"The Shiny Warrior!"

---

 

London, UK - No 10 Downing Street

3.30pm - GMT (10.30am EST):

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Tony Blair, was sitting in his office reading the report that the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, General Sir Anthony Pearce, had just given to him. The General sat across the table from the PM and waited until the last page had been read.

"As you can see, sir, the VSO are closing the noose around the FCC. Also, the group known as 'The UNIT' are pulling the Genesis Project to pieces. Should we lend our aid?" Sir Anthony asked softly.

"No, not yet," Tony answered as he re-read the last page. "We are now in a state of war, as per Her Majesty's declaration on Wednesday; but until you get your marching orders, we'll just keep ourselves at the ready." He looked up and narrowed his eyes at the General, "In regards to that, do you foresee any difficulties? How are our forces?"

"The English regiments have all been thoroughly debriefed, sir; but as yet we have not started the new training with the Irish, Welsh and Scottish regiments. I can say, however, than the new Naval Impulse Destroyer, Victory, has been fully staffed and are debriefed. The other Impulse Destroyers are slated for their training soon," Anthony Pearce replied with a soft smile.

"Good. And the RAF?"

"Same as the Army, sir," Anthony replied. "English Stations, Wings and Squadrons are prepared. We have yet to start on the others."

"And the rest of the Empire..."

"... will follow along as ordered from the Imperial Ministry of Defence, yes sir," Anthony completed, nodding his head. "What of the information we received yesterday?"

"I do not think he will cause a problem, General," Tony answered, waving his hand dismissively. "Names mean very little to me. However, we must keep Joseph happy, so we'll put his plan into motion. If he thinks those three will do as he foresees, then tell the operator to initiate it."

The General stood up, "And what of our mutual problem?"

"She will have to be dealt with, and soon. Otherwise, we'll be pushed into a corner before our full forces can be brought to bear," Tony said, his brow furrowing. "I'll contact our support, and get them moving now."

The General nodded his head and left the room, leaving Tony to sigh as he reread the briefs he had been given.

---

Orlando, Clan Short Compound:

"DAD! DAAAAAD!" Joel yelled from the kitchen as he and Kevin reappeared, along with a small five year old, brown haired boy who was cuddled on Joel's hip. "Dad? Where are you?"

"I am in the Rec Room, my son," Spock called back.

Kevin giggled and kissed the little boy's cheek, "You'll like your new grandpas, Rafey."

"Kewl! Captain Spock's my Granpa!" the boy crowed as Joel carried him through into a fairly full room.

Applause met their ears from the kids assembled as Spock and Allen came toward them. When the two adults reached the two smaller boys and their even smaller new son, they knelt down.

"Dad; Pop: this is Raphael Leroy Short-Thompson. Rafey? This is your Granpa, Admiral Spock, and your other granpa, Allen. You wanna go have some cuddles with them?" Joel asked.

Rafe looked into his dad's eyes, "Yeah, if you says dey not gonna hurt me, den yeah!"

"They'll never hurt you," Kevin whispered as he rubbed the smaller child's back.

Rafe hopped down from Joel's arms and scooted over into Spock's embrace as fast as he short little legs could carry him. "Wow! Wowwowwow! GRANPA!!!"

Of course, Timmy wasn't going to let a new potential member of the Tribe go more than ten seconds without a greeting...

"NEW GUY!!!!" he and Ricky yelled, as they pounced onto Spock and Allen as the two men were cuddling the small child.

Belar and Ross were seconds behind them as well... the 'Rugrats' had to be represented officially, after all.

Then both men found themselves piled under by giggling teens and kids - any excuse to pounce Spock without making it seem like a prank, you see. In fact, the blonds in the group used it as paybacks for the blond-joke Spock had cracked earlier that morning. The fact that Joel and Kevin were also pulled into the pile was a side effect, though.

"Hey you little bunch of rats, let the old guys breathe!" Aaron said with a laugh as he walked in, to see what the noise was all about.

"Watch who you're calling rat, Air-head!" Gabe giggled from inside the mound of kids covering Spock, Allen, Joel, Kevin and Rafe.

"If the name fits...." Aaron giggled, as he wisely decided it would be best to leave the room.

"GETS HIMS!" Belar yelled as he wormed his way out of the mound and started running after Aaron.

Aaron tried to run, but somehow he found his way blocked by about a third of the kids from the pile. "No fair!" he laughed as they closed in on him and pounced from all sides.

Levi just sat by Joel and Kevin and shook his head.

"Dylan again?" Kevin asked as he laughed at the predicament Aaron found himself... under.

"No," Levi sighed as he rolled his eyes. "Bryce."

"Snitch!" Bryce yelled from 'somewhere' in the Aaron 'burial-mound'.

"Brat!" Levi yelled back, his smile giving away his feelings about his little brother.

"Imp!" both the other Mikyvis chorused.

"Dey always like dis, Daddy? Poppa?" Rafe asked from Spock's lap.

"Yes," both boys responded with a grin.

Joel grinned at his boy's giggles, then asked his father, "Daddy, can you and Poppa Allen look after Rafey while me and Kev go help Adz and the others?" His question gave away the fact that Kevin had told him Spock had already found out about the upcoming battle.

"Of course. I shall introduce him to your grandparents while you are away. Please take care of yourselves, my children. I shall be - put out - if anything were to happen to either of you," Spock replied, his eyes tightening noticeably.

"We will," they both answered together as their Cat guards came up to them.

Allen looked closely at Kevin, "We will have a long talk afterwards, Little One. I don't like you keeping these types of secrets from me - but I'll let you off this once. As long as you're careful."

Kevin hung his head slightly, "Sorry, Poppa. I didn' think you'd let me go if I'd have told you. I promise I'll be careful."

"Where's your bear and wolf?" Hermes asked Joel, as Allen pulled Kevin in for a quick hug.

"They'll meet us there," Joel responded with a smile. "They say they have things to do."

Hermes shrugged, "Okay. Matthew has already gone over to our Base to wait for us, and he said Brant will meet us there. Come on, Elf!"

Joel stood up, and helped Kevin to his feet. "You gonna try ordering your armour this time, Kev?" Joel giggled.

"Might as well. I wore it enough in the Tardis," Kevin replied hopefully.

Allen watched in stunned awe as Kevin called out "Shield!" and a suit of armour like Joel's morphed in from liquid air to snap into place around him.

"Hey! It worked!" Kevin giggled.

"I need one of those for when Zac opens his big mouth around the twins!" Mark chuckled as he watched the boys getting ready from a safe distance.

Kevin grinned over at him, "Go talk to the Guardian, then!"

/Blade of Surak, call me. I wish to meet someone in person/ came a voice that was clearly heard by everyone in the room.

Timmy and Pauly's heads poked up quickly from the pile of kids covering Aaron. They recognised the 'voice'.

Joel smiled and said, "Sure thing! Sa'ren!"

From out of a ripple in the air, a huge Sword pushed its way into being. Spock's eyebrows vanished into his fringe. "Is that what I think it is?" he asked, as he looked at the floating, Shattered Sword.

Joel nodded as he watched Timmy and Pauly make their way nervously toward the floating Sword that hung in the air before him.

/Do not fear me, Timothy Short. Nor you, Paul Short. As I told you, I like you/

"You're kewl!" Timmy giggled.

The Sa'ren pulsed with light briefly, and Joel recognised it as the Sword's version of a 'smile'.

/Take me in your left hand, Timothy. Ricky Michaels - please come here, too/

"How'd I get inta this?" Ricky giggled as he joined Timmy and Pauly.

/The Balance is uneven. You are both one and the same, yet not at the same time. I will remedy that/ the Sword answered the small boy. Timmy had already placed his hand on the hilt, and found that the weight was almost non-existent. /Place your left hand just under your partner's, Ricky - but make sure you are not touching/

"Okay... you belong to Unca Joel, so I trust ya," Ricky replied as he followed directions.

/Sa'ren - Time, Space and Matter mean naught to It which commands us. You must command/

"Command to do what?" Joel asked, his face puzzled.

/The Balance is uneven/

Joel's brow crinkled slightly, but he shrugged. Logic would dictate that he simply command it to be fixed, so - "Make them even, Sword of Surak!"

Joel's armour glowed brightly, as did the Shattered Sword. As did Timmy and Ricky... and, brightest of all, Timmy's Phasenmorph...

/Kitisci Lhaamin, be thou twinned!/

Ricky gasped, "My arm! My arm feels funny!"

*Hello, Ricky*

"Wha...? Timmy? What was...?" Ricky spluttered as the light quickly vanished. He looked at his arm and gasped again. On his arm was a red striped phasenmorph, identical to Red who was on Timmy's arm.

"KEWL!!!" Timmy cried out happily. "You've got a FUZZYMORE!!!"

*Do you like me, Ricky?* Ricky heard in his mind again.

Mutely, Ricky nodded his head.

/He is Rahm'Fo-dan - your Thunder Shield, and brother to Kitisci Lhaamin. Now, Balance is restored/

"Oh crap... TWO overpowered midgets???" Aaron chuckled, as he struggled out from under the pile to see what was happening.

"Bite us, Uncle Air-head!" they both giggled back at him.

Pauly giggled as he reached out and rubbed the spine of both Timmy's and Ricky's 'morph, causing both boys' eyes to roll in their heads. "Funny!"

The Sword pulsed at the small child, /Take me into both of your hands, and I shall answer a question for you - but only in part. What you do with the answer is up to you.../

As Timmy and Ricky handed the Sword to their little brother, Gabe asked Joel, "Did that Sword just create a living being?"

Joel shook his head, "No. The armour told me that the Sa'ren took a cell from Timmy's 'morph and formed a twin from it - basically, an advanced type of 'test-tube-baby-morph'. Life can only come from Above."

"Oh. Cool!... why is Pauly glowing?" Gabe spluttered.

Paul Mills rushed over, but didn't actually touch his little shadow. "What's happening, Joel?" he fretted nervously.

Pauly was, however, completely unconcerned. In fact, he was giggling about his ears tickling and about the rest of his body as well.

Joel started to laugh, "Ummm.... I hope Cor and Ted don't freak out!"

"What is going...?" Aaron started, but stopped dead as the glow vanished from around Pauly. "Oh! My! GOD!"

/This is the only answer I can give for whom you will find as your own 'special person', Child of Family 'Clan Short' of Vulcan/ said the Sword as it floated out of Pauly's now olive coloured hands and vanished away into its ripple effect.

"Why's ev'ryone lookin' at me?" Pauly asked as he glanced at the stunned faces everyone there had pulled.

"Umm... you're a... you are... ummm..." Paul spluttered, but Joel finished.

"You're half human," the Son of Spock giggled as he listened to what his Armour was telling him.

"I taught I wuz ALL human," Pauly replied as he scratched the side of his head. In doing so, he touched his right ear. "HUH?! Pointed???" he exclaimed.

Joel continued to giggle, "Umm, you were ALL human. Now you're half Vulcan! Like ME!"

"And what's more... you're a platinum BLOND Vulcan!!!" Travis howled in glee as he fell to the floor laughing.

Spock stood up and came toward his grandson, and Pauly looked up into his grandpa's face. Pauly's blue eyes had changed shade slightly and now looked much like Joel's, but his hair was as bright as before. "Are dey prankin' me, Gramps?" he asked softly.

Spock shook his head. "No, child. Do you trust me?"

Pauly nodded his head, a smile coming to his face as big Paul joined him and put his hands on Pauly's shoulders.

Spock nodded, then tapped his communicator. "T'Pol. Could you join me in the Rec Room, please?"

"Certainly, Spock. I am on the Enterprise. I will be there in three minutes."

"Not really," Levi giggled as Quint snapped his fingers, and T'Pol was suddenly there.

"Or not," she said, her voice impassive. "What do you need, son?" she asked. Then she saw Pauly. "Never mind - I have worked it out. Instead, how is it that this child has become one of our blood?"

"The Sa'ren," Spock said, his eyes relaying more than his words did.

"'Change that which is to be Anew...'," she quoted. "I see. We can use the Dining Room table. That is approximately the right height."

"Agreed." Spock nodded before looking down into Pauly's questioning gaze. "Your father, Cory, is not able to Name you, for he is not Vulcan and therefore has no chance of being able to See. Now that you are Vulcan, you must be Named, or you will remain 'Forsaken' by our culture. As the next Vulcan male in the line, I am now tasked with Naming you - just as you saw me Name your uncle, Sa'ren."

"But I has a name already, Gramps," Pauly smiled up at the man.

"Yes, but now, you'll have another one - maybe like mine!" Joel giggled as he moved over to hug the boy, with Paul.

Pauly smiled, "Otay! Dat sounds KEWL!"

Spock looked at his son, "As his uncle, can you assist Timmy, Calen and Cabe in getting him ready?"

"Sure, Daddy," Joel bubbled.

T'Pol sat down on the nearest sofa to mentally prepare, while Spock went into the Dining Room.

Kevin looked around at the other kids, "Let's all go into the Dining Room, too - they need to get things ready here. I'll come with you and tell you about what'll happen."

They all nodded and left, following Kevin into the Dining Room. Rafe didn't know what he was meant to be doing, however, so he clung onto Joel tightly.

Joel smiled down at him before gesturing Calen and CD over to join them. Ricky gave Timmy and Pauly a quick peck on the cheek before scampering out to join the others. Paul Mills did not leave, however. "He's like my little brother. I'm staying, too," he said stubbornly.

"That is good," T'Pol said, nodding at them all. "Sa'ren, please continue while I meditate."

Joel turned to Timmy, Calen and CD, "You saw how I was 'dressed' when I was Named, yes?"

"Dressed?" CD giggled. "Uh, yeah... hehehe..."

Pauly giggled as well. "I gotta get nekid!" he crowed with even more giggles.

Joel nodded, then said, "In a moment, I'll get you the Naming Robes for after. Once Daddy has Named you, your big brothers haveta dress you in it."

"And I do like you did? Just let 'em?" Pauly rushed out with excitement.

"Yup. Just relax. It's really fun," Joel smiled as he gave Rafe at his side another squeeze.

"'Kay!"

While Timmy and the others were getting Pauly 'dressed for the occasion', Joel went into Main CIC and to the replicator. A minute later and he went back into the Rec Room to find T'Pol by the door leading to the Dining Room with Pauly being carried in her arms. "We are ready, Sa'ren. You and Pauly's brothers need to stand behind your father."

Joel nodded, handed the robe he had replicated to Timmy, and then led them and his small son in to stand behind Spock.

Aaron turned the lights down so that the room was as dark as the Cavern of Naming on Vulcan, then took his place in the crowd watching.

In the darkness of the room they all watched as T'Pol made her way in and toward Spock, who was standing at the far end of the large dining table.

"Spock, behold your Grandson," she stated clearly, as she carefully handed the small boy into Spock's arms.

Spock looked into the smiling face of the blond haired Vulcan child he now held, then lowered him to lie on the table before him.

Then, just as with his own son, Spock placed his fingertips at Pauly's temple and turned his gaze inwards to See.

Everyone watched and waited for a long moment before Spock breathed out slowly. "I Name you Senva, Child of Cory, Child of Spock," he said, before leaning down to kiss Senva's forehead.

Timmy giggled and moved forward with Calen and CD. Easily and quickly, they had their little Vulcan brother dressed in the black Naming Robes that Joel had replicated. Then they hugged him until he squeaked.

"Why does that name sound familiar?" Aaron asked, as he scratched his head. "Something I heard in Mr. T's lessons a few weeks ago..."

Joel looked at 'Senva' in wonder, "Senva was an ancient Vulcan healer, over 50 or so thousand years ago. He could see what a person's problems were with just a glance, and his love for others, and pain at their pain made him famous!"

"Do you like your name, Pauly?" Timmy asked, as he hugged his little brother even tighter.

Pauly giggled, "Yeah, it means I could be just like Daddy!"

Tommy giggled, "Pauly, your Daddy counna put a band-aid on the broad siduva barn! You better be tryin ta be better'n him!"

"Is that after when he eventually manages to HIT it with his morph?" Aaron giggled.

Pauly poked his little green tongue out at them both. "Don't pick on my DADDY!" he protested, before giggling.

"We have to go, Joel," Aphrodite whispered as she quickly went to Joel's side. "We're gonna be late for the meeting."

"Okay," he answered, before kneeling down to pull Pauly, Timmy and Ricky into a hug. "I'll talk to you after I get back, okay?"

"Okay," they chorused happily.

"Will you help Daddy look after Rafey? And can you wait til I'm back before making him Rugrat and Tribe? I'd like to see him go through the Swearing In."

"Sure!" Timmy giggled, as Pauly quickly pulled the surprised Rafe into a hug with the rest of them.

"You be a good boy and make friends, okay?" Joel smiled at his new son.

"I will, Daddy Joel," he nodded earnestly.

Joel stepped back and crooked his finger at Pauly, who slipped to his side. "Pauly - Rafey has a problem with animals. Um, could you talk to him a bit? Help him with his fear?"

"Sure, Unca Joel! We'll start wit aninimal cookies!" Pauly replied with a grin.

Joel smiled, "Okay. You know best. Kyle told me in my head that he and you'd know better than anyone here."

"Uh huh. Me an Ky had a bad daddy. Did Raffy have a bad daddy, too?" Pauly asked seriously.

"Uh huh. He had a bad mammy, too. He's okay with Blackie and 'Cheya, but they're goin' with me to a rescue. We'll be back later to help," Joel answered as he ran his fingers over Pauly's pointy ears softly.

"K... me an Slider an Allie will help him," Pauly said with a determined look.

Joel kissed Pauly quickly. "Thanks. Seeya later," he whispered.

He stepped back and linked hands with Kevin. The other cats came up and gathered around them. Kevin asked, "Shall I call for beam out?"

Joel smiled, "Yeah, unless you wanna walk to Camp Bam Bam..."

As soon as he said the words 'Camp Bam Bam', his armour glowed and the air turned to liquid around him, and around the others with him.

Then, they vanished.

Spock's eyes widened, and silence hung in the air for a long moment. Then he turned to Levi, "Was that you?"

Levi shook his head slowly.

Spock was about to ask something else when his comm went off. "Poppa Spock?" It was Jason.

"Yes, son?" Spock answered after tapping the badge.

"We have Raphael's former parents in custody on the Yoshuhlnak. Do you want to beam up to run the judgement, or shall we leave it for Tel?"

"I believe I can trust Telez to do the right thing. I have to help my newest grandson, and I would prefer to stay here and begin doing so," Spock answered.

"Understood. Voice out."

Spock looked again at where his son had just been, then he turned to look at the others in the room. "I believe we will find out what has just happened later, children. Go back to your play."

"Yes, Gramps!" "Yes, Dad!" "Okay, Uncle Spock!"

Spock then looked down at Ricky, Timmy, Pauly and Rafe. "Senva - will you and your brothers join me and Raphael for lunch with my parents?"

Pauly blinked at first, then giggled. "My new name! I's gonna take a bit ta get used to it! Sure, Gramps!"

"T'Pol?" Spock asked, looking over at his mother-in-law.

She nodded. "I shall call for Trip to join us there."

---

Meanwhile:

"You wanna go find Timmy and the others?" Jimmy asked Solkar as they eventually climbed out of the pool. Jimmy had been teaching Solkar to swim, so when everyone else had vacated the pool on a search for food, they had remained. Solkar had gotten fairly good at swimming already. 'Must be a Vulcan thing,' Jimmy thought to himself as he watched the water run off his new friend's naked form. 'He's cute.'

Solkar noticed Jimmy's eyes roaming over his body and blushed. He hid it as best he could and answered, "No. I would like to go and see my grandparents for food. Fa'Komi said I could eat with them. Do you want to join us?"

Jimmy grinned and nodded, then took Solkar's hand to head for the showers.

Solkar watched for a moment as Jimmy adjusted the spray. "Why do we need to shower? Are we not wet enough?"

Jimmy giggled, "But we're all stinky, Sol. We need to wash off the pool water, or it's gonna smell weird all day!"

Solkar sniffed at himself, and his forehead creased. "I am unable to smell anything amiss."

"That's 'cos we've been in the water for hours. We're used to it, but to others, we smell funny," Jimmy explained.

"Okay, I shall do as you suggest." The seven year old Vulcan smiled as he went to join Jimmy under the shower.

Jimmy grinned at him, then handed him the shower-gel. "Can you wash my back, please?"

Solkar nodded and began to spread the soap over his friend's back and neck.

Soon, both of them were giggling and covered in suds and their hair seemed white with shampoo as well.

"Sword fight?" Jimmy asked with a giggle.

Solkar raised an eyebrow, then sneezed as a bit of soap went up his nose. "What do you mean?" he asked, after Jimmy had finished laughing at him.

Jimmy looked down and patted gently at what Solkar was 'pointing' up at him. "Sword fight," he giggled as he used his own 'sword' to bat against Solkar's.

