CSV-DSM Part 1

"Daughter," the Man said softly as Candy looked around at the Eternal Realm and the beauty therein. "I have a question for you."

Candy looked up at him and nodded.

"What would you sacrifice to save the lives of those children on Earth who are Abused and Lost?"

She blinked at him, for the question had come at her from out of left field. Of all the things this Man could have asked, this was the least thing she had expected. As she opened her mouth to answer, she felt Mikey squeeze her hand tightly.

"Do not rush your answer," the Man said as he watched the two youths look at each other. "Think about it."

And so, she did. If she had been alive and healthy, then maybe she would have said she would have sacrificed everything except to be a mother to her son. However, now that she knew he was safe with Mikey's mother....

"Everything, Sir," she answered softly. "My... our son is safe. He's going to be loved and looked after the rest of his life. I'd... I'd give anything to see other kids get the same chance."

"What of your child? Would you lay down your right to see him and protect him as a Guardian Angel in order to help all the children of the world?"

Candy nodded without hesitation. "I know he's safe now. I know he's got a grandma who loves him, and uncles and cousins to help him and who will be brothers to him when he needs them. I'm... content."

The Man smiled at her, "I have watched with pride as you showed the love I placed in your heart to all who needed it, Candy. All your life, you lived as I taught and still teach. You heard my Voice even when you did not know it. This is your greatest answer yet, for you could have said you would do anything to help, as long as you could see your son. You could have even asked me to just be his Guardian Angel and I would have allowed it, as I once allowed it for Michael to stand over his family. Since you have shown your willingness to lay down your right to watch over your son in order to watch over others not related, I now appoint you Saint Candy, Protector of Lost and Abused Children. Your new sainthood shall work in tandem with that of Saint Mikey's: he is Protector of Gay and Abandoned Youths, and has, until this point, done the job you now hold as well. Together, you shall be mother and father by faith and belief to all children and youths of the world. And, you shall be known to your son - you are his Guardian Angel as well."

Candy's jaw dropped open, as did Mikey's. Mikey watched as golden feathered wings appeared on his girlfriend's back, and as a halo appeared around her head.

"Also," the Man added with a knowing smile, "you are both still partners in your new lives. Go, now. It is time for the Heart of my Nexus to awaken and seek their breakfast. Go and welcome them, new Saint of Heaven."

With wide, joyous smiles upon their faces, Mikey and Candy flashed away in a shimmer of sparkles, leaving the Man to stand there in the Realm of Eternity.

"... and so it begins," he said with a grin before he, too, vanished.

Teri's house, Des Moines, Sunday morning.

Kyle rolled over and rubbed his eyes as he yawned. A smile came to his face as Ezra greeted him. "Good morning Daddy! Did you sleep good?"

Kyle nodded as he reached out and pulled his newest offspring into a cuddle. "Yeah, kiddo, it was almost like when I was still human," he replied with a small smile.

Ezra giggled. "I know, Daddy. You and Pop got a Gift when I was born; some of the stuff that you missed about being human you can do again just by wanting to. That means that you and Pop can sleep just like all of my other Uncles do now."

Kyle tilted his head, then giggled. "Does that mean Someone heard that I didn't wanna be superman, so they're lettin' me be more like a real human?"

"I know nothing!" Ezra giggled as a 'halo' appeared above his head.

"Let's see... innocent look, imitation halo, soft giggles... yep, he's your son!" Mikey's voice announced with a laugh as he and Candy appeared in the doorway. "You know, Ezra, you should wait at least twelve hours before torturing your parents!"

"C... Ca... Candy?" Kyle whispered as the smile fell from his face.

"Peace, little brother," Mikey stated as he entered the room and spread his wings. "It is time for me to wake up your lazy brothers who sleep too much, then all will be explained."

"I'll help, Uncle Mikey!" Ezra exclaimed with glee as he bounced up and pounced Cory and Sean. The yell from the formerly-sleeping pair was enough to start waking up everyone in the house; between Ezra's pounces and some supernatural tickle torture from both Mikey and Candy, it took barely a few minutes for everyone in the room to be fully awake. Once Mikey assured all of them that things would be explained as soon as they were ready, the boys quickly dispersed to the various restrooms in the house to do mass bladder evacuations. Once that was completed, they all reassembled in the rec room to hear what Mikey and Candy had to say.

Before either of the two Saints could start, however, the door opened and Teri walked in. Sean and Cory's face twisted in pain at the look of loss and grief on her face.

"Guys I've got some... some... Candy! Oh my dear!" she yelled as she ran over and pulled the teenage angel into her arms.

As a group, the boys all moved over to surround the two angels and Teri in a mass hug. "You went in the night, Candy?" Cory whispered gently.

She nodded. "Yes. Mikey and Mom were with me. Then I got given a choice...."

Mikey smiled and said, "Let me introduce Saint Candy, Protector of Lost and Abused Children; Guardian Angel of Patty... and still my girlfriend!"

Then, once he'd stopped speaking, he leaned in, moved his mom out of the way slightly, and landed a hot, passionate kiss on Candy.

The rest either pretended to gag (Cory and Sean included... they are his younger brothers, after all), cheer, or say "Awwww! Sooo cute!"

"Do they allow you guys to do that twisted straight stuff still?" Sean asked with a giggle once the two angels had broken their liplock.

"Innocent ears over here!" Ty exclaimed as he covered Ezra's ears.

Ezra giggled. "Sorry, Pop, but I know what Uncle Cory and Uncle Sean do in bed. Do humans all bend that way?"

"You should see what Adam and Logan can do!" Mont said.

"Only if we're flexible," Cory replied with aplomb at the same time.

"Yep!" Sean giggled. "You wanna fill us in on the details about Candy?" he added, trying to change the subject.

Mikey grinned and said, "Everyone sit down and I'll tell you everything. Wait, Mom? Where's Patty?"

Still with tears running from her eyes, Teri pointed towards the kitchen mutely before carrying on with hugging Candy.

Kyle darted off and returned shortly with Patty in his baby carrier, and everyone started laughing. Kyle was one of the smallest eight year old's around, and the way he was struggling was so downright cute that they couldn't help it.

He placed Patty down on the floor and stood straight with his hands on his hips. "What?" he glowered at them all seriously.

"Nothing," Mikey grinned as he came out of the group and picked up his son. He kissed Kyle's forehead and said, "Thank you, bro."

"You're welcome," Kyle murmured before shooting another typical eight year old glare at his older brothers and friends, and then sulking over to the nearest sofa and getting comfortable with as much dignity as he could.

Mikey gestured and waited until everyone was seated - Candy on Teri's lap... yes, she was no longer lap-sized but Teri didn't care. Then the senior Saint in the room began to explain about the night's events.

If he could form words, he would be thinking that these 'Large People' were noisy when eating. In fact, he would wonder why they were not getting boobie time to eat.

They were nice, though (is what he would have thought, if he could form words), especially the furry ones. Boobie-Person (Candy) now had bright soft things on her back, just like the other Non-Boobie-person (Mikey)... and he seemed to feel safe/home/blood to him.

The others kept on eating, and he smiled - might have been gas, but they weren't to know - while waiting for Boobie-Person (Candy) or the Non-Boobie-Person's Boobie-Person (Teri) to come give him his Pretend-Boobie-Feedie thing (bottle).

One of the noisy ones came over and tickled him under his chin, so he cooed at them. That always made them happy. Then he tickled his ribs, and he giggled. Still needing Pretend-Boobie-Feedie thing, his eyes were saying, but the tickles were nice.

At least... that is what Patty would have been thinking, had he known how to speak and form words as he watched the gang eat.

"Hey, Mom! You got Patty's bottle ready?" Cory called over as he continued to tickle his nephew's ribs to keep the infant chortling happily.

"Coming right up," she called back as she moved from the counter and around the table. "Are you going to feed him?"

Cory nodded happily and picked Patty up and out of his carrier before sitting on one of the chairs. Taking the bottle from his mother, he first tested the temperature on the back of his hand - having fed Cody and Sky's son in Australia helped here - before placing the nipple in the boy's mouth.

Patty was definitely a 'Short' and fell to his breakfast with gusto.

On the other end of the table, Kyle and Ty were busy instructing their son on the fine art of making faces and designs out of the food on his plate. Fife and Kai were quietly sitting there watching, both amazed at the creativity of the three boys.

"I'm curious," Fife whispered to Kai as they continued to watch. "Does human food like to be played with? Does it make the food feel better about getting eaten and digested?"

"I don' think so." Kai replied. "But as long as Ky an' Ty are enjoyin' themselves, it don' matter." 

Just then Casey and Tina joined the 'artistic' group, and Kyle launched into teaching the two youngest ones proper food manipulation as well.

After a few minutes of watching, Bruce leaned over to Teri once he had congratulated Casey on the smiley face made of bacon, eggs, and hash browns that Casey had insisted on showing off. "This is the first time I have seen your boys playing with food. Let me guess, this is one of those 'let it be' times?"

Teri nodded as she watched Adam finally get a fork full of biscuits and gravy into JJ's mouth after the fourth try. "Breakfast has always been a 'kid time' meal for my boys. I was taught that if you start your day with a smile, it makes the entire day better." She tilted her head over to where Robin was, semi-successfully, feeding himself with no hands. "Children don't learn if you don't let them explore. Robin is having fun, but he's also learning fine control. This is the best time of the day for them to all do that." She paused for a second as her eyes settled on Bast. "Bast, Jeremy had better be just retrieving lost silverware!"

Jeremy quickly popped back up from under the table with a fork in his hand. "Yes, Ma'am!" he responded quickly, his blush giving away the other ideas crossing his mind.

Teri shook her head. "I thought so. Spilled food gets cleaned up in the shower, okay?" she commented with a knowing smile.

Both Bast and Jeremy nodded as the rest of the table giggled at them getting busted. Mont shook his head, then stood up and moved over to relieve Cory on the feeding duties so that Cory could eat too. Once Cory was seated next to Sean, both of them began eating and joining in the light banter going on around the table.

As the meal finished, Mikey got everyone's attention. "Here's the shower arrangements, guys. Cory, Sean, JJ, and Kyle, you have first shift in Mom's shower with me. Adam, Ty, Kai, and Ezra have the second round with me. Mont, Bast, Jeremy, and Fife have third round. Casey, Tina, Robin, and Patty get the last round."

"I'll explain to the rest of you what it means to be showering with Mikey while the first group is in there." Candy added. She smiled as she watched the first round gather to head upstairs, each of their faces showing just how well they understood the implications of Mikey's decision.

Des Moines Headquarters:

Mick walked into the newly expanded dining area, and took a seat next to Janice. "By any chance did anybody leave a map for this place?" he asked with a laugh as he poured himself a coffee.

Janice shook her head with a smile. "Not that I've found. I'm afraid to ask how they managed to completely renovate and add a lower level in just the short time we were at Teri's place."

"It was fun to watch!" Robin's mom replied as she came out of the kitchen.

"Maybe you can fill us in then, Marcie," Mick commented as he retrieved a cinnamon roll from the tray she had brought out. "It was a little bit of a shock coming home and finding out that your house had migrated next to ours, a common basement had appeared underneath them, and both houses grew multi-story additions containing multiple bedrooms."

