A Place in the Sun

Summary: Sequel to 'How to Save A Life' and 'Topsy Turvy.' Jade and Linksano are living a happy life with their friends and family. But when SOI and Charlene are kidnapped by a shady government agency, their fathers undertake a perilous journey to get them back.

Warnings: Threats of violence against a child, some cursing.

Pairings: Linksano/OC, SOI/OC Friendship.

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I only own my .

Chapter Two: The Gifted Children

SOI pressed closer to Charlene, purring. He was scared, but with his best friend there, he felt a little less scared than he did before. He closed his eyes, letting the sound of her heartbeat sooth him. She was right. Their Daddies would move universes to find them.

A door that neither child had noticed opened, and a light was switched on,revealing a tall, pale man wearing what SOI recognized as an outfit similar to what his Daddy sometimes wore, except this man didn't have the swirly goggles. Instead, he had on thick, horn rimmed glasses. "Ahh, good. You're finally awake." His voice sounded like a mule being kicked.

Charlene glared at him. "Where are we?"

The man smiled, and both children shivered at how fake it was. "You're in good hands. That's all you need to know. Can you tell me your names"

Charlene crossed her arms and shook her head. SOI trilled angrily. The man continued to smile. "No matter. We already know so much about you. For example you-" he pointed to Charlene- "Seem to have a gift for deciphering languages. Only four years old and already you speak Greek, Mandarin, French, Spanish, German, and another language we haven't been able to identify yet. That's not counting your learning capacity. You have an I.Q that can't be measured by standard tests. And you're only four. And you"- he turned to SOI "Are the product of a science experiment that gained emotion, intelligence, and sentience. You also seem to have a very high I.Q, but standard tests would not work on you."

Charlene frowned at him. "How do you know so much about us?"

"We've been monitoring you since you both were born, or in the pink thing's case, created. We handle anomalies like you."

Charlene stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm not a nomalie, I'm a girl. And he is not a pink thing, he's my friend! And you'd better let us both go, or you'll be sorry!"

The man tsked. "Surely you don't want to leave without meeting some of the other children? Besides, you're pretty much stuck here. No one can find us."

SOI and Charlene smirked at him. "Our Daddies can. They'll find us, and when they do, they'll burn this whole place to the ground and you'll wish you were never born and.." Charlene's words were cut off when the man backhanded her, sending her to the floor.

SOI growled and launched himself at the man, tendrils extended. The scientist smacked him as well, sending him tumbling through the air.

"See what you made me do! I didn't want to be mean, but you left me no choice." The man sighed. "Still, I promised the Director that I'd let the others interact with you, so I'll have them brought in here." He turned on his heel and left.

Charlene sat up, wiping the blood off her lip. "SOI, you okay?"

"Riki, Riki."

Charlene patted his tendrils. "Me too. But don't believe him. Our Daddies can find anyone. They'll find us." She heard movement behind her and turned around, staring in slight shock at the small group of children that had entered the room. "Hi."

They all looked scared and underfed. One, a little girl who looked about four, was sucking on her fingers, staring at nothing. Charlene smiled at them. "My name's Charlene." No response, and she pointed to SOI. "This is SOI. That stands for Son of Insano."

"That's a ball." One of the kids said, scoffing. SOI floated over to him.

"Riki, Riki tee!"

"Huh?"

Charlene giggled. "He said he's not a ball, you're a square." The kid glared at SOI, who trilled in laughter. Charlene giggled as well. "He's really nice, honest. But he doesn't like being called a ball. So what's your name?"

"Richard. I'm eight. This is Holly, Jake, Adam, Grant, Sophia, and Gerald. Holly's six, Jake and Adam are five, and the rest are four. How old are you?"

"I'm four, and SOI is six. How come you guys are here?"

Sophia removed her fingers from her mouth. "Because we're special. My Mommy brought me here 'cause she was scared of me."

Charlene gasped. "Why would your Mommy be scared of you?"

" 'Cause I can make things move if I think real hard. It's called tel-e-ken-es-is." Sophie grinned in pride as she sounded out the hard word. "I accidentally made Mommy hang upside down when I was mad at her, and she sent me here."

