The Dragon Chronicles: The Miami Community

“Frank.”

“Hey Horatio, what’s up?”

“I have a case with possible juvenile gang activity; would you be willing to join me at the lab and look over some crime scene photos?”

“Sure, I’ll be right there. What kinda case is it?”

“Homicide, Frank; with missing children.”

“I’ll be there faster then.”
********************

Eric glanced over at his dragon as he and Speed walked into Horatio’s crime scene. “I didn’t think H was kidding, but damn,” he said when he got his first look at the house. “What the hell happened here?”

“Well, whatever it was, it wasn’t enough to register for me to pick up on it,” Speed sighed. “We’re going to have to do this the hard way. Did Horatio and the other finish processing the scene?”

“I think so, but it couldn’t hurt to look through it again,” Eric said. “Hey, have we heard anything else about New York?”

“Yeah, Ryan’s out of surgery and recovering. He’s still out of it, but the doctors think he’ll be okay,” Speed replied. “Gibbs managed to get custody of the hunter so things wrapped up fairly neat. It’s just Mac we’re still waiting on. He’s still refusing pain killers because he doesn’t want Danny out cold too.”

“A gun going off so close to his ear can’t have been good,” Eric winced. “He’s going to be lucky if he can hear again. What’s he going to do if they try and remove him from the lab?”

“Fight like hell,” Speed said. “Just like any of us would if anyone tried to force us away from our humans. Just because he can’t be out in the field, doesn’t mean that he can’t still run the lab. He’d just be the supervisor rather than a combo with CSI. Will he like it, hell no, but at least he’ll still be at work with Danny and the others.”

Eric grinned. “Does it seem like New York has more problems than we do?”

“They have fewer dragons so it’s probably disproportionate,” Speed said. “I’m not picking up on anything here, Eric. Horatio was on scene, so I’m sure he found everything that could possibly help the case. We should probably head back to the lab and see what needs to be done, not to mention checking in on our own case.”

“With those kids to find, how much you want to bet our car theft gets back-burnered?”

“No bet because you’re probably right,” Speed said. “Come on, let’s get going.”
********************

Frank met up with Horatio in the layout room. “This the case I heard them talking ‘bout; four missing kids, one found in her closet and family dead?” he asked.

“It is, and I’m concerned about those missing children,” Horatio replied. “There’s something not right about the crime scene itself, Frank. None of us have seen such an excessive amount of damage done in so random a manner as this. The victims were killed and left where they fell while the house was searched. That alone tells us two things; the killers didn’t know what they were looking for, or it was so small that they couldn’t find it.”

Calleigh walked in with a couple paper bags. “Here’s Warrick and Jasmine’s clothes, Horatio,” she said. “Jim also said to tell you that they’ll be at the hospital until around suppertime.”

“Thank you,” Horatio said. “Could you watch Ray for a bit, Calleigh? He’s in with Gil now, but I believe I could use Gil for a moment.”

“Sure,” Calleigh smiled. “I’ll go break out the ice cream.”

“Whoever trashed this house was a moron, Horatio,” Frank said. “I don’t think they were looking for anything specific. I think they wanted to confuse the hell outta us and make us focus on something else.”

“The children and the homicide,” Horatio said “Things just aren’t adding up.”

“Then try multiplying instead,” Gil commented as he joined the group. “If that works, you can divide to find the original answer.”

Both Horatio and Frank stared at him. “I’m starting to see why no one understands a word you say sometimes, Gil,” Horatio finally commented. “Because that was either brilliant, or completely insane.”

“There’s a fine line between genius and madness,” Gil grinned. “What did you need?”

“With the way things are going around here, I was wondering if you could take Ray home for me?” Horatio asked. “Calleigh’s getting him ice cream, so he probably won’t be hungry, but we should be fine now and I’m sure you need to get back to bed yourself.”

“If you’re sure,” Gil said.

“I’m not sure about anything right now, but I’d rather have my nephew away from the lab with this case being investigated,” Horatio said with a small sigh. “He’s far too smart for his own good and I’m worried about what he might be picking up.”

“Anything he can,” Gil said. “I’ll go grab him and make sure he eats something healthy for supper. Give me a call if you need anything else.”

“I will; thanks Gil.”

“It’s not easy being a parent and working, is it?” Frank asked with a wry grin.

“No, its not; I’d be lost if not for Gil, Alexx and Eric’s parents,” Horatio said. “I believe the next logical step is to process these clothes and then see what other evidence our suspects left behind.”

“That sounds like a plan to me,” Frank said. “I’ve got some other cases to check on as long as I’m here. Grab me if you need anything else.”
********************

Horatio needed something to do to keep his mind off community matters for a while, so he pulled on a pair of gloves and started to check the clothes Calleigh had brought in from the hospital. Warrick’s were first and yielded some trace evidence that Horatio would send over to Speed. He figured it was transferred when Warrick first carried and then held Jasmine. One thing that puzzled him was what looked like canine hair as they hadn’t found any evidence of a dog at the crime scene and no one in the community owned one either. He pulled off a glove and took out his cell phone. “Jim? It’s Horatio; can you guys ask Jasmine if they own a dog?”

“A dog?”

“Yeah, I’m finding what appears to be dog hair on Warrick’s clothing,” Horatio said. “And transfer from Jasmine is the only thing I can think of, unless you two are hiding a dog at your house that I don’t know about.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jim snorted. He took the phone away from his mouth and Horatio could hear some muttering in the background. “Jasmine says her uncle has a dog. A big, scary dog that she doesn’t like.”

“That could be any number of breeds, but it narrows things down a little,” Horatio said. “Speed and Eric are on their way to check out the uncle’s house and see what kind of evidence they can find there. Has there been any change with Jasmine?”

“Yeah, she finally let the nurse get close enough to take her temperature,” Jim sighed. “I still don’t know when we’re going to get out of here and home again, but at least she’s calming down; as long as Warrick’s holding her anyway.”

Horatio smiled. “I think its going to take her a long time to trust again,” he said. “But you two will manage it.”

“I think you’ll do better than we will,” Jim snorted. “You’re the one that’s so great with kids.”

“We’ll just have to see,” Horatio said. “Keep me posted, please.”

“Of course.”

The question of the dog answered, Horatio put his phone away and pulled on a new glove before taking out Jasmine’s pajamas. He checked them over carefully and found a small package sewn into the bottom of both feet. Curious – as only a CSI could be – he took out a scalpel and cut the seam very carefully. When he saw what was inside, he bit back a curse and called Calleigh back into the room.

“Well, that’s motive,” Calleigh said when she saw the gems on the table.

“It is, but why would they be hidden in the children’s’ clothes?”

“Because these are some very sick people,” Calleigh replied. “I’ll go back to the crime scene and grab all the clothes I can find. Do you think this is what our suspects were looking for?”

“I do,” Horatio said. “Take Frank with you, please, so he can have a look at the crime scene himself. I’ll call Eric and Speed and let them know what to look for at the uncle’s house.”

“Okay, I’ll talk to you in a bit.”

“Thank you, Calleigh.”
********************

As the uncle’s body hadn’t been found at the original crime scene, Speed and Eric were a little leery of just walking into the house. When they found the door ajar, Speed sniffed the air. “I smell blood,” he said. He pushed the door open and identified himself. When there was no answer, he and Eric went inside.

“Same as the other house,” Eric said looking around. “We’re going to need more man power to search this place.”

“Let’s get some uniforms out here to clear it for us, and we’ll need a detective too,” Speed said. “Does it seem like this is just getting weirder?”

“Of course not, two houses completely trashed, family dead and children missing all over some precious gems,” Eric said rolling his eyes. “It’s just another day in Miami. You know what Horatio always says.”

“Yeah, we never close,” Speed snorted. “Come on; let’s go make the phone calls.”
********************

Frank stood in the hall and watched as Calleigh bagged up all the clothes she could find. “I was expecting it to be drugs,” he said. “This has all the earmarks of a hit gone bad.”

“That doesn’t explain the missing children,” Calleigh replied. She glanced back at her boyfriend. “This does, in a way. Whoever took them knew that they had the gems sewn into their clothes. What worries me is that our kidnappers will kill the kids once they have the stones and then things will really get messy.”

“How’d they miss the kid Warrick found?”

“I don’t know, but I’m glad they did,” Calleigh said. “I just hope we find something here that will give us a clue to our suspect’s location. We really need to find those kids.”

“We’ve got as many alerts out for them as we possibly can,” Frank said. He grabbed his phone. “Tripp.”

Calleigh kept bagging clothes while Frank was on the phone. It still seemed a little odd to her that her boyfriend could be so gruff and matter-of-fact while on the job and so caring off it. But she loved how he was around kids, the tough façade just sort of melted away until he was done, and then came back to the fore. She had yet to meet his children, but was looking forward to it. “What did Horatio say?”

“We need to head to the uncle’s house when we’re finished here,” Frank replied. “Speedle and Delko found a mess just about as bad as this and at least one body. Horatio wants us to go and see what else we can find, following the line of thought that the gems are the motive to all the mess that we keep finding.”

“We could move faster if you would help me bag things,” Calleigh pointed out. “All I’m doing is looking for clothes that could be used to hide gems.”