Solkar giggled and nodded, understanding the jest and the reference.

It was in the middle of their 'duel' that Amanda walked in and found them. "Shall I come back later?" she asked with amusement in her voice.

Jimmy, blushing, stammered, "We were only playing, Granma 'Manda. We weren't playing those other games."

"...yet," Amanda completed for him, with a wink. Then she chuckled, "Get dried up. Your lunch is ready."

Solkar wasn't blushing at all. Jimmy had been right; they were only sword-fighting, after all. "We will, Fa'Komi. Can Jimmy join us?"

"Certainly. I've just been told we have a few more eating with us, and your father will be there as well, Jimmy," she added, looking down at Kirk Junior.

"Kewl!" Jimmy bubbled. "We'll be there soon!"

Amanda nodded before leaving them to finish off their shower.

"What did my grandmother mean by 'yet', Jimmy?" Solkar asked curiously.

Jimmy blinked, then grinned. "I'll tell you later. And show you, too, if you want."

"Can you not tell me now?" Solkar asked, as he followed Jimmy to the towels.

"Well, it involves our dickies, and playing, and feeling REAL good!" Jimmy giggled.

"Sex?" Solkar asked mid wipe with his towel, staring at Jimmy.

"Well, yeah. Kinda. You've never touched your dickie and made it feel good?" he asked curiously.

"I am not even seven, by Vulcan standards," Solkar answered, as he went back to drying himself down. "I am at least four years away from the start of puberty, and longer until Pon Farr. I have never felt the need to do so."

"Boy, you've been missing out!" Jimmy giggled. "If you wanna, I can show you later."

Solkar looked at him blankly for a moment, then blushed slightly, "You like me, do you not?"

"Well, yeah! You're my friend... aren't you?" Kirk Junior asked, his voice becoming uncertain.

"Of course. I meant, you like me as more than just friends. Am I correct?"

"Uh... well, yeah. A bit. You're nice and cute and I... I dunno, but my tummy feels funny when I look at you, and even funner when I touch you or you me, an'..."

"I understand. I like you, too. I get, as you say here, flutterbyes in my stomach..." Solkar said as he blushed harder, but he was interrupted by Jimmy laughing.

"Flutterbyes?!" Jimmy howled as he fell to his butt laughing.

"Is that not the saying?" Solkar queried.

"Kinda," chortled Jimmy. "They're called 'butterflies', Sol!"

"Ah. Thank you. We do not have such insects on Vulcan," the young Vulcan smiled before he too giggled.

"Come on! I'm hungry!" Jimmy giggled, as he pulled himself back to his feet and ran for his clothes, with Solkar hot on his heels.

It wasn't long before both boys were running though the side door to Teri's house, and heading toward the kitchen and dining room. As they skidded, laughing and giggling, into the Dining Room, they saw that everyone was already at the table waiting for them.

"Solkar! Solkar! Lookie! I'm a VULCAN, TOO!" Pauly crowed out as he leapt down from his chair and ran over to greet the slightly older boy.

Solkar and Jimmy's jaws dropped open, and they stared at the platinum blond Vulcan boy in front of them. Solkar managed to find his voice first, "How is this possible?"

"Make up?" Jimmy asked, as he reached to tug lightly on Pauly's ear. Pauly giggled. "Nope, it's not make up!" Jimmy gasped.

"Sit down, children, and I shall explain as best that I am able," Spock said lightly. "And Solkar, I am very pleased to finally meet you," he added, looking at the part Romulan child who was still gaping at Pauly.

Solkar stiffened slightly as his blue eyes darted over to meet Spock's. "Thank you, Admiral Spock," he murmured.

Spock's brow furrowed slightly at Solkar's discomfort, and Sarek and Amanda did not miss it either. "What is the matter?" Spock asked, looking closer and closer at the small boy.

"I am fine, sir," Solkar said, averting his eyes and yet trembling slightly. "I just did not expect to meet you here."

Amanda came around the table and knelt down before him. "That is not what is troubling you, is it?" she asked, gently.

Jimmy was concerned as he traded looks between them all. Sarek looked as confused as ever a Vulcan could look, while Spock's face was filled with curiosity.

"I am fine, Fa'komi," Solkar repeated himself, his eyes now calm as he fixed them on her.

Amanda's eyes narrowed slightly. She knew he was lying, but she was willing to wait for him to feel like opening up more. "Okay. Take your seat, Solkar," she said softly.

Once they had all retaken their places and began to eat, Jimmy asked Amanda and Sarek, "Why does Sol call you grandma and grandpa?"

Sarek swallowed his mouthful and answered, "When he was born, I was told that his father could not be there to Name him. Since Solkar's mother was of my House, and since she had no other direct family alive, I took the responsibility to Name him. When his mother came to us two years ago and told us that she was dying, she asked that we take Solkar as our Ward. We did so, and he has called us his grandparents ever since."

"It is a common practice within Houses, James," Spock offered. "We Vulcans care for all of our children in any way possible. Saavik was a fine member of our House, and a credit to me as my pupil. I will continue to miss her."

"So do I," Solkar murmured sadly.

Jimmy reached and squeezed Solkar's hand quickly, then looked over at Pauly and changed the subject, "Come on, then! Tell us how Pauly got to be a Vulcan!"

---

Camp Bam Bam:

The briefing had gone as planned, and everyone was now in their respective modes of transport and being transported to the battle location by Daileass. Kevin was giggling to himself as Joel bitched and moaned over the comm with Juan. He stopped giggling, however, when he saw the hurt look appear on Joel's face; even though he'd hidden it in his voice, Kevin knew that Joel thought his Juan had brushed him off.

'You okay?' Kevin asked down their bond-link.

Joel mutely shook his head. Then he blurted, 'You said it would be okay! You and Jace and the rest! Now he hates me... he hates me...'

Brant was watching both boys carefully. He felt them talking, but due to the nature of their link, he was unable to tell what they were saying. "You okay, Joel? You're face is telling me you're having a problem."

Joel sniffed and wiped at his eyes. Even though they were still dry, they were burning as they threatened tears. "Juan hates me, 'cos I pranked him and the others..."

Brant repressed a giggle, but only just. "No, he doesn't. He was only playing with you, Lil'elf."

Joel shook his head, "No. He hates me."

A few seats down, one of the Unit boys - a fourteen year old with dark brown hair and an open expression of friendship that he shared with the world - grinned and reached to tap Joel on the shoulder. The young Vulcan looked over at him, "Yeah, Cliff?"

"Dude, what makes you think he hates you so much?" Cliff asked.

"'Cos he'd never turn down me tellin' 'im stories," Joel muttered as he stared morosely at the floor. "I shouldn't have listened ta Jace and them."

"Jace planned that?" Cliff asked, curiously.

"Yeah. Well, kinda. He wanted ta get back at them for making him and the others in the Dragon girls, so..."

Cliff chuckled. "I think it was a good prank, then. Adam and Juan went overboard with that one. You came up with the idea?"

"Sorta. I heard Koth ask if it was possible to make them think it, so I worked on it to make it work," Joel responded.

"Don't worry," Cliff smiled. "I'll make sure they know it was Jace and not you, Elf. And no, Juan don't hate you. Remember, it was Jory that told you not to read the story - right?"

"Right," Joel replied, his face brightening a lot. "Right! Juan still loves me, then!"

Kevin started giggling again.

It wasn't long before Kevin's giggles stopped, for they were soon on the ground and setting up the Intel forward base - while dodging incoming fire. Kevin was glad for his morph and armour at that point, considering how many bullets were flying about.

He and Joel were at the nearest comm station and both were relaying orders back and forth from the VSO and Unit groups inside the buildings and out in the courtyards.

"TOSS ME!!!! BUT NOT A WORD TO THE ELF!" came Juan's voice, in a fake Gimli accent.

Joel looked up at the screen, which was receiving a feed from one of the Genesis Bases' cameras that they had tapped into, and started laughing when he saw Amur pick up and toss the small boy like a frisbee. At the same time he received another message on his padd's screen. 'Dragon in position. Fire Eagle and the Cute trio have found Fire. Friendlies accounted for. We are unleashing Hell!'

As he tapped in a response, he called over the comm to Adam Casey, "Oh, look! A flying Dwarf! Got all teams in place, Boss. The Dragon are all inside. Chipmunks and Horny One have linked up with Fire."

Before Adam could respond, there was a thunderous detonation from inside the base. Joel looked up at another monitor only to see Jory tossing teddy shaped explosives at various soon-to-be-dead Genesis soldiers. After laughing himself silly, he went outside of cover to watch as the main gates were blown off their hinges. Kevin tried to pull him back, but while doing so, bullets started pinging off of their armour - and off the shield that Kevin's BFG had encased them both in.

"If you go down to Arizona today, you'll sure have a big surprise. If you go down to that G-Base today, you better go in full armour and a tank... cos today's the day when Jory's Teddies are having... a blast..." Joel started singing gleefully.

"That didn't rhyme, Elf," Kevin shot back, as he managed to pull Joel out of the field of fire.

"I know. Kinda hard to do when you're racing for cover, Not-Elf," Joel giggled.

'Huff!'

"I-Cheya! You made it!" Joel shouted as both his Sehlat and his wolf pup appeared through a liquid effect in the air. "You getting the Guardian to give you lifts?"

I-Cheya shook his head before stomping all four feet at once and encasing himself in his armour. 'Huff!'

"What's wrong with him?" Kevin asked as he peeked around at the chaos of the war-zone.

"Dunno," Joel shrugged. "What's up, boy?"

'Huff huff huffff!'

"You sure?" Joel asked seriously.

'Huff!'

"Fuck! Come on. We're needed, Not-Elf," he yelled as he jumped onto I-Cheya's back, then catching Blackie as the young wolf pounced into his arms, also fully armoured.

"Boss told us to stay here!" Kevin protested.

"I'll say 'sorry' later. Come on!"

'Huff!'

*Bark*

Kevin sighed and climbed up in front of Joel.

"Hi ho Sehlat! AWAY!" Joel yelled.

Artemus and Aphrodite were gob-smacked, but raced to follow them. All the while cursing at them, of course.

Matthew and Brant simply looked at each other. Matthew pressed a button on his belt and vanished from sight, while Brant started running after the cats as well. Beside him, a shadow was keeping pace.

"Oh, God... If I die, I'm going to be soooo pissed off at you!" Kevin grouched as he was held tight by Joel. Blackie, now squashed behind him, wriggled in amusement.

"You've got the same armour as me. And a morph!" Joel reassured him.

"I might throw up at seeing this too close!" Kevin whined back.

"Meh, bad guys. S'long as I don't kill them, I don't care. Wow! I-Cheya, you can run fast!" Joel spluttered as I-Cheya picked up speed and ran for the main gates.

They rounded the entrance, and witnessed hell everywhere. Joel didn't have time to worry, however, for Kevin sent down their link, 'What's going on?'

'I-Cheya said that some kids are in trouble. The building Sammy went to crack open has more than he can handle. There's something going on there that we need to sort out!'

They hammered through the now opened doorway into a large greeting room. A few bodies littered the floor, all dressed in Genesis uniforms. "Sammy don't mess about, does he?" the 'shadow' that was Matthew giggled.

Brant grinned and shook his head. "Sammy's THAT way," he pointed off to their left down a hallway.

"How do you know that?" Kevin asked as he slipped from I-Cheya's back, followed by Joel and Blackie.

Brant tapped his nose, "I can smell him."

From a door at the end of the hallway, a group of figures came on silent feet toward them. Artemus raised her automatic rifle and took aim, while Joel unsheathed his Vulcan sword, the trillpa'morov, and moved to stand with his bodyguard. His eyes widened when the approaching figures came into the light of the greeting room, and Artemus whistled.

There were three G-Cats, two tigers and a lion, a rather large gorilla, two badgers and a wolverine. The three cats looked to be about the same age as Aphrodite, twelve; the two badgers seemed shorter but older, about fourteen. The wolverine seemed to be about the same age, but the gorilla was a true silver-back and fully matured. It was not the gorilla who seemed to be in the lead, however, but the wolverine instead - and he looked pissed off. "Who the fuck are you?" he grated, his own rifle pointed at Joel's chest and his free paw/hand clenching and unclenching.

"We're Clan Short - we're here to help you," Joel said, as he brought his sword down slightly. "Is my brother Sammy back that way?"

The gorilla snorted, "He's being petted by the babies. They find him... cuddly."

Joel grinned, "That's my SamSam!"

"No time for this shit. If you're here to help, then we have to save the others," the wolverine grated.

"Calm yourself, Logan," the gorilla said softly. "We can't rescue the little ones if we don't think things through."

"Shut up, Graeme," Logan the wolverine snapped. "I'll tear those fuckers apart to get to them - what other plan is needed?"

Joel sighed. "How many guards are between us and these kids?"

"More than we had guarding us. The main barracks for this building is between us and them," one of the badgers supplied, pointing at the door opposite. "The one you call Sammy said he phasered the door to stop them joining in, but he didn't know the Reject Room was through there. We've got to get through a sealed door AND about thirty guards to get to them."

"Thirty?" Matthew said as he made himself visible, shocking the gorilla slightly. "Damn, we should have invited the 'family' over for dinner, Brant."

"You've got a point. Anyway, I'll deal with the door," Brant said, as he gave Matthew's hand a squeeze. "It'll be easy with my Dark Gift... the hard bit will be deciding to destroy just the door, or the whole wall as well," he added with a grin.

Logan stared at him, then shrugged, "Get your ass moving then, pale one."

Brant looked at the door and concentrated as Logan moved to stand in front of it. Joel was right at his side.

The door imploded and fell down to the ground, now the size of a golf ball. The two guards on the other side had only a second to react before Logan had ripped their hearts from their chests. Joel grimaced, "I bet that hurt."

"Who gives a fuck?" Logan said, as he threw the hearts to one side and stepped over the fallen bodies that were still twitching. The corridor he and Joel entered was short and free of more soldiers, so Kevin and the others started to move toward the now door-less doorway. They stopped dead, however, when the door on the far end of the corridor burst open and guards poured through, firing a solid stream of bullets right at Joel and Logan.

Joel didn't even blink, knowing that his armour - and the shield from Kevin's morph - would deflect the bullets. Logan, however, did not know how well protected Joel was. As a G-Hybrid, he had been trained that a human life was more important than his own. Since Joel was in his full armour, he had no telltale signs of his Vulcan heritage to confuse the irritable wolverine.

Logan stepped in front of Joel, and took the full salvo of fire. He hit the ground hard.

From behind Joel, Kevin's voice rang out, "Pricks! Don't you shoot at MY Sa'ren!" Then a blast of electrical power rippled passed Joel and over Logan to slam into the approaching guards - throwing them back into the room they had come from. Joel took this as an opportunity to pull the unmoving Logan back out of the corridor and to one side of the greeting hall. Matthew and the gorilla took up station on either side of the doorway to keep the enemy pinned down.

"Shit, he's hit bad," Aphrodite muttered as she started emergency treatment. "Arty? Call Skipper fast!"

"They are massing again!" Matthew called over as Artemus did as her sister had requested.

I will block path! the now adult sized I-Cheya sent forcefully as he lumbered over and squeezed his huge arse through the door and into the corridor. Then, he roared. Like bowling... perfect score... try again, pricks?

"Language!" Joel said absently as he helped Aphrodite with Logan. He was holding pressure down on one of the deepest wounds, and he could feel through his armoured hands that Logan's life was slipping away. "No, don't go," Joel whispered as a tear trickled from his eye and rolled down his cheek. "Please, you can't go. Not now, not yet," he whispered even more softly, and the tear fell from his cheek and through the open part of his helm.

It landed on Logan's chest, and for a moment, Joel's Armour glimmered - just enough so that Kevin, Brant and the others there noticed. From the air vent in the ceiling, the slightest of gasps could be heard.

Logan began to breathe a tiny bit easier; and, seeing this, Joel looked up at the air vent.

Someone or something was there.

His attention was diverted when Bobby and Skipper came running in through the blasted open main doors. They had no reason to ask why they had been called, for the blood covered and barely breathing wolverine kid was plain to see. "Okay, out of our way, guys," Bobby said with authority as he and Skipper got to business.

Joel stood up and looked at Aphrodite. She was covered in Logan's blood. Then he looked down at himself. Not one drop was on him, not even the palms of his gauntlets that had been keeping pressure on some of Logan's wounds. Deciding to investigate that later, Joel shook his head and looked at the Gorilla and the others who had come with Logan. "Stay here and guard the entrance. When Bobby and Skipper are done, help them to the triage."

Graeme the gorilla nodded. "You sure you won't need us?"

"We have protections you do not have," Joel said softly. "I won't see any more of you guys hurt."

"But... we're designed for this!" one of the tigers protested.

Joel shook his head, "No. You're alive and sentient. You are designed to live. Same as us. We have tech and other stuff that protects us better. You don't, right now. So you stay and look after Logan. I'll save the kids in the Reject Room."

As the tiger nodded uncertainly, Joel headed for the doorway that was blocked by I-Cheya. "'Cheya, you need to go on a diet... you've got a fat butt!" he giggled as he petted I-Cheya's rump, causing the bear to wag his tail.

Not fat! Big boned! Cheek!

"Just shrink your ass already!" Brant giggled. "I'm thirsty and want a drink, and you're blocking the way to the bar!"

Kevin took position next to Joel, "We ready?"

Everyone nodded, so Joel patted I-Cheya smartly on the rump, "Forward, boy!"

*Huff!*

Like a tank, I-Cheya charged forward. The yells of shock from the end of the hallway was suddenly cut off by the sound of the reinforced door being closed.

"Need me to use my Gift again?" Brant called from behind I-Cheya.

I-Cheya huffed with amusement - and sped up.

The sound of a solid, three inch thick steal reinforced door being torn like paper was something Joel had never experienced; but he found it most interesting.

So, too, did the soldiers on the other side who were too close and got torn in half by I-Cheya's claws at the same time. At least, they were briefly interested...

Then, the group was in the middle of the main guard room, and soldiers were surrounding them. What happened next, to be completely blunt, was that Joel's task force became a natural disaster that had found a place to happen.

With the most vicious display of organised unfriendliness one could imagine, I-Cheya, Blackie, Brant, Matthew and the two She-Cats tore into the forces on one side - leaving Joel and Kevin fighting back to back on the other. Brant spared a few seconds to watch with awe as Kevin and Joel almost danced with spellbinding grace - moving as one, with one purpose and one heart. Their armour, and Kevin's morph, meant that the ballistic firearms of the guards were rendered completely useless, so they had both drawn their blades and were disarming those that came into melee distance to them. Joel's trillpa'morov flashed faster than could be followed, rendering guns and rifles useless and in pieces as well as cutting armour and clothing from his enemies - yet not one drop of blood was spilt by the young Vulcan. Kevin's own Vulcan short swords, gained inside the Tardis, danced no less gracefully - but he did draw some blood.

What Brant found most impressive, after caving in both sides of a soldier's head that had come within 'hand-clapping' distance, was that neither of the tiny boys took a life. Around their moving and dancing forms, bodies began to pile up - all alive, yet unconscious.

Around the others, however, was a fair to middling amount of blood and gore. I-Cheya's claws cut swathes out of the massed soldiers, while Blackie's sharp teeth were ripping hamstrings and then throats. Brant was simply braining the enemies - so much so that a new fashion of brains seeping from ears became in vogue. The two She-Cats were using four paws, teeth and claws to pull the enemies apart.

What shocked Brant, though, was the viciousness of Matthew. His boyfriend was in his element - and Brant finally understood the reason for his nickname 'Vampire'. That, and his speed, which was... preternatural. He was moving too fast for a human; FAR too fast. Yet not fast enough to be obvious to any but a Vampire... Brant began to worry, while kicking a soldier so hard in the nuts that he had to pull his foot from the now dead man's chest.

"You're making a mess," Kevin said to them, as they finished off the last of the soldiers, while banging some poor sod's head against a wall repeatedly - just to be sure he wouldn't get up for a while, of course.

"Yeah," Joel muttered, chewing on a maple and pecan cookie, "does it really take that long to deal with them by ripping them to tiny pieces? We were finished AGES ago!"

"Only by six seconds," Matthew said, not even panting from his exertions.

"Five point three one nine six, to be precise," Joel supplied as he carefully wiped the crumbs off of his gauntlets.

Matthew poked his tongue out at the Vulcan, then levelled his wrist mounted phaser at the mound of 'sleeping' guards near Kevin and Joel.

"NO!" Joel ordered, stepping quickly between them and Matthew.

Matthew looked surprised, "They are enemies of children, Joel. They deserve death."

"We don't know whether they wanted to be here, or were made to be, Matthew. They will stand formal trial under Vulcan justice," Joel insisted.

"This is Vulcan justice - VSO justice," Matthew said, slightly lowering his phaser.

