Rough Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"How bad has it been?" Mac asked him, leaning up against his leg as he sat perched on top of the picnic table.

Finn didn't want to answer that, so he didn't. "Your mouth is blue." He mentioned lazily, not moving as he let the sun shine down on him. Enjoying the warmth and the company.

Mac shrugged and tore off some more of her cotton candy, sticking the wispy confection in her mouth to melt with a giggle and a smile. "You look like a cat, Smithy."

Sousa was sitting next to him on the top of the table as the trio looked out over the cook-out. Her part of the picnic table sheltered in the shade from a nearby Bradford pear. It was past when the tree bloomed so spectacularly right at the start of spring and now was just green and alive with new vigor. Which was good, since as pretty as the blooms were, for that particular tree, they stunk like dead fish. Spring break was officially over and they were all back in school, but without the constant homework. Mac was in a whirlwind of pre-testing and preparation for the end of grade exams while the two high school students were gearing up for course exams and practice SAT's, which wouldn't even become relevant until their senior year. Less homework, but more pressure.

Making a beautifully sunny weekend day at the playground of a local church all the more appealing. The Department of Social Services held a cook-out around this time every year, inviting all the foster and adoptive families in the area. Not only was it a time for social support and fun, but foster parents needed a certain number of credit hours per year in order to maintain their licensing.

Finn and Justin were always there, because there was no way either Deann or Roger were sitting through a continuing education course to get those needed points, picnics were more their style. Roger volunteered to grill hot dogs and hamburgers while Deann helped set up and clean up.

Mac and Sousa weren't necessarily part of the group, having both been adopted young. However, both Mr. and Mrs. Whittal had been avid supporters of the foster care system in the county and that hadn't changed. Doug Whittal had even served as a Guardian ad Litem for many years before getting sick, being the voice for abused children in court. They usually volunteered as a family, even after Mr. Whittal had passed away. Recently, Mrs. Whittal had been making some noises about becoming one of the guardians herself.

Sousa leaned over and out of the shade to lightly jab her elbow into Finn's side. "No more seizures?"

The teen shook his head and closed his eyes. No. No more seizures for Justin, who was currently the tallest kid in the multi-colored bouncy house rented just for today. He stirred long enough to turn and watch as the fourteen year-old tried to make a somersault as if on a trampoline. A near-by adult told Justin to calm down, though from this distance he couldn't tell if the instructions came to prevent escalating wildness in all the kids or because of what had happened last month.

Finn frowned, remembering the flurry of doctor's appointments and 'talks' with various social workers and doctors following his little brother's incident at the public library.

"They're not going to figure out what's wrong." Mac pulled off more blue-wisped sugar from the cheap paper cone. "It was magic."

Finn cut his eyes over toward Sousa who shrugged. "You try keeping information from her." Was all the older sister would admit.

Mac tilted her head back, grinning up at Finn. "Different worlds? Disappearing? Unbreakable bonds? Magic. Pfft."

"It's not magic." He huffed, though he wasn't actually sure of that anymore. "Just because I don't have an explanation, doesn't mean there isn't one."

"Silly, magic is an explanation." Mac insisted. "Just because we don't understand it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Look at how much used to be science fiction, and now it's real stuff."

Finn looked surprised and Sousa smiled rather sheepishly. "She's really been thinking about this a lot."

Laughing, Finn looked over at Roger standing over the grill, his back to the entire group. Deann smiling and laughing with the other foster parents, each patting themselves on the back for all the good work they did. His laughter faded and he sighed a little. Sure, some of them were good foster parents. Some were in it for the state support money. Others? Who knew why they did anything?

"I don't see Charlene and Tiandra." Sousa commented, mentioning twin girls who had been at the last DSS Christmas party. "They were fun."

Finn shrugged. Kids came and went. No one could tell you much due to privacy laws. He'd been in the system his whole life, he knew the drill. Have fun, play with who was there, but don't get attached. The friend you played with one day could be gone the next with little to no explanation.

"A new boy." Mac commented, not mentioning the cast on the arm of the under-sized toddler. "Seems quiet."

He watched Sousa as she looked around the people at the picnic, looking for the new child. Her eyes stopped. Seeing something odd in her expression, Finn started to turn as well. "There's your cop. What's he doing here?"

Startled, Finn stared. Yep. The detective that had questioned him in the hospital was talking to his DSS social worker, Mrs. Tilmer. His eyelids drooped as he saw her point over towards their group sitting on the picnic table. "Not my cop, I don't claim him." He muttered dimly.

