Memories Part 3: And A Child Shall Lead Them

Part 2 of 2

Co-Authored by ACFan and special guests Myke D., Jeff P, The Story Lover, and Iluvantir

---

If Cory had noticed, he would have been shocked at how smoothly he was making it through the assembled Clan members. The sight of their Patriarch in full uniform, marching towards an unknown destination, bearing an expression which could easily cause an ice storm in the deserts of Vulcan, was enough to drive even those who knew him well to get out of his way. In his trail, those who had subvocals were all asking the same two questions: "What happened?" and "Is there someplace safe nearby if he blows his top?".

Almost everyone was making sure they avoided the obviously pissed-off Patriarch. As with any large family, there were exceptions; two of them, neither having any reason to fear their Patriarch. Despite neither one being able to see Cory, the two boys homed in on him like metal shavings being drawn to a magnet. As they broke through the last of the parting crowd, one of them said a single word which brought Cory to a sudden stop, "Grandpa!"

Cory spun to find his four-armed grandson and newest furry son waiting for him to stop. Instinctively protecting the younger family members from his anger, Cory pushed back his thoughts then replied "Hey Wyr, hey Hiaf! What's up?"

"Timmy said you need cuddles, Daddy," Hiafnia replied with a worried look.

"Yeah, and he said we'd be the best ones to find you and cuddle you," Wyr added.

After recent events, Cory was not about to argue with a declaration like that from his first son. "C'mere guys," Cory said as he dropped to one knee and opened his arms. Once he was holding the two boys, he asked "Did you guys find me all by yourselves?"

Six arms latched onto Cory as they replied in unison "Yeah!"

"Great job!" Cory replied, the cuddles already affecting him the way Timmy intended. "Did you have any trouble?"

"I couldn't find your scent at first," Hiaf admitted, "there's too many people."

"I found you though," Wyr added. "I got us closer, then when Hiaf could find you he brought us the rest of the way."

"That's pretty amazing, since neither one of you are used to all of these people," Cory stated. "You guys did great, and working together like that makes me proud of both of you."

Cory's comments earned him two huge smiles and six arms giving him an extra squeeze. Realizing that, thanks to his son and grandson, he was no longer having to hold back his anger, Cory asked "Do you guys want to come with me, just in case I need more of those special cuddles you're so good at?"

"Can we?" both boys replied at the same time, causing them to giggle as they exchanged amazed looks.

"Pick a hand, guys," Cory laughed. "We 've got a family to fix."

---

Cory, Wyr, and Hiaf walked up to find Josh still in the middle of a mass cuddle, with Phil's former sons protectively shielded by Josh's large family. As soon as he saw the way they were grouped, Cory was glad that Timmy had sent Wyr and Hiaf to calm him down, because being angry would not have helped, and neither would handling it as the Patriarch. This was a HUMAN situation, and he would need to deal with it as their HUMAN leader.

"I'm guessing you guys realized we've got a problem," Cory started as he came up to the group. "Let's see if we can get it sorted out; this is the first time I've had to deal with something like this."

"You're not taking these boys away from their home," Josh stated firmly, his eyes challenging Cory to try it.

"You can relax, Josh, I don't work for CPS," Cory replied, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"We'll see if humor is appropriate when this is resolved," Josh stated.

"I need your help, Josh; I'm in new territory here," Cory admitted. "Right now, my little brother is having to have a mind-meld because of this, and Mom's bowling with people's heads. We need to sort this out, and your input really would help."

Realizing that Cory wasn't coming in with his mind made up, Josh relaxed slightly. "Okay Cory, I'll give it a chance. What do you want to do?"

"I want to sit down with all of you," Cory stated, "and figure out how we should proceed. You guys need to know what happened too; thanks to what we learned, you'll be helping us with figuring out how to prevent this from happening again."

The cuddle slowly broke up, and migrated to a nearby table. Once they were all seated, with Cory's little angels sitting on his lap, Cory began. "Okay guys, this wasn't anything we ever planned for. I'm going to fill you in on what happened, don't start worrying about anything when you hear about it. We'll work out family after all of us are on the same page about Phil."

Josh nodded. "Why does it sound like something serious happened?"

"Because it did," Cory explained. "First off, Phil was a receive-only telepath who had some serious blocks set up in his head. That made it so that pretty much all of the telepaths only saw what he wanted them to see. Kyle had to break through the blocks to find out what he was hiding; he did it under orders from Mom and me. Fortunately Kyle got through, because a lot of kids were in danger."

"What made you decide to have Kyle break into his head?" Josh asked warily.

"He went off on Sammy, and made statements to Mom which would have disqualified him as an adoptive parent under FYS guidelines," Cory explained. "Something didn't feel right to me, Mom, or Kyle."

Josh nodded. "That makes sense; so you're saying that he wasn't what he presented himself to be?"

"That's an understatement," Cory replied. "Kyle put it best, he was a natural 'Master'. That means he was into bondage, and in the master-slave relationship that comes with that, he was the master. The thing is, he was into bondage with underage participants whether they wanted it or not, and was part of a group that would take kids and ship them off to be abused. He set it up to join the Clan so that he could use us as a source for more kids to ship off."

Cory was interrupted by a growl from behind him. "You have dealt with that person appropriately, Patriarch?"

Without even turning his head, Cory replied "Take a seat, Grandpa Ron. I think you're gonna need to be the one spearheading the prosecution of the group that survives getting caught."

"You did not answer my question," Ron stated as he sat down.

"I'm getting there," Cory replied. "When Kyle was done, Phil's mind was pretty much jelly, so I doubt he understood it when he was sentenced to death. He was terminated on the spot. Josh, you were right about one thing; one of the options is expanding your family even more. First off, Josh, I want to let you know that Tyler has already made the scans of you that him and Kyle are putting into effect for high profile parents. They're not warning anyone, that way they can be sure that nothing gets hidden."

"From the sound of it, that's a good policy to have," Josh acknowledged. "Just how bad is it to catch?"

"Kyle said N-Gen telepaths would catch it if they were looking for it," Cory explained. "After what just happened, I think if a deep scan is fought, the person won't be concerned about much of anything any more." Pausing to look around the table, Cory continued "Usually, when something bad happens, people realize that they saw warning signs after the problem goes public. You guys get to help all of us set up a way to catch this, if he slipped in any way around you."

