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Kyle's Ten Golden Rules

by Hunter Woods

Chapter 28

The man standing in the doorway looked to be in his fifties, well dressed, manicured, and extremely sophisticated looking. It was Alex, Dmytri's lawyer from New York, and he didn't look sleazy though like you hear about regarding many lawyers, but more down to earth despite how sharply dressed he appeared to be. Next to him was a professional looking woman who seemed to be accompanying him in a business capacity.

It kind of surprised me that he would drop by unannounced like this, but then I don't know why he wouldn't. When Mattie was almost abducted and hurt I had recalled what Alex had told Evan at camp just as the meeting was coming to a close. He had said something to the effect of that he'd be there for him by his side when the time came, and then had asked Dmytri to make sure to pass on his private information to us. I don't know why, but for some reason that had always remained in the back of my thoughts. At the time it had been very cryptic, but now I was beginning to wonder if he knew some things would inevitably come up. So when Mattie got hurt I reached out to him sending the pictures of Mattie's injuries and filling him in with what was going on. He had emailed me back saying he would look into things and make some recommendations, but I never expected him to show up on our doorstep.

"I see," my father responded inviting the man inside. "Kyle, you better wake up the boys and have them come down since this appears to involve them, but go get your Aunt Liz first before you go upstairs." He suggested as I did what I was told.

Evan and Mattie followed me into the room as Alex got up and greeted them warmly making the boys feel at ease. "So boys, as I was explaining to your folks, it appears that Don has gotten a lawyer and they are fixing to do some legal maneuvering. Now Evan I took an interest in you at camp because of what Dmytri told me regarding your situation. There were multiple alarms that went off inside my head so I did a little digging at the time just in case there ever came a point when information was needed. Then when Kyle contacted me about Mattie and what happened along with the pictures I felt I needed to do even more digging." The man informed Evan as the boy just looked at him in shock.

"W…why would you want to help me out…I mean I can't afford a lawyer…and do I even need one." Evan asked the man seriously who just smiled back at him warmly.

"Well first off Dmytri spoke highly of you, and secondly I always take on pro bono cases when I can. Do you understand what that means?" He asked Evan pointedly as the boy scrunched up his eyebrows thinking.

"Yes, I think so. It means you are going to help for free." He stated in a sort of questioningly kind of way.

"Very good, yes. As for you needing a lawyer I think you do need one. As I said I've been doing some digging and I'm a bit worried. First of all Don is trying to have some legal wrangling done. There have been some accusations laid down on both sides now, and it is going to be a legal mess, but for now that isn't my major concern. What he hasn't indicated yet to anyone is the financial wrangling that I have a feeling he and his lawyers are working on. Mrs. Prescott have you signed any documents or anything…I mean…with Don or anything? He might have had you sign things telling you they were for something else…has that happened?" He asked as my dad spoke up.

"No…nothing like that. I made sure all the insurance money and everything left behind when the boys' father died was taken care of, and everything was already in place with the house, so there really wasn't anything legal concerning that; although, for the life of me I don't know how Don managed to get his hands on your savings Liz?" My dad sighed shaking his head as he looked over to Liz who sat down thinking to herself. "Liz, please tell me you didn't sign anything when I wasn't around." My father exclaimed as Aunt Liz's eyes began to well up.

"I…I don't know Kevin…maybe." She admitted making my dad stand up and curse as she just winced.

"Kevin settle down." My mom tried to calm my dad as he held his hands to his temple.

"For the love of God Liz, I told you never to sign anything; especially, with Don." My dad groaned as he looked at his childhood friend and sighed holding up his hands up in a sign of peace when he saw her stricken face. "Sorry Liz, I didn't mean to yell." He told her softly and sat back down looking over towards Alex. "If she did…now what?" My dad asked as Alex nodded his head.

"Well first it seems as if Mrs. Prescott doesn't know what she signed so I think we had better get documents of our own signed and recorded to start protecting some of their assets which are left over. I understand the boys each have investment portfolios from part of the insurance money left behind by their father. This was very good thinking on your part and has probably saved that money from being touched as of yet. In almost all instances insurance money like this is protected, but sometimes things can get muddled up in the legal process, and before anyone realizes it the money just disappears. The first thing we need to do is file documentation that severs Don from any more of your assets; especially, the boys. Next, I am going to remove any money in the boy's names and have that money hidden in a safe place where Don or our country's legal system won't ever be able to lay their hands on it. This is only a precaution, but I have a feeling Don and his attorneys are at the moment trying to locate this money and get access to it." Alex stated as he had the lady open up her briefcase and pull out some items. "This is Susan and she is a certified notary in the state of Kentucky. Any documents signed today will be notarized. Mr. Schonefeld I suggest you get me any documentation pertaining to the boys' investment portfolio." Alex stated as everyone got busy.

Within an hour all the appropriate paperwork was signed, and to our surprise any assets belonging to Mattie and Evan were safely tucked away in an offshore account. He even set it up in a way that the boys were benefiting more from the interest accruing in their new account than it was originally when my father had set it up. Mrs. Prescott signed any appropriate paperwork after my father looked them over. He trusted Alex, but the types of responsibilities he had because of his position in the army had taught him to read everything before signing anything. Alex praised and encouraged my father, also making this a valuable lesson for Aunt Liz as they went over the documents with her explaining everything so she understood exactly what was being signed.

"So, here comes the tricky part." Alex began as he looked at all of us. "There is a major decision to be made about the house. I understand you have a buyer already lined up and that at least Liz will not have it foreclosed on her. In addition she will actually have a nice little profit from selling the house. I have a feeling Don hasn't said anything yet because his lawyer is planning on seizing the money as soon as it hits the bank. I've talked to the prospective buyer and to the bank about the matter explaining the situation. They've all agreed to my proposal. If Don has any documentation that Liz has given him concerning any rights to the house then he will be able to swoop in and take the money claiming he has a right to it. So, we've worked it out so that the house will go into default leaving Don holding the bag for any money owed on the house if he all of a sudden makes a claim to it." Alex explained as my dad got a worried look on his face.

"How's that going to work…I mean Don won't produce any documentation if there isn't any money in the account." My dad pointed out as Alex nodded his head and continued to explain the plan.

"The deal you have set up with the new buyer will go through, but done as a private deal through my law firm. There will be a fee for that because there is just no way around it; especially, if we want things to be legal in that regard, but don't worry it is a nominal fee in the big scheme of things. Don't ask how the rest of all this is done because we are getting into a gray area regarding the law and what we are doing. However, with everyone's cooperation it is being done under the table so to say, but everything still technically legal; although, like I said in a gray area so to speak.

First off we will be having money transferred into Liz's account as if it is still going through, but it will be a mistake on the bank's part. The bank will tag the account so no money can come out at all unless our bank manager approves the money. This way when Don and his lawyer comes in the manager will ask for documentation. Of course they won't know that the account is tagged, and it will just look like the manager doing his job of checking out such an unusual request. Don and his lawyer will gladly produce the documentation thinking the bank has no legal standing. Normally this would be true, but the money will be tagged as a mistake the bank made, and not belonging to Liz in the first place. At this point the bank now has the documentation in hand, and it can be recorded legally as him being totally responsible for any default.

Now once this is taken care off the bank can come after Don since he has laid claim to rights regarding the house. The bank manager will now have recourse to seize all of his assets since technically he will have defaulted on the house. I've already investigated Don and have found all his assets. In one fell swoop the banks will seize those assets and other bank accounts freezing him out of any money he has. I will then be able to go in later and reclaim any money he has stolen from Liz, but that aspect of things may take some time to sort out." He explained making all of us sit there in stunned silence at the deviousness of this man.

"Holy shit." I exclaimed. "Too bad Riley is missing out on this. Only he would truly appreciate how you've manipulated the system." I shook my head while my parents just looked at me reproachfully for my potty mouth. "Um…sorry…it's just…," I apologized while my dad chuckled and Alex seemed pleased that I thought Riley would be impressed.

My dad cleared his throat and just shook his head trying to hide his smile at my reaction. "Well I can understand your sentiment son because I think holy crap is what was about to come out of my mouth, but for real Alex…you can do all of this?" My dad asked the man who just shrugged his shoulders and nodded his head. "Damn, that's good news. Sure I understand things can take a while, but to have all his assets frozen so that in the end Liz can recuperate her losses is just good news. If nothing else at least the boys' funds are still safe. Oh this reminds me what about Evan's scholarship he won for the painting?" My dad asked as Alex smiled at him reassuringly.

"Well that can never be touched by anyone. I am the one who set it up and even if Don lays claim to it the only people who can use it is Evan for College when he turns eighteen. If he does not use it for college by the time he is twenty five, then the money is his free and clear with no taxes involved. By this time any documentation Don has regarding Evan would be void anyway since he would be an adult by this time. Don is trying to claim Evan as his responsibility to look after his finances; the award can't be changed even if he wanted it. So that aspect of things you don't have to worry about either. Any other questions?" Alex asked as we all looked at him and I spoke up.

"What about…Don coming around and stuff. He already tried to grab Mattie. Sure he had a mask on and all, but we know it was him. Can we take any legal action, and what about him beating up Aunt Liz?" I asked him as he nodded his head leaning over to pat my arm sympathetically.