Mac wrapped the last of her spun cotton candy around her finger, talking around her sugary mouthful. "He's not in uniform."

The detective walked up to the youngsters sitting on the picnic table, the picture of adolescent chill. Mac was sitting cross-legged on the bench and leaning against the table with her now empty paper cone stained blue. "Looks like you're out." The man joked.

Silently Finn handed Mac his own untouched cotton candy, making the nine year old smile gleefully. "Nope!"

"Aw. I see there is a conspiracy here." Detective Ryeman laughed, nodding at the youngster. "I think that was planned."

"10-4!" Mac grinned as she took a bite out of the spun sugar. "You remember what that means, right?"

If the officer was surprised, it didn't show as he nodded gamely. "Absolutely. Did you learn any new ones?"

Nodding, the nine year old stuck her finger in her cotton candy, dragging wisps out to be bitten with relish. "10-zero means caution, and 10-22 means disregard."

"Yes they do! I'm impressed!" The detective's smile grew wider, then he leaned in conspiratorially. "But it's 10-0, like 'oh' in surprise, not zero. Still, quite impressive!"

Sousa grinned, "You'd be less impressed that she had to ask what disregard meant in the first place."

Mac stuck a stained-blue tongue out at her older sister.

Detective Ryeman ignored the comment, focusing on his new young acolyte. "Here's one for you, 10-33. But use it very cautiously. Do you know it?"

The entire group could tell the nine-year old wanted to say yes, her head even nodded, but her eyes betrayed her as she struggled to remember the code. Her thin shoulders slumped and she finally shrugged.

"Look it up when you get home." Detective Ryeman's voice was pleasant and even, not condescending. Finn could almost give him a pass for being a nice guy. Except for his being a police officer, and specifically the one who'd questioned him after the shooting. Which didn't technically make him a bad guy, but it did mean wariness on his part. Why was the man here?

Finn eyed the detective a moment, the guy was still bald but whether it was by nature or shaving the teen couldn't tell. The nose was still just slightly off, as if broken in the past. The clothes were a welcome change, no uniform or stuffy suit. Tan. Too tan, maybe foreign? Accent was pure North Carolina though, eastern part of the state too. Jeans and a college t-shirt, purple and gold. Decent choice around here, being only about an hour away from that particular college. Finn stayed quiet, knowing it was better that the adult start the conversation rather than assuming he knew what the detective wanted to speak to him about. Almost like a chess game.

"Beautiful day out here. Did you all enjoy your Spring Break?" Ah, first move, pawn. Being polite or testing the waters?

Finn wasn't going to hurry to reach the point of this meeting, so a pawn move to match. "Yep." He agreed.

Sousa nodded and Mac grinned, even as Justin came up to the group with a soda can in hand, looking a bit sweaty from jumping around in the inflatable bouncy house. Finn stiffened, but his little brother didn't speak, just took a long swig of caffeine laced with sugar and bubbles while watching everyone else.

The detective smiled at them. Three teens and one precocious pre-teen. Finn knew what they had to look like. Sousa relaxing spraddle-legged on the picnic table under the shade of a tree, silent and waiting in her own jeans and a t-shirt. He himself was lounging cross-legged on the sunny side of the table top. No jeans for him today, camo shorts with big pockets and a sports t-shirt for a team he cared nothing for, the shirt having come from a local charity store for a dollar. Dressed nearly identically as his older brother, Justin was giving a neutral expression to the detective, leaning against the picnic table and the picture of relaxation. Only Mac in her colorful shorts and ruffled shirt was smiling.

One. Two. Three. Four ...

"School will be out before you know it." The detective tried again, making Finn grunt slightly. Another pawn move. This was boring.

Sousa nodded politely while Mac sucked the sticky blue mess off her fingers. Justin took another drink from his can and Finn just waited.

But the sixteen-year old guessed you didn't get to be a detective by being easily intimidated, because Ryeman didn't flinch at all in the face of their scrutiny. The man smiled easily enough. "Tough crowd."

Sousa asked her question quietly, tilting her chin slightly to indicate the building over to their right. "Do you belong to this church?"

Ryeman shook his head, the sun shining on his bare scalp. Finn wondered briefly if bald people got sunburn up there?

"Are you volunteering with the Department of Social Services then?" Surprisingly it was Justin who asked that question. His tone neutral, matching Sousa's.

Shoulders shrugged without effort as the detective shook his head. "Have in the past for some events, not today."

"10-0. 10-0." Finn commented dryly. "Caution, caution."

