Except maybe make her apologize
to your
family. I would tell her what she wants to know."
"I don't know where they've taken the detainees."
"Detainees?" Lionel asked, anger apparent in his voice , "Since
when are Academy students detainees?"
"Since they were seen uncovered and unescorted in the oil fields,"
Bin Sahid blubbered. "We tried to explain to the Imam that they were
guests dealing with an emergency situation, but he insisted on
prosecuting them
under Wahabi law.
"So you told us they'd been killed by Iraqi forces?" Dustin shook his
head. "This doesn't make sense Mr. Bin Sahid. You're still not telling
us
everything."
"I'm just telling you what I know," the man seemed near panic.
"You can tell me where they are," Sarah leaned down in the man's
face.
"I don't know where they are," the Prince was almost pleading.
"Then you can tell me who does know." Dustin came over and asked.
"I won't ask again."
Dustin could see the conflict in the man's eyes, "Allah forgive me,"
he finally muttered. "They are being held at the UN facility in
Medina."
"Damn, that's the other side of the desert." Robbie said.
"So?" Lionel asked. "I don't care if it's on the other side of
Africa. They've got Edge and the others, and I for one am going to get
them
back."
"Do you really believe you are capable of evading the Saudi military
for
hundreds of miles, break into a UN facility and break-out three drugged
parahumans?" Prince Bin Sahid asked.
Dustin looked down at the man, "Thank you for that little piece of
information. Now it's starting to make sense." Dustin knew that the UN
had
been pressing the US and other governments to turn over their parahuman
populations to them for world distribution. He just didn't know they'd
go this
far to get them.
He let Stride pull him off to the side and whisper, "Do you really
think
we should do this on our own? I mean we could report it to Dr. Green
and get
the senior team in here and help us?"
Dustin smiled at his old friend, "I wouldn't let that bunch of losers
try
to rescue a cat out of a tree. I think that by the time they were ready
to
move, they'd have moved them. I think we're going to have to hit them
hard and
fast." He looked around, "Didn't I see an old Huey gunship out
there?"
"You're not thinking of trying to fly that thing are you?" Lionel
asked. "It looks like it's Vietnam surplus."
"If it's got wings I can fly it," Dustin told him.
Lionel just smiled, "I'll be sure to tell Seth that."
Dustin felt himself blush deeply and wondered to himself if Lionel
suspected
just how deep his feelings for the little guy really ran.
PRESENT DAY
Seth pulled the leather vest across the back of his wings and tied its
laces.
Sitting down, he pulled the tall doeskin boots up and then folded the
tops down
to hide the Velcro fasteners. Finally, he adjusted the long loincloth
hanging
in front of his buckskin leggings before fastening the large medicine
bag he
carried to his hip. His sister always kidded him that although she had
the
traditional Native American looks, he had the soul.
Reaching into the bag, he pulled out the half mask and pressed it to
his face,
adjusting the static pressers that held it into place. It took a second
or two
for his eyes to adjust to the glare resistant lenses embedded in the
black
material. Finally, he clamped a small charm bracelet on his wrist, just
below
the gauntlet he wore. If things went well, that bracelet would give him
just
the edge he was going to need. "You look good," Dustin told him,
Turning he saw Dusty standing next to Lionel- both were now dressed in
updated
versions of their old Academy uniforms. Seth smiled to himself at the
sight of
Dustin wearing the red, white, and blue again. He always was something
of a Captain
America. He gave a low whistle, "that's enough to make me want to go
out
and join up."
"Nah, you couldn't pass the height requirement, Rabbit."
"You'd think that you two had never seen each other in uniform
before," Lionel shook his head.
Seth chuckled, "it has been a while. I wasn't sure that it would still
fit."
Dustin stretched his arms backward and Seth couldn't help but notice
how the
star-spangled material clung to his shoulders and chest, "trust me
Dusty,
it still fits."
Dustin smiled over at him, "you just keep your mind on business."
Seth blushed, saluted, and smiled, "yes sir, Bossman sir." Turning to
Lionel he said, "I must say, you haven't lost your tone either."
Lionel smiled at him, "Thanks," then after a second of contemplation,
"I think." He looked back over his shoulder to see if anyone one was
listening, "Look guys, with the others not around, I want your honest
opinion. Seth, you probably know more about UNIPACT than the rest of
us. Do you
really think a bunch of thirty-something epsilon class paras who with
one
exception haven't worn their costumes in ten years can do this?"
Seth took a deep breath and glanced over at Dustin. After several
seconds of
consideration, he decided to be as honest with his friend as he could.
"I'm not sure. UNIPACT may only be a bunch of deltas, but they've got
us
outnumbered, and they've been in action a whole lot more than we have
lately.
On top of that, I know they've got a complete file on me and what I can
do." He sighed again, and plunged ahead with the news that he knew was
going to upset Dustin, "And I know that there is a standing order that
if
I'm encountered, that under no circumstances am I to be allowed to
escape. If
they can't capture me, they've been ordered to kill me."
Seth watched as the blood drained from Dustin's face, "Why?"
Seth looked his lover in the eye, "Because they figure if I won't give
my
R and D stuff to them then I shouldn't give it to the Defense
Department
either. The thing that sticks in the UN's craw more than the fact that
parahumans have protected status in the US is that we refuse to turn
over
advanced military technology to them." He shook his head, "the
collectivist attitude isn't the most conducive to serious research." He
shrugged, "I guess by taking away monetary incentives to develop any
new
products, they've destroyed their entrepreneurial spirit. There is a
very good
reason that the US has been able to stand against the rest of the world
for the
past few years. They've got the numbers, but we've got the technology."
