---message to all Knights and reserve Knights---

Tomorrow morning at nine am we will have a meeting of the entire team. Everyone is required to attend, as this is due to a matter that concerns the future of the team. Due to this, all patrols will be canceled for tomorrow while we deal with the situation at hand.

Cade


Cade sighed and reviewed the paperwork that had come through in the early morning hours. The Govenors of North and South Dakota had petitioned for the Knights to be federally sanctioned to help put down the Lakota uprising.

It was a PR nightmare and Cade knew it. It would be just like Vietnam in the sixties, andd in the eyes of many, the Knights would be the "badguys" putting down the baseline Lakota.

"Dammit, this is not what I signed on for. Still, I'll give the team a chance to sound it out before I make the call. It's only fair to let everyone know where everyone stands."

The next morning Cade waited in the conference room. At each seat on the table Cade had provided a packet of information on the situation, and the realative numbers of the Lakota warbands. What was also included were pictures of the victims of the Lakota thus far.

She walked into the room with a deep dread in her heart. It wasn't the meeting so much that bothered her, but decision in her own soul she feared she would have to make. It would be running away to go back home to Boise, Sandcaster, and putting powder on resort slopes. So would be responding to the pleas she was getting from the Ojibwa tribal elders for her to come back to Canada and be with her people.

Was she a coward for not joining the Lakota?

Could she remain true to the Knights and Chicago?

Despondently, Stormwarden entered the room and took her seat in silence.

Heavy boots stomped their way through the halls. Most got out of his way, as was usual, save for the few hopeless souls that still actually tried to say hello to him from time to time.

"Morning Revenant." Came the voice of an intern who didn't yet know what the 'stay out of my way' look was yet. The grim nova just grunted, cigar smoke billowed from his nose as he just walked right past.

He hated meetings. It was just moronic babble from less than adequate leadership on how those who were not leaders could make efforts to fix the leader's problems. Not his cup of tea.

The door swung open and he saw only Cade and Stormwarden. He offered no greeting but made sure his eyes met theirs if only for a brief moment. He sat down (at the opposite head of the table, of course) and began thumbing through the provided information.

Sean glided in six inches off the ground. It wasn't unusual to see the ex-Terat flying when he could walk. What was unusual was the shit-eating grin on his face and the lack of tension in his features. In fact, until now, none of his teammates realized how long it had been since he'd looked his relaxed, calm and happy.

He'd definitely gotten laid.

"Hey, all!" he called cheerfully, though his tone and expression sombered up after he saw all the serious faces around him. But he was still humming as he rifled through the papers.

Vali made his way into the meeting, hair still wet from a shower. His mood was also upbeat though he wasn't humming. Vali went straight to his seat and began flipping through the dossier in front of him. His tone remained unconcerned. This was a possible assignment like so many others. Sure, it was a larger series of criminal acts, but weren't they all crime-fighters ... well most of them.

Nothing about the carnage shocked him anymore. He had seen pretty much all the evil and sick things man could do to one another during his time on the Knights. It was all a matter of perspective in Vali's mind.
He'd seen a woman's unborn child ripped out of her womb just four months ago.
A decapitaion? He'd seen a meth-head take off his best friend's head with an ax.
The scalping was a new twist on the numerous mutilations he had to witness over the past two years, but not, sadly, surprising.

Rapes, murders, arsons, thefts ... all old hat. Other people wanted to paint these crimes up as a Race War, let them. To Vali, these were crimes committed by criminals. Putting a stop to this was part and parcel of being a Knight. If the team voted to jump into this mess, Vali knew he wasn't going to have a problem with it.

Hey! Sean got laid. Bout time.

Once Sean arrived, Kayla picked up her packet and began going over the photos. The tragedy of the pictures touched her. A particular gruesome death of a teenage girl caused tears to begin streaming down her cheeks and they didn't stop. She sobbed quietly for the pains, suffering, and loss for people on both sides of the conflict. This was a big thing they were being asked to consider and she still had no better idea about what she, or any of them, should do.

For Stormwarden, tears always just happened. Sometimes they accompanied great joy, other times grief. She was not ashamed to cry for it felt like a natural part of life. Tears were a cleansing of the soul so that you could think straight and find some answer to the madness. This time, she wasn't sure anyone had enough tears.

Clark walked into the room, a rare sight. The young woman held Gray in her arms. Sitting down next to Vali, she sat Gray into the chair next to her and picked up the packet of information with the other hand. With practiced ease that only a nova could display, she flipped through the information quickly while settling her son.