"No need to be cautious." The detective protested mildly, his voice rumbly as he waved one hand at his casual clothes. "Just commenting that it was a beautiful day out here. Really only came by to drop off my cousin, her car broke down. Happened to recognize you over here, that's all."

The kids all turned to look in the direction of the adults. Justin nodded thoughtfully, as if filing away some important piece of information. "Ms. Fellows is late, that your cousin?"

"Guilty. Her sister will pick her up after, I've got yard work waiting for me at home." Ryeman said with a fake sigh and a real smile. "Like I said, just saw you over here and thought I'd say hello on this beautiful day."

Sousa nodded from her seat on the picnic table, happy in the shade. "It's a bit hot though, especially for yard work."

Finn shook his head, his half of the picnic table top in direct sunlight. "I was thinking it was still a bit cool out with this breeze, great day to mow."

Detective Ryeman gave a surprised chuckle. "Opposite ends of the temperature scale are you two? How does that work when dating?"

Silence.

The detective wasn't stupid, he made a face and shook his head as Sousa's eyes sent her gaze off to the side with the trees and Finn's own gaze dropped. "Sorry. Assumptions are evil, aren't they?"

Assumption? Finn wondered, or had it been a bishop or knight move to see what kind of reaction the other player would have? Too bad he knew only the rudiments of chess, and the computer beat him 9 times out of 10.

Justin grinned snidely as he spoke. "10-0. 10-0." Caution, caution. Mac actually gave a surprised laugh, quickly smothered as she looked studiously down at her cotton candy treat as if it were suddenly all important.

"Everything alright over here?" Mrs. Whittal arrived with a polite smile and looking alert.

"Ah! 10-33!" He winked at Mac. "Keep you from having to look it up, it means 'emergency'. But you lot have been saved by the responsible adult. Parent?" Detective Ryeman's own smile lifted past polite into genuine. "Strange man talking to the kids?"

"Not kids." Justin forced a burp and crushed his soda can with the crunch and squeal of protesting aluminum. "Excuse me."

Finn sighed. "Mrs. Whittal? Meet the cop whose questions made me throw up in the hospital."

"Detective Ryeman, ma'am. And to be fair, I think the bullet and surgery had more to do with your upset stomach, son." He spoke to Finn even as he offered a hand for Mrs. Whittal to shake as her smile turned real. "Please, I'm John. I brought Cinda because her car wouldn't start."

"Not your son. Not anyone's son." The words maybe should have sounded bitter, but were spoken more matter-of-fact. Finn yawned and leaned back on the picnic table, the picture of a lazy teen even though he was paying sharp attention to anything the cop said or did.

"Jessica." The girl's mother introduced herself with a more friendly smile now that she knew how to catalog the newcomer.

Justin watched with his own lazy interest. "Why didn't you fix her car for her?" Curiosity or needling? Finn couldn't tell from the lack of inflection in his brother's voice. Either would be in character.

The detective laughed with self depreciation and ran one hand around the back of his bald head as he shrugged lightly. "Not my area, it wasn't the battery because we replaced that last month. Third time this has happened, so the problem is deeper than my knowledge base."

"Oh boy." Mac interrupted with all the grace of a water buffalo, sitting up straighter as she started to put the two empty blue-stained cones down on the table. "Jet-pack Timmy is here."

Justin shook his head and leaned in to rest his weight against the picnic table, turning to face the group gathered around the grill. "He's annoying."

"Jet-pack?" The detective gave a shake to his shoulders to indicate he was asking a question for more information.

"He's not a bad child." Jessica started, drawing a chuckle from Sousa. "Well, he's not! Here, Mac, give me those." She took the now-empty, sticky, cotton-candy holders.

"You called him a menace at the last event." Mac pointed out with all the inelegant grace of a nine-year old pointing out their parent's flaws.

Jessica's mouth twitched and she sent an apologetic look toward Detective Ryeman. "I shouldn't have called him that. He took Mrs. Tilmer's car keys and threw them on the roof."

"Of the car?" The officer frowned slightly.

"Of the restaurant." Sousa offered with a bland expression.

The detective smothered a poorly hidden smile and sighed. "A menace indeed."

"It took her husband over an hour to get out of work and go home to get the spare set of keys." Sousa continued. "But the time before that? Jet-pack climbed on the roof of his foster home and refused to come down unless they called his father to come get him."

Ryeman's amusement dried up and he looked sad. "That's ..."

