The Phoenix Ghost

Trust is a Fragile Commodity

Trust has become a scarce commodity with nearly everyone in the story right now.....

Sang and Iris are much smarter than some are giving them credit for... or are Mak and Phil counting on the twins' cleverness if not their expediency....

Also there's 10 hours time difference between Estonia and Cali; 3 hours time difference between South Carolina and Cali; and 7 hours difference between South Carolina and Estonia.

And get ready because some of those secrets...? They're about to blow up!

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Sean is lying in bed thinking... It's 2am Christmas morning and his heart is heavy and full of mixed emotions. Memories of Christmas Eve and Christmas last year run around his head, a time when his family was so happy, loving one another and celebrating the holiday so care free.... Sang kissing him so passionately under the mistletoe in the kitchen while they cooked Christmas dinner... making love to her with Owen Christmas night... The tightness around his chest makes it hard for him to take in a full breath. He's missing Sang, angry with Owen, North, Luke, Silas and Nathan and even angrier with the Academy. He can't go back to South Carolina for at least 13 more months - there's a clause in the assignment that could force them to stay up to another year beyond that if the contract isn't satisfied within the 24 month time frame allocated. Everyone on the team is hellbent on satisfying the assignment ASAP but it's a tricky assignment with ruthless assholes as the client... Victor has been quiet and stressed. Sean is worried it is because he can't find a trace of Sang anywhere online.

Today the team will speak with Uncle... and Kota is hoping his mother, Erica will be there with Uncle too. Sean is desperate to understand why the Academy are lying to them. And his gut tells him they are. This is supposedly his family. Family first. Were they all just naive to believe that the Academy had their backs? What about Doc, his mentor for eight years? Was he not to be trusted anymore? His head was a complete mess and for the first time in nearly two decades, Sean felt vulnerable and alone.

'Sean...?' Owen's whispered voice interrupts Sean's thoughts. Owen had stopped his formal approach with the team from the moment they suspected the Academy was deceiving them. He'd said trust was earned not demanded. Too bad his team leadership worked that out about eleven months too late,

'Yea?'

'Vic's got something...' Sean stilled and then sprung up from his bed that sliver of hope driving him forward.

It was about damn time.

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Sang and Iris were closeted in their office. Again. The Tomas were in the babies' nursery, furthest away from the twin's office watching the septs nap. It was 4pm Christmas Eve day. Axel was worried. Raven and Brandon sat watching their team liaison with grim faces. Marc stood over Corey as his eyes flicked rapidly over the images he was watching and reading.

It had been six weeks since Phil and Mak had sat Sang down and she'd watched a video message from the Blackbourne team. Alone. After thirty minutes had passed, Sang had asked Iris to come join her, her face grim but blank. The two had stayed in the room just twenty more minutes but by then even Mak and Phil had become concerned. When the two came out of the room, they'd both been crying but each wore the same scarily blank faces. Mak and Phil had asked if they wanted to talk and simultaneously both said only one word,

'No,' Mak's face was emotionless as usual but Phil had looked panicked for a split second before he too hid behind his poker face.

'If it's alright, we'd rather not go out to dinner and karaoke tonight,' Sang's voice was flat. She'd looked over at Axel and the Toma team, giving them a small smile which had relaxed the painful tightness they felt around their hearts. Whatever the problem was, the Tomas were not part of the problem. Sang was letting Axel know that whatever she and Iris were processing, they loved them and their family was going to be ok. Phil and Mak had gone to hug the twins only to find both unresponsive. Exchanging a look, both men had left for the guest house,