“So this wouldn’t count,” Frank said holding up some lace thing.

“Probably not, that doesn’t even hide much skin,” Calleigh smiled. “Although, if you like it, I do have something similar at home.”

“You could probably convince me,” Frank said.

“We’ll just have to see then. I’ll find it once the case is over and we have a day off,” Calleigh said.

“Calleigh, you could out-cheer the sun some days,” Frank said with a smile.

“Well, I try,” Calleigh replied. “Someone has to point out the good things in life.”

Dean glanced over at Sam in slight disbelief when he felt a hand sliding up the inside of his leg. “Sammy, dude, you know I don’t mind, but this really starting to slow us down.”

“I know, but everyone says it’s just for now,” Sam replied. “They say it’ll get better in a few months.”

“All right, I’ll see if I can find us a place to pull off,” Dean said. “You still sure you want to go back to the roadhouse? There’s still a good chance they want to kill you.”

“We have to, Dean, I need Ash’s help with something,” Sam said.

“And you can’t just call him?”

“I don’t want to risk this to a phone call. I know you don’t want to go back there, and I promise I’ll be fast.”

“Well, it’s not like you can’t take care of yourself now,” Dean commented as he pulled off into a small grove of trees. “You’d better not get my baby dirty again.”

“Dude, that was so you last time.”

“Yeah, and who made me do it?”

Sam waited until Dean was out of the car before following and tackled his human to the ground. “I think you were the one moaning my name, Dean,” he whispered nibbling on Dean’s neck. “And begging for more.”

“I don’t scream and I really don’t beg,” Dean said rolling them so he was on top. “Maybe it’s time we get your ears checked, Sammy.”

“My hearing is fine, I’ll just record you next time,” Sam laughed. He reached up and pushed off Dean’s black t-shirt and then went to work on his belt. “It’ll be easy enough to do, I’ll just make sure my cell phone is on record.”

“You do and I’ll kill you,” Dean said biting back a moan as Sam’s large hand wrapped around his hardening erection.

Sam smirked and stroked Dean a few times. He loved that he could reduce his normally tough and in-control brother to a moaning and tender lover. “Lift up, Dean,” he growled softly, eyes starting to glow. “This won’t work if my pants are still on.”

Dean shifted onto his hands and knees, another soft moan his only protest at losing the warmth from Sam’s hand around his erection. Sam undid his own baggy jeans quickly and pushed them down just enough so that they wouldn’t get dirty. Dean shifted eagerly into position over Sam and sank down, the bond opening his body for his dragon. Sam’s hands went to Dean’s hips to steady his human as he started to move up and down, riding Sam.

“Just what I needed, Dean,” Sam gasped as his human’s body massaged his erection. “What I’ll always need.”

“No chick flick moments,” Dean managed moving faster. He didn’t want to go back on the road, back to a place where people wanted to hurt Sam, but he also knew that they couldn’t stay where they were. It wasn’t that well hidden and what they were doing wasn’t exactly legal.

“Dean,” Sam growled thrusting up hard into his human’s body and stilling, heat flooding Dean’s body. He managed enough brain function to wrap a hand around Dean’s erection and stroke him to his own climax.

“I guess we need to get moving,” Dean muttered from his position on Sam’s chest.

“In a minute,” Sam replied wrapping his arms around Dean, holding him in place.

“Dude, I cannot believe you want to cuddle,” Dean grumbled, trying not to groan as Sam’s soft cock slid from his body.

“Bite me,” Sam smiled.
*********************************

Dean breathed a small sigh of relief when they pulled into the roadhouse parking lot and it was empty. Maybe they’d be able to get in and out without any more of that crap that Sam was devil spawn and needed to be killed. Dean was just scared that, now that Sam had Changed, there would be even more talk about him being a devil and wanting to kill him.

“Welcome back, boys,” Ellen called from behind the bar when they walked in. “You want your usual?”

“Yeah, that’d be great.” Dean sat down at the bar so he could see the whole room. “How have you been, Ellen?”

“Is Ash in his room, Ellen?” Sam asked picking up his beer.

“Sure is, you know the way. I’m fine, Dean. Are you boys up for a team hunt? There’s a group that’s been in here the past few nights looking for every available hunter they can make contact with.”

“What are they going after?” Dean asked. “You know I’m always up to kick some demon ass.”

“I don’t know, they go real quiet whenever I get close to ‘em,” she replied. “They’ll probably be in later tonight, if you can hang out that long.”

“It all depends on who comes in. I don’t want Sammy to run into those creeps again,” Dean said. “I’m the first to agree that Sammy ain’t normal, but he isn’t the child of the devil.”

Ellen sighed. “Ash has been doing some checking on what happened to your momma, Dean, and she ain’t the only one killed like that. He’s found more kids who all lost their momma’s in nursery fires and all those kids have powers that are supernatural. Now I ain’t saying Sam is demon spawn, there’s no way he can be, but we need to know more about what happened.”

“That’s part of what Sam’s talking about with Ash,” Dean admitted. “We’re going to track down our father, Ellen. He’s the only one who has the answers we need, and we’re going to make him talk.”

Ellen studied Dean for a long moment. “John Winchester won’t tell no one nothing if he don’t want to,” she finally said. “What’s Bobby got to say about this?”

“We haven’t told him yet, but we think he’ll help us out. Dad just up and left us for no good reason, Ellen. Sam wants answers about what happened to Mom and Jess, but I want more. I want to know why the hell he pulled this vanishing act on us in the first place.”

“I’ll keep my ears open for any mention of him, Dean, but I also know if John don’t want to be found, then you’re outta luck.”

“Thanks,” Dean smiled. “Sammy and I are going to stick close to the east coast and midwest for a while; we’ve got some other stuff going on.”

“Anything you can talk about?”

“Unfortunately not, I wish I could,” Dean said. “But I’m still trying to figure everything out and, even if I could tell you about it, I don’t know how well you’d be able to follow me.”

“Sounds serious.”

“It is, more life and death than hunting, if you can believe it. We’ll tell you more when we can, but it means we’ll be easier to get a hold of and back here, or to Bobby’s, if Dad does show up.”

“Well, I hope he does, Dean. There’s only so much we can puzzle out on our own, and there’s something big brewing. And I’m not talking about this secret shit the hunters in here have been whispering about. There’s a dark feel in the air.”

Dean nodded and drained his beer. “Bobby, Sammy and me have felt it too,” he said. “I hope it means we’ll get to find the son of a bitch that killed Mom and send his ass back to hell.”

They both paused and glanced over when the door opened. Dean took an immediate dislike to the pair of men who walked in, even though he wasn’t sure why. He put it down to hunter instinct and forced a smile when the men joined him at the bar.

“Are you traveling alone, kid?” one of them asked.

Dean felt his eyes drawn to the man’s and he forced back the sudden urge to say Christ’s name as it was way too obvious a way to check for demons. “Nope,” he replied and left it at that.

“You up for a hunt?” the man asked.

Ellen put a beer in front of each of the newcomers and moved back to a spot closer to Dean. “That depends,” Dean replied, “I just finished up a pretty nasty werewolf hunt and don’t want anything hard.”

“We’re getting a group together, so there won’t be much for anyone to do,” the man said sipping his beer.

“I dunno, dude, just the fact that you’ve got to put together a group makes it sound like this is a pretty major hunt,” Dean said. “It’s probably more work than I want to take on right now.”

“Even for pay?” the second man asked, speaking for the first time.

Dean saw Ellen relax after the second man took a drink of his beer and knew she’d served them drinks with holy water mixed in. At least they knew they weren’t dealing with demons. “Now you’re just talking shit,” Dean said. “No one pays for hunts, not even eccentric old bats who’re convinced they’ve got ghosts.”

“Then you haven’t been working for the right people,” the first man said smugly. “We’re talking between one and three hundred thousand for each hunter that joins us. Are you still not interested?”

Ellen and Dean exchanged a look, both of them obviously thinking the same thing; that much money meant one of two things - something massively illegal or a federal round-up enticing hunter in with a promise of money. They both knew that Dean had been telling the truth when he said no one paid hunters for what they did. “I’m willing to listen to a few more details,” Dean said. “But I’m not making any promises. Those werewolves were a bitch.”

“They always are,” the first man smiled. “The people we’re working for have their sights set on some real monsters that they need a lot of people for.”

“How many is a lot?” Dean asked.

“We’ve got about fifty willing to go with us right now,” the man replied. “Along with twenty from our employer.”

“What the hell requires seventy hunters to take out?” Dean asked, stunned. He’d never heard of a hunt that big before.

“They haven’t told us yet,” the man admitted. “All we know for sure is they’re paying good money, there are monsters that need to be killed, and they’re in Miami, Florida.”

And Dean felt his blood run cold.

Only Dean’s years of hunting kept the panic and fear he was feeling off his face, his features completely neutral. “Dude, I was just in Miami on that werewolf hunt I mentioned and there’s nothing there that needs an army to take it out.”

“My employers ensure me that there is,” the first man said.

“What is it?”

“We haven’t been told; only that it will test our skill and be well worth the money.”

Dean shook his head and pulled out his ringing cell phone. “Yeah?”