"We kinda didn't feel safe," CJ stated.

"He was getting bossy the last couple of days," Ivo added.

"Something was up," Pablito stated. "Something wasn't right, but I couldn't see what, that's why I set it up for Blake to be there. I think the Boss wanted you guys to catch it so you'd learn."

 "I'm with the boys, I didn't feel right," Josh added. "I guess the best way to put it was he didn't seem like the same person I knew, but it wasn't obvious why."

"Why didn't I see a change, we saw him weekly," Ron asked.

"I bet he changed slowly," Cory explained, "which is hard to catch unless you have a break from seeing him. That part we've seen before, a lot."

"So using people in regular contact with someone is a bad reference?" Ron clarified.

"It looks like it," Cory agreed. "CJ and Ivo both had great catches, the problem is that we were not looking for it, so they wouldn't have had a reason to report it."

"Something tells me that's changing," Josh stated. "Good job, boys. Even though you didn't stop it this time, you're helping your Clan family for next time."

Thankful for the calming effect of the two cuddlemonsters on his lap, Cory moved on to something less likely to make him explode. "Anything that you guys think of, let Nigel know and he'll pass it on. Let's take care of what's really worrying you guys. Ivo, would you mind being the spokesman for your son and brothers, including Blake? I fully expect you guys to talk things over before I get answers."

After getting nods from his brothers, Ivo replied "Okay."

Cory nodded. "Okay, first off, I know that we failed you guys big time. I'm really sorry about that, but it doesn't change that it happened. Before anything else, do you want to trust the Clan to try to fix what was screwed up and give you another family?"

Now understanding why Cory needed a spokesman for him and his brothers, Ivo motioned for his brothers to stand up. "C'mon, we need to talk about that in private," he stated.

As they headed off to the side, Josh asked "Why did you ask that first?"

Cory stood up as he replied "Because I need your family to answer it as well, Josh. The three of us are going to grab some cookies, I hope that by the time we get back you have at least an idea of the answer."

Once Cory and his boys were out of hearing, Ron took charge of the conversation. "Before you start, think about this. Everyone has been telling me that the Clan is built on trust. Cory is devastated by that trust being destroyed by one man, and he is taking responsibility for the mistake. He's not abandoning you, but he's not going to assume that you still want to trust what he's built. Even if you decide that you don't trust the Clan, learn that from him, as it is a lesson that many adults never understand."

"Grandpa's right," Andrei stated. "The other families I was with woulda just made everything go away so they wouldn't have to deal with it. I never really had a say in family things before, but Cory's giving us all a say if Dad lets us."

Josh smiled at the veiled challenge that Andrei put out in the open. "Andrei, we really need to find out if someone snuck a DNA sample from your Grandpa Ron into your makeup. I already know my thoughts just on how Cory has handled this. No matter what you decide, you are all still my sons, that will not change. What you really need to decide is did this happening make you trust the Clan more or less; don't forget to consider how they responded once they found out."

"Why is Andrei like Grandpa?" Chad asked.

"Your Grandpa likes to challenge people to do the right thing for themselves by arguing until they commit to doing it just to prove they were right," Josh explained. "Don't try to deny it, Dad; you have no idea how many times I pushed through training just to prove you wrong."

Ron smiled. "You picked one of the hardest things to specialize in, and it would have been too easy for you to just give up and come back to join the law firm. When you pick something to be a part of, that is for good times and bad times; just how much have all of you committed to actually being part of Family Clan Short?"

"I wouldn't have my twin brother Johnny without them," Willy commented.

"I would've never seen Marc again," Johnny stated.

"Our old father would have killed us," CJ and Chad chorused.

"Nigel and I woulda been tossed in the scrap pile," Andrei added.

"And I would have never found the best collection of sons in the Universe," Josh finished. 

Jeff came over, having discussed the subject with his family as well. "Just so you know, we've decided that we're staying no matter what you decide. Most organizations would have pretended that nothing happened; Cory needs to be shown that despite him taking responsibility personally, it is not his fault that someone figured out a weak spot in the security. It takes a real man or woman to admit to something going wrong and then trying to fix it; if this is the kind of example that Cory is going to be to my sons, I'm all for them learning from him."

"Thank you, Jeff," Ron replied. "Boys, you've heard the adult viewpoints. Your family was built under the rule that youth have a say in their lives as well, so now you need to look at all of the information that you have and make a decision. Each of you needs to privately tell Jeff your decision, then he will announce the votes without naming names. Once yourselves and your Dad have decided, then I will give the verdict."

After a few minutes of each of them telling Jeff their thoughts off to the side, Jeff came over and whispered the results in Ron's ear, including Nigel's vote which was delivered over subvocal.

"We have a verdict," Ron chuckled. "On the matter of retaining membership in Family Clan Short, the vote is unanimous to stay. On the matter of dunking Cory to get him to 'chill out', we have four 'yea' votes with the rest abstaining."

"Grandfather," George interrupted over the group's commbadges. "I have been instructed to relay that on the matter of dunking Cory, Jamie, Jacob, Marc, and Danny wish to record 'yea' votes."

"That makes a majority, please ensure the Patriarch knows which family ordered it," Ron laughed. "Proceed with the sentence, George."

Noticing the group standing off to the side, Ron motioned for them to rejoin the main group. 

With his brothers clustered behind him and his son on his hip, Ivo nervously lead his remaining family to stand near Ron. "Sir," Ivo started.

Ron held up his hand. "What happened to Grandpa? Last I heard, I disowned Phil, not you boys. You being our grandchildren has never been tied to who you live with, we fell in love with you the day we met you."

Ron barely had time to prepare himself before he found five crying boys latched onto him. As he made sure that each of them were in contact with him in some way, he noticed Blake standing back with a wishful look on his face. "By my count," Ron stated loud enough to make sure Blake heard him, "I am missing a grandson; in fact, it would be the grandson who I fully intend to train in law, since he already has the bloodsucking down. Get over here with your brothers already, Grandson." 

Blake found that he couldn't break the stare from Ron, the stare that had him unconsciously walking towards the pile of his new brothers. By the time he reached them, glowing tears were running down his cheeks. When Ron had the rest of the boys make room so that Blake could be in the center, he broke down completely and fell against Ron's chest.

