The U.N.I.T.

There was stunned silence from everyone as they all looked at Bill in silent horror at his pronouncement looks of shocked disbelief and a desperate need to have misheard on their faces.

Those looks changed to ones of denial and not a few tears began to fall as Adam said in a broken voice "What…what do you mean?"

Bill couldn't speak for a moment as he sat there with his head buried in his chest with Will's hand protectively and comfortingly on his shoulder but finally he raised his head and said in a choked voice, "Code Blue is what they say when the heart and breathing stop on a person."

Adam fell back as if struck and only Logan catching him and easing him down into his lap as he wrapped his arms tightly around him prevented the boy from falling as he whispered "No."

All the others except Juan sank stunned shaking their heads to seats or the floor while Juan crawled in next to Adam and Logan who added him to their embrace.

Will gently took Bill out of the chair and sat with him in his arms holding the crying boy to him as he just tried to absorb what he had heard.

Joe dead?

It couldn't be.

Silence, with the exception of sobs and crying, was all the noise which existed for some time, and then there was just silence.

When Janet came walking slowly out of the double doors once again looking haggard and drawn, Adam, Juan and Logan, all  jumped to their feet as soon as the door opened, while everyone else slowly came to their feet all, looking at Janet, all with the same question in their eyes.

Janet sighed heavily, ran her hand though her hair, and looked up with tears in her eyes.  Before anyone could react, she spoke.  "We got him back, barely, but he's still in surgery, Chang's doing everything he can, but I'm not much help anymore.  I'm a geneticist, not a surgeon."

Adam immediately, jumped in with.  "You need a surgeon?  Logan, find the best surgeon in Salt Lake City."  He said as he spun and looked at Juan, then to Donnie and Emily.  "Get your teams ready, we'll kidnap the guy if we have to."

"Hold on!"  Janet said, stopping everyone in their tracks.  "Chang is doing everything he can, but frankly, by the time you got the other doctor here, it'll be over... one way or the other."  She went on, before anyone could say anything about what she meant.  "It'll all be academic, in a little while anyways.  We just don't have enough blood.  We used everything we had, but we're going to need a lot more that we just don't have.  His injuries are that bad."

Adam, Juan, and Logan all spoke in unison.  "Use mine!"  Everyone else was a second behind them, offering their own blood.  Janet got a small sad smile on her face, at the sentiment she saw there.  She knew that Joe would be touched by it.

Standing up straighter and taking a deep breath, Janet announced. "Okay, everyone who wants to see if their blood will work, follow me.  But you have to know, there is a chance that none of you will be a match.  Adam, you're the best bet, as you're his son, so we'll test you first.  However, I don't know how the modifications that were made to you will affect things."

Janet knew no matter how bad things were, she had to be strong for her boys, she thought as she looked at all their desperately hoping faces. They were looking to her to bring off a miracle and she just didn't know if that was going to be possible in this case. God, she so hoped so, but she just didn't know. He was in such bad shape, much more than she had told them. She actually was of the opinion that a team of the finest surgeons might very well not be able to do much for him. She shook off such thoughts and strode off, knowing that they all would follow without needing to be told.

Adam just nodded, and they all moved off to a different section on the medical ward.  Logan needed to help Adam as his leg was in a cast, but that did not slow down either boy.  Janet quickly took some of Adam's blood, when they got there, then went to a machine, and inserted the blood into it.  A few seconds later, it beeped; Janet looked at the readout on the screen.  She then pulled a piece of paper out of her lab coat, and compared them.  Everyone held their breath as they watched her look back and forth between them.  Finally she let out a breath that she didn't even realize she had been holding.

"Adam, you're a match."  She said excitedly, which caused Adam to break out in his first smile in some time.  It wasn't much of one, but it was the only smile that had come upon his face since the accident.  "I need to go ask Chang something quick, but I'll be right back.  While I'm talking to him, Adam, I need you to get into a hospital gown.  IF things happen like Chang thought they might, we will need you here for a bit."  She then walked out of the room leaving some rather confused kids there. 

Adam quickly did as she had asked, and literally stripped down right there in the middle of the room.  He didn't seem to mind that Emily was there; however, when she looked over and saw the naked 13 year old boy, she was at first embarrassed, and then horrified as what she was seeing became apparent to her.  She had never seen Adam with his shirt off, but she had heard that he had some scars.  She was NOT prepared for the mass of criss-crossing marks that were all over Adam's chest, and back that defined "Some".  Some looked to be from surgical procedures, but some looked like deep cuts from a knife.  She was even sure she saw a few bullet wound scars, even though she had never seen one of those before, that's what she thought about when she thought about bullet wounds.  When Adam had the gown on, she looked over to Donnie.  Donnie had a look on his face that she was sure matched hers.

Janet came back in the room right then, leading an equally haggard looking fourteen year old boy.  Charlie Adams was the field medic for Beta team, and currently, the only one of the three field medics that had learned enough medicine to be helpful as something other than an assistant, but from the look on his face and even more so in his eyes, it was obvious that he felt overwhelmed by what he had been through in the operating theatre.

"Okay Adam," Janet said as soon as she was in the room, "you need to come with me.  Charlie here will start testing anyone else that wants to be tested."  She then looked at Logan and Juan.  "You two need to decide between you, who is going to take command for a while.  Chang says that he can't, as he is too busy, and Adam will be out of commission for at least a few days with the amount of blood we can take from him.  Who ever takes command is not allowed to give blood.  Chang was very specific about that."  Janet didn't understand why Chang had insisted on this, but she knew he had to have had a reason.

She let the two of them work it out, as she led Adam to a private room in the back.  Once they were there, she indicated for Adam to sit on the bed.  "Okay Adam, this is what we're going to do.  I am going to put two IV's in you, one in each arm.  The first one is what we will use to take blood; the second one is what we will be using to transfuse other fluids into you.  Normally, a person can handle losing one unit of blood easily.  Two units of blood would be pushing it, and three would hospitalize the person, and risk hurting them.  However, you're still a child, and have less of a blood supply then an adult."  She held up her hand when Adam started to speak.  "Hold on, let me finish.  Chang says that since you regenerate so quickly, we can take more then we could from a normal person, and I agree.  However, we are going to be monitoring you constantly, and pumping other fluids into you.  We'll start by taking one and a half units out of you, and see how you are doing.  As soon as we feel you can handle giving more, we will take it."

She paused to let what she had said sink in.  She had left the hardest part till last.  "Now Adam, you have to realize.  Joe's injuries are bad.  If he wasn't in as good of a physical condition as he is, he wouldn't have survived this long.  Hell I'm surprised he's still alive.  But his injuries are bad.  So far we have found that both legs are shattered, not just broken, but shattered.  The right hip is also shattered, and the left one just broke.  However, that's not the worst.  When the right hip shattered, it sent bone fragments up into his abdominal cavity, shredding most of his intestines."  She watched as Adam's face got paler and paler, wincing as she explained the situation Joe was in.  "IF he survives this first surgery, he will need to have at least a few more.  And no matter what happens, he will never walk again.  The legs are just too broken up.  We may end up needing to amputate them.  But that's something for later on." 

She again paused to make sure that Adam understood everything she said.  The boy had tears streaming down his face, and as soon as she paused, he started to break down.  "This is all my fault, I'm... I'm soo sorry." 

Janet moved over and held him in her arms.  "Shhhhh... it's not your fault Adam, accidents happen."

Adam pulled back, and looked at Janet, shaking his head from side to side.  She had never seen so much pain in anyone's eyes before.  "But... it IS my fault.  He was supposed to check my chute before we left.... I was still pissed at him, and refused to let him.  If I would've, he would've caught the fact that the chute was tangled...."  Adam sobbed the last part out unable to continue, and buried his face in his hands, bringing his knees up to his chest but he didn't need to finish. If he had then the accident wouldn't have happened.

