Fleeing the Shadows

Thank you to everyone who is following/reviewing this story – I have not yet given up on this dead horse!!! I will continue to beat on it until it is nothing but a stinking pile of…something. Anyways, it’s amazing how much clearer one can write when there’s no stress! My father is still in the hospital, but I typed most of this up in the two days that I thought he was doing okay. After that… (Shrugs).

And now we have another one down – only he isn’t going to make it…so I dedicate this chapter to Gayle – you are the man, and I will miss your voice so sorely when you are gone.

On to the next chapter!



“Quick! In here!” Shadi backpedaled, dragging Isis along with him, to yank open the heavy glass door - almost causing the lady to lose her balance, as her fashionably heeled shoe didn’t allow for that type of movement. Once inside the store the two agents crouched down low behind a rather garish display of lifeless mannequins that took up the large front window, breathing hard. Not the greatest hiding spot, but it would have to do for now - the pickings were kind of slim.

Together, they watched from their place behind the gaudy display as a couple of men flew past the store - obviously in search of someone - as they looked left and right, their expensive clothing rumpled and stained with the remnants of a hot dog with the works. In any other context, the sight would have been laughable, but at present it only served to remind the two out of breath agents of how precarious their situation was. A few moments later and another couple of men followed the ones that had passed by earlier, only this time with a little more caution – and a little less speed.

These people weren’t just going to spy on them and track their movement; that was for certain. Already, one had attempted to make a grab for them in the parking lot, falling back only when the crowds of people came into view. They must already know where the witness is, to make a bold move like that.

What neither group had expected, was to see crowds of people milling aimlessly around the outdoor mall, as it was technically after hours. But apparently there was a mall wide sale going on. With that unexpected surprise working to their advantage, the two agents temporarily evaded their pursuers by mixing with the throngs of shoppers out wandering the stores for their after hours shopping season kick off sale.

But it hadn’t lasted long, and they had been forced to find another way to elude their attackers. That was how the two out of breath agents came to be crouching behind the most extravagant display of dummies in leather bondage wear that Isis had ever seen.

As soon as the coast was clear, the duo began to quickly wind their way to the back of the store, looking for an exit. A stroke of luck earlier had put a rather large man, eating his hotdog and not paying any attention to his surroundings, between the two agents and the men who were chasing them. The ensuing accident gave them enough time to duck into one of the many stores before they were seen.

It was only a small time advantage, but they would use it to the best of their abilities. Reason stood that if they weren’t found by the end of the strip mall that their pursuers would be back for a more thorough search of all the stores. They needed to be long gone by then, or have a plan ready for dealing with their unwanted cling-ons.

“May I help you?” The clerk asked around the wad of chewing gum in her painted mouth, not even bothering to look up as she flipped through a magazine that was lying on the counter. Her bored question was automatic. This was not the most popular shop in the mall, catering only to those with a more punk-ish flair. So far her day had not been all that entertaining.

“Here!” Isis hissed as she jerked her husband toward the back room of the store.

“Hey! You can’t go back there.”

Shit, now they caught the girl’s attention. The small, black clothed teen started to head them off before they could duck into the doorway that was marked employees only, the many chains around her waist jingling merrily with her every movement.

Isis snatched a hold of the girl as soon as she was within range, grabbing her arm tightly – forcing her to walk with them, without breaking their brisk pace as they continued into the back room. The girl quit struggling only when Isis pulled her coat to the side, showing off the gleaming black gun that was attached to her side holster. The girl’s large grey eyes beginning to show tearful reluctance at being used as a hostage.

“Hush…I’m not going to hurt you. All we need is a phone and a way out. Then I need you to leave this store. You are in some serious danger if they come back here.”

“Wha…What’s going on? Who are they?” The girl managed to squeak, her tiny voice betraying her fright as she glanced between the two agents.

Shadi gave a tired smile, trying to put their captive at ease. “Do not worry about them for the moment. We need your help. Do you have a phone, cell or otherwise, that we can use for a minute? It’s a matter of life or death.”

The teenage clerk nodded shakily, as she pointed to the purse that sat on the table of what was the store break room. Since she was the only one on duty, she figured it would probably be a good idea to go along with the crazy people who invaded her place of work.

