CHAPTER 10

First please allow me to apologize for an extremely long delay between chapters. Those of you who know me; also know of my health issues. I am happy and grateful to report that I'm in remission and recovering every day. For those of you who kept in touch I humbly thank you. It's my hope to finish what I've started. Having written that, "Intervention" continues. MistyGirl1-I am forever in your debt. GoldAngel, Jen23, and WhiteSwan-Thanks so much.

The story continues…

Chief Anderson's thunderous tirade had finally begun to wane; the Condor having survived, or so he believed, the worst of the fallout. For twenty minutes, acting Commander of G-Force Jason Devereaux, sat motionless as Anderson ripped into him like an angry pit bull. The older man had the psychological advantage from the start and had been prepared for interrogation the moment Jason had set foot into his office. His handling of Mark's situation had been called 'irresponsible and immature'. His stature as an officer reduced to that of a little boy; the constant berating achingly similar to the feel of getting his dick caught between his pants zipper as an eight year old; once Anderson sank his teeth into you there was no letting go. Feeling very much like the kid he'd been called; Jason folded his arms in front of his chest, muttered an inexplicable word, and silently heaved in frustration at his own stupidity.

An irate Galaxy Security Chief spewed his list of recent discoveries as Jason's eyes averted from left to right, in an attempt to avoid Anderson's incriminating finger pointing directly into his face. In a voice laced with fury, Anderson scathingly reminded him of Mark's unauthorized return to his home; the break-in of his home by Spectran agents, Jason's use of the Federation's military police along with Tiny's involvement, and the threat of a Federation agent's exposure as Jason, with Mark as his passenger, led the Spectrans on a high speed car chase throughout the streets of Bay City. Adding to the mountain of evidence, before Jason could defend himself, was a video of Jason's blue sports car careening down the city's main strip on Anderson's large office projection screen.

"You and Mark seem to have forgotten the security cameras that are placed strategically throughout the city." Jason could only close his eyes tightly and blew between pursed lips as he dropped his head between his hands. It was barely past 8 am and he hadn't even had a cup of coffee yet. "It's just too early in the morning for this sort of shit!," his mind groaned.

Anderson tossed the projection's screen remote on his desk before throwing himself into his chair; his face a staunch mask as he watched the accused rub the grit from his eyes. "I'm waiting for an explanation and it had damn well better be a good one."

A moment or so passed before Jason warily opened his mouth to speak but Anderson cut him off obtrusively. "And don't take me to play with or I will rain down on you like a hail storm so help me." He was still nursing the remnants of this morning's hangover; rubbing at his temple as he spoke.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Jason muttered as he straightened in his seat. "Look Chief…I know that I should've come to you and I sort of screwed things up…"

"Sort of Condor?" Anderson echoed, hunching his shoulders. "To even say that you sort of screwed things up implies only a minor mistake; something trivial. What you did…" Anderson retorted, placing heavy emphasis on who was obviously at fault, "…and I'm going to put this as eloquently as I can…was unequivocally fucked up!" Adding the latter by slamming his fist on the surface of his large desk. "How dare you keep something of this magnitude from me!"

"Chief let's try to bring the level of tension down a few thousand feet alright?" Jason added, rubbing at his temple with nervous fingers. "I did intend to tell you but …"

"You and Princess have deliberately gone out of your way to protect Mark." Jason opened his mouth and immediately tried to rush to Princess' defense but wasn't quick enough. "And don't you dare try to deny it G-2! My daughter hasn't exactly been forthcoming since Mark moved in with her and I can't help but wonder just how much more in the dark am I being kept!"

Despite the grim set of Anderson's mouth Jason leaned forward, planting his elbows onto his mentor's desk. "Princess has just been trying to help Mark and so have I," he implored. "We want him to know we're there for him. All the way. "

"Neither of you are helping him if you aren't being straight with me," Anderson replied haughtily; his voice tight but now controlled. Pushing himself away from his desk, he leaned heavily back into his seat watching the young man sitting across from him with profoundly perceptive eyes. "Jason, the Eagle is in serious trouble and if I can't count on you to keep me informed then Mark needs to spend the remainder of his rehabilitation at Center Neptune."

"What good would it do him if he feels like an inmate? You might as well push him into a vat of quicksand," Jason replied caustically.

"It would keep his goddamn ass out of getting into any more trouble! That sensor on his ankle is there only to let us know where he is, not what he's thinking!," Anderson shot back. "Do you honestly think that I'd let anything happen to him?"