"Yeah, don't waste your sympathy." Justin interrupted, pulling an irritated look from the adults. "He is constantly going on about how he wants to go home with his dad. But he's what my therapist would probably call a habitual runaway, from his dad. Oh, and he talks all the time about how his father had shoved him down onto some broken glass and ..."

"And he nearly bled out, lost so much blood they had to replace almost all of it." Finn continued dryly.

"Terrible scars too near his heart." Mac spoke up next.

Sousa chimed in next. "This was after the whipping with the belt that nearly cost him an eye."

Jessica looked appalled. "Stop! Look we all know how he tells these tales, but you shouldn't be talking about his private information."

Justin sneered. "Even when Timmy's the one telling everyone?"

The detective looked grim as he eyed the teens in front of him. "It's still not a story to be bandying around. His pain should not be for you to make fun of and all. You can't know he's telling tales, what if it was all true?"

Finn sighed and blinked as he looked skyward. "No scars."

Ryeman stopped and cocked his head slightly to one side. "Excuse me?"

Sousa sighed. "Jet-pack has no scars on him. Not near his eyes, not on his chest, back or legs. We had a YMCA swimming party several months ago. Nothing. Not a wound, not a scar."

"Not a bruise or a scrape." Finn nodded slowly.

Justin's smile looked fake, half-way to becoming a sneer. "I know he was a run-away from home at least seven times. Keeps making wild accusations and none appear to be true. His name? Jet-pack? He tells this wonderful story over and over again about how his last foster family makes all the kids go to school wearing jet-packs so they won't have to drive. And one of the jet-packs exploded, killing one of the kids. But how the foster parents didn't care."

Jessica gave a weak smile. "Obviously something isn't right at home."

Sousa nodded and shrugged. "True. But you can't trust a thing Timmy says."

Ryeman looked from teen to teen, his face inscrutable. "Do you know all the stories of the children in this group?" Obviously he didn't seem to like the idea of children knowing the details of abuse and neglect.

Justin shrugged lightly. "No. Jet-pack is the only one who talks so much. Everyone else? It's all about what's going on now."

"Or nothing at all." Sousa sighed sadly. "Some will talk about siblings and maybe going home, but mostly they just talk about the here and now. Superheroes, movies, t.v. shows, food, and stuff like that."

"School?" The detective asked.

Jessica Whittal gave him a solemn look and slowly shook her head. "Most foster children don't talk about what they don't trust, don't like or don't want to face. Not school, not their pasts, and a lot don't know about the future or if one really exists. We hear a lot more about siblings that they care about and miss or events they've been to, that sort of thing."

Ryeman looked thoughtful, but not happy.

"That's a generalization, obviously." Jessica told him sympathetically. "And a lot of people can't deal with how these kids view the world. Ask about a favorite movie? You'll get everything. Ask about just about anything else? Silence." She moved over next to the officer and pointed at a girl who looked about fourteen. "She's a vegetarian. Didn't tell her foster parents for nearly five months. Tried to hide the fact that she wasn't eating much."

The detective nodded and then shook his head. "Why?"

"She liked the foster family. Didn't want them to think she was trouble and send her back."

Jessica nodded at this story, taking a deep breath. "She was acting out in various ways, but after she finally was able to tell her foster parents a lot of those behaviors have cooled off."

Ryeman blinked and turned to look out over the parking lot.

"These kids will get to you." Sousa murmured. "No past, no future. Present tense only please."

Looking puzzled, Ryeman's turned back to face them and his eyes slid from Justin, to Finn, to Mac and then to Sousa. "You don't include yourselves with 'these kids'?"

"Uh, no." Justin smirked at the detective. "No family to idealize, no hope of reunification. Abandoned. Want grief, loss, and coping counseling? Finn and I could give you a master class."

Ryeman nodded. "Okay, do you see a future for yourselves?"

Sousa nodded as Mac grinned. "Yes."

Justin shook his head and shrugged. "Maybe."

Finn didn't answer. He didn't have one to give. He used to have a plan for the future, but it was all up in smoke now. Gray transparent smoke.

***

"I want more cotton candy." Mac groused, pushing away her plate with a half-eaten hotdog.

Sousa grinned, finishing off her potato chips. "It'll make you sick, so much sugar."

"The point of me caring is slim to none." The nine-year old whined.

Justin shook his head and sighed, his plate empty but for a smear of ketchup. "The point of what? That doesn't even make sense."

Mac made a face as she deliberately burped, shaking her head at him. "Did you understand what I meant?" With obvious reluctance, Justin nodded. "Then it did make sense."

Finn watched them all, his own food basically untouched. They were all walking on eggshells, and what should have been a comfortable afternoon, simply wasn't.

