The small audience broke into some polite applause. Joe Kellogg stood and walked up to the podium where Kate was beckoning him. He glanced at her, wondering what she wanted him to do.

"Just introduce yourself. I'm right here," she whispered kindly to him, stepping aside. Joe Kellogg nodded a little and took her place behind the podium. He had always hated speaking before people, which was unfortunate as his choice of profession required that on a daily basis. He cleared his throat.

"Hi. I'm Joe Kellogg," he said. Then he turned around and walked back to his seat.

Kate took the podium again. "Er... okay. As you can all see, that was Joe Kellogg. Carly and Savannah -" Here she was cut off by some more enthusiastic clapping. This lasted for about fifteen seconds before Kate raised her hand a little and began to speak once more. "Carly and Savannah have left their positions within the mafia so they could rescue him. They have gathered valuable information in their time there, and an even more valuable person. I believe Joe Kellogg will be a great help to us, especially as he can fly."

Silence. Then,

"Cool!"

Joe Kellogg turned around. The speaker was towards the back of the group. She had natty blond hair and glasses and was grinning widely at him.

"It is pretty cool," Kate said, and Joe Kellogg turned back to the front, a little puzzled. "However, quite aside from that, we have now lost our contacts within the mafia. We need to come up with a plan for what our next move is. If we're to take them down, we'll need as much help as we can get. Carly, Savannah? Could you guys tell us what you know?"

Carly stood up and walked towards Kate, followed closely by Savannah. The two parties smiled at each other before Kate stepped off to the side again and sat down.

"Thanks, Kate," Carly said. "The mafia has spread throughout the country, infiltrating every state except New Jersey. Why they didn't bother with that one state, I don't know, especially as everything is legal in New Jersey. Not the point. As I had a more advantageous position within their organization, I was able to glean the precise location of around 70% of their bases, and the approximate location of the rest." Here there was more applause and a small whistle. Carly allowed herself a smile before continuing, "Savannah, however, has some information that will make mine even more valuable. She was only there for a short while, but we'll all be glad for it soon. Savannah?"

Carly stepped away from the podium, and Savannah took her position. "Hey guys! Yeah, as Carly said, I found out some pretty useful information while I was there. I mean, useful if you care about saving the country n all, I mean I personally am interested in keeping the United States itself intact, I dunno about you guys. Even with it being how it is now, what with President Dump Trump, violence, racism, bad policies, etc, I believe at the heart of our country, America is still pure and good, and personally I -"

"Will you get on with it?" someone in the back shouted amiably. A few people tittered. Savannah smiled a bit before going on. "The mafia is planning to launch a huge attack on every city they have a base in. Simultaneously. And in roughly a month and a half."

Silence again. Everybody seemed stunned, no one more than Joe Kellogg. What had he gotten himself into? He wasn't looking forward to staying now as much as he had before, and yet he had an odd feeling that he wouldn't be allowed to leave now.

Finally, the silence was broken.

"Well, shit." It was the same girl as before. This time, another girl with long black hair and wearing an anime cat shirt turned towards her and said, "Way to sum it up, Brett. Will you please shut up now?"

"Thanks, Emily," said Savannah. Everyone turned back towards the front. "Now, I think you'll all agree with me that this is a clear priority?" Nods all around. "Okay. Well, we clearly need to, uh, put people into teams, and, uh, try to work on a plan?" Blank stares. "Okay, I'm not that good at organizing people. Can somebody else do this?"

There were some laughs at that, and Savannah smiled before walking back to her seat next to Joe Kellogg. Carly joined her shortly.

Over the next half hour, everybody was sorted into teams. Joe Kellogg helped mainly with strategy, due to his mantra of "History repeats itself, everything that has happened before will happen again", etc. His knowledge of history led the other teams to call him over to them quite a lot, but he was happy to help. After all, Joe Kellogg was now unemployed, as well as a target of the mafia. Why not help these people?