Gray made a soft noise, and Clark shushed him with a quiet whisper. "You need to be quiet until we finish the meeting, dear," she murmured. Gray fell silent but made a grabbing motion in the air, and Clark pulled a toy out of a pocket on her coveralls, handing it to her son.

The year-old boy immediately began to quietly play, his dark hair falling over his face as he remained intent. Clark watched him for a moment, her expression soft. Then she became serious, turning back to the work at hand and studying the materials Cade had provided.

As always the Windy City Comedy Club was in full swing. One, as always was a worthless emotional wreck and yet another didn't know what a babysitter was. What a fuckin joke. Revenant thought to himself as he thumbed through the information.

A few of the images he raised an eyebrow at and one in particular he kept rotating the image in his had as if he couldn't make out what he was suposed to be looking at. "Save that for the scrap book," he mumbled. "Helluva shot."

"The hell you so jovial about McCline? Procyon finally give ya more that just the tip last night?" He finally said, never taking his eye off the information in front of him.

"Nope," Sean said cheerfully, tossing the papers aside and leaning back in the chair. The unnaturally young looking man grinned wickedly and tucked his hands behind his head, the picture of smug satisfaction. "Why you so grumpy? Velvet make you sleep outside again?"

His eyes glanced around the room, taking in the kid, the rarely-seen Clark, the grumpy Revenant and the crying Stormwarden. Stormwarden is crying. Must be a day ending in y, he giggled to himself before hopping to his feet and bringing her a box of Kleenex. "It's ok," he said softly. "It'll resolve itself soon, and this killing will stop."

Kayla smiled up at Sean as she took the Kleenex.
"I know Sean. If I hold this in, it will poison me, so I let it out and feel better. These are such sad images. If didn't cry I would end up dull and lifeless ..." she looks toward Revenant and lets the sentance fade.
"Thank you for the Kleenex", she finishes.

Warren rolled his eyes and slapped his papers to the table. "Oh give me a break. You're an attention whore. I'd be more inclined to accept you a credible source for emotional wisdom had you not lied on your employment application. Manipulating wench."

He pointed a finger at the still smiling Sean. "And fuck you." Between he and Sean it was all typical grins and giggles. These two went back and forth all the time (much to Cade's dismay). Kayla irritated him, always did and prolly always would. It may have been her fault, it may not... with Revenant one could never tell.

"So, Cade. Quit fuckin' around. Tell us why were here."

The look Kayla gave Revenant was one of profound pity. She didn't know why he despised her and at the moment she really could care less. Her emotions were her own and she now had the confidence to express them thanks her life mate, and there was no way for the Death-nova to shame her. Stormwarden went back to her papers and photos, dismissing his venomous words from her mind.

"Now that everyone's here and has had the chance to review the information, here's the situation. The Governors of North and South Dakota have petitioned both our Governor and the Federal government to expand our jurisdiction for the duration of this crisis to allow us to help quell the Lakota uprising."

This goes far beyond the scope of why the Knights were formed, and this can set a major precedent for who municipal defenders really work for. I want to know your thoughts on the situation."

Cade nods nocommittally. "If we were to do this we would still be responsible for the Windy City area, and would revert solely to that once things have been resolved. I will tell you that our Governor has already agreed to grant us the jurisdiction, and I'm fairly certain The united States Government will do so."

"In truth, they can ORDER us to go, or at least those of us under binding contracts. However they'd rather we volunteer to take extra compensation and responsibility on our own."

He frowns darkly. "And if we screw up, we become the ultimate scapegoat, the blame would be ours alone if things escalate. That's the real reality of this situation."

"Cade, what exactly would I mandate be?" Vali began. "Would we be bringing down law-breakers on both sides of the conflict, or going in to put the Indians back in a box?"

He kept his gaze on the head of the table. He was as much thinking out loud as addressing the room.
"Hell, I'm not sure there is a side to take. People are running around killing and stealing. That's against the law. I don't care what their excuses are ... but others do. How does this not come back and bite us in the ass?"

Vali shook his head and continued.
"I think this is a waste of our time and resources. Not because we can't get the job done, but because of all the agencies that are going to be holding our hands while this goes down. If we are allowed to go in and do what we think will end the conflict ... and I don't think for a minute they will ... I'm for committing. Otherwise, they can go screw themselves."

With the skepticism of youth clear on his face,
"Cade, you go tell them these conditions. They will say 'No' and we can gracefully bow out of this debacle. They want novas to handle this situation, let us hanlde it like novas ... not as patsies."

"Well shave my ass and call me silky." Revenant said about as calm as he was capable of. "Vali here is makin' sense. Must be snowin’ in hell."