Marcie laughed. "Let's see... the foreman was this little blond kid wearing a purple hardhat who was constantly munching on cookies. He basically was conducting the operation like it was the London Philharmonic. They must have had someone really talented operating a tractor beam from somewhere, because they literally lifted the houses, put the new command center underneath, then sat the houses back down on it. I had left a full cup of coffee next to my chair; it was still sitting on the coaster and had not spilled a drop."

"Okay, that is unusual to say the least... but after what I've seen Cory do since he came back to visit, it does not really surprise me," Mick commented. "If this is what he does on vacation, I'm afraid to see him on full duty."

Marcie poured herself a coffee and joined them. "I wonder how Robin is doing. This is the first time he's spent the night somewhere by himself. I actually expected him to call, but he didn't."

"I can tell you why," Janice replied. "Between Kyle and Tyler, I'll bet he never had a chance to realize that he wasn't home. Those two boys are something really special, I hope that you get to meet them before they go back to Orlando."

Before Marcie had a chance to reply, the thundering of teen and preteen feet rushing towards the dining room alerted them to an incoming invasion of the peaceful room.

"MOM! DAD! Me an' Robin's new room is AWESOME!! I didn' even hear Julio an Jesse wrastlin and doing boyfriend stuff!" Eddie announce proudly.

"EDDIE!!" Julio exclaimed as he started blushing from head to toe.

"We'll have to try harder then!" Jesse commented, causing Julio's blush to deepen even further; if that was possible.

Johnny giggled. "Charlie smelled cin-mon rolls! Him and me's hungry!"

Mick laughed as he stood to put his arm around his glowing son. "Just wait until you have kids of your own. I believe that was payback for the time when you were five and walked in on me and your Mom. Your grandma STILL picks on me about what you saw, since you called and explained it to her in excruciating detail!"

Julio grinned. "I thought it was funny!"

Marcie shook her head as she tried not to laugh. "I'm glad Robin is an angel, he never pulled that stunt!"

"What does everyone want for breakfast?" Janice asked, trying to change the subject.

"Waffles!" Julio and Jesse said in unison, causing them to both giggle.

"Bacon and eggs and toast with lotsa strawberry jam!" Eddie replied.

"Sausage an' gravy!" Johnny said, then added "Charlie wants some sausage too, but he says he wants it still oinking!"

Johnny's cat, Cinnamon, chose this time to grace "his" boy with his presence. "Mwerrr? Purrrrrrrrrr mew purrr." he said as he rubbed Johnny's leg.

Johnny managed to somehow lean over while holding Charlie and pick up Cinnamon. "Cinnamon says he wants scrambled eggs with tuna and cheese," Johnny translated.

"Hmmm... I think we're out of tuna," Marcie replied, not really sure if Johnny was translating or not, and not really wanting to find out. "We do have some salmon, though; do you think he'd accept that as a substitute?"

Before she finished, Johnny was giggling madly as both of his 'kittens' began wildly washing his face to show their appreciation of the offer.

"Charlie likes Cinnamon's idea and wants some of that too!" Eddie stated between giggles at the treatment his big brother was getting.

Marcie shook her head in wonder. "Are things always this crazy?" she asked.

"Just wait until you meet the rest of the Clan!" Jesse giggled. "Would you like some help in the kitchen, Mrs. Wilson?"

Marcie looked over at Jesse. "You can call me Marcie, Jesse. There is no need to be formal; if I understand what that little purple-eyed cutie was telling me, we are all one big family now."

"Great! That means I need to fill you in on what Julio and I did last night!" Jesse replied exuberantly.

As a beet-red Julio slid under the table, Mick laughed. "I don't think that will be necessary, son. I'm sure that she can figure it out."

Jesse turned to look at Mick in shock. "Son? You called me son?"

Mick nodded. "That's right. You and Julio are a couple. That means that you are family now, son."

Jesse stood perfectly still, silent tears springing from his eyes. "Son ... son ... I have a Dad ..." he whispered to himself repeatedly.

Mick stood up and came over to Jesse. "Yes, son, you have a family," Mick stated softly as he held out his arms.

Jesse glanced at Mick's open arms, then into his eyes. Without a single word, he fell into Mick's arms and began openly crying.

Mick wrapped his arms around Jesse and pulled him in close. "Let it all out, son." Mick whispered softly as he comforted Jesse.

Julio crawled out from under the table, and came over to check on his boyfriend. Before he had a chance to say anything, Mick reached out his arm and pulled Julio into the hug. "You're family forever, guys," Mick said as he ensured that both boys were equally receiving his attention.

Teri's house:

After allowing suitable time for post-shower bonding, Teri poked her head into the rec room. "Have any of you figured out how we are going to go pick up Cory's new car yet?"

Before anyone could answer, there was a knock at the front door. "Do ANY of your generation understand doorbells?" Teri quipped with a smile as she turned towards the door.

"We don't do analog!" Cory shot back with a giggle.

Teri was about to reply, then thought better of it due to where it would have taken the conversation. Instead she went over and opened the door, finding Benny standing there with a grin on his face.

"Did someone call a taxi?" he asked with a giggle. "Oh, that's right, Cory's in charge... he probably forgot, so I just showed up anyways."

"I heard that, runt!" Cory yelled from the rec room.

"Just for that you get the ultimate punishment... first ride in Cory's new car with him driving!" Sean added. Seconds later, Sean was running out of the rec room and blasted past Teri and Benny, Cory fast on his heels.

"When I get my hands on you...!" Cory was giggling as he zoomed past.

Benny chortled, "You'll kiss his..."

Teri slapped her hand over the cheeky boy's mouth quickly as Cory skidded to a halt with a major blush, thus allowing Sean more time to find a good hiding place.

"You handle Sean, we've got the midget!" JJ and Adam announced as they came up behind Benny and grabbed him from behind. "One wet driver, coming up!"

Benny giggled, an evil glint in his eyes as he pretended to struggle in Adam and JJ's arms. "WAIT!!!! I thought you couldn't get upset at the truth!"  Benny cried.

They got him to the pool and threw him into the middle, and only then did they realize what the sneaky little boy had done: from the VSO belt that was hidden under his tee-shirt he had pulled two thin cables and had looped them through Adam and JJ's own belts while he'd been 'struggling' in their hold. This meant, therefore, that as he was sailing over the water to land in the pool, JJ and Adam were suddenly jerked off of their feet and right into the water along with him.

Cory walked up with Sean in his arms just in time to see this. He was laughing so hard that he failed to notice Kyle, Tyler, and Ezra running up behind him. The first indication of a problem were the three screams of "Banzai!!", the second was the three-pronged pounce that propelled all five of them into the pool.

A nervous looking furry face was staring at them all from around the door back to the Rec Room. "Are you sure there's nothing in there that'll eat my new Dads, Grandma?" Fife asked the woman who was standing fully in the doorway.

"Quite," Teri answered as she moved to pick up the garden hose. After handing it to Fife, she gestured for him to aim it at the boys beginning to climb out of the pool. Then she turned it on.

Fife started giggling as he sprayed each of his new family back into the water with the jet of water, his fur rippling up and down his back in time with his giggles.

Once each of the boys had been 'assisted' back into the pool a few times, Teri turned off the hose and stood back to ensure her intervention would not be needed to protect Fife.

The first one to make it out of the pool was Ezra, who was giggling as he walked up to his furry uncle. "That was awesome!" Ezra commented. "You think you would be okay with a wet hug?"

"You're not going to toss me in that lake, are you?" Fife asked nervously.

"No way!" Ezra replied. "Anyone who tries that is gonna have to worry if Cory, Sean, or me is gonna kill them first!"

Fife tilted his head. "Really?" he asked as he slowly held out his arms to signal the hug was okay.

Ezra came the rest of the way over and began to hug Fife. "Really. I understand why you're scared, and I know what it'd do to you if someone tried it. Uncle Cory does not allow people to do stuff that makes someone panic or really uncomfortable; he gets really mad about stuff like that."

Fife cuddled into Ezra as he pondered the new information. He had not realized that humans held their family so dear; while it was normal on Tesnia, it was something new in his experiences with human interaction.

The rest of the boys exited the pool after a few dunkings, and each took a turn showing Fife that they held no hard feelings for his moment of fun. Cory waited until last, and smiled at Fife as he pulled him in close.

"I heard what Ezra told you. He was right," Cory said as he rubbed Fife's back. "Nobody hurts my family and gets away with it. That means you now, son."

Fife smiled up at Cory and gave him an extra tight squeeze. "Thank you, Dad," he said softly.

Teri smiled as she watched Fife and Cory add another layer to their bond. She motioned for everyone else but Sean to head into the house and get into dry clothes. She followed them inside, leaving the three boys to share their instant of family time.

A few minutes later, Sean and Cory came in, Fife riding on Sean's back. They headed up to Cory's room to get changed, returning a few minutes later with Fife now riding on Cory's back. 

Kyle giggled as he ran over and jumped on Sean's back. "KEWL! Horsey rides! All the big goofs gotta carry us little guys!"

"Who you calling a goof?" Sean asked as he tickled Kyle behind the knees.

"You, Fuzz-head!" Kyle giggled back as he got comfortable.

"Hey, you're just as fuzzy as me!" Sean shot back, referring to the hairstyle that both of them were still sporting from the dance.

"Yeah, but yours is a lot bigger than mine!" Kyle responded.

"Thank God!" both Cory and Tyler exclaimed at the same time, immediately both breaking into deep blushes as everyone else began laughing at the 'other' implications of the comment.

"You know, most people wash in the shower instead of comparing body part sizes," Teri added with a glint in her eyes. She chuckled as her jab got it's intended effect, causing both Sean and Kyle to whine "MOM!!!!" as they both turned just as bright with blushes as their husbands.

Both Mont and Bast quickly grabbed their sunglasses, both giving huge cat-grins at the glares they got from their charges. "Hey, those blushes are hard on our eyes!" both boys chorused.

"See if I give you guys any brushings tonight!" Cory commented, his grin giving away the fact that he was not really serious.

Benny shook his head. "Dang Yanks, always screwing around," he giggled under his breath. He paused, then in a louder voice, he asked "Are you goofballs ready to go yet?"

As a group, the rest of the boys blew raspberries at Benny. Teri began guiding the boys out the door as she retrieved Patty's travel bag, giving Benny a thumbs-up when nobody else was looking.

A few minutes later, they made their way out of the compound gate and Benny pulled up next to a stretched Hummer which was waiting for them, Benny's father sitting at the wheel. "Load up, guys... and keep your hands to yourselves!" Teri announced with a smile.

"You ruin ALL of our fun!" Kyle giggled as he and Tyler scrambled into the very back of the vehicle.  

Des Moines HQ:

With breakfast now over, Mick looked around the table at his growing group of boys. "What are your plans for today, guys?" he asked.

"We gotta message from Unca Gov saying there was a big Hollow-weenie party later today, an' that he wants us to be there," Eddie announced.

Mick had just started to take a sip of his coffee, and half way through Eddie's proclamation he found out first hand that coffee and sinuses do not mix well. Once the pain was down to a dull ache, he replied. "A HALLOWE'EN party? That sounds like a fun idea; are you guys all interested in going?"

