2072 Chapter twenty six – Book II

Fresh crystal clear mountain air felt through a slight breeze, wafted over the exposed parts of his body, not quite enough to dry the sweat, but more than enough to keep the heat down and cool his skin. He had been a little late starting his morning ritual that day, but he wasn’t the only one it seemed, even the sun looked sluggish in it’s attempt to wake up at that hour. It wasn’t, that would be ridiculous, it was the same as it always was, it just looked that way, because of the orangey pinkish sky still showing over the lake, dappling it’s surface with dashes of its stray tones. Running with a steady pace through the woods and winding roads, it seemed like time was rapidly catching up to him however, and the more he watched, the more he caught glimpses of the sky morphing rapidly into one of the most gorgeous shades of blue wherever it poked out from behind the fiery clouds. Thinking about it, the weather was one thing, but the woods and even the climate, all in all, this place was truly a far cry from his former seaside home out on the coast. No less beautiful though, in its own way and although he missed the home of his childhood terribly, he actually found he was starting to become very happy there. However, just like any other new endeavor, along with his new home, had come some new challenges. Not the least of which was the quality of that same cool mountain air, which had hit him hard for the first few of his morning runs, until he got used to it that is. But, out of all the things he’d had to deal with so far, what was probably the most disturbing, was the complete and utter lack of noise.

Being a born and bred city boy, Cameran Trevallian wasn’t particularly used to such quiet, even that early in the morning. Where he came from, though not an especially large city to begin with, was still a real city and by its very definition,  full of the hustle and bustle common to that way of life. What with commuters on their way to or from work and all manner of delivery trucks bringing in fresh produce, or whatever, to the many cafes, stores and the like. To be fair, his new home wasn’t exactly the country existence he originally believed it to be, because after all, it was only a five minute drive to the center of town, but they were far enough from civilization out there, that this early, there was just the road and the trees for company. At first, the solitude, the sheer level of silence, a quiet so complete you could easily hear your heart beating out a rapid drumbeat rhythm, not to mention two birds being naughty in a tree half a county away, was a little unsettling, but he was getting used to it slowly. It really was quite an eerie feeling though at times, especially when he was all alone and that very silence enveloped him. These were the times when he found himself almost missing his former life, though those feelings never really lasted longer than the time it took to recognize them, because as soon as he did, he would remember just exactly what it was he’d left behind.

As far as Cam was concerned, the decision to leave, though hard on him personally, was certainly an easy one to make. After all, there was no way in hell, he was going to stay in a place where his boys could have gotten hurt, or worse. Where the rights of the many were seemingly trampled and pushed aside for the bigoted bullshit of a few. So silence or no and with the simple fact that the human mind can adapt and learn to live with almost anything, it wasn’t long before he’d started to really enjoy his self-imposed early morning solitude. Unfortunately, this particular kind of solitude comes with a price and that was, he had far too much time to think. On it’s own, being alone with your thoughts can sometimes be a good thing, but any kind of serious thinking so early in the morning, can also be very dangerous. This was especially true for Cam, whose mind, when allowed to wander too much, tended to go to some very weird and wonderful places. That morning was no different and Cam soon found just how weird and wonderful a place his mind could take him, especially when he started to think about how certain things seemed to have direct flow-on effects to others and the myriad of connections which led them there. About how something which at first, can seem so small, could have such far reaching consequences, and this of course, pushed his mind onto the subject of butterflies.

It’s been said, for a hurricane to reach its full destructive potential, all it takes is the minutest little swish of a butterfly’s wing. Chaos theorists the world over, call this the ‘Butterfly Effect’, for obvious reasons and at its basis, they classify it as a ‘sensitive dependence’ on ‘initial conditions’. Or for the rest of us and putting it more simply, how a small change at one place can result in a large change to a set of variables in another place much further away, or something like that. At it’s core, it’s a pretty basic concept, but at the same time it has some very far reaching consequences, whether you realize it or not. In fact, if you think about it and Cam certainly was that morning, in his mind, it was right up there with the time paradox, which tells of someone traveling back to a place in time, where they could conceivably kill their own grandfather, thus making themselves cease to exist. Scary stuff really and far too deep for that early in the morning, but as his feet pounded the pavement, like always, his mind had a mind of its own. And anyway, it was proving to be the only way he could get certain thoughts and images out of his head.