"Listen regarding Liz, it is hearsay again since no one was there. A police report has been filed and this is good. We are going to file a restraining order, and I will be talking to law enforcement so they understand that if they sit by idly because there are legal issues involved, then there will be consequences. So far they have sat on the sidelines, but I will be setting up a meeting with them personally outlining their responsibilities, and any lacking thereof, the consequences involved. Believe me when I am done with the local police department they will realize that not only their jobs are at stake, but also the department's money because I will sue them for every penny and then some. Not only what they have on hand, but anything set aside for their retirement and benefits as well, not to mention any future finances coming into the department. They will come around very quickly and help watch over you guys keeping an eye out for Don.

We sat and talked some more until it got close to the time we were going to have to get ready for our soccer practice. It was Monday and dad needed to get to work as well. He had gotten permission to stay home for the morning hours since we had just gotten home, but he needed to get back to work. As for me and Evan we had been gone an entire week already from practice. Of course the coach understood and had explained it to the players in regards to an emergency having come up with our family, but it was time to get back and focus on the State Championship.

I was coming back downstairs when I heard my dad still talking to Alex. At first I didn't pay that much attention to it, but then got the feeling there were some important issues still going on. Hesitantly I walked towards the dining room area since they were in the kitchen to listen in on their conversation.

"Listen Kevin," I heard Alex say to my father. "There is also another issue I wanted to talk to you about. As you know there are rumors that Don is…um…you know…connected. I've done some reaching out through…um…let's just say patrons through our firm who are legitimate business associates…but…um…have to deal with certain…how should I say this…certain elements in their clientele base." Alex seemed to pause.

"Well…um…yes…I see." My father seemed to acknowledge. "What were you able to find out?" He asked.

"Let's just say there really are some connections regarding the issue involving Don, and our firm has reached out trying to smooth some things out so it doesn't come back on to you guys. These people aren't necessarily happy with Don, but he is the nephew of…let's just say an important figurehead…whose sister is important to him. Evidently he's had issues with his nephew before, and since this jerk is his sister's son has sort of had him under their protection." Alex paused again.

"So, this could create problems for us?" My father indicated.

"Possible, but like I've said they aren't happy with Don and what has been going on…so who knows. I just think it is important for you to know if things kind of go badly. There may come a time when I will have to reach out to them and maybe you as well. They do seem to have some honor among them, and meeting someone like you might sway things a little when the time comes. I'm not saying it will get that far, but just be prepared. I'm sure they don't want any part of Special Forces breathing down their neck…even if it is in an unofficial capacity in your case." Alex pointed out. "After all due to your particular circumstances you have your own connections and loyalties that they will find a bit discomforting."

My father nodded his head understanding exactly what the man was referring to. "Alex, I need you to do me a favor. I need you to get in contact with them and let them know that I'm not looking for a fight, but do emphasize to them that if anything were to happen to my family that there will be war, and believe me; they don't want any part of that." My father stated as I took pause because he came off as very serious making me shudder a bit horrified at the implications.

"I understand." Alex seemed to sigh.

"No…I don't think you really do Alex. The things I've had to do…you know…for my country, but this…," my father paused. "This Alex hits closer to home. I need you to emphasize to them come heaven and earth if anything happens I will hunt them down one by one…," my father paused making me bite my lower lip nervously, and a bit afraid of what he was implying. "Well…anyway…I think you get the idea, and do let them know I am very good at what I do, and that I have resources available if and when the time comes to follow through on my threat."

"You sure you want to go this route?" Alex asked my father.

"Yes…I've dealt with people like this before, not here of course but nevertheless all the same, and it is the only thing people like that seem to understand. Things are quiet and running smoothly in their line of work for now, and I'm sure they look at this in a more business like manner. Rocking their boat so to speak is not in their organizations best interest. They only understand about threats, and they need to understand I'm a threat they've never had to deal with before so it would behoove them to think things through in the bigger scheme of things." My dad stated as I walked away not wanting to hear anymore since it was really beginning to frighten me how big this seems to have become. If anything, this whole thing with Don was even scarier now.

After Alex left my dad found me sitting out back on the porch overlooking the lake, and smiled warmly at me as he took a seat on the steps next to me. "I've got something for you." He told me as he held his hand out towards me.

Looking at him questioningly I reached out my hand, and he clasped his around mine folding them over my smaller fingers forcing them closed. Pulling my closed fist in front of me I opened them up, and looked down at the small round item. It was familiar as I looked up questioningly arching my eyebrow while my dad produced a thick greeting card sized envelope showing it to me. It was a thank you card with a long hand written letter.

"You're friend Grant sent me a heartfelt letter of thanks, and it arrived on Saturday. He seems like a very thoughtful and kind young man. These days few boys would take the time and effort to personally thank someone they've never met. He wanted me to know how much he appreciated the information on his father, and also said Riley was very grateful too. He also told me what you did, and how indebted he is to you for your kindness. I talked to the boy's mother…I mean I know Ms. Dobson isn't Grant's mother, but he refers to her as his mother. Anyway, I talked to Ms. Dobson and she explained some things even further." My dad explained as I nodded my head understanding.

"I…I just thought he needed it more…you know." I whispered softly looking up at him apologetically.

"No need to apologize Kyle, and if that is how you felt who am I to say otherwise. From this…," he held up the card and letter, "I would have to agree." He told me ruffling my head and leaning over to give me a kiss before getting up leaving me alone looking down at the challenge coin he had placed in my hand as a replacement to the one I had given to Grant. It was a little beat up, and I knew this was the second original one he had in his pocket from all those years ago. He always carried two, and I had been the first one he had given out the original one to, and this was the one he had in his pocket at the time he had given me mine. For him to offer up one of the original coins to me after I had given out the other one held a special moment in my heart as I placed it in the holder feeling the weight of it settle around my neck almost comfortingly.

Even though at the time it seemed like things were at their worst with Alex's visit, things seemed to settle down into a sort of routine over the next several months for all of us, and actually got better. Both of our teams ended up winning the State Championship, which was a special moment for all of us, and the rest of the summer seemed to slip by lazily. Towards the end of summer my parents threw a big party at the house for the families who worked with my father, and it was a complete success with everyone having a great time. It was like the last big blast of summer vacation, and before we knew it both Mattie and Evan celebrated birthdays, and school was upon us.

Evan seemed to grow even more as a person when school began with Jaden right there by his side through thick and thin. The two boys continued to be inseparable doing everything together, with my curly haired boy outgrowing his shyness and making a lot of new friends in school. Of course a part of his popularity started taking off because of being Jaden's friend, but also he became popular because of the notoriety he had received for his win with the art competition and his state win on the soccer team. Both boys took all of this in stride and remained grounded as their popularity continued to rise.

Even Mattie seemed to have completely recovered from the frightening experience at camp leaving it all behind. Time heals most things and he was still really young so had left it all behind him forgetting most of what had happened to him. He had settled down after getting back from Santa Cruz, and corresponded frequently with his friend Grant. They often did video conferencing speaking hours on end. In a way I sort of felt bad for the two of them because it was obvious that both were completely smitten with one another, well at least to me and Evan, since we had watched the relationship from the beginning. Of course he had his urges and needs since the genie was out of the box so to speak for him sexual wise, but he no longer felt the need to go looking for it anymore. When Benji came over to visit, or when we went over there, he seemed content enough to fool around during those times, but it was Grant that he was yearning for with that sort of relationship. As for Benji he was alright with it, but had found a girlfriend in the meantime and seemed happy about their relationship; although, I had my suspicions that he wasn't getting anything by way of sexual gratification yet with her. This probably explained his willingness to still fool around with Mattie when the two of them visited together.

Alex had kept his promise with the police, and they came by regularly to check up on us no matter where we were in town. It was a small community, and the police force of five was all that was needed so it was inevitable that our relationship with them became more personalized. At first they resented having to be forced to make runs over to see how things were going, but after a while we all became sort of connected in a friendly manner. At times they would come inside the house to enjoy a casual chat and a cup of coffee or something cold to drink.

It got to the point where we would see them all the time around the house or in town. When they spotted us boys they would pull over flashing their lights and sound their siren real quick to get our attention. It became a sort of game as we would wave or walk over to have a chat with them. They would talk casually with us asking how things were going in school, sports, and hobbies. It was almost as if they became our extended uncles and aunts in a way, and engaged us with the every day happenings in our lives. Their presence in our family circle became routine, and we would see them at the oddest moments. For the police it no longer was about a task, but more like a casual thing for them to do.

As for Don it seemed as if he too had sort of faded into the background of our lives. Alex and the banks did catch him in their net. Instead of getting away with more of Aunt Liz's money he was held accountable for the default on the house once they had all the paperwork. Evidently he had managed to get Aunt Liz to sign over the house to him, and he also had paperwork on him with Power of Attorney over the kids, which had been nullified with new paperwork filing that Alex had Aunt Liz sign on that day he came to visit. They managed to seize most of his assets including the money he had stolen from the Prescott's, and he was now having his own headache's with legal issues. So for us he was becoming only a distant memory in our lives allowing us to move forward with ours while Alex dealt with him and his lawyers.

