It was hot. Normally, according to the captain, it wasn't this hot in April.
Like that made them feel any better.
The temperature when they woke up (at five in the morning) had been a chilly fifty degrees. Now, at two in the afternoon, it was pushing ninety.
All in all, Wolf wasn't happy. But that wasn't just because of the weather, oh no, it took more than bad weather to piss Wolf off. No, the majority of Wolf's agression was due to his fellow SAS operative, Leech. Yep, his codename was Leech. Gives you an idea of what kind of guy we're dealing with, doesn't it?
Wolf's teammates, Eagle, Fox, and Snake, weren't any happier with Leech than Wolf was. They all thought that somebody had made a horrible mistake during the man's training, and put him in charge a unit way before he was ready. Leech was young.
Not that there's anything wrong with that. I myself am quite young, and don't have anything against that particular condition. The problem was, that promoting Leech not only so young in his career, but so young in his life period, had really gone straight to his head.
As a result, Leech thought of himself as quite a bit better than the other soldiers, particularly the other unit leaders. He went out of his way to be an ass. Those who didn't accept him as brilliant and leave it at that got it particularly bad. And when has anybody heard of Wolf bowing down and worshiping young hot shots? That's what I thought.
The point to all this is to set the stage for the incident that's about to explode in Wolf's life. Let me tell you, this explosion will be loud, and noisy, but who knows what dear Wolf will find among the rubble, eh?
So, at the moment that this story begins, Wolf is sitting in his tent along with his team, being angry. They happened to have a bit of free time, so they were lounging about... as much as soldiers can lounge about while at war, anyway. That's right, this particular SAS unit is in Iraq right now, along with quite a few other units.
Snake was reading a letter from home, Eagle and Fox were playing cards, and Wolf was being angry, when the captain walked through the door. the four soldiers stood up quickly, coming to attention as if they'd been born in that position.
"I need to Wolf in my quartes right away," he practically barked, and then immediately turned around and left the tent. Eagle, Snake, and Fox glanced at each other, perplexed, as Wolf followed the captain out. The captain led Wolf into his quarters, where Wolf found another unit leader, Lion, standing there with (figures) Leech.
The captain turned to all three of them. "I just got a set of orders from London. Apparently there's some sort of high-profile cover up that MI6 is dealing with," Wolf's stomach involuntarily clenched at the mention of MI6 "and they need a team of bodyguards to take care of the mess. They've asked for the best, and I picked you three. Only one of you will be taking you unit to London. Which one should it be?" There was a moment of silence.
The captain studied the faces of the three leaders in front of him. Lion, a man only a few years from SAS retirement, was calm and considering. He'd done dozens of assignments so far, and would take this one like any other. His team was steady-headed and experienced.
Leech's young face was so obviously arrogant and greedy that the captain didn't want to look long. Despite the personality setbacks, Leech was good, there was no denying it. And his team, though green, was talented.
Wolf's dark face was watchful, and the captain realized that he too was studying the faces of his fellow unit leaders. Wolf was, while less experienced than Lion, a much more reliable operative than Leech.
But this case was weird. The captain wasn't giving it to any team based on ability alone. There had to be some sort of interest, or it simply wouldn't work.
"Who's the principal?" Lion asked respectfully. The captain glanced at him, forcing his face to remain blank, despite the sudden urge to burst out laughing.
"Some hot-shot MI6 man's kids. Twelve of them. And their parents are around."
The faces of the soldiers went from curious to stunned.
Twelve kids?
Kids?
Twelve of them???
By themselves!?!?
Lion already knew that his middle-aged team wasn't up to that. Leech was slightly horrified, but he knew that an assignment this difficult would earn lots of praise, and Leech liked praise.
Wolf, ironically, couldn't stop thinking of Cub. He'd barely dealt with spending ten days with one kid, and he wasn't even responsible for that one. This job would include him being in charge of twelve Cubs. Granted, they probably wouldn't have quite the same talent for trouble as Cub, but still!
