A/N: Right, so I know that Ran seems a bit out of character in this chapter but I’m going with the he-just-figured-out-he’s-mated-and-is-worried excuse. So deal with it. Moving on, did I mention that I, like any other author/ess quite enjoy reviews? No? Well, I do. They make me smile on the inside and make me want to write some hard core sex scenes. Seriously. They do. So yeah, Read. Enjoy. Review. Chapter Seven

Ran paced just outside the main entrance of his research facility. He needed to be outside, needed to think and just didn’t think he could do such with Caleb’s scent every where. Dear lord, ever since he’d kissed the man he’d felt either a near overwhelming urge to mate with him or an intense aggression that came with the thoughts of Caleb in danger. Neither of which really suited his usual day-to-day personality and that made it all the more difficult to restrain himself from either jumping the man or tearing some random object to pieces. At least out here there was the constant breeze bringing and taking hundreds of scents with it while he waited for his brother to show up.

He had a plan, damn it. And this plan just had to work. He knew that the men from the CRDP team seemed to have a rough time of accepting Caleb at first but Archer had assured him that Adir had set all of them to rights and they now held little malice for the man. They would accept him, they had to and they really had no choice in the matter. At least Ran hoped Archer would make it so.

Raising his head at the familiar scent of his brother, he watched as the car came down the lane after punching in the proper code. It was all he could do not to rush over to the truck door and blurt out his idea and instead forced him self to stand still as Archer parked and he and Gunther stepped out of the vehicle.

“Ran.” Archer greeted curtly as he walked over to him, the tone an obvious sign of his worry. “What’s the matter?”

“Hello, Gunther,” Ran greeted his brother’s mate instead of answering the question right away. He wanted to ask Archer for this favor without any outside influences about. He was fully prepared to plea his case and preferred to do this without the benefit of an audience.

“Hey, Ran.”

“Caleb is, uh, in the midst of fixing lunch. Maybe you could keep him company for a few minutes?”

Gunther looked over to Archer and after receiving a nod; he smiled at Ran and said, “Sure, I’m starved anyway. Big guy here wouldn’t let me even catch breakfast before we were on our way.”

“Well, go on in and help yourself.”

Both men watched him go before Archer stepped before Ran and demanded, “No more ignoring the subject. What is going on, Ran?”

“It’s Caleb. He’s being-”

“Caleb? Damn it! After I just sent Gun in there-”

“He’s being hunted, you ass. He’s not doing anything wrong,” he glared at Archer, not at all happy about his misconception. “He needs your help.”

Archer just grunted at the unkind name before asking, “What sort of help?”

“You know as well as I do that it’s going to take something beneficial to the government to get them to stop coming after him. He’s been hunted and hospitalized multiple times where unsafe experiments were conducted upon him. It’s been a few years since his last escape and, apparently, they’re not playing for keeps anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that they’re trying to kill him. He came here in hopes that I could find a cure having heard about this facility and the Jackson-Thorpe experiments by some guy in a bar. I can’t help him in that respect, Archer,” he turned his face away as if he were a little ashamed of that fact. “But I can see that he gets some kind of help to safety. Hell, I’d lock him away here with me if he didn’t swear that he’d be putting me in danger.”

“Wouldn’t he be?”

“I can take care of myself, Archer,” Ran snapped. “Now are you going to help or not.”

“Jesus Christ, Ran, what has gotten into you?” Archer asked with genuine concern. Ran never acted this way. He had always been the levelheaded one, the one who knew when enough was enough and when to call it quits. He was a scientist for God’s sake! Honestly, he didn’t think Ran had raised his voice to him since they were children and here he was biting Archer’s head of – figuratively speaking. “Does he have you this riled up? That’s it, isn’t it?”

“He’s my mate. I just know it. I,” he frowned, having never really discussed any sexual or bonding behavior with his brother he was unsure if he should proceed but quickly remembered that he had watched Archer have sex with his mate to regulate heat patterns and so supposed it was a safe subject. “Well, I kissed him last night and just know it.”

“Well, congratulations then.”

“Thank you. I will not have him taken from me, Archer. Not by anyone and especially not this fucked up government. I’ve found my other half and I refuse to ever be incomplete again.”

He said it with such meaning and certainty that Archer actually felt a leap in his heart. He knew exactly what Ran was feeling, it was the same feeling he felt for Gunther and he would die before it was taken from him. “What can I do, Ran?”

“I want you to make Caleb a member of the CRDP. An absent member, so he’ll only have to be brought in when you need his assistance. I’m sure there are many instances where you can use a man of his, uh, skill.” He nodded his head at his own suggestion, convinced it was a perfect way to stop the government boys for surely they’d rather use someone like Caleb on their side instead of wasting the time and money to kill him right? God, he hoped so.