"Yeah!" all of the boys replied at once.

"Where is it being held at?" Janice asked.

"Wells Fargo Arena," Johnny replied, still giggling at his little brother's mangling of the holiday. "It's open to all kids, and adults are allowed as long as they pass through Security first or they have Federation or Clan IDs. There's gonna be a concert at the party too!"

"Has anyone told Cory about this yet?" Mick asked.

"Not yet, he's getting his new car this morning, then we'll tell him... if he's not in jail from his test drive," Johnny answered with a giggle. At the confused looks he got from the adults, he explained. "Kyle told me ALL about Cory's driving; he makes Dad look like an old man when he drives!"

"HEY! I'm not THAT bad!" Mick exclaimed.

"Yes, you are!!" Janice, Julio, Eddie, and Johnny exclaimed in unison.

Mick's remaining dignity was salvaged by the ringing of the doorbell. "I'll get it, Marcie." he quickly announced.

As he entered the foyer, the bell rang again. He opened the door, then paused as his mind adjusted to what he was seeing. In the doorway were five kids, two of which had a strong resemblance to the pet raccoon he had as a child. All but one were heavily armed, the last one was wearing a hooded cloak similar to the one that Eddie had been wearing when he informed them of the results of his first mission.

"May I help you gentlemen?" Mick asked, his mind already suspecting just why they were here.

"Yes Sir. I am Lieutenant Tucker Risling, Special Forces Intel," the boy wearing the cloak replied. "We have been instructed to report to Director Hernandez for permanent duty."

Mick smiled, his suspicions confirmed. "Follow me, boys, I have been expecting you."

"How could that be, Sir?" Tucker asked. "Our duty orders were sealed and were not opened until we arrived on the street here two minutes ago."

"Easy; I've known Cory Short since he was in diapers. The only way to beat him is to think faster than him," Mick replied. As he led the boys to the dining room, he announced, "Julio... it looks like Cory's sent you a present!"

Julio looked up, and quickly stood to welcome the new arrivals. "I'm Julio, how can I help you?" he asked.

"Corporal Ricky Raccoon reporting for duty as your personal security as ordered by Patriarch Short," the taller of the two hybrids announced as he saluted Julio.

Julio returned his salute, which signaled his slightly shorter companion to announce "Corporal Rocky Raccoon, reporting for duty, Sir."

Julio also returned the salute from Rocky, and turned to the other two well-armed boys. The elder of the two, looking to be fourteen with dirty blond hair, saluted and stated "Lieutenant Kristopher Carson, reporting for duty, Sir." Julio returned his salute, then turned to his partner, who was about twelve with dark brown hair. "Lieutenant Colin DeYoung, reporting for duty, Sir," the boy stated.

Finally, Tucker introduced himself, then Julio glanced over the orders that each of them passed to him. Once he was done, he glanced over the new group.

"They're okay, bro, both me and Eddie checked them out," Johnny announced. "Their heads match the orders you read."

"Thanks, Johnny," Julio replied. "Okay, guys, at ease or whatever it is I'm supposed to say to make y'all relax."

"Are all those weapons real?" Marcie asked, her worry plain in her voice.

"Yes, and going by Cory's guard lions, I would guess that these boys are quite adept at putting them to use," Janice replied.

Julio nodded his agreement before motioning to some open chairs. "Have a seat, guys; there are a few rules that Cory enforces that I'm going to insist on as well."

The new arrivals all took seats, as Julio walked over to the head of the table and stood there. "Okay, rule numero uno. You guys are Clan, which means that you are family. I expect you to act as such. That means the next one of you that calls me 'Sir' when we are not performing an official function goes for an involuntary swim in the pool."

"Rule two," Julio continued after a pause. "We are all kids. We all act like kids. That includes all of you, you're expected to join in and have fun with the rest of us. There are times when it is better to not be obvious security, and times where security should be visible. If Cory's lion brothers can fit in out in public, you can fit in out in public. Ricky and Rocky, you're no different than the hundreds of alien species that visit Earth every day. Mont told me what Cory had told him, that most people will just think that you're from another planet. You won't stand out as much as you think you do unless you want to."

Ricky and Rocky both nodded their heads. "So you are saying that you think we can be normal kids?" Rocky asked.

"I know that you can, all that you have to do is want it. I've seen it for myself with the Patriarch's security," Julio replied seriously.

"We don't know how," Ricky replied.

"I'll take care of teaching you!" Johnny interjected. "Tyler's given me some ideas so I can start acting like a kid, and I'll let you join me an' we can all learn together!"

Rocky and Ricky both looked at Johnny in disbelief. Mick noticed it, and reassured them. "You guys can trust Johnny; he's recovering from a lot of bullcrap from his past that took away part of his childhood. I think it'd help all of you to discover things as a group."

"We'll all help you," Julio added.

Jesse walked up and pulled himself into Julio's side. "Sir, why don't they know how to be kids?" he asked softly, his discomfort with the surprise additions obvious in his posture.

Julio didn't even have to look to know that his boyfriend was having issues. "Excuse me a minute, guys, Jesse needs me." he stated quickly before taking Jesse's hand and guiding him into the hallway. "What's wrong, babe?" Julio whispered as he wrapped his arms around Jesse protectively.

"Where did they come from?" Jesse asked, his nervousness obvious. "Who are they, why is one of them hooded, why do they have all those weapons on them inside the house, are they going to hurt us, what do they want to make us do?"

"Remember what Kyle said about letting your brain run away?" Julio asked softly. "Johnny and Eddie have checked them out; they're here to protect us like Mont and Bast protect Cory and Sean."

"But Mont and Bast are not armed like that..." Jesse started to reply, but stopped when Rocky entered the hall, now weaponless.

"Permission to speak, Sir?" Rocky asked, his eye contact making it clear that he was speaking to Jesse, not Julio.

Jesse shrank back. "I can't give you permission. I'm nobody. I can't be called a 'sir', I don't lead anything or anybody."

"I used to think that too," Rocky stated softly. "We were an experiment that didn't turn out like they wanted it to. The only reason we were not just killed off is that one of the doctors helped a bunch of us escape and set up our own little group in hiding. If he had not done that, a lot of our brothers would be dead. The Unit taught us that the lab guys were wrong, we are unique and have skills that make us special in our own way." He paused, then continued once he was sure that Jesse was listening. "May I have the honor of being assigned as your personal security, Jesse?"

Jesse looked shocked and frightened as he stared at Rocky. "But...but...I'm nobody.  What do I need personal security for?"  Looking over to Julio, he added, "I don't need personal security, I'm not like you."  He then turned back to Rocky, "I...no, I'm supposed to serve you, sir."

Rocky proceeded carefully, his memories of how he once felt helping him greatly in his understanding of Jesse's reaction. "Jesse, you are the partner of the Director of the Des Moines Division. Whatever happened in your past has changed; my job will be to make sure that the most important person in the Director's life is safe. I know how hard it is to get used to having people look up to you; I still don't understand it myself sometimes. Me and Ricky are supposed to be sharing security on both of you, but I don't think that would make you comfortable, Jesse. Since we have two more guys to help out with security, Ricky and them can watch over Julio. I want to just watch over you; that way you know who you can count on to have your back. Besides, I think that you and me can learn a lot from each other and help each other overcome our problems from our pasts."

"I agree with him, cutie. You're VERY important to me," Julio added, trying his best to support Jesse without seeming unfeeling. "It would make me feel a lot better knowing that Rocky is helping me make sure that you are safe."

Jesse looked back and forth between Julio and Rocky. "But ... but ... I don't know how to give orders," Jesse whispered.

Rocky smiled. "You don't need to. If it involves your safety, I'll do whatever I need to. If it is anything else, we can discuss ideas and then I'll do whatever you and I agree is the best course of action."

"But I can't be a Sir," Jesse whispered.

"I've got a secret for you," Rocky said with a typical Raccoon grin. "Patriarch Cory HATES being in charge, but he does it anyway. I was told that during the briefing on how the Clan formed. He does it because he can't stand to see anybody hurt." 

Jesse's head twisted to get confirmation from Julio. "He's right," Julio said softly, "Cory only takes the lead when he has to. He's always been like that. I'm like him in that way; I think that is why he put me in charge. He's never trusted natural leaders."

Jesse hemmed and hawed that for a moment or two as he turned back to Rocky. "Ummm... look, I... can we just be friends?" he asked plaintively, his eyes boring into Rocky's. "Can the rest of the stuff just... happen? When it's needed? It would make me... more comfortable."

Rocky's eyes went wide. "Really? You really want to be friends? I'm just an experiment, I'm not a person like you."

The comment had an immediate effect on Jesse, as he broke away from Julio and walked up to Rocky. "Can I please?" he asked, obviously wanting to check out Rocky in detail.

"Go ahead," Rocky replied, curious as to just how Jesse was going to react to the differences between him and 'normal' people.

Jesse nodded, and started by taking Rocky's hand. "Wow!" Jesse exclaimed as he took a close look. "Raccoon hands with thumbs! You have the little whiskers under your nails, the horny stuff on them and all! Do you feel stuff just as good as a raccoon does?"

"Yeah," Rocky replied, trying not to laugh at the tickling sensation of Jesse running his fingers over his palm.

Jesse noticed the effect his investigations were having on Rocky, so he moved from the sensitive long-fingered hands up the long forearm to where the long fur that covered most of Rocky's body started at the elbow. "Why do you have two kinds of fur here?" Jesse asked as he investigated Rocky's arm.

Relieved that Jesse was no longer tickling his hand, and calmed by the honest questions, Rocky replied, "I've got fur just like the little raccoons. The really long hair helps keep water off of me, and the shorter hairs keep me warm."

"That's a lot better than clothes!" Jesse giggled, the act of investigating his new friend relaxing him.

Next, Jesse worked up the rest of the arm, surprised at how comparatively short Rocky's upper arm was. It was almost two-thirds the length of Rocky's forearm, but covered in so much fur that it was had to determine just how muscular Rocky was.

Once he was satisfied, Jesse began the search for Rocky's shoulder. It was a more difficult endeavor than expected, since Rocky's neck was much wider than normal for a human. After much probing around, Jesse found the three inches of shoulder that managed to extend past the neck. He then moved on to Rocky's head, giggling as he placed his hands on each side of Rocky's heads just below the rounded ears. "You look so awesome." Jesse giggled. "You've got kewl fur; and a big, cute, furry head. You even have the mask, which is sweet. Do these whiskers work too?"

Rocky laughed as Jesse brushed his hand over the aforementioned whiskers. "Yes, they work! That tickles!"

Jesse smiled, then began working his way down Rocky's body. "You're just a furry version of a human with a lot of awesome extra stuff added on. You even got normal legs, even though I thought raccoons had short legs."

"Actually raccoon legs are pretty normal, but they seem shorter because of how the body sits over them," Rocky replied.

"You got really big feet, though!" Jesse giggled, "Does that mean that...."

"Don't go there, babe!" Julio interjected, his blush beginning just at the thought of what Jesse was about to ask.

"You've got Julio, you'll have to ask my partner if I ever get one," Rocky replied with a laugh. "I can do one thing that is awesome though...." he added as he lifted his leg and rotated his foot so that it was 180 degrees from normal. "It's kinda useful at times!"