Probably the best example Cam could think of, in order to illustrate this theory, was the one he had used to great effect when teaching young officers to be effective leaders in combat. He would get them to imagine a lemon squeezer on a perfectly level, flat table. Then he would push their imaginations into letting slip a drop of water on the very top of the bit you stick in the lemon and see which way it goes in it’s gravitationally imposed journey south. Maybe it goes left, maybe it goes right, then do it again and again to see what happens, because it’s never the same. Having said that though, sometimes imagination wasn’t enough, so he was fully prepared to demonstrate. Whether he had to or not, the fact of the matter was, it certainly got his point across, although most of the time, it sounded a bit off the wall, especially to his students, most of which were already proven officers in their chosen fields. But, when you consider Cam taught tactics and combat leadership techniques, this alone was reason enough for him to spend a considerable amount of time learning everything he could about this particular theory and why he taught it in such intricate detail.

You see, according to chaos theory, that simple drop of water will never go the same way twice, even when the conditions seem identical. Which of course, was the main point behind the exercise in the first place and a very effective way to show how, although you may have succeeded in doing something once, it doesn’t mean that you can do the same thing again and get away with it. Discussing his example, he would point out that maybe the air conditioner went still for the first attempt, or a power surge caused it to belch out a stronger gust of air for the second, or maybe you just held your breath for a moment longer than you needed too. Whatever the reason, had that theoretical butterfly not flapped it’s wings at that particular point in time, then the water’s course might have been very different. To Cam, this theory was never more true, or more poignant, than when discussing the horror of leading men in battle. Therefore, by using this example, he got his class to think about the variables in their environment not just the environment itself, simply because, one person’s decisions can be completely changed by the single action, or the resulting event, of one single other being making a different choice. Every chance he got, he hammered that home and by doing so, he hoped to make his students understand why they gathered so much intelligence, why they planned to the smallest detail, why they trained so hard and why, because no plan ever survives first contact with the enemy, they had to think fast on their feet when that moment came.

On a more personal level, this theory also proves to be the basis of many arguments, internal or otherwise, when thinking about those ‘what if’ scenarios, not that most people ever realize it at the time. Particularly, or maybe just mostly, when one hits a theoretical fork in the road or some other minor event, which will result in two completely different outcomes. Today was one of those days for Cameran, who thought he was just going to have a nice relaxing and very typical day, or at least, what had become typical for him lately. Breakfast with the family, then pottering around the park getting those last few touches done before the guests started to arrive. Sadly though, that was a day when he came across a decidedly distressing fork, in the road he called his life and had absolutely no idea which way he should go. The more the miles stretched out in front of him and the further he got from the house, the more Cam realized his heart just wasn’t into running that morning. Very unusual for him too, because usually the heavy pounding of his feet on the pavement would clear his head, but this time, there was just too much going on in there.

More accurately, he was deeply concerned about what Tyler had offered him and why. Which of course, lead him to start thinking about the boy’s situation, then just the boy himself and what Cam could do to help him, which was probably the main reason why he had been thinking of butterflies in the first place. One thing was certain, Cam had decided very early on that Tyler seemed like a really good kid, regardless of what he had been through so far in his life, which in and of itself was certainly a surprise. He was however, deeply worried about just how much the boy had lost, how much he’d been forced to give away over the years, or worse, how much he’d given freely. But because he was a good kid and also his strongly adamant refusal to the boy’s offer, Cam wasn’t anticipating him causing him any trouble. Far from it in fact, and a good thing too, because he really was starting to grow fond of the kid, even though the why of that statement, after such a short time knowing him, wasn’t quite as forthcoming. No, he wasn’t concerned about Tyler stirring up trouble for him or his boys and he included Danny in that thought as well, which if he’d bothered to think closer about it, would have given him some pause. But he didn’t, because as far as Cam was concerned, Danny was his lover, which made him family, pure and simple.

