Chapter Ten: Wind in the Sails

"So how come his eyes turn red?"

Ed glanced up from where Lou had set up Spike's laptop to bring up all the evidence they had thus far on their lieutenant's case – including everything Team Four had gotten from the prison the day of the riot. With any luck, Elias's people might be able to fill in the blanks on Greg's first cell mate; General Population was bad enough without sticking a veteran cop in with a known gangster with a long history of drugs, violence, and attempted murder, but the Sergeant had a feeling his best friend's cell mate had been chosen very carefully indeed.

The sniper hiked a shoulder. "That's his magic."

"Yeah," Scarface countered. "But why red?"

He blinked, trading a glance with Wordy, who shrugged back. Shifting back to the mobster, Ed drawled, "You figure that out, let us know."

For a moment, Marconi bristled, glaring at them as if they were deliberately holding back. After a few seconds, Bennet poked his boss, shaking his head when Scarface turned to him. Incredulous, he swung back. "You really don't know?"

A flippant response tingled and Ed bit down on it, eyeballing his rival until the other man squirmed. "Since the day we found out, it's been red," the Sergeant replied, tone flat. "That's his color." Very deliberately, he shrugged one shoulder again. "Believe me, the color hasn't been nearly as much a thorn in Greg's side as the magic."

The mobster bristled anew at the reminder that the team had refused, point-blank, to discuss the details of their lieutenant's magical background and history. They'd had to explain the wizarding world and even give a general overview of Parker's many, many issues with his power, but details? Not. A. Chance.

Lou swallowed down a sigh, turning away from his Sergeant and team leader – the rivalry between Ed and Scarface had gotten old fast the first time they'd gone undercover and never mind Wordy's sudden acquisition of his own criminal rival. Edging himself and Spike's laptop closer to Fanny Bennet, he waited for her suspicious glare to land on him before tilting his chin invitingly at the laptop.

The blonde glared harder, but when Lou turned the laptop just a hair more towards her, she glanced between the cop and the glowing screen – a screen that both of them knew had information about their leader. Much as the less-lethal specialist didn't want to admit it, so long as Elias's people considered him their boss, Parker would return that loyalty within the bounds of the law and his position as the SRU's lieutenant.

At last, the blonde stepped towards the laptop, though she crossed her arms, continuing to glare at the cop – fully expecting to be judged in turn. Instead, Lou tapped at the keyboard, bringing up the mug shot of Sarge's first cell mate.

"Who's that?"

The tan-skinned officer tapped again, bringing up the man's name under his picture. "Ever heard of him?"

Fanny leaned in, reading the screen, glare fading as she shook her head. "Thomas…Thomas keeps me away from the business."

The woman's faint shudder, coupled with her suddenly timid voice, spoke volumes to the experienced SRU constable. He glanced up at Fanny, keeping his own voice even and steady. "Sarge cracked down on all the domestic abuse, didn't he?"

"Thomas has never hurt me," the blonde hissed.

"Didn't say he had," Lou countered, meeting her angry glare head-on. "But what about the other chiefs?" He nodded when she averted her gaze, a second, stronger shudder moving through her body. "Domestic abuse ticks Sarge off – I remember once, he found out a constable on another team had a lil too much to drink one night at home and smacked the family dog. Not even his wife or his kids, just the dog. Sarge wrote 'im up, made sure he got an official warning in his file. Said anyone who hits an animal is just one small step away from hitting a human instead."

"Elias would have thrashed him," Fanny retorted.

Lou arched a brow. "You do know we're talking about the same guy, right?"

"You think Elias is stronger, don't you?" Sam shook his head as his teammate and Fanny shifted towards him. "Of course Elias thrashed anyone who didn't do what he told 'em to – physical force is how you maintain authority and discipline around here."

"Most cops would've ignored what happened," Jules agreed, slipping up next to Lou. "Played it off as a one-time thing or maybe given that guy a 'don't-do-it-again' warning. Nothing official." She shook her head. "Not Sarge; when that guy's Sergeant tried to appeal to Commander Holleran to get the written warning revoked, Sarge threatened to go to IA."