"Look at what has happened to him!," Jason stood up from his chair, flattening his palms against the desk's surface as he argued his point. "That was a Federation agent that pumped Mark with that experimental derivative…"

"A former Federation agent who defected to Spectra. We had no reason to believe that she would be able to carry out her experiments on any of you once she was severed from the Federation. Most of her data had been destroyed and the rest was filed away as classified. It was only until Mark had been returned to us that we realized we were mistaken."

"Returned barely alive," Jason protested.

"Yes! Barely alive! Which is what I'm trying to get through to you and that stubborn daughter of mine! If you keep withholding information I can't promise that Mark will even be here!"

Jason eyed Anderson suspiciously. "What do you mean by that?"

This time it was Anderson who was reluctant to speak. Several moments had passed between the two men before he finally motioned for Jason to sit back down into his seat. He lowered his eyes and licked at dry lips as he searched for a way to proceed; the task in itself almost impossible to relay.

"I met with the Federation board yesterday afternoon," he began quietly. "They reviewed Mark's case and have unanimously decided of his transfer. The plan is to provide him with a new identity and to send him to our sister planet, Riga. He would serve as a member of Rigan's elite fighter squadron pilots." Anderson watched the play of emotions over Jason's face as he continued. "You would be Mark's replacement."

After a long silent stare, Jason spoke in a noticeably shaky voice, "Chief… I don't want …I can't…I can't take Mark's place. Not this way. It's just wrong."

"What did you think would happen Jason? Surely you didn't think things would go back to the way they were."

"I mean I knew he'd be suspended. Hell, even suspected a probationary period but to just change his identity and send him to Riga?" Jason shook his head disbelievingly. "No; they can't do this to him Chief. Not Mark, not Mark. And after all that he's sacrificed for the Federation? If anyone deserves a second chance to prove himself he does."

Anderson tee-peed his fingers together, placing his elbows on the surface of his desk. "The final decision lies in the hands of President Kane. She'll be arriving from an East Coast Conference soon. It was my hope to provide her with some insight; allow her to see things from Mark's side and to reassure her of his compliance while he's undergoing therapy." His eyes held a wealth of regret. "It does not look good for him and given what's happened in the past 48 hours, I seriously doubt if President Kane would take Mark's case under consideration and reverse the board's proposal."

Jason covered his mouth briefly with one hand as his eyes scanned Anderson's office somberly. "Mark has no idea what's in store for him does he?"

"Jason, what I have told you has to be kept in the strictest confidence. Mark nor Princess can be told of this. Any more bad news might only disrupt Mark's progress; if for that matter he's making any gains at all."

"Alright; alright. I guess I can understand keeping this from Mark for now, but why can't Princess be told? She would want to know this."

"Because she's too emotionally involved as it is. She's been unable to separate duty from friendship." Jason once again attempted to defend the absent Swan but Anderson held up an intervening hand before the Condor could provide a justifiable explanation. "You have to for that matter."

The little boy in Jason once again resurfaced and he shifted uncomfortably from Anderson's scrutinizing eyes. The older man tapped at his desk's surface, waiting for the denial that never came.

Jason knew that, in truth, he had failed as acting Commander to some degree. If their situations were reversed, Mark wouldn't have hesitated to inform the Chief of Jason's indiscretions despite their friendship. The Eagle would've acted accordingly; putting the welfare of the team first.

The Condor stood up from his seat, clasped his hands together below his waist, and stared straight into the eyes of his mentor. "I'm sorry Chief," he said with the deepest conviction. "I was doing what I thought at the time was best for Mark. I'll admit I relied solely on Princess' feedback but I never intended to keep any of what's been going on from you. I just thought that I could handle things and report it to you at a later time."

Anderson adjusted his eye frames and motioned for Jason to return to his seat once more. "Tell me what you know. How is it that Mark left his session with Dr. Benjamin for his home?"

Damn it! That would be the first question he'd ask, Jason thought ruefully. He couldn't revert back to lying after just apologizing for keeping the truth from this man. Anderson had earned the title as 'The Human Bullshit Detector.' "I believe that Mark probably became upset about something. We kind of had words once he arrived to Prin's beach house. It got kind of nasty between us. Maybe he was talking about it with Dr. Benjamin, got upset, and left," he reluctantly confessed. Not exactly a lie but not the real reason for Mark splitting his session either. I can't tell him that Mark left because he saw Prin and I together.

Anderson's brown eyes darkened after that admission. He was immensely irritated; instinctively sensing that Jason was providing him with a half truth but gestured for him to continue.