"How long have you been here?"

Sophie frowned. "Long time. I don't like it here, but Mommy won't come and get me."

Charlene looked at the others. "And you guys?"

Richard smirked. "I can make drawings that come real, Jake can read minds, Holly and Adam can put together anything if they see plans for it, and Grant and Gerald can change their shapes. We're anomalies. You probably don't know what that is. An anomaly.."

Charlene rolled her eyes. "An anomaly is anything that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected. It can also be called an oddity, peculiarity, quirk, aberration, incongruity, or just "wow, that's weird." Richard's jaw dropped. "My Daddy told me about anomalies when I was two."

"Oh. So what can you do?"

Charlene shrugged. "I'm good at understanding other languages, and I'm super smart. But I can't do much else. The real question is why are we all here? What's this place for?"

"I'm so glad you asked that." Standing in the door was a large, smiling man wearing a lab coat, scrubs, and a wide-brimmed hat. "I'm Dr. Merkle,head of this project. You children are very special, and you're going to play a very important role in future events." He smiled at Charlene.

"Especially you-hybrid."

"Damn it! No match." Linksano looked up from the computer. He had been trying to analyze the make up of the chemical that had knocked Jade out, with no success. He leaned back, rubbing his eyes. Jade was at home, sleeping. She did not seem to have suffered any ill effects, but Harvey had volunteered to stay with her just to be on the safe side.

Insano scooted his chair across the room and peeked over Linksano's shoulder. "Nothing?"

"Not a Tesla-blessed thing. Any luck on your end?"

Insano nodded. "Microscopic analysis of the dart revealed a set of numbers. 38457835469. I've asked Nimue to calculate what they could be, but it's going to take hours." He sighed. "Meanwhile, all we can do is hope that our children are safe."

"No, it is not all we can do! We've got sources besides Nimue and Linkara's bunch!"

Insano face palmed, looking at his fellow scientist in annoyance. "You can't possibly be suggesting..."

Linksano nodded. "That is exactly what I'm suggesting."

"I've tried to kill them! I stole Critic's house! I'm pretty much the enemy of that whole damn site! They're annoying, idiotic,"

"And right now they're our only hope. Nimue! Initiate Skype call with any members of Channel Awesome that are available!"

'AFFIRMATIVE.'

Linksano logged into Skype, grinning as the chat filled up. "OK, we've got Critic, Snob, Chick, The Other Guy, A...oh Tesla...Lupa, and Film Brain."

'ALL OTHERS ARE EITHER OFFLINE OR NOT AVAILABLE.'

Critic was the first to speak. "Insano, this had better fucking be important. And who the fuck gave Guy a Skype account?!"

Guy, Critic's twin brother, smirked. "That's a very good question. And the answer is.."

"NOT NOW, GUY!" Came a chorus of angry voices. Guy frowned, but fell silent. Insano took a deep breath.

"Look, I know I'm not exactly the site's most liked person. I know I've managed to piss every single one of you off at one point or another."

"You can say that again," said Chick. "Trying to kill Critic in Kickassia."

"...He had gone insane."

Snob rolled his eyes. "Not giving us enough details about the Plot Hole's powers."

"You stole all my shit!"

Rob frowned. "Stealing the Exit Strategy."

"Writing Secret of NIMH 2!" Critic shouted, causing everyone to shudder.

"THIS ISN'T ABOUT ME!" Insano screamed in anger. Everyone fell silent, shocked at the outburst. Film Brain was the first to break the silence.

"What is it about?"

"SOI. He..." Insano's breath hitched. "He's missing. Charlene as well. Whatever you may think of me, and Tesla knows you're probably right to think it, I love my son, and the idea of not knowing where he is...it's devastating. I need help. We...need help. Please, help us find our children."

Critic gulped, then spoke in a solemn tone. "What can we do?"

Linksano smiled in gratitude. "Put the word out. Use whatever resources you have at your disposal to find out where they are."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Film Brain spoke next. "What will you do when you find who took them?"

Insano cackled. "Make them wish they were never born."