"Nice!" Jesse exclaimed as he stood back up, comparing his height to that of Rocky, whose head came up to his shoulder. "How old are you, Rocky?"

"The lab accelerated my growth, so I'm supposed to be about twelve." Rocky replied. "I'm a couple months short of six years old actually."

"They made you short for a twelve year old, since I'm short for thirteen and you only reach my shoulders," Jesse stated factually. "I guess that they were adults who had no idea how tall kids were supposed to be, weren't they?"

Rocky smiled at the jab at the lab techs whom he had no love for. "Yeah, there were only a couple who had a brain."

Jesse grinned. "You know, I think you're a great friend. You're even starting to feel like a brother already!"

Rocky's eyes misted over. "Seriously? I can smell that you are not scared any more, but do you really think that?"

Jesse nodded as he pulled Rocky into a hug. "I don't lie. I got hurt bad if I lied, so I can't do it because it makes me remember the pain. Please be my friend?"

Rocky wrapped his own arms around Jesse, and whispered, "Yes, I'll be your friend. Thank you, I've never had a normal friend."

"You're my first furry real friend, so that makes us even," Jesse replied, which caused both of them to giggle.

Julio smiled as he watched the two boys, amazed at getting the chance to see one of Jesse's protective walls drop. 'I hope this works out,' he thought to himself. 'Jesse's so fragile; and it sounds like Rocky's not much better. Maybe this will help them both open up more.'

After giving the two boys a minute to bond, Julio walked over next to them. Within seconds, he found himself being pulled into the cuddle by Jesse. Rocky giggled as he commented, "The manual never covered cuddles with the Division Head. I wonder what else the lab instructors missed?"

Julio laughed. "A lot. I KNOW they missed telling you that you're no different than any of the rest of us."

"Is it considered improper to lick the face of your Division Head when he says nice things?" Rocky mused softly.

"No," Jesse replied. "I lick him all the time for how nice he is. He tastes good, everywhere!"

"Oh my God!" Julio exclaimed as his blush returned full force. "You HAD to go there!" he added as he tried to bury himself into Rocky's fur.

"Yes I did!" Jesse replied. "I'm proud of my boyfriend!"

"I know, I know..." Julio moaned, but then he turned his head to give Jesse a quick kiss. "Are you okay to go back out there, babe?"

"Yes, I have my new friend to protect me now while you meet the rest of them," Jesse replied, a new confidence in his tone.

Julio smiled. "Let's get back to it then!" he said as he broke the three-way cuddle and led them back into the room. As they went through the doorway, Rocky stopped Jesse and took the opportunity to re-arm himself. He quickly donned the webbing that he wore to retain his weapons, then quickly re-stocked it from the pile on the table by the doorway that Ricky was standing guard over.

Julio had turned to watch, and broke into giggles when Jesse asked, "Where is the kitchen sink? It looks like you have everything else!"

Rocky laughed. "Only the bomb guys carry those!"

Ankeny, Iowa:

"You drive like an old man, Dad!" Benny exclaimed as everyone exited the limo. "I'm driving on the way home! We got passed by a GARBAGE TRUCK!!!"

"Fine, fine, whatever," John smiled. "I'll take the transporter back."

Sean was immediately on his knees at John's side, clutching at the man's jacket. "Don't leave us! Please! Don't leave us!"

Cory shook his head with a grin, then looked around the lot. His eyes went wide as he saw about twenty police interceptors lined up in two rows by the far exit. As he watched, four of them pulled out, their lights all flashing as they sped towards the on-ramp of I-35. He was just able to see the bottom of the northbound on-ramp, and was surprised to see that two of them stopped and began rerouting traffic to exit the interstate. 

"I see that your reputation has preceded you!" Benny quipped as he joined Cory. "Congratulations, you outdid me... I've never had the police clear the roads just because I'm going out for a drive!"

"You're a brat!" Cory giggled in reply as he got a quick poke in on Benny's underarm. "See if I let you ride with me!"

"Promise?" Benny giggled as he quickly scampered out of Cory's reach.

Before Cory could chase after Benny, Fife latched onto his side. "Dad? which one of these vehicles is gonna be yours?"

"I dunno." Cory replied. He noticed an older gentleman in a suit walking towards him, and added "I think we are about to find out though, kiddo."

The man walked up to Cory, and with a smile introduced himself. "Cory? I'm Karl Meyer. Welcome to Karl Chevrolet."

"Thanks, Mr. Meyer." Cory replied as he shook the man's hand. "This is Sean's and my son, Fife. He was just asking which car was mine."

Karl smiled and placed his hand on Fife's shoulder. "Please, you may all just call me Karl. Fife, I made sure your Dad's new car was set up special for him. Since your grandma was always such a good customer, it is the least I could do for her famous son." Karl paused as he switched his attention back to Cory. "In fact, I would be honored if you would consider adding me as one of your suppliers for Clan vehicles, Cory."

Cory didn't get a chance to respond, as Fife immediately pointed to a bright orange supercharged Cobalt about fifty feet away from them. "Does that mean that you'll get me that one, Dad? I like the color!"

Cory looked over at where Fife was pointing. By the time he looked back over at Karl, Karl had a phone to his ear. "... need all free sales personnel to the New car area to assist Clan Short."

Sean had seen Fife pointing, and walked up with Benny, just in time to hear Karl's last few words. "Hey, son, did you find something you like?"

Fife nodded and purred, his hair quivering with excitement. "Karl just called for some salesmen to help! He wants to be someone that supplies some of the vehicles to our Clan."

Benny giggled. "I like that kind of service! Patriarch, since you're not supposed to be working, I'll take care of setting up the details with your permission."

Cory grinned and shook his head in exasperation. "I get the feeling that I've got no real say! Go ahead, Benny; with the service Mom's had from here, I'm happy to keep it in the family."

"Sweet!" Benny grinned. He moved far enough away from Cory's reach to be safe, then announced loudly, "Everyone pick a car; Cory's buying!"

Karl laughed as he put a hand on Cory's shoulder and started guiding the group over towards the Cobalt. "Welcome to leadership, Cory. It seems the higher you get, the less control you have!"

"Tell me about it!" Cory giggled. "What is it going to take to get this car for Fife?"

Karl smiled. "How long has Fife been your son?"

"About twenty-four hours." Cory replied as he tilted his head. "Why?"

"I thought so, something about how he interacted with you. This one is on me; call it an adoption present."

Cory started to protest, but was silenced before he could even get a word out by Teri placing her hand over his mouth. "Hello, Karl, are you torturing my boys?" she asked with a smile.

"Not at all, Teri. I'm just giving the little one a present to welcome him into your family," Karl replied.

"So I see," Teri laughed. "Cory, you and Sean take your son to look over his new car. I need to discuss a few things with Mr. Meyer here."

Fife was off like a flash, a huge smile on his face. Cory and Sean quickly joined him, both knowing that Teri being formal meant she was going to be talking business, something both of them tried to avoid hearing if at all possible.

A twenty-ish young man was standing next to Fife's choice, the keybox on the window already opened. "Hello, I'm Tom. Is this the one you wanted to see?" he asked Fife as the little fur ball skidded to a stop near him.

Fife nodded his head enthusiastically, not really believing what was happening.

Sean giggled at Fife's speechlessness. "You want to see how you fit in it, kiddo?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Fife exclaimed, and then proceeded to climb into the car before Tom had a chance to get the door fully open.

"You know any good driving instructors who wouldn't mind about a year in Florida?" Cory quipped, realizing the implications of Benny's announcement to the group. 

"Airhead said he'll do it!" Sean replied.

"I said good instructors!" Cory replied, causing Sean to laugh.

With smiles on their faces, they both turned to see how Fife was doing. Their smiles grew bigger as they saw their son sitting in the car, a blissful look on his face, his nostrils wide as he took in the new-car smell. Tom was carefully using the power seat controls to see if any modifications would be needed to account for Fife's size, doing his best not to disturb the young Tesnian.

"What do you think, Tom?" Cory asked, hoping there was a way to make the car fit Fife.

Tom looked up. "Not a problem," he replied as he retrieved a small tape measure from his pocket. "I'm actually part of the Adaptive Technologies group as well as Sales. I was involved in the adaptations to your new car, Patriarch. Should I upgrade the safety systems on this one while I am adapting it for his stature?"

Cory's eyes lit up, the knowledge that his yet-unseen new car had extra toys. "He's our son, do whatever you think will keep him safe."

"As you wish. The full conversion process takes about two weeks to delivery unless I have a rush order on it. I'll personally deliver it once it is ready to make sure everything works right."

Cory nodded. "That works, in two weeks Fife should be done with driver training." He then leaned in to talk to Fife, who was now reading the owner's manual with one hand while playing with all of the controls with the other. "Hey, Son, you okay with them getting this to fit you, then bringing it home once it's ready?"

Fife turned his head, and a huge smile appeared on his face. "You mean I really DO get to keep it? YES!"

"Yes, you get to keep it!" Cory replied, which earned him a furry leech immediately attached to his neck, kissing and cuddling him happily.

"Sean, would you mind setting up the details while me and Fife go see what kind of terror Kyle and Ty are starting?" Cory asked as he shifted Fife around for a piggy-back ride.

"Sure, babe; once I'm done I'll round up the natives and we'll meet you up by the showroom," Sean giggled.

"Thanks, cuddle-bear!" Cory replied, which got a giggle out of Fife. He then walked over to where Karl was in conference with Kyle, Ty, Robin, Casey, and Tina. Bruce was standing off to the side watching, shaking his head with a grin.

"What are we missing?" Cory asked Bruce as he came up next to him.

"Not much... just Kyle deciding that the young kids deserved custom go-karts. He's spent the last five minutes haggling over a volume discount price for the GM Kart-series racing karts; he seems to think he should have a bigger discount for buying a thousand of them."

"A THOUSAND!?!?" Cory asked in shock.

"Yes, he said he'd like to start with a small order," Bruce said with a laugh.

"Mom's gonna strangle them..." Cory muttered as he moved over to rescue Karl.

"...I'm sure that it would take at least two weeks for any off-road versions to be ready to ship out to you." Karl was saying, obviously enjoying the banter with Kyle and company.

"Just how are you spending our money, li'l brothers?" Cory asked, unable to hide his grin.

"We needed some toys for the littler guys who ain't ready for cars yet!" Tyler answered innocently, Kyle nodding his head in agreement.

"And I'm sure that you are not interested in them for yourselves," Cory grinned.

"Actually, we've already arranged for our own karts," Kyle replied with a grin. "These are for all our friends."

"You're a nut, bro!" Cory giggled. "How badly has he tortured you, Karl?"

Karl laughed. "Can I borrow him the next time I need to negotiate prices with a supplier? He's good!"

Cory grinned. "It will cost you... and we demand payment in cookies."

"We'll have to discuss those terms in more detail," Karl said with a grin. "Right now, there are a few executives from Bowling Green who are anxiously waiting to see your reaction to the prototype of the new option they came up with. You've made a lot of news since you moved to Florida, and some people noticed. I had a visit from a purple-haired cherub just after you moved, telling me that you would be back to visit. After everything you've done, I ordered a gift for you, but I did not get what I ordered."