The less-lethal specialist nodded – none of them except Ed would've known about the incident, but the then-team leader wanted to know why their Sergeant wouldn't let it go, even to the point of becoming a 'snitch'. Sarge's explanation was so tightly controlled that he'd nearly been speaking in a monotone as he laid out the potential escalation path for someone who mixed alcohol abuse with animal abuse. When he'd taken Team One off primary for the next week, none of them had breathed a word of protest; they'd seen their leader's hands trembling for over an hour after that explanation and all of them knew Ed had checked Sarge's locker for alcohol every morning for over three weeks afterwards. At Sarge's request.

Shaking off the memories, Lou focused back on Fanny. "Sarge didn't need to thrash that guy to make him stop. All he needed was his pen and his reputation." The constable studied the blonde for a long moment. "How many times did Elias actually beat someone up?"

"Thrashed every cop we caught tryin' to sneak in."

He stiffened automatically – saw Jules and Sam tense up as well – but the less-lethal specialist wasn't as easy to rile as his green-with-envy Sergeant and team leader. Lou met Bennet's smug expression with a lifted brow and settled back in his chair, deliberately nonchalant. "Was that before or after he put Scarface in his place?"

He hadn't been sure, but Bennet's smug expression fell away in a bristle every bit as automatic as if Wordy had been defending Ed.

"Look. We get it – you don't like cops; we don't like criminals." One hand slashed across before Bennet could interrupt. "Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter if you call him Elias or Sarge, doesn't matter if you're a cop or a criminal – he looks after his own and we look after him." Dark eyes locked with Bennet's brown. "You weren't surprised, were you? To find out he was a cop?"

Reluctantly, Bennet shook his head.

The constable nodded, sad, but sure of his conclusions. "He was always different, wasn't he? Not like any boss you've ever had before. Betcha there was a part of you that always knew, but you didn't want to admit it. Not even to yourself, 'cause that meant admitting that your world was wrong."

Lou leaned forward, snagging his opponent's gaze. But before he could continue, keen hearing caught the pitter-patter of small feet. His head swung to the side, towards the noise, just in time to see a little blonde girl with light blue eyes. She scrambled into the room, darting to her mother with hands lifting in silent expectation.

Fanny stooped down, sweeping the girl up; Bennet turned towards his wife and daughter, an instinctive smile spreading across his face. The child smiled back at her father before her lip jutted out in a pout. "Mommy, Mistuh Eli's door won't open. I knocked and tugged and a mean lady yelled at me to go away."

"I'm sorry, my little Jane," Fanny said, "The doctors are in with Mister Eli right now – they need some time to help Mister Eli get better."

Jane pondered that, pout falling away for several seconds before it returned as her lip jutted out even farther than the first time. "But I wanna talk to Mistuh Eli!"

Lou choked down his laugh and saw Sam cover his mouth to keep in his own laughter. Jules maintained a calm expression, but her eyes twinkled.

The matronly blonde stroked her daughter's back with her free hand. "Mister Eli is very sick right now, Jane. We have to let the doctors take care of him."

Light blue eyes moved from Fanny to Bennet, growing wide as a tear trickled out of one. "Daddy?"

Bennet reared back from the little girl's pleading expression, rubbing the back of his head as he looked everywhere but at his daughter's tearful gaze. "You heard your mother, Jane."

Lou could see a losing proposition when he saw one and if Bennet thought his daughter was going to let him get away with hiding behind her mother, he had another thing coming. But at the same time, there was no way Susan was going to let anyone inside that room until she'd gotten Sarge stabilized.

So the constable propped one elbow on the table, careful to avoid Spike's laptop, balanced his chin on his hand, and drawled, "You know, nobody knows if Susan's bark is worse than her bite." He waited for Bennet to swing towards him, scowling, then added the punch line. "That's 'cause nobody survives the bark long enough to get the bite."

Bennet opened his mouth to retort, only to be cut off by a girlish squeal. "Mistuh Lou!"

"Heya, sweetheart," Lou called back, ignoring Sam's soft snicker.

Jane squirmed free from her mother, tumbling down to the ground, and immediately bounced over to the tan-skinned constable. A fresh pout appeared on her little face. "You and Mistuh Spike went away."

The lean man eased off his chair, crouching down to Jane's level. "Yeah, we did," he admitted. "Kinda had to go back to our day jobs."

Glancing around, the blonde demanded, "Where Mistuh Spike?"

He flinched, gaze automatically shifting back and up to the laptop. Spike's laptop. The laptop that, more and more, was becoming his. They were still waiting, still hoping, but the longer it went, the less likely it became that Spike would recover. That he would get his sight back and return to active duty.