“It’s me,” Sam said softly. “Do I need to come out there? I can feel the emotions running along the bond.”

“Nah, everything’s cool. I just finished up a hunt,” Dean said. “What’s going on with you?”

“Okay, I’ll head out the back and hide in the car.”

“Dude, how many college cheerleaders?” Dean asked. “I am so there. Give me an hour.”

“Hurry,” Sam said and hung up.

“Guys, it’s been fun, but a buddy of mine has five college girls with him and needs some help,” Dean said. He put his phone away and took out some money. “Ellen, I’ll call in a few days, see if you’ve heard from my dad.”

Ellen just shook her head. “Be careful, Dean.”

“Oh, I always am.” Dean nodded to the men and only just resisted the urge to run to the parking lot. He checked that Sam was in the back, got in and took off as fast as he dared.

“Talk to me, Dean,” Sam said. “What had you so spooked that you were using one of our cover stories in the Roadhouse?”

“Sam, how many numbers do you have for Miami?” Dean asked eyes firmly on the road.

“All of them. I made sure to get as many numbers as possible when we were in that meeting,” Sam replied.

“Dial the one you feel the most comfortable with and let me talk to him,” Dean said. “We’ve got to get back there as fast as we can, Sammy.”

“Okay, Dean, but you’ve got to tell me what’s going on.” Sam took out his phone and shifted through his contacts.

Dean took a deep breath and let it out as slowly as he could. “You’ll hear everything once I’m on the phone.”

“Dr. Grissom, this is Sam Winchester; my human needs to talk with you.”

“Then put him on,” Gil replied.

Dean took the phone. “Dr. Grissom, you need to put everyone on the highest alert possible,” he said. “I’ve got fairly firm information that there’s a large group of hunters coming our way.”

“Were we right that some of your spook hunter companions are also dragon hunters” Gil asked.

“Sammy and I hit the Roadhouse; it’s a bar and info point for us spook hunters,” Dean said. “We’ve been avoiding it because some of the hunters there think Sam is demon spawn and needs to be killed, but we needed some help we could only get there. While Sam was off doing his research thing, these two spook hunters came in and asked if I was up for a big hunt. I asked for details.”

“What did they say?” Gil asked.

“They’ve been hired by a group to hunt down and destroy a group of real monsters in Miami,” Dean replied. “The bosses are paying between one and three hundred thousand a person and have fifty spook hunters to add to twenty from their own group.”

“So seventy total, but only twenty who are at least trained to hunt dragons,” Gil said. “They’re better funded than I expected. No one saw Sam, did they?”

“No, but the pair I was talking to said they didn’t know what they’d be hunting in Miami. Truthfully, you offer spook hunters this kind of money they’ll either run in the other direction because they think it’s a trap or they’ll follow whoever is paying to the death.” Dean took another deep breath and let it out. “Some of these men might run the first time they see dragons, but I wouldn’t count on it.”

Gil was quiet for a moment. “Where are you now?”

“On the road heading to Miami as fast as we dare,” Dean replied. “I know Sammy and me can’t be part of the actual battle, but we’re two extra pair of eyes and we know how these guys think.”

“Just having you here will be a help, you can guard the kids and that alone will help the rest of us relax,” Gil said. “I’d never tell you not to come here.”

Dean paused for a moment. “Kids plural?”

“Warrick and Jim just received temporary custody of a three-year-old named Jasmine,” Gil said. “Her family was murdered and she, somehow, survived. I don’t know all the details, but she’s here and she’s part of the community now.”

“Whatever we can do,” Dean said. “I’m going to give the phone back to Sammy, Dr. Grissom. We’ll be in Miami as soon as possible.”
********************

Gil put his phone back on the table and sighed. There was no way he was going to put in a call to one of the other communities for help, risk anyone else in the upcoming battle, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t call for help and technical advice. The question, then, was exactly who he should call out of the numerous historians they had in the communities. After some thought he figured there was only one who would be able to do exactly what he needed. With a small sigh he grabbed the phone again and called DC.

“Hello?”

“Abby, it’s Gil Grissom.”

“Oh, hey, Gris, what’s up?”

“Is everything okay?”

“Gibbs and Kate are on their way to interrogate and take care of the hunter who hurt Mac and Ryan,” Abby replied.

“Can you get a hold of him?” Gil asked. “I might have some questions for that creep to answer before Gibbs takes care of him.”

“Yeah, no problem,” Abby said. “Conference call or private?”

“Whatever is fastest.”

“Okay, hang on.” Abby’s voice vanished for a moment and when all the various beeps and other mechanical noises vanished, Gil could hear a car as well.

“Yeah, Gibbs.”

“Hey bossman, I’ve got Gris on here with me. He says he needs to talk with you,” Abby said.

“Then why not just call me?” Gibbs asked.

Gil bit back a snicker. He always wondered if Gibbs was ever in a good mood. “Because I need to talk with Abby too,” he said. He quickly related the information he’d received from Dean. “I figured since you’ve got a hunter in the bag, maybe he could help us out a little.”

“I’ll see what I can do, Gil, but this guy is literally a kid,” Gibbs said. “I’d doubt he’s much past legal so I’m doubting he knows much. But if it’s in there, I’ll get it out of him.”

“Thanks,” Gil said. “Have you heard anything from New York?”

“Only that reinforcements are flying in,” Gibbs said. “I’ll give you a call if I learn anything you need to hear immediately.”

“Thanks again,” Gil said. “Abby, how hard would it be for you to track down twenty-one million dollars?”

“Compared to what I usually have to work with, that’s small change,” Abby said. “Who’s throwing around that kind of cash?”

“The hunters coming in mass to Miami,” Gil said. “Only twenty of the reported seventy are actually our hunters, the rest are spook hunters like Sam and Dean.”

Abby was silent for a moment. “So that’s the high end estimate and from what I understand from Sam and Dean, spook hunters aren’t exactly likely to have bank accounts in their legal names,” she said. “That’s going to make things rough. I’ll see what I can come up with though.”

“What we really need is a way to get inside one of these hunter groups and get some names, if not more information,” Gil said.

“That’ll be impossible, they guard their camps like wicked close,” Abby said. “Like Dean told you, the spook hunters who joined up haven’t even been told what they’re hunting yet, and probably won’t be until they’re already in Miami and it’s too late to back out.”

“What would happen to them if they did?” Gil asked.

“They’d probably be killed to show what the hunters do to weaklings,” Abby said. “Adam is really our hunter expert though.”

“Yeah, I know, but I didn’t want to call New York until things were calmer for them. I’ll give it a day or so until Jack is there and then I’ll call. Dean said they’re still recruiting so I’m hoping we still have some time.”

“Maybe, maybe not; I wouldn’t wait on calling Adam.”

“Let me notify my community members and then I’ll see what time it is,” Gil said. “Thanks for all your help, Abby. I hope you can find me something.”

“I’ll do my best, Gris, talk to you soon.”

There was no question about which one of his community members he was going to call first. “Jim, its Gil.”

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Have you had any headaches or weird feelings lately?”

“Now that you mention it, yeah,” Jim said. “I put it down to having a toddler in the house. What’s wrong?”

“It’s your early warning system, not just having Jasmine with you,” Gil said. “There are hunters on their way to Miami.”

“Our style or spook?”

“Both, and if Dean’s info is correct, they’re working together to kill us.”

“Well, shit.”

That, Gil though, summed it up nicely.

When Horatio and Greg got home they both changed into more casual clothes and made their way towards Gil’s house for the meeting their alpha had called. The plan was to have Ray take Jasmine down the beach a little and play where they could both be seen but not overhear the conversation. The little girl still tried to stay glued to Warrick; one reason the state was allowing her to stay with a gay couple as opposed to trying to place her in a more traditional foster home. All attempts had failed to find any remaining family for her, and the lab was no closer to finding out exactly what happened the night her family died.

Horatio detoured when he saw Warrick was already out with the kids building sand turtles. “How were your lessons today, Ray?” he asked sitting down next to his nephew.

“Oh, hey Uncle Horatio; they were okay,” Ray replied. “I had trouble with English. Why does language have to be so hard?”

Jasmine had vanished behind Warrick and was peeking around his arm. Horatio smiled at her and turned towards Ray again. “What were you having trouble with?”

“The rules for sentence structure.”

Warrick laughed. “Aw hell, Ray, everyone has trouble with those things,” he said. “And you just have to keep at it. Trust me; it’ll get easier, even if it doesn’t start making more sense.”

“He’s right, Ray,” Horatio said. “It’s just like Spanish and Russian. The rules and there and you follow them without realizing it. The same thing happens with English.”

“Okay,” Ray grinned. “Wait here, Uncle Horatio, I have something I want to show and ask you.”

“I’ll be here,” Horatio said. “How did your lesson with him go, Warrick?”

“Good, we spent time drawing. Jasmine here did some finger-painting while I showed Ray how to diagram a room. He still wants to be a CSI like the rest of us.”

“And I doubt we’ll change his mind,” Horatio said. He pulled a chocolate bar out of his pocket. “Jasmine, do you want some?”

A pair of dark eyes peered at him for a long moment before she finally came out from behind Warrick. “Please.”

“Good girl,” Warrick said, obviously pleased that she wasn’t hiding behind him, even if she had been bribed out. “Can you go and get the chocolate from Horatio?”