Dustin came over and Seth was forced to look up into his lover's eyes.
"Is
this why you kept insisting that you should do this by yourself?"
Seth nodded, "I wasn't going to put you into danger because they wanted
me, and I didn't want to make you and Sarah have to watch whatever they
tried
to do to me."
Dustin pulled Seth to him, "It's not going to happen, Seth. I won't let
it."
Seth felt another hand on his shoulder, and could feel Lionel pull both
into a
hug, "None of us will, Seth."
"No, no, no," Tabitha's voice came from the door. "No making
time with my man."
Dustin snapped his fingers in mock anger, "Drat!"
"Caught again," Seth finished, and they all smiled and separated from
the embrace.
"What's going on?" Miguelena asked as she and the others joined them.
"Dustin and Seth are attempting to make time with my man again,"
Tabitha accused. "I really wouldn't mind, but damn it they won't even
let
me run the video camera."
"Now that's just selfish." Sarah said.
"I know," Tabitha replied, "what are we going to do with
them?"
"Now that's a loaded question if I ever heard one." Seth heard Sarah
say.
"You could all back out and let me do this the way I want to." Seth
told them.
"Eh?" Lionel said. "No. You're stuck with us."
Seth shrugged, "Okay. I tried," was all Seth said. He had very bad
feeling about the coming encounter.
"Yes you tried," Dustin told him. "But you're family, and you
have to remember that we don't let family go off without backup."
Seth raised an eyebrow, "I seem to remember going off on my own once
without backup."
"Yeah, but that was something you had to do on your own. This isn't."
Dustin told him.
Seth just shook head, "You're the boss."
Dustin put his hands on his hips and gave Seth a strange look, "I'm
beginning to wonder about that."
Two hours later, the whole team was gathered in the hold of a jet,
winging its
way east. James Knox was setting up a slide presentation and looking
somewhat
surprised. "I really didn't expect to be bringing the whole Academy
team
back. I thought it would take more to convince you than this."
"Oh, what made you think that?" Sarah asked.
"Because someone," he gave Seth a long look, "went to a great
deal of effort to erase you from as many files as they could. To tell
you the
truth, the President wouldn't have even thought about you if his niece
hadn't
insisted on getting those new action figures they've been advertising."
Sarah shook her head and groaned, "Could we not talk about the new
action
figures please?"
"I knew I those were going to be a problem," Seth muttered under his
breath.
Knox stopped what he was doing and gave Seth a serious look, "I'm just
glad you're on our side Dr. Plainwalker. As it is, you could end up on
charges
for hacking."
"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about," Seth dared him
to prove who erased them.
Knox smiled and finished loading the files, "I see your point." He
turned back to the overhead projection screen and brought up the
picture of a
male para wearing a UN blue and white costume with the UN symbol on his
left
breast. "This of course is Sentinel. Your team evidently came into
conflict with him back during the Gulf War. Then he was classified as
delta
level para, but due to his experience, he's been recently upgraded to
epsilon
class. Granted he's no more powerful really, just more experienced."
Knox
turned and looked at Dustin, "I suspect he'll be particularly
interested
in bringing you down Challenger. He has something of a hate on for
nationalistic themed paras; Americans particularly."
"So nice to know he dislikes me without me even trying."
"Don't underestimate him Challenger. He's a powerful brick, and has a
lot
of combat experience" Knox said. "We think he's romantically involved
with this woman." The picture shifted to show a tall raven haired woman
wearing a white short skirt over white hose with black boots and cloak.
"You all probably recognize Shift. She's the reason this team can
strike
deep into the heart of US territory and get out before we can respond
with the military.
She's a teleporter of considerable power."
"Sounds like a priority target," Robbie said.
Knox nodded, "She is. But keep in mind that when the original
Paraforce-1
team tried to take her out, Sentinel ordered UNIPACT into killing
combat."
"Yep," Sarah said, "they're involved."
"That's when they tried to kill Block?" Seth asked.
Knox shook his head, "They didn't try to kill Block. They left him the
only survivor for a reason. They wanted to remind us, and him that they
could
do anything they wanted, and there was little we could do to respond.
We've got
tapes of Sentinel ordering Stonewall and Red Scorpion to leave him
alive for
just that purpose."
As Knox went on to the rest of the UNIPACT team, Seth felt a deep anger
begin
to fester in his soul. He would not allow them to do this with
impunity. He
would do what ever it took to stop UNIPACT." Knox continued through the
rest of the active UNIPACT team. "You of course recognize Red Scorpion
from his days at the Academy."
Dustin nodded his head, "Yeah. Jorge Sanchez is one particular
elementalists I'm going to take a great deal of pleasure in bringing
down. I
wasn't happy to hear that the UN pardoned him for those years he worked
for the
Medilline Drug Cartel."
Knox only smiled, "I know. We protested that particular appointment to
no
avail." The scene changed, "This is Speedstar. Our intelligence
identifies her as Loraine St. Sebastian. She's been clocked at speeds
in excess
of mach 1. She's also been quoted in European news agencies as having a
desire
to see the US broken into fifty independent countries to make us easier
to
govern."
"Sounds like a nice woman." Tabitha's voice dripped with sarcasm.
Seth was reminded that she was even a bigger US patriot than Dustin. He
suspected it came from being a first generation American immigrant.
