Ten minutes later, inside the trailer

Jaden:

I knocked on the door of a room right next to the room we had designated the "girl's room".

"Come on in, Mr. Reign," came Floreen's voice. I walked in, seeing the woman sitting on her bed beside a small box of paperwork. She pulled out a manila envelope and waved to a chair by the door. "You can be seated if you like." I stood instead, hands behind my back. "But please close the door. Confidentiality is important." That request I followed. I turned back to her.

"Anything of immediate concern?" I asked curtly.

"Hmm- she's not a ticking time bomb. Can ask you a question while I have a moment with you?" I shrugged, turning around. "I've noticed over the years as our war with Tyrin has gotten underway, you have stepped up to the plate of leadership rather well in our high stakes game. One would think, as the youngest by far, you should be the least skilled member of this group and Raven should be running training as an experienced bounty hunter. However, your skills at times seem to rival hers. Kyle, Jessica, and Xao have seen years of combat and emergency situations- how did you end up the more qualified?"

I bit my lip. "Well- to start my father was special forces. Even when I was little he would pass on things he had learned- things like the importance of training and physical fitness. I guess no one in this group but my mother and I ever really got to see his skills, but seriously, the man could have put me to shame." I leaned against the door. "But I conduct myself better than someone who learned a few tricks from his dad right?" Floreen nodded. "The others already knew about this, but I guess not you. Thing is, from preteen years on, all werewolf children engage in intense training camps. For months at a time, I didn't actually live at home, but in a series of different boot camps- that we weren't allowed to leave until we could overcome our own drill instructors."

"So you've been training against skilled adults from childhood- was wondering how you wolves are supposed to keep order when you're so underpowered compared to everyone else."

I nodded. "Satisfactory answer?" she nodded.  I stood up straight again. "So then, again, is there anything about Raven that is of immediate concern?"

Floreen shook her head. "That's not how these things work. I can't tell you when or for sure even IF anything will happen with Ravicca. I can only tell you how she is developing and what you should be prepared for should things take a turn for the worst."

"I know how long your people can live, so, if you were to say what I may have to worry about in my lifetime, what might that be?"

Floreen gave a whistle that didn't make me feel comfortable. "Well, worst-case scenario given what I've seen, could be pretty bad." She squeezed her eyes shut. "Those two are incredibly different and always have been from the stories they tell. And now that Jessica has lived her own life and is set in her ways without Raven, there's an even higher chance of them having a falling out." She reopened her eyes.

"People fight, then they get over it. So what?"

"Yes, and most people have the option to get distance from each other. Those two are not too different from a married couple- well at least in one respect. If they find differences they can't resolve, disaster may ensue."

"As in what?"

"Where do I begin? Depression, physical exhaustion and if they disagree badly enough, one of them may try to shut down to get away from the other, and then- that will mean a major part of Ravicca's consciousness will try to shut down... that could mean a coma for the entire brain. You can't just turn major parts of the brain on and off like a light switch."

I bit my lip. "I- so how do we avoid that?" I ask, remembering to keep my composure.

Floreen shook her head. "Not much YOU can do on that end. You can't make two people get along, even if they are in the same body. You can try to help them find ways to resolve their issues without separating I guess."

"Is there a way to..." I tried to think. "Most people have boundaries right?"

"That is a way of saying it."

"Can they learn to understand each other's boundaries?" I asked.

Floreen shook her head. "Imagine if compromising with someone meant you had to not only concede a point to them but concede control of your body for their ideas. Suddenly, minor disagreements become world-ending. Say Jessica wants to take up smoking one day- with Raven's body. Say when they're older they have different views on sexuality- so does the virgin give up being sexually pure or does the promiscuous one become celibate? Do they or don't they join the armed forces if one becomes a pacifist and the other a war hawk? I suppose many of these major decisions are in the far future, but she can make big decisions even now."

"What might be one?"