Justin gave a deep sigh, relaxing as he dropped his head down onto his arms as they rested on the picnic table.

Okay. Uncomfortable for the rest of them. Justin never appeared as if he had a care in this world.

Justin. Finn could have put the blame for his discomfort on the fact that his younger brother was hanging with them over here. If he and Sousa and Mac were the core of their group, Justin was more the satellite. Or the fartherest dwarf planet in their miniature solar system. Cold, frigid and without life. But Finn didn't have to ask why Justin was with them today, just as he knew what they were all not talking about.

"Your cop is flirting with my mom." Sousa said, her voice unreadable.

Finn cut his eyes to the side and grumped. "So much for yard work." He said, watching the two adults chatting over by the other adults near the grill. "And he's not my cop."

Justin's grin was more of a sneer really. "Maybe your mom is doing the flirting."

No one rose to the bait. Once again an uneasy silence fell over the foursome.

"Have you tried it again?" Sousa's voice was whisper soft, but everyone else stiffened with the expectation. No one turned to look at Finn, but he could almost feel their efforts not to stare.

Holding his breath a moment, Finn waited. No one interrupted the silence, no one turned the subject. No one was going anywhere until they'd finally talked about ... "It. Nothing better than that to describe the impossible."

"Magic." Mac sighed happily.

"Bullshit." Justin snapped.

Snapping back, Sousa glared at the fourteen year old. "Language."

Justin wasn't cowed at all. "She's been with you to the farm, I'm sure she's stepped in cow shit, horse shit, or maybe even real bull shit before."

"Ugh." Mac protested. "They don't keep bulls, just horses!"

Sousa's eyes snapped with temper as she turned on Justin, but the younger male simply spread his hands in surrender. "But we're getting off topic here. Yeah, he's tried it."

"I wanna see." Mac whined a bit, finally turning to look up at Finn.

Uncomfortable, the older boy shook his head, saying nothing.

"You've tried it ...with Justin." Sousa commented dryly, appearing a bit hurt as well.

Finn shrugged. "He was there."

Sousa shook her head. "No, not good enough. You tried it with your brother because he goes into seizures if you go anywhere special without him."

"We never go anywhere really cool though." Justin sounded a bit disgusted as he made a face.

"But no more seizures if you're with him, am I right?"

Turning, Justin glared at Sousa, gritting his teeth as his eyes hovered between green and blue yet ice cold in expression. A long moment passed before he gave the smallest of reluctant nods.

"If you're with him, you don't feel all spazzy and junk." Mac piped up, earning her own glare from the fourteen year-old boy. "Like I said, magic!"

Justin clenched his jaw tightly before looking away and they let him take a beat of silence. Finally he nodded in a jerky motion and roughly shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah. I'll admit it. If Finn doesn't have me with him, I go into seizures. The doctors and hospitals found nothing. No epilepsy no nothing. Right now they think I might have been taking drugs, either accidentally or on purpose. Stupid shits."

"Language." Sousa chided again, but with zero challenge in her voice. For the first time in her life she sounded the tiniest bit sympathetic with the younger Michaelson brother. "I'm surprised you didn't put the blame on Finn, tell them that he gave you something funny."

Justin coughed-laughed and groaned. "Yeah, like I need Finn to be sent away anywhere and leave me quivering and shaking on the ground to bite my own tongue off."

"Ew, gross!" Mac made a face of disgust.

Justin smirked at the younger girl.

Sousa sighed. "Well, I don't believe in magic or magic theories. But this is definitely on the weirder side of things. Unexplainable things. Especially with Justin going off into seizures like that."

"While Finn doesn't have any problems at all." The bitterness was clearly evident in Justin's voice.

Finn didn't look at his brother, not wanting to admit to anything. Sousa took her cue from her friend's silence, and kept her own tongue under control. And he could only hope that Mac would follow suit.

"Finn goes ice cold, unable to breathe or talk if he even tries to tell anyone about your bad stuff." Mac dropped that bombshell without warning, making Finn close his eyes and shudder.

Justin stiffened, looking surprised. The younger brother turned to glare with both shock and anger as the sixteen-year old refused to meet his eyes.

Mac sighed and waved a hand at the two of them. "Magic. I told you. It has to be magic. Think about it. You have an unnatural bond, twins don't go through what you two do. And since you two don't tell each other what you go through, then no wonder you didn't know it was magic all along! One kid with seizures ..."