"This is Growl," the picture that appeared on the screen was of a
classic Hollywood werewolf. "He's a gamma or delta class feral. We know
that he has heightened senses, as he was observed tracking the
invisible form
the parahuman Dreamweaver in Florida. It is unknown whether he has any
vulnerability to silver, but Mrs. Martha Corsair of Carlton, Florida
reports
that he is susceptible to pepper spray. Evidently, he charged through
her
azaleas and as she put it, she “Let 'im have it with the pepper spray
my son
gave me."”
"Next up is Abdul Kabir." A picture of a middle-eastern man in red,
orange, and yellow silks appeared on the screen. He was on fire and
flying.
"He calls himself Agni after the Sumerian god of fire. He's given a
great
deal of indication that he actually believes himself to be an avatar of
a god.
He joined the team back in nineteen ninety-six and has been involved in
the
kidnapping to Riyadh or murder of over a hundred US paras."
"Well, he's flaming. I wonder how he will deal with cold," Morn said.
"probably afraid of the dark."
Knox just smiled and continued. This time the man who appeared on the
screen
had granite gray skin, and Seth was briefly reminded of a girl from the
Academy
named Granite. He was wearing olive drab fatigue pants and a rainbow
tank top.
"This is Stonewall. We don't know what his real name is, only that he
comes to the team from the Sichuan Province of Red China. He's
classified as an
epsilon or theta class para with enormous strength and damage
resistance. He
was responsible for destroying the US Space Shuttle Endeavor on the
launch pad
a few years back. He can generate a barbed spear that he uses like a
staff, and
has been responsible for killing over fifteen American parahumans."
Knox
looked at Dustin, "Unofficially we want him liquidated with extreme
prejudice." Seth saw Dustin nod slightly.
Again, the picture on the screen shifted to reveal the dark gray furred
form of
a man with great bat wings on his back. His face and ears were
misshapen to
resemble a bat. "This is Nocturne, a delta class feral with some sonic
based powers. We know his claws can penetrate plate armor."
"I wonder how those ears would react to your voice?" Miguelena asked
her husband Richie.
"We'll make it a point to find out," was all that Scream said in
reply.
"Last but not least," this time a young dark skinned African male
appeared on the screen. His costume was the red, gold and green of the
African
flag. He looked to be no older than seventeen or eighteen. "This is
UNIPACT's newest member. Code-named Artillery, he can generate at
range,
several types of damage from armor piercing to explosive effect. He has
been
observed flying under his own power, but never at above forty-five
miles per
hour."
"What about him?" Seth asked. He really wasn't comfortable with the
idea of fighting children.
"All we know is that he's powerful. We don't think he's very experience
though." Knox seemed to realize what Seth was worried about, "If you
can capture him without killing him, then do it."
Seth just smiled. Despite himself, he was beginning to like James Knox.
THREE YEARS AGO
"Dustin, can we talk?" Dustin's father asked him out at the property,
about two weeks after he and Seth told the rest of their friends about
their relationship.
From them he'd not been too concerned about what they thought. Deep
down, he
knew that they would always love them no matter what. His parent's he
wasn't so
sure.
Taking a deep breath he turned and looked over to where his mother and
father were
surveying the land where he and Seth were planning on building. "Sure
Dad."
He watched his father glance nervously over toward his mom, and then
back at
him, "You know we've always wanted what was best for you. I mean that's
why we sent you to that Academy." Dustin started to say something, but
was
cut off by his father's hand, "Hear me out. I know things didn't work
out
so well there, and for that I'm sorry. But your mother and I are
concerned
about the path you seem to be choosing now."
Dustin looked at him, "what path?"
He watched his dad again glance nervously over at his mom who picked up
where
his father left off, "This thing that's going on between you and Seth.
You
know we like the boy. You two have been friends since you were kids,
and you know
our concern has nothing to do with his status as a feral. In reality,
the boy
is like another son to us."
"I know mom." Dustin was afraid of where this conversation was
heading.
"We are concerned about you getting romantically involved with him. I
mean
he's had a pretty public career up until recently."
Dustin was shocked. He couldn't believe he was hearing what he thought
he was
hearing, "You know about Seth and I?"
His dad chuckled, "We're not blind son. I won't lie to you, we'd both
be
happier if he were a girl, but he's not. We recognize that you love
each other
and that you really are good for each other. We're just worried about
your
safety."
"I don't understand," Dustin began.
"What if the UN comes looking for Moonwind? What then?" his mother
asked.
Dustin shook his head, "Then we'll deal with them." His father
started to say something but this time it was Dustin's turn to cut them
off
with a raise of his own hand, "What if some crazed para broke into the
house with just you and mom there?" He leaned back against the front of
his car, "What about Seth? What if some guy I busted two years ago
comes
to the house with a gun and a bent for revenge?"
"Somehow I get the feeling that Seth can take care of himself," his
dad told him.
"What if Lee's there?" Dustin asked.
"Kill them," his mother said flatly, as both her son and husband
turned to look at her in shock. Dustin was surprised at the sincerity
of her
voice, "It's one thing to come after one of you guys, but the kids are
a
different story."
"So what if the UN comes looking for Seth while Lee's there? Should I
stay
out of it because you don't want me to get hurt?"
"Hell no son, your mom's right. Where the kids are involved, you guys
have
every right and responsibility to help each other out."
"Same thing Dad, I love Seth, he loves me. If they come looking for
him,
then they'll have to deal with me, and I'll guarantee they won't walk
away.
They won't walk, they won't teleport, they won't they won't get away."
