Chapter 3

Years of war experience dictated Baird's response to the cry coming from his room. Executing a half roll, half leap from the couch that landed him on his feet he tore through the house to his room in a matter of seconds. He had already formulated several ways to strike the locus that he automatically assumed were the cause of the problem in the time it took him to kick his door open. It took him two seconds to assess the situation before him.

The girl was cowering in a corner and a slim dark figure was approaching her with something in hand which Baird couldn't distinguish. The intruder barely had time to look at Baird before the livid blond veteran charged at him like a bull and sent him flying against the wall. Baird aimed a kick at the intruders head but the guy was fast and evaded the blow by rolling out of the way. Baird didn't miss a beat though, with a quick shift he changed his momentum and fired out kick with the other leg. With a satisfying crack Baird's foot collided with the intruder's rib cage. To his credit this didn't stop the intruder. Before Baird could get his hands on the guy's throat he leapt up, landed a kick into Baird's chin, and rolled out the open window from which he had entered and took off running. Baird vaulted out the window and sprinted after the intruder. Whoever it was had experience running through obstacles. Baird pursued him over fences, down allies, around parked cars and even over a low roof top before he lost him. Baird stood panting on the roof scanning the area for signs of his quarry but the man had completely eluded him.

Cursing, Baird jogged back home to make sure everyone was ok. He got in the back friggen window! Baird thought angrily, how did I miss that! He made a mental note to meticulously examine all his defenses until he found the hole that night. Stomping up to the front door he angrily twisted the door knob only to find it locked. He was tempted to just kick in the door but his mechanical subconscious warned him that he didn't have time to fix it.

"It's me, open up!" He yelled pounding his fist on the door. A few seconds later the lock clicked and Jacob let the fuming blond in. Jacob new that the best thing to do was to stay out of Baird's way when he was upset and so jumped aside as Baird slammed the door behind him. In his room Baird found June leaning up against the window keeping a careful eye on his sister as she tried to comfort the sobbing girl. Baird stood in the door way watching the scene while he calmed himself down. Once he no longer felt like he might punch a hole in the wall he approached the pair and knelt down next to Kaylee. The girl watched him with wide fearful eyes.

"It's going to be ok," Kaylee said kindly, "Birdy won't let anyone hurt you, will you Birdy?" Baird nodded absently. He had absolutely no idea how to deal with the girl. If it had been Cole or some other war buddy he would have just sat there with them comforting with his presence but he knew that wouldn't be a comfort to the young woman.

"Your safe here, right Birdy?" Kaylee said continued she nudged Baird brining him out of his brooding.

"Yeah, that's never going to happen again," Baird promise, fresh tears welled up in her eyes.

"What'd I say?" He asked taken aback then out of nowhere she leapt at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Baird froze completely stunned, that was the very last thing he expected. After a moment the shock wore off and he gently wrapped his arms around her and gently rubbed her back in what he hoped was a comforting touch. Baird glanced at Kaylee who smiled encouragingly, so Baird held her silently while she sobbed into his shoulder. Though he was way out of his comfort zone Baird found that it was easy to just sit there holding her. After a few minutes her sobs died away and her breathing slowed until she had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He gently lifted her and placed her on his bed and turned around to find Kaylee smiling at him.

"What are you smiling about?" He muttered halfheartedly.

"You are so nice!" she said happily taking his large hand in her small one.

"Thanks now go to bed." He ordered, she smiled went back to bed. Baird sighed and turned to June who had been watching the whole scene from his place at the window. Baird motioned him out of the room.

"So I'm guessing you didn't catch him." June said pointedly when they were in the living room. Baird shook his head.

"No, he's still out there, but he won't be getting back in here if I have anything to say about it, and I do." Baird said confidently.

"How did he even get in?" June wondered.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out tonight." Baird turned and stalked out to the back yard, June followed him. Baird tried to tell June to go to bed but the kid had picked up Baird's stubbornness so the two examined the yard together. The only real entrance to the back yard was the door from the house or Baird's window. The Yard was fenced in by a sturdy concrete wall Baird had rebuilt from the original brick wall. The whole thing was lined with barbed wire and hotwire including the roof so the intruder couldn't have climbed over the roof or any part of the fence without getting cut up and shocked. The only other way out besides through the house was through a heavy door that only opened from the inside through which Baird had chased out the intruder. He examined that first while June checked the hot wire. Baird concluded that the intruder did not come in through the door.

"Hot wire's on; I don't think he climbed over the wall." June reported.

"Me neither," Baird agreed.

"Maybe he dropped in from a raven!" June suggested excitedly.

"No we would have heard that," Baird said.

"Oh, yeah I guess." They stood in silence looking around the yard. A dark patch on the ground caught Baird's eye.

"Oh no," he muttered jogging up the dark patch. It was a hole, just big enough for a skinny man to slip through. Baird cursed.

"Spent a whole war paranoid about holes in ground but the second it ends suddenly I completely forget about it." Baird ranted.

"Come on let's get this filled in, then we can think of something to keep this from happening again." June suggested.

"Yeah, let's do that." Baird muttered already configuring solutions in his head.

Baird had sent June in when they were done with fortifying the ground around the fence but he had stayed out the rest of the night meticulously inspecting every inch of the house for any other possible way an intruder could get in. As the sun rose he was satisfied that there was no way anyone could get into the house. Tired and sweaty and trudged into the kitchen and splashed cold water of his face from the sink and then held his mouth open under the faucet gulping down the cool water. There was probably all kinds crap in the water and he had no way to filter it but hey, he'd drunk worse.