Josh and Jeff exchanged knowing glances as the table emptied to add to the swarm around Ron. Seconds later, Jeff's boys came running over and joined the pile, with Jamie, Jacob, Marc, and Danny popping in to make it complete.

"That right there," Josh commented as Jeff took a now-empty seat next to him, "is why staying was the only real option."

"My thoughts exactly," Jeff agreed.

The two men watched as Ron made sure each and every one of the boys was individually assured that their place in HIS family was secure.

Fifteen minutes later, Cory, Wyr, and Hiafnia returned. Cory was now in a Speedo and a tee-shirt, with his hair still dripping water. "Did you guys have fun playing 'drown the Patriarch'?" he quipped with a grin.

"As a matter of fact, we did!" Josh chuckled. "Have a seat, Dad's still in conference with his grandsons."

"I know that huddle," Cory commented as his personal cuddle guards took up positions on his lap. "Somebody needed to know that they were still family."

"You could say that," Jeff stated. "Ron fired both barrels to blast those thoughts out of the solar system."

Noticing the worry that Cory was unsuccessfully trying to hide, Josh added "I'm still waiting for Ivo to tell me what they decided, but the family that I claimed before you had to deal with Phil has decided to stay. Also, if you don't get it though your head that there is nothing you could have done to anticipate this, you're going for round two of swimming lessons."

"Who introduced you to Mom?" Cory quipped.

"Just wait until Dad gets started," Josh warned with a grin. "We've already heard the lecture."

Ron chose that time to interrupt the conversation. "Cory, some of my grandsons bear a surname which is detrimental to their mental well being. I require this to be straightened out ASAP, as well as ensuring that they are listed with their proper father to prove their status as my grandsons and great-grandson."

"Josh," Cory began, only to be interrupted.

"I'll save you the trouble," Josh said with a smile. "I told the boys that they would have a place in my family right after I was told that your Mom was called in. Go ahead and make my additional sons and grandson official before Dad has a coronary. Don't forget Blake."

Cory rolled his eyes. "You know, there are procedures I'm supposed to follow! Fortunately, George logged everything, so I can proceed. George, you want to start logging the changes, from the sounds of it the surname 'Michaels' is to be assigned to all concerned. Schedule Josh for swimming lessons for trying to get around me."

"I'm handling it now, Cory," George replied over Cory's subvocal. "The swimming lessons will be when he least expects it."

"Thanks, George," Cory replied. "Josh, you might want to join your sons before you get wet."

---

A half hour later:

"You ready to see how your Clan brothers throw a party, little bro?" Andrei grinned as he helped Rey climb onto his shoulders.

"Yeah!" Rey exclaimed as he got comfortable on his favorite new brother's shoulders.

"Wow, I can see everything from up here!" Axth giggled from his perch on Johnny's shoulders.

Despite their earlier nervousness at the crowd, the excitement of Dyve as he held onto CJ and Chad's hands was contagious, so now they were smiling and ready to follow along to meet new Clan brothers.

Willy giggled as he poked at Axth's side, making his new little brother squirm. "You ready to try some food, bro?"

"Yeah, I'm hungry!" Axth exclaimed.

Ivo gave Blake's shoulder a squeeze as he pulled him closer. "You want the three of us to find something to do while our brothers check out the food?"

Blake smiled. "You ain't got to do that. Aunt Helen figured out a way for Brant to enjoy food without him getting sick. She's already got it set up for us Moroi at the food table."

"Kewl, we woulda had to beat that into Phil's head," Ash giggled. "You think we would have had to get Dad to help?"

"Probably," Blake grinned.

"Good thing he's gone," Ivo grinned. "At least now we have a dad that listens."

"Thanks for thinking about me though, it means a lot," Blake commented with a smile. "I think I'm going to like this family thing!"

"We're gonna like having a special little brother," Ash grinned as he shifted over to turn the cuddle of their little brother into a double cuddle.

"And we get another awesome big brother!" Mitch and Mort added as they joined the pile.

"I'm REALLY gonna like this!" Blake giggled.

Once the cuddles were finished temporarily, the group began to make their way over to the food tables. Just before they got there, they ran into JJ and Adam.

"Hey Blake!" JJ exclaimed as him and Adam jogged over. "You up already?"

"Yeah, Antonio was waiting for me," Blake grinned. "He helped give me a new family!"

Adam grinned as he realized who all was in the group. "Hey, we finally get to meet the legends of Montana!"

"Where?" CJ and Chad chorused, their faces confused. "Do we know you?"

JJ grinned. "I'm JJ, I'm in charge of Security in all of the Divisions. This cutie is my fiancé Adam. We're the ones that okayed Ivo and Ash becoming your Divisional Security. As far as being legends, what you guys did for Nigel and Andrei got everyone's attention at Headquarters. If that wasn't enough, the five mini-Marcs that have invaded your division just proved how great you're doing."

"I told you that you're special, little brothers," Andrei grinned.

"That's only because we saved you," CJ replied with a smile. "You're biased."

"It's because you earned it, guys; just like you earned being declared Directors.," JJ explained. "Not everyone could do what you did, even the medical guys. It takes a lot to understand androids like you do, so to those of us who worry about Marc getting overloaded it makes us feel a lot safer knowing he has help."

"If you say so," Chad replied.

Adam tilted his head as he watched Blake. "Blake, did Josh adopt you?"

Blake nodded with a grin. "Yeah, he hooked me up with some awesome brothers after Cory took care of the asshole!"

Adam nodded. "JJ, I'll be right back, I need to go talk to Tyne."

"Tell him to hit me on the subvocal if he has any questions," JJ replied.

Adam nodded, then tripped his subvocal. "Ark, could you please take me to Tyne?"

 < Fortunately, he is clothed, so I do not think he will mind, > Ark replied before teleporting Adam to wherever Tyne was currently.

"What was that about?" Ivo asked.

"Well," JJ replied, "since Blake's your little brother, he qualifies to join you as Security due to his skills. Adam's just checking on a couple of things."

"I can't argue with that," Ivo replied. "It's only right that our little brother gets to help with keeping CJ and Chad safe."

---

Nearby:

"Dude, this is weird," Harris said nervously, bumping his shoulder against Alexander. "Why are we even here?"