Lion cleared his throat. "Sir, I don't think my unit's quite up to raising a family at this point, so I'm requesting that I not be assigned the job..." Lion gave a half smile at the akward wording, a smile that the Captain surprisingly returned. "Very well, Lion, you may return to your unit."
That left Leech and Wolf. Wolf hadn't moved, but Leech kept shifting his weight. "Is there a problem, Leech?" the captain demanded.
"No sir." Leech replied quickly.
"How about you, Wolf?"
"None, sir" Wolf said cooly.
"Well, it's down to the two of you. How about your unit, Leech, do you think they could handle an assignment like this?"
Leech nodded at once. "Yes, sir, I'm sure my unit could control a group of kids." For the first time the captain saw real emotion pass over Wolf's face.
"You're not there to control them, Leech, you're there to protect them." he practically growled.
The captain smirked, ever so slightly. He'd picked which unit to send to London.
Meanwhile, somewhere in London, eleven kids were currently unpacking their lives into the new house that MI6 had provided them with. As if their lives could get any more hectic.
The Cooper kids were actually thirteen in number, but the oldest, Reuben had moved out of the family home a year and a half ago. It had been decided that he didn't need protection, but it was suggested that he be careful and keep in regular contact with his siblings.
After twenty year old Reuben came the eighteen year old twins, Sim (short for Simeon) and Levi. After those two came the seventeen year old Jude. Then came sixteen year old Dinah, the only daughter. After Dinah came sixteen year old Danny, fifteen year old Oscar, and fourteen year old Cody. Then came twelve year old Asher, ten year old George, eight year old Aaron, five year old Joey, and three year old Ben. How, you may ask, can one woman give birth to thirteen kids?
Well, I don't think she can.
Reuben, Sim, Levi, Jude, George and Aaron were the products of Jacob Cooper's first wife. Dinah, Danny, and Oscar were the results of Jacob Cooper's first affair. Cody and Asher were the result of Jacob Cooper's second affair. Finally, Joey and Ben were the result of Jacob Cooper's second wife. Jacob Cooper was a very busy man.
Jacob Cooper was most likely dead.
He'd disappeared out of thin air two weeks ago. When some boring looking lady introducing herself as Mrs. Jones arrived at the Cooper house, he had already been gone ten days. Mrs. Jones explained to the older half of the Cooper brood that Jacob worked for MI6 as a consultant and information gatherer. Not so much a spy in the James Bond sense, but someone who kept their eyes and ears open and reported what they observed back to people who would actually do something about it.
When Jacob Cooper disappeared in the middle of a job "investigating" an American businessman, MI6 was quick to fear the worst. Of course, having worked with MI6 for over twenty years, Jacob Cooper knew quite a bit about the organization. So, just in case Jacob Cooper was still alive, and the people holding him were in need of leverage (sudden flash of Johnny Depp), MI6 decided to put his children under SAS protection.
Just in case.
That was why the moving vans were bullet proof, and all the men helping the family carry the furniture and boxes into the houses looked like something out of a FBI catalogue.
Dinah Cooper wasn't sure whether to be grateful or disgusted. Grateful because MI6 was putting in a lot of effort to keep herself and her brothers safe. Disgust because MI6 were reason they weren't.
"Asher, the stuff in that box is breakable, can't you read the label?" she called ahead to the twelve year old.
"All it says is 'Handle with Care', Di. What am I supposed to do, ask it's permission before I pick it up?" he shot back.
Dinah sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Just don't drop, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah..."
Dinah winced as she heard the unmistakable sounds of something cracking behind her.
"Oscar, please tell me that wasn't the chair." she said without turning around to face the fifteen year old.
"Okay, Di, it wasn't the chair."
Dinah stepped in front of Levi, who was walking the opposite way, out of the house, to grab another box. "Did Asher drop the box with the dishes in it?" she asked him.