Joe Kellogg had promised himself that he would not stay past the end of this project. If he lingered any further, his life might never return to normal. Besides, how would his son hold up? He was luckily staying with Joe Kellogg's parents for the next two weeks, being too young to go to school, but what about after that? Joe Kellogg had no idea how he would sort this out and still keep his personal life intact.

However, while he was working with the SCDO (South Canada Defense Organization, a name he'd heard Grey had point-blank refused to let the group into their bunker without the others' agreement that it would be their official title), he had to admit he was enjoying himself at least a little. The food was pretty good, the people were friendly, and he felt like he was actually improving the world, something he hadn't felt once in his years of teaching. The girls who'd spoken up during the initial meeting were both working on strategy with him. The dark haired one, Emily, always had at least two cats slinking around her, and once he thought he caught a flicker of unnatural shadows dancing around her frame. Joe Kellogg hadn't gotten a chance to ask Kate or Grey about that instance, but he meant to as soon as possible. It was very odd. However, Brett, the blonde one, seemed to be quite ordinary, which he was glad for. She was very intelligent, and frequently thought of angles and strategies he'd never considered, which was a bit disconcerting at first. Later on, though, Joe Kellogg quite enjoyed having multiple different angles on a subject.

There were two others working on the strategy team with them. One was a boy with bright blue hair named Radon, and another was a beautiful Greek girl named Katie. The two of them worked incredibly well together, and when they presented their ideas to the other three, they were open to changing and adjusting them. Joe Kellogg appreciated that quality in particular as he had had many students in the past who were very smart but straight up assholes about it. Those sort of kids were cocky and thought they were always right, which constantly tested Joe Kellogg's restraint. However, within this small group, there was none of this. They broke into even smaller groups and then collaborated as a team. Nobody was an asshole, and frankly, it was a bit disconcerting after Joe Kellogg's many years of working in public schools.

Slowly, a week passed. Then two. Joe Kellogg woke up one morning after the conclusion of the second week, remembering his son. How could he have forgotten?

Joe Kellogg slipped out of his cot (the bunker had a small aside room for sleeping quarters, and although there weren't very many proper beds, there were a shit ton of cots, which he was grateful for) stealthily. He walked over to the elevator bank and stepped into the closest. He didn't press a button, just stood there in the enclosed space, and pulled out the cell phone they'd lent him. (His old one had been left in his Timberpine classroom.) Luckily, Joe Kellogg had his parents' phone number memorized. He dialed the number, then held the phone to his ear as it rang.

After a few seconds, his mom picked up. "Hello? Who is this?"

Hearing her voice was a welcome relief. "Hi, Mom. It's me, Joe Kellogg. I lost my phone."

"Oh, that makes sense. I've been texting you quite a bit. Nothing important," she said hastily, as if she'd sensed Joe Kellogg's opening mouth. "I'm just glad to hear you're okay!"

"Yes, Mom, of course," Joe Kellogg said a bit sleepily. Talking to his parents always tested him a bit, even when he wasn't lying to them. "Listen, I wanted to know if you guys would be able to keep Anthony a little bit longer. (i have no idea what the fuck his son is called, so if anyone has a better name, let me know. I do enjoy Anthony though.) The end of the year work load is crushing me, there are so many students who have just now turned in their work from September."

"Of course we can take him! I'm sorry to hear that work isn't going so great. You know you can talk to us whenever, right?"

"Right." Joe Kellogg was beginning to feel a bit uneasy, but he couldn't place why. "Well, I've got to go, Mom. You can call me at this number any time, alright?"

"I love you, Joe Kellogg. And remember, don't sweat the petty stuff, and don't pet the sweaty stuff."

Joe Kellogg smiled at the family's motto. "Love you." He hung up. That wasn't so bad. He couldn't quite place the odd feeling he'd had during their conversation, but he supposed it was just hunger. He put his phone away and pressed the button that would take him to the food level.

As he zoomed away, he couldn't manage shake the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He pushed it aside. Maybe a bagel would help.