Shadi raced to the table, snatching up the purse, to dump its contents all over the small table top. Finding the complicatedly small device hiding in between all of the make up and other knick knacks that fell out of the purse almost proved to be a challenge, but after sifting through the junk for a few minutes, the bald man held his hand up triumphantly.

Entering a number he had long ago committed to memory, the agent waited for what seemed like ever to hear the sound of ringing. “Come on come on come on.”

The ringing stopped abruptly, but no words of welcome were voiced over the phone. “Atemu?” He asked cautiously.

“Shadi!” A whispered voice came back to him, calming his heart rate. His youngest son was alive. Thank the gods. “Where are you?”

Sensing that is wasn’t quite safe for the other to talk; Shadi began to whisper as well. “There’s no time for that. You need to get out of there. Someone’s coming for you.”

“…They’re here already. They know everything about us, I don’t know how, but they do. Now where are you?” Atemu hissed, after a long moment of agonizing silence.

“We’re in the mall behind the Bureau. What do you mean they know where everyone is?” His grip tightened on the small phone as he wondered if that everyone included his nephew and elder son. The bald agent was about to ask, when he was cut off by the whispering voice on the other end.

“I’m sending Malik. Just hang tight.” Click. The phone disconnected.

“Atemu?”

“Atemu?”

Frustrated, Shadi redialed the number, getting only a busy signal. “Shit!”

“What happened?” Isis called out to her husband worriedly.

“He hung up. How do we get out of here?” The bald agent turned his gaze towards their captive, his deep brown eyes showing none of his scrambled feelings.

Their whole mission was going down in flames. They had to get to the witness or all hope was lost. And that meant getting rid of the people tailing them – one way or another. Hopefully they could lose them and backtrack to find a car…something; he really didn’t want to kill them, a couple of the people chasing them were agents from his work. And he wasn’t sure if they were just obeying orders or if there was a more sinister reason for their chase. But then again, the bald agent didn’t want to count any of his boys among the dead when this was all sorted out, either. It was a lose – lose situation all the way around.

“Keep going down the hall, to the last door on the right. It leads out the back way through shipping.” The girl pointed down the dimly lit hallway, the only other way out of the room.

Isis gave her captive a strong push back towards the outer room, hissing “Get out of here!” Before quickly following Shadi, who was already making his way down the carpeted hall.

The agents fled the hall, into the receiving area, heading towards the exit. By the time they reached out to open the door to the back of the store, they heard an excited shout coming from the front of the shop, closely followed by a shrill scream and, even worse, a single gun shot.

They had been found. It was time to go. Isis gave one last look back towards the sound before pushing out the door, to find a place to hide. They couldn’t continue running. If they wanted to know what else this group was up to, their only option was to turn the tables on them – turn the predators into the prey.

With enough luck, they would have time to put her plan into motion. If only Shadi would agree to it. After all, some of these people were their coworkers they were fighting against. Mislead or not, these people were trying to kill them. And someone had just shot an innocent person. Turnabout was fair play.

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“We’re on it!” Marik slapped his cell phone against his thigh, effectively closing it. “Malik, I need you.” He yelled, pulling his keys from off the key rack, and his gun from off the counter top.

After checking the chamber, the tall blonde snagged another clip in case of emergency. He was so going to commit murder if anything happened to his family. With an unholy gleam in his eyes, the blonde grabbed the rest of what he needed off the counter, shoving the items quickly into his many pockets.

Malik skidded to a stop in their small kitchen, giving Marik a blank look. The two looked like a set of twins upon first glance. But upon closer inspection, one would see the glaring differences between the duo. Malik was shorter, slimmer, and his hair was tamer than his boyfriend’s spiky locks, his wide eyed expression almost mimicking an innocence of sorts, something the larger Marik couldn’t do on a dare.

“What?!” Malik questioned as he watched his partner – in more ways than one – grab the items off the counter. He could already sense the gravity of the situation by the slightly crazed look in his boyfriend’s lilac eyes.

“Your sister is in trouble.” Marik responded in all seriousness. “Atemu said they were at the mall.”

“Let’s go!” Malik was already flying out the door, his shoes in his hands as he sprinted to their car, leaving the taller man in the dust as he clumsily tried to follow after twisting his ankle on the porch step.