Sousa sighed and nodded, looking reluctant. "One who goes deathly still if his brother isn't near enough to him. Or goes into ice-block mode if he tries to tell anyone about how much of a creep Justin is."

Justin continued to stare at Finn, ignoring the creep comment completely. His voice sounded hoarse as he sought confirmation. "Seriously, dude? That's why you've never spoken up? No matter what I did to you?"

Finn made a face, but didn't deny the charge.

Justin's smile could have lit up an entire auditorium. "Oh, how I could use this."

"Seizures." Sousa intoned darkly. "Seizures. Mess with Finn too much and he could leave you shaking in your own vomit to choke."

"Gross again!" Mac protested, making a snarly face.

The smile on the fourteen year-old's face dimmed only slightly. "Lovely image there, thank you hag." Justin ran one hand through his blond hair and shook his head as if trying to clear his thoughts.

"So. Unnatural bond between brothers. Weird space bending place thingy. Magic. I so call magic." Mac grinned widely.

Justin sat down on the picnic bench, propping his head on his hands as his elbows rested on the table top. "I don't care what you call it, the possibilities are endless."

"No."

Sousa looked between each of the brothers, her expression troubled.

"No." Finn repeated, ignoring Justin as the younger teen stared while his smile grew and grew.

"It's perfect." Justin crooned slyly.

Sousa sighed and shook her head. "You two are not becoming super villains or any such nonsense."

The fourteen-year old budding sociopath raised one eyebrow rakishly. "Robin Hood. Give to the poor."

"And we're the poor? No." Finn shifted in his seat, highly uncomfortable.

Mac fairly bounced in her seat. "They could be superheroes!"

"Screw saving the day." Justin's smile didn't even droop slightly as he continued. "We could take anything we want. Money, jewelry ...anything."

"Oooh! You could hang the Mona Lisa in your bedroom!"

Finn turned to stare at Sousa in shock. "What? You too?"

Her pale-blue eyes sparkled with amusement. "Just kidding, I promise Smithy. But think about it. The Mona Lisa. In Deann's house. Oh the deliciousness of it all!"

"We could get Roger arrested as a master thief!" Justin crowed, then hunched his shoulders and turning his grinning face away from the adults that had turned to look in their direction.

The image of Roger with his arms hand-cuffed behind his back did dazzle Finn for a moment. With reluctance, he pushed the image aside. "I am not turning thief."

Mac took a big breath and then stopped as Finn stared pointedly at her. "Nor am I putting on tights and a cape and fighting crime."

"Aww."

"Sousa might like to see you in tights." Justin provoked with a sly smile. "Then again, maybe not."

"10-0, idiot." The girl in question kicked at Justin, who moved out of the way easily.

The group settled into an easy silence as they all thought about the possibilities. Then Sousa wrinkled her nose. "It's one thing to get into a place, it's another to get things out of a place."

"And not get caught." Justin nodded.

Finn watched them both and shook his head. This was the most normal conversation he could remember those two ever having, and it was about the most un-normal topic! Was un-normal even a word? Didn't matter. Okay, so maybe not normal, but at least the most civil.

"How does it work?" Sousa asked quietly. "I mean, I know we don't know how it works. But when you do the impossible, what actually happens?"

Finn shrugged and Justin sighed. It was the younger teen who answered the question. "From what little we've experimented with, it seems that we can 'disappear' from a spot and go to another spot ..."

"Teleportation?" Sousa interrupted.

"Not exactly." Justin waved a hand rudely in her face to make her shut-up. "It's still the SAME spot."

Mac shook her head, her expression confused. "Huh?"

Finn smiled at the youngest member of their group and reached out, pulling her into a rough hug for a moment. "It's hard to explain, really. I go from reality, or place to another but it's the same place ...just in another layer. It's still North Carolina, but say I was standing in my bedroom. Suddenly I'm in a place where my bedroom should be, but it's not! We might be in someone else's house, or the woods, a street, or whatever. But not Paris. Not the Louvre. So much for the Mona Lisa."

Justin rolled his eyes. "Idiot. I don't mean teleport to Paris. Fly to Paris and go to the layered gray place you're always yapping about and walk through security like you were invisible. Then reappear long enough to take what we want."

"Appear. Disappear. If I hadn't seen you do it ..." Sousa's voice trailed off as she grimaced. "How do you propose we get to Paris in the first place?"

Growling noises had them all turning to look in Finn's direction. "We are NOT stealing the Mona Lisa!"

"It'd be pretty neat." Mac's voice held a wistful giggle as she looked at him with shining eyes.