However, what did concern him and greatly, was the reasons behind the boy’s offer in the first place, sweet as it was, but totally inappropriate. Had he been asked beforehand, Cam would never have even considered, considering it, but the boy was certainly cute, no one could deny that and he had to admit, that if he was twenty years younger he might have taken him up on it. He wasn’t though, so that realization was discarded by his overly orderly mind, almost as fast as it arrived in there. Even so, it was becoming glaringly obvious to him, that this wasn’t the first time Tyler had made such an offer. He’d just been so casual about it, almost cavalier in the way he’d approached the question, just sort of subtly dropping it into the conversation and the more Cam replayed the scene in his head, the more confused he became. When they had sat together, on the porch, Cam had initially thought of the boy as somewhat calculating, but since that statement was made, he realized there was so much more behind the kid’s sweet innocent face and that woeful disarmingly shy smile.

Still not sure how he was feeling, other than concerned and a little dirty, Cam took a different turn, one he knew would lead him back home quicker than his normal route through the outskirts of town. All he could think about was how much the kid was hurting, a blind man could see it in a minute, as the old saying went. Sure, the kid put up a good front, but that’s all it was, a front, a mask and with how good it was, one which he’d obviously spent a great deal of time perfecting. What lay behind that mask though, that was what really worried Cam, there was so much sadness and pain buried there and it wasn’t even that deep. In fact, Cam was quickly starting to realize just how close to the surface that pain was and like the thin ice on a lake just before the thaw, all it took in order to see it, was to show just a little bit of warmth and affection. The kid was starving that much was clear and like those first rays of dawn on the horizon of a brand new day, it was so obvious, Cam was actually surprised when he didn’t trip over the realization. The speed in which Tyler latched onto him on the porch, the way he’d lapped up the few meager scraps of attention Cam had shown him, he was like a hungry man at an all you can eat buffet, that alone should have been his first and only needed clue. Cam came to the sudden and horrifying conclusion, that poor Tyler was so starved for affection, he just took it any way he could get it and if that meant he had to bend over once in a while, then it was pretty clear he was fully prepared to do that.

Cam was struggling mightily with the fact that Tyler wasn’t his kid and not really his responsibility either, because if he was, then he knew exactly how he’d handle the situation, but as it stood, he wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about that particular revelation. There was definitely one thing he was sure of though, as long as the boy was around, he would treat him no different than any of the other boys in his life. Which was about as much he could do, for the moment at least, that is, until a better solution presented itself. This decision was vitally important for Cam, because he knew the best things you can have in life, are the people you have around you. Simply put, human beings are an inherently social species, they crave like-minded people they can talk to, that they can see some part of themselves in. People they can take care of and nurture, that look up to them, that depend on them. People that they can look up to themselves, people they can admire or even love. Hopefully all of those people love us back and show us just how much by what they do or say, but sometimes this just isn’t the case.

When you meet somebody for the very first time, everything is a total mystery, neither party knowing what is going to happen between the them. Maybe that first meeting goes well and you hit it off, forging an instant friendship, like Corey had done with Tyler. If the fates align, you might even get to make something a little stronger, maybe falling head over heels in love like Carl and Dale did. Then again, you could just also end up wanting to punch them in the face, but that’s the beauty of life, isn’t it? Every day you get to wake up in the morning with a brand new start and with that start, you get to discover a whole new world of hope and the prospect of something better than what you had the day before. You just might even get a day without hate, or injustice. Although, whether or not that experience lasts through that day, is a completely different story, for the simple fact that you never really know who, or what, is waiting for you around the next corner.

This was probably the true crux of the matter for Cam, he decided, as he took the four steps up onto the back porch two at a time and made his way into the bedroom he shared with the man he loved. Everyone needs someone they can rely on, but sadly sometimes, the very people in our lives who should be the ones we can gladly turn to, are the reason why we need them in the first place. A case in point, if you need one, was Tyler’s own father, the one man who should have loved and protected him without question, from the big bad world. Sadly, was the man who couldn’t see passed his own prejudices and kicked a twelve year old boy out of his own home, forcing him to survive on the streets. The kind of man who could do that, didn’t rate very highly on Cam’s list of favorite people and he certainly didn’t want to meet him either, because there is simply no way he would have been able to control his actions if he did. Of course that wouldn’t actually solve anything, but he was pretty sure he’d feel better afterwards. As far as Tyler was concerned though, would he feel any better? Probably not.