The two flew out of the driveway, and down the road. If they could find Isis and Shadi’s trail, they had a decent chance of catching up with the two fugitive agents. Malik was the best around at tracking, his abilities on par with the greatest of bloodhounds, as he used aura trails to follow where a person had been. All he needed were the person’s last known whereabouts, and he could trace them for miles, unless there was a vehicle involved. Then it was up to chance. Hopefully that would not be the case here.

Their car skidded to a halt just outside the open mall. Malik throwing open the door and taking off at a run. Marik followed close behind, leaving the car in the middle of a no parking zone as he ran after his boyfriend, ignoring the pain that was flaring in his twisted ankle. No one would notice one more car parked in the fire zone. Not here. The mall resembled a zoo with its chaotic decorations and loudspeaker music, the throngs of people walking, sitting or standing wherever there was room.

They were about ten minutes behind the smaller blonde’s sister, give or take. Thank god they had chosen a place to live based on its convenience and closeness to Malik’s work. Hopefully, Isis and Shadi were able to hold off the attackers until they were able to provide some reinforcement. At the moment, neither blonde knew what they were up against. They were running into this situation totally blind. But, for Isis and Shadi, they would do anything. The two older agents were the glue that held their eclectic family together.

As the duo ran through the mall, narrowly avoiding the throngs of shoppers that stepped into their path, Malik proved to have already caught sight of their targets’ trail, veering to the left to enter one of the many shops.

The two blondes wound their way to the back of the store, noticing that it was eerily deserted. As they opened the door to the break room, the first thing they noticed was the small teenage girl lying on the floor, blood leaking out of a small wound that pierced the center of her forehead.

Stopping only for a moment, Malik checked the girl’s pulse. Dead. There was nothing they could do for her now. He resumed his tracking, following the trail out of the room and down a narrow, dimly lit hallway. Once he made it out the back door, his attention shifted into two directions. Shit, they split up!

Taking the trail that he had seen many times – it’s color a deep grayish-blue, Malik followed after his sister, knowing that Shadi could take care of himself if it came down to it. Moving stealthily past the filled dumpsters and the garbage that was littering the parking lot, Malik homed in on his sister, praying hard for her safety.

A gunshot sounded off to their left, Marik splitting off to run after the noise. Malik continued on, passing the rear entrances to the shops on the mall. Not a soul was to be found out behind the stores, and there was absolutely no chance that anyone had even heard the gunshot with all the noise from the front of the mall. They were on their own back here.

A piercing scream split the silence, and Malik picked up his pace. Shit, he knew that voice. Praying to the gods, he rounded the corner of one of the receiving areas. The blonde caught sight of his sister being cornered by one of the thugs. The man was laughing as he stalked towards his prey, not even noticing as Malik pulled around the corner, taking careful aim with his weapon.

“I was hoping to have a taste of you before I send you to meet your maker.” The man laughed as he deflected yet another piece of garbage that Isis was throwing at him.

“Fuck you!” Isis taunted, picking up a large piece of cement that had broken off the corner of the building. This would make a decent enough weapon, since she had lost her gun in a previous encounter. It was just her luck to have been chased by one of the people who were not FBI, those she could have handled.

Isis once again cursed her inability to predict the man’s moves earlier. Not only had she lost her gun in a hand to hand fight, but her opponent had managed to deal her some damage, in the way of a broken wrist. She never should have tried to take him on alone, thinking that she could disarm him and make him talk. As trained as she was in combat, he was so much more her superior. The female agent was so concentrated on her opponent that even she failed see her brother as he snuck up on the two of them from behind the semi trailer.

The shot exploded with a loud crack, taking the man to the ground with a direct hit. He didn’t even see it coming, the back half of his head disintegrating, spraying Isis with bits and pieces of bloody matter.

Isis froze for a moment, the bloody mist confusing her senses. Then, chest heaving, she ran straight into her brother’s waiting arms. That was so close it wasn’t even funny. It was her luck that the man who came after her liked to play with his targets. It gave Malik enough time to draw a bead on him, taking him out easily.

“Shadi?” She questioned as she drew a shaky breath.

Another gunshot answered her query before Malik even had the chance. “Oh my god!” She cried, breaking out into a run, her brother right behind her. A few more gunshots followed their flight, leaving them to wonder if either of their partners was alive…

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Twenty minutes earlier, somewhere in Florida:

“Shhh! Be quiet!” A voice whispered.

“Be quiet yerself! I didn’t say anything!” Another voice whispered back.