Even though the banks had frozen Don's accounts, it didn't mean that Aunt Liz had access to them yet. This wouldn't happen until the courts made their final rulings. So even though the Prescott's where doing better financially without the burden of foreclosure on their shoulders, they still weren't ready to move out on their own. Our family didn't mind in the least, and our two families blended together nicely so we were content having them stay with us.

Aunt Liz had returned to work further stabilizing their finances, and I think it made her happy to be self sufficient. She insisted on paying rent to my parents, which they had protested against, and she also insisted on paying her fair share of food money and utilities. To be honest I was fairly certain my parents had set up a separate account under Alex's guidance with the rent money they received for the boys' future since our family was doing fine financially. We weren't rich or anything, but we were comfortable enough with our finances that my parents felt it was a good thing to take the rent money and invest it in Mattie's and Evan's future.

It was the end of November now with Christmas only weeks away as the weather changed becoming cooler and much damper. It seemed to be raining a lot lately, and although the weather did get cooler it wasn't as if it were freezing or anything. In our area the average temperature remained around forty degrees Fahrenheit. Cold, but nothing all that bad most things considered. It did snow in the area sometimes, but we tended not to see that much of it like in other parts of our country, yet it did tend to get wet around this time of year.

I was a sophomore in high school this year, but I did make the varsity water polo team, and today it was my turn to show up early helping to set up the pool. It was Saturday and as usual raining with a bit of a bite in the air as I got out of the SUV in a pair of gray sweatpants covering up my small Speedo, and hooded sweatshirt to protect me from the damp drizzly weather. My dad got out with Sage in tow as I pulled my gear out of the back careful of the groceries we had just picked up. Even though it was raining today dad was planning on having a barbeque so we ended up at the grocery store first. Evan was with us as always because he liked to watch our team practice, but personally I thought it was more due to enjoying seeing me in a tight pair of Speedos which seemed to turn him on to no end. As I pulled out my bag it knocked over one of the grocery bags spilling out some vegetables making the dark curly haired boy giggle.

Spotting what was so funny to him I had to laugh as well recalling our trip to the store. While shopping both me and Evan got a little bored so we just sort of wandered around letting dad pick up the supplies he needed for the barbeque. We ended up in the vegetable section, and as I was looking around I came across these hot peppers that looked just like a kid's foreskin covered penis.

"Here you go Evan," I giggled holding one of them in front of his crotch making him laugh as well.

"Damn, stop that." He chuckled shoving my hand away and looking around making sure no one was watching. "Besides that's way too thin." He continued to laugh and blush.

"Yeah, well the length and shape are just right though." I snorted before putting it back in the bin.

"No way, mine's not that short…is it?" He asked picking one up and looking at it while I shrugged my shoulders.

"Maybe…um…sort of…well…at least when you aren't hard." I told him trying not to laugh at the scowling look he gave me as I continued. "I don't know…um…you might be just a little longer than that, but the pepper just looks kind of small because it is really thin and long where yours is way thicker. You have to admit though that it looks just like a kid's hard pecker who has foreskin…well a kid with a thin one…you know." I replied while he just nodded his head and giggled again as the image of someone running around with a thin two inch smoking hot one sticking out in front of him entered his mind. "Geeze dude…get your mind out of the gutter already." I teased him as he gave me a friendly shove.

"Me…what about you…hell it was you who brought it up in the first place." He retorted his smile never leaving his face while his eyes glittered playfully at me making me roll my own eyes at him.

The green waxy like stiff Serrano Peppers were about two inches long with a half inch diameter, making it like one and a half inch in circumference, and a cylindrical shape that tapered off at the ends. They had a sort of natural looking slight curvature to them, which to be honest really did make the peppers look exactly like a kid with a small hard-on that had tight foreskin. We couldn't help ourselves as we continued to tease one another with the pepper until Evan spotted the brussel sprouts. Giggling he picked up two of them and held them below him while I put the pepper just above the two small round leafy cabbages. Both of us busted up laughing because it was just way too hilarious. We continued to goof around with the vegetables teasing one another until my dad showed up placing a few of the Serrano peppers in a bag to purchase.

Evan and I looked at each other and started busting up making my dad shake his head wondering what had gotten into us.

I couldn't resist as I pointed towards the brussel sprouts. "You sure you don't need any of those to go along with the peppers?" I asked keeping a straight face noticing Evan's features go white as a sheet.

My dad just looked at me and shook his head. "Those don't go with these at all." He retorted screwing up his face making that yucky face just making it impossible to hold back anymore as I began to roar in laughter making my dad just gawk at me as if I had gone off my rocker.

Poor Evan looked mortified as if he were about to piss his shorts, but I just couldn't help it. Before long even Evan began to chuckle, and then roar out in laughter not able to contain it anymore.

"What's gotten into you boys? Settle down or I'll make you eat these hot peppers." My dad teased us as I slowly recovered holding up my hands saying I give.

I've had the hot peppers in some of my fiery foods before, and knew they were about a thousand times spicier than Jalapeno peppers so I most definitely didn't want to eat them raw. It did however make me wonder what zesty dish my dad was planning on making later on today. If there was one thing I enjoyed, and that was spicy hot food, but I had a feeling that from now on I wouldn't be able to eat spicy dishes without giggling picturing Evan walking around with the pepper and two brussel sprouts held out in front of his crotch.

Now as I grabbed my bags I couldn't help but savor the scrumptious eye candy of the slight figure standing before me. As always Evan looked adorably sweet; especially, dressed in a pair of yellow skinny jeans that left little to the imagination of what was tucked away between his legs. He was wearing a similar hooded sweatshirt like me that hung down across his waist settling just above his small round like bulge in the front of his pants. Heaven forbid should he ever try to hide that sexiness of his, I chuckled to myself. Beneath his sweatshirt I knew he was wearing that white tee shirt he had bought when we were in Santa Cruz. On front it had a graphic design image of a surfer punching through a tube with his hands dragging across the water leaving a trail behind it. My heart thundered in my chest, and I could feel myself beginning to chub up as I scrutinized him more closely. Evan caught my gaze smiling knowingly as his eyes automatically flipped downwards towards my mid-section and giggled sweetly knowing what was happening to me. For his part I noticed something seemed to twitch a little in his nether region as well.

Of course Evan looked at other boys, as did I, but it was me that I often caught him staring at and smiling affectionately during our practice sessions at the pool. I had to admit it was a turn on knowing how much he enjoyed seeing me dressed in my tight form fitting Speedos. It made for some gripping sex sessions afterwards when we got home. Of course I would shower at school with the rest of the guys after our practice session to get the chlorine off of my skin, but once we got home he would literally tear off my clothes for a bit of fun. At night after we went to bed we would cuddle together, and it never ceased to amaze me how wonderful it felt to have him so close to me. I never got tired of the simplicity of this act as I held him in my arms. Most often we would just cuddle falling asleep in one another arms completely content, but sex had also become an ordinary part of activity in our daily lives. Even though we had sex together now on a regular basis, there most definitely wasn't anything routine about it as each time with him was almost as if it were happening for the very first time. It was truly difficult to explain, but he excited my body to no end, and I just trembled inside and out when we were intimate together. I could feel the same stirrings inside of my sweet boy when we pleasured one another.

It's been months since I've felt Evan's love thumper inside of me, but for the most part this didn't really bother either one of us since we both felt such an act was something very intimate and personal, and should happen during special moments. We were content with other ways of pleasuring each other, and to be honest I think Evan did feel a bit self conscious at times about having all of me while he hadn't given himself over completely to me. He knew I didn't mind and wouldn't ask him since I had promised I wouldn't, but he still had some reservations about completely opening himself up to me so I never pushed the issue. I was happy so it didn't bother me in the least, and we were still both very young so we could wait. He had taken back control of his own sexuality, and when he was ready for this last step in our relationship then it would happen on his terms.

As I pulled my gear out from the back of the SUV I heard a familiar voice. It was Doc walking his German Sheppard. His house was just around the corner from the school, and he often parked his car in the parking lot and played with his dog on the large flat soccer field on the school grounds. We chatted for a minute or two with Doc winking at us conspiratorially making both me and Evan giggle knowingly as we remembered our trip to his office this past summer. Even though the curly haired boy was mostly over his shyness these days, it didn't stop him from blushing as he recalled that embarrassing visit. Waving good bye, with my dad promising to pick us up in a couple of hours, we left my dad and Sage behind as they visited with Doc and his dog.

The smaller pool complex was on the back side of the main school building so we made our way down the narrow sidewalk that would take us to the smaller structure. Slinging my small gym bag over my shoulders we rounded the side of the building, hiding us completely from my dad's and doc's view. All of a sudden I felt myself being shoved into a small alcove behind some bushes. It caught me by surprise for a second until I felt Evan's soft warm lips pressing up against mine, and then felt his hand pushing against my crotch. He had conveniently slipped his hands beneath my sweatpants, and was now cupping his fingers along my silky bulging Speedo making me moan excitedly. Our lips separated as I leaned back against the wall enjoying the feel along the length of my bulging erection. My eyes locked onto Evan's sparkling gaze for a moment, and then watched him keenly as he dropped down onto his knees.