She looked uncertain for a minute then walked over and took the candy from Horatio’s hand. “Thank you,” Jasmine said softly and went back to Warrick.

“I think it’s because Ray talks about you so much,” Warrick said opening the wrapper.

“It’ll just take time, Warrick, and we can’t push too hard,” Horatio said.

“Yeah,” Warrick agreed as Ray came tearing back. “He’s been talking about this all day, Horatio.”

Horatio took the printout from his nephew and looked down at it. “International Tennis Championship?”

“Can we go, Uncle Horatio? Gil says it’ll be a great physics demonstration.”

It also couldn’t be a coincidence. Horatio had a feeling he knew why Gil wanted to go, but wasn’t sure why he would involve the kids. “Let me talk to Gil and Greg about it first, Ray,” Horatio said. “But I think we can probably go at least one day.”

“Yay!” Ray hugged Horatio tightly. “Thanks, Uncle Horatio!”

“You’re welcome, Ray,” Horatio said returning the hug. “Stay here with Warrick, please; I need to talk with Gil.”

“All right,” Ray agreed easily.

“Chocolate?” Jasmine asked holding out a piece.

“Hey, thanks Jasmine,” Ray grinned taking the offered candy.

Gil had just closed his cell phone when Horatio joined him on the deck. “I see you reached the same conclusion I did.”

“This is the cover the hunters are going to use to come to Miami,” Horatio replied. “And we won’t be able to do anything about it.”

“That’s not entirely true. I spoke with Abby and she’s working to get us names and Jack will be in town in a couple of days to help us out in any way he can,” Gil said. “Gibbs and Tony have offered to take Ray and Jasmine to make sure they’re safe, and Sam and Dean will be here tomorrow morning at the latest.”

“We can’t send the kids away, no matter how much I want to.” Horatio kissed Greg when his human sat down next to him. “Ray would be okay, but Jasmine is still to fragile to move to another environment.”

“I agree, so I told Gibbs we’d keep them here with guards,” Gil said. “Sam and Dean won’t be able to fight, unless something really desperate happens because Sam hasn’t blended yet. I think Jim will be the fourth guard around the kids, for obvious reasons.”

“But what else can we do, Gil?” Horatio asked. “The only way we can even think about killing any of these hunters is if they come poking around here, and we can claim they were trespassing.”

“And even then that’s pushing our luck,” Greg added. “Because cops don’t shoot to kill unless their lives are in danger, and only then after ID-ing themselves. I don’t think anyone would believe us.”

Gil nodded as Speed, Eric, Nick and Jim joined them. “Not to mention most of the hunters coming in are spook hunters who are only after us because they’re being paid,” he said. “Our focus has to be the twenty or so dragon hunters.”

“So we’re treating them like the hydra then,” Nick said. “Cut off as many heads as possible to kill the body.”

“You’re mixing metaphors, Nicky,” Gil said. “But ultimately, yes, that’s exactly what I’m hoping to do. If we can eliminate the money source, I think the spook hunters will give up and leave.”

“The only problem there is how do we tell who the real hunters are?” Speed asked. “Because if I see someone with a gun pointing at me or one of you guys, I’m shooting and then I’ll worry about who he is.”

“The thing to remember is that the real hunters, the dragon hunters, will try and force a Change,” Nick said. “You guys are worthless to them in human form. So they’ll probably use the spook hunters to track you all down, and then they’ll move in. Plus we have the signs Mandy taught us.”

“So we should expect an attack here?” Warrick asked. “What about the kids?”

“I’d like to send you all on a trip to Disney World,” Gil said. “Jim, Warrick, Sam, Dean and the kids. It’ll get you out of the line of fire and be fun for them.”

Horatio looked up. “There are two problems there, Gil; we need Sam and Dean to help us pick out the spook hunters, and Jasmine isn’t allowed out of Miami for another month.”

“Not to mention Ray really wants to go to this tennis thing,” Warrick added.

“There’s no choice, Gil,” Jim said. “We just have to make sure none of these creeps gets near the community.”

“We’ll have one additional set of eyes,” Gil said, resignation clear in his voice. “Jack and Daniel are flying down as soon as Mac is out of the hospital and will stay as long as we need them.”

“That’s good news,” Eric said.

“Yeah, unless he and Gil start fighting,” Nick said.

“I’ll go visit Chrysalis tonight and see if there’s any way to prevent that,” Horatio said. “Since Jack is royal, there should be some way to keep him from fighting with alphas.”

“Good idea,” Gil said. “The tournament starts in two weeks, but I think we’ll have fans and potential threats filtering in well before that. Once Sam and Dean have briefed us on what to look for, some of us should focus on getting as many sets of prints as possible. Spook hunters often have criminal records and if we can get patrol on the lookout for them as well, then that will only make things easier for us, and harder for them.”

“That means checking trashcans and other public places,” Horatio said. “I’ll come up with a reason for us to be running all of the extra prints just in case someone asks about it.”

“Is there anything else we need to worry about?” Speed asked.

“Yeah, you know how this city gets any time a lot of people show up,” Eric said. “We’re all going to be pulling tons of overtime until this tournament is over.”

“That’s good news,” Greg grinned. “Think of the fun toys we can buy with the money from the overtime.”

“And we can spoil the kids,” Horatio added. “Ray has been wanting a surfboard.”

“I totally have to take him shopping then,” Greg said.

Gil looked at his family. “I think that’s it until Sam and Dean get here,” he said. “We’re lucky this time that we had a heads-up that the hunters are coming to town. Next time we’re probably not going to be as fortunate, so we really need to work to perfect our system this time. We need to be able to get it into place much faster next time around.”

“Do you think there will be a next time?” Eric asked.

“Until we’re sure there are no more hunters around,” Gil replied. “I really think that we should be ready for anything.”

TWO WEEKS LATER

Gil wasn’t sure how Abby and the latest addition to their tech family “ Garcia at the BAU “ managed it, but in the two weeks leading up to the International Tennis Tournament the Miami-Dade police department had arrested and detained nearly half of the suspected spook hunters in town. It wasn’t easy and took a lot of work on everyone’s part, but the numbers were down to what the Miami community felt was a more manageable level. Sam and Dean turned out to be their biggest asset, going into bars where spook hunters were gathering and collecting not only information but fingerprints as well. There were a lot of happy police departments around the country when the names started matching on outstanding warrants, and Horatio expected more as the days passed.

The countries that concerned the communities the most were Spain, Italy, Germany and France; known homes to hunter groups. Frank, Calleigh, Alexx and two new CSIs “ Jesse Cardoza and Walter “ were checking out those teams. The community had grown once again when it turned out that both Jesse and Walter knew about dragons, and would expand a little more when Doc Robbins joined then at the end of the year.

“Tennis has never interested me,” Jack commented. He, Daniel and Gil were walking around to get the lay of the land. “So you hit a ball back and forth. It doesn’t seem all that hard.”

“Jack likes violent sports like hockey,” Daniel commented with a sigh. “Jack, take a look over there and tell me you still think this is a wimpy sport.”

In one of the corded off parking lots eight young Japanese men, the eldest looked about seventeen, were working with wooden swords. They were all in a similar uniform of yellow warm up pants with a white stripe up the outside of each leg. They also had on yellow polos with a black stripe across the chest and white sneakers. And they all had on what looked like leather wrist bands of some kind. “Okay, that’s kind of cool,” Jack admitted. “But what’s it got to do with tennis?”

“Focus,” the only one in a baseball cap replied. He bowed to his partner and the two of them walked over to the small Miami group. “Focus and concentration are essential on the court. I’m Sanada Genichiro, vice-captain of Rikkai dai tennis team; this is our captain, Yukimura Seiichi.”

The young man with the dyed blue hair held back by a white sweat band smiled and bowed slightly. Then his eyes went back to the team. “It’s nice to meet you, Sanada-san,” Daniel said. “Do you practice any other forms of martial arts to improve your tennis game?”

Yukimura called out something in Japanese. Two more of the young men stopped and trotted over. One was slightly taller with brown hair and intelligent eyes hidden behind glasses. The other had dyed his hair platinum and had a rat tail that hung over his left shoulder, and there was glint in his eyes that spoke of a love of life. They joined the group, but stayed slightly behind their captains. “No, but we enforce strict discipline at all times,” Sanada replied. He lowered his voice a little. “You picked us out as well, didn’t you?”

“We did,” Gil replied before Jack could say anything. “Do you have your alpha with you?”

“Alpha?” Sanada looked confused. He turned to the other dragon in the group, the young man with the platinum hair, and said something in Japanese.

Jack sighed. “Danny-boy?”

“Oh, right, sorry,” Daniel said. He switched languages. “Sanada-san, an alpha is the head dragon of a community.”

“Good, you speak Japanese, that’ll make things easier as I’m the only one on my team fluent in English,” Sanada said. He turned back towards the rest of the team. “No one told you to stop!”

“Genichiro,” Yukimura said softly, “maybe they could go find the others for us. This is information everyone needs to know.”

“We face our first opponents tomorrow. Everyone needs a chance to loosen up before we step onto the court.”