His packet of info was tossed onto the table. "Even under contract we can't be forced to perform military services, doing so would be a 'draft'. So let me enlighten you. First and foremost, understand that the Federal Government alone does not have the authority to institute a draft. In order to implement a draft, Congress would first have to pass a law to authorize it, and the President would have to sign the bill into law, or at least not veto it. So quit scaring the kids with your bullshit. Since this is an 'uprising' it falls under federal jurisdiction, which makes this a military operation, public defenders need not apply. We can volunteer, but there is no way in hell we can be forced into anything even if we are under contract to serve the Chicago area."

He leaned back slowly in his chair and smiled from ear to ear. "So, for five hundred grand a day and carte blanche to slaughter anything in my path, Lakota or otherwise, let em' know I'm available for hire."

After Revenant's terms Cade winced inwardly. It was not the first time he was glad Sandcaster had done away with the cameras. "You won't be slaughtering anything, except paperwork if we do this. With your attitude you'd make the situation infinitely worse, which as it is ought to be hard to do. Which is why you'd be on of the Knights left here to maintain order here in Chicago, while part of the team is away."

"For what its worth I think it's a horrible idea to get mixed up in this entire situation as the Windy City Knights. This isn't what the team is for. I wanted to let you all know what was going on and what I've been discussing with the Federal government. You deserve to know what designs others have for us."

He sits back. "While I believe it is not a good idea for the Knights to participate as a team, If any of you wish to go on your own to help I will not stop you. I can give you the contact information you need to be granted emergency jurisdiction and discuss compensation."

He speared Revenant with his icy blue gaze. "If you want to go dictate your terms to the Federal government be my guest."

"Cade, with the crap that we know, you can't afford to leave Rev behind. If you want to leave somebody behind, leave me. I'm the weakest. You are going to need your real strength on the frontlines," Vali says evenly.

"If we are each going to find our own conscience on this ... well, it breaks us up as a team. I'm against it. We could end up fighting each other."

He runs his tongue long his cainines then shakes his head. Rev was not chainable. Cade wanted the respect due the head of the WCK and Rev wouldn't give it this side of hell. The situation promised to eat up much of the more reasonalbe discussions the Team needed. The WCK would suffer and the WCK's memebers were walking into a war. Vali didn't have an answer.

Revenant sighed. "They won't accept my terms Cade,” He leaned forward and folded his hands, resting them on the table. "And that's the point. I thought this was a panel of keen minds?"

"Again, Vali makes a point." He looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Shit kid, quit it already. It's getting scary." He mused. "Look, all machismo aside people, and I say this to all of you..." He glanced around the table; his gaze was suddenly serious, almost like he was speaking to them each as equals. "Whether they were aware of it or not the Federal Government had an orbital weapon fired upon U.S. soil and it slew the leader of the Lakota nation. While I know this is a sad and tragic thing to happen and it's human nature to feel grief and fill that void with a desire to help them or help out."

He was rather animated, his hands being used to help emphasize what his point was. "But it's not our problem. Every time the suits mess up they call on us to fix it. Every time someone does something they're not supposed to, they call on us. This world's leaders need to stop relying on us to solve their problems every time they get themselves over their head. We're not tools to be laid down on the battlefield whenever someone in a hot seat makes poor judgment calls. This is the humans’ problem and I think that the humans need to learn how to fight their own battles again. This is why they have a military force, local police, and fire & rescue... for reasons just like this. It's not our fight."

He was silent for a moment, but it was clear he still had more to say. "That's not me being cruel, seriously. It's just the truth. The Lakota have every right to be pissed but as rationally thinking human beings they should know that this path leads to destruction for them, calling us to play intimidators so they'll back down is just a "our guns are bigger than yours" ploy by the military leaders to get them to back down, and when it's over they stuff us away back into the closet. I'm tired of it, and you guys should be too."

While not looking up from the photos before her, Kayla gave a slight nod.
"I agree with Revenant. The people that have created these problems need to find their own solutions to it."

She wanted to say more, but the words did not come easily. She didn't know the truth of the matter and even her instincts were not giving her any clear indictation on were she should go. Stormwarden felt cold and empty inside, but she knew that jumping on the first course of action offered wasn't the answer. Maybe the answer would come in time.

"To be honest Revenant, I agree with you. This isn't our fight, which is why I will tell them that the team is not available for what they want. There will probably be a media shitstorm when it gets out that we turned them down, but what the hell it won't be the first one we've had to deal with will it?"