"You sure about all this son?" his dad asked.
"Yeah, Dad. I'm sure." Dustin told him. "The only reason I
didn't snatch him up in high school was because he had things to do and
I had
things to do first."
"Fine, son" his dad told him. "I just wanted to make sure you're
solid on this."
Before Dustin could reply his mother asked, "How about Seth? He feel
the
same way?"
"Yes," Dustin replied. "But if you'd like, you can ask
him."
His mother smiled, "I may do that." Turning back to the property,
"Now tell me about this house you want to build."
Two days later, he was sitting beside Seth in the Plainwalker's living
room on
the Reservation. He and Seth were discussing their plans with his
parents. Once
again, he was surprised at the confidence his lover was showing. He'd
changed a
lot since high school. "So you see, we've decided to go to the next
step
and move in together," Seth told his parents.
"I thought you already were," Mr. Plainwalker commented, and once
again, Dustin wondered where the blond hair and blue eyes came from.
Seth shook his head, "No, not the his and mine, but the ours. I'm not
moving into his house, and he's not moving into my house, we're moving
into our
house."
"That's one way to look at it," Seth's mom said. Then the dark haired
woman smiled, "And I guess Sarah will lose her built in baby-
sitter."
"Huh?" Dustin asked.
"You know, drive one street over and drop Lee off while she and Robbie
go
out," Seth's Dad told them.
"No. Now she'll just have to drive a little farther," Seth told him.
"I've gotten rather attached to the little fella' lately. He reminds me
of
an old friend," Seth told him. Then taking a more serious look at his
father, "You don't have a problem with this?" he asked surprised.
"No son. We've suspected your dual spirit for a long time. Why should
we
have a problem with the way the Spirit made you?" his mother replied.
Dustin looked over at Seth, "I think my mom and dad talked to your mom
and
dad, or your mom and dad talked to my mom and dad." He smiled, "It's
a conspiracy of them knowing before we did."
Mrs. Plainwalker smiled and shook her head, "It's nothing like that
Dusty.
We've always known Seth and Sarah were going to have a difficult life.
After
all, they were born in their spirit forms. We're just glad that they've
found a
group of friends off the Reservation who accept them," she paused and
gave
him a serious look, "and love them for what and who they are." Dustin
knew that what Seth's mother meant by being born in their spirit form,
meant
being born feral- in Seth's case that meant with wings out. Both of
Seth's
parents tended to look at the world in through the eyes of Native
American
mythology, much like Seth himself.
"I guess I'm just a little surprised at how easily you are taking the
fact
that your son is gay." He shook his head, "It took my parents a long
time to accept it. For the longest Dad didn't want to talk about it. I
mean
Seth is the only boyfriend I've ever had that I can take home."
Seth's mother smiled, "We've had longer to come to accept it than your
parents have. We've known since Seth was ten." Dustin could see the
surprise in Seth's face, as him mother continued. "What? You don't
think
we can read signs too. It was pretty obvious after your Mystery Walk
what you
are."
"Mystery Walk?" Dustin asked.
Seth nodded, "Think vision quest, or spirit walk. You remember my
telling
you about it."
"Yeah, but I don't remember you using that term."
"I didn't. Dad is Apache, mom's Choctaw. Dad uses his terms, mom uses
hers. Since I live on an Apache Reservation I tend to use Dad's."
"Yes, and it's aggravating to no end," his mother said.
"Now dear," his dad began.
"You just can't get over the idea of a matriarchy," Seth's mother
teased.
Seth's dad looked over at Dustin, "You may not know this son, but
Seth's
had to put up with a clash of two cultures in his home. His father is
an Apache
medicine man and his mother a Choctaw healer. It's made for some
interesting
home dynamics."
Dustin told both of them, "Personally I'm glad for those dynamics. They
make him who is." He watched Seth blush beside him. Looking over at Mr.
Plainwalker he smiled and continued, "Besides, she can tell me what to
do
anytime she wants to. I'm afraid of her."
TWELVE YEARS AGO: JUNIOR YEAR AT THE ACADEMY
Seth shook his head, trying to clear the fog that was masking his will.
Try as
he might the room kept spinning, and he couldn't get his bearings. From
somewhere in the distance a strangely accented voice kept speaking to
him, but
for the life of him, he couldn't make out the details.
"Where am I?" he pushed himself up from where he was lying face down
on the floor. His arms felt like spaghetti, and for some reason he
couldn't
focus to bring his wings back down.
"You are in the custody of the United Nations International Parahuman
Acquisition and Control Team, at our facility in Medina," the voice
finally broke the fog. Some part of his brain registered that the voice
was
speaking French.
"Why am I here?" he answered back in the same language.
"You speak French? Very good, I am surprise to hear an American speak
anything other than English."
Again trying to focus his will, he pulled himself up to a kneeling
position,
and closed his eyes. He could still feel the vertigo, the gas was
causing. That
was it, he'd been hit with some kind of gas while in the fields with
Morn and
Edge. "Why am I here? Where are Morn and Edge?"
"You are here to be re-educated," the voice said, "to become
productive members of the world community. You are here to learn to
serve the
world's needs," the voice told him.
Seth shook his head again, and immediately regretted, as his lunch
threatened
to make a second appearance. "What if I don't want to serve the world?
What if I want to be left alone?" he asked simply to buy time until his
healing factor could clear the fog from his head.
"Now why would you want to do that? You owe the world your
existence," the voice told him.
"I owe the Great Spirit my existence, the world I owe respect." He
shook his head, "When it earns it."