What he couldn’t get over, as he stripped out of his sweaty clothes on the way to the bathroom, was the comparison between their two lives and just how sheltered his life had been, especially while growing up. All through childhood and even into his adult life, Cam had had good people around him who he could depend on, who loved and took care of him. He still did really and the events of the previous year proved it. There was Reggie, who had always been there, not too mention, he had three boys who loved him to ends of the earth. He also had Danny, his lover, who probably loved him too much, if that were even possible, but what did Tyler have? Absolutely nothing, as far as Cam could make out. They had talked a little on the porch, after Tyler had gotten more comfortable with him, so Cam knew how he had been living and where. Knew that it was a place which took continuous advantage of him and that he had no real parental figures there, or even any other relatives for that matter. Sure, over the years there had been plenty of men in his life, but these were men who only used love as an excuse to get into his pants, there  were none that he knew of, who actually cared about him. To be fair, it was remarkable that he was as well-grounded as he was, given that he had no real support network, other than the one the boys were building together and sadly, that was probably the only bright spot in Tyler’s future. Cam knew his boys well, knew how much they cared about people and if they had started to care about Tyler, as they looked like they were, then the kid was probably going to be alright, for the time being at least, but was that enough?

While the water from the shower cascaded down his taut lean frame, chasing away the silky lather of his scented body wash, Cam couldn’t quite believe it was and it was only after he’d toweled himself down and walked naked back into the bedroom, in search of some clean underwear, that it dawned on him. What Tyler needed, was someone to look up to, someone he could confide in, someone who had been in a similar position. Someone who could lead him onto the right path and with a conspiratorially sweet smile, Cam realized he knew just the man. A man whose head was right then lying peacefully on the pillow facing his own, with a small trickle of drool bubbling out through the slow deep breathing of a contently blissful sleep. Subconsciously, Cam couldn’t help but replace the smile on his face with a sappy grin, as he looked at one of the strongest objects of his affection and thought that if you could just spontaneously fall in love with somebody, watching them sleep would be the time when it hit you. Cam loved to watch Danny when he was sleeping, his features were so relaxed, as was his body, giving him a youthful appearance, that never failed to stir some action down south and because of it, he was torn, between waking the guy and just watching him.

*                      *                      *

Danny drifted peacefully in and out of consciousness for a few minutes, before the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, quickly making him aware of the feeling that he was being watched. He was however, still groggy from the sleep his subconscious mind was so desperately trying to hold onto. Sadly, by the time he realized this, his conscious mind had already kicked in and was trying it’s best to comprehend the why of this feeling and why he’d started to wake in the first place. Since his childhood, Danny had been a light sleeper, a case of having to be where he grew up, so he wasn’t at all surprised that, although the lightweight duvet cocooning him had somewhat muffled the distinctive sound, he was still acutely aware of the slight noise of a chair being pulled up to the bedside. Unlike his childhood, this time he felt no sense of danger and therefore no need for concern, he knew he was at home, in the safe warm bed he shared with the man he loved, so he wasn’t at all worried. Having said that though, it was still far too early for him to greet the new day yet, he didn’t need a watch to tell him the time, he just instinctively knew it, so he tried desperately to ignore the inevitable for as long as he could.

When he finally decided sleep had completely alluded him, he ever so slowly poked his head out from under the covers. In doing so, he saw one of his most favourite things, the sight of his lover’s beautiful blue eyes staring back at him. Much to Danny’s delight, they gleamed with the intense feeling of love and the sparkle he was rapidly getting used too, he was pretty sure why as well, because he felt exactly the same. After a little while his eyes started to drift south and Danny noticed the sweet happy smile on Cam’s face and he couldn’t help but smile back. Eventually, with the fog of sleep lifting rapidly, he took in more and more of his lover’s naked body, still damp and glistening from the shower and noticed that, although he was facing him, Cam was sitting backwards on a solidly backed chair, spread eagle style, so the bulk of his body was mostly hidden. This fact disappointed him deeply, but it didn’t stop Danny from imagining what was there. Over the last few months, he’d had a great deal of experience with the man’s body, the good and the bad, so his imagination was pretty accurate and Cam gave him a weird look, when Danny softly started to chuckle seductively.

