Sonny'd had a bad feeling before they entered the damn cave network - add in a creepy tunnel that dead ends at some old statue? Asking for trouble. And Spenser just had to go and touch the damn thing.

Rated T. Age regression/de-aging. Kid fic.

Team Antics and Speculative Plot

Chapter Six

When Clay ran across words he didn't know - which was considerably less often than Sonny would have guessed, but more than he would have liked - he tugged on Sonny's sleeve to ask. It was just after such an occasion that Blackburn entered the room.

Which is why Sonny noticed the kid paying attention to the conversation their commander was having with Jason.

"The monk get back to Ellis?"

Not that Sonny wasn't paying attention too.

Blackburn pitched his voice low and Sonny strained to hear. He caught the phrase 'transitional period' before Ray popped up in front of him with a beer. Sonny accepted it and the pitched eyebrow.

"How you liking that book, Spenser?" Ray smiled down at the blond as he took a seat beside Sonny's feet on the coffee table.

"I like the satyr," Clay told him. The kid looked at Ray through long lashes, hesitant but curious.

Ray eyed Sonny's hand himself. Bravo 3 was absently rubbing Clay's back, small circles, as he stared off into space. Probably still eavesdropping despite Ray's warning.

"Have you met Annabeth yet?" Ray took a swig of his own beer, knocking Sonny's foot as his arm came back down. "She's my personal fave." Clay shook his head. Ray nodded, "Well then, best get reading."

Clay cast sidelong looks at Ray as he did just that. Each time he seemed to push closer to Sonny, as if burrowing into the man's stomach might protect him. Which, honestly, Ray couldn't fault him for. Sonny was a pretty damn good protector even when Clay wasn't a literal kid.

"You want anything, Son?" Ray asked as he stood up. He expected to grab him another beer, but Sonny hadn't actually drank any yet.

"Should probably feed the miniature here," Sonny ruffled Clay's hair and Ray was fairly positive his entire ribcage squeezed tighter. Freakin' adorable.

Ray spared another glance down at Spenser. The kid was watching him over the top edge of his book.

"I gotcha," he gestured with his beer as he walked away. Davis needed to be contacted ASAP - for food, sure, but also because Ray needed stills from the security footage.

Across the room Trent was stiffling his laughter by drowning himself in a bottle of beer. The phone in his hand was carefully pointed over the edge of the sofa beside him, the front facing camera zoomed as far as it went to capture the chair Sonny and Clay were sitting in.

"He's going to murder you," Ray shook his head as he passed by. Fingers already dialing Davis. He smirked, "Send me a copy."

The team's antics were not missed by their lead. Blackburn was watching Bravo from beside Jason. He was fairly sure Hayes was about to pop a vein, or a filling, the way he was grinding his teeth.

They were handling this as well as could be expected - better actually. Their primary focus seemed to be on a) not freaking out the kid and b) recording as much blackmail material as they could for when the situation was resolved.

Jason, however, seemed, objectively, freaked.

"So, no go on Ash, and the docs have got nothing." Jason was hunched over, nervous energy swirling around the master chief as he resisted the urge to pace. "Ellis hasn't found anything?

Blackburn pressed a hand to his face, pursed his lips. "Maybe." He eyed Clay out of the corner of his eye, took a step closer to Jason. "Apparently, the cave network is known as a starting point for self-discovery."

"What the hell does that mean?" Jason rolled his eyes, "The kid has no idea what's going on! Not exactly an opportunity for self-discovery."

"The locals seem to give it a wide berth, even the professor didn't know why." Blackburn felt a headache coming on. "Ellis found a single legend: some Tibetan myth about second-childhood. Professor said most people think its about dementia. Ellis has another theory."

Jason's chin raised, fingers grazed over his five o'clock shadow, "A literal second childhood."

Blackburn nodded, "I read the translation though, I see why they jumped to dementia." Jason raised an eyebrow, "People tend to relive a specific type of memory when dementia takes hold."

"The bad ones." Jason chanced a glance over at Spenser. The kid's face was puckered as he read, his head popped up to look at Sonny as he pointed at the page. "I don't see that."

"I looked at Ash's official record." Blackburned watched Hayes cross his arms. They'd both read the book, knew things had been left out. "Clay would have been three when he started Green Team. Probably only been on the Teams a year, tops, from the kid's perspective."

"Okay…"Jason furrowed his brow.

"You remember your first year on the teams," Blackburn looked at him with hard eyes, face angled down, "Emma was, what, a year?"

"Two."

"She handle that well?"

Jason pursed his lips. Green Team had put more strain on his family than his deployments had. His first year after he'd spent trying to prove himself, to Alanna and to his team leader.

"I still think Ash is our best bet," Jason ran a hand through his hair, ducked his head. Blackburn nodded. "I reach out to some of the guys who served with him, might be able to get something without actually talking to him."

Blackburn clapped him on the shoulder, "I'll let you know what we find." Davis entered the room, nodding to her superior officer as they passed. Two other logistic specialist walked in with her, arms loaded up.

"I come bearing fried chicken, french fries, and milkshakes," Davis announced to the room. She was quickly greeted by hollering and a squeal of joy.

I am attempting to weave in what I want to write (Baby Spenser being cute) with actual plot mobility. It is a struggle, and with the next chapter I'm failing pretty epically. ^^'

Thanks for reading! Reviews Appreciated!