I quickly looked around a bit in a panic at what he was about to do. We were in a small kind of alcove along the corner of the building that was protected from the weather. There was a large bush, which concealed us for the most part, but I could see the cars zooming along the busy street not all that far off in the distance. I didn't think people could really see anything from their cars speeding along the busy stretch of road, and the school grounds were completely empty, so unless someone was looking for us specifically they wouldn't even know we were there. Despite this though there was still this element of being completely exposed out in the open, which made things exciting as I now felt Evan shoving down my sweatpants and Speedos around my thighs exposing me to the elements.

The damp air swirled around my sweaty boy pouch and erection making me quiver delightedly at the sexy feel of it along my normally concealed skin. Looking down just in time, I watched excitedly as Evan's warm lips slid over my steamy torrid rearing mustang. I've seen this same scene a million times now, and each time it made me tremble excitedly. Over the months I've matured a little more as my small patch of curly pubes had thickened and filled out some more around the base of my shaft and outwards. I was a late bloomer than most of my classmates, but I was finally entering that stage of maturity where I still had those boyish features yet my body was becoming more filled out and chiseled. Even my sex organs had developed a little more with my penis getting a bit thicker and longer while my testicles seemed to drop down heavily between my legs. These days I was topping out at around four and a half inches. Still a bit on the small side of average for a boy my age, but to be honest I loved my size. I've seen some of the guys in my class who were just all hairy and disgusting looking, and their package didn't look right on them. Yet, when I saw myself in the mirror my body just seemed to fit nicely including how my boyhood looked.

My insides began to roil in the familiar sensation of an impending orgasm. Both Evan and I had become very in tune to one another's sexual needs, and our sex play had evolved to the point where we could now go for a much longer period of time without blowing our corks so soon. We've learned how to manipulate and edge each other to the precipice before pulling back prolonging the inevitable, but we have also learned how to steal those quick moments bringing ourselves to a rousing climax in a very quick manner. This was one of those occasions as we both understood we didn't have a lot of time to mess around. Evan knew I needed a bit of relief, and so he was more than happy to provide me with a bit of stimulation making me smile fondly at my sexy love.

Evan's tongue slid along the underside of my ridge finally sending me over the edge as my two Fuji Apples clinched tight behind me while my two lumpy truffle like whirly-gigs jerked upwards into my body cavity. My hips rocked forward and I allowed the euphoria to take over as a burning sensation ran up the inside length of my bucking stallion to explode inside of Evan's damp mouth. Lately even my protein frappe had become thicker and more copious. By this time though the curly haired boy had become completely accustomed to the thick cream of soup that I now produced, and he lapped up the bowl greedily enjoying every drop of it. My body quivered a couple of more times as I squeezed out a few more drops into his greedy mouth while I sucked in the damp moist air into my lungs. I slumped backwards leaning heavily against the cold brick walls of the building as I tried to recover.

I pulled Evan up towards me and greedily sought out his lips pressing them up gently against my own. The taste of my heavy teenage boy jam permeated Evan's mouth, once more sending a charge coursing through my body as my hands greedily ran along the boy's sleek skin below his shirt. The heat from his body wrapped us both in a cloak of warmness as I swiveled positions with him and slowly dropped to my own knees with my sweatpants and Speedos still wrapped around my thighs.

My eyes settled on Evan's large sized lump in front of his yellow skinny jeans as his own steed pressed up against the fabric looking for freedom. I could feel the smaller boy shaking in my arms as my fingers gently stroked along the sides of his stomach. He let out a soft moan and I looked up at him smiling for a brief second noticing he was already leaning backwards arching his hips forward expectantly. I unsnapped his pants and slowly eased down the front of his zipper seeing his bulge eagerly pressing past the thick yellow fabric. I pulled down his jeans around his knees smiling at the large like tent forcing his blue plaid colored boxer briefs outwards in front of him. About a month ago he began to wear those baggy boxers instead of those cute white boy's briefs he used to wear.

Sighing I looked up at him and smiled. "I think you look a lot sexier when you wear tighter underwear." I told him giggling making him chuckle.

"Yeah, I'm sure you do, maybe like the kind Mattie wears." He giggled knowingly as I smiled up at him before reaching up and pulling aside the wide leg gap in his boxers exposing his fleshy torrid wild pony.

For some reason time seemed to have stood still for my sexy little stud. Nothing much had changed for him yet, making me realize he was going to be another one of those late bloomers just like me. He didn't seem too concerned about it though, and appeared happy enough about things not letting it bother him. However, the other day I did point out a small strand or two of pubic hair that was beginning to thicken in his otherwise pale desert landscape. I paused briefly taking in his beauty as my left hand shoved up beneath his baggy opening and began to kneed his fleshy dimpled melons making Evan quiver delightedly.

"Hurry up Kyle," Evan moaned looking down at me. "Someone might show up." He added enjoying the feeling welling up inside of him at just the idea of getting blown in such a public place making it seem so naughty in some ways.

Smiling up at him I eased my lips over his hard sweaty bucking wildness, and began the process of breaking in his pony. My body trembled excitedly for Evan as I wrapped my other hand beneath his baggy boxers cupping his other dimpled melon, and pulled him even closer to me taking all of him into my warm damp mitt including his two large marbles that seemed to bounce around in my mouth. I opened up my lips enough to allow my tongue to slither out as I ran it along the thin crease that ran towards his little brown eye forcing his testicles even further into my mouth to accommodate this bold move.

Evan trembled at the sensation of my tongue along his sensitive crease and moaned softly as I finally allowed his bag to slip from between my lips. Sliding my tongue back inside my mouth I ran it along the bottom side of his beam feeling it start to swell and expand more as the boy allowed his climax to begin its rise. My tongue slithered inside his lid and flicked up against the meaty part of his cherry finally bringing him over the edge. I could feel the blast of his pearls as they squeezed past my tongue that was still inserted inside of his warm sleeping bag. It was an odd sensation feeling the warm gooey substance forcing its way past the obstruction of my tongue and into my mouth. Somehow being so close to the actual source of the explosion heightened the flavor of sweetness on my taste buds as I too began to moan swallowing down every succulent drop of his creamy white chocolaty liquid sauce.

The smaller boy moaned softly as his hip shot outwards forcing even more of him into my mouth. "Ummph, ummph, uuumph, umph," he gasped as his fingers curled around my hair and he began to come down from his high.

I could feel his short stumpy fatty start to deflate in my mouth, but I left my tongue beneath his hooded sweater and continued to flick the tip against his slippery glans. Before long I felt him tense up again as his second orgasm ripped through his body forcing more of his thin liquid sweetness down my palate. To me this was like getting a blast of pure protein which would act like a rocket propellant during practice.

A few seconds later I let his now broken in mount slide from my lips and rose to my feet. Leaning my forehead up against him we kissed lightly pressing our warm lips together and began to giggle conspiratorially as we both looked at each other before tugging on our clothes trying to straighten ourselves out. He had a bit of an easier time pulling up his tight fitting jeans than I did with my Speedo, but in short order we were both tucked away suitably enough as we snuck out from behind the bushes taking a quick look around to make sure no one had seen us.

Rounding the second corner of the building we made our way between some ancient oak trees and maples giving us some protection from the wind and rain which currently seemed to blow in the direction of the pool we were heading towards. There was a small rise before it leveled out in front of the small structure which housed the swimming pool. We made our way over to the side entrance, but it was locked so we pounded on the door trying to get someone's attention inside. I was running a little late so the coach and a couple of other designated swimmers should already be inside.

When there wasn't any answer I lifted up my fist to pound on it again when the blood in my veins turned cold. "Hello boys." I heard a leering voice that I recognized.

Evan whimpered audibly as we both turned around to face the man who had been torturing the Prescott family in one way or the other. First with Evan doing it under the radar for years, then with Evan's mom, and finally even sweet innocent little Mattie when he tried to grab him for whatever reasons.

"W…what do you want Don." I spoke up clearing my throat. "There's a restraining order out on you, and you need to go so leave right now." I told him forcefully as he just sneered at me.

A gust of wind sent a chill all up and down my spine as it shifted towards the main school building. I detected some movement by the door, and as soon as it opened I shoved Evan towards the opening while at the same time flinging my bag and body towards Don catching him by surprise.

"Run Evan now. Go get some help." I shouted out as I saw him tumbling into one of my fellow polo players as the door shut safely behind him.

My sudden move had caught Don by surprise as we tumbled on the grassy wet ground beneath the branches of an old oak tree. The man was bigger and stronger than me, and I knew it was suicide to remain like this so I rolled off of him getting up on my feet with Don right on my heels. Damn, the guy was quicker than I thought forcing me to try another tactic as I suddenly stopped in my tracks, squatting down low, and reversed directions launching myself right towards his feet as I rolled. Once more my move had caught him by surprise with him tumbling right over me falling hard face first onto the ground giving me just enough time to regain my composure as I effortlessly rose to my feet. I thought about running for it, but I didn't see anyone by the pool door, and Don was blocking my only real route of escape to the main school building and possible help from people by the main street.

