Moving Forward

Thanksgiving Part 3

Uncle's POV

Not one of the boys stood up to defend Gabriel and that right there told me that Victor and Luke hadn't been the only one tired of his behavior. He wasn't a bad kid and he was very talented. Like any other kid, he needed to learn he couldn't have it all his own way. None of us was exempt from such conduct. Life was full of lessons and it was up to us to learn them. Erica may have been harsh with Gabe, but no one else could get through to him. The lord knows we tried. To make the lesson stick, I think it would be a good idea to take him to visit one of the design houses. I knew they were still open tomorrow. I would ask Sven if I could borrow one of the cars so I could take him myself.

Sven's POV

I let out a sigh of relief, thankful that Chel chose to leave the room instead of confronting the boy. She even removed the younger girl, which was nice of her. I half expected her to tear his throat out. She had spent the last months getting Victor and Luke to feel comfortable in choosing their own clothing and voicing their opinions when they didn't like something. After what just happened, I understood their concerns better and I was going to make sure they kept choosing for themselves. I was proud of all three of the kids; they handled the incident in a mature way and let an adult take control of the matter.

Dinner went smoothly, although Gabriel was subdued. I know he was still dealing with the taste of soap, it didn't go away quick enough to suit those forced to try it. The conversation was light and pleasant and the food was delicious. Once we finished eating, the kids excused themselves and went to try the game rooms. The Toma team went with them to referee. "Victor, Chel, you need to practice before you play any games. You have a long day tomorrow and can't afford to miss practice with your concert coming up." They told the others that they would join them later and then headed towards the music room. Luke followed them to practice his own part.

"Is Chel still performing?" Tilly asked, seeming surprised.

"She and Victor have teamed up," I confirmed. "Sharing the same interest has given them both the support they need and Luke joining in makes it all the more enjoyable for them. Luke plans to make a guest appearance at their next concert; they are looking forward to it."

Brandon's POV

Foxy and Shan had briefed us on our role here and we understood the reasoning behind it. The three would be busy tomorrow-packing dinner baskets and deliver them the next day. They had spent two days baking pies from scratch to go with the dinners and they were working on an important mission that we would be briefed on before we returned home.

Nate and Corey were busy picking a game for one of the video consoles; I didn't think Nate would be happy with the limited choices. We were used to it and no longer gave it a second thought. I knew my brother wouldn't let Nate break the rules, not when they were in place to protect our adopted little sister.

Gabe flopped onto a bean bag chair to watch them, still brooding from his set down. Yeah, I was staying out of that mess. The rest of us went to the larger game room. North and Silas chose the Foosball table, Kota and Marc settled on the air hockey table. I joined Axel at the Ping Pong table, wanting a more active game. Kevin and Raven were with Kota's little sister, playing 'Go Fish'.

Colt's POV

I looked at my phone, Web having messaged me. "The call we are waiting for is being made in ten minutes." I told Sven. "We need to go to your office and get the files we need ready." He stood quickly and made excuses, leading the way to the dungeon. His father taking over as host while Shan and Foxy followed our lead.

"I haven't been able to keep on top of the investigation." Foxy admitted. "I've been kept busy with the Blackbourne Team.

"Templeton has hacked into a computer and found the missing money from the seven teams." I informed them. "I want to copy the files and get the address before it is erased."

"We will need Chel and Victor," Sven was frowning.

"I already messaged them to join us."

The kids were only a few minutes behind us; they took the stairs. I sent a quick message to Axel, asking him to keep the boys busy and that we may need Corey to assist. The kids couldn't pull an all-nighter and complete their charity work tomorrow. I sent another message to Axel, asking him to send Corey to us. Deciding it was better to catch him up to speed while the kids were available to help him.

The four of them worked together while we adults went over the information the computers had gathered for us. It showed the entire trail of false companies and accounts used to launder the money. Templeton, the pack rat, started sending us a list of names. We thought it was a group at first, but he narrowed down to one name in the end. Carter Montblanc, a ghost we had booted from the Academy when he blew a mission and got several killed. One of them had been his younger brother. We had made it a rule that no ghosts were allowed in the Academy ever since.

"Oh god, please no." Foxy murmured. She had been friends with the younger Montblanc. They had done a lot of training together and he had been working up the nerve to ask his girl to marry him. We had been twenty; Sven had only gotten Raschel back the year before. James Montblanc had been studying to be a doctor, a Psychologist. He was the one who taught Sven how to breach Kitten's flashbacks, to bring her out of them.

The three kids crashed at midnight and we carried them up to bed, rejoining Foxy and Corey as quickly as we could. The amount of information Templeton was bringing in was astounding. Corey and the Fox were busy putting tracers on all the accounts and running imaging programs, comparing Carter's Photograph with all registered members of the Charleston chapter.

Corey's POV

I loved coming to Boston to visit the Ericsons. They always had interesting things for me to do. Raschel let me have free access to her computers and I got a kick out of it being in a dungeon. It drove my brother nuts that he couldn't find it, especially after I bragged how Raschel and I once spent an entire day playing laser tag instead of working.

Something most people didn't know was that Brandon and I were related to the Ericsons, we were distant cousins. They would have taken us in, but we had already joined the team with the others before they found out that our parents had thrown us out. Being who he is, Sven included the others on our team into the family. While the others could never join the High Council, we would be the lead team when we finished our training under Colt and the Maguires.

I wondered if they were considering bringing in the Blackbourne Team to assist us. Yet, I couldn't see it working. While I didn't know what happened, there was a reason that Victor and Luke left the team. From the start, many had thought the team was too large. That Blackbourne and Green were too young to lead a team. I didn't understand their dynamics, I just knew that it wasn't for me. It seemed to work for them until recently. I have worked with Victor quite often; he and Luke was a good match for Raschel team wise. They weren't as forceful as their brothers. While Victor and she shared the same background and several interests, Luke was the type of person who fit in anywhere. It will be interesting to watch what happens.

Axel's POV

The members of the Blackbourne team seemed a bit antsy. They weren't used to not knowing what was going on. Especially since they still considered Luke and Victor their teammates. Even if I knew what they were working on, I wouldn't tell them. They were on the kid's team now and their missions didn't concern the Blackbourne team.

"Why don't they have a pool table?" Nathan asked, tired of video games.

"They do, it is downstairs in the main wing, an old-fashioned Billiards Room." Kevin said eagerly. "Want to play?"

I caught Kevin's attention and shook my head no. "Wait," he caught on quick. "Shan mentioned that Sven was having it refurbished and it wouldn't be done until Christmas. Why don't we play pinball instead."