A small hand touched his wrist, pulling him back to little Jane. "Did…" she asked, stopping for a moment before whispering, "Did the bad men take Mistuh Spike away?"

"No." Immediate, instinctive, but there was a tremor he couldn't quite suppress. An ache in his soul, right where his brother by heart should've been.

Jules saved him. She knelt on the other side of the little girl, gently tugging her away from Lou. "Spike isn't here because he got hurt a few months ago," she explained.

"Hurt like Mistuh Eli?"

Both constables hesitated, trading uncertain looks. Then Lou sighed and eased himself down to a cross-legged seated position, gesturing for Jane to come back to him. Once she did, he leaned forward, just enough so their faces were on the same level. "Jane, Spike and I…" He hesitated one last time, then forged ahead, "We're cops, Jane."

Jane gasped, fleeing back to her father; he swept her up, a somber expression on his face.

Lou stayed where he was, fighting back an irrational wave of self-hatred at the fear his job had inspired in the little girl. He felt a hand touch his shoulder – Sam – and Jules inched closer from the other side, reaching out to rest her palm on his arm.

Then, from the safety of her father's arms, Jane turned back towards the three officers, light blue eyes narrow with wary suspicion. "Are you Mistuh Eli's cops?"

"We are."

Lou jumped, craning around to see Ed and Wordy had finally abandoned their argument with Scarface to join the discussion. The brunet team leader arched one brow, casting their Sergeant a bemused 'we-are?' look.

Ed ignored the quizzical expressions on his constables' faces, focusing on the Bennets. "Both your girls are here?"

Bennet's deep blue eyes narrowed, but before he could speak, Fanny laid her hand on his arm. "Why?" she asked.

The Sergeant stiffened a hair, then sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Once Susan gets Greg stabilized, she'll open the door again, but he's not gonna be up to much." He nodded to Jane. "If she gets in there, he'll put on a brave face for her, but he'll pay for it afterwards."

Again, Bennet started to bristle, only for his wife to gently tug on his arm, giving him a chiding look. "What do you propose?" she inquired.

Lane grimaced, but kept going. "Spike's been sidelined since he got hurt." He nodded to Jane. "If she's willing to be his eyes, he can look after her and your other daughter – Lizzy."

"What's that mean?" Jane piped up. "Did Mistuh Spike lose his eyes?"

"No, he didn't," Wordy cut in. "But, um, the reason he can't come back to work is…" He trailed off, sucked in a breath, then blurted, "He's blind."

Fanny gasped, hands rising to her mouth, Bennet took a reflexive step back, and even Scarface flinched at the idea of going blind. Still on the floor, Lou closed his eyes, grief tightening in his chest – he felt Jules and Sam's hands, warming his skin, but unable to touch the empty place at his side. The place where Spike should've been.

"He's gotten pretty good at getting around, figuring out what's going on, even though he can't see," Ed said, pulling attention back to himself. "Maybe he can't help with the heavy lifting on this one, but he can help keep Jane, Lizzy, and any other kids you've got here outta trouble."

What? Ed wanted Spike here? He wanted Spike in the middle of Carl Elias's gang while he was blind? Lou shifted on the floor, giving his Sergeant a 'what-are-you-doing?' glare, but Ed's hands moved in a swift series of signals. Stand down. Eyes in. Follow my lead.

Wordy's eyes widened a hair before he tilted his head in acceptance; Lou felt Sam's hand tighten on his shoulder. He swallowed hard, then pushed himself up, already reaching for his phone. "You want me to make the call, Boss?"

"No," the Sergeant replied. "Need you on the laptop; we need all the intel we can get on our escapees and Greg's first cellmate." Blue flicked sideways. "Sam, Jules; call Spike and see if he's up for coming off the bench."

"Ed!" Jules protested.

"Jules." Calm, unwavering. "Call him in; it's about time we pulled our team back together; he might be blind, but he's still one of us."

The petite negotiator considered, staring at her Sergeant for close to a minute. At last, she nodded acceptance. "Copy that, Ed. I'll go pick him up." She paused, reaching out to touch her boyfriend's arm; they traded a glance that was as warm as a hug, then Sam briefly covered Jules' hand and squeezed before stepping back towards their teammates.