"We were invited, weren't we?" Alexander asked with a chuckle.

Harris rolled his eyes and groaned. "I guess, but that doesn't mean that you had to accept without telling me!" The green-eyed boy looked around at the different guests attending the party, and couldn't find it in himself to relax until he spotted his dad and Vanek talking with a group of adults near the food table. "There's a lot of people here, Alex."

"I know," Alexander agreed. "Don't worry, Harris, your shadow is always near."

Harris giggled softly, and peeked over his shoulder to see the man that had been assigned by Lieutenant Greyson to be his personal security standing nearby, his attention focused only on Harris. Lieutenant Jeff Sawyer had been shadowing Harris for three days, having volunteered to stay with the boy after seeing how having different guards all of the time was bothering him. Daryl Greyson had agreed whole heartedly with Jeff's idea, recognizing that the seventeen-year-old security officer had connected with the boy on a level that the man couldn't understand. Harris nodded at Jeff, acknowledging his presence, before returning his attention to Alexander as Isaac slid up next to them. The blond-haired boy kissed Alexander lightly on his cheek with a giggle before he greeted Harris.

"Hi, Arys!" Isaac rushed over and hugged the eleven-year-old tightly. "Can you believe that we're actually here?"

Harris couldn't help but letting himself get caught up in the boy's enthusiasm, and smiled at the hazel-eyed boy. "You're such a goof, Isaac," Arys teased the boy as he hugged him back. "It is kind of surreal, dude."

"Are you sure that you want me to be your assistant director, Harris?" Isaac asked nervously as he glanced around at the other children, who were talking and laughing amongst themselves. Isaac received a jolt of surprise as he saw several of the younger children riding around on the back of an alligator. "I don't fit in here."

"I bet, if you stopped and asked any one of these other kids if they felt like they didn't belong when they first arrived, that they will say the same thing you just did, Isaac. You're wrong, though," Harris told the boy bluntly. "We do fit in here. Whether you choose to see it, or not, all of these people have a story to tell. Just like us," Harris hesitated as he felt a knot forming in his throat. He needed to get his thoughts in order, and try not to focus on the years that he had been abused by the Monster. "They may not be happy stories, but they all have happy endings, because they brought all of us together. We're a family now, Isaac. You're my little brother, as much as Alexander is my flesh and blood cousin. Plus, our family has been growing. I'm sure you can find Samy around here, somewhere, if you look hard enough."

"Probably, over by the pool, drooling over the boys in their speedos," Alexander said, making all three of them laugh. 

"Listen, Isaac," Harris said, finally deciding on how to reply to the boy's first question. "I think you're perfect to be my assistant director. You think just like I do. You think everything through, and you are quick on your feet when you need to be. Besides, it wasn't me that nominated you for the position."

Isaac looked over at Alexander, suspicion written across his face.

"It wasn't me," Alexander said, holding up his hands to ward off the boy's wrath.

"Who was it then?" Isaac asked, flustered by the mystery.

"Does it matter?" Harris asked the boy.

"No, I guess it doesn't," he replied softly.

Harris hugged Isaac, tightly.

"Don't worry, Isaac," Arys reassured the boy. "I wouldn't have agreed to it, if I didn't think that you could handle the job."

"If you say so, Arys," Isaac said before he returned to Alexander's side, and gripped the boy's hand, tightly. Harris smiled at the two boys.

"You guys are cute together," he commented happily, only slightly feeling the burn of still not finding his other half. He had thought that he had found his lost soul at one point in his life, but that was in another time and place, a place that Harris wasn't even sure existed any longer. His angst must have been evident on his face, causing Alexander to put his arm across Harris's shoulders.

"Don't worry, Arys," Alexander said only loud enough for Harris to hear. "You will find him. I can feel it."

"I hope so," Arys said quietly, secretly wishing that he had found a connection, by now. His entire being yearned to be loved, wanting to be held by someone that loved him, as much as he loved them. Harris was pulled from his thoughts as a boy with hazel eyes, and strawberry blond hair stepped up to him with a friendly smile on his face.

"Hey guys," the boy greeted Arys and his group. "I'm JJ Richardson, Head of Clan Security. Y'all are just in time, I was getting ready to set up the guys from Montana with their permanent security. C'mon over, y'all can compare notes with the other new guys while I finish making Jeff's position permanent."

Jeff had moved in to be directly behind his charge, and interrupted. "With all due respect, Commander, what are you talking about?"

JJ grinned as a squirrel carrying a small felt bag ran up, climbed his side, then took a seat on his left shoulder. After retrieving the bag, JJ grinned. "Thanks, Dale! You gonna stick around for the fun?"

To the shock of all that were watching, the squirrel, obviously Dale, seemed to reply, then, with JJ's help, wrapped himself across JJ's shoulders. After retrieving a walnut for his friend to munch on from his pocket, JJ responded to Jeff. "You're out of uniform, Sub-Commander Sawyer." JJ held out the bag, adding "The rank insignia that you're wearing belong to your primary charge, put these on and then make sure he has instruction on where his should be worn on his shirt."

Turning to Harris, JJ added "That's your Starfleet Security rank; we'll take care of your Vulcan Fleet rank in a few!"

Arys turned and gave Alexander a sideways look. "Is this really happening?"

Alexander just shrugged.

"I'm just getting started," JJ giggled. "C'mon, I think you guys are gonna get along great with the Montana guys, they're feeling lost too."

"Lead the way, I guess," Harris said nervously. 'How many surprises can I handle in one lifetime?'

"I know that look, Arys," JJ giggled as he began to lead the way to the other group. "Don't worry, this will all seem normal in a week or two."

Harris snorted. "Says you! I think normal left on the day I fell through the doorway!"

"How many angels have you met that have had their wings taken from them twice?" Alexander asked, trying to control the annoyance in his tone as he watched the interaction. "Doesn't really seem normal to me."

JJ stopped, looking at Alexander with obvious care in his eyes. "My big brother is Saint Mikey of Urbandale. One of my other brothers is one of his assistants, Davie Owens, while the cousin of the Directors you're about to meet is Pablito. One of my nephews just recently operated under Mandate and gave life back to a boy who committed suicide after being raped by his male caregiver; that boy was the Guardian Angel of his now-boyfriend. I've got a little brother who was saved by the same nephew from back in the 1960's. I've had to watch as my first little brother morphed into the very first Mikyvis, and have had to help him with learning to adjust to his new powers. While what we've all been through might not be normal to a lot of the world, in the Clan it's something that binds us all together as brothers."