Janet stood there in shock at what she just learned.  She had assumed it was just an accident, but now she knew it could have been avoided.  She started to get angry with Adam, but a heart wrenching sob quickly defused the anger.  She knew Adam would have to live with this for the rest of his life, and didn't need her anger on top of it.  Plus she had more important things to worry about than how the injuries happened. The boy may have just killed his father, so she moved over and just held what was now a very scared and pain filled little boy and not the confident leader of a short time earlier, as he cried.

When he finally got himself under control, she brushed the hair out of his eyes.  "We can't worry about that now, Adam; we need to work on saving your father.  To do that, we need your blood."  Adam dried his eyes on the bottom on the gown, and nodded to Janet. 

"What ever you need, Doc, take it.  Just save Joe... just save my dad."  Adam spoke softly, his words ending in a sob, as he lay down in the bed.  Janet had to wipe her own eyes, as she moved around the room to get everything ready.  First she inserted an IV into his left arm, then hung a bag of fluid, and ran it wide open.  She then put an IV in his right arm, and started to drain blood from it.  Once she had one bag filled, she unhooked it, hooked up another bag, and started to leave. 

"I need to get this to Chang, and get an update.  I'll be back as soon as I can.  When that other bag gets half full, stop the flow on it.  If you start to feel woozy, stop it right away, okay?"  She said, as she turned to look at Adam.  He simply nodded while staring up at the ceiling.  Tears were still streaming down his face.

Twenty minutes later, Janet walked back into the room.  Adam was asleep on the bed, and the second bag was full.  She silently cursed the stubborn young boy, and went over to check on him.  She took his blood pressure, and while low, found that it was still acceptable.  She sighed in relief and left the room, letting Adam regain his strength. 

Nearly everyone in the complex showed up to get their blood tested.  Some of them were turned away right away because they were too young, and that almost started a riot, when Ronnie was told no.  Ronnie had became close to Joe since they got here, and being told that he couldn't even be tested pissed him off.  Bill finally calmed him down, when they were told they had enough already, and would let everyone know if they needed more. 

After being told that he couldn't wait with Adam, and it would be several more hours before they had word on Joe, Logan moved up to the command center.  He was assured that he would be notified as soon as there was any word on Joe.  He could then make a complex wide announcement to let everyone know, plus he had work to do. 

On his way up, he gathered the rest of the Intel team, as well as the Intel Officers from each team.  He was going to need as much help as he could get for his next project.  Once he had the five boys there, he addressed them all.  "Okay guys, we have a situation here, on top of Joe getting hurt.  I am going to need all of your help to get this done.  First off, I finally got the time to go through Dr. Marcus' files.  I found some rather disturbing things in there, most of which are not needed to be shared.  However, there is one thing you need to know to do your jobs."  He took out five pieces of paper that he had just photocopied. 

Handing them each one, he gave them time to read them over, before he continued.  "Okay, as you can see, Adam has two half brothers that he didn't know about.  The oldest one, James, is nine years old right now.  The younger one, Kent, is five.  We need to find them.  Their last name is Johnson, so that will make your job harder.  Last known location is in Barstow California, but they could be anywhere by now.  We know that the younger one is in foster care, but we don't know where.  James, however, is in the custody of his father, who is an Army officer.  Last report that Marcus had was that they were going to start "working" on James as soon as they could.  Which means they want to turn James into something like Adam."  Every face in the room paled at that thought as everyone in the complex had heard what happened to Adam while they were "changing" him.  It was not pretty to think about.

Logan gave them a few seconds to register what he had said, then told them to get to work.  They each took a different computer terminal, and were soon lost in their own work.  Logan's Team worked hard to find the missing kids, and soon the room was filled with the click of keys, and the muttered curses of kids working hard.

About an hour later, Ray Ray walked in, pushing a cart full of soft drinks, and coffee.  Donnie and Emily were right behind him with trays of sandwiches.  Logan looked up from his computer screen, and smiled as they all walked in.  He got up and went over to Donnie.  "Any word?"  He asked, hoping that they would have some word on how Joe was doing. 

Donnie just shook his head, and offered Logan one of the sandwiches.  Logan eagerly accepted it, and Donnie spoke softly to him.  "Any luck on your end?"  To which Logan shook his head while he took another bite of the sandwich.  "Can I help at all?"  He then asked, hoping he could do something to help out, the sitting around and waiting was killing him.

Logan thought for a second then said, "Yeah, I could use your help.  Here's what I need.  We're checking out the different major cities in the area; and if you could take the info we get, and put it on the board over there," pointing to the white board they had set up that currently had a map on it, "it would be helpful.  That way we won't have to stop looking, and can just call it out as we find it."  Donnie nodded, eager to help, and they called an end to their break. 

Jack came walking in about thirty minutes later, just in time to hear Erin, the fourteen year old Intel Officer from Alpha Team, speak up.  "I got Kent!"  She screamed, causing everyone to jump a bit.  She looked a bit embarrassed at having startled everyone, but soon she had everyone crowding around her terminal.  "Well?" Logan said when she didn't tell them right away.

Erin looked back at her screen and said, "I found Kent in a group home in Elko Nevada, its run by a church there.  I don't have much info on it, but..."

Before she continued, Emily turned to Jack.  "Jack, let my team go get him."  Before Jack could reply, Logan spoke up.

"It's only about 250 miles from here.  And with it being a group home, I doubt they have any security, it should be just a grab and run mission."  Logan then put up a map on the screen.  It was a blow up of the town of Elko, with a big star on the place where the group home was.

"Wait a minute here," Jack said.  He then turned to Logan and asked a question that was bothering him.  "Logan, are you sure this isn't a trap?  I mean if I had a kid that was genetically engineered to be a weapon, I wouldn't just let him live anywhere."

Logan was shaking his head by the time Jack was done talking.  "No, you don't understand.  Kent wasn't engineered... he was born like Adam was, and was supposed to be changed later on.  However, he doesn't have the genetic markers that Adam and James have.  He is not a "viable candidate" for genetic changes.  After Juan, they had a lot of problems, and went back to doing it the way they did with Adam."  Logan made the quotes in the air during that last part, and Jack looked at him oddly.

"How do you know that?"  Jack asked.

Logan grinned, went back to the stack of papers that he had printed out, shuffled through them, took one out and handed it to Jack.  "Cause it says so right here."

Jack took the paper, and it was another Military Top Secret Memo.  It, basically, said exactly what Logan just did.  Jack read it over, getting angrier at this, as he read about more kids that were engineered that did not live.

Jack studied the map for a second, more to get his wits about him, than to see anything.  Finally he turned, and grabbed the nearest phone.  He punched in the code to make an announcement and spoke into it.  "Would Lieutenants William Casey and Juan Casey please report to the command center, on the double?"

Jack then put down the phone and looked to Emily.  "Get your team together, and load up in the Black Hawk, unless Will says differently, that's what I want you to take.  You're wheels up in one hour." 

Emily grinned as she saluted Jack, then turned to a phone and repeated the same process that Jack had a few seconds earlier.  "Delta team, prepare to scramble, report to the hanger immediately."  As soon as she put the phone down, she moved to the door.  As soon as she opened it, she had to move out of the way as Will and Juan came in. 

Jack looked at both of them, and spoke before they could.  "Will, is the Black Hawk up for a mission?" 

Will nodded, "Yeah, but what's up?" 

"Erin found out where Kent is; I assume Juan brought you up to speed on what Logan found out."  Jack asked, and when William nodded, he continued.  "Good, they're about 250 miles away, and I'm sending Delta team to get him.  I want you to fly them, and Juan I want you to go as well.  This will be their first real mission, and I don't want them going alone.  I'll send someone down to you when we have all the intelligence on the place."  Jack said, looking at both boys.  They both smiled, saluted, and went out at a jog.  He then turned back to Logan. 