"I am in charge of the Clan at this time, and you have been transferred from your superiors to the Clan's Night Watch. You will, while working directly for the Clan, obey Clan procedures," Joel said seriously. "They are to be mind-scanned, then face Standard Vulcan Justice."

"As you wish, Patriarch," Matthew said, nodding his head.

Joel's eyes widened, but Kevin giggled. "You said you were in charge of Clan Short, Sa'r," Kevin grinned. "That makes you the stand-in patriarch for now."

"Oh, boo to you all. Come on!" Joel said, as he rolled his eyes and made for the only other exit from the room.

Through it, two Genesis soldiers came, and both had their guns trained on Joel. "Die, fucker!" one yelled, while the other dropped to one knee to take aim at the small Vulcan.

Joel's lips curled in a snarl, for he could hear, from beyond the door they were blocking, the whimpering of small children. Then a hiss sounded and all other noises cut off. Joel, however, was already moving... without moving.

The others saw Joel vanish into a liquid effect from where he had been standing, only to reappear behind the two soldiers. The one kneeling was the first to hit the deck face first as he was felled by a nerve pinch. The other was sent flying toward Brant by a nice little roundhouse that Joel performed. "Chuck Norris Attack!" Joel giggled evilly.

Brant's face grew a feral smile. He murmured "Lunch time!" as the man came screaming into his 'loving' arms.

Me claim left-overs! I-Cheya sent, while watching Brant start 'eating'.

While the two hunters were busy with the soon dead soldier, Matthew looked at Joel seriously. "What happened there?" he asked.

"What happened where?" Joel asked, feeling totally confused as he was melding with the unconscious soldier at his feet.

"You. Transporting without a transporter. What gives?" Artemus asked.

"Dunno," Joel muttered, as he finished his meld. He picked up and tossed the unconscious man into the corner. "I just... did it. Not sure how."

Kevin shrugged, then asked, "What did you learn from him?"

"The door beyond this hallway leads to the 'Rejects' room. The kids we're after are in there, and I know at least one's alive - I heard a cry - but there may be more. However, the door can't be opened from this side."

Kevin nodded, then pulled a large, long gun from a holster on his back, "Looks like I'll get to play with Juan's 'boomstick' that he gave me, then."

Matthew giggled, "His what?!"

"Juan gave me this. He said I'd know when to use it. Some type of grenade launcher - or something."

Joel grinned, then looked at the two feasting hunters. "Come on, starvers. Time to rescue someone! And leave that one," he said, pointing at the second, still sleeping soldier. "He was just doing his job. He hates this place, and wanted out, but was afraid for his own kids."

*BURP*

"Come on, Fatty-Sehlat," Joel giggled.

Told you! Me no fat!! Me big boned!!!

"Yeah, yeah... come on!"

Joel was the first to head down the hallway. He rounded the corner and saw ahead a large reinforced steel door. "Mmm... Dunno if your boomstick will work, Kevvy. Brant might have to do this one."

Kevin smiled and pushed in front of Joel. He levelled the 'gun' at the door, and fired.

After picking both himself and his Vulcan husband up from the floor, and after patting the sides of his head to stop the ringing in his ears, Kevin asked with a shout, "Did it work?"

"Only if you meant to do that to the fucking ceiling, yes!" Matthew shouted back from around the corner.

"Speak up! For God's sake, stop whispering!" Aphrodite yelled back.

"What the fuck did you say? And Kev, if you do that again, you'll be the first brother I'll eat!" Brant shouted from a side door, where the blast had thrown the Vampire.

Joel was about to reply when his vision blurred slightly. His eyes swam a bit, then he was looking around at the hallway and door. It looked just as it had seconds ago, only now it was as if he could see through everything.

"Uh, Joel?" Brant said softly, as he looked at Joel's now brightly glowing blue eyes, peeking at him from within the helm the Vulcan wore. The crown on the helm was also glowing and mist-like wisps of blue coloured power seemed to pour out of the corners of Joel's eyes.

Joel ignored him, for he was looking into the room beyond, and what he saw made his blood run cold. "We have to get in there," he yelled as he started running at the door in anger. He leapt into a flying kick straight for the door, "... right NOW!"

---

Leonidas cried silently as he was pushed further into his cage, and held onto Verne with his hands and feet tightly. Verne was sobbing and crying loudly in pain, and agony filled whimpers were coming from a curled-up ball on the floor outside of the cage. Dr Philps kicked at the ball a few more times, then levelled his gun at Leonidas, "Time for you, now. Worthless trash you may be, but I won't have the invaders rescue you. No, not rubbish like you."

Leonidas closed his eyes tightly. He didn't want to see his death come.

"Huw, you'd better take a look at this," Dr Robins called from the security monitor. "We have company. Looks like you sent those two men to their deaths."

"I don't care," Dr Philps spat as he moved over to look. He glanced at the screen, then the room shuddered as an almighty bang went off. "Christ alive, they're going to bring the place down. I'll turn on the field. That'll fry them," he spat angrily as the monitor showed the small figures in the hallway outside stagger back to their feet.

He moved to the door and started tapping on a control panel there, while Dr Robins went over to a second cage and looked inside. "Sorry, you two," he mocked as he levelled his own gun at a brother who was cuddling his sister. "Now, say cheese?" he grinned as his finger tightened on the trigger.

"....NOW!" came a yell from his right. He turned his head to see a foot inches away from his face. Then he was thrashing about on the floor after Joel's boot had slammed into his forehead and felled him.

"FUCKING BASTARD! Where the fuck did you come from?!" he cried out as pain lanced through his head.

Joel, again on his feet, shrugged. "Through the door. Shut up, arsehole!" he yelled.

"I don't know how you did that," Dr Philps spat from the doorway as he fired off his gun, "but you'll wish you hadn't."

The bullets did nothing against Joel's Armour, of course, but Dr Philps didn't have time to ponder that. The reason? He was as flat as a pancake a split second later...

---

Right before Joel's foot touched the door, he vanished through it. It was as if he had dived into water. Brant spluttered in shock, but I-Cheya roared and continued to do so as he started his own charge at the door.

He pounced, and all four of his paws connected with the door at the same time.

The door came down into the room beyond, and at least a foot of the wall on either side did, as well.

Hence the reason for Dr Philp's new 'pancake-look', for he had been just on the other side of said door.

I-Cheya huffed shortly, then returned to his natural size. Prick!

"Told you before! Language," Joel giggled, as he kicked out quickly and sent Dr Robins into a forced 'sleep'.

Kevin, Brant and Matthew piled into the room, and the two She-Cats were seconds behind them. It was the two girls that were the first to reach the kids locked in the cages, for maternal instinct kicked in right away. The brother and sister were freed first and held in tight hugs by the girls as they both cried. Joel and Kevin quickly freed Leonidas and Verne from their cage and held them close as they cried, while Brant and Matthew checked the weakly twitching ball on the floor.

"He's dying," Matthew said sorrowfully.

Joel handed Verne to him as he came over to look, and Verne started sobbing, "My brodder, my brodder! Noooo, Jules!!!"

"I won't have it," Joel spat as he knelt down to take the small ball of fur into his arms. Blood was pouring from the tiny child's side, and the boy's eyes - for he was obviously a boy - were growing dim. "I won't let you die," Joel said softly, and a tremor ran up everyone's spine.

The Armour of Sa'ren shimmered.

In Joel's arms, Jules gasped and squeaked, and as before, Joel heard a gasp from the air-vent. Then the pattering of small paws. Then silence.

Jules was now hugging Joel as tightly as his little arms could manage.

Sighing with relief, Brant sat down quickly. "There's more about you than meets the eye, Joel. I hope I get to be let in on the secret, soon!"

"Jules! Jules!" squealed the ball of energy that was squirming around in Matthew's arms. Matthew released him quickly, and watched as the small kid slammed into the cuddle Joel had going with Jules.

Matthew looked closely, now that they seemed to have the time, at all the rescued children.

They were all crosses with various animals. Jules and Verne had long thin bodies, comparatively short arms and legs, and long thick tails. Their faces were faintly cat like, up to and including their small pointed ears that sat high up on their heads. "Ferrets?" he breathed softly.

Jules looked over at him, "Uh huh! Uh huh! We ferrets, we is! We good at finding stuffs and stuff!"

"'Specially SHINYS!" Verne added seriously, before going back to pecking kisses all over Joel's helm and the parts of his face reachable.

Matthew giggled, then looked at the boy Kevin was cuddling. Larger than the two ferrets, yet much smaller than Kevin, he was holding onto his rescuer with both hands and feet. His face was simian, and his ears protruded from the sides of his head. He was covered in thick, black hair. He was a chimp. Mostly, at any rate it seemed.

The boy waved his fingers at Matthew, and Matthew blinked. He started to sign back at the boy, but the boy flicked a finger or two to stop him. "You're mute, not deaf, huh?" Matthew asked aloud.

The chimp-boy nodded.

"Leonidas, right?"

The boy nodded again, then signed quickly.

"Okay. Lee it is," Matthew smiled. He then looked at the two kids the She-Cats were cuddling. "Well, fuck me... badgers!"

Both the girl and the boy were white as snow, yet obviously crossed with badgers. They were larger than Lee the Chimp, and very heavy set. Their legs and arms looked short, but very powerful, and their fingers and toes had short but wicked looking claws coming off of them. They looked over at Matthew and he saw that their eyes were pale pink. "Do you have dark glasses in here, guys?" he asked the two albino badger-kids gently.

The boy nodded and pointed in the general direction of one of the cabinets. Then he spoke, and his voice was surprisingly high and light for the way he looked. "I'm Brian. This is Suzanne. Are you gonna hurt us?" he whimpered.

"No, my tastes run more toward assholes that hurt kids," Brant stated as he finally took the time to wipe off his chin.

Sue looked over at him as best she was able, and giggled, "I like him. He's funny."

Sitting on the floor, Joel was too busy giggling as his face was kiss-pecked all over. "Hey guys! I need to breathe!" he giggled, only to have them both giggle back at him.

Eventually, he sat up to look at them closely. "Why's your backs all... oh, God... you've been beaten!" he cried softly. "No! This is not right!"

Jules' eyes filled with tears as he nodded. Then they widened as Joel's Armour glowed again.

Both ferrets glowed as bright an instant later, and then the light vanished.

"We's better!" Verne cried out as he started checking his brother's back. "Me back's not hurtin'!"

"Nor mine!" Jules joined him, so that both boys were tumbling over and over in Joel's lap as they tried to examine each other closely.

"Stay still, Verne!"

"No, you stay stills, Jules!"

"No you!"

"Yous!!"

*CLICKCLICK*

Both boys stopped squirming around and looked over at Kevin. Now on the brown haired boy's shoulders, Lee held out a small clicker and clicked it again. Then he signed at them.

"Sorry, Lee!" they both chorused contritely.

"Things are going to be fun in the Compound," Brant said under his breath as he smiled at the kids. He came back from the cabinet that Brian had pointed at and handed the two badgers, each, a pair of dark glasses. "We need to get you guys some clothes."

"We no wears clotheses," Verne said softly.

Jules shook his head as well, and stood up. He stretched and moved around in a circle for a moment or two. Then he sat back down on Joel's lap. "Clothes stop us from moving right."

Brant nodded. "What about you three?" he asked Lee and the two badgers.

"We wear overall jumpsuits when we have to," Brian said. "At least those who are normal do," he added softly. "Most times, we all just stay as we are. We don't need clothes either."

Lee signed at Matthew, who spoke for him, "Same for Lee. When the badgers need to fight, though, there's special armour for them. The chimps here don't fight as much, so they just wear normalish clothes when working. The Ferrets can't at all, really. They're too stretchy or something."

"Hats!" Verne called out.

"Pardon?" Joel giggled.

"We like hats! Hats don't stops us from moving and stuffs," Verne explained with a wide grin.

Kevin moved over to Aphrodite and Artemus, with Lee still on his shoulders and patting gently on his head in contentment. Kevin looked down at the two badger siblings and said, "You're both normal. Okay? Don't say stuff like that."

Sue blinked up at him, then smiled. "Okay."

Joel called over to Kevin with a giggle, "You thinking what I think your thinking?"

"Yes," Kevin answered, "but let's get them all home first."

"Now then," Joel said, as he removed his helm and gauntlets, placing them down on the nearest table. "Time to see what's in this person's mind."

Joel moved to Dr Robins' body and proceeded to meld with him. Then he pulled back in disgust, and looked at Matthew. "He's... he's raped and abused every child that he's ever worked on – except the Hybrids. Those he just hurt, a lot. He's killed more than I dare count... he... he..."

Matthew held up a hand and moved over. He slapped the unconscious doctor's face repeatedly, until Dr Robins woke up. "For your crimes against children, I sentence you to death," Matthew grated, before slowly crushing the now weakly struggling doctor's wind pipe.

Brant began to worry again, for the strength to crush an adult man's windpipe was not common in a twelve year old boy.

Joel, meanwhile, was already moving for a side door from the room. He entered and found what he had seen in Dr Robins' mind: another doctor, tied to a chair and gagged with tears rolling down his face.

"Grandpa!" Verne squeaked happily as he peered around the doorway with Jules. "Grandpa Rosenthal!"

"Ah, my little one," Dr Rosenthal croaked, as Joel gently removed his gag. "I was praying that the Lord, blessed be His Name, would save you - and He has! Thank you, son," he added, looking into Joel's piercing blue eyes. Dr Rosenthal blinked when he took in Joel's Vulcan features, which were at odds with the happy smile Joel was giving him.

"Shalom, Rabbi," Joel said in greeting, his sunny smile growing all the bigger. "I recognise your name, from the records I read earlier today."

"Why were you reading about me?" Dr Rosenthal asked in surprise.

"Mission research," Joel grinned. "You were, well, still are, the foremost expert on animal and human DNA. Even though a lot of the religious people frowned on what you were doing, they had to admit that."

"Then you should know that I'm not a Rabbi any longer," Rosenthal said sadly. "I was stripped of that when I refused to listen to my fellow countrymen."

"'The gifts and the callings of God are without repentance'," Joel quoted.

Rosenthal laughed briefly, as he was being untied by five excited kids, for the badgers and Lee had joined the two ferrets with Joel. "That's not from the Torah, son."

"No, but He's the same God. I follow Him through Jesus, and you through Moses. But He's the same, and He don't change. You were registered as dead. How are you here?" Joel asked, as he helped the old man to his feet.

"General Adams," Rosenthal spat out. "He came to me nine years ago, saying my work could benefit the whole world. Once I got here, I found out what he had planned, and turned to leave. He threatened my family; the chimps and gorilla children I had created. He also threatened my son and daughter-in-law, and little Jacob - my grandson. I've not seen them in nine years. Jacob would be 13 now... Adams arranged for my 'death' so that they wouldn't come looking for me... I want vengeance, son. As much as I'm a man of peace, I want to end that devil-spawn, once and for all."

Joel shrugged, "You'd have to go to hell to do that, Rabbi. Clan Short has already received confirmation of his... demise. A team of our own found him and, let's just say, made him pay. Little ears," he smiled, nodding at the five little kids around Rosenthal's feet.

Rosenthal breathed in deeply, then sighed. "At least I won't face my God with blood on me. I am content; thank you. What is your name, anyway?"

"Sa'ren. Sa'ren Joel Short, Child of Spock, Child of Sarek of Vulcan," Joel grinned, holding out his hand to shake.

Rosenthal blinked again, then shook Joel's extended hand. "You're unlike any Vulcan I've met, Sa'ren of Vulcan. Your father is a good man, I've read about him. He would be proud of you... if that were possible."

"It is," Joel said, as he and the five kids led the doctor out of the small room and back to the Reject Main Room, "and he is. Here, let me introduce..."

"Artemus? Aphrodite?! I thought you two were dead?!" Rosenthal shouted as he, surprisingly for his age, bounded over to the two now weeping girls and hugged them. "How are my little princesses?" he asked as tears flowed down his cheeks to join with theirs.

"We missed you," Aphrodite cried into his chest.

Rosenthal gently stroked her head while wrapping his other arm around Artemus. "All your brothers okay?"

Artemus nodded, then did a double take and shook her head. "No. I mean, most of us are... but Kuan Ti... he died last week..." she trailed off brokenly.

"Amur Khan is still not the same," Aphrodite said brokenly as she still wept into the doctor's chest.

Rosenthal closed his eyes tight, as images of a small tiger boy and his twin swam before his eyes.... 'Dada? 'Nudder story, Dada!'...

"Blessed be your life, Kuan Ti, and blessed be us all for having known you," Rosenthal wept softly.

Joel and Kevin hugged while the doctor wept with his two 'princesses'. Joel closed his own eyes and pulled up a memory from earlier that 'day'; from within the Tardis...

---

Flashback:

"Amur?" Joel asked, as he walked past Amur Khan's apartment. It was 'night', and only a 'month' into their time in the Tardis. "What's wrong?" he asked, as he moved in through the open door to where Amur was on his bed weeping.

At first, Amur had tried to force his tears down, but this strange little Vulcan's presence just kept his pain and hurt on the surface. Without knowing why, he pulled Joel into his arms.

Joel, never one to pass up a hug, and never one to just let another be upset without trying to help, cuddled in quickly.

As he did so, images of another tiger, like Amur, came into his mind, due to his empathic Vulcan abilities working in concert with his melding ones. "Ah," Joel sighed, as he worked out the only logical conclusion left open to him. "Your brother? The one from the funeral?"

"My twin. My Kuan..." Amur wept, for he had seen the same images Joel had. "He came to us, before I even met you. To tell us he was always with us... with me... but it's not the same... it's just not."

"No," Joel whispered into Amur's furry chest. "It wouldn't be." Joel closed his eyes and focused his empathy more tightly. There was a knot of pain lodged in Khan's heart, and the large powerful tiger just couldn't move past it, nor around it. "I... I could help you, if you wanted," he whispered.

Amur started to shake his head. "I don't want you to take anything away, Joel. I... I need to remember him... He's a part of me, forever... I need my p...pain," he wept.

"I'd never do that," Joel said softly. "It's just that you're all tangled up in here," he added, tapping Khan's chest, "and I wanna help untangle it. The pain will stay, but... but it won't make you hurt this way... you'll have the pain leading you to where you should go... to your good memories of Kuan."

"Are you sure?" Khan asked brokenly.

"He is," another voice said, as a pair of strong arms came around Khan from behind him. Furry, tigerish arms. "He is sure, brother mine," Kuan Ti whispered into his brother's ear.

"Kuan!" Amur cried as he twisted about, bringing little Joel with him so as to squish the tiny boy between his and his brother's massive furry bodies. Not that Joel minded.

Joel just stayed still and cuddled into Amur's chest as Kuan Ti whispered comfortingly to his twin. Then he felt a wet tongue bathe the side of his face. Kuan Ti whispered to him, "Do it, Sa'ren of Vulcan. Help my brother heal."

Joel wiggled his fingers until they were buried into Khan's fur so that he could touch the skin beneath. "Amur. All men hide a secret pain. Share your pain with me, and gain strength from the Sharing..." he whispered, drawing Khan's heart and his own together.

Within seconds, Amur was bawling like a baby. So was Joel. And so was Kuan Ti. They wept this way for nearly an hour, 'til finally the last 'knot' inside of Amur heart unfurled and the agony of his brother's passing lifted. It was replaced by something no less sorrowful, but far more productive: a bittersweet joy and hope, and a gentle, quiet sense of longing and grief.

"Keep your heart open, my brother," Kuan Ti whispered to his brother as Amur smiled, yet wept, as they kept their eyes locked. "You will be surprised at who will find you; and how large a place will be taken inside of your life, considering how small a person it will be..."

Amur blinked, but Kuan cat-kissed his face. "Sleep, brother. I shall hold you until the morning. We both will," Kuan whispered, and Amur felt his eyes growing heavy.

As he slept, he felt Joel's surprisingly strong arms around his chest, and his brother's even stronger ones around his shoulders... and a face swam before his eyes. A face and a small figure that was just outside of his ability to recognise.

---

Present:

Kevin sighed as he watched the girls crying with Rosenthal, "Matthew, do you have water? I'm covered in blood."

"Sure, Kev," Matthew said softly. He made to take a flask from his hip, but then noticed another door from the room leading to a kitchen area. "Oh, that'll work out better. Come on, guys. We're all messed up."

"I'm not," Joel said, in a considering tone. "That's strange."

I-Cheya huffed to himself, but quickly became quiet as the boys' eyes turned his way. He sat down on the fallen door to try and look innocent, but the blood and gore already seeping out from underneath it spurted out with a wet fart sound. I-Cheya looked down with surprise, and quickly stood back to his feet. Then he started bouncing on the door lightly, huffing to himself in amusement.

"Sehlats," Joel sighed, rolling his eyes.