Sergeant Lane welcomed his fellow sniper with a quick nod. "Okay," he said, shifting his weight to turn towards the laptop sitting open on the table. "Let's start with Greg's cellmate."

Jules nodded to herself as she hung up her phone – Gwen had answered Spike's phone, but as soon as she found out why Jules was calling, she promised to get Spike ready to go along with a small bag for some clothing and his daily potion regime. Apparently, the home health care aid agreed with Ed that getting Spike back in the action was just what the Healer ordered.

She still wasn't so sure – if Elias's people turned on them for being cops, Spike wouldn't be able to defend himself. But… Her mind replayed what she'd seen in those brief moments inside Sarge's room and she shuddered. Sarge wasn't able to defend himself either, which meant they were entirely dependent on Scarface's good will and control over Carl Elias's organization.

"Jane and I will come with you."

The brunette negotiator turned at the sound of Fanny Bennet's voice. Little Jane Bennet was bouncing in her mother's arms, though she gave Jules a highly suspicious glare. Hurt needled at her, but she kept her expression still – calm and open. "Would you like to come in my truck or do we need to take your car?"

Fanny considered, glancing down at her daughter. "I can move the car seats from my car," she offered. "My car is…rather small."

Jules smiled back at the other woman, grateful for the compromise. Spike was a lot better than he'd been in the very beginning, but keeping him in familiar surroundings was still their best strategy for handling his blindness.

It took about fifteen minutes to move the car seats from Fanny Bennet's small sedan to Jules' black SRU truck. Jane huffed, but crawled up into her car seat with a boost from Jules while Fanny strapped her younger daughter Lizzy in the other. Then the two women took the front seats and Jules guided the truck out of the small underground parking lot and onto the main road. She scanned the nearby street signs, nodding to herself as she decided on the best route to Spike's apartment building.

"Miss Jules?" Jane asked from the backseat, shyly cautious, but with a daring note to her voice.

"Yes?"

"How did Mistuh Spike get hurt?"

Jules grimaced, but knew she'd have to explain, though she'd stick with the cover story. Yeah, they'd had to explain magic to Scarface, Bennet, and Fanny, but that did not mean they had to explain everything.

"Well, Miss Jane, my team, we try our best to bring everyone home alive, even the people we're arresting," she explained. "One of the things we use to do that is called a flash-bang – it makes a really bright flash and sounds really loud, so we can catch people by surprise, even if they know we're coming." She took a breath, giving Jane and Fanny time to absorb what she was saying. "We always carry our flash-bangs on our belts, so we can grab them and throw them when we need to, and there was a subject… There was a guy we were trying to arrest and he tackled Spike. Before we could jump in and help Spike, the guy managed to grab one of Spike's flash-bangs and he set it off in both their faces. We got them to the hospital, but Spike… His sight still hasn't come back."

"Did Mistuh Eli whup 'im good?"

"Jane Molly Bennet! Where did you hear that sort of language?" Fanny demanded.

Jules covered her laughter with a hasty cough, though her expression turned sorrowful. If only Sarge could've done that to the Welsh Green who'd really attacked Spike. But… She tapped her lower lip, thinking. The White Dragon had certainly delivered a beating that Welsh Green wasn't likely to ever forget. So, in a way, Jane was right – there had been revenge on Spike's behalf. Just not from their team.

Too bad Aithusa couldn't give Spike his sight back, too.

Sam joined his teammates around Lou's laptop, subtly edging between his Sergeant and Scarface. On the screen, he saw the name and mugshot of Sarge's first cellmate. Lou settled in the chair, fingers idly tapping against the laptop's plastic casing.

"You know this guy?" Sam asked, gesturing to the screen.

Scarface and Bennet eyed the mugshot, expressions still rather sour. After a moment, Bennet grunted and nodded. "Used to be a friend of mine, back in the 'hood. Offered to put in a good word with Troy for me and Fanny."

"You were having trouble with the Boss?" Wordy asked, surprised.

"No, it was before," Bennet replied, shifting uneasily. "This was always Elias's gang, but none of us met him for a year, at least."

Scarface nodded agreement with his second. " 'Fore the Boss showed up, the chiefs all did their own thing. If Boss hadn't shown up when he did, organization wouldn't've lasted much longer."

