Dark and Silent

Rock-a-bye baby...

AN: It's not much, but it's something. For those of you that read my other fics I am about halfway done with chapters for Dragonkin & Blackthorns and I'm trying to strangle some inspiration out of my muse for Masquerade. 

T*T*T*T*T*N*S

It had been a rough night. Sophia had started crying for her mama and no matter how much Nic cuddled and rocked and sang she just cried and cried for her mama. Marc had watched her walk the floor with Sophia as silent tears poured down her cheeks. At one point he could have sworn he heard her say, "I know, Sophie. I want my momma, too."

Sophia would cry herself to sleep only to get cold and wake up and want her mama again. After the second time Marc had gotten up and put both Sophia and Nic in the beds between him and Raven.

Now it was dawn or close to it. And Nic was tucked tightly against his chest and stomach. Raven had curled around them from the other side and was just watching them. The look on Raven's face made Marc instinctively pull Nic closer. The move didn't go unnoticed by either Raven or Nic. She stayed asleep but let out a noise that was part sigh and part moan and went straight to his groin. He thought about his reaction as he looked Raven in the eye. They stared at each other over the girls' heads. It wasn't that he was trying to keep her from Raven he decided. It was more keeping Raven from keeping them all for himself.

He hadn't had enough coffee for what he was thinking. Not that he was even sure what he was thinking. He was pretty sure he had seen an old-fashioned percolator in the supplies. Thank god, He needed coffee.

Raven wasn't used to such trust from people who didn't know him. He was a professional Russian; he looked big and scary to most people. He knew that. That this tiny little person had sought him out had him thinking. Thinking about things he had never thought about. He wanted to protect that little girl and her innocent trust in him. That Nic had just smiled and thought nothing strange was going on had hit him in the chest. She wasn't as fragile as she looked. She was all alone like them. None of them had family outside of their team. He knew that Marc was already invested in Nic and Sophie.

He wasn't losing this, this trust that allowed them to sleep in his arms unafraid.

Axel had watched from the kitchen. If Marc hadn't beaten him to it, he would have put the girls in his bed. Although judging by Marc's face that was a double-edged sword. About the time they had finally fallen asleep he got up and started watching. He thought they'd be safe enough where they were at least for last night but. People had to be scared. Scared people lash out. Right now all they could do was take care of their family. Which had expanded by two, whether that had been expressly stated or not.

They had to get to the camp. But more than 200 miles on foot in November was a terrible idea. He and Brandon had begun looking at routes and stopping points. The first stop was the Taylor place. It was outside of the city and they had access. Uncle was supposed to be back today if everything had been normal. He was betting Uncle had Kota's family and was headed for a refuge point, too. Camps were spread out all over the country and in the grand scheme of things no one was ever very far from one. They were actually closer to one south of them, but Nic had her property next to a camp so that was where they were going.

Brandon had been thinking. He liked the little firecracker that had followed Marc and Raven home. Or had they followed her home? But he was concerned, and he'd bet money Axel was as well. There was one of her and five of them. How was that going to work in the long run?

Unbeknownst to him, Corey was having a very similar thought. They were headed to an Academy camp where the male to female ratio would be heavily weighted towards males. Even if some of the bird teams made the trek into the mountains it would still be something like 7:1. So...His brain stopped there. No. That wouldn't work. Would it?