Kevin giggled at I-Cheya bouncing happily for a second or so more, before turning to look over Joel's body. "You're right, Sa'r. You were standing with me, and I got sprayed with blood and worse... how is it that you ain't covered, too?"

"Dunno... I dodged?" Joel shrugged helplessly.

"Unless you move as fast as me, that's doubtful," Brant giggled. He moved to the door that I-Cheya was now attempting an 'almost' tap-dance on, and dipped his fingers into the blood on the floor. "Hold out your arm, bro," Brant said as he came over and allowed a spot to drip down onto Joel's extended right arm.

The blood fell until it was almost in contact with the Armour, then it vanished.

"Weird," Joel murmured. Then he sighed with impatience, "I hate not knowing everything about my own fucking life!"

Kevin giggled, "Come on, I'm a mess and I want you to wash me."

Joel's face perked up. "Sounds like fun!"

"No time for that type of fun," Matthew giggled, casting a look at Brant. "Pity," he added.

Brant blushed and giggled, "Carry on, and I'll tell them your nickname!"

"I shall wait with my daughters," Rosenthal said as he looked over at them. The two girls were calmer, now, and cleaning themselves up the 'cat' way.

As the others went into the kitchen area, with the small badgers, ferrets and the chimp trotting along behind them, Matthew instead looked at the doctor. "Sir. Your name is Rosenthal? Doctor David Rosenthal?"

"Yes," Rosenthal answered.

"Your grandson - he's not Jacob Rosenthal, is he? Likes football - or soccer - and painting landscapes?" Matthew asked.

Rosenthal's eyes widened. "My grandson loved painting! And he lived for football! You know him?!"

"He's a lieutenant in the VSO Dragon Division. Him and his life partner, Mahmud. He's here, in this base with my Commander!" Matthew said with a smile.

Rosenthal nearly passed out in shock.

---

Joel and party entered the area that Sammy and his task force had raided, to find a mass of purring fur covering all those who had gone in to rescue them. "Sammy?" Joel called out with a giggle.

"Under here... somewhere," came the answering giggle from the mass of purring fur.

The purring stopped quickly and eyes seemed to appear from the mass. They were mostly kitten-kids. LOADS of them. Artemus and Aphrodite started purring in a very maternal fashion almost immediately.

"Wow, now that's a lot of pussy!" Matthew giggled.

Brant slapped him. "Bad pun!"

Sammy managed to get to his feet. "We've got things covered here, Elf. You okay?" he asked, as he looked at the furry kids crowded around Joel and Kevin.

"Yeah. We're goo..."

Joel was interrupted by two fast balls of fur that had left the main mass and came right for him and the two ferrets he had on his shoulders.

"JULES! VERNE!" they cried as they used their short yet sharp claws to climb up Joel. Joel was very thankful his Armour was protecting him. "We thoughts we'd never sees yous again!" they cried as they hugged themselves around the two ferrets.

Joel fell to his butt quickly so that the four kids could cuddle properly on his lap. He looked around at the rest of the kids in the room and found that not all of them were cat-kids. Some were badgers, some ferrets, a fair few were chimps and gorillas, with a few wolverine looking kids for good measure. Over in the corner there were two raccoons as well. At the far end of the room, there was a gathering of larger chimps and gorillas, and Joel surmised they were adults. "God damn!" Joel murmured. Then he tried to get a good look at the two new kids in his arms. A lion cub and a tiger cub. "Hello, cuties. What're your names?"

"He's Aslan," the tiger answered, pointing at the lion.

"And he's Shere Khan!" Aslan echoed a second later.

"We're bestestes friends! And so's Jules and Verne!" they chorused. "And that's Simba!" they added, pointing at a lion-boy who was running for Matthew as fast as his little paws could take him.

"Uh huh! Uh huh! They helps us find Shinys, they do's!" Verne added with a grin.

Half the room giggled out, "Shiny lovers!" while the other half echoed in response, "Shiny haters!"

"Shall we have another vacation, Fangie," Joel giggled as he cuddled the four furry kids tightly. "Hawaii again?"

"Have they recovered from the last trip?" Brant giggled as he and Matthew took turns scratching the ears the young lion-boy now in Matthew's arms.

I-Cheya then entered the room, and all the kids became deathly silent. The large Sehlat cub looked around at all the children, then sat down. His back legs splayed out with his forepaws on the ground before him - for all the world like a large stuffed teddy-bear. Can I have hugs? he sent with a few 'huffs'.

Joel laughed himself senseless as his Sehlat was mobbed by the children, all vastly impressed with their large new furry teddy bear that hugged them back...

---

The fighting was now over, and Logan Casey was conferring with Jason in soft tones. All the rescued Genesis children and various groups of Animal/Human hybrids were gathered in the large courtyard and being fed and tended to by the Unit and VSO troops, and the Vulcans were performing mind-melds on all of the rescued and released Genesis children.

Joel and his troop came out of the building they had run into over an hour before, and approached Logan. "What's the problem?" Joel asked seriously as he shifted Lee into a more comfortable position on his hip.

"Nothing we can do anything about," Logan said softly. "I've gotten word that Adam is okay - seems like Levi and his friend got there to help him, so..."

"Adz was hurt?" Joel asked quickly.

"Yeah, but like I said - he's okay, now," Logan answered gently as he pulled Joel over for a quick hug. "The problem is that three of the kids we came here to save got badly hurt, and we think they're dying. They tried helping and got shot; and I think you know one of them."

Joel's eyes hardened. "That wolverine is dying? Logan? Where is he? Where are they?" he asked quickly as he handed Lee over to Kevin.

Jason looked at the determined stare Joel was giving him and shrugged. Maybe the 'Shaper' could do what their medics could not. "This way," he said as he took Joel's hand.

They ran over to the field medic tent that had been hastily set up in the grounds and quickly entered. Three bodies were being worked on by calm seeming Vulcans, but Jason could tell from the readings that all three were slipping away. Two were fully human, the last was the wolverine, Logan. Joel moved over to the nearest one and laid his hands on the boy's body. Joel's Armour glowed briefly as he prayed, and then he moved to the next. Jason just stood and stared in awe as the readings stabilized for the three boys. "I don't believe it," he croaked.

The first to open his eyes was Logan and he looked at Joel closely. "I was dying. But you called my name and I came back... how?" he asked, his voice gruff and strong sounding.

Joel smiled at him before kissing his nose. "Dunno," was the only answer the strange little Vulcan gave. He then smiled at the other two, now recovered, boys before skipping back out of the tent.

He found his T'hy'la helping to feed the gathered kids, and being helped by Lee the chimp. The two ferrets Joel had saved were speaking to an older and larger teenage ferret, who was wearing a Stetson hat. The older ferret placed a baseball hat on each of the smaller ferrets' heads and whispered something to them. As Joel came closer, the older ferret's eyes widened and he bowed deeply. "Shiny Warrior!" he squeaked.

Joel's eyebrow raised within the helm he wore as he looked the kid over. "Pardon?" he asked, a smile in his voice. Then he glanced down at his Armour which was glowing in the sun. As he looked back up, about twenty more ferret kids had gathered and were all looking at him in wonder, pawing at his shiny Armour. "Ah... okay, I'm the Shiny Warrior, then. What's your name?" he asked the one in the Stetson.

"Dave," said Dave, as he grinned widely.

"He's the High Priest of the Shiny!" Jules squeaked before rushing off to find some food... or shinys. Both were good.

Dave nodded earnestly before saying, "We must talk later, Shiny Warrior. But I must care for my flock, right now."

"Okay," Joel said, still trying not to laugh as he watched the ferrets practically disappear into the mass of kids around them. He giggled and turned to find Kevin wagging his finger under Aslan and Shere Khan's noses.

"No playing with your food, okay? Eat it all up," Kevin said seriously.

"Okay, Papa!" they both squeaked before diving back into the raw meat they were eating with Simba, their friend.

Kevin looked up at Joel quickly and his heart was in his eyes.

Joel simply smiled and nodded. 'I am thinking the same,' was all he sent down his link.

"GRANDFATHER?!" came a yell of shock from a black robed boy, and Joel turned to watch as a VSO lieutenant ran for Dr Rosenthal. "YOU'RE ALIVE?! OH MY LORD! YOU'RE ALIVE!!!" he wept loudly, as he flung himself into Rosenthal's arms.

The Hebrew doctor's day was now complete - his Hybrid children were now saved, and his grandson was finally reunited with him. Soon, he would meet his son and daughter-in-law again...

All was now right with the world...

---

Orlando - Clan Compound:

"... and that was how we rescued them!" Kevin finished explaining from Allen's lap, while Shere Khan and Aslan chased Jules and Verne around the Rec Room. Sue and Brian were busy with some paints and large sheets of paper, learning how to make finger paintings with Timmy, Ricky, Pauly, and Rafe. Lee was hanging from the light-fitting upside down and swinging back and forth contentedly, while Joel was still wondering how the boy even got up there. Brant and Matthew were trying to get their small lion cub into a tee-shirt and adapted pair of shorts, but they were fighting a losing battle. The small giggling boy was having the time of his life, fending off his new daddies' attempts at dressing him.

Spock, calmly watching the chaos, nodded, "I am glad that you succeeded, my son. However, am I to infer that all these children are now yours and Sa'ren's?"

"Not me! I wan' the dead one and the funny dark one to be my daddies!" Simba giggled, a tee-shirt partly pulled over his head.

"Got you, you little terror," Brant giggled.

"Like fathers, like son..." Seth quipped from his seat, safely across the room.

Matthew was looking slightly unsure, however. "Brant, can we have a talk?"

"Sure. Simba, go play with Shere and Aslan, okay? We'll be back soon," Brant said softly, and the little boy nodded at him before leaping up, throwing off the tee-shirt, and sped off after the other two boys.

Matthew and Brant stood and started out of the Rec Room.

Joel smiled after them, "It'll be okay. Yeah, Simba's theirs. The rest, Kev and I wanna adopt!"

Spock nodded. "I shall go with Seth and enter them into the records."

Allen was still looking dazed at the news his little Kevin had relayed to him. "Eight kids. Eight! In one day... Kyle and Tyler, eat your hearts out..." he muttered before sliding Kevin off his lap. "I need a drink. I'm going to spend time with Bones - he's usually got the good stuff with him."

Kevin giggled at his Pop's retreating back, then he looked at Spock. "I'll come with you. I know their birthdays and stuff."

Joel grinned as his husband left the room with Spock, then he looked up at Lee. "How did you get up there, young man?" he giggled.

Lee signed down at him, then covered his mouth in silent laughter.

"Oh... BRYCE! DYLAN! Get your otherworldly butts in here!" Joel called, while trying not to laugh.

"Yes Uncle Joel?" both boys chorused as they appeared, purple-ringed golden halos above their heads.

"Get him down, please," Joel asked with a soft smile.

"Do you wanna?" Dylan asked Lee, who nodded his head with a smile.

Joel tapped his foot at Dylan, however. "Light fittings are no place for children to swing from, Dylan."

"We made sure he wouldn't get hurt, Uncle Joel," Bryce said reasonably.

"But other little kids wouldn't know that. They could find other ways of getting to dangerous places, thinking they'd not get hurt. Don't do that again, okay?" Joel said seriously as Lee appeared next to Brian and Sue to help them paint with Timmy and the others.

"Okay, Uncle Joel," They chorused again; both obviously affected by having been chewed out by Joel.

Joel pulled them over and hugged them, "I'm not mad. It was funny, but please remember - you can't be everywhere at once, and if a kid did get hurt copying a funny trick you played, you'd feel real bad, wouldn't you? I don't want you to ever feel like your powers have somehow hurt someone else, okay? I love you both too much."

"Okay," Dylan said softly. Then, "Do we gotta stand in a corner now?"

Joel giggled and kissed him, "No. I'm not Mama. And don't think you can't play your tricks like you normally do. Most of the stuff I've seen you do, little kids couldn't copy. Don't change that, okay?"

"Okay," Dylan replied as a set of rainbow fairy wings appeared on Joel's back.

Brian snorted in laughter as Amanda came into the room with Solkar and Jimmy - and both seven-year-olds promptly fell about laughing.

"What?" Joel asked them, then he noticed something flapping behind him. "Oh, haha!" he giggled as he started tickling the grinning Bryce.

"Hey! It was him!" Bryce squealed in protest.

"So? You're just as evil! You can get HIM back after, if you like!" Joel retorted.

Bryce blew a raspberry at Joel as he vanished, and Dylan quickly followed his brother. Joel's new wings vanished as well, leaving him to grin up at his grandmother. Amanda looked down at him and said, "Sa'ren, I'd like you to meet Solkar. He's a ward of our family, and therefore my grandson as well."

Joel smiled at the nervous face now regarding him carefully. "Hi, Solkar. I won't bite," he said softly.

Solkar blinked, then smiled back softly.

Joel's smile slowly fell away, however, as he stared at Solkar. There was something about the way this seven year old Vulcan looked. Something familiar.

Spock re-entered the room and came over to Joel. "Kevin is entering the details about your new children with Seth. I have added my authority already... Sa'ren? What is the matter?" he trailed off as Joel was staring first at Solkar, then at him.

Joel slowly stood to his feet and went over to the nearest mirror. Then he looked back at Solkar, who was now trembling. "Saavik was your mother. Right?" Joel asked softly.

"That is correct," Spock said when Solkar didn't answer.

Joel did not take his eyes from Solkar. "When is your birthday?"

Solkar squeaked, "Earth time, 15th of October, 1997."

Joel's mind did some fast computing, factoring in a half Romulan half Vulcan's gestation period... then his jaw dropped open as he turned his eyes to his father. He tapped his comm-badge, "Sa'ren to Sarek. Fa'sami, can you come to the Rec Room, please?" he whispered hoarsely.

"Sa'ren, no..." Solkar cried softly as Jimmy hugged him tightly.

"What's wrong, Sol?" Jimmy asked quickly. Then he looked at Joel, "What's the matter?"

"I am nearly there already, grandson. Is there something amiss?" Sarek answered.

"Uh... no, not really. Just hurry up, Fa'sami!" Joel answered, his voice just as soft and hoarse as before - thick with emotions.

Spock's mind was no less fast than Joel's, and with the looks Joel was sending him, he had also worked out what Joel had just discovered. He fell to his knees as he turned to behold Solkar.

Solkar's emotion filled eyes were now fixed with Spock's, and Amanda was trembling as she, too, started to guess.

Sarek entered the room to a tension he had rarely felt.

"1996, in this Universe," Joel started, "on a world called Genesis, Captain Spock's body was regenerated as a child, then he aged with the planet... you went through Pon Farr, didn't you, Daddy?"

Spock nodded, while Sarek said, "His mind was not in his body, so he cannot remember. However, such is what Saavik told... told..." then he too fell silent as he looked between the kneeling and now crying Spock and the sobbing Solkar and the wondering and smiling Joel.

Solkar whimpered. "I... Ko'mi told me not to tell you. She told me that until I knew your heart could handle it, I was to remain quiet. She kept it hidden, even from Fa'komi and Fa'sami. When I heard that my... my brother, Sa'ren, had been found and that you had Named him... I asked if I could come to Earth... Sa'mi! Will you accept me, Sa'mi?" he finished with a broken hearted sob.

Spock just reached out and pulled Solkar, and Jimmy as well, over and into his arms. "Even though I have no knowledge of your conception, I would never abandon a child of mine," he wept. "I claim you as my son, Solkar, Child of Spock, Child of Sarek of the House of Surak of Vulcan. I claim you as my son!"

Joel wasted no time in slamming into his father's arms as well... and into a hug with Jimmy... and with his revealed half-brother, Solkar...

---

Meanwhile, in Main CIC:

"Chimp-Human cross, Genesis Project. So, Lee is mute?" Seth asked as he entered Spock's authority into the Clan database.

Kevin nodded, "Yeah. Poor kid watched as his parents were murdered to teach others a lesson. Those fuckers thought it would toughen him up. All it did was stop him talking."

"Poor thing," Seth whispered. "You two will help him - I know that much."

"We'll try... no, he's nine, not eight, Seth," Kevin said as he was reading what Seth was typing. "His birthday is April 14th, 1995."

"Got it," Seth continued to tap into the keyboard. "When did you learn sign language, Kev?"

Kevin giggled, "About an hour ago. Joel melded with Lee and then sent the language to me over our link."

"Love Vulcans... must be so sweet to learn languages like that," Seth giggled as well. "Okay, who's next?"

"We'll sort out the G-Cat kittens. Shere Khan the tiger, and Aslan the lion. Shere Khan was 'born' on September 8th, 1999, and Aslan on September 10th same year," Kevin grinned.

"Who picked the names?" Seth laughed as he entered the information.

"Got no idea, but they fit - kinda," Kevin chuckled. "Then there's Verne and Jules - Ferret-Human crosses. They're twins, and were born on July 28th, 1999."

"Same age as your crazy cats?" Seth giggled.

"Why'd you think they're best friends with our two kittens?" Kevin asked rhetorically.

"RWWWWWWOOOAAAAWWWWRRRRRR!" came a 'fearsome' squeak from behind Kevin, and he and Seth found themselves pounced by three kitten-boys and two ferrets. "We AWESOME pouncers!" Aslan and Simba chorused, while Shere Khan mock bit Seth's arm, growling his squeaky little growl. "Rwwwwoaaawwrrrrrr!"

"JUSTY!!!!!!!" Seth laughed as he 'fought' off the attack. "You're DEAD!!!"

"What did I do this time?" came an innocent sounding yell from just the other side of the doors that the kids had pounced in from.

"I'd recognize that pounce technique anywhere!" Seth yelled back. "Ark, I believe Justy needs to visit the North Atlantic... AGAIN!"

<Sorry, but the Council Seer will need to approve such a prank. Please hold.... Yes, he has just done so.>

"Tyne! You trai...." Justy's voice cut out as he vanished.

"What you done wif our teacher?" Verne asked curiously as he blinked up at Seth from the side of the wheelchair. He and Jules were trying to work out if the shiny bolts could be loosened or not.

"He's taking a swimming break." Seth responded with a chuckle.

Justy reappeared in the room, then, and was dripping wet. "I'm going to get Tyne for this," he mock glared as he picked a small icicle out of his hair.

"Got it!" Jules squealed as he showed Verne the bolt he had managed to remove. "Quick - turn da udder way, den we'd have ALL deese Shinys!"

Just then Dylan popped in. "I TOLD ya you needed a black wheelchair Uncle Seth!" he giggled as Seth found himself being transported to the chair used by everyone else while on watch. "I'll be right back; I'm gonna get you a non-shiny one!" Dylan giggled.

Jules and Verne couldn't believe their luck. "Wow. WOW! Stop wif da bolts, Jules! Quick, quick! Help me wif da chair!" Verne hooted.

The two ferrets and their 'Shiny Loving' minions, the three kittens, quickly gathered behind the wheelchair and scooted it out of the room. They banged into the wall and door frame as they left, for they were so small that they couldn't see where they were going, properly.

Justy was laughing so hard he had forgotten that he was soaked to the skin, and Seth was almost as bad as him. Kevin, however, was nearly hyperventilating.

Dylan reappeared just then, accompanied by an all-flat-black wheelchair that made Seth's former transportation look like a rickshaw. The first thing that set it apart was the wheelie bars sticking out the rear; between them and the hazard warnings on the power unit it was apparent that this was one high-powered unit.

"The ferrets are welcome to that last piece of junk," Seth gasped as he was helped over onto the new chair. "This is a Rolls Royce of wheelchairs!"

"Can I have a towel, please?" Justy begged of whomever was listening, for the cold, icy water he had just been dunked in was getting to his bones, now.

<With compliments from the Seer,> Ark said as a warm towel appeared over Justy's head and landed on him.

"Thanks, I think," Justy giggled as he stripped down to dry off. He then watched as Seth put the new chair through its paces. "Sweet ride, Seth."

Dylan beamed happily, then vanished again to continue causing mischief somewhere.

Kevin giggled, "Aunt Helen is going to go nuts about these marks you're leaving on the floor, Seth!"

"Bite me! This is too much fun!" Seth giggled.

"Can we get back to my kid's details, now?" Kevin asked with more giggles.

Seth poked his tongue out, but did return to the console. "Okay, spoilsport. Who's next? What about that third kitten?"

"That's Simba. I think he's going to be Brant's and Matthew's, once they've talked," Kevin explained. "He's just gone six last week. October 19th 1998."

"Okay, I'll put him here and put Brant and Matt as a possible for adoption for now," Seth grinned.

Kevin nodded, "Okay, final two are Brian and Sue - Suzanne... with a 'z', yeah... Badger-Human hybrids."

"Age?" Seth asked.

"Seven," Kevin answered.

Justy whistled, "They're big for seven. Mind you, Lee's small for nine, so like that matters."

"Birthdays?" Seth asked Kevin.

