Corrus walked back to Emily's house with a hand in his pocket, while his other hand tapped nervously against his thigh. Lunch had gone well at the base. It was a simple affair of sandwiches, and all Corrus' earlier tension with Narchis seemed to fade. He wondered if it was the fact that neither one of them was hungry or that they'd finally arrived on the same page.

It didn't matter. Corrus would know for sure when they had their post-lunch meeting. He should have been in the office chatting with Narchis, but something in him wouldn't let him focus. Corrus found himself with the overwhelming urge to check on Ethan.

Walking past an upbeat Penum standing guard, Corrus made his way into the house. There he found Ethan seated in the living room watching TV.

"Hi, Ethan,"

The boy turned with a small smile, but his brows were furrowed. "Hi, Corrus."

Corrus had decided hours ago, not to read either Ethan or Jamie’s minds. But at that moment he was sorely tempted to do so. Something was bothering the boy, and he was glad he’d decided to follow his instincts to check on him.

"Did your mom talk to you?"

Ethan nodded. "She told me we have to stay here until they catch the bad man."

"That's right. My friends and I are working very hard to keep you guys safe. You know you won't be able to go to school, right?"

Ethan hung his head. "Yeah. That's the worst part."

Corrus had never been to school as a young boy. Brevia wasn't set up that way. Many of the middle class and upper-class hired tutors to teach their children how to read and write, but the rest of their education was left to their parents. And the education that Corrus had gotten from his father wasn't one he'd want Ethan to have.

"It's not going to be forever, Ethan. Just until we catch this bad guy, and I'm going to need your help to do it."

Ethan raised his head, a look of intense focus on his face. "Tell me what you need."

Corrus wanted to laugh so bad, but he held it on the inside. Ethan sounded just like a recruit tasked with assisting on his first mission. He wanted the boy to feel included like he was helping, so he kept his face straight.

"I need you to do two things. First, you need to tell me everything you remember about the bad man. What he looked like and said. Then I need you to be on your best behavior. We can only do our job if things here are nice and quiet. Can you do that?"

Ethan nodded solemnly, and Corrus held his hand out for a high-five.

"How long will we be staying here?" Ethan asked.

Corrus rubbed his face. "I'm not sure. Once we find the bad man, we'll deal with him, then you can go back home." The words made Ethan smile, but they left a bitter taste in Corrus' mouth. It was far too soon, but the idea of never speaking to Ethan or Jamie again didn't sit well with him.

"Okay. But you're going to stay with us, right?"

Corrus jerked his head back. "What?"

"How are we going to be safe if you don't?"

"Oh, well, one of my friends will always be standing guard outside. You don't have to worry."

Ethan's eyes widened in panic. "But what about the inside?" His voice lowered as he whispered. "The bad man moved so fast. I think we need someone closer."

Corrus sighed. Staying in such an intimate setting with a woman who he frankly had a crush on and her son wasn't a good idea. But Ethan's big blue eyes called to him and, more importantly, to the overly protective side of him, so he caved.

"Okay. I'll stay, but I'll be downstairs, so no one gets through that door. Deal?"

Ethan grinned. "Deal."

"Alright. I've got to head off. Are you okay?"

Ethan nodded. "Yeah. I'm just bored. Is Penum around?"

"Yeah. What do you need?"

Ethan tucked his knees beneath him excitedly. "I'd like to hear the end of the story he started. Where we left it, Penum got his knee kicked, so he only had one arm and a leg to fight on!"

Corrus chuckled. Penum really was turning it on for the kid. But Ethan looked to be eating it up, so what was the harm in it?

"Okay, I'll get Penum to come finish his story."

When Corrus got up to leave, Emily came running down the stairs.

"Hey," she greeted.

"Hey, yourself. Everything going well?"

"Yup." Emily reached into a cupboard at the foot of the stairs, retrieving a pair of bed sheets. "What's up?"

Corrus rubbed his hands together, then opened his mouth and shut it twice. "Ethan wants me to stay here," he whispered, turning around to make sure the boy couldn't hear. His attention was back on the TV, so Corrus raised his voice. "I think he'd feel safer with me around."

"Okay," Emily said cheerily. "What's the problem?"

"I've never lived with a child before."

Emily laughed. "They're just little people, Corrus. For the most part, anyway. Look, if the kid's attached to you, why not stay? Besides, I'd prefer to stay with Cimmeris. The house is spacious. Pick a room and get comfortable."

"I'll just stay on the couch." Corrus rubbed his neck.

"Are you worried that you might be tempted to do something?"

Corrus' eyes bulged as his heart raced. "What? Why would you ask that?" Could Emily have already noticed his attraction to Jamie? Surely not. It had only been a few hours.

Emily patted his shoulder. "Just trying to gauge where this worry is coming from."

"Inexperience. That's where my worry is coming from. As I said, I've never lived with a kid."

"I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. You have a pretty clean mouth. If it were Penum..."

Penum shut the door loudly behind him as he walked in. "I heard that."

"Penum!" Ethan yelled from his spot in front of the TV. "Did you come to give me my story?"