"Okay Logan, you got your wish.  Now, get me EVERYTHING you can on that place.  I want to know who runs it, how many people are there, if they have any security.  Hell, I want to know what they had for dinner last night."  Jack finished the last part with a smile.  He still wasn't sure about this, but he knew that there would be a mutiny on his hands if he didn't allow it.  Logan simply nodded, then turned back to the computer with a grin on his face. 

Thirty minutes later, Logan walked over to Jack.  "Okay boss, here's what I got.  There are 5 other boys besides Kent there.  Ranging in age from three to thirteen.  It's run by the local Baptist church, and from everything I can find, it's not like most group homes.  From what we have been able to find out, it's actually a pretty good place.  They have passed all their inspections with flying colors, and all the reports form the kids there say that they like living there."  He looked down at the papers he had and went on. 

"It looks like there is a married couple that runs the place.  Both of them are older, but were unable to have kids of their own.  They have run this group home for the last twelve years.  Let's see here, their names are Gretta and Hans Bismark.  They are fifty five and fifty seven respectively.  Neither of them has had any run-ins with the law, and they have no extra money to be found other then what they get for their group home.  Oh yeah... and they had fried chicken for dinner last night."  Logan added that last part with a grin, and Jack laughed.

"Okay, I have to ask, how did you know that?"  He said while taking the print out from Logan.

Logan grinned back and responded, "Easy, that's what she bought at the store early yesterday, and one of the kids said it in an email they sent."  Logan was beaming with pride at being able to figure out everything that Jack had asked for, even the last part.

Jack just shook his head in amazement at what he had been able to figure out so quickly.  He got up from the seat he had taken and motioned for Logan to follow him.  They both headed down to the hanger with Sammy Campbell following him. 

He is Delta Team's Intel Officer and as such would be going on the op with them.  The fifteen year old was a little giddy, but mostly worried about going on his first real operation.  He was praying that things would go well for them, and nothing bad would happen. 

When the three of them got to the hanger, it was a flurry of activity.  William and Bill already had the Black Hawk outside the Cave entrance, and were running the pre-flight on it.  Conner, the ground grew member that was going along to act as door gunner, was checking over the 50 cal. Machine Gun, and making sure the ammo cans were full and free flowing on the belt that fed the gun. 

Emily was busy going over the various team members to make sure they had all their gear, and it was secured properly.  She was acting very much like the mother hen, and making sure everyone was equipped properly.  She wanted to make sure that nothing went wrong on her first operation as the Officer in Charge. 

Juan, for his part, was gearing up a bit differently then he was used to, since Becky, the team's medic was still busy helping with Joe, she wouldn't be going with them, and he was acting as the team's Medical Officer.  He had already assured Emily that she was in charge, and he was going to be acting only as the Medical Officer, unless she asked him to take over. 

Everyone gathered around Jack and Logan when they arrived, and Jack gave them the information that they had gathered.  "Okay people, here's what we got.  First off, this is a picture of the kid we need to extract."  He then handed out a picture of a cute little five year old boy.  Logan had been able to find it in the local CPS Computer System, and ran off copies of it for everyone that was going. 

"You will have five other children in the house, ranging from age three, to age thirteen.  There will also be two adults there, an older couple, who run the place.  By the time you get there, they should either already be in bed, or going there shortly.  I would suggest that you wait till they are all in bed before you strike, but I will leave that up to Sergeant Larson.  You are NOT to use force unless your life is threatened; the life of one of the team, or the life of the subject is threatened.  IF that happens, you are authorized to use how ever much force is needed to secure the subject, and protect your own lives.  Is that clear?"  Jack looked each member of the team in the eyes, and got a nod from each before he continued.

"Sergeant Larson, I want you to check in before you start the operation, and when it is finished.  If you have any problems, I will be having Alpha Team standing by to render assistance.  No heroics out there, if you need to fall back and call for back up, then do it.  Okay?"  He met gazes with Emily, and she nodded.  He held her gaze for a few more moments, then said, "Good luck everyone."

Emily took that cue, and snapped to attention, saluting Jack.  Everyone else followed suit, and Jack returned it.  She then looked at her team and smiled to them, hoping to reassure them that everything was going to be alright.  "Okay everyone, move out!"

They had just broken up, when Billy Collins, Logan's second in command on the Intel team, came over the PA system.  The thirteen year olds voice cracked slightly as he spoke.  "Attention on base, I am pleased to announce that Capitan Joseph Casey is out of surgery.  He is in extremely critical but stable condition.

A cheer went up in the hanger, and everyone left with a smile on their face.  Jack went back to the command center, while Logan went down to check on Joe and Adam.

Adam was smiling slightly when Logan walked into his room.  He was still flat on his back, with the casted leg sticking out from under the covers.  He had gone through three bags of fluids already, and Janet was talking to him when Logan walked in.

"Adam, you've already given more blood then I think is safe, Joe's out of surgery now, so he won't need more right away.  The five units you've given him are enough for now.  Plus, if you insist on giving more, I'm going to be forced to put a catheter in you.  With the amount of fluids we're giving you, and the amount of blood you're giving, I'm not going to allow you to walk to the bathroom, and you'd probably pass out anyways, and we'll have another accident like you had a little while ago."  Janet didn't even notice Logan was there while she lectured Adam, until he laughed out loud.

"Adam, you peed the bed?!?!"  Logan got out between laughs.  Adam for his part just glared at Logan, then looked back to Janet. 

"You really don't think he'll need more right now, I feel okay enough to give more."  He tried to protest, but when he tried to sit up, the room spun a bit, and his head fell back down on the pillow.  Janet was right there, and moved to make sure he was okay.  After making sure he didn't hit his head on anything but the pillow, she spoke softly, but strongly. 

"I am sure Adam, and even if he did, I would not allow you to give anymore right now.  I want you to get some rest, I'll have Ray bring you something to eat, and after that I want you to sleep.  Okay?" 

Adam nodded, and she looked to Logan.  "Don't be long, he really needs to sleep."  Logan nodded, and she moved out of the room.  Logan thought for a second at how tired she looked, and could imagine that everyone looked about like her at that point.  He was sure that it was tough over the last 5 hours, and every single one of them needed a break. 

Logan then moved over to Adam's bed, and pulled up a chair so he could sit next to him.  "How do you feel?"  He asked as he took his boyfriend's hand. 

Adam looked at him, and tears started to flow from his eyes.  "Logan, I am so sorry for hurting you, and how I treated you the last month.  Can you ever forgive me?" 

Logan knew that Adam was on the verge of loosing it, so he squeezed his hand.  "Adam, you were forgiven a minute after it happened.  I love you, and I know that you're going through a lot right now.  Please don't beat yourself up over it."  He smiled down at Adam, then moved in, and kissed him full on the lips.  They were soon lost to the world, as all that existed for them was the meeting of their lips, and the love they shared in that one kiss.

They broke the kiss when the door opened up.  They looked over to see Ray walking in pushing a cart filled with food.  He didn't stay long as he had a lot of other things to do.  Adam and Logan ate in silence, and as soon as they were done, Adam was soon asleep.  Logan sat with him for a while, just holding his hand, and watching him sleep. 

After about an hour, Logan got up, went into the bathroom, did his business, and then went up to the command center.  When he walked in, Jack was sitting in a chair near the main radio, talking to Emily.  He walked in near the end of the conversation, but he heard enough to know that they were holding until it got later, then they would begin the op.

Logan took a seat in his normal spot, and started the search for Jim.  He knew from the papers he got from Marcus, that James would be held in a military laboratory, but he had no idea where.  He went into the program that he had Joe embed into the military's computers back when they rescued Juan, and started to root around. 

