Lance watched Sky as she did a somersault in the grass. She landed on her backside and giggled. Cady tried to do a cartwheel and ended up in a heap beside her friend, screaming when Declan fell on top of her as Gideon tackled him.
"Hey!" Keith called out. "Let's not break each other!"
The gang had all congregated at Lance and Darcy's house since Sky kept telling them she just wanted to go home. Allura and Darcy sat on the back stoop with Becca sitting on the ground beside them, watching as the kids played and Tess babbled to herself in Sky's old playpen. Keith, Hunk, and Pidge were standing off to the side of the women, talking and throwing a ball for Chewy to fetch.
They were waiting for Paton to call. She had told them that they were not allowed to sit in on the questioning and that they were all, well, just Lance really, were driving her nuts hanging around the station or calling every few minutes. Finally, the chief of police had convinced them to go and she would contact them the second she had any information she could give them.
"Hey."
Lance looked up at his wife as she stood over him, "Hey."
"You okay?"
"Yeah."
Darcy slid her fingers through the woven holes of the hammock he was stretched out on and started it swaying gently. "You're being rude to our guests."
He shrugged, "They know me, its nothing personal."
"I was thinking we could light up the grill, the kids are getting hungry."
"Alright," Lance sat up and swung his legs over the side of the hammock. "What do we have?"
"We have hot dogs and I can make hamburgers."
He checked his watch, five hours had passed since Paton had kicked him out of the station. She had to know something by now.
"She'll call us when she can," Darcy said, taking his hands and pulling him to his feet. "Lying there fuming is not going make her call any faster."
Sliding his arm around her shoulders, they walked back to the house, "It seems like it all happened days ago rather than this morning."
"They have a lot to go through, Lance. There are people to question, papers to go through and the computers to search. We might not hear anything for another day."
"She promised to tell me something tonight," he stopped when he saw Sky talking animatedly to the three Whitaker kids and mimicking a fight, throwing punches. "What is she doing?"
Darcy furrowed her brow, "I don't know. Schuyler, what are you doing?"
The little girl whirled around and grinned at her parents, yelling across the yard, "I'm tellin' 'em about you kickin' da bad guy's butt!"
Darcy opened her mouth to reprimand her daughter but was stopped when Lance clapped his hand over her mouth and whispered in her ear, "We'll talk to her later. Let her deal with this in whatever way makes her more comfortable, at least now she knows for sure that she's safe when we're around."
She nodded and addressed their friends, "Lance is going to fire up the grill and we're going to have ourselves a little barbeque."
Allura pushed herself to her feet, "What can I do to help?"
"We can start getting the food together while the men stand around the grill and grunt."
"We don't grunt," Lance muttered as he crossed to the grill and pulled the cover off. "We have deep, intellectual conversations about burger thickness and whether or not it's going to rain."
Becca stood and picked Tess up out of the playpen as she started to fuss, "Someone needs to be changed."
Keith clapped Pidge on the shoulder, "So, you guys give any thought to having a little one?"
The younger man paled visibly, but kept his composure, "I'm thinking we should get married first."
"Keith, stop it," Allura called over her shoulder.
Darcy started pulling ground meat out of the refrigeration unit and crossed to the cupboard for spices. Allura took the baby from Becca and carried her into the other room to change her.
Noticing how quiet her sister was being, Becca walked over and leaned against the counter, "How're you holding up?"
"All right, considering."
"And Lance?"
"He's ready to explode."
Becca smirked and went to wash her hands so she could help form the burger patties, "Sky seems to be doing well."
"Yeah, but it'll take some time before we know if there are any lingering effects."
"She's strong, she'll be fine," Becca dried her hands and turned to see her sister standing over the table, her head down and her bandaged hand pressed against her forehead. "Oh, Darc, it's all right, she's fine."
Darcy hiccupped, feeling silly as tears raced down her face, "I…I thought I was h-handling this well. Sh-she's just a l-little girl and th-they almost took her from us."
Becca pulled her into a tight hug, letting her big sister cry into her shoulder.
The back screen door squeaked open and slammed shut. The two women broke apart, Darcy trying to hide her tears, turned around and slammed into the comfort of another person. Lance wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair. "It's all right, baby, it's all right."With his arm still around her, Lance led her to the office, shutting the door behind them. They stood in the quiet solitude of the dimly lit room while she cried with relief and exhaustion. Lance rubbed her back and whispered calming words. Her tears dried and they listened to the childhood noises of laughter and running outside as their daughter, safe and sound, played with her friends.
"Okay?" Lance whispered.
She nodded, "We should get back out there."
"There's no hurry, sweetheart."
"What did you need?" Darcy asked as she stepped slowly out of his embrace.