Cory tilted his head, then glanced at Kyle, who was standing there with an innocent smile on his face. "Why is it I'm starting to worry..." Cory half-said to himself.

"Join the club," Karl laughed. "Follow me, I'm just as anxious to see your reaction as they are!"

Cory rolled his eyes as he looked up at the sky. "I'm ready now; it just worries me that Dilly's been involved."

"Ahh, you know the purple cherub," Karl replied. "I was quite impressed; he was quite the gentleman for his age."

Cory decided at that point that discretion was the best course of action, and wisely kept his thoughts about Dylan's maturity to himself.

Karl led the boys towards the showroom, Sean and his group joining in just as they reached the doors. Just inside the open drive-through doorway, a tent suspended from the ceiling covered a vehicle. The area was roped off with velvet ropes, with various signs placed warning of dire consequences if the area was entered.

Just outside the doors, there were four mechanics standing at the ready with air guns, two on each side. Next to them, also covered, was what appeared to be replacement tires for a vehicle.

Cory followed Karl inside, his arm over an awestruck Fife's shoulder. Around the walls of the showroom, almost the entire staff of the dealership waited, the only exceptions being the sales associates who were quickly making their way back to rejoin their coworkers. Cameras were placed strategically throughout the room to capture everything that was about to happen from multiple angles.

Once everyone was present, Karl turned to Cory, who was now getting slightly nervous at all of the fanfare. Karl noticed this, and leaned over to speak to Cory privately. "Relax, son. The Corvette Museum is the only place these videos will be played. I think you'll understand why once you see what was sent here for you."

Cory nodded, and smiled his thanks to Karl. He watched as Karl showed his family to the VIP seats that had been reserved for them, then with Sean and Fife at his side, he moved over towards the place where Karl had opened the ropes for access.

Just off to the side of the tent, a screen came to life, the subtitle on the bottom indicating it was coming from the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green. A young gentleman in casual dress stood up and approached a podium that was centered in the camera view.

"Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen," the man began. "I am Xavior Dunkov, Program Director of the Corvette Specialty Vehicle Division of General Motors. I would like to start by thanking Mr. Karl Meyer for his initial idea and for his continued support with the outcome of the solution. Today we are all proud to be able to show our appreciation for the achievements of the young man standing with his husband and I'm assuming his son in front of us. Mr. Cory Short, the staff of Karl Chevrolet, the Corvette Museum, and the General Motors Corvette Assembly Plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, wish to extend to you our thanks and appreciation for all of your accomplishments. As an Engineer, you have shown qualities that we look for in our Corvette engineering team, the ability to think outside of the box and to extract the maximum performance without detrimental effects on safety. As the youngest engineer in Starfleet history to have a major modification to be named after him, we believe that it is only right that you have the most advanced technology that Chevrolet has available in your personal vehicle." 

By this time, Cory was speechless. Nobody had ever made this big of a deal about his accomplishments this publicly, at least not his non-Clan accomplishments. Pretty much the only thing keeping him standing was Sean and Fife on either side of him holding him up.

Xavior noticed this on his video feed, and gave Cory a small break to recover. "On a more personal note to those gathered today, I wish to thank all of the Clan Short family for their efforts to provide for disadvantaged children. The Corvette family has a proud heritage of reaching out to help the youth in our community, as do the other General Motors plants. I have received an inter-office memo from the GM Board of Directors stating that all divisions are to implement attached procedures for providing support to Family Clan Short effective immediately. Mr. Meyer, these procedures are based on your request for special exemptions for your dealership when dealing with members of the Clan. I was given a copy of the message sent to you, while other dealers have the exemptions that you requested, as the home dealer for the origin location of Clan Short you have been issued special exemptions in accordance with your designation as the official supplier for the core Clan Short family." 

Cory smiled, his blush mostly subsided. "I am sure that the GM Board will be receiving a copy of this, so I will direct my reply to their generosity to them. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am sure that I speak for all of my family when I say 'Thank You' for the assistance which you have extended to us. In return, since your corporate policy of assistance to youth is well known to me, I would like to extend the blanket offer of assistance, financially or otherwise, to any and all GM holdings in support of their mission to better their communities. Once I return to Headquarters, I will be in contact directly with you to make arrangements to expedite the process of your company contacting us. Thank you once again."

Xavior nodded his thanks, his expression clearly showing that he was impressed with Cory's response. "Thank you, Cory; I believe you just made everyone here happy. Now it's my turn to return the favor. Cory, the employees of the Corvette Special Vehicle Division and the Corvette Assembly Plant, in appreciation of your accomplishments in Starfleet, we have assembled a special Corvette which is designed just for you. I'm going to just sit back and watch, because I'm sure you'll notice what we changed. Once you've looked it over, I'll list anything you missed; assuming you miss something."

Cory giggled at the last comment, his giggle turning to a laugh when Sean commented, "I'm gonna stay out of the way... I'm not gonna be trampled by an overeager engineer!"

Karl laughed as well. "I'll agree with that! It's my turn to have some fun. Cory, I present to you your personal Corvette!"

As Sean quickly helped get Fife safely out of Cory's way, the tent started to lift towards the ceiling. The first thing Cory spotted was the 20 inch anodized black magnesium wheels, something that Cory KNEW was not in the option book. The next thing was the body lines of the lower part of the body. "That's not a C5!" Cory exclaimed. "That's GOTTA be a C6 ... nobody has a C6 yet!" He stood there in awe as he watched the tent lift completely. Sitting in front of him was a brand-new 2005 Corvette C6 convertible, painted a deep metallic pearl green with a double silver stripe running down the center of the hood and the rear deck. Just behind the extraction duct aft of the front wheels, a emblem had been attached bearing the Clan Short seal, with purple flames stretching from it to the rear brake vent duct.

Cory walked up to the car, and stroked his hand on the driver's door. From the center console, a voice spoke up. "DNA analysis completed. Identity confirmed as Cory Short. Initializing ownership activation subroutine."

Cory's eyes lit up. "Awesome!"

"Initialization complete. Awaiting entry for identification."

Cory grinned, then tilted his head when he noticed there were no door handles, just a slight cutout in the edge of the door. He stuck his fingers in the slot to see if the handle was hidden, then was surprised to have the door pop open as soon as his fingers made contact. He quickly glanced at the edge of the door as it opened, then giggled. "Biometric locks? It's about time!"

He quickly hopped into the driver's seat, and spent a minute adjusting everything to be just right. As he sat back and placed his hands on the wheel, the VI in the console spoke up once again. "Are you prepared to take delivery of this vehicle, Cory Short?"

"Yes I am, and you really need to just call me Cory," Cory replied with a grin, not expecting his request to even be noticed.

"Request noted, Cory. Please wait while I delete the pre-delivery access protocols," the VI replied.

Cory tilted his head again, his mind furiously trying to determine the level of automation which had been installed in the car. While there had been limited VIs installed in Corvettes for the last ten years, this VI seemed to be over and above any VI that Cory had seen installed in any vehicle on Earth.

"Pre-delivery purge completed, Cory," the VI announced.

'I wonder...' Cory thought before speaking aloud. "Give me a Configuration Report."

"Acknowledged. Please direct your eyes at the instrument cluster for retinal identification verification," the VI replied. Once Cory had complied, it continued. "Displaying configuration report on console data interface."

Cory quickly scanned through the various options and reports that were listed on the touchscreen. He grinned as he ran across multiple notes from the engineers that had been left for him, some warning of adverse reactions with some settings, others pointing out undocumented 'features' that were known to accompany certain settings. The final note made him giggle, as it stated that they had intentionally 'dumbed down' the VI for delivery, but had set up a subroutine to reinitialize it into the configuration that they had all agreed was the most likely list of options that Cory would want. He activated the display of the list of options that they had selected, and grinned as he found that not only had they selected the ones that he had decided on, but also the ones that he had decided to play with later. "Activate routine Zulu Romeo slash One," Cory stated aloud, grinning as he heard the applause from the screen linking in Bowling Green.

"Acknowledged," the VI stated. "Restarting in ten seconds."

Ten seconds later, the center console flashed then announced, "C6ZR/1 online. What do you wish to be my name, Cory?"

"I think your full name should be 'Stingray', but I think I'll probably call you 'Ray' a lot," Cory replied, his phrasing testing what he thought the notes were suggesting.

"You want to name me after my grandfathers? NICE! I LIKE!" Ray replied. "I'm running a systems check now, you know how flaky analog devices can be. Do you want to look under the hood while I am making sure everything is ready for first launch?"

"Thanks, Ray, that sounds like a good idea. Could you open the hood please?"

"You got it, Cory. I have two systems which verify using the Federation database as Clan Short AI systems requesting access through my uplink port. Should I allow them access?"

"Yes, but tell them I said that your programming is off-limits to them. Only I can authorize changes to it," Cory replied.

"Program locks engaged, and access granted. They both said to tell you that you ruin all of their fun!" Ray replied, a tinge of laughter appearing in his voice. "I am opening the hood, and Draco insists that you need to at least allow the two of them to update my language database. I have verified the storage space required from them, and can assure you that it will not place me anywhere near even an eighth of my total storage used."

"In that case, you can allow just that update. I can see where that could be useful down the line," Cory replied as he opened the door to go check out the rest of the car.

In Cory's sub-vocal, Draco whispered with a giggle, 'You do know I could hack my way into Ray... but I'll be a good little Vulcan AI. Hope you like, and Jace is asking for driving lessons!'

Cory laughed as he walked around to the now-visible engine compartment, and a low whistle passed his lips as he got his first look at the power-plant. As expected, it had the standard extractor assembly which extracted and mixed in the proper portions the nitrous oxide and atmospheric methane mixture that fueled the engine below it. Underneath the extractor, Cory found something that almost gave him a woody... the largest engine that he had ever seen under the hood of a factory Corvette. He leaned over and checked the data-plate, and exclaimed vocally his shock at what he found. "A 502!!! How the heck did you guys squeeze a 502 in here!"

"A lot of lube, and a really big shoehorn!" Xavior replied with a laugh, his laugh becoming even louder as he saw the Clan boys almost fall down in giggles. 

"I'm NOT gonna ask!" Cory laughed. He poked around under the hood for a couple more minutes, happily explaining some of the things he found to Fife, who had broken away from Sean and joined Cory in his inspection. Once they were both done, Cory picked up Fife and lifted him over the door into the passenger seat.

"Umm Cory? Did you just put someone in the passenger seat?" Ray asked.

"Yes, that is my son Fife, Ray," Cory replied.

"Okay, he was not in my list of your family. I've updated the list now. Hi, Fife, I'm Ray. Does this seat adjustment work for you?"

Fife smiled. "Yes, I can see out the windows now!"

"Okay, I'll save it for whenever you ride with Cory," Ray replied. "Cory, all systems check out. I am ready when you are to wake up the neighbors!"

Karl stopped Cory as he was walking around to the driver's side. "I've turned the vent fans on high. There was a note from the factory on the car when it was delivered, stating that the initial delivery launch would be best saved for future generations if it involved tire smoke. Since they sent a replacement set of rear tires with the car, I assume it has the power to do so, despite the lot drivers not being able to even get a chirp out of the tires."

Cory grinned evilly. "You SURE you want to see me smoke the tires in here?"