He was surprised when he was broken away from his work to hear Emily saying that they were about to start their raid.  He looked up and noticed that he had been at it for three hours.  He sat back, and listened to the radio traffic of the operation.  He guessed that William was re-transmitting everything using the Black Hawk's very powerful Radio Transmitter. 

He listened as they reported that the house was quiet, with the only light coming from the kitchen.  Then he heard that they had gained access to the house, and finally that they had retrieved Kent.  They had a bit of a problem with the little boy until he was told that he was going to see his brother.  He heard that they were making their exit when he heard something that sent a chill down his spine.

"Man down!  We have a man down.  Assailant neutralized, Medic needed in the Kitchen."  The "almost" calm voice of Emily came over the radio.  Jack sat up straighter, and picked up the microphone. 

"Delta Team, report!"  He barked into it. 

"Stand by."  Was the only response he got, and everyone waited on edge over the next few minutes as the radio was silent.  Finally they heard William come over the radio.

"Viper Lead to base, we're heavy one five year old, and have one minor injury."  William snickered at saying that, but went on without missing a beat.  "Should be back to base in approximately one and a half hours.  Will advise if ETA changes."

"Copy that Viper Lead, contact base when your twenty miles out, or if situation changes."  Jack said into the radio with a strange look on his face.

"Roger that base, Viper will contact at two zero miles out, or if situation changes.  Viper Lead out."  William said over the radio the mirth still in his voice.

Jack just put the radio microphone back in the holder, and sat back letting out a sigh of relief.  He then looked over to Logan.  "Logan, get a hold of Ronnie, and Ray Ray, we need another room set up for Kent.  Also, I think it would be best if it was in your pod, that way he can be close to Adam.  IF Janet or Chang can, I would also like a full medical work up on him when he gets here.  Just to be on the safe side." 

Logan nodded, and turned back to his desk. He picked up the phone and relayed the orders.  He then lost himself back in his search until the radio came alive again.  Will was radioing in, letting them know they were twenty miles out.  Jack let William know he had received the transmission, and then got up.  Logan got up as well, and they went down to the hanger to wait.  On the way out, Logan asked Billy to let Ronnie and Ray Ray know that they were needed in the hanger. 

They weren't waiting in the hanger long when they were joined by both Ronnie and Ray.  Ronnie was carrying a huge teddy bear that he had asked Logan to order for him.  Jack gave him a questioning look, and Ronnie explained.

"I figured the little guy could use him.  Besides, mine's bigger, and this was as big as Logan said he could get, so I don't need it."  Ronnie said, and Jack reached down and ruffled his hair.  He was touched at the sentiment, plus the fact that he knew that Ronnie's teddy bear was a bit smaller then this huge thing he had now, but he didn't mention that fact. 

All too soon, they could hear the helicopter coming in for a landing, and they ran out to greet it.  First off the bird was Juan and Shane Davidson.  Shane was the oldest member of Delta team and at sixteen, he was also the largest.  Between them, lying on a stretcher was Zach Tanner.  He was lying on his side, holding a bandage to his back side.  Jack and Logan looked surprised when they saw this, and seeing their faces thirteen year old Zach blushed a real pretty shade of red.  "Hey!  She stabbed me," was all he could say before Shane piped in. 

"Yeah, she stabbed you alright... in the ASS!!!"  That of course got everyone laughing, and they hurried him down to the medical wing to get a few stitches.

Soon they saw Emily walking in carrying a little boy.  He looked around at everyone and spoke in a small voice.  "Em... who's all these people?  I thought yous said I's gonna see my brother." 

Emily set him down on the floor, and squatted down to be eye to eye with him.  "You'll see him soon, as far as these guys, they're friends of mine.  See the big guy there, he's in charge here.  His name's Jack, he may be old, but he's really nice."  She said, while pointing to Jack. 

Jack walked over, and extended his hand down to Kent, who quickly hid behind Emily's leg.  He looked at Jack for a moment, who just stood there with his hand out for the young boy.  Finally after a few seconds, he hesitantly took it.  "Hello Kent, I'm glad to see you're okay.  If you need anything here, just let me know, okay?  I know that my friend David fixed up a special Banana Split just for you.  You wanna go see if he's ready with it yet?" 

Kent nodded eagerly, but then looked over at the other boys.  "Who's they?"  he asked.  Emily answered by pointing out each boy as she explained who they were.

"Well, the taller one is Logan, he's the one that found out where you were, then we have Ronnie, he's the one with the big teddy bear, and the other boy is Ray."  When she got done explaining who everyone was, Ronnie walked up to Kent and offered him the teddy bear.

"Here, he's been lonely lately.  He don't have anyone to cuddle with.  Think you can keep him company?"  Ronnie asked, while holding out the big bear.

Kent's eyes lit up, and he grabbed onto the bear that was almost as big as he was.  "I never had a bear this big before, what's his name?" 

Ronnie just smiled, "I don't know, he's just as new here as you are, you'll have to give him one." 

The boy thought hard for a second, then his face lit up.  "I know, I'll name him Joey, my mommy said that was my brother's name before he died"

Logan looked up in shock at Jack who stared wide eyed at the little boy.  Very few people here knew that Adam is not Adam's birth name.  He couldn't remember what it was, but when they found the papers that proved that Joe was his father, it also had Adam's real name on it, Joseph Alexander Casey IV.  Adam had decided to keep Adam as his name because it was easier that way, but now they had something else to deal with.  How much did Kent know about Adam. 

Emily, who also knew about the secret, having read the papers Logan had found, recovered first.  "Kent, what do you mean your brother that died?"

Kent looked up from where he was hugging the bear tightly, and said in a somewhat confused voice.  "What da' ya mean, mommy just said that I had an older brother that died before I was born.  I think he was like my age when he died in an accident."

Emily nodded, and Kent went back to hugging his bear.  Logan, Jack, and Emily shared a look, and before they could say anything else, Ray jumped into the conversation. 

"Hey Kent, wanna go see if Dave has the ice cream ready?"  Kent nodded, and held out his hand for the older boy.  Ray took it, and led him off to the kitchens. 

Jack looked at Logan and spoke, being the first one able to.  "Logan, I think you'd better go prepare Adam for this.  It might be best not to just spring it on him.  When he's ready, let me know, and I'll bring the little tike to the hospital section to see him."  Logan nodded, and ran off to talk to Adam. 

Logan ran into Janet first, just as she was about to check on Adam one more time.  "Mom," he shouted, getting her attention, and making her turn around.  When he finally reached her, he was out of breath.  Janet had to wait, none to patiently, for him to catch his breath.  Finally he looked up, and she saw the fear in his eyes, and the concern.  "Mom, we may have an issue," he began.

Janet and Logan walked into Adam's room.  Adam was sitting up, and reading some reports that Jory had given him.  One look from Jory, who was sitting in the chair Logan had been earlier, told them both that he knew what was going on.  Adam looked up from his reports, and put them away as soon as he saw the look in their eyes.

"...Dad...." he began to say, thinking the worst from their looks.  He let out a sigh of relief when Janet shook her head, "he's still fighting."  She was about to go on when Logan placed a hand on her arm. 

Logan then went over to Adam's bed, and took the seat the Jory vacated for him.  He sat down and took Adam's hand saying, "Adam, I have some news for you that you need to hear.  Will you promise to let me finish before you say anything?"

Adam looked very concerned now, because he knew this had to be serious, just by the way they were acting.  He propped himself up in the bed so he was sitting up even more then he was earlier, then looked Logan in the eyes, and nodded.

Logan took a deep breath, squeezed Adam's hand, and began to tell the story.  "Adam, after mom kicked me out of here, after you started to give blood, my team and I went into high gear.  We all knew that you would want to find your brothers, so we started to work on it."  Logan took a breath, and Adam was about to jump in, when Logan stopped him.  "Adam, please, just listen for now okay?"