"January 10th, 1997 - twins of course. Also put down in medical that they are both albinos. We'll have to get someone to check them out," Kevin added.

Seth nodded. "Doctor McCoy would be the best to speak to. And get with Conner as well; Bones will want to see all three, I think."

"Good idea," Kevin smiled while Justy nodded.

Before Justy could add his thought in on the matter at hand, he was mobbed by Beau, Jamie and Jacob. In unison they chorused, "You've GOTTA get into the other room, bro! We've a cousin we didn't know we had!!!!"

"You mean there is something that you three don't know about?" Justy giggled as he allowed himself to be dragged away.

"Come ON! Joel wants to show you his BROTHER!" Jamie exclaimed, for Justy just wasn't moving fast enough. Kevin and Seth exchanged a look, and Seth put his new chair through it's paces as he sped out with Kevin on his lap.

"Cheaters!" Justy yelled as he took off after the chair.

Inside the Rec Room, more of the adults had gathered, and Kirk and Bones were sitting with Joel on Bones' lap and Solkar on Kirk's. Joel waved at Justy as soon as he saw him, and launched into his explanation of events at breakneck speed.

Spock, meanwhile, was still trying to bring his emotions back under control from the shock, with the help of Sarek and Amanda.

A minute later, Joel finished with, "... and so I've got a KEWL little brother and... and..."

"I see Timmy is not the only one who speaks like this," Solkar said in awe as he watched Joel's flapping mouth.

"At least I'm used to it; try getting it in stereo!" Justy giggled as he scooped Solkar up off of Kirk's lap. "Hi! I'm Justy, your Sa'mekh's nephew!"

Solkar grinned, "I know. I knew I was Spock's son. And do you not mean in triplicate from Jamie, Jacob AND Beau?"

Justy grinned. "Beau is nice; he lets Jamie and Jacob do the confusing. They only do triple when they know it'll give a grown-up a headache."

"After that comment..." Beau started.

Jamie continued, "...we're gonna get..."

"...you more, too!" Jacob finished.

"So there!" they all added together.

"Won't work, bros... you taught me; remember?" Justy laughed.

"Not..."

"...every..."

"...thing!"

'Enough to handle you three little angels!' Justy sent with a grin.

"That sounded like a challenge, guys" Joel giggled to the three grinning ten year olds, then his eyes opened wider and his hand flew to the pendant around his neck. "Ummm....?"

"I heard them too," Kevin whispered.

Levi just tilted his head. "I didn't, but then I don't read people's minds unless I need to. I don't think my pendant works like that..."

Joel was blinking as he studied the small pendant carefully. "I was just looking at Just, and I could hear 'im... will it happen alla time?"

Levi just shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe you'll have to control it, or focus it, or something."

Joel ran his fingers over the pendant once more, then pushed it from his mind for the moment, "I'll try later."

Jamie and Jacob were studying their Vulcan cousin's face carefully, and their eyes were growing more and more curious. "Your mind's getting darker," they said together.

"Huh?" Justy asked.

"We can't read him much, now. We had trouble before, but now it's like you're fading, Joel!" Beau explained.

"...//Time Comes. This is as it should be//..." Levi said as the Guardian used him to speak.

Before Joel could ask any questions, Bones, on whom he was still sitting, said, "Come in, Admiral."

They all turned to see Admiral Morrow at the door leading to the Dining Room. "Afternoon. I see we have yet another son of Spock?"

Bones snorted and joked, "Tell us about it. Jim is the one who sleeps with anything in a skirt, yet it's Spock who has all these unknown kids flying about the Universe!"

"Hey!" Kirk protested as most of the kids there started giggling.

"You have kids that can fly, Poppa Spock?" Levi asked innocently.

Spock opened his eyes from his joint meditation with his father and smiled slightly, "If they are on-board the Enterprise, yes."

"How can we help you, Admiral?" Kirk asked before Bones could throw another barb his way.

Morrow just looked around the room until he found Jude and Billy Joe with his eyes. "Well, it is about the three test scores I had land on my desk from the head of the Academy. It seems that a certain Jude Lee, Kevin Thompson, and Sa'ren Short have more talent than has been seen by the examiners in many a long... decade..."

"M...mine too?!" Kevin squeaked. "But I... I thought I'd... I..."

"Yours too," Morrow smiled down at him as he walked further into the room. "If you three are up for it, I have another exam I would like you to do... Now, if possible. It is tailored to each of you individually."

"More tests?" Joel grinned happily. Solkar was just as interested. Jimmy, Justy and a number of the others looked at the two Vulcans as if they had grown another head.

"FORWARDS, SHINY-MOBILE!" came five squeaks that very second, as Seth's old wheelchair zoomed into the room with the two ferrets and three kittens squashed onto the seat. Dylan was laughing and running along behind them. The wheelchair had been pimped out to the max with pearlescent paint and various shiny items glued in place. On the front and back there were car number plates with "SHINY 1" emblazoned on them.

Seth shook his head. "Now why didn't Dylan pimp it out like that for me?" he asked with a laugh as the 'Shiny-Mobile' did a few turns around the room.

"You didn't ask?" Joel giggled.

Levi giggled, then vanished for a few seconds. When he returned, a light bar, which Jude recognized as similar to the police lights on the cars from his old world, and a polished brass squeeze horn from an old Model T were sitting at his feet. "You need shiny things to tell us you're coming!" Levi giggled.

Jules, the 'driver', squealed the chair to a halt by Levi so that he and Dylan could attach the new 'Shinys'.

"We're gonna clean up da place of ALLL Shinys!!" Simba explained with great seriousness to Harley, who was listening with the same amount of seriousness. "Den, we HOARDS them and DEFENDS them from Shiny-Haters!"

"Can I joins wif you?" Harley asked softly, his eyes lighting up as the police lights started flashing.

"Sures!!" Shere Khan giggled as Simba and Aslan hopped down to help Harley up. The now six kids did not notice that the chair was subtly growing in size to accommodate them all, but Joel did. He glanced at Bryce, who was 'innocently' sitting with Zandor, and saw him wink back.

Levi giggled, "All done!"

"Kewl!" Verne crowed as he started using the horn.

Harley stood up, being balanced by the three kittens, and yelled, "FOR DER SHIIIINNNIIIIIEEEESSSSS!!!!"

And they were off with a few tyre marks remaining in the carpet.

Morrow was still standing there, as if nothing had happened. "I take it those boys were some of those rescued from today's intervention?" he asked politely, looking down at the giggling Joel.

The boy nodded, "Yessir, they are. Four of them are Kev's and my kids. The other Lion cub we think will be Brant's and Matthew's. Oh, and the Chimp, two Badgers and the human kid behind you are also ours."

Morrow turned to see two sunglasses adorned multicoloured badgers smiling up at him. One had a small human boy on his back, while the female had Lee the Chimp on hers. "Pleasure to meet you," he said with a welcoming smile.

Sue nodded her head, then curtseyed. "Charmed," she giggled, before dropping to all fours and running from the room, closely followed by Brian. Lee and Rafe simply hung on to enjoy the rides.

"Why were they multicoloured?" Morrow asked curiously.

"Paints," Kevin giggled as he pointed at a pair of equally colourful boys; Timmy and Ricky. "Pauly's around somewhere, and I'm sure he's no longer a normal Vulcan colour either!"

"Wait a moment... Vulcan?" Morrow asked.

"It is a long story, Admiral," Kirk responded with a smile, "we'll explain while these three boys work on their exam."

"I shall look forward to it," Morrow grinned.

Timmy skipped up to Joel and whispered in his ear, "The Tribe and Rugrats will get everything ready for the new guys while you do your tests. Then we can do the Swearing In!"

Joel hugged the Fireball happily. "Kewl!"

"Admiral?" Solkar asked from Justy's arms, where he was making himself most comfortable. "May I have one of the tests to do as well, please?" he asked hopefully.

Morrow smiled, "I am sure we can find one that is geared for you, Solkar. I will pull the records from the VSO and set you a Starfleet one to match and challenge your talents - as far as is possible for Vulcans, that it."

"Thank you," he beamed.

Justy placed the boy back down on Kirk's lap and ruffled his hair, "I need to find Dean - he'd love to meet you, too!"

"I will be here, Justy," Solkar beamed again. "Admiral Morrow won't be able to get my test ready for at least an hour, knowing VSO procedures in releasing classified data."

Morrow chuckled, "I will try to be quicker, but you are right. Now, if my three victims will follow me, I shall get them started!"

Joel and Jude were already racing for CIC as he said this. Kevin grinned and followed the Admiral more slowly, for he still wasn't sure he fully believed he had made any good impression. His thoughts were dwelling on all the words he couldn't quite make out, and on the fact that it must be just kindness that was making the Admiral do this for him.

"Come on, Kevin," Morrow said, as he turned and easily read Kevin's pensive face. "Your test score was surprising - not because you did it, but because it was from an eleven year old. I have never seen such insight from one as young as you, in the fields of diplomacy."

"Really?" Kevin whispered softly.

"Really. Now, hurry along, Cadet!" Morrow added with a semi-serious bark to his voice.

Kevin immediately jumped to it and ran into the Main CIC to join the other two, as fast as he could.

---

After shutting the door between Main CIC and the Dining Room behind him, Admiral Morrow moved to sit at the main table with the other adults. Jason Evans was also there, having just arrived back from the rescue. "I take it things went well?" he asked the Dragon Commander.

"They did. Very. We didn't lose anyone," Jason replied with a smile. "I'm here as the VSO guard for Joel for the afternoon. Nath' and Koth are still with Logan and the others."

"That's great news," Morrow smiled.

Spock and Kirk turned their full attention on the Admiral, then. Bones was simply sipping yet another coffee, but his eyes were probing Morrow no less than Kirk's and Spock's.

"Okay, Admiral; what on Earth has brought you all the way from San Francisco? Three entrance exams by a group of kids and teens have never made you do that before," Kirk asked, cutting right to business.

Morrow nodded, "Correct, and normally they wouldn't have done so, now. However, those three boys are anything but normal."

"Would you care to explain that one?" Dan asked curiously.

"Both Joel and Jude not only aced the entrance papers, but spent some time answering some theoretical questions on Sub-Space mechanics - just to relieve the boredom of the easy tests, I'd imagine. Kevin came up with a brilliant diplomatic ploy that our experts are even now trying to adapt to use with those damned Sheliak - and their first opinions are that we may manage to get a treaty out of them with it. THAT is why I'm here in person. I will NOT allow these three boys to have their talents put to waste, if I can help it, and I also wanted confirmation."

"Oh," Dan murmured.

Allen simply looked stunned, proud and terrified all at the same time. "My little Kevin did that?"

"Your little Kevin did," Morrow answered seriously.

John grinned and patted Allen on the back before turning to Morrow, "I'm sure they'd have not gone to waste, Admiral. Cory has an eye for talent."

"So do I, and a little known law of the Federation states that you can hold position in any number of the fleets within the Membership of the UFP at the same time - he is STILL Starfleet himself. And so will these three be, if they really want it," Morrow grinned back.

"Does Cory know that?" Dan asked curiously.

"Like I said, it is little known - outside of the highest levels of power. Whilst we allow it, we don't encourage it. A person isn't their best if they spread themselves too thinly. Cory, however, would be bored with just Starfleet, or just the Vulcan High Command. He and Sean have more talent than should rightfully be allowed. Any number of the children here do. I'm 'window-shopping', if you wish to call it that. And I'm already geared to place a sizeable bid in for Joel, Jude and Kevin." Morrow turned to Spock and Allen, "How much for them?"

Allen laughed, "You can borrow, but never keep!"

"The price is astronomical," Spock said at the same time.

"You'd have better luck talking me into having a sex change," Dan replied seriously.

Morrow fixed him with a look, "The way I feel about those boys? Pick your dresses!" Then he laughed. "Seriously, they have talent, ability and knowledge to spare. If they want in with the Fleet, then whatever else they get under Cory with VHC, the Fleet is open to them. Oh, and as for Joel, he's got command potential, Spock. I'd wager he'd rival Jim, here, for ability. And Scotty now has TWO boys with engineering excellence. Jude and Cory. Scotty has the report on Jude already, and he's drooling at the mouth."

"I am seeing a trip to the Academy within a day or so. Right, Harrison?" Kirk asked with a knowing smile.

"Correct. If they do as well with these tests as I expect, I'm arranging for a full simulator run this coming Monday."

Spock glanced at Kirk and smiled, "I hope Sa'ren acquits himself with more morals than a certain other Cadet I used to know."

"Hey, now! I did nothing, no one saw me, and you can't prove a thing!" Kirk laughed jovially.

"Kobayashi Maru?" Morrow guessed. "I heard the rumours. It was..."

"Imaginative," Bones completed with a sly grin.

"Very," Spock confirmed. He looked at Morrow, "Will you run them through that?"

"Yes."

"Then expect to have the second 'win' in the unbeatable scenario, Admiral. And this time, without 'imaginative' exploits," Spock said seriously, and when he saw the look Morrow gave him, he added, "I have seen into my son's mind. He will, to use a colloquial phrase, 'trash' the test. Both he and Jude, with what I've seen already."

"Jude has been hanging around with Cory; do I need to say more?" Dan added.

Morrow was practically bouncing in his seat, "I cannot wait for them to take it, then. Spock, with what they put down on the test papers, I bet they could design a new starship, never mind 'trash' our current tests!"

"Too late...." Dan muttered.

'They already have.'

"Hello, Draco," Morrow smiled, "What did you mean by that?"

'Both Joel and Jude have already designed a starship. They have called it "Enterprise E" and it contains technology that I have never seen before. Very interesting.'

Morrow looked stunned.

Spock raised a hand quickly, "Such technology would be dangerous for Starfleet at this present time, however. We will need to integrate what they have designed slowly so as not to destroy ourselves by a large influx of information and power."

"Agreed," Morrow nodded, "but it isn't half tempting!"

"No D'Kyr tours for you, Admiral." Dan chuckled. "All the finest talent in the Clan are working on the plans for that ship."

"Joel and Jude are not," Spock clarified. "Cory is fully aware of what they have created and is himself scared of the Clan having that power too quickly."

"Are you aware of what they have designed?" John asked Spock.

"Yes. I can give you the names of some of them, for you will not be able to reproduce the items from just the names." Then, Spock started to list off, "Quantum Torpedoes; Tri-Cobalt Weapons; Corbomite Shielding - based off of a ploy used by Jim in one of our earlier missions; Multi-phasic Shields; and Ablative Armour Plating generators."

"They're all weapons and defensive tools, right?" John confirmed.

"Correct. Restricted, of course," Kirk said. "Not even I know what they really are or do. The other stuff they came out with, however, is going to be more fun."

"Sa'ren has already sent off all the information he knows about 'holodecks' to the Oceanic Division, as it seems to play into their interests," Spock explained, "while Jude has supplied us with blueprints of new scanning and deflector systems."

Morrow just sat with his mouth open. "I'm so looking forwards to seeing what can be released, you know."

"I've finished, Uncle Harrison!"

Morrow turned in his chair to see Joel close the door behind him and walk over carrying a data-padd. "Here! That was fun! Any more?" he asked innocently.

Morrow's face went pale. "M...more? Fun?! Joel! That was an exam from the end of the second year of the Academy! Quantum Physics!! You've been," he checked his watch, "eleven minutes!"

"And thirty two point three nine six seconds. Like I said, fun," Joel smiled easily without a trace of conceit. "Do you have any more?"

"Okay - he's a Vulcan, alright," McCoy breathed out as Kirk looked shocked. What was most surprising was that Spock himself looked impressed. "Your son is just like his parents, Spock."

"I do not think that I ever managed to complete such a test in so small a time," Spock stated as he beckoned Joel over to give him a cuddle.

"No, but your wife was quite able. With her gifts AND yours combined into one small, yet admittedly cute, form, no wonder Joel's fast!" Kirk laughed.

Joel beamed happily at the praise while watching Morrow read the answers on the padd.

Xain and Telez walked in at that moment. Joel waved, "You're back from Utah quick!"

"I had no need to remain longer, but every reason to return, cousin," Telez smiled.

Joel cocked his head to one side, "What? What did you call me?"

Behind Telez, Trip Tucker and T'Pol entered, and Trip placed a hand on Telez' shoulder. "We have some news for you, little one," Trip said to Joel.

Joel simply raised his eyebrow.

Xain cleared his throat and said, "Telez and I found out on Tuesday that we are both related. My human great grandmother's sister was his paternal great-grandmother. She married Carl Fisher, whose grandson was Doctor Graham Fisher: Telez' father."

Joel nodded slowly.

Telez beamed. "My great-grandfather, Carl, had an older sister."

"My mother," Trip grinned. "She married Charles Tucker Jr... your great grandfather!"

Joel was up and in Telez' arms within a heartbeat. "MORE FAMILY!" he yelled with tears of joy running from his face.

"Should I tell him now, Aunt T'Pol?" Xain asked with a hint of a smile.

"There's more?!" Joel gasped. Then, "Wait! Aunt??"

T'Pol nodded, "My sister married Out-Of-House. She married Siprak, Patriarch of House Suvak. It was a good match, or so it seemed until the bond began to sever between Suvak and Surak."

Joel's eyes opened wider as he called up the information from the Clan's computer that he had memorised. "Xain's my cousin too?! And so's Telez'?? We're cousins to each other, the three of us?!"

"Yes," Trip beamed.

"I have Family again," Telez said as tears fell from his smiling face, for family meant everything to Andorians. "I really have a family again!"

---

"Daddy?" Joel asked as he climbed onto his father's lap. "Mother wants me to ask you something."

Spock smiled slightly, "What is the question, Sa'ren?"

Joel smiled as he wiggled around to make himself comfortable. After pulling his father's arms tightly about himself he said, "She's asking to be transferred to your mind, Daddy. She says that I am better now, so she wants to spend some time with you before she is taken to the Hall of Memories."

Spock nodded and then kissed Joel's head. "Turn around, and I will meld with you."

Joel did so, and Spock laid his fingers upon his son's face. After a few minutes, he removed them and noticed his son crying. "What is the matter?" Spock asked with concern.

"Cory's really feeling that bad?" Joel asked softly as he wiped at his tears.

Spock nodded. "You were playing with Mikey when I talked to Teri about this. Yes. If he does not rest, then he will become very ill - possibly die. He is not as strong as an average 14 year old due to the stress of the past year and 3 months, and any more stress right now will have an adverse affect on him. Teri knows what to look for, and once Cory is strengthened, he can come back."

Joel sniffed and nodded, "Okay. Thank you for getting him his holiday, Sa'mekh."

"It was my pleasure to assist him, Sa'ren. I love all my children. I love you," Spock replied, deep affection heard in his voice.

---

Teri's House:

Queen Elizabeth approached Jason's grandmother, Meredith, who was seated in the living room. "My dear, Philip and I will be leaving here tomorrow. Is there anything you want me to take to Wales when I leave? I shall stop off at the Dragon's Nest, first."

"No, Ma'am, I'm fine," Meredith smiled up at her Monarch. "The PM is missing his weekly meetings?" she asked with a chuckle.

The Queen made a face, "I detest that man, but I cannot show partiality. There is something odd about how he feels when I am around him. Makes me wish to reach for a gun."

"I know how you feel, Ma'am. Make him wait a little longer, then. Have some fun with your position!"

Elizabeth chuckled and sat down. "How many times will I need to ask you to call me 'Lizzie', Mere?" she asked, knowing what the answer would be.

"As ever, your Majesty... One more time!"

---

Later:

Jude had finished his own test papers about a half hour after Joel had, and Kevin less than ten minutes after him. Morrow had been just as impressed with each of the boys' tests as he had been with Joel's. So much so, in fact, that he was requesting more, far more difficult, tests to be arranged at the Academy and sent over. Meanwhile, Joel and Kevin went to the Pool to meet up with the Tribe and Rugrats.

"Okay! All in Uniforms!" Timmy giggled once those from both Kid-Groups present had assembled.

Clothes went flying.

*Click-click-click*

Joel looked down at Lee and watched as the boy signed to him.

"No, they always swim this way," Joel giggled. "So do I."

Lee signed again.

"Cool! How, though? I thought chimps couldn't?"

More signing.

"Cool! That'll work nicely," Joel sniggered as Belar pounced Lee and blindfolded him. Blindfolds were also now applied to the other seven of Joel's kids, and each were being carried near to the water.

Timmy then asked them the same questions that had been asked of Solkar earlier that day. After getting his answers, and a thumbs up from Lee, Timmy then counted to three.

On the count of three, all eight were tossed into the pool, to be picked up by the eight or so swimmers in there.

Joel felt his free hand taken and he looked down to see Solkar beaming up at him. He quickly pulled his little brother close and just stood there as his kids swam and played, just enjoying his closeness to Kevin and Solkar.

Jason entered and asked, "Is it safe now?"