"Obey or disobey orders I suppose. I understand your team no longer buries dead children or leaves a trail to them for the authorities because of the trail it would leave for your enemies. If Jessica wants to rebel against you on that point, but Raven tries to hold her back- if neither of them backs down, then the body can't go in two directions at once. The two personalities will fight and fight, attempting control until a single issue causes a kind of shock and the entire brain forces a shutdown- so to speak."

"A coma," I said, clarifying what she meant. She nodded. "And none of us can ever know if this battle is going on inside their mind." I looked down at my feet, but then snapped my eyes back up.

"You can talk to one of the two girls, but nothing stops them from hiding things as people do. They are two different people but in many instances, they cannot function as such. They will fight. They have fought. They each have done things the other didn't want to do. And trust me that will continue to be the case until one of them is no longer with us or they are both gone."

Both of us were trying to keep a cold tone in our voices, but a part of me felt like crying just hearing this. We were talking about my sisters here. They were both sick, and there was no cure but to annihilate the consciousness of one of them- and since neither of them would allow that, which made sense, we had to allow the sickness to run whatever course it would. "There has to be something that we can do... something they can do that we can help with."

"There are treatments that can be administered to destroy one of their consciousnesses, I have discussed those with you. Their chances of catastrophic failure are in the nineties, and even if they do work most patients suffer to the point of wanting to die anyway." I clenched my fist just being reminded. "That's why we're just letting them be this way- navigating this together is the best chance they both have. Still, they will fight and there is no life in this family without controversy, that is readily apparent," Floreen said. She closed her eyes and tapped her head for a few moments. "There may be a solution but I'm going to have to plot it out. If one of them has to concede a point they have to feel they put their all into it and lost fairly... there has to be a way to give them at least that feeling. I'll tell you what it is in time, but remember, she is the one who has to use the solution." I finally looked away, tears starting to come out of my eyes unbidden. "I'm sorry, but this is how psychological issues often go. You can offer help here and there, but ultimately this is her mind. She has to decide how this goes down."

"Until you have your solution, what can we do?"

She shook her head. "Just... be a family. Be home. If they both agree on what home is, they'll have an anchor. If they don't even know where they belong, things could fall apart very fast." I turned to leave, feeling there was nothing more to say when she held up a hand. "Your new demeanor Jaden, it's probably not helping. You need to be warm to her. To be a brother."

I looked down. "The others are plenty warm. I need to be cold as steel to protect their home." I left the room.

(***)

Nadine:

I waited a few minutes after he left his meeting with Floreen, seeing my boy punch the side of the trailer, tears starting to form.

I sighed looking down at the rake I had been using to clean the yard. Not like our trailer ever ended up looking like a magazine cover on the best of days anyway.

I walked over to him and put the rake by the side of the vehicle, giving him a warm smile. "So- out with it. What's bothering ya today?"

He put his head on the side of the vehicle. "A lot of things mom. I've made my siblings cry how many times this week? And I know, I'm supposed to comfort them like dad did but- I just don't feel built for that. And even then... I don't know."

I leaned against the trailer. "Well, you're his son but that doesn't mean you ARE your father. You do have some of his wisdom," I said, tapping his head. I stepped back again and blew. "As a result, being the only one you open up to, I'm never sure what to say. It's not like you don't already know you should be talking nicer to your siblings."

"I'm not just their brother now, I'm their leader. The world is going to be plenty harsh on them and I have to prepare them for that." He closed his eyes. "I remember, don't you? Back when I was about five, there was a fire in the house... I was so scared as the flames surrounded me in my room. I wanted one of you two to hold me and make me feel better but- dad broke down the door, raced by me, smashed my window and practically threw me out of it- I got even MORE scared."

I widened my eyes at this. "Kiddo, if he didn't do that you could have been seriously burned. There was no time for being pleasant, he had to save your life."

"I know. I did at the time but I don't resent him for it now. He came bounding out of that room, pulled me away from the room as you put out the flames and checked me over- only after all that did he hug me." Jaden bit his lip. "Time and a place ya know?"