Adam nodded again, and Logan went on.  "We knew from the papers that Marcus had, that Kent was in foster care somewhere, and that James was taken to a high security laboratory."  Adam nodded, saying he knew this part. 

"Well, we haven't found out where the base is yet, but we are looking.  However, we have found out where Kent was."  Logan said, and Adam almost came out of his bed.

"We gotta go get him..." he started to say when Logan pushed him back down on the bed. 

"Adam, I said let me finish.  We already got him.  Juan, William, and Delta team already went, and got him out.  He's down in the kitchens eating one of Dave's famous banana splits."  Logan said while holding Adam down. 

Adam calmed down, and a grin spread over his face.  "So, he's seeing the best part of this place right away eh?"  That comment made everyone laugh, and Logan released his hold on Adam.  Adam looked over to Janet, who had a little smile on her face.  "What do ya think doc, think I can go meet my little brother?"

Janet smiled even wider, and then moved over to his bed.  Instead of answering, she started to undo the tubes into his IV's.  Once she was done, she looked at both Adam and Logan.  "Boys, I want to make something very clear.  Adam, you are to keep calm, you're still not one hundred percent, right now.  As long as Logan promises to stay with you, I won't require you to go in a wheelchair, but I want you back here ASAP.  I'm leaving the IV's in as we will need to take more blood later on, but it can wait for now I suggest wearing a robe to hide the IV's though.  You don't want to scare the little guy."  When she finished, both boys gave her a hug, and Logan helped Adam get out of bed. 

Jory had run off to get Adam some clothes, and a bath robe, and Janet left them in there to help Adam get dressed.  Once he was dressed, Logan made Adam sit on the bed one more time.  "There's one other thing you need to know.  From what little we have been able to find out; he knew that he had an older brother besides James.  However, he was told that he died when he was four or five.  Ronnie gave him that big assed bear he had me order, and Kent named him Joey, after his big brother that died."

Adam sat there in shock for a few seconds, then the tears started.  "She... she told them I was dead?"  He got out in between sobs.  Logan just hugged Adam, and Jory soon joined in telling him how sorry he was.  After Adam cried for a few minutes, he finally got himself under control.  "Why?" he asked knowing that there would be; could be no answer to his question. There were so many whys about his life and none of them had any answers.  He wiped his tears, looked up at Logan with a small smile and said.  "Let's go meet my little brother."

With Logan's help, Adam got out of bed, and hobbled his way out of the room.  The cast on his leg making walking difficult, but with help he was doing okay.  A few minutes later, they found themselves in the kitchen area.  Adam paused for a second to take in the sight before him.  Sitting at one of the tables was Emily, Jack, and a cute little five year old boy, while sitting in the chair next to Kent was the huge bear.  Kent looked up when he noticed the other boys, and Adam gasped.  Kent had the same steal gray eyes that he had, and the hair color was very similar.  Anyone could see that the two boys were related.  Adam slowly moved over to the table, and sat down in the chair next to Kent. 

Emily was the first to speak.  "Kent, I want you to meet a really good friend of mine.  His name's Adam." 

Kent stared Adam in the eyes, and time seemed to slow for the two brothers.  Kent's small voice broke the silence.  "Who are you, you look like James, but you're older."

Adam took a deep breath to try and calm his emotions, and put his hand over the top of Kent's much smaller one.  "Kent," he started, and he then took a deep breath, "My real name is Joey, I'm your brother."

Kent stared in shock at Adam's statement, but then he threw his arms around Adam.  "Momma said you died," he cried into Adam's shoulder.

"Shhhh... it's okay now, I'm here."  Adam said repeatedly, trying to calm the little guy down. 

Finally Kent calmed down enough to look Adam up and down.  Finally he locked eyes on his older brother again.  "Are you gonna get Jimmy away from the bad man too?"

Adam looked Kent square in the eyes, and put all the re-assurance he could into his next statement.  "Yes Kent, we'll get Jimmy too.  Who's the bad man that took him, and how long ago did it happen?"

Kent dissolved into tears again, but was able to get out so everyone at the table could hear.  "Daddy, and one of daddy's friends, the bad man, took him after.... after... after daddy killed momma."  He broke into heart wrenching sobs, and buried himself into Adam again.

Logan was shocked by what Kent had said, and when he looked up at Adam, he saw a fire in those eyes that scared him.  Even when he looked into Adam's eyes the night that Joe told Adam the he was Joe's son, and Adam lost it, he did not see the same level of anger as he now saw.  He knew one thing, he was glad he wasn't Kent's father.

Over the next few weeks, Kent was glued to Adam's side as often as he could be.  When Adam was giving blood, or was doing something that Kent couldn't be there for, he was with Emily.  Everyone that had met the little boy fell in love with him, and he quickly became like the Unit's mascot.  It was difficult sometimes to explain to Kent why they were there, and what they were doing.  Emily was very good in explaining things to him, and soon he just went to her with questions. 

Adam spent as much time as he could with Joe, during that time.  Joe still had not woken up, and they were still worried about brain damage, if he even survived, but they couldn't tell if there was any until he woke up, and they were able to examine him.  For the most part, it was all up to Joe now, but everyone was praying that he would make it.  Logan didn't know if Adam could take it if their father died.

Everyone else, on the other hand, only stopped in once in a while to see how Joe was.  Adam finally asked Janet about it, one time while she was in checking on Joe.  "Hey mom, where is everyone, I thought they would all be here."

Janet gave him a sad smile, took the blood pressure cuff off of Joe, then sat down on the chair next to Adam.  "Adam, everyone here knows about your brother James.  They all also know that he is being held in a Military Base somewhere, and when we find out where, you're going to want to go get him.  Every single person in this base has been training extra hard so they will be ready to help you when the time comes.  I was informed that all classes are to be suspended for now, so they can, and I quote, Immerse themselves in a lot of "SHIT," Meaning Super High Intensity Training.

Adam had to laugh at that a bit, but then the tears started as he realized what everyone was doing and why.  He knew that he would have to do something special to reward them for everything they had done for him.  Even after the way he acted like an asshole recently.  "Please tell them thank you, from me."

Janet just nodded, and patted Adam's leg.  "You worry about your dad, let your brothers handle the training." 

Adam just nodded still with tears running down his face, as Janet got up and left the room.  Adam reached out and took Joe's hand in his own, then leaned forward and put his lips to Joe's hand kissing it gently.  "Dad, I don't really know if you can hear me, but...  Well, it's kinda hard right now.  I mean I know I've been a shit lately, but you have to understand, I have wanted to be your real son for a long time.  But when you told me you were, everything I had felt for a long time exploded out of me.  I was always told that you just abandoned us, and that's why mom couldn't handle me.  She told me you ran off with some other woman, and because of that, she met up with a guy that got her hooked on drugs.  Then she dropped me off, and I spent two years on the streets.  I always thought that you just walked out, and because you did, the military was able to get me, and experiment on me, and turn me into this.  I... I just couldn't help but hate you when you told me you were the person I thought was responsible for everything that happened.  And... and I was scared.  I don't know why, but I was scared you'd do what mom did and dump me when I got to be too much trouble.  I don't know, I guess, I was trying to get you away from me on my own terms, and not let you dump me.  Then I found out it wasn't your fault.  But you'd already saved my life by then, and now you're in here because... because of me."

His voice failed him for a few moments, but when it came back, he spoke again.  "Please daddy, I can't lose you now, I just found you again.  I... I would be nothing without you.  I know everyone here looks to me for the answers, and for me to take charge, but I can't do that without you there to help me when I need it.  I'm just a little boy, no matter what anyone thinks, and I need my daddy.  Please come back to me." 