"Hm?"
"Why did you come inside, what did you need?"
"You," he brought his hand up and tilted her chin back so he could look into her swollen eyes. "I needed to see you, I knew something was wrong."
Standing on her toes, she skimmed her lips over his, "I love you, so much, Lance."
"I love you, too," he pressed his lips to her forehead.
"I'm going to run upstairs and freshen up, I'll be outside in a few minutes."
He grinned at her, "The party won't start until you get out there."
Ten minutes later, Darcy stepped out onto the back stoop to see everything was normal. The kids were running around, chasing Chewy. Lance was manning the grill, a soda in hand, talking to Keith and Pidge. Hunk was standing off to the side talking on his cell phone while Allura and Becca set the table.
"Mommy!" Sky caught sight of Darcy and turned in mid-run to launch herself at her mother.
"Sky!" Darcy crouched down and caught the girl. "Are you having fun?"
Sky nodded, "Daddy said I could have two hot dogs all by myself."
"That's a lot of hot dog for a little girl."
"I'm really, really, really hungry," she said dramatically. "My tummy's been talkin'."
Darcy tickled her stomach, "You have a rumbly in your tumbly?"
"Just like Pooh!"
"I love you," Darcy said, covering her daughter's face with kisses until Sky laughed and pushed her mother away.
"Stop it, Mommy!"
"I can't," Darcy teased making kissing noises.
Sky wiggled out of her arms and ran to hide behind her father's legs.
"All right," Hunk snapped his cell phone shut. "Paton is going to be over in about twenty minutes with the preliminary report. And she'll take a burger, medium-well."
Lance paused, one hand on Sky's head, the other holding the spatula in mid air after flipping a burger. They were going to find out what had happened.
"Ow, Daddy," Sky grabbed his wrist and tried to lift his hand.
He looked down, not realizing he had gripped her hair, accidentally pulling it. "Sorry, Shorty, I didn't mean to pull your hair."
Becca, Allura, and Pidge started carrying condiments and plates out to the table while Darcy threw together a salad and some plain buttered noodles, digging out jars of pickles and olives. She made a mental note to keep the kitchen better stocked for last minute barbeques during the summer. Hunk and Keith set up the children's table under the big oak tree that had one end of the hammock tied to it.
"No, Schuyler," Lance said as he piled the burgers and hot dogs on a platter. "I am not making Chewy a hot dog, he has his own food in the house."
"But Daddy…"
"No, it's not good for dogs to eat hot dogs, it makes them cannibals."
"Lance," Darcy warned as she carried out a plate of pickles, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
"Wha's a cannabowl?" Sky asked.
"Cannibal," her father corrected. "If you can't pronounce it, I can't tell you what it is."
"Daaaddddyyyy!"
"Sky, come help me," Becca called. "I need you to carry the mustard."
She skipped over to help her aunt as Darcy walked over to take the platter from her husband. "Stop screwing with our daughter's mind."
"What good is having a kid if you can't mess with them?" He asked, stealing a quick kiss.
They had all just sat down at their tables when Paton arrived. The four kids sat around a child-sized table chattering and slipping food to Chewy, not noticing the change in the adults as she rounded the corner into the backyard. Hunk jumped to his feet and greeted his wife with a quick hug and a kiss, noticing how tired she looked.
"Paton, have a seat," Lance stood quickly. "Can I get you something to drink? Soda, beer, juice?"
She smiled weakly and sat down between Pidge and Hunk, setting a folder down on the table in front of her, "I'm fine, Lance, sit down and we'll get right to it."
The seven adults leaned in and listened as Paton lowered her voice and started to fill them in. "This is what we've found out so far. This is the preliminary report as we still have men searching the circus computers and records, but I know you all have been waiting for some news. All we have to go on right now is what we've gotten from interviews."
Lance nodded, reaching under the table to lace his fingers with Darcy's.
"The fingerprints on Sky's window matched those of Hinri Kodej," Paton continued. "A clown hired by the circus just five months ago. His prints were not on record, we just matched them this afternoon when we took everyone's fingerprints." She paused and pulled two photos out of the folder, one of a clown and one of a man. "This is him with his make-up on and without. Does he look familiar?"
Darcy nodded, "He was at the castle, Sky said he was the one outside her window."
"He is also young, stupid and caved when we separated him from Calbert Kandell, or as you know him, Pepo. Apparently Hinri thought he was just getting a job as a clown, but Calbert soon noticed how stupid and easy to manipulate he was and he became his right hand man. This was his first job and he obviously botched it up.