I shook my head, feeling a glare coming on, feeling like he was profaning the memory of my husband, but restraining myself. "Jaden, there is no fire. What are you doing? Your little sister could be facing blindness. Go hug her, let her cry on your shoulder- something. I've done that with her several times already."

"She won't go bli-"

"You a doctor suddenly? Only a few freelance banshee doctors have looked at her to say that. Even still it's terrifying for someone as independent as Jess, and especially Raven, to be so helpless."

"Okay, so you were there for her to cry to, why isn't that enough? Kyle lets her talk his head off, injured or not- and hey I've even looked the other way after that whole event and not insisted he train."

"Doesn't help his training," I noted, holding up a finger. "You know she needs him, so you CAN see there are priorities, no?"

"I have my role mom. There IS a fire. So happens it's an organization rather than a force of nature, but no less dangerous. We could come under attack at any time. If one of the kids panics and isn't in shape or doesn't know what to do- That's. On. Me." he beat his chest. "An old slogan my drill instructors all had in their offices, "Let no soldier die saying, if I only had been readied.".

I gave a chuckle. "Jaden..." I followed that by shaking my head. "You have such a good heart- but does it ever need to be put in its place at times." He stepped back a little. "What? Kyle, Jess and Xao were training before you stopped wetting the bed and Raven was a bounty hunter before you were born. They might need to drill some battle plans but Jessica was already the group trainer before you insisted on the position- and they accepted as you are the family leader. That team has fought wild animals, avalanches, forest fires and even gangs to protect children, some forces you yourself don't know how to deal with to this day. They sometimes act immature because of their bodies, but give them some credit."

"They've never faced anything like a whole organization hunting them like this. The closest was that encounter with Venice- and we all barely survived that. I remember, I was in the thick of that camp," he wrapped his arms around himself, eyes closed. "I saw my heroes helpless and myself no better. No one could save us and there was nothing we could do."

"And you think they could fight their way out of that now?"

"Not sure, but I'm pushing them until I am," he started to walk away, as I grabbed his shoulder.

"Jaden- you are my son by birth, but they're my children too. If I see you going too far..."

"Then you better stop me. I'm counting on it mom," he said with a sigh. "We done talking?"

"How do I get you to talk to any of the others even like this?"

"Agree to have that person stay behind like you do."

"I do that for a reason. Someone has to keep this place a home, not just a sloppy base of operations... well that and someone has to watch over Floreen. Doubt that one has seen a day of violence, can kinda see it on her soft face." I rolled my eyes thinking of our pampered tag along.

He shrugged. "Okay, you can all do that together, I'll do this alone, or maybe with a wolf pack. The werewolves have it out for that freak now too anyway."

"You're too junior to command a team or sway the leadership for an op like that."

"Then alone."

I slammed my fist into the side of the trailer, leaving a dent. "You can cut it with suicide talk like that. I'm not losing a son to that man too."

"Well I'd rather it just be me," he said back.

"And what? Not like Xao and Kyle will think about it differently- maybe even Raven and Jess. Am I to stand by and watch as my children go off one by one into a meat grinder Tyrin will be all to happy to operate?" I forced him to turn and face me, forcing my heart not to interfere when I saw my baby crying- he would always be my baby in my heart. "You all fight him as a team. I stay behind to draw a contrast, home is not a place of killing like out there- not that I can't protect my babies if I have to."

"Mom, what are you trying to do? You can't FORCE me to be a gentler brother."

I put a hand to his face, once so full of kindness, now feeling hard as stone. "But you were Jaden, you were."

He held my hand and gave me a firm look. "And I will be again, I promise. Just let me get everyone out of the fire." He let my hand go. "I need to go check with the centuries... check the kids okay?"

He walked away.

It was so hard to not grab him and- and what? Ground him? Spank him? He was a grown man, and man of the house to top it off. If I was to go to war with him I had to choose the battlefield and choose it wisely. I knew it would probably come down to it too, either we would find a way to save him, or I would have to fight my own son some day... I could only pray he would be saved.