“Both of you shut the fuck up, or I’m gonna knock you out!” A third voice hissed. “They’re coming out!”

All three figures ceased their argument to watch closely as two black clothed men slunk out of the darkened house. The two men glanced furtively around the yard, peering into the shadows as if looking for something, neither of them seeing the three figures crouched around the side of the garage.

“You go on around the back, I’ll meet you on the other side, but I think they’re gone already.” One of the shadows whispered.

The other one snorted quietly in disbelief. “Bull shit, they’re around here somewhere. There was no way they could have been warned. This should have been a total surprise. Maybe they’re just out.”

“Well then, we’ll have a look around and go inside and wait for them.” The shorter figure walked down the porch steps and out to the driveway, disappearing into the darkness the moment his feet hit the asphalt.

Bakura watched as the two made their move, and then he held up two fingers, and then pointed to himself, and back toward the rear of the garage. Seto shook his head, pointing first to himself and then back at Bakura and pushed both hands apart. The white haired agent gave a negative shake of his head and repeated the gesture, to which Seto gave a flip of his hand before raising his middle finger in a blatantly unfriendly gesture.

Jou watched as the two agents motioned in their silent language, knowing exactly what they were arguing over. Then, just as suddenly as it began, the argument was over, the white haired agent slinking off behind the garage, staying in the shadows, the taller, blue eyed man moving stealthily out in the opposite direction. Which left him to care for the unconscious teen that had been laid out on the ground beside him.

The blonde felt bad for the quiet white haired teen. The boy had panicked so bad that he was certain he had a heart attack. But they were ever so lucky that he had managed to give the warning. Everything had happened so fast, that if it weren’t for Ryou, none of them would have made it out alive. He could hardly believe the scene that had taken place fifteen minutes prior to the men’s invasion.


-“They know, they know…they’re coming…Bakura! Please! They’re gonna kill us all!” Ryou shouted as he shot down the stairs and into the living room.

Jou had never seen the small white haired boy so agitated in the entire time he had been here. His chocolate colored eyes were wild as he ran from room to room, trying to find his guardian. Both Seto and Jou came flying out of their rooms to see what all the commotion was. They filed quickly down the stairs just as Bakura reached the frightened teen.

“Who’s coming?!” The agent shouted, pulling the shaken youth into his arms, trying to contain the frightened teen. Ryou just kept gesturing wildly as he screamed out the warning.

“They know…oh god…their orders are to kill us and catch Yugi! They’re coming! We gotta go!” Ryou pulled at his guardian’s arm, his eyes rolling around in his head. Just as suddenly as he started shouting, the teen’s eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he dropped to the ground.

“Is he serious?” Seto asked as he stepped into the room. As far as he knew, the smaller white haired teen had no idea who Yugi was.

Bakura scooped the teen into his arms. “Serious as a heart attack.” To Seto he added, with a smirk. “Call Atemu now! We’ll wait for them outside If they think they’re gonna surprise us…Let’s just give back a little of what they want to give us”-

It wasn’t five minutes after they took off out the door to hide in the yard that a dark car pulled up across the street and two would be murderers got out to break into their house.

The blonde picked his white haired friend up into his arms, waiting watching and praying for the rest of their little group to make it back. He didn’t have long to wait, as one of the shadows disengaged from the front of the house, headed directly towards their hiding spot. The blonde held his breath, until he realized that it was the tall, blue eyed agent – dragging a limp body behind him.

“Took you long enough!” Bakura’s smug voice sounded behind him, almost giving Jou a heart attack. The blonde turned to make a comment, but was cut off before he could even do more than growl.

“Oh like you were any faster.” Seto retorted as he dropped the body on the ground at his feet. “Did you…”

“Yep, you?”

“Of course.” He sniffed superiorly. “We’re not going to get them to talk, no sense in keeping them around.”

After a moment, Jou realized that the two were calmly discussing murder as if it were an every day occurrence. He opened his mouth once or twice, tempted to say something…anything. But not a single phrase came to mind as he digested the fact that the agents were now standing around debating what to do with the bodies.

“…I still say we send this group a message. Put these two on display somewhere that they will be found.”

“No. We are not like them. We will follow procedure.”

