It felt like most of the day had passed by the time Blakesley returned to the room. Taylor couldn’t help but feel at least a little relieved.
”Arms down,” came the order, and Taylor finally let them fall to his sides.
He worked his shoulders a little to try and get the blood flowing again as he looked up to see another doctor enter the room with a med kit. He made his way over to him as Blakesley stood back against the table, watching appraisingly.
”Hold still,” the second doctor said softly, sparing Blakesley a glance as he opened up the kit.
Taylor turned back to the wall as he let him tend to his wounds. Once they’d been disinfected and bandaged, and his shirt replaced over them, the doctor left the room.
Blakesley paused for a time, and then began to make his way over. Taylor took a step forward but knew there was nowhere to go.
”Hands behind you,” Blakesley ordered.
Taylor bit his lip, but again did as he was told. Blakesley fastened the cuffs on his wrists together easily, and then grabbed his shoulder to turn him around.
”What is the last thing you remember?” he asked.
”Going to bed. At home,” Taylor responded quietly, his eyes to the floor.
”Eyes up when you speak,” Blakesley took his chin in his hand and forced his head up.
Taylor didn’t fight back.
Noticing, and taking in his entire stance, Blakesley nodded a little.
”In that case, I think we need to remind you why you became so… docile. We don’t need you getting any ‘heroic’ ideas.”
Taylor’s brow furrowed, not knowing what he meant.
His eyes fell to where Blakesley held a length of chain, and he could have fainted when Blakesley attached it to his collar. Flashbacks of Natalia ran through his mind and he couldn’t help but wonder if things had really gone that far.
”Come.”
Blakesley led him to the door, opened it, and led him through and into the corridor. Apart from a couple of soldiers they passed no one on the way to their destination.
The room Blakesley took him to was very reminiscent of one he’d been in before. There was once again a steel table in the centre of the room, but there was a full length mirror covering the left wall. Taylor’s eyes narrowed as he saw it, trying to place if it was exactly the same room that Isaac had rescued him from or not. He couldn’t tell.
Blakesley pulled him to the centre of the room, beside the table.
”Kneel,” he ordered.
Taylor obliged, eyes on a soldier that entered the room.
”Ankles,” Blakesley said.
Taylor turned slightly to see if he was talking to him, but the soldier had made his way over to clip the cuffs on his ankles together already. Via a short length of chain, he connected Taylor’s wrist cuffs to his ankle cuffs. Taylor waited until he was done before shaking his hair out again – beads of sweat flying across the room. Blakesley grimaced.
”Jordan…” he began carefully as Taylor sat back onto his legs, making sure he had his attention.
”You don’t remember anything about what happened when we collected you?”
Taylor shook his head, watching the mirror.
”Then you wouldn’t remember this…”
A switch was flipped and the lights in the room went out. Suddenly the room on the other side of the mirror was clearly visible, as were the contents. Two cages set side by side, each occupied by a small child.
Taylor’s eyes widened and in a moment of mindless panic forgot that he was restrained. He tried to stand up and immediately fell forward.
”RIVER! VIGGO!” he screamed, before feeling a heavy foot in between his shoulder blades holding him to the ground.
He was already shaking with the effort of controlling himself, not knowing what his sons could or would be able to see. The soldier was on him in no time, holding his hogtie tightly.
”Settle,” came Blakesley’s voice.
”There’s nothing you can do for them now.”
Tears welled in Taylor’s eyes as he continued testing the strength of the soldier who held him.
”They’re just children,” he cried out between breaths.
”Wrong. They’re alien spawn,” Blakesley said calmly.
Taylor squeezed his eyes shut.
Blakesley removed his foot from Taylor’s back and knelt beside him instead, fingers sliding through the hoops on his collar as the soldier kept him down.
”Not only that, but they are your alien spawn,” he went on in a disparaging tone, “you seem to forget, Taylor, that you belong to me. And to that end, anything that you produce – physically or otherwise – also becomes my property. The children, as you call them, are also mine.”
Taylor dug his forehead into the floor as he squeezed his eyes shut, leaving a red mark there when he turned his head to the side again. His hair was matted with sweat against him and the cold floor was an unexpected relief against his face. But his eyes were fixed on his sons, who now obviously couldn’t see their father’s side of the mirror. He watched helplessly as River reached through the bars of the cage and took Viggo’s hand in sibling solidarity. At any other time it would make Taylor smile, but right in that moment all it did was bring more tears to his eyes.