“We don’t want to interfere with your play,” Daniel said. “Why don’t we meet up tonight after the events of the day are over and talk more then?”

“That sounds good,” Yukimura said before Sanada had a chance to say anything else. “Where shall we meet?”

“Why not here?” Daniel asked. “It’s a short walk to the beach and we’ll have a lot of space to spread out if we need to. How many people are in your group?”

“We won’t bring everyone, just our bonded pairs,” Sanada said. “The others know about us, but have no business in such a discussion.”

“Except for Bane-san,” the platinum haired boy said speaking for the first time. “Come on, Yagyuu; let’s go work on that new move.”

“Niou,” Sanada growled.

The boy grinned. “It’s not like anyone will be able to tell what we’re doing, Sanada; not until we unleash it on the court.”

Yagyuu just shook his head and followed his dragon back towards the group. Yukimura smiled softly. “Our trickster is in fine form, Genichiro,” he said softly. “Daniel-san, we shall have seventeen people total, six of whom speak English fluently.”

“I’m not sure how many we’ll have, it all depends on work schedules, but Jack, Gil and the Miami beta, Horatio and their humans will definitely be here.”

“Until then,” Sanada said and turned to move back to his team.

“We have a meeting with them tonight after the last scheduled activity,” Daniel reported. “It sounds like they have at least eight dragons total in their group, but not all on this team.”

Gil pulled out his program and looked at it. “Japan sent two teams; Seigaku and Rikkai, so it would make sense that there are others around.”

“It makes me wonder if other countries would’ve sent dragons too,” Daniel said as they started walking again.

“We’ll have to keep our eyes open,” Gil said. “But it makes me glad our royal dragon is in town for this.”

“I just wish he was a better diplomat,” Daniel muttered.

“Hey, I manage,” Jack protested.

“Jack, your idea of diplomacy is not to shoot someone at first sight,” Daniel said.

Gil bit back a laugh as the oldest bond pair started up what sounded like a long-standing and on-going argument. He only wished Mandy was alive to see the new dragons. It proved, one again, that life wasn’t fair.
********************
“We need to remind our cousins not to be so open with strange dragons,” Ryoma commented to his human, Kirikaze. In human form Ryoma was a striking man with shoulder length black hair and a black eye-patch over his left eye. Both he and Kirikaze were wearing shiny scaled black shirts with black slacks and shoes. “We cannot protect them if they are going to be stupid.”

“Don’t let Sanada hear you say that,” Kirikaze replied lifting long fingers to brush his brown hair out of his eyes. “You know Sanada will take offense.”

The pair was hidden in the shadows at the far side of the parking lot watching over the Rikkai dai team. They had been banned from sword practice because they were too good, but Ryoma had a feeling Sanada would welcome them back the closer the team got to the final rounds.

“We need to let Kou and Reira know what has happened,” Ryoma said. “They are still with the Seigaku team, right?”

“The ones who are working out. Kai-san and his brothers were going to walk around with Tezuka, Inui and Fuji to start gathering data on the other teams.”

Ryoma’s lips curved up slightly. “Who plays better data tennis, Kirikaze? Cousin Inui or Yanagi-kun?”

“I think that all depends on who you ask,” Kirikaze smiled. “Inui still has his notebooks while Yanagi-kun keeps everything in his head.”

“Hunter,” Ryoma hissed looking around. “This city is swarming with them.”

“I’ll be right back,” Kirikaze said and vanished even further into the shadows. Ryoma turned to make sure the team was okay and found them just starting their cool down stretches. He nodded to himself and stepped out to join them. “Sanada, come here a moment.”

“Is everything okay, Ryoma? I didn’t expect to see you out in public today.”

“When do you plan to meet with the local dragons?”

“Tonight after the last event, but you already knew that, Ryoma. You overheard the whole conversation.”

“Ask why there are so many hunters here,” Ryoma said. “I don’t approve of this meeting, but it may yet give us information we need. But be wary.”

Kirikaze appeared next to Ryoma. “There were three of them. I made it appear to be a knife fight.”

“There is this for this country,” Ryoma said. “There is so much violence around that no one questions dead bodies just turning up. Good work, Kirikaze.”

“You will be at the meeting tonight?” Sanada asked.

“We will, but do not mention us unless you absolutely have to,” Ryoma replied. “I don’t want to give all of our secrets away just yet.”

“Understood.”

A few teams were already playing their matches and, even thought they weren’t going to be facing them, Tezuka “ the captain of the Seigaku team “ and his data expert Inui, wanted to get a look at some of the games. Tezuka’s human, Fuji, tagged along as did Inui’s dragon “ and distant cousin “ Kai. And as Kai’s brother, Sowa, and his human Setsu didn’t have anything better to do, they joined the group as well.

“We should find the England team,” Inui was saying as they waited for Setsu and Sowa to get hamburgers. It was a little unnerving to have them muttering about meat all the time. “I want to get as much data on them as possible before we face them tomorrow.” Inui was a tall, thin player made only taller by his spiked black hair. He wore square black glasses that he was in the habit of pushing back into place almost constantly and carried at least one, if not two notebooks and a pen at all times. Like his team mates, he was dressed in his Seigaku uniform, a white polo shirt with blue and red markings, blue warm-up pants and a matching white and blue jacket. “There wasn’t much on line.”

“You already have some of their stats though,” Fuji pointed out; his constant and unnerving smile firmly in place. He had his blue eyes closed “ no one knew how he managed to move around without walking into anything “ and his brown hair was just long enough to cover his ears and touch his collar. “That should help you work out something for us.”

Inui pushed his glasses back into place. “But not as much as seeing them on the courts, Fuji.”

“Their playing style will be different in an exhibition game, Inui,” Tezuka said. A serious boy with brown hair that had golden highlights in it, his hair always looked like someone had been running their fingers through it, probably because Fuji had. He wore oval glasses that covered his eyes and only made him look sterner. “You’re our reserve tomorrow, so you can scout around during the match if you want. I’m confident in our ability to win.”

“Why not just swallow your pride and ask Yanagi-kun for help?” Kai asked. “Set-chan, Sowa; let’s go.”

“You should feed them meat more often, Kai,” Inui said. “A well-balanced diet is essential to the work you do, and a body’s overall health.”

“He’s right,” Fuji agreed.

Kai grinned. “But then they would have no reason to work,” he said. “Come on; let’s find the England team for Haru, and then we can finish looking around.”

Tezuka glared at him for a minute, but as it was how the younger dragon normally looked, Kai ignored the look easily. He pulled Setsu’s hamburger down and took a bite of it.

“No fair, Kai-nii,” Setsu exclaimed. “Go get your own!”

Sowa stepped neatly to the other side of his human and away from his older brother. Kai just laughed and moved up to walk next to Inui as the group set off to look for their opponents for the following day.
********************
“We’re doing what?” Tezuka demanded when the two teams, Bane-san and the others all met up near the end of the day.

“We met some of the local dragons today,” Yukimura replied. “And they invited us to meet with them. It would be rude to not go.”

“Not to mention stupid,” Niou added twirling his racket around his wrist.

“No, no, no,” Eiji “ one of the Seigaku dragons exclaimed bouncing over to his friend. “Like this, Niou.” He started to twirl his own racket around his hand, wrist and arm.

“You two are not trading places tomorrow!” Tezuka and Sanada exclaimed at the same time.

“Of course not,” Niou smiled.

Yagyuu pushed his glasses back into place and sighed. “I’ll keep an eye on him, Sanada.”

“Here they come,” Kai remarked.

Gil, Nick, Horatio, Greg, Jack and Daniel made their way up to the larger group and Daniel stepped forward. “Good evening, everyone,” he said in Japanese. “On behalf of Gil, alpha or Miami, and Jack, king dragon, I welcome you to Miami.”

“There’s that word again,” Sanada commented. “Alpha, does anyone know it?”

“It means leader, or first,” Inui replied. “So in this context I would assume it means a dragon leader.”

“I remember Daniel-san mentioning that earlier today,” Sanada said. “But it still isn’t clear to me.”

“Why don’t we go down to the beach where we’re sure we won’t be overheard,” Daniel suggested. “Miami isn’t the safest city right now, especially for dragons.”

Sanada nodded as everyone started down to the beach in small groups for easier movement, Niou and Eiji still twirling their rackets. “I’ve been wondering about that,” he said switching to English. “Why are there so many hunters here?”

“They’re after us,” Gil replied. “We aren’t able to stay as hidden as we’d like, so we knew it was only a matter of time until we were in danger. I’m sorry you had to walk into the middle of it.”

“We’ve managed to legally trim the numbers,” Horatio added. “But we estimate there are still between thirty five and fifty hunters left in the area.”

The large group settled onto the sand in a circle and started with introductions, Gil and a young man named Bane-san speaking for their people.

“How are you organized in Japan?” Horatio asked. “You weren’t familiar with the term alpha, do you have communities?”

Everyone looked puzzled and glanced at each other. Daniel spoke up in Japanese. “A community is where dragons gather together for safety with an alpha and beta dragon along with unchanged dragons and other humans who know the truth. Gil and Horatio are the leaders here in Miami.”

“Oh; no, we have nothing like that in Japan,” Sanada replied in English. “Each dragon is responsible for his human’s safety at all times.”