Archer cringed a bit. Somehow he knew that was coming. And truly, it wasn’t that he particularly minded but after the events that occurred last time the team was all together he was a bit wary. Sure, Adir had put them all in their place the next day – had actually denied Mercer sex for two days until the hacker would listen – and made sure they realized that Caleb was in the same boat as the rest of them. And Adir was absolutely right. They had turned their unease into anger and prejudice towards the newcomer unsure of the extent of his powers and knowing only that any one of them could be taken over at any moment and worse without their knowledge! But Adir, with wisdom far beyond his years, forced the rest of them to see past their noses and fears. For truly, couldn’t each one of them harm another if they wanted to? In some way or another?

So true, they had reevaluated their opinion, but the fear was still freshly buried and he had no idea how his team would take the news. But damned if he could deny his brother such a request or even deny Caleb when to say no would mean the probable death of the man.

Clearing his throat and deciding that the rest of the team would just have to deal with it, he nodded. “Alright, Ran, I’ll contact headquarters and explain to them how much we need him. But that’s all I can do. If they say no and still want him, just keep in mind that they’ll know he’s somewhere in the area if I ask to bring him into the CRDP. So just stay alert, okay?”

“Fine. But I need you to do something else for me as well. I need you to ask him. He won’t listen to me, he’ll just think it’s a scheme to keep him here.”

“Isn’t it?”

“That’s not the point.”

Archer couldn’t help but smile at that. “Fine. Just remember my warning, Ran, and keep an eye out.”

“ Don’t worry, Archer. I won’t let anything happen to him. He’s mine. And I protect what’s mine.”

Archer watched as Ran entered the building, his eyes slightly bugged out of his head at the other man’s words. Holy shit but Ran was turning out to be fierce protector. Who would have guessed? He certainly wouldn’t have. It was almost amusing how drastically the man changed when it came to his mate. And seeing him now, Archer wondered how the hell he could ever have thought Maggie was the one when he acted no different at all.

Shaking his head, he made his way inside, a slight smile touching his mouth when he thought about just how much of an ass each of them acted when they found their mate. It was comical but he wouldn’t trade it for the world.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Caleb smiled politely at Gunther as he sat a plate down in front of him. “I hope you like ‘em, I’ve never been a great cook but I can usually get by.”

Gun tasted one and smiled, “Nice. What are they called again?”

“Uh, egg in the basket. I think. Dude, I totally tried it after watching V for Vendetta.”

Laughing at the man’s words, Gunther thought for the first time how, well, normal the guy seemed. When they had first met the guy he had been thinking about all those images of disasters and social ruin he had seen on the net that were supposed Drifter faults. He, like the rest of them who were probably still reeling from the images, hadn’t really seen Caleb and had instead thought about all of those horrible happenings. But seeing him now just one on one, the guy didn’t seem so bad and was actually kind of funny. He kind of felt guilty about how he and his friends had treated him.

“Eh, I can see it on your face. The guilt,” Caleb made a face before smiling and shaking his head, “Don’t worry about it, man. We all find people weird sometimes. How were you supposed to know how awesome I truly am?”

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

“For letting me off easy. We usually don’t act that way. Hell, man, all of us have different, uh, gifts. And I know how it feels to be pushed away because I’m different. I think all of us were just kinda weirded out from our last mission or at least that’s the excuse I’m using,” he grinned. “It sounds better than ‘hey, man! You freak me out!’”

The Drifter laughed out loud. “Yeah, I agree. You want some more?”

“If you’re cooking it and not me, bring it on.”

The two smiling faces surprised Ran when he entered the kitchen. He had expected an awkward silence and maybe an uncomfortable Caleb but the men actually seemed to be getting along. Chatting about some movie with equal fervor. Eh, you’d think they’d been friends forever and the incident from last week had never happened. Talk about forgive and forget! Some people, Ran mused, he’d just never understand.

Settling himself at the table, he nodded his thanks to Caleb as a plate was sat before him, the man still running his mouth all the while. At least the food was good he mused. Another surprise as far as he was concerned because truly, Caleb seemed far too flighty to actually pay attention enough to cook and remember to flip and do any other necessities that came with the process.

“No, seriously, dude. I read this story at an online café like six months ago and get this – gay cat people! Can you believe it? People write that shit in fiction and never have any clue that they exist. Is that not awesome or what? Ran? You okay?” Caleb slapped his hand across the man’s back in an attempt to help him get over his coughing fit.

Gunther shook his head in amusement even as Archer, who had just walked in on the conversation burst into laughter before moving to lean down beside his mate. Pressing his lips to Gunther’s ear, he whispered, “Gay cat people, could you imagine?”

“God, Ran, breathe. It was just a story and these guys weren’t even like you. Well, not exactly like you,” Caleb scratched the back of his head curiously as if he were thinking about the story. “I mean, they were hairier and tall and… Eh, I guess I’ll have to read it again and let you know.”

“Please don’t,” Ran said, his voice gravelly after finally being able to breathe again.

Archer chuckled again and settled down at the table. Accepting the plate offered to him, he glanced at Ran before asking, “Well, Caleb, um, what do you think of the CRDP?”

“The members or the organization?”

“Both.”

Caleb just shrugged and took a bite of his food, chewing thoughtfully. “Well, I’ve read a bit about your organization and have heard some rumors as well. It seems legit and like you may actually be doing some good. Plus, seems like you guys got yourself a get-out-of-jail free card just by working for the man, so that must be nice.”