Karl grinned back. "If you can make it smoke the tires, I'll personally pay to have the marks that you leave preserved forever on the floor."

Cory laughed. "Call the bank; you're in for a show!"

Karl shook his head and gently pushed Cory towards the car. Just to be safe, he had everyone move from behind it and ensured that everyone was a safe distance away on either side.

"Did you hear the challenge, Ray?" Cory asked while giggling at the way Sean ran outside to watch from a distance.

"I heard it, Cory. Do I have your okay for full systems activation?"

Cory grinned. "Are you ready for a fun ride, Fife? Just a warning, I scare your Pop."

Fife giggled. "I ain't no chicken! Kyle says Pop is a chicken!"

"He'll agree with you!" Cory laughed. "Ray, give me everything you've got!"

"I thought you would never ask!" Ray replied. "Strap in and hold on; this is how a Corvette plays!"

The display on the console once again lit up. "Are you going to keep the top down, Cory?" Ray asked.

"Of course, that's part of the fun!"

"Good," Ray replied. A second later, the display began displaying systems online for various modules. The first listed was the M/AM power cell; once its status was online and stable, various other systems including defensive shield and gravitational stability quickly turned green. "All systems have initialized and are online, Cory. I'll keep them running from now on unless there is a problem; that way you don't have to wait for them."

"Thanks, Ray, I was wondering about that," Cory replied. "Are you ready for me to start?"

"Go ahead; the starting and driving is all yours; I just run the safety equipment unless you ask me to do otherwise."

Cory grinned, and placed his thumb in the recess on the dashboard. The cluster lit up, and a second later the engine came to life with a loud rumble. After goosing the accelerator a few times, Cory pressed in the clutch and engaged first gear. 'I wonder how they knew I like the old manual transmissions?' Cory wondered as he goosed it once again.

"You handle the smoke, I will make sure we go out the door. Traction Control is my department!" Ray announced.

"Thanks, Ray. Hold on to your motherboard!" Cory giggled.

"Got it!" 

Cory kicked the RPMs up to just under the red-line, then sidestepped his foot off of the clutch. With a loud squeal of protest, both rear wheels started spinning rapidly, their howls quickly drowning out the roar of the engine. Within seconds, the exhaust fans in the showroom were evacuating a large quantity of tire smoke, while the dura-tile floor was sporting a permanent black stripe as the 'Vette began to creep forward. It took almost a minute for the car to make its way to the doorway; once the windshield passed the frame, Cory lifted his foot off of the accelerator and drove the final few feet to stop in front of the waiting mechanics.

"That is the first time I have ever seen one-hundred-thousand-mile tires burned bald in less than a minute!" one of the mechanics exclaimed as he donned full-arm heat resistant gloves. Three minutes later, the still-smoking remains of the factory tires were sitting off to the side, and the replacement tires were bolted in place. 

As they were waiting, Teri walked up to the driver's door. "I'm sure you remember the standing rule, you pay for tires that you destroy showing off, right?" she asked with a grin.

"I know, Mom!" Cory giggled. "Karl dared me, and the factory sent spares!"

"I'll let you slide... this time," Teri replied, a twinkle in her eye. "Just remember, this isn't that old Nova that you learned on when you were ten. Use your ears until you find the shift points; unlike that Nova, this car will probably rev a lot higher before it is time to shift."

"Thanks, Mom," Cory replied sincerely. "I'll feel it out for its happy zone."

Teri glanced to see that the mechanics were all clear. "Okay, go test it out, and bring my grandson back in one piece with all of his hair the same color as it was when he woke up."

"MOOOMMMM!!!" Cory giggled, after glancing at Fife and finding his son sitting there with a huge grin.

"Have fun!" Teri commented as she stepped back to give Cory space to pull away.

Cory waved, then pulled away at a much more appropriate speed. As he turned towards the exit, all but two of the police cruisers sped out of the lot with all lights going. One of the officers stepped out of one of the remaining cruisers, and flagged Cory to a stop next to him.

"May I help you, Officer?" Cory asked as the officer walked up to his side of the car.

"We have made arrangements for you to have a proper test drive due to the capabilities of the vehicle as reported to us," the officer replied. "Due to the nature of your vehicle as a registered interceptor, it is important that any issues are isolated before the delivery is completed. You're authorized to run full code, and we have secured I-35 between here and Ames for you to test the options of the car. We will be your initial rear security; as you pass checkpoints you will receive additional security behind you, as well as having security ahead of you."

"Thank you, I was wondering how this would work," Cory replied.

"Have a safe trip; I'm curious just what this car will do!" the officer replied, then turned to get back in his own car. Cory waited until he saw that the officer was ready, then pressed the 'activate intercept' icon on the touchscreen. Behind the seat, a bar folded up to form a loop over the rear of the seat. On it, a set of red, green, and blue lights began strobing, while at the front of the car a siren started blaring. Cory looked over at Fife, who gave him a thumbs-up with a big smile. Cory then took off, barely keeping to the speed limit as he made his way to the I-35 on-ramp. By the time he reached the bottom of the on-ramp, the car was already doing over 90. Cory kept it at that speed until his chase cars caught up, then he worked his way through the final two gears to bring the car up to full cruising speed.

As he kept accelerating, Cory noticed that the car seemed to be drawing itself closer to the road. "Ray, are you doing something with the suspension?" Cory asked over the wind noise.

"Yes, Cory, I am adjusting for minimal lift of the air passing under the vehicle, and using scanners to ensure there are no obstacles ahead which may damage the undercarriage,." Ray replied. "Also, the gravitronic stability system will cause you to feel slightly heavier as it keeps the tires in optimum contact with the road. I have seven different ways to keep you from rolling over, four of which do not involve me taking any control away from you."

"In other words, if I get stupid, you'll stop me from hurting myself or anyone with me?" Cory replied with interest as he noticed the speed passing 150.

"That is correct. I will warn you first if there is time, but due to the possibility of you having to perform emergency maneuvers at high speed, I will override you for your own safety if needed, doing what is necessary to complete the maneuver without injury to yourself or your passenger."

As if proving the point, Cory felt the accelerator pushing his foot up, dropping the speed to 120. Ray explained it as it was happening. "I have detected a curve ahead which would cause a probable loss of traction due to a hill mid-curve. I have adjusted to the maximum safe speed for the instance, and will hold it there until the issue has passed. Normally I do not tell you about it unless you want me to, but since this is the first time I needed to explain it."

Cory navigated the curve, and as he passed the dip leading into the hill he realized how the car could have become unstable. "Ray, don't bother warning me unless it's something that makes you do a major adjustment; you've got better eyes than me at these speeds."

"Okay, Cory," Ray replied as he returned speed control to Cory. 

A few minutes later, Cory felt the car once again slowing down, this time severely. "What's wrong, Ray?" he asked with concern.

"I've detected native wildlife on the edge of the road. Due to their size, the probability of damage to the vehicle, which would disable it, is very high."

"Ahh..." Cory replied. Knowing what the animals probably were, he slowed down even more and disabled the siren and lights. A few seconds later, Fife spotted the offending party... a doe and two fawns. "Daddy! Are those deer? Are they friendly?" Fife exclaimed excitedly.

"They won't eat you," Cory replied seriously. "We can stop and find out, though; you should be able to speak deer with the languages Kyle taught you."

Fife's grin grew even larger if it was possible. Cory brought the car to a stop, and Fife was out of the car before the wheels had completely stopped, chattering away in his first chance to use one of his new languages.

Cory got out and walked around, smiling at his son's excitement. By the time he reached the front of the car, Fife had two fawns nuzzling into the fur on his chest as he held a conversation with their mother.

"Daddy, she adopted this little guy because a hunter killed his mom," Fife exclaimed indigently as he stroked one of the fawns' head. "She's worried that something will happen to her or one of them, since they're always having to cross the roads because there ain't enough food for all of the deer in this area. Can we help them?"

Cory rolled his eyes with a grin. "Yes, Fife, I think I can arrange something." He keyed his subvocal. "Daileass, Fife wants to know if Timmy is interested in hosting some extra visitors."

"I'm already on it, Cory," Daileass replied. "I just told Fife what he needs to explain to them before I move them to their new home. Timmy and Ricky are going to help get them settled in."

"Do you guys even need me?" Cory giggled.

"Of course we do; none of us would be the same if it wasn't for you. That is why we all watch out for you," Daileass replied seriously.

"Thanks!" Cory replied, unable to think of any better response.

Fife's giggles drew Cory's attention. It was all Cory could do to not laugh, for Fife had two fawns licking him at his ticklish spot just below his ribs. "She says they are ready, once these guys stop tickling me!" Fife managed to sputter.

A few seconds later, the fawns stepped back and then the three animals disappeared. Fife listened to his subvocal, his face breaking into a smile as their safe arrival in Orlando was reported to him. He turned and wrapped his arms around the windshield pillar, 'hugging' the 'Vette as he said, "Thank you for helping them, Ray!"

The two boys got back into the car, giggling as Ray asked what significance Fife's 'hug' had. Once hugs were explained to the newborn VI, Ray commented, "I like this hug idea." Both Cory and Fife felt their restraints tighten against them for a few seconds before returning to normal tension. "Was that an appropriate hug?" Ray asked, a new tone in his voice.

"YEAH! You learned to hug!" Fife replied before Cory could even start to respond. Cory giggled, and added, "That was a really good hug, Ray."

"Thank you!" Ray replied, this time with an unmistakeable tone in his voice... acceptance.

"Okay, are you guys ready to make up some time?" Cory asked. As Fife nodded his head rapidly, Ray made his thoughts known more directly... the 'Vette started itself and revved three times before settling into a deep rumble.

"Here we go!" Cory giggled as he took off, rowing through the gears like a pro. As he settled in to cruise, he looked down at the speedometer and giggled as he read the message on it... "Out of range, watch the road." 

"Hey, that's cheating!" Cory giggled. "Ray, how fast are we going?"

"I'm not calibrated to report speed in sub-mach; Draco is attempting to explain the conversion to me," Ray replied, a hint of humor in his voice. "All that I know for sure, is that the BCU is controlling top speed based on tire temperature to avoid blowout."

"Impressive!" Cory replied. He glanced over at Fife and smiled. Fife was sitting there blissfully; his soft fur plastered to his body and a wide, shit-eating grin fixed on his face. Cory turned his attention back to the road, his own face plastered with a big smile.

A few minutes later, Cory glanced in his mirrors, and was surprised at what he saw. Not only was someone keeping with him, but two people were actually catching up to him. Right about the time Cory hit the midpoint of a long flat stretch, two Ducati 1098 super-bikes pulled up even with him, one on each side.  Cory couldn't tell right away who was riding the bikes as they were wearing tight red leather racing suits, with oversized full face helmets. That was until one of them pulled up in front of him, and Cory could see the tail that was stretched out behind the person, complete with a little fluff of fur at the end.

"Ray, I just got passed by a lion!" Cory giggled.

"Daileass has suggested a game of 'leapfrog'," Ray replied. "He explained it to me; can I engage the emergency escape power to play?"

"Sure, this sounds like fun!" Cory replied.