“But, in a way, you are organized into a community,” Greg pointed out. “Just not as formally as we are.”

“Do you leave your humans with the other dragons in these communities?” Kai asked.

“Yes, we trust each other to keep our humans safe,” Horatio replied. “Although we just lost our newest bond pair in New York when the dragon was killed.”

“We’re sorry for your loss,” Bane-san said. He reached up and caught the racket spinning towards his head. “Niou, enough.”

“Yes, Bane-san,” Niou replied. He sat down next to his human. “Can I have my racket back?”

“In a bit,” Bane-san said. “We too trust each other, but we are never away from our humans for any reason.”

Jack glanced over. “You’re not a dragon, Bane-san.”

“No, no, I’m human,” Bane-san smiled. “I work with dragons as a sort of emissary.”

“Are dragons known by the public in Japan?” Horatio asked leaning forward.

“No more than you are here,” Kai said. “We have hunters in our country as well, and we have a harder time hiding too.”

Horatio’s keen eyes fixed on a point down the beach. He wasn’t sure, even with his good night vision, but he thought there was a small group of men moving towards them. “Gil, Jack, do you see that?” he asked.

Everyone turned and stared down the beach. “It might be some friends of ours,” Bane-san said.

“No,” Niou said standing and moving in front of his human, “I don’t recognize them, Bane-san. Anyone?”

“No,” all the Japan dragons chorused moving to take up defensive positions as well.

“Have you fought hunters before?” Jack asked.

Eiji started twirling his racket around his wrist again, focusing on the potential threat. Tezuka glanced over at Jack. “Tennis is a more dangerous sport than you seem to realize, Jack-san. Yes, we have all battled hunters before, on and off the court.”

“You’ll have to share some tips,” Horatio commented moving Greg behind him.

“Always have a trick play the opponents have no data on,” Inui said from his spot behind Kai. It was cute because he was about three inches taller than his dragon.

Four shadows moving faster than the human eye �“ and almost the dragon eye could follow flowed out onto the beach and quickly eliminated the group of men.

“So much for their plan,” Sanada sighed.

“Genichiro?” Yukimura asked.

“They wanted to remain hidden,” Sanada replied. “Were they hunters, Ryoma?”

The Miami community members, Jack and Daniel stared as two new Japanese bond pairs joined the group. They were older than all the tennis players, though not by much, and had an air that said not to mess with them. All of the tennis players relaxed back onto the sand, but the others stayed where they were. Bane-san looked up. “They won’t harm you or your humans. They’re with us.”

“Those were true hunters,” Ryoma said in Japanese. “I recognize one from earlier, though I don’t know how he managed to hide from me all day.”

“That’s a worrying development,” Kai said. “Was he at the tournament grounds, Ryoma?”

“Yes.”

“Um, excuse me,” Jack interrupted. “But could someone explain what’s going on, because I know I’m totally lost.”

Inui looked over. “This could take awhile,” he said pushing his glasses up.

“We have all night,” Jack replied.

All of the Rikkai dragons and Seigaku dragons “ save Inui “ begged off continuing what was going to be a long meeting because they all had matches the next day and needed their sleep. Kai and Bane-san invited the remaining group up to the suite they had in a near-by hotel to keep talking.

“Inui and I, my brother Sowa and his human and Bane-san are all in there,” Kai explained as he opened the door. “Ryoma and his group are sleeping where there’s room as they aren’t exactly official.”

Setsu, Sowa and the younger new dragon pair “ Kou and his human Reira “ all vanished into one of the bedrooms. Kai sighed. “I knew I shouldn’t have bought them jerky and candy.”

Ryoma and Kirikaze settled against a far wall, very obviously on guard. Jack stared back at them. “Bodyguards?”

“In a way,” Inui said. “It seems that dragons in Japan are more different from American dragons than we thought. To begin with, there are two types of dragons.”

“Eastern and western,” Daniel said.

“No, our dragons look the same as you when they Change,” Inui said. He pushed his glasses back up his nose. “When the DNA change happened, two dragons came to Japan from Europe and managed to manipulate their DNA in such a way that their hatchlings matched the people of Japan. In that way the new babies wouldn’t be rejected and, over time, about a hundred hatchlings were born to this pair.”

“When the hatchlings were recalled to teach them the truth about their heritage, only half of them returned to the general population,” Kai continued. “The rest remained in the mountains, coming out only to seek strong brides to continue their line. Over time they became shinobi, what you would call ninjas, and have been our protectors ever since.”

“That is my job as an emissary,” Bane-san said. “I am the latest in a long line of humans allowed to visit the shinobi village, bringing news of the outside world and requests for help. They can also summon me at any time with requests of their own, mainly for brides or placement for a weak child who wouldn’t otherwise survive in the village.”

Daniel’s eyes were twinkling as they only did when he was learning something new. Gil and Horatio glanced at each other, each obviously thinking the same thing. “I’ll do it,” Greg said softly. “I’ll become the history expert if Daniel doesn’t want it.”

“What was that?” Kai asked.

“Horatio mentioned we’d lost our youngest bond pair,” Gil replied. “Mandy was also our historian and expert on everything dragon. We’re still all in shock over their deaths and the loss of such a bright young set of minds. It’s a blow we may never recover from.”

“Hunters?” Bane-san asked.

“No, Adam was killed on the job and we lost Mandy at the same time,”
Horatio said softly. “Our community is networked with two others here in America, and Mandy worked with all of us on various matters.”

“Hawkes offered to learn about the hunters and what little medicine Mandy had collected, even though I think House will actually be a medical expert,” Greg said. “Abs is going to take on general every day stuff, so that leaves history.”

“We could work on it together, Greg,” Daniel said. “One of us could do western and one eastern.”

Bane-san smiled. “That is most reasonable,” he said. “Nothing should ever be entrusted to a sole expert, right Kai?”

“That’s right; it’s too risky,” Kai agreed. “We’ll be happy to teach you our lore if you’ll do the same.”

“And we’ll have to exchange contact info too,” Greg grinned.

“Are you coming to any of the games tomorrow?” Inui asked.

Horatio nodded. “My nephew wants to come,” he said. “We figured it would be safe for a couple of days, at least.”

“Wait a minute then.”

“It would be safer to stay at our games,” Kai said. “Ryoma and the others will be on guard and will eliminate any threats we might have show up.”

“Are they responsible for some of the bodies we’re been finding around town?” Horatio asked.

“I don’t know,” Bane-san said. “I suppose it’s possible.”

Inui reappeared before Horatio could say anything else. He had a notebook in one hand and two plastic cards in the other. “Here are passes to get you into the front row near either the Seigaku or Rikkai benches,” he said. “A hatchling needs to be able to see play clearly if he wants to learn.”

“Thank you,” Horatio said obviously touched.

“They’re good for the entire tournament if you feel safe enough to come,” Inui continued. “Now let me see; Oishi and Eiji, the Gold Pair from Seigaku are playing tomorrow with a 95% chance they’ll win. Additionally Momoshiro and Kaidoh are playing with a 90% chance of victory, and Fuji, Seigaku’s genius, will play and win his match without question.”

Kai sighed. “Inui is a data expert,” he explained. “I’m always curious to see how his numbers will actually come out.”

“Then in the afternoon, Rikkai, Mauri and Jackal are playing with a high chance of a win, followed by Niou and Yagyuu, and finally Akaya,” Inui finished. “These will all be exceptional matches and very exciting for a hatchling.”

“We’ll be here,” Horatio said. “And we should leave, you need your sleep.”

Gil handed Bane-san a slip of paper. “These are the cell phone numbers for all my community members, with stars indicating dragons,” he said. “Call us if you need anything.”

“Thank you,” Bane-san smiled. “I will. Until tomorrow.”
********************

Yagyuu moaned into the pillow covering his face as his dragon’s erection ran over his prostate again. He didn’t want Sanada to find out they were breaking his restriction on pre-match sex, but they both felt the urge to reconnect.

“I hate this,” Niou whispered pressing a kiss to Yagyuu’s shoulder. “I hate not being able to hear you cry out each time I thrust into you.”

“You know the rules,” Yagyuu panted softly. “And what will happen if anyone finds out we’re breaking them.”

“Who cares?” Niou paused and shifted a little, tightening his grip on his human’s hips as he got ready to thrust forward again. “I bet they don’t always follow their own rules.”

The pillow almost didn’t get back in place in time as the sharp, deep thrust pulled a cry from Yagyuu and a bitten back moan from Niou. The dragon reached around and wrapped his fingers around his human’s erection, stroking it firmly.

“Close,” Yagyuu whispered.

“Do it,” Niou replied moving faster. He could feel his human’s body starting to tense and pressed a kiss to Yagyuu’s shoulder blade to muffle his own cries as they both came.

“You didn’t bite me, did you?” Yagyuu asked softly. “That’s how Sanada figured us out last time.”

“No, I was careful, but you were out of it if you couldn’t even tell that,” Niou teased cuddling closer to his human. “I guess I really am getting good at this.”

“Don’t get a swollen head,” Yagyuu replied. “What do you think of those new dragons we met today?”