Adam broke down sobbing on the man's chest at that point, and must have fallen asleep.  He woke sometime later when Juan and Janet walked into the room.  Adam sat up from where his head was laying on Joe's chest, and gazed over at his younger brother.  Seeing the questioning look in the young boy's eyes, Adam simply shook his head "no" and Juan just nodded.

"Okay Adam, it's Juan's turn, you need to get out of here for a bit, and spend some time with Logan.  He really needs to be with you."  Janet said, while pulling Adam into a hug.  She was really worried about Adam since everything happened.  He had not left Joe's side for any length of time since that day a few weeks ago.

Adam simply nodded, bent down and kissed Joe on the forehead, and walked out of the room in search of Logan.  He finally found him, along with everyone else in the main hanger bay, going over some operational training.  When everyone finally noticed that he was there, they all come rushing over to try and see how Joe was.  He held up his hand, and finally everyone quieted down, and he could speak.  "First off, I just want to thank everyone for your concern.  Obviously, this isn't going to be easy, on him, or any of us, but with all of your help, I am sure we can all get through this.  Secondly, I have heard about the extra training that everyone is doing.  I know why you are doing it, and I am sure I speak for Kent, as well as myself, when I say, thank you.  It means so much to me to know that you all would risk your own lives to help my brother."  Adam was about to continue when he was interrupted.

A young voice spoke up from the middle of the crowd somewhere.  "Adam, please tell me you're not really that dumb."  The crowd split while Adam was trying to wrap his brain around someone saying that right now.  When Adam could finally see who said it, Ronnie was standing there with his hands on his hips.  It was clear from the look on his face that he was not happy. 

"I mean Adam, we all know that you've had your head shoved so far up your ass, these last couple of months, that you could have seen your own stomach, but get real.  Are you saying you don't know what has happened here lately, what YOU caused?"  Adam was dumbfounded, as he had no clue what this kid was talking about.  Obviously the others knew what he meant because a few were nodding their heads in agreement.  When it became clear that Adam had no idea what he was saying, Ronnie went on.

"Well, Bill always says my mouth gets me in trouble, so let's go for the gold here."  He looked around for support, and many of the kids near him were again nodding their heads. 

Adam knew it had to be important if they were standing up to him like this.  His first reaction was to go off on Ronnie for how he was speaking, but he decided to let the little guy speak his mind.  "Okay Ronnie, you've got my attention, let's hear what you've gotta say."

Ronnie took a deep breath, and then stared Adam square in the eyes as he spoke.  "Adam, do you really think we're going through all of this shit just for your brother?  I'll answer that for you, NO!  We're not going through all of this just for your brother; we're going through all of this for OUR brother.  I guess you don't realize something we all have.  We're a family here.  Through good and bad, we're a family."  He paused to see what effect he was having, and saw that everyone was nodding their agreement.  He saw Adam had noticed everyone as well, but didn't seem to believe, so he pushed on.

"You just don't get it, do you?  Before you guys got here, we were just a bunch of kids that had no real future, other then running scared for the rest of our lives.  Yeah we had Jack and Dave, but they were too busy trying to make sure we had enough food and stuff to keep us alive to really help us in other ways.  They did the best they could, and we all love them for that.  But you... you gave us so much more then just a place to stay, and food to eat; You gave us a future.  Not only that, but you gave us something so much more important.  You made us feel like we WERE something.  You make us think that no matter what shit we may have had to deal with, we could get past it." 

He paused to take a breath, and Emily jumped in.  She had been standing off to the side, with her hand in Donnie's.  When she spoke up, she moved forward, dragging Donnie with her.  "Ronnie's right, he may need to work on his delivery a bit, but... look at me if you want.  Before you got here, I was nothing more then a scared little girl who would jump if someone touched me.  You would never have seen me holding hands with someone, especially a guy."  When she said that, she raised the hand that was clasped with Donnie's. 

"Now, obviously, it wasn't just you.  It was all of you, and for me, it was mostly Joe.  I doubt you know this, but he sat up with me for many nights when I couldn't sleep after a nightmare.  He's been more of a father to me in the past months, then the bastard who sired me, ever was.  When you lost control, then turned into a real ass, he and I would spend many nights talking... mostly about you.  And you know what?  I learned a lot about you in those conversations.  One of the things I learned was that you and Joe are so much alike it's scary."   Once she fell silent, Adam was assaulted from an angle he really didn't expect.

Tommy stepped up next to Ronnie, and shocked the hell out of a lot of people when he reached over and grabbed Ronnie's hand, holding it a lot like Adam was holding Logan's.  "You know something daddy?" 

That was a shock in itself, as that was the first time Tommy ever called Adam daddy.  "We all have been watching what you and Poppa do.  I've heard lots of guys here say that before you two showed up they didn't like boys that loved other boys, but now they know it's not bad."  He paused for a second taking in both Adam and Logan's stunned expression.  Ronnie leaned over and whispered into his ear, and after a second Tommy broke out in a grin.

"Okay, what surprised you more, me calling you daddy and poppa, or holding hands with Ronnie?"  The little imp giggled when Adam's only reply was "yes."

"Well it's simple, you and Logan been treating me like your kid, so I decided to just call you daddy and poppa.  You don't mind do ya?"  Tommy actually got a bit of a scared look on his face, and Logan moved forward, and picked the little guy up.

"Not at all munchkin, you just surprised us is all.  You can call us daddy and poppa if you want to.  Now would you mind explaining you and Ronnie?"  Adam added his support in by simply nodding.  He was still to blown away by what everyone had said to do much else.

"Well, I like Ronnie, and he likes me.  Bill said its okay cause him and Will are boy friends too."  Neither Adam nor Logan could fault such simple logic, so they just accepted what the younger boy had said. 

With tears in his eyes from all the love shown him in the room, Adam finally got his wits enough about him to address the crowd.  "Okay, you've made your point.  I still have to thank all of you though."  He raised his hand before anyone could protest.  "BUT!  I will repay all of you for this, however, that is a surprise for later.  For now, we have a few things to do to get ready to go get my... OUR brother."

Over the next forty-five minutes, everyone hashed over the training schedule.  It was decided that everyone would have to qualify on both the rifle range and the pistol range if they wanted to be included in the mission.  The assault teams need to be trained to do covert operations, and the pilots needed to be trained on how to fly into a potentially hazardous situation. 

Logan had his work cut out for him as well.  Adam asked him to try and find body armor for everyone, which was going to be fun seeing as they didn't make body armor for kids, except for specially ordered dignitaries.  He had also asked that Logan order about fifty tranquilizer rifles, as he was thinking about using the tranquilizers to knock people out on the mission.

Adam and Logan were getting ready to spend some quality time together in bed.  Logan had finally convinced Adam that Joe would be fine on his own, and Adam didn't have to spend every second there.  "Besides, Juan is there just as much as you are, if something happens, he'll let you know."  Logan had said to Adam, and now, as they were about to move their relationship further, Logan thought back over the last few months, which felt more like an eternity, then the short while it had actually been.  The two boys have never really had much of a chance to spend time alone, because almost as soon as they met, things were set in motion to get Adam's brothers free. 

During the week between rescuing Juan and going after Jory, Chang and William, Logan had been too tired to do much of anything because of the training Adam and Juan had put them through.  Plus, Logan thought to himself, Adam would have been way to keyed up to relax then anyways. 

Then they got here, to the complex that was hidden in the mountain, in Utah, and within two days, all hell broke loose.  Joe figured out that he was Adam's biological father, and told Adam such.  Adam, blaming his father for what happened to him, and believing the lies that were told to him, about his father running off to be with another woman, took it badly.  Adam ended up attacking Joe, and would have really hurt him, if it had not been for Juan stepping in. 