Jason could see that small vein at Anderson's temple begin to enlarge before his eyes. He heaved a deep breath before responding. "Anyway once I realized that Mark had left the campus I went after him. I mean, I just knew he would go back to his place at the airstrip. I got there just after he did. The place had been torn apart and Mark was standing in the middle of it. We talked for a while. Straightened some things out. It wasn't until we got ready to leave that we realized we were being watched by Spectran agents. We took off in my car but they followed us. I eventually lost them before heading back to Prin's place. I later contacted the Federation's military police to secure Mark's place and had Tiny oversee the assignment."

Anderson shifted in his seat and removed his eyeglasses, nibbling on the tips of his frames. His brows lowered in annoyance before asking, "What's been going on with Mark? How has he been since living with Princess?"

"It's actually hard to fathom Chief. When we were headed for Prin's place Mark had this sort of strange episode. Almost like he was going into withdrawal. Sweating, racing pulse, heavy breathing, nausea. He was fine before we left his place and then after we lost those Spectrans; this thing he has; it hits him hard and fast. Princess mentioned that it's happened before and that she nurses him through it. The reaction seems to last a few hours and then it eases off. Mark manages to come through the worst of it unscathed."

Anderson replaced his glasses back over the bridge of his nose. "Hmmm. I had my suspicions of how Mark was getting along without proper monitoring. He and Princess should be arriving shortly. I intend to talk to them both but separately."

"Chief I don't understand. You suspected Mark might be having these problems but you didn't try to help him?"

"On the contrary. I expected Princess to report to me any changes in Mark's condition during his stay with her. I had no reason to doubt her, or so I thought, until now. We were led to believe that Mark was recovering from an alien derivative. Now it looks as if he's been given more than just a drug."

Anderson stood up and walked toward the nearest window with his hands in his pants pockets, his eyes sweeping over the IFPP's expansive campus. "I was always afraid of something like this happening. Valeria has created a toxin of sorts that has infiltrated Mark's central nervous system; blocking his body's proper response to acute stress levels. Whatever she gave him has disrupted his cerebonic implant's ability to function at maximum efficiency; inhibiting it's defense mechanism."

Anderson sighed and leaned his hand against the window's rectangular pane. "There's a structure within the brain; it's called an amygdala; located within the temporal lobe. It controls fear and anxiety. Dr. Baxter and I believe that whatever substance Valeria has given Mark is inhibiting it's ability to suppress normally. What would be considered a normal response to stress could manifest itself to extremes."

"So a potentially threatening situation would cause Mark to behave the way he has," Jason concluded. "When he gets upset, his body reacts in extreme defense mode.'

"That's right. Accelerated heart and lung action, constriction of the body's blood vessels causing intense pain, heated body temperature. But if Mark gets angry then his behavior could manifest into extreme aggression and combativeness. If this proves to be the case then Valeria's rendered Mark incapable of transmutation without causing him more harm." He turned to look at Jason over his shoulder. "Of course this is all a theory but Dr. Baxter and I have discussed this in length; long before Keye hacked into the Federation's classified files for information regarding Valeria's research."

"Did I forget to mention that?," Jason questioned while scratching at his nape.

Anderson was interrupted before he could respond to that remark by the buzz of his telephone. He rounded his desk and responded curtly, his fierce brown eyes still focused on a very sheepish looking G-2 as he pushed on the phone's speaker mode. "Yes Colleen?"

"The rest of the team is here Chief Anderson," his secretary answered.

"Thank you." Anderson released the button before sitting on the edge of his desk. "As far as I'm concerned G-2 this conversation is over. From now on you report to me any and everything that you see or hear. Are we clear on this?"

Jason rose from his seat and nodded obediently. "Yes sir. Crystal." He'd gotten off lightly; Anderson's reprimand could've been far worse.

"You're free to go," Anderson tilted his head in his panel door's direction.

Jason started to turn on his heel but couldn't bring himself to leave without asking Anderson some pertinent questions. "Chief, you're going to do everything you can to help Mark get out of this mess right? You don't think he deserves what the Federation board has planned for him do you?"

Anderson looked at Jason thoughtfully; leaning an elbow onto his thigh as he sat on his desk's edge. "No, I don't think that Mark deserves to be exiled. As for my helping him; I've never walked on water but I've been known to create a miracle or two in my lifetime." At this a small yet humorless smile was exchanged between the two men. "I promise to do everything that I can to help him. I'm going to see to it that Mark has a PET scan to determine the degree of damage that might've been caused by Valeria's derivative. I strongly believe that we can correct what might be an imbalance."

Seemingly satisfied, Jason nodded once more and headed for the office's exit.