“Don’t know,” Niou yawned. “They’re serious, but they’re all untried. Even Jack-san, and it’s obvious he’s a warrior. I wouldn’t trust them to take care of you.”

Yagyuu felt his dragon slip out of him and rolled to face Niou. “Then we’ll just have to show them what we can do, Petenshi.”

“Tomorrow is going to be so cool,” Niou said. “We’ll show everyone exactly what tennis is about.”

“Do you really think this will work?”

“Of course it will. Have any of my plans ever failed?”

“Well, there was that one time that you….”

“Go to sleep,” Sanada barked from the doorway. “And don’t think for a second I don’t know what the two of you were doing.”

“Oh, come on Sanada, you want us relaxed and on our best form tomorrow, right?” Niou asked.

“Don’t push it, Niou,” Sanada growled. “Sleep, both of you. And I don’t want to know what tricks you’re planning for tomorrow. Yagyuu, I will hold you responsible if I get Eiji in a wig in your match tomorrow.”

Niou started laughing, muffling the noise in his human’s throat. “Puri,” he whispered. “My plan is working perfectly.”

“Oh, shut up and go to sleep before you get us both smacked,” Yagyuu grumbled.

Horatio stayed alert as he and Ray made their way through the crowd towards the court where Seigaku was scheduled to play England in one of the first matches of the day. Ray had been excited to find out that Horatio had taken time off from work for the entirety of the tournament and they’d be going every day. The dragon was puzzled because his nephew had never shown any interest in tennis before, but was more than willing to indulge Ray. Plus it gave him a good excuse to talk with the dragons too. Chrysalis had been surprised to learn about the existence of ninja dragons, but remembered the pair that flew to Japan had been especially skilled in magic. It made sense that anyone descended from them would be skilled with magic, even if they were unchanged.

“Good morning, Horatio-san,” Kai said catching sight of the Miami beta. “You’re just in time. Momo and Kaidoh are just heading out onto the court. Is this the hatchling?”

“My nephew, Ray,” Horatio said. “Ray, this is Inui Kai-san from Japan.”

“Nice to meet you,” Ray said. “Are you with the tennis team?”

“My human is; he’s the tall one with glasses, black hair and notebook,” Kai replied. “And he’ll be glued to that spot for the whole match because he wants to collect as much data as possible on the England team. You can go up and stand with him if you want to, Ray.”

“Maybe later, he’s a little scary looking,” Ray said.

Horatio smiled and put an arm around Ray’s shoulders. “I bet he’d be able to explain what’s going on, Ray,” he said. “I’ll go up with you.”

Ray bit his lip. “Okay,” he finally agreed, his natural interest in wanting to learn new things winning out over his fear. Kai leaned down. “I’ll tell you a secret, Ray,” he said. “Inui’s only scary when he’s creating things for his team to drink or forcing those creations on his team. Otherwise he’s just serious. Oi, Inui, we have company.”

“Horatio-san,” Inui said not looking away from the court. “And a new student too. Do you want to learn about tennis, hatchling?”

“Yes please; I’m Ray Caine.”

“We’ll be playing one set matches,” Inui started. “The first six games wins unless there’s a tie break, which I’ll explain if we get there. However, I wouldn’t have picked this pair to be your introduction to tennis.”

“Why’s that?” Ray asked.

“Momoshiro and Kaidoh have been rivals since they met and, at times, will start fighting in the middle of their match,” Inui replied.

Horatio stepped back a little, motioning for Kai to join him. “Have there been any hunter sightings today?” he asked softly.

“Not that I’m aware of,” Kai replied. He glanced around and finally fixed his eyes on what looked like any other shadow. He jerked his head in a come here motion and Horatio jumped when Reira appeared.

“How do they do that?” Horatio asked. “I had no clue he was there. Shouldn’t I have been able to smell him?”

“They’re shinobi,” Kai replied with a shrug. He switched to Japanese. “Reira, anything?”

“No, not so far,” Reira replied. “Kou’s across the way on that food stand. Ryoma no ani and Kirikaze are with Rikkai as planned.”

Kai nodded. “Keep an extra sharp eye out, Reira; we’ve got a hatchling here today.”

“I will.” Reira smiled brightly, waved and faded back into the shadows.

“Remarkable,” Horatio said. “So I wonder why this place was swarming with hunters yesterday, and is completely empty today.”

“Horatio-san, let me ask you something.”

“Sure.”

“How did you know the truth about us? Was it smell or something else?”

“It was the small indicators on your face,” Horatio said his voice trailing off as he realized that Kai didn’t look like a Changed dragon at all. “Wait a minute, now I’m confused.”

Kai’s laugh was drowned out by cheers by the tennis court. “I would guess Kaidoh just unleashed the boomerang snake,” Kai said. “It’s his signature move.”

“Uncle Horatio, you have to see this,” Ray called jumping up and down. “This is so awesome.”

“I’ll be right there, Ray,” Horatio called back. He turned to Kai. “Until you mentioned it, I didn’t even realize that Changed dragons smell different from humans.”

“It was instinct,” Kai said. “If you focus more you’ll find that each member of your community smells different too.”

“How did we not know this?” Horatio asked as they rejoined Inui and Ray. “Are you having fun, kiddo?”

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Ray exclaimed.

“Watch this, Ray-kun,” Inui said. “This is Momo’s dunk smash.”

The small group watched as Momoshiro jumped up into the air, higher than Horatio would’ve thought possible and hit the ball back to the other side of the court with almost blinding speed.

“Game set,” the announcer called. “Six games to one, Seigaku wins.”

“How disappointing,” Inui sighed turning the page in his notebook. “I was barely able to get any good data from that match.”

“You’ll get more as you move up the rankings, Inui,” Kai said. “Why don’t you take Ray over to meet everyone before the next match?”

“How about it, Ray-kun?”

“Yes, please.” Ray’s nerves seemed to have vanished completely in the excitement of the game.

Horatio smiled fondly. “This is good for him. He’s home-schooled to keep him safe and spends almost no time with anyone outside of the community.”

“Well, by the time this is over, he may want to take tennis lessons,” Kai smiled. “Now, to answer you question, did you know what you are before you Changed?”

“No, none of us in Miami did,” Horatio said. “And we’ve had some real problems because of it.”

“Then there’s a lot of information you’re missing.”

“Mandy, Mandy was our go to person for things like this,” Horatio said. He took off his sunglasses and wiped his eyes. “The hunters couldn’t have done as good a job to cripple us as this stupid accident did.”

“We have instances of unknown Changes in Japan, but it’s rare,” Kai said. “And we’re taught to follow our instincts from an early age if we have a chance of Changing.” He paused. “Yes, Fuji?”

“Excuse me, Kai-san, but Sowa and Setsu are starting to mutter about meat again, and it’s really freaking people out.”

Kai sighed and pulled some money out of his pocket. “Tell them to take it easy,” he said.

“I will,” Fuji said.

“How does he see where he’s going?” Horatio asked. “I don’t think I’ve seen him with his eyes open once.”

“He only opens his eyes when he’s serious,” Kai said. “I’ve never questioned him about it.”

“Strange,” Horatio said. “So all Changed dragons smell different?”

“They do, and it’s very likely that you’ve been relying more on smell than sight to indentify people since you Changed, even if you haven’t been aware of it,” Kai said. “With practice you can develop your sense of smell even more.”

“I don’t know if I really want to do that,” Horatio said. “I work as a crime scene investigator and there are days when peppermints just aren’t enough.”

“What?”

“It’s a Mandy creation, peppermint taffy for us to suck if we’re working around blood or some other intense smell,” Horatio said. “We figure sacrificing our sense of smell at that time will make it easier for us to work, and we still have everything else to keep those around us safe.”

Kai looked horrified at the thought of eliminating one of his senses. But he was prevented from saying anything when Grissom walked up to them. “Good morning, Gil-san.”

“Morning,” Gil said. “Horatio, Gibbs wants all alphas and betas up on the teaching plane tonight. Can you make it?”

“Yeah, Ray will be worn out enough to sleep without nightmares tonight,” Horatio said. “I think we might have to look into lessons for him, Gil. Is there room?”

“We’ll make room,” Gil said. “I’m going to watch a couple of games before heading home. Do you mind if I take Ray?”

“He might,” Horatio smiled. “I think Ray’s been adopted by the Seigaku team. Look.”

Ray was with the team obviously listening to everything that was said, even if it was in Japanese. And he didn’t look like he was going anywhere until the last game was over.

“He probably won’t have this chance with Rikkai,” Kai said. “Yukimura-kun might be the captain, but Sanada is the one in charge. And his focus is solely on winning; it’s the way of their team. What’s the teaching plane?”

“That’ll have to wait until we’re not in public,” Horatio said. “But I’ll be happy to try and teach everyone about it. You have to be an alpha or beta to make the trip, but since you’re organized so differently, I don’t know what will happen.”

“Well, let’s give it a try,” Kai said.

Horatio stood with Ray and the others for the next doubles match. He was really impressed with how Inui was explaining tennis and the various concepts to Ray in such a way that it was simple and yet wouldn’t seem like an insult to Ray’s intelligence. “I’ve never seen anyone quite so acrobatic,” he commented watching Eiji dive for a ball, return it and handspring back to his feet. “Or with so much energy.”