In his mind, Danny went through a quick checklist of his favorite parts, but the thought of his lover’s bare butt alone, all soft and warm, gave him shivers up and down his spine. Cam’s butt, though not his crowning glory, wasn’t far from it, firm pert and certainly a sight to behold, a sight that by itself could make Danny quite excited. But as warm and comfortable as he was, he wasn’t sure if he was excited enough to leave the safety of his covers just yet. Of course, the thought of what was lying on the seat of the chair in front, well, that was another story entirely. For his part, Cam was an astute lover, affectionate and gentle, so he picked up on the his man’s excitement pretty quickly. A slight flush to Danny’s otherwise delicately tanned cheek, the huskiness of his breath, the lustful glean in those deep brown eyes, all lead Cam to understand how rapidly Danny was getting to a very happy place. The mere fact that he could get there just by thinking about his lover, never ceased to amaze him and fill him with the best feelings of love and joy. Danny’s excitement was also proving to have a direct effect on Cam, as he too felt himself quickly rising to the occasion. To be fair, their sexlife was very fulfilling, but perfect moments like that one, were few and far between. So not wishing to waste it, Cam stood up and slid into bed behind Danny, wrapping him in his strong arms. In doing so, it almost pushed Danny over the edge, but the slight pressure and the slow, almost overwhelming, feeling of fullness which followed, gave him just enough stamina to last the next half hour or so. A half hour, which both men thoroughly enjoyed.

Afterwards, they stayed snuggled tightly together, though satisfied, neither wanted the moment to end. Danny was lying half on top of Cam, their legs intertwined, with Cam’s fingers stroking slow lazy and feather-light circles across the soft silkiness of Danny’s shoulder and upper back. Both were quiet for some time, just enjoying each other’s company for what little time they had, knowing in their hearts, exactly what they meant to each other. Ever since the first night they’d slept together in the same bed, there wasn’t a single time either could remember where nothing happened, but spontaneous little moments like those, were really special. Especially when you consider, what with everything that had happened lately, spontaneity had definitely taken a dive. So much so, right then it almost seemed cliché to be basking in the afterglow, but that was certainly what they were doing.

Cam had somewhat of an agenda that morning, and although he waited as long as he possibly could, time was running short because the boys would be up soon wanting breakfast, so reluctantly, he decided to broach the subject he’d been internalizing, immediately before their lovemaking began. Not the best of times he knew, but it was one of those ‘now or never’ situations, because he knew for a fact, that he definitely wouldn’t be able too once the boys were around.

“I have a favor to ask…” Cam said, leaning further back into the soft pillow he was lying against, but only so that he had a better angle to look Danny in the eyes.

“Hmmm… is that why you so mercilessly just seduced me and then had your wicked way with me…?” Danny replied, a devilish grin breaking out across his face and a mischievous twinkle forming in his eye.

“Would it bother you if I said yes?” Cam inquired, with a smirk of his own, in an effort to play along.

“Actually no… I don’t mind trading favors… if that’s what our relationship has come too…”

“Oh come on … you know…” Cam spluttered, his body tensing up, as he felt his heart-rate spike.

“Shut up, dufus…” Danny replied quickly, giving Cam a light slap to the chest. “Of course I know… had you going though, didn’t I?”

“Oh Jesus… you suck!… you know that?”

“Yup… I swallow too, but that’s not the point is it?” Danny said, his hand starting to lightly rub Cam’s chest over the reddened area. “What did you want to ask me?”

Cam was still a little flustered, from being caught off guard like that and consequently wasn’t so sure now, how to start. He had been so resolute before, but the stress of the last few seconds had scrambled his thought processes, as butterflies entered his mind again and he had to take a moment to think quickly, so he could get back on track. He was however, still sure that his reasoning was sound and almost equally sure, that Danny would be on board with his plan. In order to get him there though, he had to make Danny understand how important it was to him and to do that, he was going to have to have full disclosure. His current quandary however, seemed to be, how he was going to bring it up, so that neither party looked bad in the cold light of day.

“You remember talking about trading favors just now?”

“Sure… it was like, only a second ago… why?”

“Um… Well… Tyler tried to do the same thing this morning…”

“The exact same?” Danny spluttered out, unable to completely mask the shock in his voice.

“Uh huh… when I got up for my run, I heard someone out on the porch, so I went to have a look… you know what I’m like…” Danny didn’t need to respond, being a rhetorical statement, but he nodded anyway, as Cam continued. “At first I thought it was a someone trying to break in or something, but instead, I found Tyler sitting on the porch smoking a cigarette…”

“He smokes?”