My eyes searched frantically for a way out of this situation, but there simply wasn't anything as Don hastily jumped to his feet facing me with the nastiest scowl I've ever seen on anyone. "It's all because of you." He hissed with hatred in his eyes. "If it weren't for you it would all have worked out, but you had to stick your nose in my business. Well I guess for now I'll just have to settle for you and come back for the others one by one." He spat out as he reached out for me a lot quicker than I thought possible.

However, my own adrenalin was pumping in my body and I deflected his lunge ducking down low again slamming my fist up against his ribcage catching him by surprise. Don instinctively double over protecting his side as I came up hard with my knees. I connected, but he had seen the move coming, and deflected most of the force away from his face by crossing his arms in front of him. My knee slammed into his chest hard enough that it propelled him backwards into one of the oak tree.

The look of sheer hatred in his eyes made me pause, which was a big mistake on my part because it gave him enough time to reach inside his coat and pull out a small pistol. Not knowing what else to do I charged him, which probably saved me because it forced him to fire at me before he was ready. Despite this though I still felt something burning along my right side that made my body contort and swivel around effectively slamming me against a smaller maple tree.

My mind went completely blank there for what seemed like hours, but I knew it was probably only a couple of seconds, enough time for Don to square his shoulders and look down at me with a leering smile. The right side of my stomach was burning like fire as if someone had thrust a red hot poker inside wriggling it around, and when I looked down there was blood pooling all over my lower body, around my thighs, and the ground. It was a complete mess, and my breathing became difficult as I sucked in air into my lungs with short gasps while my body began to tremble and spasm on its own. Then a sort of calm seemed to descend over me as I found myself wrapping my left hand around the challenge coin hanging from the necklace around my neck. I pressed my other hand against the wound and casually looked up into eyes that seemed to burn with hatred.

Don lifted up the gun slowly pointing it towards me and smirked. "See what you are forcing me to do." He declared as he cocked the trigger on the small handgun while I just looked up at him calmly without flinching. It must have been the calmness of my gaze that made him pause for a second. "You're not afraid?" He asked me a bit stunned as I just shook my head. For a second I thought there was a glimmer of hope because I saw a softening of his features. Then just as quickly the hardness of his resolve returned and I saw him start to squeeze on the trigger.

This is it, I thought to myself as I just smiled knowing that at least Evan was safe, and that Don was in big trouble at this point. I knew my dad wouldn't rest until Don was finished and no longer a threat to anyone. I heard the loud crack of the gun going off and I flinched as I felt a searing pain along my inner thigh that radiated outwards with a burning sensation all along my groin. The fucker had shot me in my balls was all I could think of as other sounds seemed to fill the air now.

It was a strange noise making me furl my eyebrows because it was the sound of someone screaming bloody murder, but it wasn't coming from me. I looked up and noticed that Sage had his jaws clamped around Don's arm, and there was blood gushing all over the place as he began tugging on the larger man tearing into his flesh exposing his tendons and arteries. The gun was nowhere in sight anymore, probably dropped onto the ground when the large dog had sunk his teeth into the man. I realized that it was Sage who had come to my rescue just in time launching himself up against the gunman. Don was desperate as he lifted his body upwards trying to dislodge the Malinois off of his arm. Just then I saw another large figure fill my sights as a boot connected right between the shoulder blades slamming Don into the large oak tree. As soon as the boot connected I heard an awful sound of bones breaking and then a limp body smashing into the immobile giant tree.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as I saw Don standing upright for a couple of seconds against the tree before his legs seemed to give way, and he slumped onto the ground. An awful smell seemed to fill the dank air around us, and I noticed a large wet spot pooling around the crumpled form lying on the ground. Don was still conscious as his eyes welled up with tears and seemed to move around pleadingly in their eye sockets. That was the only thing that seemed to function on Don as I realized the stench was from a mixture of urine and feces as the man's bowel released when he lost total control of his body functions.

Just then I saw Evan's slight form flinging himself next to me with tears streaming down his cheeks. A few other figures began to congregate around as well while I reached out a bloody hand towards my sweet little boy and brushed them against his cheeks. He was sobbing uncontrollably now as I tried to calm him down.

"Hey Evan, guess what?" I tried to chuckle as he just sniffled settling down long enough to respond.

"W…what?" He hiccupped.

"Rule number nine." I smiled up at him as he took my hand into his own and frowned.

"W…what…I mean I don't know that one." He admitted as he tried to think which one I was talking about, which made me beam proudly knowing that he was actually keeping track of the rules.

"Never get in front of a loaded gun." I whispered softly as my mind began to get fuzzy and my whole insides seemed to burn.

My father knelt down next to me removing my hand, and I noticed him getting pale as a sheet when he saw my wound. He looked up at another figure who appeared winded gasping for air, and I smiled softly recognizing that it was Doc carrying his medical bag. He must have run all the way, just now catching up. My mind tried to wrap around what was happening because it seemed to me like everyone had arrived relatively quickly making me think that evidently Sage must have noticed something wrong early on. Because even as fast as the Malinois was there most definitely wasn't enough time for him to have shown up after the first shot was fired. No way could Evan have gotten a hold of my father that fast either, so it must have been Sage who had alerted my father to the danger. He must have bolted towards me signaling that there was danger with my father in hot pursuit, and even Doc must have noticed, and also took off running after taking the time to put his dog in the car grabbing his bag at the same time. I thought it was pretty cool for the older man to chase after Sage and my father like that because it was a pretty good distance for an old guy like him to be running.

The elderly man gently pushed Evan off to the side and knelt down along my other side shoving away my father's hand since he had taken over applying pressure to my wound. "He's gut shot doc." Was all my father stated as he got up pulling out his cell phone. "Someone call 911 right now." He shouted out as my polo coach spoke out and stated he already made the call. "Doc how bad is it?" My dad asked as he began scrolling through his phone numbers.

"I…I don't know Kevin. It's a gut shot and…well…you know." Doc paused looking up into my eyes, and I could tell that evidently gut shots are not good so I tried to smile reassuringly at him as he continued. "It's along his right side, towards the edge though…so I don't know for certain. I don't see an exit wound." He told my father frowning a bit concerned as he reached inside his medical bag and started to pull out several items while my dad dialed the phone.

"Um…Doc?" I whispered as the elderly man smiled at me but continued to work as he gave me some sort of shot that seemed to work immediately on me effectively numbing my pain. It was strange but I hadn't realized just how sweaty I was as I now began to notice big drops dripping along my face as it mixed with the dampness from the rain.

"Yeah, what's on your mind Kyle?" The elderly man asked in a gentle voice looking at me a bit funny as I looked around at all the people staring at me.

"Um…well I know it isn't time for a physical or anything…," I stated stupidly, "but do you think you could sort of…well take a look for me?" I asked him as he scrunched up his eyebrows.

"What…now…here…in front of everyone?" He asked me a bit stupefied as he continued to work on my wound.

"Um…yeah." I whispered softly forcing him to lean his ear closer to me. "Um…I…I think Don may have sort of…well…let's just say I might not be as big down there as I used to be, and believe me doc, I didn't have much to spare to begin with." I managed to chuckle wincing in pain as the elderly man's eyes just widened and he immediately looked down between my legs noticing a second pooling of blood.

"Shit," He gasped surprising both me and my dad as he immediately tore a hole along the seams of my sweats and took a quick look.

"What's wrong." My dad shouted, but had to break off as someone on the other end answered the phone.

"Damn Kyle," The doctor seemed to sigh in relief. "Just a graze along your inner thigh and everything seems to be intact, but thank goodness you were wearing those Speedos or who knows what he might have blown off." The doc couldn't help but chuckle in turn making me laugh as well once more wincing in pain before he got serious again with my other wound.

In the background I could here my father now as he talked on the phone. "Yes this is Sergeant Major Schonefeld, I need to speak to the General, it's…," I heard him pause for a moment before he tried again. "Yes Lieutenant, I understand he's in a staff meeting but I need to speak to the…" My father began before looking at the phone and cursing. "That fucking asshole cut me off." He spat as he dialed the phone number again looking as mad as I've ever seen him look before.

Someone must have picked up the other end again as my father spoke a bit roughly. "Listen Lieutenant this is Medal of Honor recipient Sergeant Major Schonefeld. You must be new on post to not recognize the name, but if you hang up that damn phone on me again I'll have you dragged to the flagpole by the entire Special Forces Battalion and strung up by your balls. I do not ask this lightly, but you will accord me all the courtesy afforded to me of a request from a Medal of Honor recipient, and of my deeds in the heat of battle. I need you to ask the General if he will give me a moment right now because it is a matter of life and death Lieutenant." My father stated in the phone as there seemed to be a short pause.

"Yes General, thank you for taking my call. I wouldn't ask this of you, but it is extremely important." I heard my father talking to the general as everything seemed to go hazy around me.

Doc seemed to notice and looked at me critically. "Kyle stay with me." He demanded as Evan's sweet face began to swim in front of my eyes.

My body shivered and I got really cold. "I'm cold doc and tired. I just need a minute to rest my eyes." I sighed softly as I heard a lot of shouting going on around me before everything just seemed to fade away.