"As before any of you who wish to go may do so, but as a team we will not be plunging into this. I may be called upon to help Negotiate once things get to that point, but beyond that we will have no involvment as a team in this uprising."

He looks to each of the team. "What say the rest of you? If you think I'm wrong to deny the request then speak up now."

"Us going to fight as individuals, is the same thing as what Reven and Cade were just talking about," Sean pointed out. "I mean, come on, it's no one's problem who is here. None of us are federal agents, and none of us are Lakota." He pauses and studies Revenant for a second. "Though you're enough of a pain in the ass that you could be a distant cousin to Wakinyan."

He doesn't give Revenant a chance to reply before adding, "Honestly, I think we all should stay out of it. It's not our fight, as a team or as individuals."

"I think Sean has it right," says Jager from the doorway. Though he had just silently glided in on the meeting, he had heard the voices from down the hall.

"I think its worth the team's while to find out just who killed Wakinyan, but I think we can do that quietly."

He looked around the room, nodding to Cade before continuing.
"For the most part, the people in the areas we help out like us and want us around. Let's keep it that way. Let's not go borrowing other people's troubles. Even acting alone, we can bring all kinds of shit back on the group."

"Oh, and its good to see you all again."

Clark was bored stupid. Not only did they call an emergency meeting on her day off, but the "emergency" was something that should have already been resolved. Cade should have realized what was involved from the start and just made a decision.

But the meeting took a definite turn for the better when Jager unexpectedly arrived. Gray let loose a happy squeal - which his mother understood, given the circumstances - and began to wiggle to the edge of his chair, trying to get down. Clark sat back and let him tumble out of the chair, ignoring the instincts screaming to help him. Her son awkwardly and clumsly made it to the floor on his own and dashed around the table on stubby legs to run to Jager, nicely timing it with the end of his statement. The tall blonde man found his knees engulfed by his grandson's voracious hug.

Clark gave Jager a genuine smile as Gray latched onto him, adding, "And we're very happy to see you home. Come, sit." She patted the chair that had been Gray's. Knowing her son, he'd sit on Jager's lap if allowed, and Jager would probably allow it.

But more importantly, a tension that she'd had since his disappearance was gone. Jager was home, and things seemed brighter just to have all of her family in the city.

It's a rare thing that happens when Jager walks in. Cade's jaw drops. For a moment he's completely caught by suprise. He recovers in an instant and smiles. "Welcome back Jager. The Mayor is certainly going to rest easier knowing you're back. He knew Jager possessed unrivaled mental defence, but tried anyway hoping his eyes communicated enough to Jager to allow him a private message.

I'm going to need to talk to you Jager, after we finish things here.

"Then it's decided that we will turn them down. Good. Now I know I've canceled patrols for today, but I'll take volunteers to run short six hour shifts. Or you can all take the day off. I'll leave it up to you. No reason you should pay for a decision I made."

"Well, the better half of the ambiguously gay duo reappears. Cades missed you. With out ass for his lips to stay firmly attached to he's been wandering around lost like a puppy pretending to have leadership skills." Revenant's chair spun forty-five degrees so he was facing Jager. "The only way I'll be even remotely pleased to see you is you got lonely and decided to come back and take the Cajun with ya this time. Although in your absence I have learned a valuable lesson: we can do worse than you."

With each elbow resting on the chair's arm rests he leaned back with his hands folded together. "Can the first order of business you take on be to explain to a certain redneck child that her kid has no business being brought into a meeting, day off or not?"

Jager let Grey grapple with his leg and deftly brought the limb up so that he could take his grandson into his arms. He retraced Grey's path and sat down next to Clark. As he passed Cade, he gave the Team Leader a barely perceptable nod. Jager gave another nod to Vali and a wink Sean and Stormwarden. He finished up by giving Clark a quick kiss on the cheek.

Turning to Revenant, he gave haunted specter a look of barely restrained longing.
"I missed you to, Chum."
Jager let that moment pass then added,
"And were exactly would you have Grey be left while both his parents are here, eh? The run of the mill babysitter doesn't come close to cutting it."

"Why not? It's good for every other family out there with places to go and things to do." Revenant said calmly. "Or are you insinuating that because Grey is a child born from novas that he somehow deserves more than the 'run of the mill'?"

The blue master of the macabre glared at Jager. "That's certainly not the sort of attitude becoming a Windy City Knight, now is it?”

"I would have arranged for care for him during the meeting, as there are people I would trust to watch him, for limited amounts of time," Clark said, looking flatly at Revenant with an aggravating lack of expression. "However, the sudden meeting left me no time to arrange for anything. Besides, he is far less disruptive than some of the adults here." She placed a hand on her son's back, as he leaned sideways against Jager's chest and went back to his toy.