”Now, are you calm?”
Taylor nodded.
”I can’t hear you.”
”Yes,” Taylor breathed.
”Yes… what?”
Taylor’s brow furrowed when he realised what he was asking. But under the circumstances, he couldn’t think of a way out of it.
”Yes Master Blakesley.”
”Good boy. Get him up,” Blakesley ordered.
Taylor felt himself being pulled up to his knees again, and the chain disconnected. Once he could stand he was shoved rather forcefully back against the table, and ended up awkwardly half sitting on top of it.
”Please…” Taylor begged, shaking his head at Blakesley, “please, let them go. You have me, you don’t need them. Use me instead, please!”
”You don’t yet understand what is going on here, do you?” Blakesley looked disappointed.
He grabbed Taylor’s head with both hands and pulled his forehead down to his own so that he was forced to look him in the eye.
”My dear boy, let’s get one thing very clear. You will never leave this place. You have caused me far too much trouble for me to ever even consider it,” Blakesley said in an even tone, making Taylor shiver on top of his shakes as a new wave of terror coursed through his veins.
”Your ‘wife’, Natalie, will never leave either.”
”Natalie-!”
He was cut off by Blakesley letting go of him to hit him suddenly. Unable to hold his face, Taylor cringed instead.
”You speak only when given permission.”
Taylor paused to catch his breath, but nodded. Blakesley went on unfazed.
”Your eldest son is currently in an induced coma, until we can properly figure out a way to instil the Null power into his system without him absorbing it.”
Taylor took in a shaky breath, trying to look away but Blakesley held his head firm.
”Your daughter… well, we’ll get to that later. But let’s just say we’d like to keep both her and your eldest son for many reasons. Not only to be able to study an interrelated group of aliens – which now include yourself – but we’d also like to see the effects of human puberty on the Dathrian system. Luckily for us we don’t have too many years to wait with either of them.”
Taylor could feel his heart rate skyrocketing, but dare not close his eyes to try and get a handle on it.
”These two, however,” Blakesley nodded to the mirror, “are dispensable. Kept only as leverage against you and Natalie. We have many reasons why we could just let them go home.”
Taylor’s eyes widened and he started to say something, but caught himself.
”Your job,” Blakesley pulled him so close that their foreheads actually touched, “now, becomes to keep them alive. Can you do that?”
Taylor took a moment to find the words.
”Anything. Anything! I will do anything,” his voice shook.
”That’s what I thought,” Blakesley’s lips curled into a cruel smile.
~*~
Natalie had somewhat managed to organise the kids some breakfast with Ezra’s help by the time Isaac came barging through the front door.
”We’re here!” he called.
”Uncle Ike!” River exclaimed from the table.
”Uncle Ike’s busy right now,” Natalie amended before turning to Ezra, “watch them please.”
She waited for his nod, then went to find them.
Avery
Avery followed behind Isaac and she blanched at the telepathic energy that she could sense. Something was up, and it wasn't a good thing.
She put her hand on Isaac's shoulder for a second.
Isaac & Natalie
Isaac stopped and turned.
"Avie? You okay?" he asked worriedly.
Natalie soon appeared from the hall.
"He's in the bedroom," she coaxed them forward.
Avery
"It's just..." Avery tilted her head a little, unsure of how to word it. "Volatile."
She rubbed her eyes and then followed Isaac, keeping her gaze on the ground.
Isaac, Natalie & Taylor
Isaac rubbed her back reassuringly as they followed Natalie down to their bedroom.
She opened the door and led the way in, going to his side. Taylor's eyes moved rapidly under their eyelids but otherwise he appeared physically fine.
Avery
Avery didn't look at Taylor directly, rather, the red lights that seemed to be dancing over and around him. She closed her eyes for a second, seeing what he was seeing, and she gasped, going to hold Isaac's arm.
"Ike, can you call Jess? I can't do all of it alone."
Isaac & Natalie
"Jess?" Isaac frowned.
"It's a dreamwalker that's done this to him?" Natalie looked between them.
"She would know," Isaac shrugged, "sure, I'll call her. Are you okay?"
Avery
"Sort of," Avery said, answering both Natalie and Isaac at the same time.
"It's a combination. Jess and I are gonna have to try something we've only done once before."
Natalie & Isaac
"But why? Why him?" Natalie shook her head, confused.
She sat up on her side of the bed and ran her fingers through his hair, hoping her power was at least comforting him a little.
Isaac had pulled out his cell phone and dialled his sister already.