Seth felt a flash of pain in the side of his head, before he felt his
whole
body slam into the cool stone of the wall of the room. In an explosion
of red
and black light the world around him winked out. Just before he went
unconscious, he felt something in the side of his mask click.
PRESENT DAY: A SMALL OFFICE ON DUPONT CIRCLE OF WASHINGTON DC
Dustin couldn't believe the level of top brass sitting in the room with
him.
Half of the President's cabinet was here, plus the heads of the FBI,
CIA, and
the NSA, as well as several members of the various armed forces. Knox
had been
right: they were planning to give his team all the support they needed.
"Moonwind," the National Security Advisor asked in a deceptively soft
voice, "Are you sure you want to go through with this?" The woman
looked over at the rest of the team, "It would basically be setting you
up
as bait."
Seth nodded and smiled at the light-skinned African American woman,
"I'm
sure ma'am. If it'll give us a clear shot at Sentinel's team, I'll take
it."
Dustin cut in, "Besides, it puts him in the best position to knock
their
feet out from under them right off the bat."
"Very well, we'll let leak to the press that Moonwind will be attending
the Presidential Commission." the woman said.
"Not leak, confirm." Edge told them. "It's a pretty sure bet
that the UN has a complete list of who has been invited to speak and
who
hasn't."
A man wearing an Admiral's uniform chuckled, "Yes, but if you let it
leak,
then they think that we won't be prepared. If we confirm it, then they
may
think it's a trap."
"But wouldn't this be like any other celebrity coming to speak before
Congress?" Dustin asked.
The National Security Advisor smiled, "Not quite. Any other celebrity
isn't on the top of the UN's most wanted list."
"True, but is Moonwind himself supposed to know that he's on such a
list?" Feral asked.
"Not really, but considering his well known level of intelligence, you
bet
it's assumed by the UN that he does know. There is already speculation
in the
press about when they'll be hunting him down," the woman replied.
"So what's the probability that they know he's already in town, because
they saw him come in from the air field," Eclipse asked sitting close
to
Feral. "After all, if I saw someone as high ranking as Mr. Knox
hustling
out of town and then back within a few hours I'd be curious enough to
have him
followed."
Mr. Knox smiled, "But I'm not a high ranking member of Homeland
Security.
I'm just a low level attaché. That's why I was sent."
"Doesn't matter, you're Homeland Security. The UN is watching your
every move."
Dustin had had enough, "We're sitting here debating whether or not the
UN
knows we're here. Unless we go and ask them, we can't be sure either
way. The
best we can do, is assume they don't and plan for that they might."
"Challenger is right," the Admiral commented. "We can't let our
lack of intelligence paralyze us. We have to make some kind of move. So
far
this is the best plan I've heard."
"Okay, so where's the layout of the building where these meetings are
going to take place, and what' your security like?" Scream asked.
With that, the team spent the next several hours putting into place
everything
they were going to need to try and eliminate UNIPACT. Dustin was unsure
of just
how much time had passed when Feral came up next to him. "This isn't
going
to get my brother hurt is it?"
"Can't guarantee it, but I'm trying to work it so that it doesn't."
Challenger told her. "You know I'd never deliberately put him in
danger,
but I'm not going to put him on the sidelines either, no matter how
much either
of us love him. Your brother has grown up a great deal in the past few
years. I
think he can take care of himself."
"Yeah, but if anything happens to him, who's going to take care of
you?" Feral asked.
"We'll just have to make sure that nothing happens to him,"
Challenger replied.
Across the room, he heard Morn tell her husband, "You of course realize
that if anything happens to either one of them, the other is not going
to leave
anything left of the UN standing."
Scream replied, "We'll help."
ELEVEN YEARS AGO: JUNIOR YEAR OF THE ACADEMY
As the rotors on the old Huey began to bite into the air and lift the
copter
off the ground, Dustin turned back to look at the rest of his team. It
was all
Eclipse and Scream could do to keep Stride and Feral calm. He could
feel his
own anger settle like a hot fire in his belly. He didn't like the way
he and
his team was being treated here, and he didn't like being lied to.
Suddenly a squawk went off on his radio followed by a woman's voice
speaking in
French, "Was it really necessary to hit him that hard?"
A man's voice answered, "We must destroy the cult of the individual.
The
good of society must take precedence."
"I don't disagree with you Etienne, just your methods. He's only a
boy," the woman's voice answered.
"A boy who will not become a man if he does not keep a civil tongue in
his
head," the man named Etienne answered.
"You do not have the patience for this, Sentinel. Why don't you wait
outside and let me deal with Moonwind." There were sounds of movements,
"He is very light. I would be surprised if he weighed thirty kilos. No
wonder he hit the wall so hard." Again, there were more movement
sounds,
as Dustin slowly began to realize about whom the other voices were
speaking.
Looking over at Stride, he muted his own radio and brought the chopper
down low
over the desert. "How about you taking to the ground on a Northerly
course. We can triangulate their location with the radios' range
finders."
He watched as the tall black youth leapt from the chopper and headed
off, at
top speed across the desert. In less than a second, he was out of
sight. Ten
minutes later they were homing in on Seth's radio signal, all the while
picking
up the sounds of what was happening to him. Dustin made a mental note
to
himself, that should he get the chance, Sentinel would pay for hitting
his
friend. He would pay, and pay through the nose.
As the chopper cut through the desert evening, he listened to Stride's
reports
on the building he'd discovered deep in the desert. "It looks like
there's
a contingent of British troops guarding the base," Lionel's voice came
back over the radio. "If I were you, I'd fly low, and set the chopper
down
about a mile south, and come in on foot."