"Muskerry Brothers Circus was a front for an illegal adoption ring," she nodded to Pidge. "You were right on that. It had all started with the Kandell Family Circus. When that circus was shut down, Calbert thought he was smart enough to succeed where his parents failed. So he took his mother's maiden name, Muskerry, and started up a new circus with a couple of old associates and a lot of new members."
Paton paused to take a sip of Hunk's soda, "They specialized in 'Designer Adoptions', a couple could specify what they were looking for and, for a large amount of money, they would get their special order kid. We found this in with Calbert's paperwork." She opened the folder and slid a piece of paper across to Lance and Darcy.
Adoption Order Form:
Species: Human
Race: Caucasian
Sex: Female
Age: 3-4 years of age
Hair: Brunette/Dark Brown
Eyes: Brown
Personality: Outgoing, friendly, precocious
Beneath the order form, was a picture of a little dark haired girl, beside it was taped a copy of the picture of Schuyler Keith had taken from Pepo's tent. The resemblance between the two girls was startling.
"A wealthy couple on Planet Whident lost their three year old daughter in an accident last year, that's her picture there. The husband found out about 'Designer Adoptions' and decided to see if he could find a little girl to replace their daughter, hoping to raise his wife's spirits," Paton explained.
Darcy shivered, "He was just going to replace their daughter with a kidnapped child?"
Paton shook her head, "We're looking into it now, we don't know for sure if the families paying for the adoptions knew if they were illegal. They may very well have thought it was a legitimate business, especially if this was done through an agency and they knew nothing about the circus. As it was, a circus is the perfect front. They travel all over the universes and children love them and generally trust the people that work there. No one ever suspected the circus. Now a majority of the performers claim ignorance, saying they knew nothing about any kidnappings. Hinri gave us a list of people he knew for sure were involved and those people have been placed into custody.
"There were certain rules they had to follow. First and foremost, none of the royal children were to be taken, even if they matched the description perfectly, a missing prince or princess would draw too much attention. Apparently they didn't know you were a member of the Voltron Force, Lance, or that you were such close friends with the royal family. Normally, they are able to get the child and leave quietly. By the time the child is being searched for, they are in another galaxy delivering the child."
Darcy groaned quietly, "This is awful. Do you have any idea how many children have been taken?"
"They believe the Kandell Family circus took nearly two hundred children over the years. Muskerry Brothers is still relatively young, so we're hoping very few were taken and we're going to work with the Intergalactic Policing Agency to reunite the children with their parents."
"How did they get Sky?" Lance asked.
Paton turned to him, "Hinri told me that he was given instructions to stick with Sky and grab her at the first opportunity. Apparently, the man on Whident offered up to three million dollars for a child that met their requirements and Pepo wanted the money. Hinri said he saw Sky run out a door alone, knowing she was afraid of clowns, he didn't wear the makeup. He called to her and she went to him."
Lance sighed, "She knows better than to talk to strangers."
"She was never shy," Darcy said. "She's used to people talking to her because of who we are and she's never had a bad experience with strangers wanting to say hi to her just because she's Lance Collier's daughter."
Paton continued, "He said she put up a fight, kicking and biting his hand when he covered her mouth with it, but he couldn't let her go."
"That explains the scratches on her arms and legs," Becca murmured.
"For him this wasn't about money, Calbert had threatened his life. He was terrified."
"My heart breaks for him," Lance said sarcastically.
"How did he get outside Sky's window?" Darcy asked.
"We haven't got a definite answer for that yet, but we have a good idea. We confiscated four jet packs."
"Jet packs?" Keith asked.
She nodded, "They were good ones, could lift up to 250 pounds forty feet into the air and travel a maximum of fifteen miles an hour.""Which would explain how he got away so fast," Lance mumbled.
"What are you going to do now?" Allura asked the chief of police.
"Calbert Kandell is in custody and will be charged with kidnapping and other charges we are drawing up. Hinri is going to get a lighter sentence for turning in evidence and we're still trying to separate the truth from the lies and the guilty from the innocent. Like I said, this is a preliminary report, we have days of work ahead of us before we can hand in an official report."
"But they're going to stay in your custody?" Darcy asked.
Paton nodded, "Until we hand them over to the Intergalactic Policing Organization so they can check for charges filed on other planets. They are no longer a threat to you or Sky, I promise you that. We can even place officers here if you would feel better.""Let me ask you this," Lance said. "I am in no way doubting you or your men, because this question also applies to the guards on the castle grounds. But how was he able to get Sky off castle grounds and to Pepo, uh, Calbert's tent without any guards or officers seeing?"
"As far as we can figure, Calbert figured out our patrols and found a way through the woods. As for the guards at the castle, I don't know. But I can tell you this, we were able to get our hands on Hinri's file. He was a member of a Special Forces team on Planet Klasert for two years before he was dishonorably discharged a year and a half ago."