“Mhmm…”

“Hmmm… that’s not good, he’s just a kid… I hope you didn’t encourage him…” Danny said, with a look of mild distaste, which Cam noticed, but didn’t mention. The last thing he wanted was to get into a fight right now, a fight that had proven to be un-winnable for the both of them in the past.

“Are you gonna let me finish my story…?” He said, trying to get back on track.

“Sure…” Danny replied smugly, knowing exactly what Cam was trying to do.

“Thanks… Well anyway, when I found him, he had this real intense stare going… you know the ones…” Once again, Danny just nodded. “Well it scared the shit out of me, I’ve seen those far too many times, so I kinda interrupted him… which of course, scared the shit out of him.”

“No doubt… haha…”

“So anyway, I sit down and we light up together…” Cam said, immediately realizing the trap he’d just gotten himself into, but before Danny could say anything about it, he forged on. “And eventually we started talking, he’s such a sweet kid really, but there’s definitely a lot of demons in his closet… anyway, after a while I guess we both got comfortable with each other… then it happened, I can’t even remember how we got there, but he said something about how nice we all were to him, then just out of the blue, he said I could have him…”

“That was good of him… what did you say?” Danny replied with a smirk.

“To be honest, I wasn’t sure what he meant at first… I mean… I don’t really go round looking at kids like that, you know?… no matter how cute they are…”

“He is, isn’t he?… Cute I mean.”

“Well of course he is… but we’re getting off topic here.” Cam said, he wasn’t at all worried about Danny suddenly fancying fourteen year old boys, but he understood why he’d said it. After all, beauty, like love, knows no age. “When it clicked, it was a bit of a shock and it kinda caught me off guard and well, I kind of yelled at him and…”

“You didn’t!”

“Um yeah… kind of, and it kinda scared him all over again, but I calmed him down with a hug and after a while, we got all comfortable again… in the end, I guess he thought he had to explain himself or something, because that’s when he started telling me about how he’s been living and what’s been happening to him… to be honest, I had to try really hard not to show how pissed I was getting…”

“That bad huh?”

For a moment, a flush of warmth shot through Cam’s body. He wasn’t at all surprised to find Danny understood straight away what he was trying to tell him and over the next few minutes, he gave most of the bullet-points of what he’d learned so far. Of course, Cam being Cam, there was a brief  flash of guilt, at giving up a secret which really wasn’t his to give, but Tyler would just have to understand that there were no secrets between them. Funny thing was, although he still didn’t know Tyler at all that well, he had the feeling the kid would be ok with it anyway, so he pressed on.

“Yeah, that bad… well, worse really… seems like the place he lives in, is a bit of an underage porn factory…” Cam paused for a moment, when Danny stiffened, at first he thought it was out of shock, but the more he pondered, he started to think there might be a bit more to it than that. It was only a suspicion though and because Danny didn’t look like he was going to say anything about it, Cam pushed on. “Of course, he was pretty vague, but reading between the lines, it was pretty clear…”

“Hmmm…. You’re probably right… in fact, it really wouldn’t surprise me at all… So what are we going to do about it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Come on Cam, I’ve known you long enough to know that you’re not gonna do nothing about it… so what are we going to do?”

“Can’t get anything passed you huh?” Cam replied, to Danny’s nod. “Well first, I guess we should try and get him out of there… then it’s just a matter of closing the place down.”

“That easy huh?” Danny smirked, then chuckled out. “My man… the crusader for boys everywhere!”

“Ah, yeah… um… thanks… I guess… but I’m not saying it’ll be easy, just not that hard… it wouldn’t be my first time doing something like that, you know?… Plus, other than it being illegal, it’s really not that right either… I mean, I don’t care what people want to look at, that’s their business, but if those things, images, videos or whatever, are made under duress, then someone has to do something… right?”

“Damn right… and you know I’m with you all the way babe…” Danny replied with slightly more vehemence than he realized, as one or two memories he’d thought long forgotten drifted to the surface. “I just doubt it’ll be as easy as you seem to think… it’s not like your storming the beach at Normandy here… anyone with the kind of setup you’re describing won’t be a push over, there’ll be layers on top of layers of management and boatloads of security surrounding them all… but I know if anyone can pull it off, you can… I have great faith in you.”