"Jason." He stopped and turned at the sound of the authoritative voice calling his name; one brow dubiously raised.

"Mark couldn't ask for a better best friend," he remarked commendably. "I hope he realizes that."

"Thanks Chief," Jason answered gratefully. There were times that he felt he needed confirmation of that statement and this was one of them. He gestured with a slight nod before leaving Anderson's office.

As the panel doors slid open, the remaining G-Force members turned their heads to see Jason crossing Anderson's threshold. He was immediately flanked by both Keye and Tiny; each eager for Jason's feedback after his meeting with the Chief.

"Well what happened? What does he know?" Tiny began hammering as soon as the panel doors slid closed.

"Everything. He knows everything," Jason answered, capturing and holding Princess' look of concern from across the room. Mark took in the exchange from the opposite side; his expression indicating no surprise at Jason's recent statement. Not that Anderson's anger mattered much to him anyway. In Mark's mind it was the Chief who had a lot to answer for; his face reflecting his contempt.

"I knew it; I freakin' knew it," Keye griped. "My old man is like 'The Oracle' from those 'Matrix' movies. He knows you'll screw up before 'you know' that you'll screw up!"

"I took the brunt of his anger but things have simmered down. He wants to see you both," Jason implied with grey eyes darting from Princess to Mark. "But separately."

It was Princess' turn to look nervous, biting her bottom lip in the process. She'd knowingly kept things from her father and now she'd have to answer for the deception.

Sensing her hesitancy, Mark stepped towards Anderson's panel doors but Princess seized his arm before he could go any further. Not that her confidence had been restored but she felt it best if she entered ahead of Mark. "Don't," she responded with a shake of her head.

Her voice was calm; her intent evident. She would enter first. In fairness to her father; Anderson should be forewarned not only of Mark's continued anger towards him but of his reasons behind it. After that one spoken word Princess closed the distance between herself and Anderson's office. The panel doors slid open upon detecting her presence and immediately closed behind her.

As if on cue, all blameful eyes turned in Mark's direction. Mark returned the team's accusing stares with equal fervor.

"You're all looking at me as if though I pissed in your Cheerios this morning." He walked with outstretched hands towards the trio. "Care to share?," Mark asked with a distinct level of cynicism in his tone.

Jason, Tiny, and Keye looked tensely from one to the other. Remembering the talk he'd had with Chief Anderson earlier, Jason felt it best to tread carefully. He didn't want to cause Mark any additional stress.

The thick silence hovering in the room didn't last long. But before Jason could speak, Keye impulsively spoke ahead of him. "Yeah. Yeah I've got something to get off of my chest."

"Keye," Jason warned as he reached for the younger member of the team but Keye irritatingly brushed him off as he walked hurriedly towards Mark.

Mark held up an intervening hand. "No. Let him have his say Jase." Jason noted there was something in Mark's eyes that didn't match his willingness to let Keye speak. It was almost predatory in nature.

"You know I'm getting tired of walking on eggshells around you," he spoke doggedly pointing his fingers towards the accused. "Having to watch what I say or what I do because it might cause you some degree of emotional pain. My sister is in there with our father; defending herself and you to him. We're being forced to watch your every fucking move because you can't be trusted to be alone you simple son-of-a-bitch."

Keye then stood directly in front of the suspended commander. His face mirrored nervous irritation but his voice was filled with defiance. He had never faced up to Mark this way before. "Princess found you half dead in Sector 9 with a Spectran prostitute and then all but resuscitated you back to life. I watched her sit by your hospital bed day after day praying for your return as our commander. She let you live with her during your recovery although my dad disapproved of it because she believed you'd get your shit together. My father has been good to you. He all but raised you as his own and this is how you repay him…"

With a suddenness that threw Keye off balance, Mark grabbed him by his shirt collar and violently hoisted Keye up against the nearest wall. Jason and Tiny hadn't seen it coming. Their bodies were now on high alert.

Jason shouted, "Mark are you crazy?"

"Shut up!," Mark commanded sharply over his shoulder while keeping Keye a prisoner within his grasp.

"For Pete's sake, he's just a kid!" Tiny shot back readying himself to come to Keye's defense but Jason held him back.

"I said shut up!," Mark demanded angrily, all trace of his previous composure gone. His dark blue eyes had morphed into disturbing slits of resentment. "I'm not going to hurt him."

He turned his attention back to Keye; his voice deceptively calm, his face only an inch away from the dazed young officer. "But I am going to drop some knowledge in your ear you little shit. If your father had been half the man you seem to think he is then he wouldn't have lied to me all of these years. Pretending to befriend my family and taking the place of my biological father. Knowing of my father's existence and keeping it from my family. Watching my mother die from cancer and allowing my brother to get killed all before telling either of them that my father was still alive."