That, above everything else, really showed Logan what those boys could do.  The fight that ensued between Juan and Adam, a nine year old little boy, and his, recently turned thirteen, brother, was something that was truly scary.  The blows that the two boys traded would have been enough to break most grown men in half, then add on top of that, the speed which they both had shown, and the ferocity that both had, scared a lot of people that day.

Then of course, Logan thought that he could get Adam to calm down, and tried to grab Adam's shoulder.  That was a big mistake, and Logan had a dislocated shoulder to prove it.  Even though that ended the fight, as Adam realized what he had done, it still gave everyone a glimpse of Adam that scared most of them.  Even through it all though, Logan's love for Adam grew.  He watched as Adam interacted with everyone else, and how he felt about Tommy, the little boy they rescued from the same lab as his other three brothers.  Logan watched from a distance, as Adam helped train the boys and girls they found here, and just fell deeper and deeper in love with him.  Adam would walk away from Logan any time he got near, and the one time Logan was able to corner Adam, Adam told him to go away, "I don't want to hurt you again, just leave me alone... PLEASE!"

Logan knew that his mother was slightly uncomfortable with their relationship, because of what Adam could be like, but Logan would take the risk willingly. Logan knew that Adam would come around eventually, and he did.  Of course, it took Joe having a very bad accident to do it. 

Joe got hurt in a skydiving accident where he saved Adam's life.  One thing that not many people knew was that Adam blamed himself for the accident, and to be brutally honest, it sort of was his fault.  Adam was supposed to have Joe check his chute as Joe was in charge of the jump.  Adam wouldn't let him, and Adam's chute was tangled.  When Adam jumped, and his chute failed, Joe went after him and saved Adam's life.  However, by doing so, Joe was too close to the ground when he pulled his reserve chute, causing him to hit the ground hard. 

 

Since the accident, Adam hasn't been far from Joe's side.  Adam did apologize to Logan for pushing him away, and for hitting him.  Logan wouldn't hear of it, and just hugged him hard welcoming him back.  So the long and the short of it was this.  Adam and Logan have never done more than kiss each other.  Logan planned for that to change on this night and change it did. 

---

And change it did, Logan taught Adam what it meant to make love.  They didn't go all the way, but they got close.  Adam was a totally different person in bed, Logan found.  Logan was somewhat expecting Adam to take charge, just like he does with everything else.  But, to Logan's surprise, Adam proved to be passive while still actively pursuing their mutual pleasure.

Logan's POV:

I slowly led Adam back towards our room, suddenly nervous about what was to come.

Would he like it, would it be everything I wanted it to be?

I just didn’t know and believe it or not, I was scared.

As we reached the door, we both came to a stop by some unspoken signal and just stood there.  I looked over at my love, wondering for the thousandth time how one person could mean so much to another but all I knew now was what I had known every time I had asked that question, Adam did, to me.

He was my world and as I glanced at him I realized that he was as nervous about this as I was and seeing that really touched my heart.

He was always so self assured about everything yet here he was just like me, and in that moment something happened that I thought never could, I loved him even more.

I gently reached out and took his hand into my own and squeezed it gently, getting a small smile in return from him as he raised his eyes and looked at me.

I could see the uncertainty and surprisingly, even a bit of fear there as he said, “Kind of weird to be scared by something like this, isn’t it?” as he chuckled softly.

I just smiled and pushed open the door as I pulled him into the room, shutting it behind him and answering “No, it’s not. I’m kinda scared too.”

His head came back up and he looked at me searchingly for several moments before asking in a surprised voice, “You scared? What do you have to be scared about?”

“Adam, this is so special…and so…it’s just something that means so much to me; I’m afraid I won’t measure up.” I told him.

“With you, I don’t have to.” Adam replied smiling shyly and I knew he had been afraid of the same thing.

“Neither of us does, not with each other.” I told him as I moved gently forward and brought my lips to his in a gentle kiss.

It was like an electric shock hit me as our lips connected and I felt a torrent of feelings surge through my body and heard a weird noise, only to realize moments later it was me moaning along with Adam.

I had never felt anything like this and it was totally amazing.

I actually began to hurt as we became closer to being one, straining to be even closer to him as our kiss became much, much, more. As the feelings swept through us, I could tell that Adam was just as inundated with them as I was.

I began to let my hands caress my love’s body starting on his back and shoulders then down to his rear, squeezing the firm textured mounds I found there and felt his hands mimicking mine movement by movement.

The feelings were the most intense I had ever felt in my whole life and as our lips separated we were both gasping for air and looking deeply into one another’s eyes.

The overwhelming love I saw there in his eyes almost made me cry to think it was directed at me and I brought my lips back in ever so gently and caressed his, before pulling back and saying the most important words in my life,

“I love you Adam.”

He just looked at me and then told me, “I don’t know how I got so lucky to find you, but I love you with everything in my heart and soul, Logan Hayes.”

I gently moved my hands up, touching his chest, running my hands across his front and down his tight stomach, smiling all the while as I saw his breathing pick up as my hands got closer to what he wanted.

His hands had been matching mine and I knew what he was feeling as I let mine drop that last little bit, finally touching what I had been wanting to for ever so long.

Adam gasped and let out a long groan that I realized I was matching, as our hands found one another and felt the hardness that lay trapped within the confines of our clothes, gently kneading and caressing what lay there, as both of us thrust our hips into the other’s hands.

I moved my hands finally, slowly upward and I softly took hold of his shirt and it was then that he reached out and stopped my hand and I could see the fear had returned to his eyes.

“What is it, love?” I asked him.

I could see all the uncertainty and more from a short time ago return to those beautiful stormy gray eyes of his, and I suddenly knew from somewhere, what was the matter as I gently said,

“Adam, I love you, all of you.”

I watched as he looked at me searching for the truth and finally almost reluctantly he dropped his hand from mine, allowing me to slowly lift the shirt up and off of him.

I kept my gaze locked with his as I lifted the shirt up and off before dropping it to the ground and only then allowed my eyes to begin to travel lower taking in his body.

Every scar, every mark, ever little detail I drank in from his neck down to the pants hiding what I was waiting so eagerly for until finally I reached that bulge tenting his pants and returned me gaze to his.

I could see him trembling and the nervousness still in his eyes as I almost whispered, “You are so beautiful,” and watched as he looked for but didn’t find deceit in my answer.

I could see the tension drain from him as he relaxed realizing that I meant every word of what I had said.

For some reason, even though we had seen one another many times before, this was completely different, totally new and as if we were gazing upon one another’s bodies for the first time ever.

He moved his hands up and repeated my actions, slowly taking off my shirt and then just looking at me.

I smiled at him and he smiled back, as I brought my hands up touching his bare chest and caressing him there softly rubbing everywhere until I found a nipple and watched with delight as he gasped at the unexpected pleasure emanating from that area.

I slowly rubbed it and ever so gently pinched it between my fingers causing my love to moan with the feelings this brought about, and I realized his hands had moved to me and were copying my movements giving me the same intense feelings.

I let one hand drop and felt the hardness contained within his jeans and felt his hand move to me.

“Oh God!” he moaned, as my hand found contact and I felt the same way.

“I never knew” Adam cried as he thrust himself into my hand.

I didn’t say anything because I knew exactly what he was feeling.

Of all the times I had played with it and all the times I had done things with friends, this was so not the same that I couldn’t begin to say what it was.

Just completely different and completely better and that doesn’t begin to describe it.

“Me either,” I finally said, gasping for breath with what he was making me feel.

“They used to touch me to teach me how to relieve sexual tension, but this, this is so different. That was cold, unfeeling, this is like fire.” Adam gasped, as I brought my hand off of him and upward.

I couldn’t wait any longer.

I let my hands undo the snap of his jeans and move the zipper downward, causing Adam to moan as his boyhood was released from the confining garment.