"No, but you're brave enough," Kevin giggled before running and diving into the water to try chasing the two Ferret boys. Jules and Verne swam like fishes... and were checking everyone's 'family jewels' - which seemed logical to them, for 'jewels' are normally shiny and if they were... well... the boys were just glad that their 'jewels' were unanimously declared "Dull"!

Jason giggled and pulled off his uniform, "I think I'll swim with you all, too."

Before he could place his uniform in a safe place, his comm went off. Joel moved over to listen while Solkar ran and bombed into the shallow end of the water.

It was Cory:

"Attention all members of Family Clan Short. As of three-forty-seven PM Central United States time, the city of Des Moines, Iowa officially has a Clan Compound in the suburb of Urbandale. I hereby designate Julio Carlos Hernandez as Director of Clan Short - Des Moines with Johnny Hernandez as Head of Communications. All Divisions are hereby ordered to provide support as necessary to bring this Division to full operational status in the most expedient manner. Division heads, acknowledge."

"Commander Casey responding for Clan Short Special Forces Division." Joel heard Adam respond, within a few seconds. "I have just alerted a full strike team to help them with anything they need. Is there anything else you can think of they would need, or should I just get in contact with them?"

"Divisional Staff Security is the priority," came Cory's reply.

"Understood, Patriarch, have them prepare for Lieutenant Sean Patrick and a full equipped assault team to act as division security until such time as they do not need them any more. Strike Team Tango will arrive within thirty minutes." Adam responded after a short delay.

"Acknowledged and approved, Adam," Cory replied.

Next came Danny, "Charleston AI Division acknowledged."

"Acknowledged, Danny. Nothing outstanding that concerns AI at the moment," Cory responded.

"Acknowledged, Cory," Sammy replied, and Joel giggled as he could swear that he could hear purrs behind SamSam's voice.

"North America acknowledged."

"North-East; we got ya, Patriarch."

"Okay, Peter, tell your brothers to take a break, already!" Joel heard Cory reply with a giggle.

Jason then tapped his comm and giggled, "Voice of the Dragon to Patriarch Cory: it took you this long? We've been watching Julio and company for weeks already... Get with the plot, blond-top!"

"You are so dead, Jace!" Cory giggled back quickly.

"Yeah, well: I'm down here in sunny Orlando. You're stuck up there for the next few days... I will be well hidden before you get back!" Jason retorted, but he had forgotten something.

Joel.

Jason found himself picked up by two slim arms around his waist. He yelled in shock as he was carried full tilt toward the pool and tossed in, with giggles from Joel all the way. As he left Joel's grasp, Jason found that his comm-badge flew from his hand and sped back to Joel's.

Joel spoke into the badge, "Blondie? Don't worry, Blondie! I got your back! Tell Julio I'll be over in the week, sometime, with some cookies as a present! I've gotta run, got more Starfleet tests to do! Love you!"

Joel then laid the badge down before pouncing into the water and started to dunk Jason, yelling happily, "Only I gets to pick on Blondie, Jace!"

Solkar giggled before getting out and turning the comm off and tossing it onto Jason's pile of clothes. Then, because family stuck together, he jumped onto Joel and Jace and started to help his half-brother teach the giggling VSO Patriarch a good lesson.

Joel had only just swam off to find and dunk Kevin when Galli and Jay appeared at the edge of the pool and called to him. He swam over and looked up at the two small boys, "Yeah?"

"We need to talk, brother," Galli said seriously.

Joel's face grew serious as well and he hoisted himself out of the pool and followed the Doctor and his partner to the shower room.

"What's the matter, bro?" Joel asked nervously.

The Doctor sighed. "Big brother, I have a mission that is still left before me. I need to find my entire race, to rebuild the Time Lords. I... I have to leave, now," he said softly.

Joel's eyes grew watery. "For how long?" he whimpered.

"For me, a long time. For you, it depends on when Time wants me to return here."

Joel sniffed. "I will see you again... right?" he asked brokenly.

"Certainly," Jay answered, "but the next time we know about is when you first meet us, from our perspective. We won't be your brothers at that point, for it's before we entered this Universe and this place in the timeline. Other than that..." Jay trailed off.

Galli cuddled into Joel's chest quickly, "I don't know anything, right now - about what will happen between us, I mean, Joel. You have a destiny I cannot fully see, nor even understand. All I know is that it is something important, yet hard. I know bits and pieces, but all I can do is hope I'll see you again - you're my brother forever, now. But there may be a chance that this is the last time I'll hug you as my brother."

"There's no chance, then?" Joel wept.

"There's always a chance. Joel, how far would you go, and how much would you pay, and how much would you endure, to save the ones you love," the Doctor asked Joel, seriously. "What would you sacrifice?"

Joel stopped crying and thought long and hard. "Everything," the little Vulcan whispered, eventually. "Everything."

The Doctor nodded, "Then maybe we will see each other again. A wise Man once said, those who seek to save their lives will lose them, but..."

"Those who lose their lives for my sake, will save them," Joel completed. "My destiny; When does it come, and what shall I do when it does?"

"Soon; and you'll know what to do, Child of Red Sands," the Doctor answered, as he turned to enter the Tardis. "You shall know. Remember - No Greater Love, Sa'ren of Vulcan. No Greater Love."

Jay quickly came over and hugged Joel as well. Then both boys vanished from Joel's sight, and a deep toned thrumming started up and quickly faded away.

Gallifrey, the Time Lord, was gone.

Joel sniffed and turned to find Kevin watching him. "I don't know what that all means, but I'm scared, Kevvy," he said, tears heard in his voice.

"I am too, but we're bravest together, Sa'ren. We'll face anything when we're together," Kevin soothed as he moved to comfort Joel in his arms.

---

Less than half an hour had passed when Morrow entered and called for Jude, Kevin and Joel to come to him. He smiled as they quickly dried themselves down and donned sweatpants and a tee-shirt. "Going commando?" the Admiral chuckled.

"Yeah!" Jude grinned back. "No point in putting on too much if we're going back swimming, later. Would only mean more time stripping and less time swimming!"

"Very logical, and a good sign of forethought," Morrow said seriously, but the look in his eyes showed the three boys that he was yanking their chains. "Come on. I've got something special lined up for you."

---

Jude, Joel and Kevin had finished the latest test, and were now outside CIC and found that the rest of the kids had started a spirited game of soccer. Jules and Verne were having a lot of fun as well, even if the ball was far bigger in comparison to them than to the rest of the youngsters playing. Jude pulled Kevin under one arm and Joel under the other as he said, "I think we all did very well, don't you?"

Kevin nodded with confidence. Morrow's reaction to the first test before their swimming break had bolstered his self-image, and Joel had added to it with a good long kissing session - just to be sure. "Yeah - we're super amazing!" he giggled wickedly.

"That's my Kevvy," Joel sniggered as Lee caught sight of them first and ran over.

As with the other G-kids, Lee seemed to find it easier to run on all fours. His arms being slightly longer than his legs was the main cause, and the fluidity of his movements as he used his flexible fingers and 'toes' to grip and pull himself forward amazed both his parents. He stopped before them and smiled widely before sitting back and signing up at them with his 'toes', which made Jude giggle.

"No, we thought we'd go talk to Russ and Sara," Kevin said after Lee had finished. "Want to come meet them?"

Lee's eyes grew curious and he waved his 'toes' a few times at Kevin.

"They share being parents to all of Cory and Sean's kids, just like Cory and Sean share being parents to Russ and Sarah's. Russ brought everyone over a few hours ago, and they've been settling themselves in Joel's house."

"Our house," Joel corrected as he reached behind Jude to tickle Kevin's ribs.

Jude picked Joel up before Kevin could do more than laugh and hugged him tight. "You are going to make me cry, little brother," he whispered.

"Why?" Joel asked quietly as he enjoyed the tight snuggle.

"Cory and Sean opened their home to you, but this is the first time I've heard you say it's your home."

Joel smiled, softly.

Kevin's eyes were also a little moist as he looked up at the older boy who was cuddling his husband. He wrapped a hand around Joel's bare left foot and rubbed his thumb firmly along Joel's sole, "Jude's right. You said it last night, too, but I was too... horny... to notice. It's nice you have something of your own, that you accept as being your own, T'hy'la."

Joel's eyes fluttered. While his feet were ticklish, the manner in which Kevin was rubbing with his thumb was anything but ticklish.

Jude noticed the lump forming in Joel's sweatpants and giggled. "I think you should go meet Sarah and Russ after you've dealt with this weapon of mass destruction, Joel!"

"Huh? Oh! Hush, you!" Joel blushed slightly, but the Cheshire cat grin showed Jude that Joel wasn't all that embarrassed. A massive change from yesterday.

Lee tugged on his poppa's hand, and Kevin looked down to watch him sign a question.

"Yes. He has a stiffy. If you rub his feet a certain way it'll cause it."

Lee silently giggled and covered his mouth with both hands while his feet flicked out more.

"Yes, we're gay. Well, he's bi, but yeah - we like to make love to each other," Kevin explained as he giggled and picked up his eldest son. Lee kissed his cheek before gripping on with all four limbs. "You're coming with us, then," Kevin giggled.

Lee nodded.

"I'm going to the 7th hole rest stop. I need to relax," Jude smiled before kissing Joel briefly and placing him down next to Kevin.

Joel waved goodbye before calling for his other seven kids.

Once they had assembled, he asked them, "Do you want to come meet Uncle Russ and Auntie Sara with us?"

"Who?" came the seven responses that sent Joel to his knees laughing.

Lee blew noisily through his lips, making them flap which produced a rather amusing yet odd sound. He lifted his left leg and, with his left hand, signed a brief explanation to his brothers and sister.

"Haha, smartass," Sue giggled. "Just 'cos you asked before we got here!"

Lee simply grinned.

Joel picked up the two ferrets and placed one on each shoulder, then he pulled the two badgers over and held one under each arm. The two kittens and Rafe joined hands and simply looked up at their daddies. Joel giggled at Rafe, "Joining in the dress code?"

Rafe looked down at his nude form, then grinned back up, "Uh huh! If they don't wear stuffs then why me?"

Joel grinned again as Kevin asked, "Did you put sun cream on?"

"Uh huh!" Rafe nodded before giggling. "Shere and As helped!"

"His dickie is funny. It flaps all over der place!" Aslan explained.

"Oh, that type of help," Kevin chuckled as he looked between his three five year olds before him. Then he glanced at Joel, "All cats are like that?"

"Retractable? Yeah. Most animals on earth are to one degree or another. Humanoids are generally 'collapsible'!" Joel giggled as Jules bent himself double to take a good look at his own 'bits and pieces'.

"Oh yeahs! Mine looks differents too!" he giggled.

"Ain't you played wif it enough to knows?" Verne sniggered as he rested his chin on Joel's head to watch his twin.

"Yeah, buts not when I can sees a humans one toos!"

"You stupid!"

"Am not! You stupid, stupid!"

"Hey!" Joel grinned as he reached up and tickled them both. "Don't call each other that. No-one is stupid, okay?"

"Otay, Daddy!" they chorused, adding a small light punch to each other's nearest arm as they said so.

"And no hitting!" Kevin added, trying to hold back his own laughter.

Shere Khan grinned, "Dey always likes dat. Dey nutzors!"

"Am not!" both ferrets shot back, but their giggles spoiled the 'hurt' expressions they were shooting for.

It wasn't far to walk from the playing fields to Cory's house. Less than a hundred yards all told, so there was no particular rush. Timmy, Ricky and Pauly soon joined them, once they had seen where they were headed. Before they had gotten to the front door, DJ, Tanner, Toby, Beau, Jamie, Jacob, Brandon, Austin, CD and Calen joined them. Joel giggled. "Everyone ready to pounce for snacks?" he asked them, remembering the delicious home made cookies that Sara had baked for him for his birthday yesterday.

"Ho, yeah!" DJ and Tanner chorused.

"Huuuuungreeeeeey!" Toby added.

Jamie, Jacob and Beau sniggered.

"Foods! Foods!" Shere crowed out.

"Shinys too?" Verne asked.

Kevin grinned as he opened the door, "We'll see."

"Charge!" Tanner commanded and all the kids surged into the house and made a bee-line for the living room.

Russ was lying down on the sofa, reading a book, while Sara was busy sorting through some paperwork, when the Horde descended.

Sara started laughing, for Russ soon had all eight of Joel and Kevin's kids on him, all clamouring for food in the most pathetic manner. Even Lee was in on the act, for he was on the back of the sofa and repeated tapping Russ's forehead gently and pointing to his mouth, then using his right foot to rub his stomach. She didn't laugh for long, though, for she had DJ and Tanner on her lap seconds later, "Ooffff, you two are getting big!" she chuckled.

"What do you mean?!" Tanner whined with a grin on his face. "We're wasting away, here!"

"Yeah!" added all of Cory and Sean's kids. Even Austin, who was really the biggest kid of the lot!

"Foods... or Shinys... or Shiny foods!!" Verne exclaimed loudly at the top of his lungs.

"I think they are hungry," Kevin informed Sara deadpan.

"Nooooo. Really?" Russ chuckled as he launched a counter-tickle-attack on Aslan and Rafe.

"It's a good thing that I had been preparing food, then," Sara said. "The stew shouldn't be long, guys. Go get cleaned up, and then we can eat."

"Do you has meat for us?" Shere asked after bounding down and running over to stand with his chin on her knee. "For me and Assy and Jules and Verne?"

"Of course I do, cutie," Sara smiled as she reached to tickle Shere Khan's nose, making him sneeze.

Sue and Brian came over and took off their sunglasses. Their weak, watery pink eyes blinked as they tried to focus on Sara. "Do you have our foods too?" Sue asked softly; shyly.

Tanner and DJ slipped from her lap so she could sit up and pull the two badgers onto it instead, "Grubs, some meats, roots and fruit - yes I do."

Brian rubbed at his belly happily as he licked his lips. "Yum! We like some human foods too, though. Can we have some wholegrain bread, toasted?"

"Sure, honey. Why, though?" Sarah asked with interest.

"Rafey told us he likes cheese on toast. That's a little rich for us, but grubs on toast might be nice. Could you toast them for us?" he asked, blinking his soulful eyes at her.

Sara was glad that being in the Clan had allowed her to see and hear it all, so her stomach didn't turn at the idea. "Sure. I will see if we can make it your favourite dish."

"Yum!" Sue said before she and Brian pecked kisses onto Sarah's cheeks.

Soon, everyone was around the kitchen table eating. Tanner was pulling faces at the two badgers. The cats and ferrets eating raw meat didn't seem to bother him, but Sue and Brian sucking earthworms up like spaghetti was just a little more than Tanner felt he could handle.

"Want some?" Sue asked politely when she saw him staring at her and her brother. She picked up a worm and held it out. It was dead, of course, and slightly toasted on top. "It's yummy!"

"Now you've done it," Joel giggled. "You'll hurt her feelings if you refuse."

"Dude, it won't be the first 'worm' that you've ever ate!" DJ giggled.

Tanner's face couldn't decide on blushing or turning green as he gingerly took the worm from Sue - who was now watching him like a hawk.

Russ, feeling slightly evil, asked DJ, "Tanner has eaten a worm? DJ, if I was you, I wouldn't be bragging about only having a 'worm' in my pants."

"Hey, it's in the Book of World Records as the world's biggest worm... they want to classify it as a python, actually!" DJ replied, not letting Russ phase him.

Tanner giggled at the banter, then looked at the worm in his hand carefully. "Mom? Would this be safe to eat?" he asked bravely.

Sara smiled and nodded.

Tanner closed his eyes tight, and popped the worm into his mouth. He chewed quickly and swallowed.

DJ clapped, looking impressed at his boyfriend.

Tanner's tongue smacked at his lips and upper palette in his mouth experimentally, his face deep in thought. "Not bad," he said with surprise as he looked at Sue and grinned. "Thank you!"

"Want some more?" she asked, hopefully.

Tanner got up and scooted around the table and climbed in between the two badgers - who promptly started to share out their meal evenly with their new friend.

DJ pulled a face. "Brush your teeth before you think of kissing me - okay?" he giggled.

"They don't taste much different than my favourite King Cobra; and you let me kiss you after kissing it!" Tanner shot back between worms.

DJ's face went red faster than a traffic light, and everyone started laughing at him. He joined in a few seconds later, "Okay. Okay, I yield! Jeez!"

Pauly, Joel and Kevin were giggling between themselves as they tucked into the same bowl of stew. Theirs was different to that being consumed by everyone else - it was green, for it consisted of Vulcan meats; mostly le-metra. Pauly was having a blast, for he was cuddled onto Joel's lap, and was feeding his two uncles, one chunk of meat or veg at a time, then feeding himself. All three would need a shower by the end of this meal.

Once everyone had finished, they all started clearing the table. Lee was on top of the fridge directing the 'traffic', much like the Magician's Apprentice, and Kevin was standing on a stool to wash up.

Jules and Verne started bouncing up and down around Joel, "Can we looks for Shinys now?"

"Yes, but don't take them," Joel said fondly. "They belong to my brothers and nephews, okay?"

"We won't! We not allowed to take a Shiny-Lover's Shinys!" Verne informed him seriously.

Joel looked at his son oddly for a moment, then glanced at Timmy, who held up his right hand and quoted, "'I pledge allegiance to the Shiny of the Shiny Nation, and to the Gleam for which it stands; one Nation under Shiny - sparkling, with incandescence and radiance for all!"

By the time he had finished, all the other Tribe members were quoting with him, and Russ had to leave the kitchen rapidly before his sides split open.

Kevin was laughing so hard he nearly fell into the sink, and Joel grinned. "Do you have a national anthem, too, Jules? Verne?"

"Uh huh!" they both replied, then started to sing:

"God save our Gracious Shiny!
Long live our Noble Shiny"
God save the Shiny"
Send it victorious;
Happy and Glorious;
Long to Shine over us;
God save the Shiny!"

"Who came up with this?" Tanner asked as he held onto the kitchen table in order to remain standing as he howled in laughter.

"Dave! Dave!" Jules giggled.

Joel made a mental note to go and see that strange little ferret very soon. In fact, once he had gotten cleaned up and had settled his children down a bit, he was going to go and find him straight away. He might need more information about the strange society of the ferret Hybrids.

"You wanna have a shower with us, Uncle Joel? Uncle Kev?" Timmy asked as he held one of Pauly's hands tightly. "Senva here is ALLLLL messy. So're you!"

Kevin finished the last dish and hopped down to join them, saying, "Yeah, we'll get cleaned up too. Pauly made sure that was needed, didn't you?"

Pauly giggled cutely and nodded.

Before they left, Joel pulled his two ferret boys into his arms, "You two as well. I want to show you something, then you can do exploring, okay?"

"Okay, daddy," they answered.

Once upstairs, Joel and the others stopped by Cory and Sean's bedroom door. "This is Uncle Cory and Uncle Sean's bedroom. No-one is allowed to go in here at all, unless Uncle Cory and Uncle Sean say you can - okay?" Joel told the two ferrets seriously. "You can explore everywhere else, but not in here."

They both nodded seriously. "When will they be back?" Jules asked.

"Monday," Timmy smiled. "They'll show you. Daddy and Poppa like showing off their bedroom, but they told us to never go in there unless they told us we could."

Verne nodded. "Okays. We understands, we do. Can we go 'sploring now?"

Kevin smiled, "Sure."

As they ran off one way, Timmy and Ricky grabbed Joel and pulled him into their bedroom, with Kevin carrying Pauly behind them. It was shower time.

---

An hour later, Joel and Kevin led their horde into the Rec Room to find Allen waiting for them.

"There you are. I'm about to go home, Little Ones, and I was wondering if you wanted to come stay the night with us," Allen asked, looking more at Kevin than any of the others.

Kevin smiled softly, "You've been missing me, Poppa?"

Allen grinned sheepishly before getting to his knees to hug his smallest son. "You saw right through me. Yes, I've been missing you, Kevin. You've been here since Tuesday, and Juana and I have missed you being there."

"I'll stay here with the kids, Kev. You have some family time, and..." Joel started.

Allen pulled him over quickly to stop him. "No, Little Heart. You, as well. And the kids - I want to get to know all my new grandchildren."

"Is there room?" Kevin asked with confusion.

"There is, now," Allen grinned. "You'll see when we get there."

Kevin grinned at Joel, and said, "This should be fun!"

Joel nodded, and absently handed his dimension-bag to Verne, who was jabbering about wanting some place to hide a Shiny. He then said, "I want to pop over to see Adz in Utah, so you guys go ahead, and I'll be there soon."

Kevin nodded as he climbed into Allen's arms. "Take care. Verne? Give it back!"

Verne pulled a face, then handed Joel's dimension bag back to his dad. "Only wanted to makes sures it was hidden rights!"

Joel giggled and was about to call for transport to Utah when Levi popped in next to him. "Uncle Cory's at it again, Uncle Joel," Levi said seriously.