"I've got an idea. Tell me about the British troops."
"Looks like a company of infantry with a squad of armor protecting
them." Stride told him.
"I don't want to have to take on the British."
"They might not know what they're guarding."
"Doesn't matter, they've still got their orders. They won't let us in
without a fight."
"We could tell them we're on a mission of mercy," Stride joked in his
best Carrie Fisher voice.
"Somehow I get the feeling the Big, Bad, Brits won't buy it."
"How about we go in without asking, and then worry about getting
out?" Feral leaned forward and growled into his ear.
"You really want to try and carry Morn, Edge, and your brother out
under
fire?"
"It's worth a try. Especially if we can cause a big enough diversion,
to
cover our escape," Feral told him.
Dustin considered her suggestion. It made sense and he had just the
thing to
create a diversion. Turning back to the rest of his team he yelled over
the
sound of the rotors, "I'm going to set you down here. Move up as close
to
the compound as you can get. In.," he looked down and checked his
chronometer, "four minutes I'm going to give you the diversion you
need.
Meet me at Seth's signal. We'll go from there."
He watched the other team members nod and disembark from the old
gunship. In a
matter of seconds, they were gone from sight, and he knew they'd cover
the
intervening mile very quickly.
Three and a half minutes later, he brought the chopper back into the
air.
Tilting the canopy as far forward as possible, he gunned the engine and
literally flew top first toward the compound. He noted when his air
speed hit
140 and held it to cover the intervening distance in the same amount of
time as
his friends starting their attack.
As the compound grew quickly into view, he aimed the ship at the
compound's
radio/lookout tower. At the last second, he leapt from the ship's
cockpit to
the ground. Rolling to absorb the impact of hitting the ground at a
hundred forty
plus miles an hour, he aimed himself toward the main body of the
building
becoming a human battering ram.
Crashing through the concrete wall that was bunker's main protection he
came to
a stop in a long hallway. As his hearing cleared from the sound of the
blast
that was echoing outside, he could see men with Kalashnikovs scurrying
toward
the main door. One stopped to open fire in his general direction, as he
dove
for cover. He felt several rounds rake along his side, and was
surprised that
they had little more effect on him than a slap- he was still unused to
the
concept of being bullet-proof.
Coming up against the wall he'd rolled into, he checked his radio
range-finder
and got a general bearing on Seth' location, just before a second
bullet ripped
the device from his hand. Cursing himself silently, he took off as fast
as he
could in the general direction of the indicator, ignoring intervening
obstacles
such as desks, chairs, and the occasional wall.
Crashing through one reinforced wall, he caught himself before he
barreled into
a long table where Seth's unconscious form was lying strapped to a
table. The
blue and white garbed form of Sentinel, hero and spokesman for the UN
was
tightening the straps down. Secured to two other tables were the
unconscious
forms of both Edge and Morn.
Sentinel looked up in surprise as Feral came crashing through the door
from the
left. Seizing the opportunity, Challenger launched himself across the
table and
kicked the larger man solidly in the ribs. Perhaps it was the heat of
battle,
maybe it was his anger, but the blow was a lot more powerful than even
he
expected. Sentinel was literally knocked through several reinforced
walls and
out into the courtyard. Without thinking, Challenger snapped the
restraints on
his unconscious childhood friend, and hefted him onto his shoulder.
Indicating
the other two, he told Feral, "Cut 'em loose and let's get out of
here."
Keying the radio in his mask, he spoke, "Packages recovered. We could
use
some help in extraction."
Stride was at his side a split second before the sonic boom that
followed.
"I'm here, Bossman." As the compression wave followed the tall youth
into the room, Challenger watched his friend gently take Morn from
Feral and
shield her from the blast with his own body.
"We'd better get out of here. Pretty soon that British commander is
going
to figure out that the helicopter crash was just a diversion, and start
lobbing
shells at us," Challenger told him.
Stride just smiled up at him, "Not for a little while yet, Challenger.
Right now they've got their hands full with the Destructo Twins out
there." He looked over at the unconscious form of Miguelena, "for
some reason, Richie is rather upset about this whole situation." He
shrugged, "And you know how the twins are. You piss one of them off,
you
piss 'em both off."
Challenger just smiled and headed toward the door. "Israel's that
way," he pointed north. "Let's go."
"Not to rain on your parade Challenger, but why Israel, and do you
realize
that we have to go through Jordan to get there?" Feral asked.
"Because it's the only democratic country in the region. It'll be
easier
for us to get out of there, than going back to Riyadh, or Kuwait City."
He
turned and smiled at her, "And yes, I know we have to go through Jordan
to
get there. I did pay attention in Geography class." He shrugged, "The
Jordanian military has been pounded enough, that I don't think we'll
have too
much trouble slipping past them into the city of Elat at the Gulf of
Aqaba.
From there we can contact the Academy and get home."
Feral smiled at him, "Oh, and Challenger?"
"Yeah?"
Her eyes hardened, "Next time you get it into that thick skull of yours
that crashing a helicopter into a building is a good distraction you
better
give it another thought." She grabbed him by the front of his costume,
"Don't ever put me in the position of having to tell Seth that you got
yourself killed rescuing him."
For just an instant, Dustin wondered if Sarah could see into his heart
and know
what he was feeling. He looked down and muttered, "Will do."