"It's wrong!" Finn pointed out to the youngster poking out her lip at him.

Justin looked skyward, smiling. "Doesn't have to be the Mona Lisa. Could be ...one of the banks here. Or all of them."

Sousa sucked in a deep breath and sputtered for a moment as Mac looked cross. "No supervillain stuff!"

Justin stared at the youngest member of their group. "You wanted the Mona Lisa."

"Not for reals!" Mac protested sharply.

"Well, for reals," Justin sneered mockingly. "We could be damned rich!"

"I told you to watch your language, jerk." Sousa sounded both snippy and distracted even as she scolded Justin. "Are you saying, that what? You can disappear on one side of a wall and go to another world that's the same world, only different, walk forward and come back here to find yourself on the other side of that wall?"

Finn gave a jerky half-nod. Justin grinned outright. "We don't even have to go all the way to another place. See? There's a half-way place, Finn can see there but when I'm with him it's completely dark. He talks about these layers of gray. I can only see darkness though. Which makes sense, because he's kind of like the pilot. See?"

Mac shook her head, looking puzzled.

Sousa sighed heavily.

Finn tried to explain. "Remember what I said about the gray layers? They are each a different place. Some are really thick and some look really fragile and thin. Justin and I haven't visited them all, but a couple. And only when no one's around. No more 'ghost' ladies." He gave a weak smile.

Sousa gave him a snarly look with a narrowed gaze. Obviously she hadn't forgotten that his first ghost lady had been doing an unknown strip tease.

"From what we could tell from looking around, we are always in the exact same spot, just in a different world." Justin continued, his voice excited. "It's still the same physical spot, but in one place it was North Carolina, in another it was just Carolina. One place we heard people speaking Japanese."

Finn shook his head. "It could just have been a Japanese family living in North Carolina, a different version of North Carolina but still. Geez. And it might not even have been Japanese, I told you. Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, or something else entirely!"

Mac nodded. "In China they speak Mandarin and Cantonese, mostly anyway."

All three teens stared at the nine-year old who shrugged. "We studied China. Talked about silk and paper and gunpowder and ..."

"And I don't care." Justin turned away from the younger girl.

Mac made a face, and took her fork out of her untouched baked beans, wiping it on her napkin. She moved to stand next to Finn and crouched down, finding a sandy, bare spot in the trampled grass around the picnic table. With the fork, the youngster marked a line and two x's on either side. "They are the same spot and you can go back and forth between the two?"

Justin reached out and snagged the fork from Mac, drawing a protest. "Hey!"

But the fourteen-year old turned the fork around and stabbed the ground about half-a-foot away, leaving the handle sticking up into the air. "And that's Paris. Finn can't go to Paris from here, unless he buys a ticket and goes to Raleigh first. Gets on the big, shiny aircraft." Justin's voice was pure mockery. "That's a metal bird, dear."

It looked like Mac's blonde hair was about to stand on end. Her older sister put a hand on her shoulder, soothing her as she shook her head not to fight.

"Weird." Justin shook his head and spread his hands. "It's all extremely weird. Searched the internet. Nothing but fiction or fanfiction on the subject. Or conspiracy theories. So this definitely falls into the unexplainable category."

"No kidding." Agreed Finn.

Justin smiled, looking charming. Finn was instantly wary. "But. Oh but the possibilities. Locked vault door? Stand in the parking lot of the bank and disappear to the half-way place. Walk through where the walls should be and into the vault. Wait for it to be empty. Reappear. Take what you want and disappear again. Pfft. Simple!"

Sousa made fake gagging noises as she shook her head. "Bank parking lots have security cameras."

"Oh like they could prove teleportation. In court." Justin blew off the comment. "Or we just don't start in the parking lot, but at whatever buildinbg is next door. Who cares?"

"It's still wrong." Pouted Mac.

"Oh your honor, we don't know how he does what he does. No, we don't have proof. He's on this camera, then he's not. The money disappeared, obviously he stole it. No, like I said, we have no proof! What do you mean you're throwing out the case?" Justin's voice dripped with sarcasm and malicious glee.

Finn sighed and rolled his neck, making popping noises that drew a wince from Sousa. "Like they don't have cameras in their bank vaults. And forensics."

Justin leaned in, obviously excited and determined not to be thwarted. "Forensics only work if they have a sample to compare what they find to, they'll never know it was you."

"Us."

"Whatever." The younger boy sneered, his blue-green eyes still sparkling.

"No. No. And again, no." Finn turned away feeling unsettled. He wasn't a thief.