My eyes would blink open at various times as a cold darkness seemed to cloak me in its deathly grip. I felt blankets wrapping around my body at one point, and Evan looking down at me his eyes brimming with tears. I wanted to so desperately reach out and comfort him, but I was so cold and just didn't seem to have the strength as I once more faded away. Then there seemed to be a rush of wind and noise, and I woke up feeling colder than ever as everything seemed to shake around me with a sort of deafening kind of noise. I looked around noticing I was in some sort of cramped space filled with military personnel as they frantically seemed to work on me. I was in some sort of vehicle as I looked out noticing us lifting up into the air. Everything around me seemed to shudder and sway around a bit before I shut my eyes and once more spiraled into the cold depths of darkness. A short while after that I saw lights flashing by me as if I was running down a long tunnel, but all around me were figures dressed in green scrubs. Doctors and nurses I assumed, but who knew for sure because it all seemed like a dream anymore. Then there was nothing but blackness and silence all around me for the longest time, but I didn't seem so cold anymore.

Ever so slowly I climbed and clawed my way out of the darkness just to the edges of awareness afraid to completely shuck off the comfort of emptiness. I could hear voices in the background of my thoughts that were somehow familiar. The voices began to invade my consciousness as I tried to cling to the peaceful like emptiness.

"Thanks Captain," I heard my father's voice. "I really appreciate your support."

"That's alright Sergeant Major, how's Kyle doing?" He asked my dad.

"He was lucky. The bullet hit him in the side of the stomach, mostly his muscle mass, missing any major organs. Instead of digging around for it they decided to just leave it for now since it isn't doing any harm where it is lodged. Thank goodness it was only a small twenty two caliber slug or it could have done a lot of damage on him. As it was he had lost a lot of blood and it tore him up pretty good on the inside. I'm so thankful that the General authorized a helicopter pick up, and to be honest we just lucked out with that military medi-vac chopper doing some training runs close by. They were literally only ten minutes away from us. They had everything ready to go, and it may have just saved Kyle's life you know. I mean who knows what all could have gone wrong if he was picked up by the ambulance and driven all that distance to a major medical facility that is equipped to handle such a trauma. He was better off over here on base with doctors experienced with bullet and battle wounds." I heard my father breath out heavily.

"Then it is a good thing everything worked out the way it did. What about the asshole?" I heard the Captain spit out vehemently.

"Yeah, well he won't be giving the boys anymore grief. To be honest he's lucky to be alive because from what I understand he just lay there completely ignored for the longest time until the ambulance arrived. They took him to the local clinic, but couldn't do much for him. Evidently he's paralyzed from the neck down and will be peeing in a bag for the rest of his life. Hopefully that will be in a prison cell where he can rot away for what I hope is a very long life filled with misery." My dad's voice got a bit angry at that point as I heard him take a deep breath trying to calm down. "Sorry Captain…just you know."

Yeah I know and that's alright Sergeant Major, you can count on our team, hell for that matter I've already heard from most of all the other Special Forces companies in all the battalions Kevin. We are all here for you, practically everyone on base. Just tell us what you need and we are all here for you." I heard the other man speaking up as it finally clicked that I recognized the voice as the Captain on my dad's team.

"Thanks Captain, you have no idea what a relief that is for me. This guy is connected and I've already contacted Alex for help." I heard my dad sigh.

"The fancy lawyer from New York…how can he help?" The Captain asked my dad.

"He's reached out and has made contact with Don's…um…associates. He's set up a meeting, and I've got to take care of this before they decide to do something rash. Since Don is in the clinic close by they will be coming in to see him. I've put my wife and the Prescott family on post in the temporary living quarters for safety reasons. You know…just in case. The police in our town offered to provide protection, but they aren't equipped to handle things if these guys do decide to do something. At least on base it will be harder for anyone to get to them…if they are even able to find out my family are there. I didn't tell anyone where I moved them, so that is unlikely but who knows. But with Kyle, well everyone already knows he is in this hospital so I'm mostly afraid for him since he is in the middle of this now, even more so than Evan. I'm afraid for my family, the Prescott's, but mostly Kyle." My dad paused a while as I tried to digest the information in my fuzzy mind.

"So…what do you need?" I heard the Captain ask my dad.

"I need to take off for a day or two…to take care of this mess. Can you arrange the leave time for me?" My dad asked without me hearing a reply, but what must have been an affirmative because my dad continued. "That's great Captain I appreciate it. I'm hoping that maybe we can get some guys to take turns watching over Kyle, but only as long as they understand the dangers. I don't want their families to get hurt as well." I heard my dad ask hesitantly.

"Done Kevin…and don't worry. We all know the risks, but I'll be sure to fill everyone in on what is really going down. I'm sure there will be plenty of volunteers and we will all take turns with Kyle. I'll also have some of the guys take turns watching over the rest of the family…just in case. There are more than enough people on post willing to take turns with watching over your family Kevin…believe me. We all owe you that much." I heard the Captain respond as I slowly opened my eyes.

Pain shot throughout my body as soon as I became completely conscious. It was intense and extreme as my eyes began to water, and I gasped out loud moaning audibly before I heard a loud scream bouncing off the walls in the small room. It made me cringe until I realized it was my own voice as an intense pain exploded unexpectedly throughout my body. I couldn't control myself and instinctively grabbed for my coin, but it wasn't around my neck and I began to panic. I wanted to curl up and hold myself, but the pain was too intense. All I could do was grab on to my hospital gown around my neck while my other hand along my side constricted around the sheet and bedding as I squirmed and continued to scream out in pain. My father's face immediately floated in front of me as he placed the palm of his left hand on my brow and his other hand on my cheeks.

"Nurse," I heard him screaming out as he looked back at me calmly. "Just breathe in slowly Kyle," he urged me. "Just relax…help is coming." He assured me as my vision blurred because of the wetness welling up around my eyes, but I kept my gaze on my father's face trying to focus just on him when an intense ache inside of me began to contract wildly making me want to puke.

There was a flurry of movement around my bed and I watched helplessly as a nurse inserted a needle into the drip bag that was hanging by my bedside. I noticed a tube extending from the bag into my arm. "Coin," I gasped out. "W…where's my coin." I bellowed out feeling another turbulent vortex of pain grip my insides as several large waves of contractions clamped down into my mid-section. "Coin…," I whimpered out softly as my legs squirmed around with the sheer intense stabbing pain I was feeling inside of me.

"What did you guys do with his stuff?" My dad asked the nurse who ignored him.

Grabbing the nurse by the arm my dad asked again a bit more forcefully. "My son's things, what did you do with them?" He asked glaring at her as she reflexively took a step backwards.

"I…I'm not sure…maybe in the drawer." She suggested as he reached over and pulled it open.

"Here Kyle," my father stated folding my fingers around the coin and necklace as the spasm continued to run through my insides making my muscles ache in a way I've never felt before.

It was like someone had reached inside of me and was pulling out my intestines inch by agonizing inch. It was so intense all I could do was gasp for air and focus on the coin in my hand. Slowly the pain seemed to recede, a little at first, and then more rapidly. I didn't know if it was due to the medication the nurse gave me or if it was the coin I held in my hand somehow giving me comfort, but at that moment I didn't much care.

"Here, let me put it back around your neck." My father whispered softly as I felt him lift up my sweat soaked head so he could slip the necklace in place before sitting back and looking at me. His features looked tired and etched with worry as I felt his cool comforting touch on my face.

"Evan?" My voice rasped harshly as I asked with questioning eyes.

"He's fine Kyle. I had to force him to go home and get cleaned up. He didn't want to leave your side, but he was filthy and coated in…um…blood." He told me as I began to panic with worry. He saw how frightened I got and held up his hand to me trying to calm me down. "No…not his blood Kyle. He's fine and you probably saved his life by shoving him through the door and holding Don back the way you did. After surgery I sent everyone home because the doctors didn't know how long it would take for you to wake up. It's been all night Kyle, but maybe it will be best if you just allow the medication to work and get some more sleep. I'll call up your mother and let her know you woke up and are doing fine. She just about jumped down my throat when I insisted she go home and help with getting the kids cleaned up. Your Aunt Liz is in such a state of worry and panic over you and the boys that she's literally useless, and it was the only way I could get Evan to leave. I'm sure she will be back here in short order happy you woke up. I'm leaving Sage behind, he's right here." My dad pointed out as I looked down and reached over to the dog.

"Good boy Sage. Thank you for saving me." I whispered softly to the dog as my eyes began to droop heavily. "How did you know boy?" I asked him before looking at my dad.

"Remember the tee shirt that Mattie had torn from Don when he got attacked?" My father asked me as my mind began to get a bit fuzzy from the medication making it difficult to focus, but I did seem to vaguely recall the incident so nodded. "Well, I've been training Sage to recognize the scent as danger, and to attack if necessary. When the wind shifted he picked up on it, and I immediately knew who it was when he bolted like that. I told doc to grab his medical bag and took off after Sage." My father stated smiling down at me as I nodded with my eyes feeling heavier now that the medication was kicking in and I was feeling a lot better.