Levi grinned. "Relax, Di, everything's going to be fine." he told her, then continued on his way.
"How do you know that?" Dinah called, turning her head over her shoulder. As she took another step, still watching her eighteen year old brother, she felf herself walk into somebody else. She bounced back, and would have dropped the box of breakable glasses, if whoever she'd walked into hadn't grabbed hold of it first.
"You know, Di, you should really watch where you're going" Sim said, still holding onto the box, his grin identical to Levi's, if not a bit more devious.
"Thank you" Dinah muttered drily.
"Really, Di, these things are breakable." he continued, handed her the box, and followed his twin, still grinning.
Dinah hated MI6.
Later that night, at around eight in the evening, the Cooper kids had just finished dinner, and were almost done with the major unpacking. Of course, that really just meant that the furniture was in the right place, and the boxes were sitting in their respective rooms.
By the way, the layout of the house went like this: On the first floor, the front door opened into an entryway. Through a doorway to the left was the kitchen. Through a second doorway in the kitchen you could reach the living room, which doubled as a dining room. Back in the entryway, if you took the doorway to the right, you'd find yourself in a hallway with two doors on one side, and one on the other..
All three of these doors led to bedrooms, and the pair of adjacent bedrooms shared a bathroom between them. The first bedroom on the left belonged to Sim, Levi, and Jude. The second door on the left belonged to Asher, George, and Aaron. The door on the right led to a room that MI6 had requested be left empty for the bodyguards. At the end of the hall was a spiral staircase that led to the second story.
Upstairs the stairs led to a hallway much like the one below. There were two doors on each side, and a fifth door at the end of the hall. The first door on the right led to Joey and Ben's room. The second door on the right belonged to Danny, Oscar, and Cody's room. The door at the end of the hall was also left empty for bodyguards. The far door on the left led to Dinah's room, and the closest door on the left led to an extra room that would serve as a sort of "lounge" for the kids.
Anyway, the twelve kids, ranging from toddler to teen, were sitting in the living room. The television had been plugged in, but they hadn't had cable installed yet, so they were only getting two channels. That left their entertainment choices at the news (where every other word would have to be explained to all siblings under thirteen) or some sixties game show. They chose the gameshow.
The living room was furnished with two couches, a loveseat, and an armchair. At some point during their existence, the Cooper kids had unknowingly assigned eachother living room "spots". This meant that everyone alway sat in the same spot whenever they were in the living room.
Asher and Ben always squished into the armchair, Asher being uncharacteristically careful with his three year old brother. Dinah and Joey would sit smashed between Sim and Levi on the older of the two couches. Jude took the newer couch, along with Cody, Danny, and Oscar. That left George and Aaron on the loveseat. They had learned a long time ago how to make twelve fit.
So, they were all sitting there, not really watching the show, but pretending to, Jude making the occassionally inappropriate comment about a female contestant that only a third of the others understood.
Then, there was a knock at the door.
Dinah untangled herself from Joey and Sim and went to answer it. She opened the door, not really realizing how cold and wet it was until the weather hit her in the entryway.
When she opened the door, she froze.
Standing in front of her were four guys that looked like they'd just walked out of "Saving Private Ryan", complete with combat boots and stubble. Suddenly Dinah felt very small. Even the shortest, who was standing in front, gave off an air of tallness.
Maybe it was natural leadership.
Maybe it was experience.
Or maybe it had something to do with the gun tucked into his waistband.
Either way, Dinah just barely had the sense to call for Sim and Levi (without turning her head).
"Hey, Di, what's the..." Sim trailed off as he got a look at the four guys that were still standing outside in the rain.
"Whoah." Levi muttered behind him.
"Who are you?" Sim said, managing to sound calm, if not a little annoyed, and a lot confused.
Of course, it was at this moment that Mrs. Jones walked up behind them, apparently from a black car sitting in the driveway.
"These are your bodyguards. May we come in, before we become completely soaked?" she asked crisply.