The 'Vette lifted slightly, and the soft hum from the rear increased slightly in intensity. The next thing Cory knew, he was running alongside the lead lion, with Fife giggling as he waved at the rider next to him. For the next few miles, Cory and the bike ran side by side, up until the bike reached its top speed. To make a point, Cory accelerated a few feet ahead of the bike, then dropped back and returned to normal driving. By this time, they had just about reached the Ames turn-around. "Cory, can we play in real traffic on the way back? I have everything calibrated now," Ray asked.

"Let me see what the troopers have to say," Cory replied, unsure as to how they would feel about the public being exposed to his high speeds. He saw the off-ramp that he was going to use to turn around, and slowed down just enough to navigate the turns. As he reached the bottom of the ramp, he came to a stop with the two bikes on either side of him. 

One of the officers who was securing the ramp came over, shaking his head with a big grin. "Congratulations, you just set a new record for the Des Moines to Ames run!"

Cory giggled. "Not too bad, since I stopped to let my son meet a local deer!"

"You stopped?" the officer asked incredulously. "We are just starting to stop traffic, you were not expected for another ten minutes at least!"

Cory grinned, as he heard two happy purrs coming from the riders of the bikes next to him. "That actually works. I'd like to try running in traffic, Ray says that he has calibrated everything to where it's safe now."

"Ray?" the officer asked.

"Does he need me, Cory?" Ray asked, which earned both of them a shocked stare from the officer.

Cory giggled. "I think you answering made the point, Ray."

As he shook his head in wonder, the officer got on his radio and discussed the idea with the area supervisor. A minute later, he returned to the side of the car. "We have turned on the warning signs notifying drivers of a high speed test in progress. Due to us already starting to redirect traffic, you should be in light traffic for the first half of the trip back."

"That means no outrunning us on the way back, Cory!" Mont's voice announced firmly from on one of the bikes.

"And keep all four wheels on the ground this time!" Bast added from his bike.

"Okay, guys, I'll just drive all of the way back in reverse!" Cory replied with a giggle.

"You try it and we test Karl's pond!" both cats replied in unison.

"You're not gonna hurt my Daddy!" Fife exclaimed, his voice rising in anger.

Both Mont and Bast quickly put up their hands. "Chill, Fife!" Bast said softly. "The pond is safe, there is nothing living in it. We won't EVER do anything that would put your Daddy in danger."

"You better not, or I'll hurt you!" Fife responded, his voice showing that it was not a threat, but a promise.

The two lion boys knew that Fife knew their roles in the Clan, and also knew what little he had told them about life on Tesnia. Based on his description of Tesnian life, they both knew that there was a strong possibility that he could make things difficult for either of them in a one-on-one fight.

"You don't need to worry, Fife," Cory said soothingly. "I trust my furry brothers, and you can too."

"I know, but I am not going to let anybody hurt you, Daddy," Fife replied contritely.

"I know, son," Cory replied with a smile. "I'll tell you the same thing I told Timmy... you can help protect me and Pop, but no killing off our own security."

"You ruin all of my fun, Daddy," Fife replied as he smiled at Mont and Bast, signaling that things were okay between them.

Both cats unconsciously relaxed, grateful that they would not have to test the theory of just how deadly Fife could be. "C'mon, little fur-ball, strap in and let's see if your Dad can drive like a human instead of a Klingon pilot on the way home," Mont said as he picked up Fife and set him back into Ray's passenger seat.

"I heard that!" Cory exclaimed with a giggle. "You're just jealous because Ray can outrun you!"

"With all due respect, bite me, Sir!" Mont replied before sticking his tongue out at Cory.

"Sorry, Mont, but I promised Sean that he would be the only person I engaged in foreplay with," Cory replied with a grin.

Bast and Fife both giggled as Mont rolled his eyes. "TMI, Cory!" he exclaimed.

Cory grinned. "I'd go into detail, but I really don't want to corrupt Fife."

"Don't worry, Daddy; Uncle Tyler already filled me in about ALL of you!" Fife replied through his giggles. "Humans are almost as flexible as Tesnians, especially the furry ones with tails!"

"Ray?" Cory said through his almost glowing blush. "Please start up and get ready to return to the dealership. I have a little brother who I need to hunt down and tickle until he pees himself."

"Oh, shit!" Mont exclaimed as he sprinted towards his bike. "Wait up, Cory, I GOTTA see this!"

Cory sat there tapping his fingers on the steering wheel as he waited for his two 'escorts' to get their helmets on and their riding suits refastened. He was paying so much attention to the mirrors watching them that he was totally unaware of Fife's little fingers dancing across the touchscreen in the center console at almost light speed. 

As the two cats finished getting ready, Cory glanced down to see Fife initializing a new program in Ray. "What did you just do, and more importantly how did you do it?" Cory asked in amazement.

Fife giggled. "They only used 256 bit encryption on Ray! I taught him a game that we played on Tesnia, I think you'll like it. I updated his encryption to Tesnian 512 bit too."

"That's proof that you're definitely my son!" Cory giggled. "What is the game you taught him?"

Fife smiled, almost glowing at Cory's comment. "We played a game we called 'Enterprise'. My version is made up from all of the news films and school films that the Federation puts out about life on a Starship, mixed in with the stuff that we know from our own space fleet. Grandpa O'Neil showed me the Federation films while we were coming home for me to meet you."

Cory grinned. "That's a lot of programming... how'd you do it so fast?"

"Daileass and Draco helped after I asked them to. They thought the game sounded like fun, and none of us wanted weak encryption in Ray." Fife replied. "He's set up now so that only you and me can update him, they can help as long as one of us is involved."

"Like father, like son!" the voices of both AIs giggled over both of their subvocals.

Cory grinned, giving Fife a look which wordlessly expressed his love for his newest son. Fife smiled, then said "Engineering, status report?"

"All systems online, awaiting orders." Ray replied in a fake Scottish accent.

The only thing that kept Cory from hitting his head on the steering wheel as he collapsed in laughter was the seat belt holding him in place. He managed to recover just enough to get into the 'game', and began playing along. "Helm, set course for Karl Chevrolet, Warp factor Six. We need to intercept the Tylerinnians before they cause any more damage to that sector."

Fife giggled, happy that Cory was willing to play along. "Engineering, set Warp Six and stand by for the command."

Cory shook his head and placed both hands on the wheel. "Engage!" he commanded.

"Aye, Captain!" Ray responded as the Corvette shot up the exit ramp in a cloud of tire smoke. Within seconds, the two bikes appeared behind them and settled in, taking advantage of Cory's slipstream. Within no time, they had cleared the traffic that had been let through, and had open road until they caught up with earlier traffic at the Elkhart exit. "Stand by for atmospheric re-entry!" Cory giggled as they approached the Oralabor Road off-ramp.

A minute later, they pulled into the lot. Cory spotted Tyler, and was out of his harness and out the driver's door barely before the rumble of Ray's engine settled. Tyler grinned as he sprinted off to the Duesenberg side of the lot, his giggles audible to all as he did his best to escape his pursuing big brother.

Five minutes later, they returned, Tyler still glowing from the tickles he received from Cory as he rode on Cory's back. As they got closer, Cory noticed something that had completely escaped his attention when he pulled in. Next to Ray, Teri was sitting in a deep purple 2004 Duesenberg SJ-75, listening to the sound system along with most of the rest of the boys.

"Mom???" Cory exclaimed as he came to a stop, looking over the expensive car with appreciation. It was one of the fifty 75th anniversary special editions of the J series, a rare deep purple one at that. As with all of the cars from Duesenberg, it still carried the flowing fenders and running boards of long ago, just now they were integrated into the body instead of being separate items. The long, low engine compartment was finished with an elaborate chrome grill and the trademark round headlights and driving lights, both in teardrop housings. Without even looking, Cory knew that under the long hood was a supercharged titanium-alloy flat 16, topped with the latest production version of the extractor that resided under Ray's hood.

Cory started walking again, admiring the classic lines of the car. As he got closer, he was able to make out the interior. The seats were fine leather, obviously hand-tanned. The rest of the interior was also done in matching leather, along with teak and English Walnut inlays. Where stronger materials were required, highly polished aluminum was used. Cory knew that he would not find a visible piece of plastic anywhere in the car, as the manufacturer was renowned for its refusal to allow 'inferior' materials in their creations.

"Umm... Mom...?" Cory said again as he stopped next to the open door.

Teri smiled with a glint in her eyes. "I heard that you were buying... and I always wanted one..." she said smoothly.

Cory groaned as he felt his wallet jump out of his pants and run away in sheer panic. "I need a Vulcan to count the digits in this car's price!" he whined.

Tyler giggled from his perch on Cory's back. "You better tell him Mom, I can't keep him from having a heart attack much longer!"

Teri laughed, and motioned for Cory to turn around. Tyler scrambled from his back as he turned, and Cory unconsciously straightened his hair and clothes as he noticed the men behind him.

Karl was standing there, a big smile on his face. Next to him, a middle-aged man stood there watching the escapades with a small smile. He was dressed in a three-piece dark suit, his shoes shined to a mirror finish and every hair on his head in exactly the proper place. As he extended his well-manicured hand, he introduced himself. "Good morning Mr. Short, I am Chadwick Duesenberg the Third, President of the Duesenberg Division of General Motors."

Cory exchanged a firm handshake as he replied "It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Duesenberg."

Without pause, Chadwick began to update Cory on the events since his departure. "I believe that an explanation of the events leading to the delivery of number fifty to your mother are in order. As you must be aware, the Duesenberg family has historically extended the profit which the skilled craftsmen of central Iowa have enabled us to acquire back into our home community. Upon realization that Mrs. Short had achieved her status as Director of Federation Youth Services and that despite her necessary move that she would still retain the offices of the Midwest Central Office in Des Moines, it was determined that her current modes of transportation would be a poor reflection of her status within the world's government. An interesting event occurred at the time, we began to determine a suitable model to deliver to Director Short. As is well known, the SJ-75 is only available to those whose name is selected from the registered list of those with the means and interest in acquiring this limited edition model. It appears that a Mr. Justin Dodds believed that he owed Director Short reimbursement for assistance which she had provided his family. His request was selected for Number 50, and his delivery specifications stated that it was to be delivered to Director Short instead of himself, and all costs were to be billed to his personal accounts. Yesterday we received the vehicle back from Rolls Royce as they had completed the requested interior work using native English materials. As I overheard last evening that you would be present at this dealership today, I took it upon myself to personally deliver the last of the 75th Anniversary Special Edition SJ-75 series automobiles to Iowa's First Lady of Child Protection."

Chadwick paused, then continued once he was sure that Cory had followed him so far. "I have communicated with Mr. Dodds and informed him that his order is completed and that initial delivery is intended for this morning. He has also been notified that my family is personally reimbursing him for his payment that was deducted at the start of the construction of this automobile. A suitable indication of his intent has been determined, and shall be completed before delivery to your residence in Orlando. I have confirmed with Mr. Meyer, and we shall ensure that your Corvette shall be delivered using our factory delivery system, along with Mr. Dodds' present."

"Thank you, Mr. Duesenberg." Cory replied, unsure of what else his response could be.

"It is my pleasure, Sir," Chadwick replied. "If you will excuse me, I must enquirer of the status of the transport for the vehicles. The driver is three minutes overdue, and I detest having the company name sullied by the failure of our employees to be punctual when providing service to our clients. I wish you a good day, Sir."