Avery & Jess
Avery shrugged a little.
"Why me? Why any of us, for that matter."
Jess answered her phone. "Ike?"
Natalie & Isaac
"Is this really the curse of being a Hanson?" Natalie's hand covered her mouth as her eyes welled a little.
"Jess, hey," Isaac scratched his head, eyes on Nat and knowing she was getting upset too.
"Any chance you can get over to Tay's? Like, right now? We might have a dreamwalker situation."
Jess & Avery
"Uh, yeah, sure," Jess replied. "I'll be over in a few minutes."
Avery wandered over to the window to look out, trying to see where the energy was coming from.
"Maybe," she said absently, hands fiddling with the bottom of her shirt. "Certainly feels like it, at times."
Natalie & Isaac
Natalie moved some hair from Taylor's face before wiping her eyes.
"Can you see what's happening to him?" she asked.
"Thanks Jess," Isaac said before hanging up.
"She'll be here as soon as she can."
Avery
"I can," Avery said quietly.
She kept her eyes focused out the window, watching for any movement, any trace of the telepath.
"You don't want to see what he's seeing."
Natalie & Isaac
Natalie wiped her eyes again, before laying down beside him and wrapping her arm around his waist again. As she settled her head against his chest she could feel his heart racing.
Isaac stepped over to the window.
"I get the feeling you shouldn't be seeing it either," he said softly, watching Avery.
Avery & Jess
"No one should," Avery told Isaac, not taking her eyes away from the window.
Jess let herself into Taylor's house, and figured the bedroom was the best bet, if Isaac had mentioned dreamwalking.
"Uh, hey guys."
Natalie & Isaac
"Jess, hi," Natalie sat up, wiping her eyes again.
Isaac gave Avery one last worried look before turning to Jess.
"Jess, hey. Thanks for coming."
Jess & Avery
"It's no problem," Jess managed a smile.
She dropped her hand above Taylor's forehead and closed her eyes for a second.
"Ave..."
"I know."
Avery turned from the window finally and held out her hand, and Jess stared at it for a moment.
"We haven't done this in years, and we don't know..." the older blonde bit her lip. She turned to Isaac and Natalie. "It's a dreamwalker, but there's a telepathic link. I can't actually bring Tay out by myself. Avie and I need to combine powers, if that makes sense."
Natalie & Isaac
"But you can pull him out, right?" Natalie looked between them, frantic.
"Just... whatever you need to do," Isaac insisted, pulling a chair over to the side of the bed for at least one of them to sit on.
Avery & Jess
"That's the plan," Jess nodded, positive.
She took Avery's outstretched hand and sat on the chair that Isaac had moved for them.
"You ready?" she asked her younger sister.
"No, but do it anyway."
Avery closed her eyes and in an instant, she was glowing brightly, golden, like sunshine. Jess watched and nodded a little, then closed her own eyes, taking the pair of them onto the dream plane.
Taylor
Taylor was being led back by the leash to the room he'd started in, when he thought he noticed a faint golden glow in the corridor.
He frowned when he saw it, but before he could dwell on it the collar pulled him into the room and closed the door.
"Table. Now," Blakesley ordered, letting the leash fall.
Taylor gulped but walked to the table, awkwardly pulling himself up onto it. The leash rattled against the steel table between his legs.
Blakesley came over to remove it, before unhooking the clips that held his wrists together.
"Lay down," he instructed, Taylor immediately doing so.
"What now?" Taylor barely got out as Blakesley restrained him to the table.
"Now we carry on with standard operating procedure."
Taylor's eyes looked to the ceiling as he felt his ankles being clipped down.
"Which is?"
Blakesley returned to the cabinet, fetched a thin scalpel, and returned to Taylor's side.
"Your punishment for my arrest," he grinned, lowering the scalpel to Taylor's chest and immediately drawing blood in a curved line.
Taylor cried out and hit his head back against the table, the vision of River and Viggo the only thing keeping him down.
Jess & Avery
"Oh my," Jess clapped her free hand over her mouth.
"Yeah," Avery agreed. "You do your bit, I'll do mine."
The sisters started work on the block, using their specific specialties.
"He can see us, can't he?" Avery asked quietly.
"He can," Jess confirmed. "Well, he can sense us."
Taylor
Taylor squeezed his eyes shut, before he felt the blade against his face as a warning to keep them open. When he opened them again, the ceiling had seemed to take on the same golden glow.
"Avie?" he frowned, voice shaking through the pain.