Harris chuckled and bumped his shoulder into Alexander's. "Kinda' sounds like what I told Isaac," the green-eyed boy said with a grin."It looks like we've found ourselves a new normal."

"Pretty much," JJ giggled. "Speaking of which, we're here... the short blond twins are Doctors CJ and Chad Michaels, Directors of the Montana AI Annex."

"Hey guys," Harris smiled politely as he extended a hand towards them. "I'm Harris Conner, Director of Ohio Valley Division. The blond on the end is Assistant Director Isaac Jennings. The goof to my left is my cousin Alexander Conner, Guardian Angel Twice Removed."

"Hi!" CJ and Chad said in unison. "He's CJ, and he's Chad!" they added, pointing at each other at the same time. Once they finished giggling, Chad added "I'm Chad, the little guy between us is our little brother Dyve. The twins with different hair are our brothers and assistants Willy Michaels and Johnny Furst; Johnny's the one with our little brother Axth on his shoulders. The pair next to them are our brothers Andrei and Rey, Rey's the little guy on Andrei's shoulders. The last big twins are Ash and Ivo, they're in charge of Security, the blond on Ivo's shoulder is Matt, the two copies of him are Mitch who is holding Ivo's hand, and Morton who is holding Ash's hand, and the little guy with the yellow eyes is our brother Blake. The last big guy is Jeff, he's Security, and that's his wife Amanda. Their biggest kid is Jason, the next biggest is Alex, and the little blonds are Marvin and Melvin. Don't worry, Blake only bites bad guys!"

"I could have used him a few weeks ago," Harris said with a grin.

"If I'd been there, you would've had a lot of help," Blake stated as his eyes flashed bright yellow for a split second.

Harris felt a chill go down his spine. "Umm, I don't think I would have wanted to see that."

"Probably not, it gets messy," Adam stated as he rejoined the group. "Hey y'all, I'm Adam, I'm the guy who keeps JJ in line!"

"You wish babe," JJ giggled.

Something happened then that lightened everyone's spirits. Harris' eyes were drawn to a small, rolling ball of fur that had tubes and a laser-sighter sticking out of it. It rolled from behind them, at speed, and went right in front of them. Whilst that was unusual, to say the least, what made Harris raise his eyebrows right into his hairline was the fact the speeding ball of fuzzy something was yelling "ASSIMILATE! ASSIMILATE!" as loud as it could as it tumbled by his feet.

"Oh shit, they pulled it off!" JJ groaned.

"NO ASSIMILATE!" came another yell, from the other side of the group as a larger ball of fuzzy something rolled in to bar the way for the calico-colored smaller ball.

"Okay, where's the Elf?" Adam moaned.

Harris and Alexander both looked at each other in disbelief.

"Sa'ren is attempting to not wet himself laughing, Adam," came the reply from a walking nightmare that ran up, his toolarm buzzing as it was aimed at the two fuzzy somethings. "He will be here soon. You've no idea how hard it was to explain to Kataui that we only wanted ONE baby."

"Is that tribble for Liam, Nine?" Adam asked, "And did you remember to neuter it?"

Isaac giggled madly as he watched the balls of fur rolling around their feet.

"NO SNIP SNIP! NO SNIP SNIP! WHERE COOKIE?!.... bbbzzzzpht.... Voice Modulator Malfunction. Collective Reset Required.... Cooooooookiiiiiiieeeeeeee....."

Nine glared at Adam so hard the silver skinned boy backed up a step. "Why, thank you, Adam. We're still attempting to finish the assimilation process and you've just gone and reset it... again... Elf was having way too much fun with that... Reset Command - A-67F-Delta. Tribble-of-Borg-Adjunct, return to Queen."

"... bbbzzzphfff!... Command Accepted. Return by Transport."

The smaller of the two fuzzy things vanished in a green transporter beam, leaving the larger of the two to deflate slightly as it relaxed. Then its own laser sighter fixed onto Issac, then Harris, then Alexander. "Introduce Kataui to new Cookie Suppliers, Friend-Adam."

"And here, I thought I was the one being supplied with cookies?" Harris asked Alexander with a giggle.

Adam grinned as he pointed out each of the new guys. "That's Josh, Jeff, Amanda, Harris, Isaac, Alexander, Ivo, Matt, Blake, Ashton, CJ, Dyve, Chad, Jason, Marvin, Willy, Alex, Mitch, Axth, Melvin, Johnny, Morton, Andrei, and Rey."

"And this is Kataui of Borg, Friend-Assigned-Sa'ren, Adjunct-Assigned-Sa'ren," Nine said. "I am Nine of Twelve, formally of the Borg Collective... but I think you know of my people, do you not, Harris? You've... oh, my... your temporal imprint history... yes, you've been in another universe, have you not? From here, lost there, back again?"

Arys tried to form a coherent thought before his eyes suddenly rolled back in his head, and the boy fainted.

As Adam and JJ yelled "MEDIC!" and as CJ, who was giggling, called for his medical kit, Arys was caught by a strong set of small arms. The arms weren't attached to anything that they could see, but they still managed to catch the out-cold boy. Then, through what they all then could see as liquid air, Sa'ren pushed the rest of himself through - with the small baby Borg-Tribble purring on his head.

"Wow, he's heavier than he looks," the Elven Prince giggled. "Come on then, CJ - do your thing. I've done my super-save for the day!"

CJ quickly scanned Arys, then once satisfied there was nothing majorly wrong, he dug out the smelling salts and waved them under Arys' nose.

"GOD those stink! You do know we superior Vulcans have a better sense of smell to you squishy, lovable humans, don't you, CeeJay?" the Elf giggled, winking at the boy who laughed back.

"Of course, I know! S'why I did it now with you holding him! Duh!"

Arys groaned in discomfort as he slowly came back around, finding himself being held by a small boy with pointy ears. He couldn't help but smile as he stared into the deep blue eyes of the boy, their colors seemed to draw him in, and he noticed that they grew brighter the longer he looked into them. Just before he felt himself drifting into the depths of the boy's eyes, the Vulcan blinked, breaking the spell that he had held over Harris.