"Thank you, and have a good day yourself. Please express my gratitude to everyone who has been involved in this," Cory replied.

"I shall do that," Chadwick replied as he turned and headed towards the building.

Cory smiled at Karl, and motioned for him to join him as he headed over to take a closer look at Teri's new car. Cory's eyebrows rose as he got close enough to see the emblem on the grill; just under the red 'D' in the center of the grill were two letters, just large enough to not take attention away from the main emblem... the two letters were 'RR'. 'Holy crap,' Cory thought to himself, 'This isn't just a little interior work! This car's been through the full Rolls custom design studio!'

Cory reached the open door, and one look inside verified his suspicions. In the center of the dashboard, framed by a teak inlay, was the top-of-the-line Rolls Royce driver information and cabin entertainment system. While the factory Duesenberg system was one of the best in the world, the system that was only available in a Rolls was THE best in the world. This one had all the options: the heads-up display, the adaptive cruise control, the 25-speaker digital audio system, and even the theatre displays for the rear passengers. "I want to know just how you got that system, Mom; that is one thing Rolls Royce never releases for installation in anything but their own vehicles!" 

"I believe that I may be able to answer that, Sir," Chadwick stated as he rejoined them. "Upon learning the ultimate destination of this vehicle, the Rolls Royce factory contacted myself and requested permission to provide their top system for the driver's comfort and entertainment." He paused, then added, "I have also determined the disposition of the transport. I estimate that an alternate transport shall arrive within the hour. The original transport was unable to depart due to the chauffeur's wife being blessed with the arrival of twin boys."

"I appreciate his sense of priority," Teri commented. "It would be a much better world if everyone kept their priorities like that."

To Cory's surprise, considering the previous comments he had heard from the man, Chadwick nodded his head. "I am in utmost agreement with you, my lady. I must depart post haste, as I plan on appearing at the hospital to congratulate the family and to ensure that they are receiving only the highest services." He smiled at Cory's expression, and added, "Despite my apparent attitude about punctuality, I carry a strong belief in the importance of my employees spending time with their families, especially for events such as this. I have refused delivery to persons who have insinuated that their purchase is more important than the presence of an employee at a turning point in their family's history. If you will excuse me, I must depart to attend to my employee and his new family."

Cory smiled. "Please pass on Sean's and my congratulations on the birth of his boys, and our hopes that they have long happy lives."

"Mine as well," Teri added with a smile.

"I shall do so; I am positive that he will appreciate the thoughts. While young Cory and Sean will not know it now, as they grow I am sure that their parents will inform them of the blessing of the ones they are the namesakes of," Chadwick replied. "May you all experience a fruitful conclusion to your weekend, I shall ensure that your messages are delivered." With that, Chadwick turned and purposefully walked towards the Duesenberg side of the dealership.

Des Moines HQ:

The group of boys were sitting back in Julio's bedroom, taking the time to get to know each other better. Julio and Jesse were cuddled in a chair, while Eddie and Johnny were actively investigating the features of the new furry guards in the center of the floor. The rest of the boys were leaning on the bed, enjoying the reactions of the two little ones.

A scratching sound at the window got Johnny's attention. A huge grin plastered itself on his face as he recognized the furry face staring at him through the glass. "Fisher!" Johnny exclaimed as he bounced up and ran over to the window. As soon as the window was open, an adolescent raccoon slipped through it and made himself comfortable in Johnny's arms. Johnny walked back over to the group, his expression clearly telling Julio that Johnny was deep in a mental conversation with his friend.

After about a minute of updating his furry friend, Johnny sat down next to Rocky. After giving Johnny a friendly nip on the nose, Fisher ran over to the chair that Julio and Jesse were sitting in and gave Julio the usual wet lick on the side of his face. For the first time, though, Julio could understand the chattering that followed the lick. "Thank you for watching my big furless little brother," Fisher chattered in raccoon. Fisher then stretched up and licked Jesse. "You're cute for a hairless!" Fisher chattered, causing Jesse to giggle.   

"Now I know that raccoons have good taste!" Julio giggled. He was going to add more, but couldn't speak due to suddenly having a mouth full of Jesse's tongue.

Johnny rolled his eyes, then proceeded to introduce Fisher to the rest of the group. Nobody was surprised to see Fisher's interest peak at seeing Rocky and Ricky, but they still broke into giggles when Fisher waddled around Rocky, who was laying on the floor, and began grooming his head while chattering about nobody teaching hygiene to the two raccoon boys.

Once the giggles subsided, Tucker began his turn at telling more about himself. To start things off, he finally removed the hood from his head. This got everyone's attention, as they suddenly found that their mystery guard was not as human as they had assumed. While the thirteen-year-old's deep tan color seemed normal, his ears clearly gave away his heritage; they were larger than normal for a boy his age, and the top of them ended in a double-point that was just visible under his curly black hair. "Now you can see why I was wearing the hood," Tucker said seriously. "I did not want to be the center of attention. I've lived with too much of that anyway; my father is the envoy to Rigel and everyone always seemed to want to check out 'the cute little Halanan boy'."

"What happened to your father?" Jesse asked as Tucker paused.

"Nothing, he's still on Rigel," Tucker replied, seeming to relax some as he found the group seemed to accept him as he was. "I was sick when Patriarch Short gave his speech at the conference a while back, so I didn't get to meet him. My father did though, and he really liked how Patriarch Short handled himself. Once I got better, I met up with my friends at our usual park. When I got there, they were playing a new game, they said that Patriarch Short and his family had taught it to them. After the game, we started talking. One of my friends, Tar-min, had just got a message back from our friend Gavin, who had came back to Earth with Patriarch Short. Gavin was letting him know that things were great in his new family. There was also a note from someone named Justy telling us that if we did anything to help out kids, the Clan would back us since we were friends with Gavin."

Tucker tilted his head at the knowing smiles he was getting from the rest of the group, then continued. "I told my father about the letter when I got home that night. He left the room after I told him, and made a call. The next day at school, we all got called out of our classes. When we got to the office, our senior instructor was standing there with the Regional Representative to the Rigellian Council. After talking to all of us, he told us that the Council had contacted the Clan, and been given the approval to empower us under the Safe Haven Act to take care of kids under the agreement they had signed with Patriarch Short."

"So you guys became a Division?" Julio asked. "I didn't know there were off-planet Divisions."

Tucker shook his head. "No, we are not a division, it's more like we are an extended arm of Clan Headquarters. When we heard about the attack, we all wanted to come over here and help out. Justy from Headquarters told us it would be better if we stayed home and kept things safe there. When we got the message back, we were at my residence and my father heard us all complaining about not being able to help out. He sat down with us and talked it over, letting us know that there were a few other planets who were not happy about the attack and they all wanted to be able to prevent it ever happening again."

"I know that feeling..." Julio mused.

Tucker nodded. "Tar-min suggested one of us coming over here to help out anyway. When he said it, everyone looked at me, since they all knew that my Father insisted on rigorous defense training for me since the day I learned to walk, as well as advanced training in using the native skills of Halanans. He always said that he wanted me to be able to take care of myself if something ever happened, and that his job made it quite likely that something would happen. My father noticed it, and asked me if I'd accept the job since everyone voted for me. Once I figured out that I wouldn't lose any of my friends, I decided to do it. When we told Justy about our plan, he mentioned that he was waiting for the Patriarch to be ready to approve a new Division here in Iowa, and that if I came over then, he could arrange for me to have some weapons training before I was officially assigned to the Division. He also arranged for me to be able to have an alternate name that was not going to put me or the Division at risk from anyone who was trying to get revenge on him for anything."

"What's your real name?" Jesse asked.

"Tusharka Curishrar." Tucker replied.

"I see why your father suggested the name change, he's almost as famous as Grandpa O'Neil!" Julio commented.

"Grandpa? I didn't know that you were blood to Ambassador O'Neil," Tucker said with surprise.

"I'm not. He told me if I ever called him by his title again, he was going to put me over his knee!" Julio giggled. "He was smiling when he said it, but I'm not taking any chances!"

"That is probably a good idea, knowing Uncle Marcus!" Tucker replied, the joy of finding something in common with his new division making its way into his voice. "When these guys were sent over here to become security, Justy arranged for me to join them. He told me that there was a telepath that could fill me in on details about the Division once I was settled in here."

Eddie giggled at Tucker's last statement. "Uh-huh, thats ME! Kyle says I'm a good mind-leech!"

"Mind-leech?" everyone echoed.

"Uh-huh! We suck out people's heads!" Eddie giggled.

"Ohhhh... can he teach me that, cutie?" Jesse asked Julio, a grin on his face.

"I really hope he did not mean it that way!" Julio answered with a blush.

"You're silly!" Eddie stated with a roll of his eyes. "I'm too little to be doin' the makin' babies stuff! Tucker, they try makin' babies a lot, an' they're always thinking 'bout it!"

Tucker grinned, and showed his new found comfort as he commented. "Really? Did anyone tell them that humans are not able to make babies with two males?"

"We know, but it's sure fun trying!" Jesse quipped as he chased his boyfriend into the space between the cushions.

Once everyone recovered from their giggles, Eddie tilted his head and looked over at Tucker. As everyone waited to see what his next 'words of wisdom' would be, a small smile crossed Eddie's face. After about a minute, Eddie finally spoke. "Kyle an' me's been talkin. Him and Ty had annudder son! We're gonna getta meet him; he's comin' over to teach me about Tucky's head!"

"Tucky?" Tucker giggled.

"Uhh-huhh. You're my brother now, so I'm callin you Tucky!" Eddie replied. "Is that okay?" he added, his eyes giving away his insecurity.

Tucker leaned over and pulled Eddie over to him into a hug. "If Julio says it's okay to be my little brother, you can call me Tucky. I've never had a little brother."

Julio climbed out from under Jesse, then came over and rubbed Eddie's shoulders. "Tucker, Cory insists on his live-in security considering themselves family. I'm the same way; all of you are family if you live here. That means you can consider Eddie as your little brother as long as he's okay with calling you his big brother."

Tucker looked at Eddie's face, and the smile told him more than any words could. He lifted Eddie enough to pull him over onto his lap, and wrapped his arms around the small boy.

To Be Continued...

Editors' Notes:

Wow, we have Cory and a Corvette named Ray.  Fife reprogramming Ray and showing some of his true colors and abilities.  Then, we have Julio and Jesse realizing that they are important enough to need security and Jesse gaining what he considers to be his first friend.  

The new Division seems to be heading off in the right direction but if I know ACFan, smooth sailing won't last long!!! Heehee.  I can't wait to see what he has ready for us next.  Oh, did I remember someone talking about a Hallo weenie party? I better stop there!!!. 

Hugs from your friendly neighborhood editing puppy!!

Boxerdude

What a chapter! We have a new Saint, a couple of reminders of just how much influience Teri and Cory have, and yet another reminder that the CSU is a different world, one like ours but with changes. And AC deftly gives us a bit of character development: of Kyle, Mont, Bast, Jesse, and Johnny, and some interesting new characters, like Ray, Ricky, Rocky, and Tucker. Way to go! - D&B