Cam had to stop and think for a minute there, Danny seemed to know a lot more than he was letting on and again, Cam got a little worried. He thought he knew the guy’s whole story, but obviously there was more buried somewhere deep inside. What he didn’t know, was whether or not he would need to do something about it, or wait for Danny to come to him. Regardless, the simple fact of the matter, was that he was absolutely right and internally, Cam chided himself for the fool he was. Not once had he thought the ‘operation’, as he was now starting to think of it in his head, would be easy, but he hadn’t thought about quite how far reaching the organization could be. He had to wonder, just how he could have forgotten those butterflies, with their far reaching consequences, so quickly?

Organization, that was the key word here he suddenly realized, because outfits like this one didn’t set up in small towns or cities for no reason. Usually, the smaller the location, the easier the security and the easier the security, the easier it was to  hide. Having said that though, from what Tyler had told him already, they were certainly well set up, yet at the same time, they weren’t overly subtle about it either. That’s not to say they made a point of making themselves known to the general public, so what that really meant to Cam, was that they had to have at least one or two people of moderate power in their pockets and that realization meant the job just got harder. Cam had meant what he had said earlier, he wanted to get Tyler out of there, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized how much he was going to need an inside intelligence source. But could he do that? Could he use the kid that way, knowing he could get hurt, or worse, especially when this whole thing started by just wanting to get him out of there in the first place. The other thing that suddenly occurred to him, was what were they going to do with him when they did get him out? It was becoming quite apparent, that he hadn’t thought this through properly at all, but If he was going to do anything at all, a decision was going to have to be made. The question was, was that decision his to make?

“You ok baby?… you’ve gone all quiet…” Danny asked.

“What… oh yeah… sure… just thinking is all.” Cam replied. “What you said made me think, I kinda have to admit, I never considered the bigger picture here… I’m definitely gonna need to do some real planning… trouble is, other than you, the boys and Reggie of course… I don’t know who to trust.”

“Whatever you need Cam… anything, just ask… ok?” Danny said with assurance, but he was concerned about what he was about to say next. He had to say it, but he wasn’t at all sure how it was going to be received. “Can I ask you something though first?”

“You can ask me anything babe… you know that…” Cam replied, a little concerned himself about where this was going.

“Why are you doing this?… I trust you Cam, I do… but I have to know why… I have to know you’re doing it for the right reasons and not just because you miss your old life and need some action or something…”

As much as Cam didn’t want to admit it, he could see that question coming a mile off and he wasn’t at all surprised this man, a man who seemed to know him so well, had asked it. The problem was right then, he wasn’t entirely sure he had the right answer, or even if there was one. Did he crave action? Or was he doing this for a noble reason, he wasn’t at all sure. He had the best intentions, that much was certain, but was it just an excuse to do what he did best? To his credit, Danny was waiting patiently for a reply, but Cam was getting to the conclusion that his stalling, was giving more of an answer than he wanted it to. He had to think clearly about this, yes he wanted to feel the thrill of action again, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized it wasn’t about that. Tyler and in turn, his story, had struck a cord with him and he wanted to help. The fact that he could help and maybe get in some action at the same time, was only a small part of it. He decided not to mention that last part though.

“I just want to help him Danny… him and anyone else who wants to get out of there… what those guys are doing is wrong, simple as that… it worries me, what those kids are going to do afterwards, but I really do think that’s the small issue… helping them out of a bad situation is the bigger picture here.” Cam finally stated, almost believing himself.

“Ok… I believe you… what do you need me to do…?”

“Actually there is something… I need you to look out for Tyler, the kid needs an adult to cling too…”

“What?… Like a dad or a brother you mean?”

“Either or… so you’ll do it then?”

“I always wanted a little brother.” Danny said, with a cheeky grin.

“I also need to know more about where he lives and who the bosses are… don’t push it, but if you think can get that too, then do it… it’ll help.”

“I’ll try… he is more important though… I kinda know what he’s going through, but I’ll do what I can on the other.”

“What would I ever do without you…?” Cam replied, wrapping his arms snuggly around his lover, holding on a little tighter for as long as he could. Which as it turned out, was not very long at all, especially after he’d seen what time it was on the clock, on the bedside table. So reluctantly, he slipped out of bed and held out his hand, which Danny took, he then lead them both towards the bathroom for a much needed shower.