I pushed the jeans downward, allowing him to spring up in his underwear, tenting it beautifully.

His hands followed my lead and slowly lowered my pants until I was standing there like he was, both of us having wet spots in the front of our underwear then we just stood there looking at one another’s hidden treasure, pausing a moment before taking that final step.

I could see, reflected in his eyes, everything I was thinking.

We had been waiting so long for this, so very long.

All the times we had been together in the shower, or naked in our room but never having the time or the energy to do anything yet, thinking of the other and this moment when we would finally get to love one another the way we wanted to.

Adam had told me, and I him, that we thought about each other when we jacked off, but now I knew we were both wondering if it would be as good as in our minds and hoping it would be.

Our eyes slowly found one another and Adam said, “I can’t believe we’re finally going to get to do it,” echoing my thoughts of moments before.

“It’s been worth the wait love.” I replied.

By some unspoken signal, neither of us reached out to the other, but lowered our hands down to our own underwear and slowly began to lower them, revealing the hidden and much desired treasure buried within to each other’s sight.

Somehow it seemed right to do that, neither of us taking this final step but each of us giving it to the other as finally we were both free.

Adam had the most beautiful penis I had ever seen in my life.

I slowly led him over to the bed and together we lay down, wrapping our arms around each other and bringing our lips together once again in a gently loving kiss which just seemed to ignite the fires even more within us.

---

They were lying together in bed, enjoying the afterglow from their earlier actions.  Adam had his head on Logan's shoulder, and was lazily running his fingers up and down his chest.  Logan was lying there almost dozing off, but absently running his hand over Adam's shoulder and back.  They were really just enjoying the closeness that they felt with each other.  When suddenly the door burst open and Tommy was standing there with Ronnie right behind him.

“What?” Logan and Adam asked. 

“We gotta go; Fluffy had her kittens, come on!!!” the younger boy yelled, running out of the room.

“Hey wait a minute.” Logan called, just as Ronnie got to the door and looked back.

“What?” he asked, as everyone heard, “Will ya come on already?” from Tommy somewhere down the corridor.

“We can’t go like this.” Adam said.

Ronnie looked down and said, “So what’s wrong with this?” and ran out of the room, while the two older boys just shook their heads.

“We better go,” Logan said just as Tommy stuck his head into the room and yelled “COME ON!”

“All right already,” Adam muttered as he pulled on his shorts noticing that Logan was doing the same.

Suddenly, the two younger boys were back and grabbing the older ones' hands as they began dragging them outside.

“You old guys are so slow.” Tommy giggled.

 All four boys laughed at that, taking time to tickle the younger boys for a moment, saying, “We older guys can still get ya,” then Tommy took off to his room, where Fluffy also slept, dragging Adam along with him. 

When they got in the room, Tommy went right over to where Fluffy was laying with three smaller kittens trying to nurse.  Adam stood back and was amazed at what he saw.  In front of him were three tiny little cats, two were the same all black that Fluffy was, but the other one was spotted, with orange and white spots. 

Tommy and Ronnie went right up to Fluffy, and started to pet her and the kittens.  Logan grabbed Adam's hand, and started to pull him towards the four cats, when Fluffy made it very clear that Tommy and Ronnie were the only ones allowed that close.

Tommy looking shocked at Fluffy's outburst, looked at her, then back up to Adam with a sad smile.  “Sorry Dad, but she says that Ronnie and I are the only ones who can get this close.  No offense.”  Adam and Logan just shrugged and watched as the younger boys played with the beautiful new kittens.

It was an adorable sight.

“Attention in the Base, would Capt. Adam Casey, Lieutenant Hayes, and Major Bryce, please report to the command center immediately.”  Adam and Logan looked at each other; both wondering what was going on.   They both shrugged at the same time, and Adam spoke to the younger boys, “Sorry guys, duty calls, we'll have to play with the pussies later.  And Fluffy, you have very pretty kitties.”

Logan busted out laughing at that, and pulled Adam out of the room.  Adam had this really weird look on his face, “Pretty kitties?!?!  Did I really just say that? And please tell me I didn’t say I would play with a pussy, ever?”

That of course made Logan double over laughing even harder, and he was still laughing when they got to the command center.

---

Adam for his part, was also chuckling, but nowhere near as bad as Logan was.  Jack looked over at them as they walked in, and the look on his face made both boys get serious quick.  “Adam, Logan, it looks like we may need to start planning a different mission...”

They were talking about the upcoming mission when another announcement came across the speakers.  “Capt. Adam Casey report to sick bay immediately.”  Everyone looked at Adam as his face drained of color.  He dropped the papers he was looking at and took off out of the room, at a dead run.

---

They slowly walked forward towards the crest of the hill, silently contemplating what lay before them.

This was not something any of them looked forward to, not something any of them ever thought; really thought would ever happen, not to one of their own.

Adam could feel the tears silently begin again as he looked over to Logan and saw a similar sight on his love’s face that mirrored his own.

He knew if he looked at the others walking with them that the same thing would be reflected in their faces, pain, pain and overwhelming loss.

He as well as the others always knew it could happen but to actually have it do so had hit all of them harder than any of them had ever thought possible.

To be here one moment and then gone the next seemed so…so wrong.

As those thoughts were running through his head the sad procession came to a stop surrounding the final resting place of a member of their family, a member taken too soon.

There was silence for a few moments before Jack began the service with a passage that was very apt to this particular scene.

“Greater love hath no man than he who would lay down his life for another”

He spoke more but Adam was lost with those words which meant so much to him now, for he had certainly done that.

Logan gently prodding Adam brought him back to the here and now along with the realization that everyone was looking to him as it was his turn to speak.

“I...” he began but had to stop and clear his clogged throat before continuing “I thought I would be able to get up here and say something that would make it alright but I can’t. Nothing will make it alright ever again” He said before hanging his head for a moment then saying “He gave his all to each of us and me in particular and for that he will be remembered, always. It’s my fault that he died and I’ll… I’ll always love him” but that was all he got out as he broke down and ran from the hill.

Logan looked over at his mother for a moment then ran after him trying to catch up to his distraught love.

He didn’t make it but knew Adam would be going to only one place and eventually when he got back to the compound that was where he found him, sitting in a chair and sobbing quietly with the words “Why?” interspersed between the cries that went straight to Logan’s heart.

“Adam” Logan said softly as he came up to his boyfriend gently placing a hand on his shoulder.

“NO!” Adam said angrily turning to look at him.

“It’s not your fault” Logan softly told him shocked at the haunted look of pain in Adam’s eyes.

Adam didn’t say anything for a moment then as if all the will to fight had left him he sighed turning his head away and said “Yes, it is, it is Logan”

“He chose to save you” Logan told him placing all the emphasis he could into the word ‘chose’

“If I had been doing what I should have been doing he wouldn’t have had to” Adam replied.

“Adam…” Logan started to say but Adam interrupted him saying “No, Logan he’s dead because of me, because I killed him. Everyone gets hurt or…or…dies that I care about, everyone” and with that Adam placed his head down and began to cry brokenly once again leaving Logan to stand there stunned.

He didn’t know what to do, how to get through to him, the pain he saw was more than he thought he could handle but if he didn’t know what would happen to Adam.

He could see Adam falling into a vast pit, had seen it since it happened, and for all the love he had for him he just didn’t know what to do about it, but did know he'd better figure out something and quickly.

“Adam, it’ll be alright, just give it some time” Logan told him.

“No it won’t.” His lover cried forlornly.

“No Adam, that’s not true” Logan vehemently protested but Adam had turned away again lost in his own private agony once more only uttering a soft “Yes it is.  Maybe I'm just not cut out for this, maybe it would be better if I hadn't tried to escape so long ago.  Maybe...”