CHAPTER 10

"Why is this this so hard? Why must I do everything myself?"

"Sir," Adelino said, rubbing his still sore shoulder were he had been shot, "He got lucky, that's all I can say. I've worked for you before, you said yourself I was a good shot. This Stringfellow Hawke guy obviously has more than a suped up copter on his side."

"What's your excuse with his older brother then?" Ansagar asked irritably.

"Better pilot than I figured on, I was trying to make it look like an accident, not kill everyone on the set."

"And you said the kid is taken care of?"

"Yes sir, he happened to get sick at a very opportune time, kid's barely hanging on at all, and when his tired little lungs finally give out there's a good possibility it'll take out at least one other member of the family along with him."

"Good. I anxiously await you reporting to me this has finally happened. What about the wife and those other kids?"

"Caitlin, the wife, is already about to have a breakdown, she shouldn't be hard to take care of. And the other two, they're just fifteen and six, how hard can it be?"

"Just don't underestimate anyone else." Ansagar warned. "By now they undoubtedly know something is going on, and I don't want them alive long enough to find out what."

\A/

Le took the key out of his pocket and unlocked the door, dreading his father coming home tonight. He wouldn't be happy, he couldn't blame him, but that wasn't going to make this anymore pleasant. At least he didn't have any homework tonight, he though humorlessly, dropping his backpack just inside the door. Maybe he should just lock himself in his room now since that was where he'd be spending the next three years of his life anyway. He left the despised slip of paper on the kitchen counter, deciding it would be better for him to find it when he first walked in rather than when the principal would call later tonight. Grabbing the opened back of nearly stale potato chips, he headed out for the balcony, opting to make the most out of the last sunlight he would be seeing in a while.

What he hadn't been expecting was Joshua sliding the door open, followed by Saint John.

"Something you want to explain? Like perhaps how you managed to get yourself expelled?"

"It's a long story."

"And it better be a good one."

"You remember Matthew, the kid I supposedly got in a fight with at school last week. Well, we got into a little argument and people started taking his side. There was a food fight… I left the cafeteria, but Mattie was there waiting."

"And?" Saint John prodded.

"And he started swinging at me, called me a liar and a thief and fought back, a little too much," he added quietly.

"How much is a little too much?" Saint John asked, pinning him with an accusatory stare.

"I broke his nose… and his arm…."

"What was this whole thing about? What could be so important for you to get yourself into a mess like this?"

"He says I stole his pen," Le answered almost inaudibly.

"His pen?! You got expelled over a lousy twenty-five cent pen?!"

"Yeah," Le replied sheepishly. "He said I'd been causing trouble too long and this was another step beyond the lone I crossed a long time ago."

\A/

Early the Next Morning

The Hangar

String entered the office, closing the door behind him and sitting in a chair across from his older brother. "You said you needed to talk?"

"First off, I want to apologize for barging in yesterday, for anything I might have interrupted. Secondly, I need to ask your advice."

"My advice?"

"Yeah, about the whole parenting thing in general."

"I can't recall my parenting advice being much sought after, especially considering I have a child in the hospital, probably just because I was too stubborn to take him to the doctor when he first got sick, but if you really want my advice… I'll see what I can do."

"Joshua is starting to feel a little more at home in my apartment, and I'm glad for that, but sometimes I just don't know what to do with him. I don't even know what he likes, he spends more time with Le than anyone else, and at the moment that's an influence I'm not sure I want to rub off. I know everyone has been a little stressed lately, but the dean was right, this wouldn't be the first time he's gotten in trouble, and he got expelled yesterday - over a pen no less."

"A pen? As in the thing you write with?"

"One and the same. It's a long story and I'd rather not have to explain."

"Alright, I don't know how my advice will be, but take it for what it's worth. Try spending a little more time with Josh, see what he like, if nothing else, make it a game and interview him. I'll leave you to come up with your own way of dealing with Le, but while he lived with me I found he could be pretty amiable, but he's a bit restless and doesn't like a whole lot of routine, why don't you let Cait and I take him for a couple days, maybe a week, give you two a little time a part and some time to think."

"Thanks, I appreciate it, but I shouldn't be pawning off my problems on you."

"It's no problem, besides, I'm sure we could find plenty of work to keep him busy, and the cabin is a bit only without Chance there."

"I might just take you up on that offer then. How is Chance anyway? I was meaning to run by the hospital this morning and see him, perhaps drop by Ellie's room before I left, but things were a little hectic."

"He's doing…. Well, he's not any worse. Not much better either though. We're hoping whatever it is has just about run its course and should start clearing up anytime now though. Any new news on Ellie?"

"No, the doctors aren't holding out a lot of hope I don't think, but… I don't know. Maybe, I mean she might still come out of it, it is still possible."

"I hope she does, Sinj, I hope she does for both of you."

\A/

"I think she's finally all patched up," Dom said, spinning the tail rotor in satisfaction. "Should be good to go."

"You gonna take her up then? Because I don't want to, then have you blaming me when it has to be towed in again," Saint John teased.

"Good as gold."

"It better be. Looks like there's a charter upstate one of us needs to take tomorrow. Any volunteers?"

"String and Cait have a kid in the hospital, and I know you have plenty going on too, so I think it's best if I take this one."

"You sure Dom? I know it hasn't really been any easier on you than it has on the rest of us."

"It's part of running a business, kid. Sometimes you have to do things you don't want to - part of business, part of life."

"Yeah, I know."

"Well, you guys don't get into too much trouble while I'm gone; I know how you like to do that."

"We won't, at least not unless it comes looking for us," Saint John added in a lighter tone.

"It must run in your blood, that's all I can say."

"Any time, any place - if there's trouble you can find us there."