My father rubbed my forehead gently, and then leaned in giving me a light kiss on my cheek as I sighed contentedly my eyes wandering around taking in the room. There was some movement over on the opposite side of the room, and I furrowed my eyebrows noticing a small figure in another bed with the curtains drawn open. It was another boy about ten or eleven years old with short light blond colored hair and slate blue eyes. He had a triangular shaped face with wide forehead and cheekbones that narrowed down to a pointed like chin. He was cute and smiled at me while I smiled back weakly before closing my eyes for a moment because they felt so heavy. When I opened them back up the boy was looking around seemingly lost and very lonely, not to mention also a bit frightened. I felt kind of bad now because I'm sure my screaming must have woken him up, and probably scared the crap out of him at the same time.

"Who's the boy?" I asked whispering to my father as he glanced over his shoulders.

"I'm not exactly sure Kyle. I only heard that some sort of diplomat, or an important person who works for a high ranking diplomat, had to land the plane he was on for a medical emergency. I think the boy had to have surgery to remove his appendix. They said it was pretty bad and from what I understand it might even have burst on him during surgery. That could be pretty serious." He told me as I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Where are his parents…I mean someone should be with him?" I pointed out.

"I suppose Kyle…but I think his father had to get to some important meeting in Washington D.C., and I heard his mother is flying in from oversees." He told me shrugging his shoulders indicating he wasn't sure about all the details.

"He's scared dad…someone should be with him." I stated as I yawned. "Sage…go over and say hello to our neighbor." I told the dog as he cocked his head sideways looking at me critically before silently padding his way over to the other bed.

While I had been talking with my dad the blond haired boy had focused his attention back on to us watching everything intently when I asked Sage to go say hello. He scrutinized the dog closely, still a bit frightened, as Sage lifted first his front left paw onto the side of the bed, and then his right, before standing on his hind legs with his bushy tail wagging back and forth like propeller. The boy didn't move, but just watched the dog carefully as Sage settled his head on his paws looking up at the other boy. I saw the blue eyed boy's face light up a little as he cautiously reached out and whispered softly to Sage in a language I didn't understand. It didn't matter what language someone used when speaking with Sage because he could just sense the sincerity in the smaller boy's voice.

"W…what is his name?" I heard the boy ask with a very thick accent noticing how he made a 'v' sound in place of the 'w' in 'what,' and a 'z' sound in place of an 's' in 'is and his.' So instead of us hearing "W…what is his name," we heard him say "V…vat iz hiz name?"

My dad got up and walked towards the other boy. "His name is Sage and he seems to have taken a liking to you." My father chuckled as Sage started to lick the boy's hand making the child giggle excitedly before wincing in pain. "Careful now…we don't want you busting open your stitches." My father told the little guy as he tried to sooth the boy by softly stroking his forehead. "Sage is going to stay with Kyle for a while, my son over there." My dad pointed towards me. "Is that alright with you?" My father asked as the boy smiled timidly and nodded his head. "That's kind of you. Are you alright?" My father asked sitting next to the boy and running his fingers through the short blond hair as the boy's sparkling slate blue eyes welled up. The kid seemed to respond to my dads touch and calmed down a bit as he nodded his head indicating he was alright.

"I…I think so, but I am a bit frightened." The boy admitted substituting the 'th' in 'think' for a 'z' letter making it sound like 'zinc' and a 'z' sound in the 'ght' part of 'frightened,' as my father nodded his head.

My mind was already starting to come to terms with his manner of speech. It was similar to German, but I got the sense it was somehow different. It made me smile because it was just too adorably cute on the boy as I continued to watch the exchange between the youngster and my father, accent and all.

"I understand. This is a strange place and not your country to boot. So your dad had to go…um…to a meeting I'm assuming?" My father talked casually with the other boy as the little guy just nodded.

"My father…um…step father had a meeting. He had to fly out to the capitol. He will be flying back to see me, and my mother is flying from Switzerland." The boy confirmed as I noticed him using a 'fv' sound for 'f' and a 'z' sound for 'th' in 'father,' a 'sh' sound for 's' in "step, a 'z' sound for 't' in meeting, a 'zu' for 'to,' a 'ze' sound for 'the,' a 'v' sound for 'w' in 'will', a 'z' sound between the letters 'y' and 'i' in 'flying,' a 'zee' for 'see,' a 'z' for 'th' in 'mother,' and a 'z' for 's' in Switzerland.

In essence I heard him say "My fvazer…um…shtep fvazer had a meezing. He had zu fly out zu ze capitol. He vill be flyzing back zu zee me, and my mozer is flyzing in from Zwitzerland." By this time I was already automatically converting his speech in my mind, and no longer had to concentrate with what he was saying.

"Well, you are in good hands here until they arrive, and don't worry before long your mother will be here too. Also I can almost promise you a whole slew of kids will be hanging around here before long, and knowing some of them they will keep you entertained." My father chuckled getting up and walking back over towards the Captain as he gave me a quick wink.

My eyes felt heavy as I struggled to stay awake, but I could feel myself quickly loosing the battle. I looked over towards the other boy who smiled at me appreciatively. Sage sensed me nodding off, and was about to hop down, but I managed to give him the hand signal to stay with the other boy. The kid saw my gesture and looked at me smiling appreciatively while I just closed my eyes no longer able to hold it off any longer.

The last thing I heard before falling asleep was my father asking the Captain if he could do him one more favor. He wanted the man to go to our house and get something from his office. What it was I didn't know because I just simply faded away into a calm peaceful slumber.

There were some hushed noises going on that I didn't recognize when I opened up my eyes looking around before remembering what had happened. It was really quiet in the room, but there were soft voices over on the other side. When I looked over there was a very beautiful blonde haired lady lying next to the boy in the other bed as she seemed to cuddle and stroke his hair gently. She had climbed up on the bed and was snuggled up with the smaller boy as she leaned down kissing him softly on the cheek. They were whispering together softly as I closed my eyes nodding off again. I was about to fall asleep when I heard a deeper voice that seemed to be complaining with the softer voice I had earlier trying to calm him down.

"No this is completely unacceptable. Don't these people know who I am?" I heard a gruff commanding voice. "Alright, get him out of here." The man was instructing someone.

"No, leave him vazer." I heard the boy speak up in what was now a familiar accent as my medication began to weigh heavily on me and I wanted to doze off again.

"No Luca, you have to start learning that you are part of my family now, and there is a certain standard that is afforded to people like us. Just stay here everyone I'll get the nurses to take care of this." He stated as it got quiet in the room again except for the urgent whispering between the boy and his mother.

There was another presence in the room, not the one sitting quietly close by my bed, but rather someone else who began moving towards my bed. "I'd leave that alone buddy," I heard a familiar voice, but I couldn't recall at the moment who it belonged to.

My brain had sort of become a bit fuzzy again, and all I wanted to do was sleep. There was a sort of throbbing pain in my side that never seemed to go away. It was a dull ache and nothing too severe, yet seemed enough to make me uncomfortable. I felt the other presence pause for a moment and then make a dismissive sound. I got the impression he was reaching out towards me, but then I heard movement by my bedside as the calm figure stood up.

"I told you to leave it be." The voice commanded a bit more forcefully.

"What's he doing with something like that?" I heard a condescending voice.

"That's none of your concern buckaroo." I heard an equally patronizing voice reply back to the first man as there now seemed to be a sort of standoff.

"Listen buddy I don't like your tone and soon enough the boy will be removed from the room, but I don't like the idea of a child treating something like that as a trinket so I'm just going to hold on to it and keep it safe." The other man replied.

"I told you to just leave it be, and I suggest you keep back." My benefactor seemed to warn the other man.

There was a sort of arrogant laugh and then a short pause. "Listen, I don't know who you think you are, but if you are threatening me then I assure you I'm not frightened. I'm the Foreign Officer to the Ambassador's personal guard and a federal agent, so perhaps you should just mind your business. Besides, what are you doing here after visiting hours?" I heard the man state as I slowly opened my eyes and saw the man reaching out towards me making me automatically shrink back into my bed.

His hand didn't get very far because someone stepped in front of him forcing the first man to take a couple of steps backwards. I noticed that it was the Captain who must have taken the first watch tonight over me.

"Partner, I don't want any trouble from you, and I don't care who you are, but you will stay away from Kyle." The Captain retorted in warning with a commanding voice. He wasn't used to being trifled with, and wasn't about to let other people start now no matter who they thought they were.

Then all hell broke loose as all of a sudden Sage came tearing out from under the bed forcing the first man back into the corner. "Call the dog off or I'll pull my gun on him and shoot him." The first man stated in a frantic voice.

"Well if you wouldn't have reached for it in the first place we wouldn't be having this problem now would we?" The Captain stated a bit pissed off now. "My suggestion would be for you to hold still and let me retrieve your weapon. There's no way in hell you will get to it before the dog gets to you."

"The hell I will." The agent spat back, but then jolted backwards when Sage suddenly surged forward and snapped his teeth at the man.

"What the hell is going on in here?" I heard a new voice shout out arrogantly as I noticed him stopping dead in his tracks when he saw Sage's hackles standing on edge. "Holy crap…who the hell let the dog into the room?" He demanded looking towards the Captain.