The constables traded confused glances, but their Sergeant frowned at the laptop, eyes going distant. Blue narrowed, Ed's jaw clenching, and Wordy stepped on his foot right as he opened his mouth. Mentally, Sam exhaled relief; they didn't need Elias's guys hearing Ed swear in Ancient Egyptian or, worse, Sumerian. Even if it would be funny to see the looks on their faces.

Ed jabbed Wordy's side with his elbow in retaliation for the foot stomp, but there wasn't any heat behind the obligatory glare. "Holleran told us they'd been tryin' to get Greg undercover for awhile before they went over his head and forced it."

"You knew?" Scarface demanded.

All four officers shook their heads. "Not till after the factory fire," Sam informed the two criminals. A scowl emerged. "Brenda and Pollux Troy managed to put a gag order on the Boss and Holleran – they couldn't tell us."

Wordy cleared his throat before they could get completely derailed. "Boss, you think they set up the Elias cover and the whole organization before they tried to put Sarge under?"

"It fits," Lou put in. "Ed, any idea when they first started tryin' to recruit Sarge?"

A single headshake. "Greg might know, but I only know what Holleran told all of us." The Sergeant shifted back towards Bennet, arching a brow. "Once Greg was actually undercover and took over, things got better?"

The craggy-faced man nodded. "I was getting really close to leaving," he admitted. "One of the chiefs kept coming after Fanny, even after she'd told him 'no' and I'd knocked out a couple teeth. The last time, he scared the girls."

"Sarge caught him?" Wordy ventured.

Scarface growled. "Bennet. Was that one of the chiefs the Boss thrashed?" He rumbled approval when his second glanced at him, surprised. "No wonder you wanted ta talk to him alone after."

To the cops' surprise, Bennet flushed, just a little, and ducked his head, rubbing the back of his neck. "He, uh, he gave me two phone numbers to call if Fanny ever had trouble again and he wasn't around."

Sam straightened. "You still have them?"

The slightly graying brunet blinked, then dug in his jacket, pulling out a small, battered notepad. Flipping it open, he browsed through the pages a moment, then perked up and held out the notepad. Sam took it, feeling his breath catch as soon as he saw the neatly printed phone numbers, right below a very familiar phrase.

"Ed. It's your phone number. And Word's."

His Sergeant and team leader froze, staring at him – that had been right in the middle of Sarge's 'bender', when he'd been pushing them away as hard as he could. And they'd let him, all of them except Ed – and even Ed had finally given up on their boss in the very end. The team never talked about it, but they all lived with the shame of it – the shame of letting Sarge down right when he needed their backup the most.

"And he's got his OMAC code here, too," Sam added, running a finger under words he knew by heart. He looked up at Bennet. "You were supposed to call one of the numbers and use this phrase?"

Bennet nodded hesitantly, then his jaw furrowed in thought. "Think he knew I'd say Elias gave me the number, but…" He stared at the notepad. "What's an OMAC code?"

"It's a verification," Lou offered. "If you'd called, Ed and Wordy – they wouldn't have had a clue how some mob boss got their personal numbers, but as soon as you said the OMAC code, they'd've known it was Sarge."

Both mobsters stared at them. "Just from four words?" Scarface spluttered.

"Yep," Sam confirmed. Looking down at the notepad, he whispered, "He never lost faith in us." Guilt twisted inside, sharper than a dagger.

Ed reached out, taking the notepad so he could look himself. A low whistle came from the Sergeant and he looked Bennet right in the eye, light blue to dark blue. "He was willing to blow his cover for you."

At the bewildered expression on the other man's face, the lean sniper shook his head and held up the notepad. "Soon as you gave one of us the OMAC code, we'd've known that Carl Elias and Greg Parker were the same person. And we would've pulled him out – we didn't know about Castor Troy, that Castor Troy had a major grudge against the Boss for arresting him twenty years ago."

"If you're his friends, how come you didn't know?" Bennet demanded, indignant and plaintive, all at the same time.

The sniper grimaced. "I didn't meet him till a couple years after the Castor Troy trial," he replied. "By then, he was keeping it quiet and all the rumors had died down, too." He shook his head, though not at the mobsters. "None of us knew. Not until after the factory fire when Holleran told us everything."

For close to a minute, silence hung between the two groups, though Ed gave the notepad back to Bennet. He stared down at the numbers in the book and traced his finger under the OMAC code, still bewildered by the idea that an undercover cop had been willing to blow his cover to protect a criminal's wife.

