And then there were five For Amethyst Part 10 The next morning, David walked to work with a still sullen Mark, while Isabelle walked behind them with Princess. Again, the girl was dressed head to toe in pink and white. She stayed so close to Isabelle's leg that the next time David glanced back, he saw that the nanny had taken her hand, and was quietly speaking to her youngest charge. He took the opportunity to do the same with Mark. "I expect your attitude to have improved by the time we go home." Mark kicked at a rock, sending it clacking down the sidewalk. "Jason's gonna need a bed too when he comes back. When is he moving back?" "I haven't spoken to his doctor yet today," David said, though it was a partial lie. He'd spent the last twenty minutes reading Jason's recovery progress reports. They caught up with the rock. Mark kicked it again. This time, it clattered off the concrete and bounced off into the neatly-trimmed grass. "I don't want a sister. I want Jason." "You've made that perfectly clear." David was unable to keep the dry sarcasm from his voice. The only reason he didn't stop to continue was that he didn't want the girl in question to overhear their discussion. "As I said, Princess is only staying with us for a few weeks. I'm disappointed in you, Mark. You're being a very rude host to a little girl who's not only lost her parents, but has had to move to an entirely different planet." He supposed he'd have to make do with Mark's grumpy huff as an answer. The boy's Jason impression was getting pretty good, but it was the last thing David wanted to encourage. Hopefully spending the day with both Princess and Jason would ease the transition. That, or the training area was about to erupt into World War III. Once they arrived, David took some key staff members aside and warned them. He didn't think Mark would genuinely try to hurt the girl, but accidents happened, especially when resentments ran high. And in Mark's frustration, the boy might egg Jason on to do something that got Mark, Princess, or one of the adults injured or even killed. Ultimately Mark and Princess were herded in separate directions, Mark for training to work out his aggression, and Princess for assessments on where hers should start. With that sorted out, David headed to peek in on Jason, and was surprised to find that Isabelle had fallen in beside him. "I swear," she said with an impish smile, "all of that pink was not my suggestion." David chuckled, remembering Paulson's suggestion to treat Princess like one of the boys. He looked forward to sending the man pictures. "Hopefully that's a phase. The enemy won't be intimidated by a pastel pink uniform." Isabelle's eyes clouded over for a moment. Of all people, she understood the need for the team, but he knew it was difficult for her to know the life these children would lead. "By the time she reaches her teens," said Isabelle, her smile returning if a bit dampened, "you might find yourself wishing for the good old days of pink." # Weeks passed for David in a blur. With Princess's implantation rapidly approaching, he and his entire team were pouring over Jason's surgery and recovery data, searching for anything they could improve. His phone rang just as he was checking some calculations. He put it on speaker. "Anderson here." "Um, Sir," said one of the techs. "I have good news and bad." It was hard to tell from the woman's clipped words which side held more weight. He made an executive decision. "Let's start with the bad." "All right." She sighed. "Jason is very upset that he has to live here in the complex." That was unsurprising. "I'll talk to him. What's the good?" "In his annoyance," she said, a certain giddiness creeping into her voice, "he punched a foot-and-a-half deep hole into the wall." David blinked. The lab walls were reinforced concrete. "Is that an estimation or a measurement?" "A measurement! Though," her tone dropped again, "he injured himself in the process. They're x-raying his wrist right now and recommending we triple his calcium intake to see if his bones will harden faster." Wincing, David hoped they would. Inhuman strength without a body that could handle the impact was beyond useless. It was downright dangerous. "Keep me informed. I'll be down there as soon as I can." Hanging up, David rode out the conflicting emotions. That one punch might have actually exceeded their hopes for the implants. How much stronger would the team be, once they'd honed their bodies in training to keep up, and grown into themselves? And how easy would it be for Jason to snap Mark like a twig, the next time the boys roughhoused? For the first time, David reconsidered even allowing them to continue their book studies together. His computer flashed, notifying him of an urgent message. He opened the email to just find a bunch of exclamation points and a link to a video. Making a