Mark clutched tighter at Keye's shirtfront as his voice rose to match his temper; shaking his captive with every enunciated reference of himself. "If anyone should be compensated for their trouble it should be me! I was lied to! I was kept in the dark for over 18 years of my life! I owe Anderson nothing! I gave my life to the Federation and got nothing but bullshit in return for my loyalty!"

Mark maintained his hold on the boy; the two watching each other with turbulent eyes. "You only know what your father wants you to know," he concluded venomously.

As abruptly as Mark had loosened his grip did Keye take advantage of his sudden release and swung a clenched fist at Mark's jaw in retaliation for the things said against his father. He'd barely clipped Mark's chin before the Eagle skillfully grabbed his right wrist; twisted the limb painfully behind the teenager and slammed him cheek-side against the very wall that previously aided in imprisoning him. Keye whimpered like a wounded animal.

"Alright already! That's enough! Damn it let him go!" Jason wrapped his arms around Mark's middle, pulling him away while Tiny disengaged Keye from his vice-like grip.

The situation had left both men trembling in its aftermath; each drawing in lungs full of air; blue eyes colliding with brown. Keye silently admitted defeat, with Tiny's urging, as he held onto his sore arm while attempting to catch his breath; his chest heaving indignantly. His cheek was red and stinging as a result of Mark's submission hold; his moist brown eyes filled with anger and disillusionment as the young man he'd looked up to like an older brother stared back unapologetically. The look on Mark's face was a quiet storm.

Jason maneuvered himself in front of Mark; keeping him at arm's length with the splay of his hand firmly on Mark's chest. "Keye there are things going on here that you don't understand." He then turned to Tiny and commanded quietly, "Get him out of here before Anderson comes out of his office." There was no chance of that happening soon; with the walls being soundproof and Princess having just entered. But Jason didn't want to chance it. Keye needed time to cool down and he needed distance from Mark.

"Come on Keye. Let's go have that arm checked out." Tiny placed a protective arm around Keye's shoulders and coaxed him towards the set of larger panel doors that led them out of the gathering room.

"What the hell was that?" Jason demanded the moment after their exit; shouting at Mark as he settled himself on the arm of the room's only sofa. "Have you lost what's left of your mind? Wailing on Keye! A sixteen year old kid? Anderson's kid?"

With his head in his hands and eyes tightly closed, Mark spoke through gritted teeth. "If Keye wants to play grown up then he should expect to be treated like a grown up." He didn't need this right now. He could literally feel his own blood coursing hot within his veins; the very force of it causing his entire body to throb, ricocheting from vessel to vessel. In a defensive gesture Mark folded his arms and rocked himself back and forth, trying to alleviate nervous tension.

"There's no fucking excuse for what you did! Keye is sixteen! Hell that's the only excuse he needs!" Jason thundered back as he made his way towards Mark. "You are supposed to be better than that! He's just as angry at you as you are angry with Anderson! You're the big brother he never had; the commander he placed on a pedestal! He's confused and he's hurting because we almost lost you!"

"I never asked to be placed on a pedestal!" Mark shouted in exasperation.

"When you were chosen to lead us you were!" Jason fired back; his anger eclipsing that of his best friend.

He continued to pace the floor in frustration. "Come on man you've got to give me something to work with here. I just took a bullet in the ass for you. I can't have you going off like a loose cannon." Jason then stopped, as the realization dawned on him, and put both hands to his hips. "If you could do that to Keye," he remarked, "…then who's to say you wouldn't do it to Princess."

Mark winced at that and then looked up. "I would never hurt Princess," he responded solemnly. "You know that."

Regretfully Jason eyed his troubled friend a few moments longer before averting his eyes. "I can't take that chance Mark. I can't trust you to do the right thing. You've become your own worst enemy."

What followed next was an eerie and demonstrative silence. An air of finality that would test their lifelong friendship. Having factored in his talk with Chief Anderson and witnessing Mark's irrational and dangerous behavior towards his fellow officer, Jason reluctantly came to his own conclusion.

The Condor squared his shoulders and stood ramrod straight as he spoke the following to the Eagle in an decisively authoritative tone, in an attempt to mask his true feelings. "As acting Commander of G-Force, I will make the recommendation to Chief Anderson that you complete the remainder of your rehabilitation at Center Neptune where you will be confined until it is deemed that you are no longer a threat to yourself nor anyone else. Effective immediately."

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