At last, Sam cleared his throat and gestured to Lou's laptop screen again. "So your friend here, he went to work for Troy?"

Bennet shook his head, then refocused on the screen himself. "Yeah." Deep blue darkened. "Used to be a good guy, till I finally told him Fanny and I were stayin' with Elias."

Sympathy shone in Sam's own blue. "Then you were the enemy."

It took a moment, but Bennet nodded confirmation of Sam's observation, a haunted look in his eyes that reminded Sam of the look in Wordy's eyes when Claire had been kidnapped. And somehow, he knew there had been multiple attempts to get at Bennet's two little girls in retaliation for his decision to stand with Carl Elias.

"Okay," Ed broke in, leaning over their computer tech's shoulder. "Lou, did this guy get away?"

The tan-skinned constable frowned and his hands flew across the keyboard and touchpad for several moments before he replied. "Team Three caught him, Boss. He's still in custody." Another few taps brought up all the pictures belonging to the BOLOs issued after the riot. Then Lou winced and took down their lieutenant's mugshot – a final few clicks of the keyboard brought up names under the other mugshots.

Scarface leaned in from the other side, the scar on his cheek pulling tight in a scowl. He pointed to one photo, waiting for Lou to nod before moving to another. He picked out three more before saying, "They were ours."

"But not anymore?" Wordy ventured, rubbing his chin.

"No." The word was even, level, but there was an undercurrent of hate and fury. "They attacked the Boss – they ain't ours after that."

Sam frowned. "Would they know about this location?"

The twin grimaces from the mobsters answered the question; Scarface tapped one of the photos again. "I'd just promoted him to chief when his crew got themselves in trouble."

"The downtown robberies," Sam filled in, earning a nod. "Was his crew in charge of protecting Last Chance Diner?"

"Yeah," Bennet rumbled. "My crew's gonna do that now, but we had a gig going on, so I cut a deal with the motorcycle gang that likes the place."

"So this location is compromised," Ed concluded, blue narrow in calculation. He indicated another photo. "Dietrich Hassler; he was one of Castor Troy's lieutenants. Our team and Team Two took him down in a joint op."

Lou looked up. "We had intel from Intelligence Services, too. Figure that was Sarge?"

"Safe bet," Wordy agreed. "The video from the exercise yard didn't have any audio, but he's definitely one of the guys who confronted Sarge right before the riot started."

Bennet grunted. "Give us those pictures and we'll get 'em out to the frontline guys. Sweep 'em up and hand 'em off to the Ra Kacharz."

Scarface shook his head before any of the cops could ask. "Ra Kacharz aren't an option, Bennet. They scattered soon as the news hit the airwaves."

The Sergeant frowned to himself. "Those were your inside guys in the department?"

"Like Reese?" Wordy added when the mobsters hesitated. Reluctantly, Scarface nodded.

"Ed, we could pull in our Guns 'n' Gangs contacts," Sam suggested. "Get them off our backs about Sarge being Elias."

The frown deepened, but, after a few seconds, Ed tilted his head and turned towards his rival. "We might have a contact for you, but only for this situation, understand?" He took a step forward. "No calling him once this is over, no kidnapping him to get to us."

Sam grinned, a feral grin reminiscent of his wolf form. "His partner'd prolly kill you before we could."

"He would," Ed agreed. "They've both lost a partner – makes 'em real protective."

The raven-haired mobster grumbled something foul under his breath, then said, "Fine, fine. Onetime deal only. Gimme."

Their Sergeant stepped to Scarface's side, pulling out his phone to bring up Roy's number. Naturally, none of them mentioned that Roy and Giles had another partner – one who could probably foil any – and all – kidnapping attempts, all by himself. If Elias's people ran afoul of KITT, that was their problem.

Author Note: Happy Advent to all of you! As ever, I hope you enjoyed today's chapter - Team One is on-scene and we're finally making progress (of a kind).

No news on the Real Life front - it's the run-up to Christmas and I'm looking forward to when my parents come in next Friday.

Since my next post will not be until after Christmas, I would like to take this opportunity to let everyone know that I will be posting this year's Christmas oneshot on Christmas Day, as usual. Although I encourage all of my readers to spend quality time with your families, the oneshot will be available for any of you who are interested. ; )

May the Lord Bless each and every one of you - and your families - on the other side of the screen.