“Neither has the other team,” Kai commented. “I don’t think any of the Seigaku players are going to have much of a workout during their matches.”

“Which means none of us will play to our full potential,” Inui commented. He scribbled another note into his notebook.

Ray looked up. “But shouldn’t you always try and do your best no matter what?”

“Yes, you should, Ray-kun,” Kai replied with a look at his human. “But in this case the matches are being watched by teams who might have to play Seigaku as the tournament goes on, and they want to keep some things secret.”

“Game set, Seigaku six games to love!” came the final call in the game.

“We’ll have to talk with Tezuka after the next match,” Kai said in an undertone to Horatio. “All his focus will be on Fuji as long as his human is on the court.”

Inui snapped his notebook closed. “Come over to the bench with me, Ray-kun,” he said. “I want you to meet someone.”

“Echizen Ryoma,” Kai said, “is known as the Prince of Tennis. He’s been playing for Seigaku since he was twelve.”

“Does he speak English?”

“Yeah, but he’s usually not involved with anything we’re doing, so that’s the reason we didn’t bring him last night. I believe he was born in the states and lived here until his family moved to Japan.”

Horatio lowered his voice a little. “Kai-san, what color are you?” he asked changing subjects.

“Sowa and I are both pure white,” Kai said. “It’s not all that surprising considering our family has worked as spirit summoners for over 300 years.”

“And the shinobi?”

“They’re all black.”

“The Seigaku and Rikkai dai teams?”

“Seigaku is all the same blue that is on their uniform, oddly enough, and Rikkai dai is yellow. What about you? You look puzzled.”

Horatio nodded. “I am, if only because we don’t have any duplicate colors anywhere,” he said. “Let alone in one community.”

“What colors do you have?”

“Here black, red, bronze, silver and brown,” Horatio said. “Up north is gold, white gold and lime green with a lavender leg; and then in the third group is ice blue, blue/gray/green, forest green and marigold. The one we lost was white.”

“You either have more community members than we thought, or too many colors.”

“No, Mac is a chameleon, he shifts constantly through blue, green and gray,” Horatio said. “We think it’s because he lives in such a big city, or he’s just a show-off.”

Kai started laughing. “You must be close friends with this Mac,” he said.

“I am,” Horatio smiled. “If I can teach you guys what to do, then you’ll have a chance to meet him tonight.”

“I’m really hoping you can,” Kai said. “Even though I’m not sure what’s going on, I’ve always liked trying new things.”

“That’s the truth,” Inui commented. He flipped his notebook open and scribbled something down. “We’re all going to lunch before Rikkai begins their matches.”

“Horatio-san, would you and Ray-kun like to join us?” Kai asked.

“We’d love to,” Horatio said.
********************

Sanada looked over his team mates and sighed. Yukimura looked over at him. “They aren’t hurting anything, Genichiro, let them be,” he said softly. “You know this is their favorite opening play and, if Seigaku’s results are any indication, no one else will know for a while.”

“This isn’t the only thing Niou is planning,” Sanada replied just as softly. “But I can’t work out why he’s been spending so much time with Eiji lately.”

“He probably just wants to add moves to his routine,” Yukimura said. “You’re too tense, Genichiro; maybe we should’ve broken the rules last night too.”

“Do you feel okay, Seiichi? Do you need anything?”

Yukimura smiled softly. “Just time alone with my dragon before our matches start,” he said. “I want to win as badly, if not more so than you do, but I want to be with you too.”

Sanada glanced around. “Yagyuu, make sure everyone is warmed up properly,” he snapped. “We’ve got something we need to do.”

“Told you,” Niou whispered. He ducked Sanada’s forehand slap but was caught on the backhand.

“Why’d he hit you this time?” Mauri asked popping his gum. The dyed-red haired teenaged knew the truth about the dragons on his team, just not the details.

Niou shrugged and slouched down on the bench. He’d finished his stretches and would warm up when Marui and his doubles partner, Jackal, started their fourth game. “Is that a new kind of gum?”

“Yeah, I found it in the hotel shop,” Mauri said popping it again. He’d finished his pre-game cake and moved onto the gum he’d have with him for the rest of the game. Even with the training they endured and the weights they wore, he still had stamina issues and played on a constant sugar high. “But I don’t think it’s the right one for the game. I’ll change out before we start.”

“What’s Yanagi got to say?” Yagyuu asked sitting down next to his friends. He pushed his glasses back into place and looked around. “Horatio-san is here.”

“Who?” Marui asked.

“We met some local dragons,” Niou replied. “And one of them is here to watch our matches.”

“Do they speak Japanese?” Marui asked.

“No, but Kai and the others can translate,” Yagyuu said. “Yanagi?”

“We’ll all win without an effort,” Marui said. “Although how he got so much data on France I don’t know.”

“Probably the internet,” Yagyuu said. “You know nothing excites him as much as finding out new data.”

“I don’t know about that,” Marui said. “Akaya’s sure been hanging around him an awful lot lately and I don’t think it’s hero worship.” He popped his gum again.

“Yanagi won’t notice,” Yagyuu sighed. “Maybe one of us should talk to Akaya.”

“I think Yukimura would be the best one,” Niou said. “Especially with how much the brat worships the captain.”

“Who worships the captain?” Jackal asked plopping down next to Mauri.

Niou pulled out a pair of sunglasses. “Did you wax your head or something this morning?”

“Nope, just shaved it,” Jackal replied with a wide grin.

“If the sun hits your head just right you won’t have to worry about the other team returning anything,” Niou said. “They won’t be able to see a damn thing.”

“This isn’t a gossip club!” Sanada barked. “Five laps around the court now!”

“That was barely ten minutes,” Niou whispered to Yagyuu. “That’s not even worth it.”

Yagyuu pushed his glasses up. “I’ll bet I can prove to you that it can be,” he said as they set off at a slow jog.

“You’re on.”
********************

Horatio was shocked when he saw Sanada hit one of his team. “Kai-san?”

“It’s just how he is,” Kai replied. “And you’ll notice Niou isn’t really hurt either. They’re all used to it.”

“But what did Niou do to deserve something like that?” Horatio asked. He decided he wouldn’t let Ray near the other dragon. “It looked like he was just warming up.”

“He might have said something,” Kai said. “The first pair up is Marui and Jackal. That’s the red head with the bubble gum and the guy with the shaved head. They’re a powerful, if entertaining, pair.”

“Who are they playing?” Ray asked looking around.

Inui pushed his glasses up. “France; they have a fair team, but the data suggests Rikkai will win easily.”

“Kai-san, can I talk to you for a second?” Horatio asked. “Ray, stay here, please.”

“What’s wrong, Horatio?”

“France is one of the danger countries,” Horatio whispered. “A home to the hunters.”

Kai paled. “Keep your eyes open; Haru and I will let everyone else know.”

“Okay,” Horatio said.

“Inui,” Kai called. “Come on.”

“What’s wrong, Kai?”

“Horatio-san says France is one of the countries the hunters call home,” Kai replied. “We have to let everyone know.”

Out came the notebook and Inui started writing as he walked, proving how talented he actually was. “Previous data indicates that they won’t try and obvious attack during a match, and Horatio is the only one here who looks like a dragon. He’s the one they’d target once everything is done. But I’ll work with Renji to get better numbers.”

“We need to get Niou to show the dragons here his make-up trick so they can hide a little more,” Kai said. “They must have something similar here in the states.”

“I’m sure they do.”

“Sanada-kun,” Kai called. “Can I talk to you for a minute, please?”

The younger dragon looked over. He knew that Kai wouldn’t be interrupting so close to a game unless it was important, but wanted to be sure everyone was ready for play.

“You put too much pressure on yourself, Genichiro,” Yukimura whispered. “And I am the captain. Go see what Kai needs and let me do my job.”

Sanada nodded and jogged over to Kai. “What’s wrong?”

“Horatio-san says France is hunter country.”

“So they’ll strike so early,” Sanada said. “Tell the shinobi. I’ll inform Tezuka.”

“Right.”
********************

Ryoma and Kirikaze were hidden in the shadows between a building and some palm trees watching over their Rikkai cousins. The day had been disturbingly quiet for not only them, but Kou and Reira as well. “Do you think the hunters are planning something?” Kirikaze asked. “Yesterday we saw them everywhere, and today there are none.”

“It’s possible they’ve taken a day to regroup,” Ryoma replied. “We killed several yesterday and we may have caused fear and confusion on their ranks.”

“I hope so. Is it wrong to want to kill them all?”

“No, Kirikaze, it is not.” Ryoma put his hand on his human’s shoulder. “They hunt us for money. We kill them so we can live. It is our intentions that are pure.”

“Ryoma-san,” Kai called.

“How did you find us?” Ryoma asked.

“I saw you move,” Kai replied. He quickly filled Ryoma and Kirikaze in on what Horatio had told him.

Ryoma nodded. “I’ll inform Kou and Reira,” he said when Kai was done. “It seems the local dragons have information we lack. Are they willing to share?”

“Yes,” Kai said. “But not in public. Horatio-san says it’s too dangerous and I believe him.”

“So there will be another meeting tonight?”

“As soon as Rikkai wins.”

“We’ll be ready,” Ryoma said.