Moving Forward

Meeting between Four

Kota's POV

"I am not speaking to stir up discord; I am just trying to see if my deductions are correct." I informed my companions. "I have been doing a lot of thinking lately and going over the old sound files of our family meetings. I wanted to be sure before I broached the subject with you all."

"Just spit it out," Nathan rolled his eyes. "We know that the nerd in you needs to research it to death before approaching us." North and Silas nodded their agreement.

"I think we have been misled on how a team is supposed to operate," I rushed the words out. "I'm not just talking about how we are handling the missions, but how we interact with each other. This is the most time we have spent working with other teams and I am including the time we spent in Boston with Vic and Luke."

"We're listening," North assured him.

"When we were at the Ericson's I noticed that even though their team was doing a mission for Colt, Sven and James acted as parents. Colt didn't try to replace them or countermand their orders." I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. "Sorry, I don't seem to be able to explain this right."

"While Colt may be the leader of the Lead Team, he didn't usurp Sven's place with Raschel or Mr. Morgan's with Victor. It was the same with Uncle; he consulted with them before sending the three of them to do a task." Silas spoke, showing that he knew what I was trying to say.

"Exactly," I was relieved that he understood. "My point is that I don't think that we are supposed to turn our backs on our blood family, nor am I willing to do so anymore. My mom and sister have never hurt me; I have no reason to turn away from them. While I will always consider you my brothers, they have to come first. Jessica is only ten and my mom needs to work, I need to help my mom more than I have been doing. I know Mr. B isn't going be happy with me, he may even replace me as Team Lead."

"Tilly and I have a No Secrets Rule," Nathan confided. "Even when it concerns the Academy, if she can't answer my questions, she has me ask Shan and Foxy. I was concerned because Mr. B is adamant that we tell no one about our team or any of our missions, including when we have one. I asked Shan about it. Tilly is important to me and I don't want to mess up and lose her, I will quit the team before I will allow that to happen. Anyways, Shan said that our team is to provide us with moral support along with our legal family. That we weren't expected to hide anything from them, just not go into detail with those who aren't involved with the Academy. He added that since we are minors, that our parents are responsible for us. That most of our missions were questionable, meaning illegal and he intends to find out why we were given them. He made it clear though that Tilly has legal authority over me, that I was to obey her over Mr. B."

"Mr. B cannot remove you as Team Lead without our support," North growled. "After Sven wiped the gym mat with me, he told us what the Academy was and what was expected of us. He made it clear that members of a team are equal, that no one member can throw another off the team, majority rules. Owen Blackbourne's reign as dictator is ending, if this team is to survive, we need to start doing things right."

"Nate and I intend to go to college; we hope to get accepted at the same one so we can remain together. I looked; there is no rule that states we can't go to college. If there had been, it would mean that Dr. Green was in violation by studying to be a doctor."

"I think it was something Mr. B came up with because he would lose control of us if we went away to college." Silas surprised us all. "Think about it, he has been in control of five of us since we were ten and got two more when we were eleven. Part of being a teenager is learning to be an adult, but we can't learn if no one will let us. My dad, he said he lost mama and Theo that he would not lose me too, that the Academy was trying to steal me from him. It has never been the Academy doing the stealing, it has been Mr. B."

"Uncle has been on a tear since Luke left, he has been telling me what the Academy used to be like." North admitted. "Uncle left his team when he got custody of Luke as a baby, he went into a program they call free range and that is how Uncle ended up on the mission to search for Raschel. It allowed him to hold down a full-time job and spend more time with Luke. He has debunked several rules Mr. B expects us to live by and to be honest, I wish I had been a member of the Academy when he joined. It made more sense back then."

"It doesn't matter if he kicks us all off the team, we can form our own," Nate wasn't concerned. "You guys are missing the point, he needs us more than we need him. I asked Tilly, she said that Doc should have been doing missions to recompense the Academy for his training to be a doctor, missions outside of the ones our team has been doing. We did the missions in his place and that is partly why he is in trouble. Mr. B is in the same position, he hasn't done that many missions either and there is no extra pay in any form for being head of the family. The seven of us carried the team, now the four of us do with Gabe in the hospital."

"Makes sense," North mused. "He was always sending us out on missions, this is the first full team mission we have done since last year. Even then Doc backed out because he claimed he was needed at the hospital, we ended up doing it without him and Mr. B."

"I would like the four of us to meet with Foxy once she returns to Charleston; I think we need to know where we stand and what our rights are." I informed them. "I think it is time we learn the truth about teams and families."

All three agreed.