"'Ello, cariad," the boy whispered to Harris. "Feeling better now? Meeting Borg can be freaky, I know - especially for those of us with knowledge of Star Trek." Then, the boy popped a small kiss to Harris' forehead before leaning back to smile at him.

"Hi," Harris responded quietly, feeling his cheeks flush red. "I'm better, thank you." He tried to sit up, but felt his head start to spin, again. "Ugh."

"Let me help you," the Vulcan whispered as he laid two fingers to Arys' temple. A small thrum seemed to flow through his mind and body, and he felt the spinning sensation vanish. "There. Better? Or would you like another kissy to help your boo-boo go'way?"

At that, all the other kids started laughing and giggling.

"You have blue eyes," Arys stated, ignoring the other boys for a moment. "Daddy Vanek has blue eyes."

"He's my distant cousin. I'm Sa'ren Joel Short, son of Sp... wait, are you gonna faint if I tell you my Daddy's name is Spock, or do you think you can deal with that?"

Arys giggled. "Now I think I can deal with anything!"

"Oh. Kewl! Well, I'm Sa'ren Joel Short, Firstborn Son of Spock, Son of Sarek, of the House of Surak of Vulcan. You're me CUZ! Do you like cookies? I hope you like cookies. It would be a shame if you didn't, 'cos I'm gonna feed my little cuz cookies whether my little cuz likes cookies or not!"

"I need Tylenol," JJ murmured.

Arys' eyes grew wide as he muttered a phrase he had read in a newspaper. "Joel's Never-ending Bags of Cookies!" Arys stared in disbelief at the boy. "It was you. You saved me when I first got here."

"No, sweetheart. I would have done, had I known then what I know now. Davie did that. I just worked with Kyle to make those cookie bags for any kid that needed it. I see it around you, sweetheart. I see your pain..." A tear trickled from the Elf's eyes. "I... Arys. I swear brotherhood with you. Cousin you are to me, and I to you, but now Brother by Oath. Your family is mine, and mine is thine. Would..."

 He trailed off. He stared deep into Arys' eyes once more. "Would you let me share your pain, so that you gain strength from the sharing?"

"Another time, maybe," Harris replied nervously. "I don't think I'm quite ready to share all of my secrets, yet. I do like your ears, though." Arys quickly kissed Joel on his cheek before standing back up.

"The offer is open, brother. And thank you. We higher beings are quite proud of our superior pointy ears. Right, Ezzy?" Sa'ren called to the empty air around the group. A giggle came back, but no-one else appeared. "See? If a Miky agrees with you, you're definitely right!"

"Dunking for you coming up, Joel!" JJ grinned.

Adam quickly stepped back, as what he expected happened. JJ vanished, only to return soaking wet, holding a koala cub. "Late birthday present from the Elf, Harris."

"Why did I get the dunking?" JJ groused as he handed Arys the koala.

Sa'ren grinned a Levi-classed innocent-little-me, full cutie mode grin. "Cos I'm special, and you're not?"

"My dad is gonna' flip," Harris groaned.

"Your Sa'mekh will be fine with it, though, bro," Sa'ren grinned.

"I'll have Mom warn the parents," Adam groaned.

Sa'ren vanished in a green transporter beam, then returned with small ball of yellow fur. "Here. Couldn't find a koala, but this lion cub was left orphaned. Want him?"

"Definitely!" Isaac said with a wide smile. He quickly took the cub, and turned away from the others, promptly taking his new friend to meet his dad.

"I better go with him to explain," Alexander said with a groan.

Arys frowned when he found himself standing alone with people he had just met. "So?" He asked nervously, clearly at a loss since his friends abandoned him.

An arm wrapped around his waist as the slightly smaller Sa'ren hugged himself close. "You're never alone, bro. Want to introduce me to your Dad? Your Sa'mekh'll know of me, but I've not met him yet, either."

"Only if you bring him here, Elf, we need to make sure these guys are safe," JJ stated firmly. "His brothers ain't getting out of it either."

"I can do that, but you best call and warn them first - going through my transporters without warning could be freaky... wait, no... never met them, so I can't lock on with Borg transports... you REALLY need to warn them, JJ, cos me using my OTHER abilities will be even freakier!"

"Have you forgot George and Ark again, little brother?" JJ asked with a roll of his eyes.

"They still need to be warned. And I don't ask others to do what I can do. Besides, I have greater reach than either... do you want to meet Superman? I know the universe he's in, you know..."

JJ didn't SAY anything, but his glare and tapping foot made his thoughts very clear.

Isaac and Alexander returned with smirks on their faces. 

"You should have seen my dad! He nearly jumped out of his chair, once he saw what I had!" Isaac noticed the strange tension. "Are you guys brothers?"

"In-law," JJ grated.

Sa'ren just grinned. He didn't reply. He didn't need to. He'd won that round.

Jeff stepped forward and put his hand lightly on Harris's shoulder, trying to draw JJ's attention back to the original topic at hand. "So, security?"

"Five legions of dragons, or ten?" Sa'ren asked, looking up at Jeff.

"Ignore him," JJ sighed. "He's teasing... you hope."

"I'll pass on dragons, thanks," Harris said with a giggle. "Maybe, another time."

"Speak for yourself, Arys!" Isaac whined.

"You've got a lion, Isaac," Harris stated dryly. "I'm certain that you're not going to be messed with anymore."

Adam shook his head as he tapped his commbadge. "Bast, we've got the Montana and Ohio divisions here. Please send over their enhanced security before Joel and JJ drown each other, again."

"They do that a lot?" Isaac asked curiously.

"Often," Sa'ren smiled.

"Always," JJ said at the same time.

"It's how they entertain themselves," Adam finished for them.

"Yeah, you're all brothers. You're so goofy." Isaac decided with conviction.

CJ spoke up from where him and his division were sitting on the ground munching on popcorn. "Do ya' have to stop? This is fun to watch!"

Sa'ren took that as a challenge, and so JJ was subjected to the biggest wedgie the collective group had ever seen. Once the ringing had left everyone's ears, they noticed that the speedy little Vulcan had lit out for the nearest building, with a limping (yet still extremely fast) JJ hot on his heels.