“Fuck procedure! The Bureau has already left us hanging in the wind on this. You can already bet your sweet ass that we are on the wanted list as of a couple hours ago. I said it earlier and I’ll say it again. We should give back a little taste of what they’re going to try to give us! They obviously don’t have a clue as to what they’re fuckin’ with!”

“Guys!” Jou finally sucked up enough courage to have his say. “We need to get out of here! If these guys don’t make it back, aren’t they going to send others?”

“Good point.” Bakura concurred, plucking Ryou out of Jou’s arms to make his way to the car in the driveway, pointedly ignoring the two dead bodies lying in the grass.

Seto snorted, following his cousin. After a couple of steps, he turned, “Are you coming or what?”

Jou shook himself out of his stupor and ran after him, eager to be away from the remains of the men who had tried to kill them. He didn’t even want to know how they died; he had heard no noise, nothing to indicate how the agents were able to take them down.

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Elsewhere;


“Shhh. Hush, Aibou. We need to be quiet.” Atemu whispered softly as he glanced at the frightened teen who was whimpering quietly beside him, his amethyst eyes wild as he took in the small army of men invading what had been their home for the past couple of months.

The ruby eyed agent was ever so glad that his little one hadn’t reverted to the condition that he had been in when they first met, but he couldn’t help but think that the boy’s small noises were going to get them caught. Taking a quick peek out of their hiding spot underneath the roots of the large maple tree that a long ago storm had not quite managed to blow over, he attempted to assess the locations of all the men swarming around his cabin. His plan was to stay hidden within mental range of his enemies, maybe glean a few facts from their unknowing minds. But, considering his teenage lover’s frame of mind, it was probably not his best course of action.

And now they were stuck here, waiting, while these men tore apart his only refuge from the outside world. And there was nothing he could do about it - at least not while his little one was still in danger from these men. Atemu gritted his teeth as a resounding crash came from inside the cabin. Well, there went the kitchen. He focused his powers, learning that one of the men thought the cupboards would make for a good hiding spot. The agent was brought back to himself as he felt Yugi shudder against him a sob wracking his small frame.

“It’ll be okay little one. As long as they don’t hear us they won’t come anywhere near here.”

“You…say that…as if you know.” The small teen sobbed, trying to control the volume of his voice.

Yugi was completely terrified. This was the same scene that unfolded when his imagination ran away from him earlier in the night. Except now he knew that Atemu was in danger, right along with him – instead of wondering. How were they going to survive the night? These men had orders to kill Atemu and take him back alive, by any means necessary. That was the first thought he heard when the men were close enough for him to read. And it was present in each and every one of their minds.

“I do. Think about it little one.”

Atemu’s voice was so certain; Yugi looked up into his lover’s glowing ruby eyes questioningly.

“I’ve been directing their attention away from here, giving them a little push with my mind.” Atemu answered the question without taking his glare off their unwanted guests. “They will not come over here unless they hear something.”

“I…I’m sorry…(hic)I can’t…help…it.” Yugi mumbled as he bit down on his hand to relieve the pressure that was building up, this time drawing blood.

Taking his eyes off the scene that was unfolding before them to glance down at the teen shaking in his arms, Atemu felt his heart stir at the sight the teen presented. Yugi was crouched down in their hiding spot, clinging tightly to his arm, panicked tears falling from his eyes as his whole body trembled with fear.

Wondering if he could split his concentration, the ruby eye agent decided that it would be in their best interest if he could calm the boy down. They needed to remain as silent as possible if they were to survive the night. Reaching down, he pulled the terrified teen into a hard, passionate kiss. It took a few tense moments, and then Yugi started to respond to him, opening his mouth to let him explore.

Atemu could still see through the minds of the men who were still swarming over the grounds and the house, attempting to find their hiding spot. But most of his attention was on the boy in his arms. His little one had already been through enough trauma. If there was a chance to lessen the impact of what was happening now, and keep the boy in the real world, he was going to take it.

As the agent continued to kiss and torment his smaller lover with gentle touches and light caresses, the boy’s awareness of their predicament became less and less. He writhed against Atemu’s talented hands, his breathing becoming labored as the man played his body like a finely tuned instrument, knowing exactly where to touch to get a reaction.

Keeping a mental eye on their intruders, Atemu reached down to fondle his little one, swallowing a breathy moan with yet another passionate kiss. Then, unable to help himself, the ruby eyed agent took it a step further, unzipping the boy’s pants to run his hand along the bottom of his half hard member. He had to remind himself that this was not the best time do what he really wanted – his little one was probably sore from their fun earlier. Not to mention their visitors were bound to hear that noise very clearly.