Justin's voice turned syrupy. "You know you hoard money."

"Save. Save money, not hoard." Sousa looked like she was going past irritated and into angry. "Finn is thrifty, that's all."

"He's a miser." The blond pointed out while rolling his eyes. "And he thinks I don't know where his stash is."

Finn stiffened. It could be a bluff. A way for Justin to get a rise out of him. His fingers itched to go check his small savings. Yet he knew better than to overreact to whatever his brother said, it amused the younger teen far too much.

Justin's voice took on a cold, hard edge. "And you can't move your money to another world, because you can't travel without me."

Damn it!

"We're stuck together. Two peas in a pod. Forever. You can't get away from me." Justin's words bit deep. He bent over and grabbed the plastic fork sticking up from the ground, then snarled as the handle of it broke off in his hand.

Sousa sighed heavily. "You're stuck with Finn just as much as he's stuck with you. I know who I would consider the loser in this trade-off."

"Shut up, hag." Justin sat down on the ground, his anger flowing away as quickly as it had appeared. He pulled his knees up and rested his forehead there. "Don't you think I'm aware?"

Mac reached over and tugged on Finn's shirt. "Hey. You can get through locked doors, right?"

Finn groaned affectionately and shook his head. "I am not turning thief."

"Can you get me into a concert?" Mac's light blue eyes never held the same level of spookiness of her sister's, more of a flower petal kind of color. Right now her eyes were bright, and wide, and eager.

Melting a bit, Finn nodded as a small smile played over his lips. "Maybe." Mac gave a happy squeal as she wiggled on the picnic bench in an imitation of a dance move.

Justin groaned. "Oh yeah sure, don't make us all rich beyond our imaginations, but take a baby to see a boy band." Ruthlessly he stabbed the broken end of the plastic fork at the ground, making lines idly.

"I like her more than I like you." Finn said, courting his brother's temper with resignation. He had to draw the lines now, not later. "I will not become a thief, I will not fall into any plan you come up with. Deal."

Justin's voice felt laden with distaste. "Sure. The universe gives you a huge gift, and you're afraid to use it."

"I am not afraid." Finn was outright lying on that one he was pretty sure.

"Could have anything you want in the world, and you offer to take a toddler to see the Teletubbies concert."

"Hey! I'm not a baby!" Mac protested sharply.

"Baby." Taunted the younger teen boy, his blond hair all they could see of his head as he drew roughly in the ground with his make-shift tool.

"I said, I'm not a baby!" The nine-year old stood up on the picnic bench and stamped her foot, looking like a colorful bird with her feathers and bright clothing. An angry, colorful bird.

Sousa and Finn's eyes found each other and they both stifled the smiles that threatened them as they deliberately looked away. Laughing at Mac right now would only escalate the youngster's fury.

"Take it back! You bad guy!"

"Bad guy?" Justin finally looked up. "If you're going to call me a name, make it count. Call me a bastard or an ass or something. Even your language is baby-talk!"

Finn sighed, this was going too far. "Justin, shut it." He looked at Sousa for support, only to find her staring at the ground. "Hey?"

The dark-haired girl pointed at what Justin had been drawing in the dirt. "What is that?"

Finn looked down and shrugged. Justin moved his hands out of the way and looked too, his shrugged mimicked his older brother. "It was the design on a shield."

Shield. That word trigged a visual memory of that weirdness at Rose Wall Manor. Finn stared at the crudely drawn circle with the design of three stars and a moon sliver. "Should be green with white edging."

This startled an actual laugh out of Justin, who held up his broken fork handle made of white plastic. "Kind of limited with my color palate over here."

"That was in the ghost room?" Mac leaned forward, still standing on the picnic bench, trying to get a good look. "What is it?"

"Ara Sagittarii. Peregrini."

Startled, three sets of eyes turned to stare at Sousa. She lifted her gaze from the scratched out drawing in the dirt, watching them each without saying anything else. Finn thought she looked ready to bolt, her eyes wide and edged with confusion. Possibly even panic.

"How do you know that?" Mac asked the obvious question, scratching her head and making the small feathers in her hair flip over.

Sousa gave a jerky shrug. "I don't know. I just saw it, and knew."

Justin looked down at his 'artwork' and up at the older teen girl, his own blue-green eyes speculative. "What do those words mean?"

"I don't know!" Snapped Sousa even as she hugged herself as if suddenly chilled to the bone. And Finn was more than certain she was lying.

Mac grinned ear to ear and basically crowed. "I told you. It's magic!"

This time, no one contradicted her.