"Excuse me?" Blakesley appeared above him.
Taylor gulped. The last thing he wanted to do would be to draw attention to his sister - if she were actually anywhere there.
Avery & Jess
"Shhhh," Avery replied, both inside Taylor's mind and out loud in the physical world.
"Strong dreamwalker," Jess commented.
"Well, he had to have one skill," Avery replied, working on crushing the block with her own power. "Because the telepathy sucks balls."
Taylor
Taylor's eyes widened but he kept his mouth closed. Unfortunately, Blakesley noticed.
"What are you doing, Jordan?"
Taylor's eyes slid to him in fright, the pain barely even registering anymore.
"Do I need to start on your hands to get an answer?" he suggested, "or maybe... your face?"
"No," Taylor shook his head.
"No? Maybe I'll amuse myself with it anyway..."
Avery
Avery paused for a second, then let a little swirl of her energy wrap around Taylor's torso, a telepathic hug, in a way.
"I've got you."
Taylor
Taylor felt tears spring to his eyes again as he felt her presence envelop him.
"Thankyou," he breathed, being sure to keep his eyes open regardless.
"What's going on?" came a new voice suddenly.
Taylor's eyes darted across the room, but he couldn't see anyone other than Blakesley - who just seemed to be going on with his work obliviously.
Jess & Avery
Jess ignored the voice, working steadily at unravelling the dream component of the block.
"Well, at a guess," Avery said sarcastically. "You're gonna get your ass shredded. See, you're messing with my brother. My favourite brother. So... basically... I'm going to ass fuck you from here until next year."
She kept part of her presence around Taylor, to reassure him.
Taylor
The golden glow that had started surrounding Taylor was starting to make everything else in the room appear fuzzy. Taylor could still see and hear Blakesley, but it was as if he was off in the distance.
"This is in my head?" he asked suddenly.
"That's the idea, Avery," the voice spat, "maybe with your brother out of the way, your support network will crumble to dust."
Taylor closed his eyes when he heard that, frowning in concentration.
Avery & Jess
"Awww, babycakes," Avery replied mockingly. "That's the stupidest plan ever. For a multitude of reasons. But basically, the general gist is this... you're not stronger than me."
"Hold on, Tay," Jess told him, manipulating the dream sphere.
Taylor
Taylor's eyes opened again when he heard Jessica's voice. He suddenly realised what they'd been made to witness, and his frustration slowly began to win over.
"No," he said out loud, "no!"
He struggled with his chains, undoing them as quickly as he could. The Blakesley character was still fuzzy and appeared to be slow-moving, so he was able to get himself free before the man could move.
"I don't think so," the voice came again.
Taylor recoiled suddenly from a punch to the jaw, and fell off the other side of the table. Before he could recover Blakesley appeared on top of him.
"Very stupid, Jordan."
Taylor cried out as Blakesley pulled him up by the hair, landing punch after punch. He fell back against the wall, and when he opened his eyes again the blade of the scalpel was inches from his eyes.
Jess & Avery
"Tay, it's almost over," Jess called out to him.
Avery smashed through the barrier, severing the tie the telepath had with Taylor's mind, before keeping a hold of the thread.
"You done, Jess?" Avery asked. "Take us back."
"Aye, aye."
Taylor, Natalie & Isaac
Taylor cringed as everything went golden when a telepathic scream rang out... and then he suddenly shot up in bed.
"TAY!" Natalie almost screamed, wrapping her arms around him.
"Nat?!" he breathed, panting heavily.
His eyes widened as he took her in, before he grabbed hold of her and kissed her as hard as he dared. She responded emphatically as long as he let her.
Isaac stepped forward, putting a hand on one of his ankles.
"Tay, you okay?"
Taylor let Natalie go, his face already starting to cover in sweat, before he looked to where his two sisters appeared to still be concentrating.
"I'm okay," he nodded, trying to catch his breath.
Jess & Avery
"You ok, froggy?" Jess asked, looking over at Avery as they both 'woke up'.
"Better than he is right now," Avery smirked. "Ike, you wanna call someone? He's just at the top of the street in his car. He'll need medical attention."
Jess looked at her sister in surprise.
"No one fucks with Taylor," the younger Hanson sister said in reply
Isaac, Taylor & Natalie
"Okay," Isaac nodded.
He went to the window to try and spot him, pulling his phone out on the way to call the appropriate YIRAAS personnel.