As he continued to stroke and tease the boy towards his climax, Atemu felt his pant leg vibrate. It took him a minute to understand exactly what was happening. His phone! He forgot that he had taken it with him when they had hurriedly dressed and jumped out the back window of the house.

He reluctantly pulled his hand away from his lover, the boy sagging breathlessly against his body, to snag the phone from his pocket. He couldn’t make out the number that was being displayed in the dim moonlight. It was too bad that he had dropped it earlier, the light on the display winking out, never to come on again. He really could have used that feature right about now.

Cautiously, he held the device up to his ear, wondering if their pursuers had managed to get a hold of this number. If they had, it was all but over. This phone could be tracked via GPS without him even having to answer it.

“Atemu?” Shadi’s welcome voice sounded over the speaker.

“Shadi!” He whispered, not wanting the men who were still crawling all over his property to hear him. It was doubtful that he could be overheard, as far away as the men were now. But it paid to be cautious. “Where are you?!”

The younger agent was pretty certain that if he and his brother and cousin had been found that his adoptive parents were also in trouble. The only people that this group didn’t seem to know about were his uncle Malik and his lover. No where in any of the minds that he had searched did he come up with any information on the two blondes. Which was a little odd. Atemu was certain that there was a clue hidden in that little fact. But right now was not the time to ponder the question.

“There’s no time for that. You need to get out of there! Someone’s coming for you!” Shadi’s whispered voice came back to him.

Just then an agonized shriek came from one of the men wandering his property, calling the others to his aid. Atemu turned his attention back to the minds of their pursuers with a quiet snicker.

Apparently, one of them had fallen prey to one of the many traps that he had laid out around the cabin the first year he bought the place. They were intended for trapping some of the predators that the government imported to this area to keep the natural animals from overpopulating. He hadn’t liked the idea when he heard of it, so he retaliated by setting up intricate traps in the surrounding forest. And that particular idea had just paid off more than he could have ever hoped for

It was a pity that the man would live. He had fallen into one of the more tame traps, losing only a leg rather than his very life. Remembering that Shadi was still on the line, Atemu turned his attention from the melee allowing himself only a small smirk at the man’s plight.

“They’re here already. They know everything about us. I don’t know how but they do. Now where are you?”

After listening to Shadi’s reply, the ruby eyed agent hissed “I’m sending Malik, just hang tight,” before disconnecting the call.

He then proceeded to punch in Marik’s number, all but snarling by the time that the phone was answered. He relayed Shadi and Isis’s location, along with the directions to where he and Yugi were headed if they got away alive before disconnecting the call to take the back of the phone apart and pull the guts out of it. Even if the other group didn’t know about the phone, they would find out as soon as they discovered the bills in his desk drawer. Fortunately for him, they were too intent on finding him and Yugi instead of looking around a little closer.

Speaking of Yugi, the boy had made not a sound the entire time he was on the phone. Not even a whimper. “Are you okay little one?” Atemu questioned in a whispered voice.

“I’m fine…just scared.” Came the muffled reply from the front of his shirt.

Atemu leaned down to nip at an exposed earlobe. “Do I need to help you get over your fear Aibou?”

Yugi shuddered against his chest, his heart rate picking up. Atemu decided to finish what he had started earlier. The two of them hiding well into the night as the agent’s property was picked through by the vultures that had intruded on them earlier. But neither of the two tricolor haired boys took much notice other than to make sure that they were left alone, until the men were called away in the wee hours of the morning, leaving only a handful of men to guard the now empty house.

Atemu smirked. Four? That was all the men that were left behind? They obviously didn’t know him very well, did they? This was going to be like taking candy from a baby. Reaching out with his well tuned power, -the shadows around the property taking on a physical presence - he turned his attention to first one, then another of the men, until all four of them were writhing on the ground, caught in the tight grip of their own personal nightmares.

With one last look back at the incapacitated men, he pulled Yugi out of their hiding spot and took off for the thick forest of trees. They would go the long way to get back to civilization. It would be too much of a risk to take the short cut.

Sorry this is so choppy and not up to my usual style. I am trying; it’s just kind of hard at the moment. Please review, and let me know what you think.