"The dog is a military service dog and has access inside all facilities." Was the simple reply.

"Well I don't care I've called security and both you and the boy will be removed. So call of the dog now." The man demanded as the Captain shook his head.

"Nope, not until the asshole over here relinquishes his weapon, besides I don't think I could call him off if I wanted to. He's very protective of Kyle, and doesn't much care for anyone bandying around a gun at the moment. Sage is pretty upset that your man over here accosted the boy…lately he's kind of sensitive about such things."

Just then several more people showed up including nurses, a doctor, and the military police. "Whoa, what the hell." I heard a booming voice gasp out as he stopped dead in his tracks a foot or two inside the doorway motioning for the rest of the guys to remain outside.

This was beginning to get out of control, and wouldn't settle anything other than someone getting hurt. My mind was starting to spin and my head was pounding in my skull, not to mention my side was aching making me feel like I wanted to throw up, but I mustered my strength and barked out a command.

"Sage, platz," I shouted forcefully and then winced wrapping my fingers around the blanket and necklace around my neck as my insides contracted painfully.

The large Malinois obeyed immediately and came to my bedside lying down on the ground. The man he had been fending off started to reach for his gun, but Sage immediately got up his hackles rising giving a warning growl.

"Whoa hold on one moment." I heard the large military police officer caution. "You pull that weapon mister and I'll break every bone in your body if the dog doesn't get to you first."

The federal agent hesitated a moment, and then straightened out his suit coat acting a bit haughtily. "That animal attacked me and put at risk the Foreign Officer to the Ambassador. I want him removed immediately and destroyed." He demanded as the military police sergeant just sort of brushed him off looking towards me.

"Oh hell no, is that you Kyle?" I heard the man ask as I scrunched my eyebrows looking at the man through the haze of my pain.

"Sergeant?" I asked him and gasped taking in short breathes as my side continued to ache.

"Holy crap kid, what did you get yourself into now?" He asked me ignoring everyone else in the room as he came over to me and brushed my damp hair out of my eyes. He looked down at Sage and praised the Malinois who just cocked his head for a moment realizing the sergeant wasn't a threat before once more focusing on the federal agent. "Geeze doctor, he's in pain. You better come take a look." The large burly man suggested as he just winked at me. "Don't worry son, we will get this mess cleared up real fast. So what are you doing here now? Please don't tell me that little kid got you into some more trouble again?" He chuckled trying to cheer me up as the doctor took a look at my charts and gave instructions to the nurse.

"Nah, it wasn't Mattie this time. It was his older brother." I chuckled and then winced as the Sergeant waited for an explanation. "Some guy was after Evan, and I got in the way of his gun." I told him simply as the pain seemed to settle down. The nurse had given me another shot in the I.V. bag and it was already working.

"Geeze kid, so you were the one we all have been hearing about. Well, don't worry we will get everything worked out. Just rest and thanks for calling of the dog. It could have gotten really messy." The man told me sincerely as he just winked and turned his attention to everyone in the room.

"All right, explanations gentlemen." He asked taking immediate charge of the situation turning first towards the diplomat.

The man cleared his throat and extended his hand to the Sergeant who just ignored it forcing the diplomat to pull it back a bit embarrassed that he had been rebuked like that by a mere security guard. "Well I'm Mr. Page and my plane had to land here because my stepson had a medical emergency. Since I'm a diplomat we expected a private room for the boy. When I arrived that…that boy over there was in my son's room. When I went to demand him be removed that dog attacked the federal agent over here who is assigned to me."

"I see, and your man didn't provoke the dog in any way?" The Sergeant asked looking at the federal agent who still seemed a bit ruffled by the incident.

"Hell no." He spat back.

"That's a lie and you know it. I warned you to stay away from the boy." The Captain replied.

"I was only going to keep that medal in safe keeping. The boy has no business treating something like that as a trinket. What the hell is he doing with it anyway? It's offensive and degrades our congressmen who award such items, and he just hangs it on the bedpost like it were some bauble to play with as he sees fit." I heard the agent spit out with sarcasm making me wonder what the hell he was talking about as I craned my neck looking around.

Then my eyes saw it. The Medal of Honor belonging to my father was draped over the bed post next to my pillow. That's what my dad must have told the Captain to retrieve for him at the house. He must have left it behind for me as a gesture of my bravery and how proud he was of me.

"Who are you to make such a comment?" I heard the Captain respond. "It's none of your concern regarding the medal, and the man who earned it can do what he pleases with it. How convenient it is of you to totally leave out the one who actually earned it in the first place opting to croon over the lazy assholes who sit in a the protective comfortable air-conditioned office thousands of miles away from harms way making those decisions. You don't know jack shit about anything, and just because you're a federal agent doesn't mean you can come in here making demands of anyone. You're lucky Sage didn't attack you outright when you reached for your weapon or who knows where you'd be right now. I resent you assholes coming into a hospital room making demands as if you owned the place. What makes you think you are so much better than anyone else."

"Well be that as it may be," I heard Mr. Page state a bit put off by someone speaking to him and his people like that, "the fact of the matter is the boy will be removed. So Sergeant if you will see to it we can get this done relatively quickly so we can have done with it." The man just made a dismissive gesture as if that were all there is to it.

"You're joking right?" The Sergeant asked looking over his shoulders towards Sage.

"Of course not, just do your job and remove this man, boy, and dog from the room." He stated again as if he were used to people jumping at his every beck and call.

There was a loud booming noise as the Sergeant doubled over laughing his ass off and shaking his head. It didn't seem to sit well with the agent or Mr. Page as they just scowled at the big man in front of them bent over as if he were mocking them.

The Sergeant held up his hand to Mr. Page when he saw the scowl. "I'm sorry it is just too hilarious. There's no way in hell I'm going to do that." He assured the diplomat.

"What do you mean your not going to do your job. I'll call the base commander if I have to." He spat out a bit put out at how rudely he was being treated.

"Oh man you just don't have any clue whatsoever do you? To be honest I'm more afraid of them than I am of you." The Sergeant pointed out as he noticed the confused look on the agent's face and the look of surprise on Mr. Page's features so he continued. "If you haven't noticed the insignia on the Captain's uniform yet you should take a closer look. He's Special Forces, not only that but his unit is an elite portion of the Special Forces group, so I most definitely don't want to fuck with him. Next you have the war dog over there who is battle trained and proven with several confirmed…um…let's just say successes against the enemy." He whispered looking towards me, but I knew what he was referring to…kills. "Then you have the boy's father to contend with. Now that one there should make you pause for a moment. Anything happens to his son and I guarantee no matter how many guards you have he will make you pay. Now I for one am not going to get involved. If you want Kyle removed you are doing it on your own, but know this, you better bring an army with you because just about every soldier on this base will protect the Sergeant Major's son." The man concluded taking a hard look at the two men for emphasis as they just gaped at him.

"This is absurd." The diplomat spat as he looked towards the doctor and nurse who just shrugged their shoulders as he watched the military police begin to leave.

The Sergeant paused for a moment at the doorway and looked at the agent. "For the record, the boy's father is the one who earned the Medal of Honor. Don't ever make the mistake again of acting better than other people because you just never know. If you approach the boy again I'll bury you so deep somewhere the federal government won't ever find your body." The Sergeant concluded as he turned towards me and winked before leaving.

Mr. Page was going to say something, but the woman finally stepped up to him and put her hand on his arm as she spoke softly but firmly in that thick accent similar to what I heard with her son while my mind automatically converted it into proper context. "Luca wants the boy to stay in the room with him, and so do I. You where wrong with how you handled this situation and we are disappointed and ashamed at this behavior. Leave it be, we do not mind. Luca was trying to tell you this, but as usual you ignore what he wants. Leave it be sweetheart, and let's go to the hotel and we will return tomorrow for the visit, yes?" She asked kindly her speech laced thickly with the 'z,' 'v,' and whatnot as Mr. Page sighed and looked towards the smaller boy before nodding his head looking a bit more meek and sorry for his actions.

Looking around the man just sighed. "I…I'm sorry for…everything." He smiled warmly at his stepson trying his best to connect with the smaller boy who smiled back and nodded his head that it was alright as he watched his mother and stepfather leave the room.

The Captain came over and ruffled my hair affectionately making me smile. "Thanks Captain, but I wouldn't have minded moving." I told him honestly.

"But I would have." I heard the soft high pitched voice of the boy across the room. "Please forgive my stepfather; he really is a good man once you get to know him. He's just worried about me is all because I gave him a big fright." The boy responded as I noticed him cringing in a bit of pain as he settled back down into his bed.

Looking over at the boy I just smiled at him. "Well then my name is Kyle." I grimaced in a bit of my own pain trying to get more comfortable as my medication was starting to kick in.

I noticed the nurse coming in with some medication for Luca as well. "I'm Luca." The boy responded as we both waved to one another.

"It's nice meeting you Luca, but I'm exhausted and I ache all over. Is it alright if we visit some more in the morning?" I asked him as the boy nodded.

"Ja, good idea. Hopefully the nurse will stick me good and give me a shot so I can get some sleep, yes?" He asked the nurse who just smiled and nodded her head.

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