Archer blinked. “The man? What man?”

“The government,” Gunther translated with a chuckle. He was beginning to think he’d like this Caleb character.

“Right. And as far as your teammates go, well, Adir seems pretty cool if a little exorcist-y. And I gotta admit, Gunther here won me over when he actually knew what movie I was talking about… Unlike Ran here who stares at me like I’m an alien,” he winked at the cat-man. “As far as the rest of them, I don’t really have a problem. I mean, I don’t want anyone to be uncomfortable or anything so I’m not going to bother them unless they approach me first. I know I can be creepy, it comes with the territory.”

“How’d you like to join?”

Caleb laughed, “Good one.”

“I think that’d be pretty cool,” Gunther said, “I’ll admit that you scared the fuck out of me the other night but I can think of many instances when your presence could have defused the situation instead of us putting ourselves in danger. I mean, I don’t really wanna see you go psycho again… just throwing that out there. It was weird. But you could make our jobs a lot safer if you used your, um, powers for good.”

“You’re serious?”

Archer was surprised that Gunther had so readily agreed with him but was pleased nonetheless. It was nice when your mate stood firmly beside you. “Perfectly serious. You could be a great asset to our team.”

“What, would I have to the CRDP building or something?”

The question had barely gotten out when Ran was answering firmly. “No. You will stay here.”

Caleb raised a sleek black brow, “Oh I will, will I?”

“Yes, you will,” Archer decided to nip that argument in the bud for his brother. The man had some things to learn yet about being a mate and that was that there was rarely a time you actually got to tell your better half what to do. It may look like he was in charge, but Archer knew and accepted the fact that Gunther could talk circles around him. “You’ll be what we like to call an ‘absent member’. Which basically means that you will only be used when we are in need of your particular skills, that way your job wont interfere with your, um, home life.”

“I have a home life?” Caleb asked.

“Well, I mean, you and Ran are…” Archer paused and eyed Ran who seemed to be glaring heatedly at him. What the hell had he done now? Damn! The man was like PMSing or something. Archer couldn’t wait for the man to go back to normal and not be so, well, emotional. “Well, aren’t you?”

“This is your new home, Caleb,” Ran ignored Archer and told the younger man firmly.

“Right. We’ll see about that,” and then to Archer, “What about the rest of your team? How will they feel about this? I mean, I don’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable and I don’t wanna be on pins and needles either.” He gestured then to his eye, where the area around it a dark yellowish color where the bruise was fading.

“That wont happen again and believe me, I think Mercer’ll be walking on pins around you for awhile after what Adir put him through last week.” Archer grinned a bit at the memory of the computer hacker sulking over the lack of sex.

“I taunted Mercer so I guess that was kinda my fault anyway,” he shrugged. “Look, I dunno what to say. I’ll think about it I guess.”

“You’ll think about it? What do you mean you’ll think about it? This is a golden opportunity and your just going to-”

“Ran!” Archer shushed him, shaking his head at the man for what had to be the millionth time today. “Caleb, I still have to ask the higher ups but will let you know one way or another and if you decide to join, you need to know it’s permanent. There is no backing out in a few years. If you’re with is, you’re with us.”

“Like I said, I’ll think about it.”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“So… you’ll think about it,” Ran said out of the blue hours later, his eyes on the supper dishes he was washing even if his mind wasn’t. Archer and Gun had left hours ago and it was just the two of them. Caleb oblivious and Ran stewing over how the man could act so damned nonchalant over the perfect solution.

“That’s what I said,” Caleb said absently as he surfed the web at the table on Ran’s laptop. “Do you have a credit card?”

“What?”

“I need a credit card.”

“Why?”

“Well, you wont go to the video store, you don’t have cable… I may avoid society and it’s perks but I actually quite enjoy movies and other entertainment, you know.”

Ran turned to look at him. “How does this lead to you needing my credit card?”

“Movies. I want to rent movies. Geeze. You have a mailbox. I can get some delivered all the way out here and then I wont make you go to town. See? Easy. Now gimme,” he reached his hand out expectantly.

“Fine,” drying his hands on the dish towel, he got his wallet out and handed the man his card. “Just make sure it’s safe guarded and be sure you give me the name of this site so I know what to look for on my credit statement and-”

“Yeah, I get it.”

“Hmmph,” Ran scoffed again and turned to finish the dishes. A moment later he asked again, “Why didn’t you just say yes? What’s there to think about?”

“Why are you pushing this, Ran? I said I’d think about it what more do you want from me?” Caleb’s voice was a little firmer than usual this time, obviously the man was a little annoyed.

Ran turned back to Caleb, a frown marring his features as he tried to control the inner turmoil he felt every time the thought of the man leaving came to mind. “Because there is no reason for you to say no! This is your safe guard. You can do this and be done with this running business. You wont have to worry any more.”

“It’s a lot for me to think about, Ran,” he said curtly. “And it’s my decision.”

“Well you had just better make damn sure you make the right one.” That said, he left the dishes as they were and left the room leaving a bewildered Caleb staring after him.