Cade looks in Revenant's direction and initiates mental contact. "OK you and I are gonna have a talk. I know you don't like Telepaths, no one really does. You piss me off in ways I can't describe. You don't care about that? Fine, whatever, it's really not my goddamn problem. I don't like you at all and I'm sure it's mutual.

The thing of it is, I can't argue with your results. You help immensely in keeping this city relatively crime-free. You've got more busts than anyone, and more time out on patrol. You complain that nobody else here knows what they're doing, well I'm going to offer you the opportunity to teach them. I want this team to work even better than it has in the past. If that means I've got to ask you for help then so be it?

So what would you do differently?

Revenant's eyes narrowed and he stared daggers at the Cajun across the table from him. The look went beyond the sheer limitless and unbridled hatred that burned hotter than 10,000 suns that was normally reserved just for Cade.

This was a look reserved for just those special people who used telepathy on him. Ptesan-Wi found herself on the wrong end of this expression once.

Once.

"First and foremost fuckwit, get out of my head. I ain't so great of a person that what you gotta say can't be said in front of my peers." Normally, he'd have been dead around now, but something Cade had sent to him via his thoughts had bought Cade more time with that pathetic disease he called 'being him.'

"Second, I have a fuckin' list..."

"Then let's run through it here in front of everyone Revenant, since you don't seem to care about what others think."

"Done." Revenant said as he got up out of his chair. He walked to the side of the table, standing behind Stormwarden's chair. Pointing at Jager he simply said. "You. Sit." Then shot his index straight down in a motion to back up his request, pointing into the chair.

"For starters, none of us are legally certified to be doing this job. Just because you are a nova, and just because you are awesome doesn't give you the right to enforce the laws. I know I've never gone to any accredited academy for law enforcement, nova or otherwise, special ops training and small unit tactics in the military doesn’t count. What, do they think that because we're fuckin' bullet proof that we don't need to be trained?" Revenant continued to encircle the table, stopping behind Sean.

"Second, this place had no discipline. We have planned drills for escaping a goddamn fire but ten bucks says Sean has no fuckin’ clue what to do when a class five nova threat offers up a security breech for us to deal with. I know that for a fact, cuz the last time we had a security breach they were here for his ass." Revenant slapped the side of Sean's headrest. Although Revenant was right (mostly) he actually had no clue that Sean's ass is exactly why the threat had come for him all those months ago.


"Third, you two are the most sorry excuses for leaders I've ever seen. For fuck's sake I've run roughshod over every fuckin’ rule you've given me and broken more limbs, rules and moral codes than Carter had liver pills and the best I've gotten so far is Cade threatening to use his supreme powers of Dominance over me to make me do what he says." He made it to Cade's chair by this point and just stood behind the Cajun. "Cuz, ya know, a real leader could inspire me to see things his way with out a quantum personality." He looked at Jager, knowing that Cade would know doubt be reading Jager's expression to get some clue what Reven was doing behind him. "Do you even know what leadership is? I suppose not Jager, been doing shit on your own for so long you wouldn’t know what the fuck a 'team' is if I wrote it out slowly in crayon for you."

"I can't trust you. Any of you, with the exception of Sean who has watched my ass, both figuratively and literally, since my first day here while serving my probation." His footsteps thumped their way to where Vali and Clark were sitting; he stood between them resting a hand on each of their chairs. "That's a team. If Sean fails, it's because I have failed him. There is no blame, no compromise. Only the simple truth that in order for Sean and I to survive out there he needs to trust me and I need to trust him."

Revenant looked directly at Sean across the way from him. "And I do."

"Clark, Vali... where do I start." He bent over and looked from side to side, smiling. "Since I'm getting to vent, I'll let the baby thing slide." His grinned turned into a toothy smile. "How many training hours have you two clocked recently? Can you operate a standard issue sidearm? Can either of you tell the difference between DUC rounds or armor piercing sabot rounds? Can either of you say with confidence that you can defend yourself from an attacker, quantum threat level or otherwise? How to diffuse a hostage situation..."

"Like you’re an authority there,” Sean started to say. “You sho-".

"Scuse' me, I have the floor. Thank you." The Death Nova held up his hand to shoosh Sean, cutting him off. I'll rephrase... do either of you know how to diffuse a hostage situation... peacefully?"

He folded his arms across his chest. "I'd bet not. Look I'm sure you're great kids, but you're kids, you don't belong here. The bottom line is Knights