Taylor looked between his sisters to make sure they were both out of it, then knelt up on the bed and leant forward, pulling them both into a firm hug.
"Thankyou," he said, closing his eyes in sincerity, "and I am so sorry you had to see that."
Avery & Jess
Avery tried not to flinch when Taylor touched her, and she kept her head turned away, her eyes closed.
"Sorry we couldn't do it faster," Jess said, kissing Taylor's cheek. "And I'm sorry... I haven't been monitoring your dreams lately, or I would've seen this coming."
"I'm sorry you got dragged into it," Avery put in quietly. "My guess that was a telepath I didn't get a hold of before."
Taylor & Natalie
Taylor let Avery go first, feeling her pheromones and knowing instinctively that she wasn't comfortable. He gave Jess a kiss back before letting her go too.
"I don't see how," he said to her, "I've been having Blakesley nightmares for years. This... dreamwalker, or whatever he was... this was a one-off. No one could have seen it coming."
"It was Blakesley?" Natalie frowned, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah," Taylor admitted, his eyes falling to the bed, "but it's okay. It was all in my head. Really, technically, it was just another nightmare. No matter how real it felt."
Jess & Avery
Jess put an arm around Avery's waist and rested her head against the shoulder of her taller sister.
"Regardless," Jess told him. "I'll monitor your orb for awhile."
"Is Penny around?" Avery asked suddenly. "It's just dawned on me that I haven't seen her in awhile."
Taylor, Natalie & Isaac
Taylor glanced to Natalie, before his eyes settled on Avery.
"I left Ezra in charge. Hopefully the kitchen isn't a mess," Natalie mused, "especially now his Uncle Ike's here..."
"You rang?" Isaac heard his name the moment he hung up from YIRAAS.
"Ezra," Nat waved him off.
"Oh, right. Want me to go and check on them?"
"I will," Nat offered, giving Taylor a kiss on the cheek before getting off the bed.
She walked past Isaac, touching his shoulder.
"Thankyou," she said to him.
"I didn't do anything," Isaac shrugged.
"You will."
She left the room, leaving Isaac looking confused.
"Avie?" Taylor began cautiously, "you okay?"
Jess & Avery
Jess hugged her sister a little tighter and looked up at her. "Aves?"
Avery nodded and forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm just missin' my favourite niece, is all."
Taylor & Isaac
Taylor's face fell as he watched her, seeing the lie straight off. He looked to Isaac for help, shaking his head.
"Hey," Isaac acted immediately, stepping over and joining in on the hug, "this isn't your fault, you know that right? You couldn't have predicted it. Even Viggo didn't see this one coming."
Avery & Jess
"He wanted to get rid of Tay, because he knew that it would make it easier to get to me," Avery blinked back tears. "Because they know. They know if Taylor died, then I would give up on everything."
Jess kissed her sisters cheek, rubbing her arm gently.
"I know I can't..." Once the tears started falling, Avery couldn't stop them. "I know that I can't look at you right now, Tay, but... and I know it wasn't you when I was being... held. I know all of it logically, but... but you're still my Taylor. You're still the one who always made everything better for me, and I'm sorry that because of that, you keep getting dragged into things. But I do love you. I love you so much. I just can't... I'm just not ready to look at you."
Isaac & Taylor
Taylor ran his fingers through his hair and covered his mouth, looking to the window as his eyes welled up. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to comfort her, but he knew she didn't want him to.
"He's not going anywhere," Isaac said firmly, "and you know, it could just as easily have been any one of us that were attacked. It could have been me, or Zac, or Jess..."
"She's right," Taylor shook his head, not looking at any of them, "they struck out at me for a reason. And I know why. It's because I'm an easy target."
"Not helping, Tay," Isaac shot him a look.
"Face it, it's true," Taylor finally looked at him, "I am an easy target. Especially for telepaths, because I can't have a shield. And it's starting to feel like there's this whole big telepathic battle starting, and I'm going to be the one caught in the middle."
"Tay?"
"What?"
"Shut up!" Isaac insisted.
"Look I'm not saying I'm not gonna fight, if it comes to that," Taylor said back, "and I'll be damned if I ever let them hurt her again, but last night just proved how easy it was to exploit my one, major, soul-shattering weakness. And how easy it was to pick that out of my head."
"So what do you propose we do about it?" Isaac finally stood, letting Avery go.
"I don't know," Taylor shrugged helplessly, "I'm just pointing out how very much we have against us in this. Whatever was going on, like back in Florida - and New Orleans - this proves it's definitely not over."