"You HAD to ask!" Adam giggled as four gorilla hybrids, four cheetahs, and three lion hybrids appeared next to him. "I think JJ does this on purpose, so I get stuck explaining everything. Guys, meet your security, the gorillas and cheetahs are for Montana, and the lions are for Ohio."

Isaac walked up to the closest lion and ran his hand down the boy's furry arm. "They hurt you?"

The large teenage lion smiled down at the small boy, then got to his knees. "No, I was made in a test-tube. This is the real me from birth. My name's Kort. What's yours?"

"I'm Isaac Jennings," the blond replied with a grin before he bumped into Alexander. "This is Alex."

"And who's this little cub?" Kort asked, pointing at the lion cub in Isaac's arms. The kitten meowed at him, then purred. Kort purred back. "Oh, he said his name is Rawwrlrufflwrrr. But he'd like a human name from you, though."

Harris and Alexander both stifled their laughter as Isaac looked down at the cub with a smile on his face. "Solo."

Solo purred louder, then added a squeaky growl-purr.

"Oh... Foot Solo? No, Rawwrlrufflwrr. It's HAN Solo. Not HAND, so FOOT wouldn't be a good joke name to add," Kort mumbled. "How about...?"

'Hiss! MEAWWWWOORRRRR!'

"Sigh... he likes Solo... don't ask him what he's added to the front of it, though. You're too young to know." Kort giggled at Isaac.

"But I wanna KNOW!" Isaac pouted.

"Richard," Kort managed, trying not to laugh. "Just the shorted version."

"And that is?"

"Ask your brother."

Isaac pouted. "You're no fun."

Kort growled, and promptly looked down at the boy with a scowl. "Give Solo to Alexander, please." 

"Umm," Isaac looked at the lion nervously. "If I don't?"

"Then, he'll get the same treatment you're going to get," Kort said with another growl.

Alexander promptly took the cub from Isaac with a grin. "Have fun, Isaac."

"What's going on?" Isaac asked as Kort promptly tossed the boy over his shoulder.

"You're getting a bath," Kort replied smugly.

"I've already had a bath, though," Isaac whined.

"No, you haven't, yet," Kort growled as he carried the boy away. "I can still smell you."

As the protesting Isaac was carried off one way, a speeding Vulcan came past him, followed by a now swearing JJ. They circled the group three times, then vanished off in another direction. The swearing was, Harris decided, likely due to the teasing names being hurled by the Elf, mocking JJ's slow closing of the gap between them.

"So," one of the two remaining lions said, looking at Harris and Alexander. He had completely ignored the strangeness of the two speeding brothers running around them all. It was normal, after all. This was the Clan. Expect the unexpected. Craziness was the new normal. "So, which of you is my boy? I'm Cooper. I'm 13. I want a boy of my very own. I want to feed him, and bathe him, and pet him, and cuddle..."

"Idiot," the other lion laughed, nudging his brother in the ribs. "I'm Diego. I'm Cooper's twin. But I'd like to know which of you two I get to keep forever and ever too!"

Harris and Alexander both exchanged nervous glances, before Harris finally stepped forward and extended his hand to Cooper. "I'm Harris Conner."

"Woohoo! I got a boy of my own! Can I rename you? Yeah, I think... Squidgie is good."

"You're such a dipshit at times, Coop," Diego giggled. He cast an eye over Alexander. "Don't worry. I'll keep the nickname I have for you secret. Til later. Then I can watch you blush at the feast!"

"Behave, both of you," Jeff groaned. "They're teasing, guys," he assured the younger boys.

"Are they, though?" Harris asked, the image of Isaac being carried away still fresh in his mind.

Both lions nodded. "Yes, about the nicknames," they said together. Then they sniffed. "But you'll both be getting baths. Soon. Very soon."

"Shit," Harris grumbled as he heard Jeff chuckle from behind him.

"It's fun!" Sa'ren yelled as he zoomed past, having ran around the CIC building with JJ now only six feet behind him.

"You'll love it!" JJ added, panting slightly but still closing the gap. "Come here, you little rat bastar..." His voice faded fast, due to how fast the two were running.

"That's a perfect example of the Doppler Effect," Jeff said with a chuckle.

"We had a shower earlier, why do we need a bath?" Arys asked, trying to keep from whining like Isaac had done.

Cooper grinned at him, "We cats have good sense of smell. And we bond by grooming. You'll love it. Normally, we'd just groom you here and now, but we don't know yet if you're comfortable with that. Levi said we should take that at your speed. It's why Kort wandered off to the nearest bushes with his prey... I mean, his boy. There, that one, in fact." The lion boy pointed at a distant shrub, from whence could just be heard child-like giggles. "Sounds like Isaac's enjoying himself!"

"Maybe later," Arys said as he slowly backed away from Cooper.

Cooper winked at him. "Don't worry. I guessed right away with you, Harris. It'll be somewhere safe, and you'll need these," he said gently as he pulled two brushes out from his robes. "It's not just you getting groomed."

---

Meanwhile:

As the rest of the group started choosing their security, Adam motioned for Andrei and Rey to join him. "Andrei, before you get security, I've got one team member that was messed up pretty bad, and he needed some serious medical work. That means he's going to age really slow, like one year every five thousand is our guess. He's not Vifer, but has had some advanced medical procedures done. I think he needs a long-life to protect, and I think you'll be a great fit."

"What's so special about me?" Andrei asked.

"Ask Rey," Adam giggled. "I'll just say that you guys bonded as brothers even though Pablito thought Rey would be the last one to accept family. There's something special about you, and I think that'll help with Zevo's acceptance of his future."

"Why ain't the little guys getting security?" Andrei asked.

"Timmy will take care of them, don't worry," Adam explained. "They'll get security that won't get in the way of them being little kids."

"What kind of security would that be?" Andrei asked.

"VI Teddy Bears, with serious built-in weapons and a very protective streak programmed in. My little brother Jory helped create them," Adam explained.

"Andie? What's a teddy bear?" Rey asked softly.

"Normally it's a stuffed toy that little guys like you can cuddle and play imaginary games with," Andrei replied softly.

"Ohh, that sounds fun!" Rey smiled. "Can I have one?"

"I'm sure Adam is going to have Timmy get you one of his types, but I think we'll get you a normal one too." Andrei replied with a smile. "Adam, I'd like to meet Zevo."