Penum turned to Corrus with a quizzical look. Corrus smiled. "I told him I'd ask you to come finish the story."

Penum sniffed and puffed his chest. "Finally. Someone who understands just how cool I am."

Corrus laughed. "I've always known how cool you are." Then he turned to Emily. "Thanks for the talk."

"No problem."

Corrus watched Emily climb the stairs, calling to Jamie to find her exact location. Light laughter floated down and informed him that Jamie was doing okay. More than okay, by the sound of it. It looked like she might have made a new friend.

Then he turned and watched as Penum told Ethan the rest of his story. The physical demonstrations of each move were so animated and over the top that Corrus finally understood Ethan's fascination with Penum's storytelling.

Corrus drew a deep breath and left the house. Jamie and Ethan were fine. He could now have his meeting with Narchis with a clear head. On his way to the base, he passed Veilios walking up the street.

"Off to take my first shift. We've worked everything out."

"Thanks, V, but I need you to rework it. Ethan wants me to stay in the house. I won't be able to take on any night shifts."

Veilios smiled. "He likes you that much, huh?"

Corrus felt the heat rising to his cheeks. "I'm just the first one he met out of all of us."

"I think it's more than that, but okay. Tell you what. You'll probably be at the head of this investigation, so I'm just going to take you off the roster entirely. Sounds good?"

"Yeah. Thanks, man."

"No problem."

Corrus smiled as he walked into the house, then down into the basement, where Narchis spent a lot of time lately. It was as though being in his room reminded him of Zara too much, and the basement was the only place where he found any privacy.

"Come in," Narchis called after Corrus' quiet knock.

Corrus took a seat on the couch on the far wall beside Narchis. "You miss Zara, don't you?"

Narchis sighed. "I do, but this is what's best for both of us. Besides, she'll be home soon. This time for a whole month."

"That's great," Corrus enthused. "How did she convince her tutors to give her that much time off?"

Narchis smiled, pride written all over his face. "She's been busting her ass, that's how."

"I'm happy for you, Narchis. If she keeps this up, she'll be home a lot sooner."

"Yep." Narchis folded his arms, then turned to Corrus. "In the meantime, we have a mission. So, what's the plan, boss?"

Corrus cocked his head. Narchis may have been in a great mood, but he wouldn't let him take the lead on the case so easily. Corrus had come in ready to have the debate of his life to assume the role, and now Narchis was giving it up? Something was wrong.

"Uh, you're joking, right?"

"Not at all. Each one of you is capable of being lead. Even Penum is now, with all the work Emily has been doing with him. I know this mission is personal for you, and I want you to be comfortable with how everything goes."

Corrus cocked his head. "But you were so against what I wanted to do earlier?"

"I was, but I realized that, while I think of Colonel Soros as part of our family, the rest of you don't." Narchis took a deep breath. "I hope you'll come to realize it with time, but you need to have your own experiences with her. Either way, the five of us and our mates are the core family unit here, and we have to be there for each other."

Family. It was nice to hear the word. And what a band of brothers and sisters to have, talented, caring, and loyal.

Corrus placed his elbows on his knees. "Okay. First, I want to carry out a search among local shifter communities and see if they've heard anything about new arrivals. I have a feeling the Gleonite dragon has been hanging around for a while, so he must have made contact with someone."

"That makes a lot of sense. From what I understand, Gleon has only started building up their presence on Earth within the last few years. They probably don't have the same resources we have, so it makes sense that they'd reach out to some Earth shifters for help, or at least a place to stay."

Corrus nodded. "Exactly. But Gleon does have bases here. I know you spent some time on various elite teams. Could you reach out to some of your old contacts and see if you can find out about any Gleonite bases in this area?"

"I can do that."

Corrus stood. "Great. Let me know when you have something."

Narchis jumped up and saluted. "Sir, yes, sir."

Corrus blushed. He hadn't meant to come off as an army sergeant so fast. He was just eager to get the ball rolling to give Jamie and Ethan peace of mind as soon as possible.

"I'm just kidding." Narchis smiled as he patted Corrus' shoulder.

"I just want this to go well," Corrus said.

"Because there's a kid involved?"

It's more than that, Corrus thought. Jamie was so earnest and strong and in need of a break. He desperately wanted to be a part of that. The dragon may have intended to harm Jamie and Ethan, but, in a way, he'd done a good thing by connecting Corrus to them.

Corrus didn't know how long he'd get to be a part of their lives, but he wanted to make a difference where he could. Jamie deserved that. Ethan did, too.

Slow down, Corrus thought. She isn't yours.

"Uh, Corrus?" Narchis waved a hand in his face. "Are you here?"

Corrus shoved him away with a grin. "Yeah. I'm just thinking about some of the places I want to check out first."

Narchis nodded. "Maybe you should start the search tomorrow after a good night’s rest. You'll need to be on top of your game."

"I will be." Corrus straightened his shoulders. "Jamie and Ethan's safety is my number one priority."

Narchis smiled. "Exactly."

Now I just have to focus on that, not on all the fuzzy feeling I get when I'm around Jamie and Ethan, Corrus thought.