mental note to talk to his staff about staying professional in their communications, he clicked the link, and then quickly understood. When the footage stopped playing, he re-started it, watching the x-ray scan of Jason's wrist. He could barely breathe at the sight of bone knitting back together at real-time speed. They'd done it. They'd really done it. As he rushed from his office, his phone rang. He answered as he strode down the hall. "I hear we have proof of concept," said Paulson. "One day you'll introduce me to your spy network," grumbled David, though he was in too good a mood to be too annoyed. "Tomorrow, actually." David stopped. "What?" "I'm too old to lead the Federation's security arm through an interstellar war," said Paulson. "Council made me wait until you proved the G-Force project is viable. Tomorrow, you, your project, and your household all move to Center City. You're being promoted to Intergalactic Security Chief, Anderson. Congratulations." "Tomorrow?" His voice actually cracked. How the hell was he supposed to pick up and move his entire project by tomorrow, let alone Mark, Isabelle, Jason, and Princess. "An army of high clearance staff is at your disposal. Tell everyone to start preparing packing and shipping instructions." Paulson hung up, and David just stared at his phone. Chief of Security. He badly needed time to sit down and think, to just absorb all of this, but he had none. Instead, he headed back to his office to talk to Rona. He'd already had his miracle for the day. How he was going to manage the one he'd need to pull this move off, he had no idea. CHAPTER SIX Arranging the move of an entire project, not to mention doing so in a highly secure and orderly fashion, took all night and into the next day. Morning found David standing in the lab, Jason staring suspiciously at the thick plastic band he'd brought. "You want me to wear what?" So jaded for six-and-a-half. David nearly chuckled. "It's a sedation pump. We're moving, all of us, and right now you're prone to hurting yourself and breaking things." Jason crossed his arms. "Why do we have to move? You said I had to live here. I'm not a rat." Somehow David suspected Jason didn't care that he got promoted. "The whole project's moving to Center City, so we are too." Suddenly Jason cocked his head, listening. "We're gonna fly, huh?" David blinked. "Yes. And this band will help make sure you don't hurt yourself, any of us, or the plane. It would be bad if it fell from the sky." Jason snorted and shifted on his feet. A chant from the hall started to penetrate David's churning thoughts. "We're gonna fly!" Mark's enthusiastic voice was now hard to miss. Eyes widening, David realized that's how Jason knew. "But I get to travel with you guys?" Jason looked up at David, blue-grey eyes a bit anxious. "Yes," David promised. Even outside of personal concerns, Jason was the most valuable of all of them. Like he'd let anyone else transport the boy. "You can sit next to Mark or Isabelle if you want, but I need you to wear this." After another moment's hesitation, Jason finally nodded. By the time Mark bounced into the room, still chanting, David had secured the cuff on Jason's arm. He'd rather just do an injection, but they'd already discovered that the cerebonics were rather efficient at breaking down foreign chemicals in the boy's system. That feature would serve him well in the field. At the moment, though, it was a bit inconvenient. Mark bounced over to Jason, offering him the backpack he was carrying in his arms. "I packed your favorite stuff." "Carefully," said David as Jason reached for it. He was pleased to see that Jason slowed down, taking it gingerly. As Mark returned to bouncing around the room, chanting about flying, Princess watched by Isabelle's legs with wide eyes. The girl looked up at Isabelle, who smiled. Then suddenly Princess started hopping after Mark, her pink teddy bear backpack flopping dementedly along the way. When Mark finally noticed, he stopped. Princess looked up at him with watery green eyes, and David felt a wicked jab of revenge as the boy seemed unable to tell her to stop it. Instead, he half-heartedly resumed what he was doing, now trailed by his faithful shadow. David turned back to Jason. "How are you feeling?" "Weird." Jason looked around, his gaze a bit unfocused. "Then I'd say we're ready. There's a car waiting out front to take us to the airport." David grasped Jason's shoulder when the boy listed off to the side, steering him out of the lab. Ahead, Mark resumed his excited chanting as he bounced toward the elevator, Princess silently bouncing after him. Isabelle touched Jason's hair as he reached her, then looked to David with amusement. "If Mark's not careful, he's going to sleep through the whole flight." "Doubtful," muttered David, leading his strange little brood toward their new life. Once t