PRESENT DAY: US PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION ON PARAHUMAN INTERNATIONAL
REPSONSE-
UNDISCLOSED LOCATION- WASHINGTON DC.
Seth looked across the room, and felt the old fear of being small once
again
threaten to wash over him. Steeling himself, he directed his attention
back to
the junior Senator from New York. She was asking, "How can you justify
putting the entire population of this country at risk in order to
protect a
small number of people? "
Seth smiled, "Ma'am, since when did we decide that the Bill of Rights
apply to only part of the American citizenry?" He asked. "The last
time I checked, parahumans were still American citizens. What gives the
UN the
right to kidnap, murder," he felt the anger at what happened to Brandon
well up inside him, "and maim our citizens with impunity?"
He saw the woman draw back at the venom in his words, "We have to do
away
with the cult of the individual. The good of society must come first,"
she
stammered into her microphone.
Seth smiled at the woman, "And a country that will not defend its
citizens
is not a country. I'm sorry Madam
Senator, I have to agree with a rather famous fictional character here:
The
good of the one outweighs the good of the many." He leaned in,
"Because the many are made up of a bunch of ones. I realize that for
some
reason, you've got some kind of hate on for parahumans, I honestly
don't understand
why that is, but I will not let your hatred of us send us to death
camps in
Saudi Arabia."
Suddenly Seth felt the air pressure in the room change. He reacted
instinctively as nine forms winked into existence around the room. A
relaxing
of his mind, and a quick mental signal and the world suddenly grew to
huge
proportions around him as the area where he was sitting earlier was
suddenly
inundated with energy, and the chair where he was sitting exploded.
Dustin felt the change in the room's air pressure too, but was slower
to
respond before the seat in front of him where Seth had been sitting
earlier was
literally blasted into pieces by the combined attacks of Nocturne and
Artillery. He noted that the tall dark haired form of Shift had
appeared just a
few feet in front of him. Stonewall's own attack came just a second or
so
behind his comrades, and the heavy stone spear was suddenly hurtling
toward
what was left of the seat. Of course, the fact that Seth and the seat
were no
longer there, meant that the spear was now aimed at her.
Remembering what Knox had said about Shift being a priority target, he
started
to let her take the blast meant for his lover. However, the hero in him
took
over and he did what his conscious told him. None too gently, he
tackled the woman
as the spear passed over both their heads. As he rolled over on top of
her, he
slammed her head into the marble floor just hard enough to insure her
incapacitation.
To his right he heard an inarticulate scream, and realized that
Sentinel had
seen what happened. Rolling off Shift, he threw his identity to the
wind and
came up tearing the three-piece suit of a Secret Service Agent off to
reveal
his Challenger uniform under it. Falling back into a crouch, he looked
over at
the enraged Frenchman, "It stops here, Sentinel. You're under arrest
for
kidnapping, murder, and for acts of terrorism against the people of the
United
States. You can surrender now and be treated humanely and face a fair
trial. I
do warn you however that I and my team have been authorized by the
Justice
Department to use deadly force if you fail to do so." The last was
something of a stretch of the truth, but Dustin knew the Attorney
General would
back him up.
Sentinel just screamed and leaped at him clearing the whole room in a
single
bound. Locking down, he lashed out with a vicious round-house kick to
the man's
face. He heard a satisfying crunch as the pride of UN was slammed into
an
oblique course away from him. Challenger set down after the kick
thinking, It's
good to be back in action. What he said was, "EVERYBODY! CLEAR THE
ROOM!"
Off to his right he saw a streak of UN blue paced by the darker crimson
of
Stride. "Herd her this way," Miguelena's voice came over the radio.
Even he was surprised at how quick his team was remembering their old
battle
maneuvers.
Turning back to face the battle he scanned the room for Seth to come
out of
stealth mode, but saw no sign of him. What he did see was a large cloud
of
darkness surrounding where Artillery was. Good work, Eclipse. Blind
their
sniper and protect your teammates. He felt a wave of Morn's cold
suddenly erupt
from the darkness as ice began to creep out from its edges. Dustin
noted with
some irony that sometimes his team's best partners were not necessarily
the
ones that were married.
Suddenly the UN's primary feral, Growl came crashing through the outer
wall
flailing his huge clawed arms in every direction while Feral sat
blithely on
his shoulders slicing at his face with her own claws. Dustin recognized
her
attacks as being more designed to annoy than do actual damage. They
were
painful, enraging, and possibly even incapacitating, but not deadly,
which is
more than can be said for Growl's reputation. That particular werewolf
wannabe
had been known to tear into civilians without the slightest
provocation. Feral
was giving him plenty.
He watched Sentinel slowly get up from where he'd landed against the
granite
wall. A crack now ran along its length from floor to ceiling. The man
shook his
head and felt his jaw, "That was a mistake, Challenger. Now we're going
to
finish you off. There is no place left in the world for your brand of
nationalism." Looking over at where Stonewall and Red Scorpion were
staring at Challenger in disbelief, he yelled, "Don't just stand there
you
fools! Kill him!"
As the two began to move toward him he saw Seth suddenly flash up out
of
stealth mode, and draw back a bow he'd never seen before and release
the arrow.
There was a flash of something and suddenly Stonewall was screaming
holding his
knee. Looking down, Dustin noted the steel shaft sticking out of the
leg had
pinned the stone-skinned man to the floor. "That's for Block, you
son-of-bitch." Before anybody else could react he flashed back into
stealth mode.
Red Scorpion skidded to a halt in front of Dustin as the former Academy
student
realized his back up was pinned to the floor behind him. "Hello,
Jorges.