At the kitchen table he was mildly surprised to find the girl sitting there eating scrambled eggs with the rest of the crew. Grabbing a plate from the counter Baird helped himself to the food all the while scrutinizing the young woman.

"You know," he said between bites. "I can't keep calling you the girl in my head; you have to tell me your name." She didn't answer and looked shyly at her plate.

"Her name is Amy." Kaylee chimed.

"Really, how did you know that?" Baird asked.

"She told me this morning." Kaylee said and then scooted up to him and whispered in his ear, her little hand blocking her mouth from view. "She doesn't like to talk to boys, ok?"

"Ok" Baird shrugged; he was starting to like this girl. If she wouldn't talk to him then she wouldn't nag him. Baird finished his eggs just as his watch alarm started going off.

"Back to it," June said getting up. Baird handed June his plate and stood up. He was not looking forward to the day. He was tired and dirty and on edge about leaving the kids at home after last night. They didn't seem too perturbed about it though he guessed they trusted that he had fixed everything and that it wouldn't be happening again. Though he had done his best to patch all the holes in his defense system Baird was still paranoid that someone would find a way past them. Then again it was probably that paranoia that had kept him alive throughout the war. Cover all the bases. He had to go to work though, they had to eat and that reminded him.

"Hey June, make sure you pick up the check." Baird instructed his assistant.

"Roger that." June acknowledged, by check Baird of course meant their portion of the goods that Baird's clients had offered them.

"Kaylee, make sure Amy takes a shower, she looks awful," Baird said. She really did look terrible. Kaylee nodded.

"We need to go boss man." June remained, slipping his shoes on.

"I know that," Baird said condescendingly, there was one more base he had to cover. "Jacob come here."

Jacob followed Baird into his bedroom and waited while Baird dug around under his bed. Finding what he was looking for Baird straitened up. He held a pistol in his hand Jacobs eyes got wide.

"Just in case," Baird said seriously. "If you have to use it, you better use it, got it?" The boy nodded. "Good," he handed him the pistol and told him to put it somewhere near by wherever he was going to be. Feeling like he'd done all he could Baird followed June out of the house.

Baird arrived at his workshop to find William waiting for him.

"So you decided to show up?" Baird asked a devious tone in his voice, "Alright then, let's get started."

Baird's idea of an interview consisted of having the perspective employee fix a bunch of tools and other things Baird and his team had broken while shooting off random questions about the persons background, family history, the part he played in the war, and any other random question Baird could think of in an attempt to judge whether or not the man was sane. Well sane enough. When he ran out of questions Baird began criticizing everything William was doing. By lunch Baird was sure he had quashed all hope William had of getting the job, the kid did not look happy Baird noted smugly.

"Alright, I think I've seen enough, go home kid."

William huffed exasperated. Baird could tell he was thinking of a few choice words for Baird.

"Report back tomorrow at 5 am for your assignment." Baird added before the kid could sabotage his chance. The most classic look of surprise graced William's features. Baird wished he had a camera.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really, now get out of here before I change my mind."

"Yes sir!" William snapped and he hurried out of the small shop.

"Sir?" Baird muttered shaking his head, what an idiot.

Baird arrived on the farm June was in charge of just in time to join them for lunch.

"So how did the interview go?" June asked casually, Baird looked around at the rest of the crew that were trying to hide the fact that they were listening intently.

"Awful, he sucked. I wouldn't trust the guy to fix his own breakfast." Baird complained loudly to the general laughs of approval from the crew.

"You hired him didn't you?" June said pointedly.

"Yep."

"Great."

It was a well know ritual that they went through every time Baird hired someone new. Baird didn't find it that funny. Anyone who knew the real Baird knew that he complained about everything and would have told him to just shut up and eat. But these guys just thought it was some sort of hazing. He wondered what these guys would think if they saw the real him. Even June didn't know how whiny Baird really was. He guessed it was because he was their boss and mentor; they listened to everything he said and took his criticism to heart. It was hard to complain to people who actually wanted to listen to it and do something about it. It just wasn't the same if Fenix wasn't telling him to shut up and fix it.

Baird and June trudged home carrying bags of food and other things that they had gotten in payment from various clients. Baird was relieved to find that all was well at home; Jacob and Kaylee were playing a very elaborate version of speed with two decks of cards. Amy was sitting on the couch watching. She jumped when they came in and shied away instinctually as they passed by. Kaylee jumped up to help June put away the food, she loved getting groceries.

Baird sat down on the couch next to Amy. She scooted as far from him as possible. Baird shrugged, if she was going to be living in his house then she should get use to being in close proximity to him anyway. Baird watched as Kaylee and Jacob finished their game, then June played winner, then they played extreme go-fish and another card game they had all made up. Baird decided the war had given people too much time to play cards. Eventually Baird put a stop to the games and insisted they all go to bed.

"You too," Baird insisted when Amy didn't move right away. She looked in the direction of his room and visibly flinched.

"You slept in there the last two nights." Baird complained, but then he remembered what had happened last night. "Alright, you can sleep out here."

He found her a blanket and pillow and turned off the light for her before heading to the bathroom for a quick shower. He flopped into bed exhausted as usual and was asleep in seconds.

Ah chapter 3, we have arrived. Now I think I'm going to try and hold out for a few more reviews. If you're reading this and are too lazy to review then I can sympathize, but seriously, review.