"Oh? He's working again?" Joel asked with exasperation.

"Yeah. Shall I take you there?"

"Please. I need to kick his butt again!" Joel giggled as he vanished.

---

Des Moines:

After having sorted out Cory, and having met Julio and Jesse, Joel went to mingle for a half hour or so with the Des Moines guys, as they had a 70s party. Jules was riding on his shoulder, for he had been the 'shiny' that Verne had hidden in the dimension bag.

"Can I dance and stuffs, Daddy?" Jules asked, still holding on tightly to his golden cup that Kyle had given him.

"Put that in my bag, then yes," Joel smiled. As Jules slipped to the floor and reached up to Joel's waist, Joel had another idea. He unclasped his bag and slung it around Jules' shoulders like a back-pack. "There. You have somewhere to put your shinys, if you find any. Remember, if it belongs to someone, you have to ask first, right?"

"Right!" the tiny child crowed before dropping onto all fours and scampering off into the crowd.

Joel moved through the mass of teens and kids easily, stopping every so often to shake hands and hug with someone who had met him earlier that day. He answered more than a few questions about how Rafe now was, and about the tiny half-ferret asking all and sundry for 'Shinys'.

Jules, on the other hand, had amassed a small fortune in Shinys - a fortune for a ferret, but it was mostly worthless stuff, really. Then he spied the Shiniest Shiny of them all.

The Disco Ball on the ceiling.

He tugged on the nearest boy's arm, a boy of about eight or so, and squeaked, "Can I have that one?!"

The boy grinned down at the tiny ferret kid and then picked him up. "Sure, but first - what's your name?"

"Jules. What's yours?"

"Robin. Can you keep a secret?" Robin giggled.

"Sure! I'll keep it REAL secret. What am I keeping secret?" Jules asked curiously.

Robin turned to look up at the disco ball and gestured with his hand. There was a faint click and then the ball floated across the ceiling and then down into a corner. Robin ran over with Jules on his shoulder.

"You has magic!" Jules whispered into Robin's ear in awe.

"Yeah!" Robin giggled. "There. Yours, I believe. How are you going to sneak it out of here?" he asked wickedly.

"I have some magic too!" Jules crowed. "My daddy's magic bag! Watch!" he added as he jumped down to the floor next to the ball and pulled his 'backpack' off. He opened one of the flaps and pulled and pulled to make the opening big enough.

Robin whistled and then helped him make the hole as big as possible. "I think I see the bottom... just," he giggled. He then helped Jules place the large 'Shiny' inside.

Just in time too, for Joel started to call for his son.

"I gotta goes!" Jules grinned as he placed the deceptively small bag back on his shoulders. "Thank you, Robin! You're a REAL Shiny-Lover!"

Robin grinned, "Visit again, and we'll go to the Science Center and we can get even more shinys. You'll have to bring your bag, though."

"I will! I will! I'll bring my brodda, Verne too!" Jules crowed out, as he scampered off, waving at his new friend.

Robin giggled, then felt a tap on his back. He turned and found Kyle smiling at him. "Yes?" he asked. Then, "Oh my God - you're KYLE!"

Kyle nodded, "That's me! Come to Cory's house tomorrow night, about four o'clock, in time for food. Okay?" Kyle giggled.

Robin's eyes went wide. "THE Cory? His house? Why?"

"'Cos you're a telekinetic, and I want to train you right," Kyle said seriously before popping away instantly.

Robin's jaw dropped open, then he bounced a few times. He was going to learn how to use his 'magic'!

Jules, meanwhile, reached Joel and scooted up his dad's body to sit on his shoulder again. "Where now, Daddy?" he squeaked happily.

"Utah. I want to talk to that weird Dave of yours. He said something earlier and I want to see how serious all this 'Shiny Warrior' stuff really is," Joel explained.

"Oh, he's serious," Jules giggled. "Seriously BONKERS, but serious!"

"Uh...huh," Joel grunted uneasily before tapping his comm. "Captain Sa'ren Short to Commander Adam Casey. Come in, Commander," he asked.

"Why so formal, Elf?" Adam responded a few seconds later.

"Weeellll," Joel hedged. "I kinda didn't know if you'd all, like... forgiven me or not," he added, softly.

He heard Adam chuckling and due to his greater hearing he made out Adam breathing out, "Like it makes a difference now..." Then, louder, "You're safe, Joel. Koth fessed up and said he, Korris and Jason got together to do it, and they worked on you to make it happen. What's up, Little Dude?"

Joel smiled, "Was wondering if I could come over for a short while. I need to talk to one of the rescued kids from earlier. Dave, a ferret, and..."

"That insane little fucker? What the hell for?! And if you can, can you get me my pen back?"

"Jules told me he was nuts," Joel giggled.

"No - Bonkers! Not nuts, stark raving loopy-loo!" Jules said seriously as he twirled his finger at the side of his head. "We only listen to him 'cos he does make sense... only if yous can make sense of 'im, though."

"Jules is another ferret? Do I really want ANOTHER one here?" Adam chuckled. "Just kidding, Jules. Sure, Elf. Come on over. There's some food here as the guys are having some fun and games. Oh, and go easy on Khan - he had a small fight and is feeling fragile."

Joel rolled his eyes, then called, "Daileass? Transport for two, if you please!"

'Right you are, Cap'n,' Daileass giggled as Joel and Jules vanished instantly.

---

Utah - Camp Bam Bam:

After hugging Adam briefly, Joel was pointed to the area which the ferrets had claimed as their own; the second underground base across the Canyon.

"They're all there," Adam said. "Daileass said they're holding some type of service or something. Jules, as cute as you are, you're all nuts," he added with a soft smile.

"We like Shinys," was all Jules said, as he slipped from Joel's shoulder to walk hand in hand with his daddy.

As Joel started off toward the second underground base, I-Cheya ran up to his side with Verne on his back.

"You've been hiding here?" Joel giggled.

No. Just came. Time for Fun. Boy will know when

"If you say so," Joel giggled as he scooped Verne up and placed him on his shoulder.

A few minutes later, they got to the base and made their way down to the level the ferrets were on. As they drew near to the door that a kindly female gorilla had pointed out to them, Joel heard:

"Oh Great Shiny! Thank you for bringing us the Shiny Warrior and leading us to the Promised Land..."

Joel looked down at Jules, who was giggling softly at his side. "Is he doing what I think he's doing?" he asked softly.

"Yes," Jules giggled as he made sure his hat was on properly.

Verne tapped Joel's head before slipping to the ground, "Come on. We'll shows ya what to dos, Daddy!"

Joel allowed the two boys to lead him by the hand, into a large room, and I-Cheya plodded slowly along behind them. He looked around at the den like beds and small mounds of shiny items littering the room, as well as at the collection of ferret kids. Some were between three and six years of age and were as small as, if not smaller than, Jules: two feet tall or less. The others were between twelve and fifteen, but they were no taller than three and a half to four feet.

Right at the end of the room, by the largest pile of 'Shinys' was the three and a half foot ferret, Dave, naked, as were the others, the only noticeable difference was his had a large Stetson hat on his head which was covered in all manner of shiny items and badges. Also, around his neck, was a cardinal's stole - again, covered in Shinys.

"Is that him?" a small girl ferret squeaked as she tugged on the hand of a larger twelve year old boy, while pointing at Joel.

The boy nodded, "The Shiny Warrior!"

"He's not shiny! He's Dull!" she squeaked again.

"Do not speak so of the Shiny Warrior!" Dave called out, as he turned to see who had committed such blasphemy. He then saw Joel walking toward him with Jules and Verne beside him. "Shiny One! Thank you for gracing us with your presence!" he said as he bowed to Joel.

The others in the room who had been there when Joel had been at the 'end of battle feast' all bowed as well. The others still looked unconvinced, though.

A fourteen year old girl came forwards, "Dave - he's NOT shiny! I'm sorry, but he just isn't!"

"He saved me! I was dying, and he saved me, and he does so Shine when he wants to!" Jules said, with heat, jumping up and down in temper at her.

"Quiet!" Dave called, raising his hands for silence.

As the oldest ferret, he was the de-facto leader of the espionage Ferret Teams - as well as their self appointed spiritual leader. They all became as silent as the grave and just watched.

"Shiny Warrior. Many of my brothers and sisters did not get to see you earlier. Would you please show them your Shinyness?" Dave asked, humbly, bowing to Joel again.

Joel thought fast on his feet. What was different about him now to when he had been at the battle? 'Oh, my Armour!' he giggled to himself. Well, if these kids wanted a show, then a show he would give them. He looked around at the seventy four ferrets in the room, then told Jules and Verne to scoot over and join Dave. He then grinned and backed into a clear area.

'Sa'ren - My Sword - can you hear me? If so, answer silently in my mind,' Joel sent out.

/I hear thee, Blade of Surak. What do you will of me?/

'Can you and the Fo-wein Sa'ren read my mind?'

/We have no need. We are One with you and know what you know. What is it you wish?/

Joel sent out a brief image.

///You are clearly as insane as the ferrets,/// the Armour's voice came suddenly, ///But I like insane///

/Agreed. We have waited a long time to be with you, but we never expected you to be this entertaining. Of course, we are able to do it, and I-Cheya will know what to do, as well/

*Huff!* I-Cheya added joyfully.

Joel grinned, then he looked right at the gathered 76 ferrets and started to speak:

"I am Joel, Prince of Britain and Defender of the Secrets of Mount Seleya. This," the little Vulcan pointed at his Vulcan Bear, "is I-Cheya, my fearless friend. Fabulous secrets powers were revealed to me the day I held aloft my magic sword..."

As he spoke he reached behind him and the Sa'ren appeared against his back. He lifted his hand upwards, raising the point of the Shattered Sword to the heavens, "...and said, By the Power of T'Khasi!"

Lightning and power exploded from the Sa'ren and engulfed the small boy. All the ferrets gasped, and Dave could be clearly heard muttering, "The Sword of Many Shinys!" - obviously referring to the shattered nature of the blade.

There was another flash of blinding light, and Joel's clothes vanished to be replaced by the Armour of Sa'ren. He brought the Sword down and held it before him with one gauntlet shod hand on the hilt and the other on the blade. He voice became amplified by his Armour as he shouted, "I have the SHINYS!!"

He then pointed the Sword at I-Cheya, and more power shot out. I-Cheya grew exponentially to his adult size and was quickly encased in his own glowing armour, and started roaring loudly. His silver fur shot the light back out like the sun.

"I-Cheya became the Mighty Shiny-Sehlat, and I became - Sa'ren, the Most Shiniest Elf in the Universe!" Joel said loudly.

All the ferrets were now lying prostrate, except for Jules and Verne who were staring open mouthed at Joel. "Daddy?! Woah, Daddy - you da SHINYESTEST SHINY EVERS!"

Joel had had no idea what he had just started, or confirmed, I should say, but it wasn't long after that that he, Jules and Verne rode out of the second base to head back for the older one. In his hand, Joel held a book that Dave had thrust at him, and rather than reading it there and then, he decided to put it in his dimension bag.

The ferrets, meanwhile, were now hyped up beyond all measure: and Dave's new religion had just been grounded as 'fact' forever for them...

---

Once Joel got back to where the party was going on, he saw Khan and Logan the wolverine hobble out of the medical wing and sit themselves in a quiet area. He walked over, still in his Armour, and asked, "What the hell have you two been doing?"

"Getting to know each other," Khan grunted sourly.

Logan nodded and also grunted, "As well as the tables, chairs, canyon walls, bushes..."

"Tents, dirt, rocks..." Khan added even more sourly. "And cacti," he added, rubbing his sore butt.

"He fights well," Logan grudgingly admitted.

Joel rolled his eyes as Jules tutted at Logan. Joel grinned, "Why did you fight?"

"'Cos that's what we do," Logan grunted.

Khan rolled his own eyes, then winced, due to his black eye. "He didn't want to accept my authority over the Hybrid Forces, so I had a 'discussion' with him, about it."

Joel sighed before moving over and opening Khan's ever-present robe. Khan raised an eyebrow at the boy, but soon started purring once Joel had settled himself to hug Khan, chest to chest. Joel reached up and started scratching Khan's ears, then under his chin, then he lent back and rubbed Khan's chest.

"Cats," Logan muttered, as he watched.

Joel muttered, "You'll be better, soon."

His Armour glimmered, and Khan gasped. All of his injuries had vanished. Normally, such wounds would have taken a couple of days to go away.

Joel smiled and got off of Khan's lap, before closing Khan's robes. He then went and sat on the already naked wolverine's lap, and started to give Logan's shoulders a good massage and rub. If Logan could have purred, he would have. "Get better," Joel said again. And again, the Armour glimmered for a second, and healed Logan as well.

Joel finally stood up and then added, "You know something, Khan?"

"What?" Khan asked.

"Next time you need something from Logan, just ask me," Joel giggled.

"Why?"

"Cos he owes me a life debt!" Joel smiled.

Khan looked at Joel for a moment. Then he looked at the wolverine at his side, who grinned toothily at him, "He's right, I do."

Khan then looked back at the innocently grinning Joel, "You mean you could have just ORDERED him to follow me?!"

"Uh huh, but I didn't know you were gonna go tell him you were his boss, right away, and I wasn't here... any ways, the look on your face is more fun!" Joel hooted before scampering away giggling, with his twin ferrets and I-Cheya running fast behind him.

Khan looked at Logan again. The wolverine was still grinning at him.

"That's it: I'm going for a walk," Khan said in complete disgust as he got up and wandered away, swearing under his breath.

Logan grinned more, stood up, and ran to catch up with Joel.

"Is Khan mad?" Joel asked Logan with a giggle as he watched his two boys tear into some raw chicken.

Logan grinned and nodded. "I think that pussy is always mad. Fights like a devil, though," he grunted with amusement. "Hey, Angel. Tell me how you did that."

"Did what?" Joel asked as he pulled a few cookies from his bag and munched on them. His Armour glimmered slightly as Logan tapped it.

"Healed me and Mad-Cat. And how did you save me earlier today?" Logan asked curiously.

Joel shrugged, "Don't really know. It's only happened today. I just say something and it happens. I think it's the Armour. Speaking of which; Return!" he said loudly, and the Armour detached and vanished into liquid air, followed seconds later by the Sword that was against Joel's back.

Logan whistled. "You're very strange, Angel. I'm glad I know you."

"I'm glad, too," Joel giggled as he raised himself up enough to kiss Logan's black nose.

Logan sneezed, then grinned.

---

Joel, I-Cheya and the two boys arrived in the Thompson Residence just as the others were sitting down to dinner. Allen smiled, "Good. Juana didn't want it to go to waste."

"Sit down, and I'll get yours for you," Juana smiled as she bustled out of the Dining Room and into the kitchen.

I-Cheya followed Juana out to see about some cold-cuts that could well be on the go, while Jules looked up at Joel and asked, "Can I have the Magic Bag, Daddy? I wanna show Verne alla nice Shinys I got from the dance!"

Joel giggled and handed the bag to his son before settling down next to Kevin and Kenny to eat. Kevin grinned at him, "Verne said where he'd stuffed his brother once Levi vanished you, then I-Cheya vanished, taking Verne with him. I figured they went to join you."

"So I gathered, or you'd have called or something," Joel grinned. "Well? What was Poppa Allen on about, about there being room for our kids here too?" he asked, as he watched Reuben and Ricardo eating with Lee and Shere Khan. More showers were going to be needed, he thought to himself. Then he noticed the badgers weren't eating dead food this time. They had some cold cuts of meat, and some roots, but two tubs in front of them with lids and a lot of wriggling 'things' inside.

"I'll show you after dinner, Little Heart," Allen smiled as Billy passed him some bread.

"Okay, Poppa!" Joel smiled happily as Juana placed his dinner down in front of him. He then began the serious business of feeding Kevin and himself.

"Lookie, lookie, Poppa!" Shere Khan giggled as he grabbed a worm from Brian's plate and put it on Aslan's tuft of hair.

Aslan nearly freaked. "My mane! Leave my mane alone! Yous jus' jealous 'cuz yous don't have a mane!" he yelled, as he flicked the worm off and then set about puffing his tuft to stand up again. "Yearch! Nasty worm in my mane!"

"Shere, what have I told you?" Kevin reproved.

Shere Khan grinned, "Not to play with my food?"

"Yep," Kevin said, while Allen, Billy and Juana tried not to laugh.

"But Poppa!" Shere Khan grinned more, "It wasn't my foods!"

"But it was my mane!" Aslan grouched, now happy that his 'mane' was back to his tastes again.

"He's got you on that one," Joel snorted after managing to swallow his mouthful.

"Yeah," Kevin agreed as he pondered the dilemma.

Brian was already up and chasing the worm across the table. "Don't play with other people's food, either, Shere! Get back here, worm! I wanna eat ya!"

"There's just so many things I could say," Jake said softly, "but there are too many innocent ears listening."

Lee nearly choked on the apple he was eating as he fell into silent laughter, and Mercury and Hermes were almost as bad.

Joel giggled, then looked at the wickedly grinning Tiger cub. "Shere. You don't play with food at all. Yours or anyone's. Okay? Food shouldn't be messed about with... unless you have a food fight, and that's not for a dinner table."

"Food fight?" Aslan's ears perked up. "Can we get that dead cow to fight those evil little green round things?"

"The beef fighting the peas?" Kenny asked. "Now that is a fight I'd like to see! Where's Juan? I want to place bets on the beef!"

Allen cast a withering eye at his son, "I've noticed you not eating them, Cute Stuff. No dessert until they are gone - you know the rules."

"Yous should become a Tiger," Shere Khan told Kenny, sagely. "We don't gets to eat those yucks!"

By now, Lee was nearly having a fit under the table. Joel bent over to look at him, then decided to go help his eldest son. "You okay, sweet-pea?" he asked softly as he helped Lee back onto his chair.

Lee nodded his head, still laughing silently. He flicked his toes a few times, then started rocking back and forth again.

"Okay, but try to calm down. You'll get a stomach ache, otherwise," Joel smiled before kissing his son's forehead and going back to sit down.

Lee nodded again and tried to calm down.

"He's silly," Sue sniffed before hovering up three wriggling grubs and shoving a small piece of root into her mouth. "A silly monkey," she added slyly.

A banana bounced off her head a second later and she looked at her glaring chimp brother, who gave her a hand sign that needed no translation.

"Lee!" Shere Khan looked horrified.

Lee flicked his fingers a bit.

"I knows what it means! But you THREW FOODS!"

Joel couldn't hold it in. He fell off his chair laughing, while Kevin looked at Allen, appealing for help.

"You wanted them, you deal with them," Allen said with aplomb, taking another bite of his food as the banana went sailing back to bounce off of Lee's head.

Mercury smiled at his twin, and Aphrodite just shrugged and giggled at Artemus.

Kevin stood up. "Stop it!" he ordered firmly, as Lee picked up three oranges with his two feet and a free hand to hurl back, while rubbing his sore head with his other. "No more. Sue, say sorry for calling your brother a monkey, and both you and Lee say sorry for throwing fruit."

Sue pouted, but did mutter "Sorry!" ungraciously. Lee signed his own apology, but did keep an orange in one foot to throw once Kevin had stopped watching him.

Xain, of course, did notice, and quickly relieved the chimp of his weaponized fruit. Joel was still rolling on the floor laughing, and being no help whatsoever to Kevin, who booted him in the butt a few times. "Thanks for your assistance, T'hy'la!" he grouched.

"You're... welcome..." came the answering giggle from the floor.

Kevin started to giggle as well; it was just too funny watching his beloved laugh gleefully on the floor.

"And dey thinks we're strange?" Verne asked his brother.

Jules nodded. "There is strange, and then ders Shiny-hating strange. They are just strange. That's good."

"Oh. Okay," Verne nodded, before ripping into his raw beef again.

---

Leaving Kevin to supervise their kids eating warm custard - and loving every mouthful, I must add - Joel and Allen climbed the stairs to the second floor of the house.

"Up here, Little Heart," Allen chuckled as Joel saw a new set of stairs going up again.

"Wow!" Joel gasped as he climbed from the second floor to a new third. "This the attic?"

"It was," Allen chuckled, "until Quint came for a visit. He said I'd need a place for my grandchildren to play and sleep. He converted this whole space to a playroom, with the room at the back as a den, or bedroom. There's an en-suite up here as well."

Joel took in the room with all the cool climbing frames and balls of yarn and other toys. "This is wicked!" he giggled. "They'll love it, Poppa!"

"I hope so," Allen smiled as he hoisted Joel up and into his arms, "I really hope so."

They explored for a good five minutes until being pounced by Kevin and the children, along with Reuben and Ricardo. "Can we stay with them tonight?" Reuben asked Allen, hopefully, "Mama said to ask you!"