Long time no see."
"Uh, hi Challenger," Dustin enjoyed the sudden fear he saw in the
man's eyes.
"You know, you spent a great deal of time picking on somebody I cared
an
awful lot about back in high school. I see you haven't grown out of
being a
bully."
Red Scorpion smiled up at him and suddenly leaped back, firing his own
burst of
energy at Dustin. Dustin felt it rip at his costume and pour around
him, seeking
to gain purchase on the skin and flesh underneath. Before the smaller
man could
react, Dustin darted in and grabbed him by the front of his body armor. Pulling the smaller man to him, Challenger
spun on one foot and suddenly hurled Red Scorpion into the charging
form of
Sentinel. He heard a satisfying snap of his former classmate's spine as
he was
literally wrapped backward around the UN's primary brick. Challenger
smiled,
"That's four down, Sentinel. Your team is dropping like flies."
Dustin watched as Sentinel shoved the broken body of his fallen
teammate aside,
"I don't care how many I have to go through Challenger. You are the
last
of the hold-outs. I have all the time in the world." He charged Dustin
again this time connecting with a powerful roundhouse punch to the jaw.
Dustin
felt himself lifted off the ground and hurled backwards through the
wall of the
chambers, across the hall and finally through the outer wall and into
the
street beyond. Dustin got up and shook his head as Sentinel came
leaping out of
the building at him.
With a quick thrust of his feet and a backwards roll, Dustin flipped
Sentinel
over. Grabbing the other brick's wrists, he pulled back hard, forcing
Sentinel
into the ground flat on his back. Kipping up, he twisted around to
catch
Sentinel slowly getting to his feet a dazed look in his face. "I've
eliminated your escape route, Sentinel. There's no getting away this
time. It's
either face me or US Special Forces. Trust me. I'm nicer, I'll even
keep
Moonwind from gutting you. They won't." He kicked out and caught the UN
team leader squarely in the jaw. He heard a satisfying crunch as he
felt the
other man's teeth grind under the force of the blow.
Sentinel was driven back against a late model SUV by the kick. Twisting
around he
grabbed the vehicle by the side, his hands crunching the steel like so
much tin
foil and lifted it over his head. With a loud grunt, he brought the
Ford down
across Challenger's head and shoulders. "I'm not afraid of your
military.
Soon it will be dismantled and answerable to the whole world."
Dustin waded through the twisted metal and plastic, brushing it aside
like so
much tissue paper. Sentinel wasn't the only one here with the strength
and
damage resistance to handle this kind of punishment. He grabbed the
awestruck
Frenchman by the front of his costume, drew back and landed a solid
punch
directly to jaw, "What's the matter, Sentinel? Not used to a team that
fights back? Not used to not being the big boy on the block?" He felt
the
other man ripped from his hands by the force of his own blow.
He watched as Sentinel sailed across the street back toward the
building they'd
left. Crouching and leaping, he hurled himself forward to land just a
few yards
short of the bouncing form of his opponent. He watched with some
satisfaction
as Sentinel's limp body slid across the marble floor to stop against
the far
wall.
As Dustin entered the room he saw, Speedstar's body lying in two halves
across
the room, a razor thin piece of bloodied metal was stretched across the
doorway
behind her. Notcurne was flapping horribly against the back wall, his
broken
bat-like wings torn to shreds by small metal pens, paper clips, and
various
other office supplies embedded in the wall behind him. There was blood
running
from his huge bat ears down the side of his head. Dustin looked over to
where
Miguelena and Scream were high-fiving.
Off to one corner Feral was holding Growl to the wall, her claws slowly
sinking
into his throat. He could see blood from a thousand vicious cuts all
over his
face and body. He noted that she'd managed to hamstring both his legs
and his
left arm was hanging loosely at his side. "Go ahead Fido, give me a
reason
to put you down like the rabid dog you are," Feral growled.
Motion in the center of the room caught his eyes, as Stonewall
continued to
pound at Stride while Lionel dodged out of the way of each blow with a
taunting
ease. The big man was bleeding from where he was peppered with a dozen
steel-shafted arrows embedded in the stony material that made up his
skin.
Evidently, Moonwind's bow was designed specifically for his own awesome
levels
of strength. In the meantime, Seth had grown to full size and landed on
the
other side of the room. With a deliberate slowness, he drew the strange
looking
bow and took aim at the heart of the last of the UINPACT members.
Dustin
yelled, "Seth, no!"
He saw his lover turn and face him, tears streaming down his face, "He
deserves to die. He helped kill ParaForce-1."
Dustin walked toward the smaller man, slowly and calmly. "But you're
not a
killer. Don't take this route. Look at him," Dustin pointed to where
the
bigger man was beginning to slow down. "He's barely standing. He's lost
a
lot of blood. He's down. You don't have to kill him."
He could see Seth's eyes tearing up, as he slowly lowered the bow. "Is
it
really over?" Dustin realized that his lover had been so intent on
taking
down Stonewall, that he didn't even realize the rest of the UNIPACT
team was
down. A shiver went through Dustin as he realized just how close he'd
come to
losing Seth. If he any of the rest of the UN team had realized it, they
could
have taken him out without even trying.
Seth suddenly came tumbling into his arms, sobbing. Dustin felt his own
emotions slowly released in a rain of tears as he kissed his partner's
head.
"So much for a secret identity I guess," he muttered.
Dustin felt Sarah come up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder,
"Now
will you take him to Vermont?"
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