Seconds later, a teenaged White Bengal tiger appeared, along with Timmy, who was holding a red teddy bear, and a larger teddy bear who was moving under his own power. Before anyone could say anything, the large teddy bear ambled over to Rey and looked him in the eyes. "Hi, I'm Freddy. Will you be my friend?"

Rey looked to Andrei for approval. At his hero's nod, he threw himself at Freddy and gave him the biggest hug he could while repeating "Yes!" over and over.

As Timmy waited patiently, Adam introduced the tiger. "Zevo, this is Andrei, he wanted to meet you before he decided about having you for security."

"Pleased to meet you, Sir," Zevo stated as he held out his huge hand.

"It's Andrei, please. I don't like sir," Andrei replied. "How old are you?"

"I was aged to be twelve, Andrei Please," Zevo answered. 

"You know what I meant; I saw your whiskers twitch!" Andrei laughed.

"You caught me," Zevo grinned, which would scare most living beings. "I like you; you have a good sense of humor."

"I'll accept, Adam," Andrei stated. "I think we'll get along great."

Adam nodded, then tilted his head for them to look at Rey. They turned to find Timmy presenting the teddy bear to Andrei's shadow, patiently explaining how human kids would normally use them. Timmy finished while they were watching, then turned and stated "I'll be right back, Uncle Adam. Rey says he wants his brothers to have bears too."

---

AI Annex team:

Chad walked over to one of the smaller gorillas and asked him "I'm Chad, and I'm onena the Directors. We're doctors, why do we need guards?"

"I'm Kneau, Doctor Michaels. You need guards to protect you so you can fix people," Kneau explained. "All of us are medics too, so we'll be helping you fix people when we ain't making more patients. After what happened to your Uncle Mike, we don't take any chances anymore."

"Please don't call me Doctor Michaels," Chad asked. "Dad's a real doctor, we're just kids."

Kneau pointed over to where Adam was talking with Andrei. "Any time you doubt yourself, look right there. Mont gave us the intel about your division, and all four of us decided that you were the type of people we wanted to protect after what you did for Nigel and Andrei; especially after you made Andrei family."

"I guess, but I still only want to be called Chad."

"That's just fine, I can live with that," Kneau nodded. "I like how you were strong enough to ask me those questions, would you mind if I was your guard?"

"That'd be okay, at least I know you ain't gonna lie," Chad replied. "How old are you?"

"I'm ten, I'm a third-generation natural mutant."

"No, you're a hairy kid," Chad replied, "Dad says we all gotta learn that we're just kids."

"And Chad?" One of the other gorillas asked. After getting Chad's attention, he continued, "It's good practice for us to have a boy of our own."

"How'd ya mean?" Chad giggled at the larger gorilla.

The gorilla in question grinned widely and started to sing, looping a huge arm around Chad to start dancing with him:

 

"Oh, oobee doo!

I wanna be like you-ou-ou!

I wanna walk like you!

Talk like you, too-oo-oo!

You'll see it's true-oo-oo,

An ape like me-ee-ee,

Can learn to be human too!"

 

"I want him!" Johnny exclaimed with a laugh.

"SOLD!" the gorilla laughed as he danced over to Johnny. "I'm Elton, and you're Johnny Five!"

"Need input!" Johnny giggled.

"That's it, no more movies for Johnny!" CJ giggled.

The other gorilla that was the same size as Kneau came over to CJ. "I'm Odlen, Kneau's my twin. Do you mind if all of us twins stick together?"

"Sounds good to me, you a medic too?" CJ asked, still giggling at Elton.

"Yep, I specialized in internal injuries," Odlen replied.

"I think we'll make a great team," CJ acknowledged. "How old are the big guys?"

"They're both fourteen, they're cousins," Odlen answered. "Tron had a bad family, and when our parents found out, they solved it, permanently. I think he'll be good for Willy, since he's already started recovery; in fact, he picked Willy before we even came over."

CJ looked over to find Willy cuddling with the last gorilla. "Yeah, I hope so."

Meanwhile, the four cheetahs hooked up with their new protectees. Ashton ended up with thirteen-year-old Chico, Ivo matched up with fourteen-year-old Jose, Jason with twelve-year-old Diego, and Alex ended up with eleven-year-old Rico.

Now that their big brothers had made their choices, Matt, Mitch, Mort, Marvin, Melvin, Axth and Dyve decided to check out the strange furry boys that their brothers seemed to trust. That quickly led to happy kids as the eight gorilla and cheetah boys played pass-the kid, tickling each of them before passing to their cohorts.

The game was interrupted by Timmy appearing with seven of the VI teddy bears, one orange stuffed bear, and one red-violet stuffed bear. With their new friends helping them to understand what Timmy was suggesting, in no time Axth had a new orange stuffed bear and a new friend named Yiggy, while Dyve took the other stuffed bear and made friends with Jamm. The five identical android boys were elated to get their own bear friends, with Matt getting Salem, Mort getting Spence, Mitch getting Taylor, Marvin getting Iggy, and Melvin getting Nate.

By this time, Isaac's bath was done, and Andrei had returned with Zevo, Freddy, and Rey. Adam got their attention, announcing "Just in case you Director types didn't know, you're Commanders in the Clan Fleet. You assistant types are Sub-Commanders, and the rest got to wait to see what ranks your Director wants to give you. Directors, you ain't gotta ask, just do it; you wouldn't be Directors if Cory didn't trust you. I gotta run, have fun while Nine and I find out what Joel and JJ are getting into now.

As Nine and Adam walked away, CJ and Chad came over to join Harris. 

Smiling, CJ asked "Hey Arys? Ya think if we all stick together, we can hide from the nuts long enough to get some munchies?"

"Only if we hurry!" Arys said as he eyed Cooper nervously. "I'm going to get a bath if we don't, go now."

Timmy giggled. "Don't worry, I'll tell my furry friends to make sure big kids stay away! C'mon, I know where the cookies are!"

"Follow the munchkin!" Ivo giggled. "We'll take rear guard; Arys, keep your group in the center so we can protect you!"

"I love cookies!" Isaac said with a grin.

"Me, too," Alexander agreed.

"Cookie patrol... CHAARRRGGGEEE!" Timmy exclaimed before leading the group on their quest for cookies.

---

To Be Continued...