"What for?" Keith asked.
Paton shook her head, "We don't know, the files are sealed and he wouldn't elaborate."
"So he is trained to be fast and quiet and to sneak into places he isn't supposed to be," Hunk mumbled.
"Exactly," Paton said. "I can only apologize on behalf of my men."
Darcy smiled softly, "We know they were doing their best."
With a smile playing at the corners of her mouth, Paton sat back and said, "There is, however, another issue we have to address."
"What is it?" Keith asked."It seems, that Calbert Kandell wants to press charges against Lance and Darcy for breaking and entering and battery and assault."
"You've got to be kidding me," Pidge muttered.
"And," she continued, still trying to hide a smile. "He wants you to pay for his tent that you tore up getting in to."
Lance and Darcy looked at each other, he shrugged and turned back to Paton, "What do we do?"
"Don't worry, those charges won't hold up in any court, especially after he's charged. I'm sure they'll be dismissed." Paton closed the folder. "That is all I have right now, I will fill you in as we gather more info."
"Thank you, Paton, for everything," Darcy told her. "We really appreciate your help."
"Anything I can do. I was serious about posting officers here if it would make you feel better."
Lance nodded, "Thanks, but I think we'll be all right."
"Eat up," Darcy smiled at her friends. "We have ice cream for dessert."
………………………………………………………………………..
Darcy looked out the window as she closed the door of the dishwasher and turned the dial, starting the cycle. The sun was setting and their friends had gone home. It had been the longest day of her life and she couldn't wait for it to end. Exhaustion was making her sluggish and she left most of the mess to deal with in the morning.
Opening the screen door, she stepped out into the comfortable night air, smelling the grass, hearing the insects sing, watching the firebugs flash around in front of her. But it was to the oversized hammock Lance had strung up between the two largest trees in their yard that she went to. It had been a housewarming gift from Lance's father, who told them that every house should have a hammock to lie in on lazy summer afternoons and cool evenings.
Lance was swaying gently on the hammock. Schuyler was lying on her stomach on top of him, her head on his chest, sound asleep as Lance gently stroked her back.
"Maybe we should tuck her in for the night," Darcy whispered.
He shifted his gaze to her, "It's still early."
"It's been a long day, Lance."
"I'm not ready to let her go yet," he admitted quietly.
Darcy ran her hand over the little girl's silky, dark hair and sighed, "I know."
"There's plenty of room," Lance suggested, winking at her.
"I know how much room there is," she replied haughtily, even as her cheeks reddened at the memory of the night they had christened the hammock.
He held his hand out to her, "Come here."
With some awkward maneuvering and some major swinging of the hammock, Darcy settled in beside Lance, resting her head on his shoulder and stroking her daughter's head. Lance shifted until he could bring his arm around his wife and hold her to him.
"You're swingin' too hard, Daddy," Sky mumbled.
"It's not me, Shorty."
Sky turned her head, "Hi, Mommy.""Hi baby, how're you doing?"
"'Kay. Can we sleep ou' here all night?"
Darcy smiled at her, "No, but we can stay a while longer."
Sky yawned and nodded, her eyes drifting closed.
Lance kissed Darcy's forehead, letting his lips linger. She slid her hand down until it bumped into his and linked her fingers with his, their joined hands resting on Sky's back as she slept. The moons rose and the stars popped out against the deep velvety blue of the sky. And the three of them lied there, swaying gently.
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AN: Okay, here is the end of yet another story. I am toying around with a couple of ideas there were given to me in reviews to my story "A Long Awaited Love Story". But, alas, work and life has been crushing down on my lately, so I don't know when I'll get to post my next story.
Thank you all for your reviews. I loved writing this story, and to be honest, I think it is my favorite one so far.
C-Town Chica – It's funny that you asked me about the comics because I hadn't bought any this past year, planning to wait until the second trade paperback came out. Well, last week, I decided I couldn't wait anymore, so last week I ordered the last six issues from Devil Due. I got them the same day I got your review. So now that I am all caught up, allow me to say that I loved them! I really like how they have captured the characters, although I am very disappointed in Sven, there had better be some magic involved there. And I did like the interaction between Keith and Allura, it is very close to how I imagined them in my stories, so much so, it kind of scared me :-) I would, however, like to see more of how their relationship has grown. Four months have passed and Allura said she knew what Keith was thinking and feeling, I would have liked to have seen how they grew as friends. Thanks for your awesome reviews!Red Lion2, MustangAce, Craze, Black Night, Dee, Queen Merla, Starlette Rose, and everyone else – Thank you so much! You guys rock! And I really do appreciate your reviews and the time and effort you put into them!
Until next time!
Failte