Joel shared a look with Allen, and the man nodded, "Sure - if you promise to go to sleep when we tell you, you may."

"We promise!" all the children echoed, and Lee added a thumbs up to relay his feelings.

"Play for a while, then we'll be up to tuck you in," Kevin said gently, as he and Joel joined hands to go back down to the second floor.

"I'll stay for a while - just to make sure they don't hurt themselves, of course," Allen said reasonably, but Kevin knew better and snorted.

"Poppa is a big kid," he whispered to Joel once they got to Kevin and Kenny's bedroom.

Kenny was already there waiting for them, and giggled, "I'll tell him you said that, bro!"

"Rat!" Kevin retorted playfully.

That started a tickle war which lasted for about half an hour, and it even dragged in Jake. Xain played referee.

Eventually, tired and rather sweaty, the four 'fighters' all flopped to the floor in exhaustion and started to recuperate. Xain cast a mischievous eye over them before ceasing to 'play innocent' and launching his own attack. Of course, the four now puffing like bellows on the floor could do little to resist.

"You dirty rat, T'hy'la!" Jake exclaimed as he tried to escape by crawling out of the room.

Joel was seriously considering a nerve pinch on his cousin, but since Xain just couldn't let his boyfriend escape, Joel had no need to. Xain was already on his boyfriend and tickling his ribs like crazy.

Kenny puffed, "Quick! Bathroom!" He started to creep slowly in that direction, keeping a close eye on Xain and Jake in the doorway.

Kevin threw caution to the winds and simply ran for it, with Joel being dragged across the floor by one arm. Joel found this hysterical.

They made it, and Kenny quickly locked the door to keep both his older brothers out. "I was going to go to the Teeters, but I'm all smelly and sticky now," he giggled, casting a glare at the innocently smiling Kevin and still laughing Joel - who was still on his back on the floor.

"Can we come?" Joel managed to ask as he held his ribs.

Kenny nodded as Kevin asked, "Any particular reason?"

"Rory asked me to give a new dog toy to Possum," Kenny smiled. "He didn't get a chance to, himself."

"Oh, I wondered why he wasn't here," Kevin giggled. "He got scared of the pussy-cats?"

Kenny laughed, but stopped when he saw Joel's face. "You miss him, don't you," Joel said shrewdly. "Rory, I mean."

Kenny nodded slowly with a smile on his face, but it was a wistful one.

"Sorry," Joel murmured sadly.

Kenny cocked his head to the side, "Why are you sorry?"

"'Cos Kevin has me, here, but you don't have your Rory," Joel whispered as tears came to his eyes. "It don't seem fair."

Kenny moved to sit besides Joel, and he placed an arm around the frail Vulcan, "Don't think that way, bro. I'm happy for Kev and you. I want you two to be together - as much as possible. Rory's on Vulcan for a good reason. I knew when he arrived Monday, that he'd have to leave today. He can't be away from his treatments for long, or he'd go back and be as bad as he was before. I'd rather miss him for a small while, now, so that we can have all our lives together, later."

Joel sniffed. "First Vincent and Leyman and Jordy... today, Galli and Jay left, then Rory... And Cory and Sean and the others are away for a few days... why is everyone leaving me?" he finished with a heartbreaking catch in his voice.

Kevin sighed. "That's what you've been hiding in there all afternoon," he said, as he sat down on Joel's lap, chest to chest. Then he kissed Joel. Seriously.

After Joel's head came back down from cloud nine and he could think clearly, he locked his blue eyes with Kevin's brown.

"No-one is leaving you, T'hy'la," Kevin said, as Kenny rubbed Joel's back gently. "Sure, they've got to go away for a while, but we're family. We'll always be 'together' in the ways that count. In here," he said, tapping his chest. "And in here," he added, tapping Joel's.

Kenny spoke softly, "We all walk our own paths, Joel. Sometimes we have a lot of company, other times, only one or two are with us. But if we're family, then no matter how far, or how many universes are between us, we're always together. Always brothers."

Joel sniffed again before tucking his face into Kevin's neck. He sighed deeply, then said, "Okay, I guess. I just miss them."

"We know. And we do too," Kenny said. Then, "Come on, sticky one. We're all smelling bad, and if we don't show quick, Possum will give us a bath instead... then we'll stink of dog as well as sweat!"

Joel giggled, then, with mischief, quickly stripped Kevin while he was still on his lap.

Then together, they attacked Kenny to do the same.

Both twins giggled as they surveyed the clothes now scattered about the room, then they turned their own eyes on Joel, who was backing away with a cheeky grin on his face. "Get him!" Kenny yelled, as he led the charge at the now giggling, still dressed Vulcan.

---

Kenny knocked on the door, and barking started almost immediately. From inside the house, Joel could hear a man say, "I wonder who that could be at this time in the evening?"

A moment later, and Rory's dad, Marcus Teeter, was at the door, "Oh, hello Kenny, Kevin. Who's your friend? A brother of Xain?"

"No, Xain's cousin, and my husband," Kevin said with a cute blush.

"Husband?" Mr Teeter asked with surprise. "What's been happening in the last few days? This is fast, isn't it?" he added, scratching his head.

Kenny giggled, "We can explain, but can we come in and tell you all together? It's a lot to say, and saying it twice will take all night!"

Mr Teeter did a double take, then grinned and nodded. "Of course, boys. In you come. Boy, you do look familiar, kiddo," he added looking square at Joel. "Have you been on TV?"

Joel nodded as he passed through the doorway hand in hand with Kevin, "Yessir, I have."

"Who is it, honey?" came a woman's voice from the living room.

"Kevin, Kenny and... what's your name, son?" Mr Teeter asked, looking at Joel.

"Sa'ren Joel Short, son of Spock, son of..." Joel started, but a squeal of shock from the living room made him jump.

Mr Teeter simply stared. "My God... that's where I know your face! Welcome to my home, Sa'ren!"

"Is it really...?" came a voice at the living room doorway, and Joel turned to see a sixteen year old girl looking at him speculatively. Then her face fell. "You look real young for thirteen," she said with disappointment.

"Don't get any ideas, Corina," Kevin said seriously, as he increased his grip on Joel's hand possessively. "He's mine, and we're married. Go find another boy!"

"Wha... what? What's that mean?" Joel asked, his eyes darting between the glaring Kevin and the still speculative Corina.

Kenny giggled, "She's boy crazy, and a famous Prince twice over is something she'd not let go by, without at least trying."

"He's a prince? Oh, I don't mind them young," Corina decided, her eyes twinkling as she cast a look at the thunderous, murderous look that was on Kevin's face. "But you're gay, so I have no chance."

"Actually, I'm Bi," Joel said, on automatic, his slave training kicking in to correct an error before he would get hurt for not doing so.

"Reeeaallly? Well, well... Mmmm...." Corina murmured, now even more interested.

"You can fu... you can forget it!" Kevin said, catching himself just in time from swearing in front of Mr Teeter.

Corina giggled, then flounced upstairs, wiggling her hips for Joel's benefit.

Joel shook his head quickly to clear it. "Was she serious?" he asked Kenny.

Mr Teeter answered instead, "Yes."

"Oh..." was all Joel could say as he watched Kevin, who was keeping his eyes fixed on the stairs to keep a watch for the predator's return.

Mrs Doris Teeter came to the living room door, then and looked at them. "Why are you here so late? Is there something wrong? Is your dad ill, Ken?" she asked, her voice sounding odd to Joel.

Kenny shook his head, "No. We came to give Possum a gift from Rory. We weren't going to stay long, if it would keep you up."

Mrs Teeter nodded at him, "He's in the kitchen eating." Then she looked at the tiny, thin Vulcan next to Kevin. "You look even more starved than Kevin does," she muttered. "You're staying. You need food!"

Then she was off.

"I think the new tablets are helping," Kenny said.

"Oh, they are," Mr Teeter added. "She's a lot calmer. I'm going to make sure my daughter doesn't cause mayhem for you, Sa'ren, Kevin. You boys go into the living room and I'll be back, soon."

As Mr Teeter went upstairs, Kevin led Joel into the room and sat him down furthest from the door. Then he sat himself between Joel and the door - Corina defence was on defcon 1.

"I'm going to give this to Possum," Kenny said as he hefted the small bag he was holding. "No killing Rory's sister if Rory isn't here to watch, Kev," he added with a giggle.

"If she lays one paw on my husband, I'll..." Kevin started, but cut off as he saw Mrs Teeter come back in, passing Kenny in the kitchen doorway.

Mrs Teeter put a plate down on the coffee table before Joel, and also handed him a large glass of 'milk'. "Can't give you too much or you'll be ill before bed, but eat up," she said, before sitting down opposite them and happily watching Joel closely.

"Um, thanks," Joel said joyfully as he saw that the plate contained cookies and brownies. He reached and took one of the brownies first, and popped it into his mouth.

Kenny had stopped at the doorway to watch this, and he was giggling silently. So was Kevin, who knew what was coming.

Both ended up shocked, and Mrs Teeter was more than a little thrilled.

"Wow! This is yum!" Joel exclaimed, as the brownie vanished fast. "How'd you know to make it taste like Vulcan food, Mrs Teeter?"

Mrs Teeter blushed slightly at the praise. "Call me Mom. You're Kevin's boyfriend, and he's brother to Kenny, who's my son's boyfriend. That makes you my son, too. I don't know, honey, but I'm happy you like them!"

Kenny looked disappointed, and Kevin looked surprised. "Do they really, Sa'r?"

"Yeah! Here," Joel replied, popping one into Kevin's mouth quickly.

Kevin chewed slowly, his face far away. "Mmm, you're right! I've never tried them before. They do taste kinda Vulcany..."

Kenny, now playing with Possum in the doorway, muttered to himself, "I'm never eating Vulcan food. No way... isn't that right, boy? Yes."

Possum just panted and licked his face.

---

Joel and the twins were finally back in the Thompson Residence, and were relaxing in the main family room with everyone else. All the small kids were on the floor, and so were Joel and Kevin, and everyone was watching a movie. Long before the end, Joel giggled to Kevin, "I think we need to put the babies to bed."

Kevin nodded, and Allen grinned, "Need help?"

"Please," Kevin smiled as he picked up a sleeping Ricardo in his arms.

With everyone helping, all the kids were soon tucked up together in the new den on the top floor. Joel and Kevin were the last to go back down stairs to the second floor landing, only to find Jake, Xain, Kenny and Allen waiting for them. Kenny smiled at them and spoke first. "You guys want the bedroom for yourselves tonight?" he asked.

Kevin asked curiously, "What do you mean?"

"Do I have to draw a picture for you?" Kenny giggled, which made Kevin blush.

"It's your bedroom too, Ken," Joel said softly. "We'd not want to do that with you there, and we really don't want to kick you out."

"You're not," Kenny said reasonably. Then he blushed a bit himself, "When Rory was here, Kev was with you in the Compound - I got to spend 'time' with Rory in our room, Kev, so why can't you and Joel have the same?"

"Where'd you sleep, though?" Joel asked curiously.

Jake smiled, "Since Xain and I are not on a honeymoon period right now, Kenny will stay with us."

Xain nodded.

Kevin giggled, "We had three years in the Tardis... more, really. I think we've had our share of sex to last us at least one night!"

Xain raised a finger to make a point, "But that only seemed like ten minutes emotionally, if what you told me earlier is accurate. Therefore, your hearts are still longing for each other, as if you had not been there - correct?"

Joel nodded shyly, and after a second so did Kevin.

"Then take the room," Allen smiled as he ruffled their hair. "And we'll see you in the morning."

Kevin didn't need telling twice. He grabbed Joel's hand and dragged him across the landing and into his room. Then the door closed fast.

Kenny giggled before skipping off with Jake and Xain to their room. Allen could only shake his head in wonder. Then he watched as Artemus and Aphrodite came to stand guard, while the twin cheetah's curled up with I-Cheya and Blackie a few feet from the bedroom door. "Best guards in the world," Allen smiled as he nodded at the two girls.

They grinned back at him.

---

Saturday Morning:

It was very early and the sky outside of the bedroom window was only just beginning to turn light. Joel woke up feeling happy and refreshed. He stretched himself out before twisting around to kiss Kevin tenderly. Kevin remained fast asleep, but did sigh happily as his subconscious registered the tender act of love from his Vulcan husband.

Joel smiled as he pushed a few stray hairs from Kevin's forehead away. He felt his bladder telling him that it was awake, too, so he got up quietly and quickly attended to business. Then he paused as he re-entered the bedroom. Kevin was still out for the count, but Joel had never felt so awake. He padded over to the door leading to the rest of the house, and made to open it.

As he touched the doorknob, he heard a rumbling of small feet charging down the stairs from his children's bedroom above, and then Verne's squeaky voice asking if they could wake up 'Daddy and Poppa!'.

"No," Joel made out Mercury's soft voice whispering back. "They need sleep, Verne."

Joel grinned and opened the door, stepping out between his two cheetah guards. He looked down at his two ferret sons and both of his cat-kids as well, "I'm awake. What about getting a drink and playing outside for a while?"

They obviously thought that was a great idea, for Jules started to bounce around, asking Hermes, "Can we go outside and swim, then?"

Hermes and Mercury shared a glance and nodded, while Joel said, "Of course."

He watched as the two ferret boys and their feline companions raced for the stairs to the ground floor, then he giggled as Mercury and Hermes sped off to follow. He, however, decided to make his way more calmly. The cheetahs could manage for a few moments, he thought as he reached where I-Cheya, Blackie and the two She-Cats were sleeping together. He reached down and tickled each behind their ears gently, doing his best to not wake them up.

He didn't, but I-Cheya's back leg did twitch slightly. Joel giggled and continued down the stairs. As he reached the bottom, he heard Aslan ask if there were colours and paper that he could draw with, and Verne adding that paints would be fun.

Joel knew there wasn't anything here that could be used that way, other than Kevin's supply, and Kevin had very good quality items that wouldn't survive four energetic five year olds playing with. He moved to the Thompson's Clan computer and started to run a fast search. He brought up the internet and found that there was a general store not twenty minutes walk away from the Thompson house. He glanced outside and saw that it was going to be a beautiful, if cold for a Vulcan, day. He raced back upstairs and slipped into his tee-shirt, but then had to rummage through Kevin's wardrobe for more clothes. He was soon dressed in a warm hoodie, with thick jeans on, and a pair of Kevin's boots that all felt warm on him. Knowing that he'd need money to get what he was planning on buying, he grabbed his Family Crest neck chain and slipped it back on. Inside, as Jason had explained to him, was a chip that could be read by bar-code scanners on Earth, and therefore he had the wealth of House Surak to call upon. He did leave behind - for some reason he didn't notice - the St Christopher medallion Sammy had given him for his birthday, however. The Seal of his House he then tucked inside of his tee-shirt and hoodie to lie with the smaller pendant the Guardian had gifted him with.

He quickly made his way back out and downstairs, again after scratching I-Cheya's ears, and unlocked and vanished out of the front door.

I-Cheya's eyelids twitched slightly, but other than that, he did not stir.

---

Ralph Gibson climbed out of his dad's car and closed it with a wide yawn. He shot his dad a telling look, but quickly looked down as his father turned toward him. "Come on, Ralph," his father sighed. "No more of those looks, please. You know why you're here."

"That's more words than you've spoken in the last two days," Ralph said truculently.

Mr Thomas Gibson simply crossed his arms, "And you expected normalcy, after getting sent to Juvy? You count yourself lucky it's just a month's grounding and helping me on weekends in the store!"

"Wasn't Juvy enough?" Ralph shot back irritably. "Can't I get more sleep? You kept me up late cleaning the car and garage!"

"Don't talk back to me, young man," Mr Gibson said sternly. "You know very well how to act, and you let me down badly. Your mother would turn in her grave if she knew what had happened!"

Ralph winced at his mother being mentioned, "I said I was sorry - can't you just accept that? But please don't use Mom against me, Dad... it hurts."

Mr Gibson sighed, "I know. But I am right. Come on, let's get inside and get a coffee going before we start the day. We'll talk more later, okay? And I mean really talk - like we used to."

"'Kay," Ralph muttered, subtly wiping a tear from his eye as he followed his father into the rear delivery bay and through the back door into the General Store.

It was about thirty minutes later, as Ralph and his father were near the front of the store, that Ralph saw a small figure outside of the front door peering in at them. He felt a tap on his arm and his father asked him, "You want to find out what he wants, son?"

"Uh, sure," Ralph nodded and he walked over and unlocked the front entrance. "Yes? Are you okay?" he asked, looking down at the small, hoodie wearing boy, before him.

A cute little face looked back up at him from under the hood, and Joel giggled, "Yeah, I can wait another fifteen minutes for you to be open!"

Ralph smiled slightly, but his eyes were curious. Then he noticed that Joel was shivering. He looked back over his shoulder and called for his dad to come join him.

Mr Gibson took one look at the shivering child outside and immediately said, "Okay, son - in you come. I don't mind having an unofficial shopper here, if you're cold."

"Don't know why you'd be cold, though," Ralph added with a smile. "Where are you from?" he asked as Joel smiled his thanks and stepped into the store.

Joel giggled and lowered his hood, "Vulcan; originally, anyway!"

Mr Gibson did a double take. "Don't I know you from..."

"TV!!" Ralph exclaimed. "You're the one who had the Star Cross, ain't you? You're Admiral Spock's son!"

"Sa'ren Joel Short," Joel giggled. "Thank you, Ralph."

Now it was Ralph's turn for a double take. "How'd you know my name?"

"Clan Short files," Joel said semi-seriously. He reached and took Ralph's hand gently, "What do you think about your actions on Wednesday, Ralph?"

Ralph's face fell, and Mr Gibson's face tightened slightly. Before Ralph could say anything, however, Joel embraced him tightly, "Good. I felt it, Ralph. I felt your remorse. Your name will be removed from the Clan's watch list, now. And you're welcome to come visit us, any time."

Ralph was speechless. Mr Gibson nearly was as well. Instead of commenting on what had just happened, he asked Joel, "Why are you here so early, Ensign? Kids are normally still in bed at this time of the day."

Joel released Ralph and giggled, "I want to get some toys and gifts for my kids. It's a nice morning, and I had loads of sleep... well, not loads, but I feel wide awake... so I thought I'd come shopping."

"Kids?" Ralph asked with surprise. "You're only about ten... ain't you?"

"Thirteen, and I've adopted - me and my husband, anyway," Joel said with a smile.

Ralph looked strangely at him, then smiled himself, "Vulcans are strange."

"Yup!" Joel laughed. "Stranger than most! Anyway, could I look around and then buy when you're open?" he asked Mr Gibson.

Mr Gibson shook his head. "No, instead you and Ralph can go shop now. Help him out, son - help him get what he needs. I'll be at the till."

"Okay, Dad," Ralph said with a smile, which grew wider as Joel quickly took his hand and started bouncing at his side. "First time shopping?" Ralph asked him with a chuckle as they made their way to where the toys were.

"No, but it is the first time I've gone anywhere by myself! This is really cool!"

---

After having paid for his three bags worth of goods, Joel stepped out of the main doors of the store just as they were officially opening for business. He had found a large selection of hats and tee-shirts that he was intending to make into mini-robes for his children, as well as many toys and goodies for them. He waved goodbye to Ralph and his father, then turned and started off in the direction of the Thompson house.

Life was good, he thought to himself. For the first time IN his life, he really felt like everything was finally going his way.

What he did not know, though, was that Powers, the likes of which he had only brushed up against once before, were now watching him with baleful eyes...

---

End of Sa'ren: Part 1 - Tears that Heal

And so the story continues...

Love shall be tested; bonds shaken; and new life shall spring forth!

Pain comes, and innocence shall be lost: Vengeance shall cry from the Heart of the Nexus.

Enemies shall appear and seek to rule the Federation: A Crown shall Ascend in power and fight for the Freedom of the Earth.

...And from a Cycle that knew naught but war shall Arise a Power that has not walked under Sun and Moon in living memory:

Revealed shall be The Secrets of Silver Ghost Valley!

All this shall take place in:

Sa'ren

Part 2 - Ascension

---

Editor's Notes:

Once again, there is a lot to take in from this chapter.

That last bit was a bit of a sticky wicket. Or should I say wicked?

Things seem a bit grim for Joel, don't they? This could certainly qualify as a cliffhanger.

If you were paying attention, there were at least two clues, earlier in the chapter. I won't elaborate on them here, as that would be cheating. I promise you that there were two separate clues, in two different places. Of course, even if you figure out what the clues are, I'm afraid it won't help this situation very much, if at all.

Let's all hope that Joel is paying attention to what is going on, and will take the proper precautions.

I suppose that there will be a bit of an intermission before we get to see Part Two.

Let's all keep Joel in our hearts and minds.

Your Friend,

Darryl

---

This chapter has been approved by Fibita for posting.

Peace and Good Thoughts

FIBITA