Avery
"It feels like it'll never be over," Avery said quietly.
"At least, not until I'm out of the way."
Isaac & Taylor
"So what, now you're suicidal?" Isaac asked incredulously.
"You know what? This has gone far enough. I am so sick and tired of this family being a target. So we're supposed to be stronger than most Dathrians, who really cares?! We still have lives to lead! And considering how much we have already been through as a family, I'd like to think we can handle a few psychopathic telepaths."
"Ike-"
"And you! Aren't you the one who once said to me that 'the ones that win are the ones that survive'? 'The ones who get through all the bullsh*t'? Guess what this is, Tay. This is bullsh*t!"
"Ike, I know, but..."
"But nothing! We have all, every single one of us, been through absolute hell at the hands of alien hunters-"
Taylor's eyes darted to the dresser where some ornaments had started rattling.
"-And I am done just standing around waiting for the next one!"
"IKE! Calm down!" Taylor jumped from the bed suddenly, grabbing his shoulder, "you're losing it!"
"I'm losing it?"
Taylor spun him around to face the dresser.
"Oh."
A moment later, the shuddering stopped.
Avery & Jess
Avery shrunk back at Isaac's yelling, and closed her eyes for a second, counting silently.
"Jess?"
"Mmm?" Jess's eyes were wide from Isaac's loss of control.
"Can you take me home?"
"Sure," the blonde nodded. "Um, glad you're ok, Tay. I'll see you all later."
"I'm not suicidal," Avery paused before leaving the room, to address Isaac. "I'm tired. Just leave me alone."
She shook her head and continued out the door, heading for Jessica's car.
Isaac & Taylor
"Well, great. That's just great," Isaac put his hands on his hips.
"Ike, can you blame her?" Taylor frowned, not letting go of his shoulder.
"Just, please. Talk to me?"
"About what, Tay? About how any time we actually start to feel safe there's always another hunter just around the corner waiting to take us down?"
Taylor grabbed Isaac's face in his hands, making sure he looked at him.
"Ike, I get it. I do," he said sternly, "but losing it isn't going to get us anywhere. You do not need your telekinesis back in emotional control. Not right now. Not with Avie's situation. We need you."
Isaac paused, staring at him. After a long moment of just stopping to breathe, he finally nodded.
"I know," he said.
Taylor let him go, looked at him sideways, then took a seat on the end of the bed. Isaac hesitated, then joined him.
"I know it sucks, but since when is this a new thing?" Taylor shook his head, "we just have to deal. Like always."
Isaac didn't respond, just rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"I'm not going to pretend I'm okay with what happened last night, I'm not," Taylor shook his head as he went on, "but I am done letting it define me as a person. I have too much to live for now to let anything like that take precedence."
"But how do you stop it? You're making it sound like it barely even happened," Isaac shook his head.
"Oh no, it happened," Taylor nodded, looking up to the ceiling, "and it wasn't a nightmare. I felt everything he did. And the scary part was, that... not only did he have Nat and the kids too, but everything was exactly as I imagined it would be if he were to somehow escape the YIRAAS and come after me. Today."
"But you know he won't," Isaac shook his head.
"In my head I do," Taylor agreed, "in my heart I don't. The simple fact that he's still alive means that it's a future possibility. I mean at the very least, with all the peace treaties flying around, what's to say that the government's conditions of enforcing them is for the YIRAAS to release all their human prisoners? It's a distinct possibility that that could happen."
Isaac paused, and frowned.
"You've thought about this a lot, haven't you?"
"Every damn day," Taylor's knee bounced automatically.
"But I'll tell you one thing. Especially after last night, I am done being a victim. These... hunters, or whatever they happen to be, need to know that if they mess with us that they're going to come off second best. We need to make the name Hanson mean defeat to them. No longer are we going to be subjected to sexual slavery, lab specimens, art for art's sake, trophyism, whatever. We are done. And that goes for all of us."
"So you agree with me."
"I agree with your point, not your motive," Taylor looked across at him.
"And I think we need to come up with some viable means to keep this family safe. If it means putting a force field around every single one of us, I don't care."
Isaac couldn't help but smile a little.
"What?" Taylor searched his face.
"Never mind, I'm just... seeing something that I haven't for a long time."
"What?"
Isaac hesitated, looking him over.
"Fighting spirit."
Taylor hesitated himself, then blushed. Isaac chuckled a little to himself, then pulled him in for a hug.
"Welcome back, Tay."